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Show People Squandering More on ' Precious Jewels Than in Previous History CHICAGO, May 1. The United States owns two-thirds of all tho precious pre-cious stones In the world and one-half of all tho diamonds. This Is on the authority of the U. S. Treasury depart-1 ment which says, In a recent report, that tho customs collections of thej port of New York In March exceeded all previous records for tho month and that diamonds aro pouring Into the United States at a rate in money value seven times that of a year ago. Despite tho fact diamonds have advanced ad-vanced 300 per cent since pre-war days, more diamonds are being bought in the United States than ever before Prosperity hero and bankruptcy in Europe Eu-rope have made the United States the world's greatest diamond market. Tho United States is absorbing not onlyl the lion's share of the output of the South African mines, but tho gems hoarded for centuries In Europo and thrown on the market since the war by impoverished royaltif3 and ancient an-cient families. Some explain the heavy diamond buying as duo to high wages and tho new purchasing power of labor which have made working people the nation's greatest diamond buyers in numbers and money invested. Some declare it is a sign of a spirit of wild extravagance extrav-agance pervading tho nation. Others hold that it is an evidence of sound financial judgment. |