PRECIOUS STONES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1939, 14 March 1885, Page 2

PRECIOUS STONES.

The history of gems in the East is the history of the governing princes, for so often has the course of history in the Orient been affected by intrigues about precious stones that they assume a- State importance. The traditional diamond in the East is the Great Mogul. The original weight of this stone was 757 carats, but by cutting it was reduced to 270 carats, The stone disappeared at the last Tartar invasion, when treasures to the value of £76,000,000 were captured by Nadir Shah. It is believed to be at present hidden away in some obscure fortress in Asia Minor, and it may lie recovered at some future time, Ssme idea of the abundance of precious stones in the East may be gained from the fact that when Malimoud, in the eleventh centry, captured Sumat, an idol statue was broken open and found to contain throo bushels of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Ala-ud-cleon obtained from the Rajah of Mahrattas fifty pounds of diamonds and rubies and 175 pounds of pearls. Shah Johan, the greatest of the Mogul sovereigns, left a treasure of incalculable value at his death, a throne valued at £6,ooo,oooand a crown worth £2,500,000. The throne was the celebrated peacock throne, so called from the images of two peacocks which stood before it, each made of precious s'ones so matched in color and position as to resemble the natural colors of the bird. The throne was 6ft long and 4ft wide of solid gold, and crusted with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Steps of silver led up to. it, while a canopy of gold fringed with pearls, supported by pillars emblazoned with gems surmounted the .whole. On each side was a sacred umbrella made of velvet embroidered with pearl, the handle being of gold inlaid

.with 'diamonds It was tho most costly work of ; art .over nwhv Its only rival to tho cerulean throne of the houso of Bahainee in thc.Nisam. This was built in the seventeenth century, and was nine feet long by three feet wide, was made of ebony, covered with plates of gold crusted with gems, and was valued at 14,000,000. A late traveller in the East, Mr Eastwick has recently "given a graphic account of •the■'magnificence- of the Persian ciown jewels. 'ln the jewel room he found treasures vahikl., at £7,000,000, among, them the crown, \ajjmass of diamonds surmounted by a rubyjas big asa hens egg. The kings* belt' is a wonder of barbaric magnfiiconce, weighing libo'ut 201bs, and composed-- of a solid mass „of diamonds, rubies, and. emeralds. As Pewia is the native land of the torvuoisc, '% is but natural that the finest stone of thisjfclcscription is to be found in its collectiiij). This royal specimen is four inches long perfect in colour and without a flaw," When the Shall was in Europe, some years ago, he wore a variety of diamonds and other precious stones that kept the detectives in a .constant fever lest lie should be robbed of some of thorn for one, even of the smallest,, would have been a fortune for a half dozen thieves. The buttons of his coat were five in number, aiid each button was a diamond larger than'tho kohimor, while every part of his clothing seemed to be useful, not as a covering for the body, hut as places to hang diamonds on Augustus Hamlin, in ■" Leisure hours among the Gems."

Some rude races have strange substitute for kisses. Of a Mongol father, a traveller writes:—"He smellcd from time to time the head of his youngest son —a mark of paternal tenderness usual among the Mongols, instead of embracing. In the Plulipine Islands, we aro told, the sense of smell is developed to so great a degree that they are able by Binelling pocket.handkerclnefs to tell to-which person they belong; and levers at parting exchange pieces of linen they may be wearing, and during their separation inhale the odour of the beloved being. Among the Ohittagong Hill people, again, it is said, the monner of kissing is peculiar. Instead of pressing lip to lip, they place the nose and mouth upon the cheek, and inhale tho breath strongly. Their form of speech is not" give me a kiss," but "smell mo" ? In the same way, according to another traveller, "the Burmose do not kiss each other in the Western fashion, but apply the lips and nose to the cheek, and make a strong inhalation." Moreover, the " Samoans salute by juxtaposition of noses, accompanied, not by a rub, but by a hearty smell." There is a scriptural precedent for such custome. When blind Isaac was in doubt whether the son who came to him was Jacob or not, " he smellcd the smell of his raimenr and blessed him."

The Pall Mall Gazette, reviewieg 'The Early Military Life of General Sia G. T papier, K, C. 8., written by himself, edited by i|is.son, General W. 0. E. Napier. says:~»Tho French bullets found their toilets pretty freely in the members of the Sapier family fighting on Peninsular soil. George commg limping up the hill out of the hand-to-hand melee at Busaco, found his brother Charles shot through the face and yet another Napier wounded- Captain Charles, of the navy, who in the early Crimean days we used to know familiarly as Charley,'and who was at Busaco as an amateur, The naval cousin would, in the face of remonstrances, ride a white pony into action—a recklessness which brought, its benalty in the shape of a bullet in the calf of the leg, 'and I was delighted at it, the obstinate dog; lie deserved it well'' w his relative's cheerful comment, At Kedinlia, George had a spent bullet flatten itself on his chest a little matter nihich he dismisses with the comment, 'a narrow escape.'"

Life is not all "beer and skittles" with the working men in the United States. »hat with the slackness of trade, the general reduction of wages, and the fact thatnumdersof mills, niiues, and furnaces are either closed or arc working half, time only, an immense amount of distress, discontent, and privation is being experienced by manufacturing operatives. A correspondent in Chicago writes that there is not a great wharehouse or a small shop in ahe Union that is not endeavouring to force.the fale of many articles by offering them at a fraction below the cost. 'This 'means," observes the writer, "that more goods have been made than can be sold at a profit-that the manufacturers and the merchants have been brought to a com. mon distress by over-production. The hardships of the case are now reaching the workmen. The manufacturers have so much on hand that they cannot sail, and are paying higher wages than they can afford to pay even if they could sell their goods. Protection worked first-rate while there wrs a yood stiff buty keeping out tho ioreign article, while there was not much competition among the home producers to bring prices down. But the competition was so great that capital and genius united pushed tho business until now nearly every article made in the United States, from steel railway bars to a yard of calico, is celow production prices. Wages must come down, or all iubustries connected with them must stop.

The world of fashion could probably not jog along at .all without periodical "crazes" _ Something novel and startling at stated intervals is "absolutely noccesary ' as a kind of nourishment to restore the tissue wasted in a dull round of pleasure. Areconforaze" was for aristocrats of both sexps to curiously and aimlessly promenade the slums of London, without, so far as appeared, any intention of putting a shoulder to the wheel and endeavoring to cleanse these vile spots. This diversion died out. It was too grim to command lasting popularity. It has been succeeded (as we read in a recent journal) bv a photographic craze, of a harmless idiotic character, This may be briefly described as a mania for photographing the human form divided into sections, Hands are protruded through holes in a dark screen and photographed clasped, others are taken singly holding a flower, others again exhibit the palm in such a way that a fortune teller could "road the lines." There are also bare feet-only shapely feet of course—sections of shoulders, napes of necks, and occasionally an ear—just one detached ear, which makes its appearance through a slit in a sheet of velvet. This is a very queer fashion indeed, but still it is easy to imagine that an album thus filled with the fragments of innumerable friends would have its attraction, a nose, an ear, or a great toe would sometimes bo infinitely preferable to a whole and recognisable acquaintance of disagreeable memory. The possessor of those momontoes, could, in imagination tweak the nose, pull the ear, and tread upon the too perpetually, and would noi be confronted with the hated countenance of the man himself. Certainly the new system will have its advantages. Official action with leference to overpressure in schools has been taken in Prussia, Saxony, Wurtembcrg, Baden, and Alsace-Lorraine. A commission which was appointed in Alsace-Lorriane some time ago recommended that the number of study hours should be restricted to 20 a week for' the lower classes of tho gymnasia, and 28 and 32 for the higher classes, the hours of homo study should be 812 and 18 a week, progressing from the lowest class to the highest; and finally that 6 hours a week should be devoted to general physical exercise.

Gordon was a Freemason. They say that Power the liberated^ bushranger, intends taking a pub. The Queensland Turf Club has adopted rules closuly assimilating to those of tho ' V.R.0.. The latest American temperance song is entitled "Please sell no more drink to my father." Another case of mother-in-law. Princess Beatrice's husband is to live with the old lady. Since the beginning of 1881 the colonial loans raised hi London have reached sixty millions sterling. The capitals of. Victoria and South Australia will be connected by railway within the next 18 months.; ~,-' ;f; . It is reported that at the close of the present session of Parliament'the Right Hon. Hugh C.Childers, Chancellor of tire : ' Exchequer will be elevated to the peerage. ';; ; The, Melbourne Orangemen offered to . seild 500 men to the Soudan, and to provide for the widows and orphans of those who lmght perish. • It'%pggested .that a premium be ottered forthe detection of the English ' ' During tlie;; last twelve months 800 churches has''been burned Ami in the United States. *%, W( At, least fifteeifpirsoKS in England and Wales are said to'hjjp committed suicide over the Oriental Bank failure..; A man was areestcd in London some months ago for stealing ovei\9oo umbrolwhich were fouud in his room. /■Tift differen shooting clubs of' England h«ve in five years purchased 897,000 pigeons for sport at a cost of £80,261. The late census of Roumania gives a total population of 4,424,961, '-of: which 2,272,558 are males and 2,148.403..are fe>males. ' '■' ■'.

There is a house in Berlin—Weberstrasse, No IG—which harbors noless than 130 families,.numbering -inall 1025 souk : ',-•'.'

Notwithstanding the charter of the town of Liecester, granted GSO years ago, a Jew has been elected Mayor.'

A melbourne firm paid £l5O ano day recently for a special train from Albury tosydneyi with a letter from San Francisco mad,

The pauper population of England excoeds by some 100,000 sonls the entire population of tho colony of New. South Wales. The German Government will,shortly, says the "Kreuz Zeitimg'" conclude a treaty of friendship, commerce,.and navigation with .Zanzibar. :?' '• . A facetious individual lately advertised in a Christchurch paper for "lodgings for a young man addicted to music. ■ Where other inmates are stone deaf preferred." The Ajax and Agamcnnon, of tho British Navy were eight years being built and cost £1,000,000, and rre pronounced failures.

In a military cricket match at Bunga-; lure, Madras, Bone is credited with haK' ing bowled the last seven wickets in consecutive balls.

President Arthur, who remains in

Washington, set the machinery in iho. New Orleans Exhibition in motion by(l means of a telegraphic wire.

An intercolonial eight-oar rowing match takes place on the Paramatta on '■■ he 25th of April next. Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania compete, A monument at a cost of £12,000 is to be erected in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, to the memory of Francis Scott Key, author if " The Star-spangled Banner."

Railway officials in Victoria must in future be tift (jin in height, Mr Gillies, the Minister of Railways, like many of his predecessors is a good deal under the measure.

It Ims been reserved fur Hie enterprising editor of the Pall Midi Gazette to invent the most oil'ensive abomination in the way of advertising which I have yet had the I ill-fortune to meet with. Counterfeit presentments of babies in arms have ceased to alarm me, and I have grown used to convicts, but in Bond-street the other day I encountered threo men whoso sandwich boards consisted of a couple of / coffin lids, adorned by a device of a skull/ and crossbones, while the men themselves! were attired as mutes with black hats and long white hands. They were, of course, followed by yelling small boys, who assailecl thorn with cries of " Who stole the corlin?" "Yah, body-snatcheri" etc. AndallthisisauadvertisementofP.i¥.(f.'s Christmas extra, Surely, even in adver- 1 tising, it is just as'.wcll to draw the line J somewhere. I

An effort is being made to give practicalflß shape to the old idea of training youngHH men for Colonial life before iillowinSH them to emigrate (says the London corresflMH pendent of the Argus). With' this : a company, termed the Colonial TrainimflH Farms Company is projected, will bo £IOO,OOO, in 10,000 shares of £lomß each. An estate well adapted for both BM agricultural and grazing operations bo secured at Hallesley Bay, on Suffolk coast, and it will be worked byjßH intending emigrants, wlio. will..be given 'BB practical instruction in farming,; the J management of stock, bricklaying, and / smiths' work, the management of; bees, / breadmaking, plain cooking, the elemental of geology, agricultural chemistry, wB forestry. The promoters anticipate thatoT will as a rule take two years to turn out a "\ thoroughly qualified colpnist. Several \ gentlemen interested in the colonies have \ expressed approval of theiseheme. Some ( of the Agents-general have been invited \ to support it, but .they have cautiously \ declined to commit themsolves to anything inore than'a, qualified approval of theideii. |*

A magnificent piece of amber is on exhibition in the Royal Geological Museum in Berlin, whither it was sent by a company .of amber diggers in West Prus sia, who found it at a depth of 60ft below I lie surface. The piece is remarkable for its fine color absence of defects and clear-. ness of sound. The weight is 91b; its length, 0.84iu; width 7.?5in; thickness, 4in. v it w»3 found on April 1, Bismarck's / birthday, and hag been named the Bis- ' marck stone. The value of the find may be inferred from the fact that another piece I in the museum, larger, but much inferior,' in quality, was bought by King Frederßß William 111., in 1803, for tho suniK ' 10,000thalers. . .. [^M A recent writer travelling in Mexico. H says that ho saw a long procession, each H person with a lighted candle. At the .head, H of the column was to be seen something H in the form of a man with long stream- H iug hair falling loosely, over the back and 9 shoulders with a crown. Could you guess H what it was? It was the ''Rain Jesus"of ■ Moxico being carried through'to the fields nj and plains with hundreds of Mexican men H and women following and praying for'this B Jesus tc have the heavens. a*pn and rain H to come. : :f H On a recent Sunday 25,000 people visit B ed the Austral in Sydney Harbor. The H boxes forthe Sailors' Widows''and Or- Bj plums Fund benefited exactly 15s. The H captain was delighted to think the boxes H were, still left. The AVarmanibool cor- H respondent of the Melbourne -World. H states that a resident of Allansford ha3®| been left a fortune of eleven' hiilliohflH dollars by an American cousin, and thatjflf Warniambool man .received £3soojßHj Monday, the first,instalment of a iij^^l A recent number '■ of : the " Builder" contained a.large plate a bird's eye view of Westminster in tJB9| time of Henry key and interesting/references to tHH buildings delineated;- - • "JHH