Bmore atc
Bellefonte, Pa., November 20, 1908.
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Checkered Career of the Brilliant Stone
After the Death of Charles the Timid.
Some Facts About the Invention of
Diamond Cutting.
Louis de Berquem, says tradition,
was a poor jeweler's workman, but
he fell in love with the daughter of a
weelthy jeweler. This avaricious fa-
ther would not give his daughter in
marriage to any man not possessed of
gold. Louis, having neither “expecta-
tions” from relatives nor favor at
court, sought to make his fortune. He
had often heard the father of his be-
loved remark that the man who discov-
ered a method of cutting diamonds
would become very wealthy, for up to
that time they knew nothing more
than to scrape off the gravel," and the
diamond was left in its native state.
Nelher lime, fire nor the mill could af-
fect the diamond.
After many investigations and deep
thought Louis bethought himself that
fron is fashioned with steel, which is
only hardened Iron, and it occurred to
him that perhaps the diamond would
yield to the diamond. He made an
experiment, which was at once crown-
ed with success.
A few days later he presented him-
self before the rich jeweler with two
diamonds cut into facets. He obtained
the hand he sought and amassed a
great fortune by his secret, which he
divulged only after he had become
wealthy.
King Charles the Timid was the
principal customer of Louis de Ber-
quem. The fastidious enemy of Louis
XI. then possessed a large diamond,
since become celebrated, accounted
among the finest of precious stones.
But this diamond was ill shapen, and
the fires which it held burned in vain.
Louis de Berquem cut and polished
this stone, and nothing could equal the
joy of Charles the Timid when the
jeweler brought him the great dla-
mond, so glittering with light that it
lit up the darkness, and this to such
an extent that the prince said, “It will
serve me as a night lamp.” Berquem
received 3,000 ducats for his work.
As for the diamond, this is the one
which was found in January, 1477, on
the body of Charles the Timid after
the battle of Nancy. A soldier picked
it up, sold it for one gold plece to a
priest, who In turn sold it for three
pleces of gold to a merchant, who took
it to the Duke of Flcrence.
From the hands of this prince fit
passed into the possession of the king
of Portugal. He sold it for 70.000
francs to one of the companions of
Henri III, Nicholas de Harlay, baron
«of Sancy. Since this time the first
Jarge diamond to be cut is known as
“the Sancy.”
This legend leads to other considera-
tions of the cutting of diamonds as-
eribed to Louis de Berquem at Brus-
sels in 1460.
Hardly any one will assert boldly
that no diamonds were cut before that
date, but it is reasonable to suppose
that Louis de Berquem regulated cut-
ting by arranging the facets.
Long before the birth of Louis de
Berquem cutting was known in India.
Even in Europe we find among the
treasures of the churches thick dia.
monds cut into table and culet, the
upper sides beaten into sections. In
1360, according to the inventory of the
jewels of Louis, duke of Anjou, is
found an entire series of cut diamonds.
There is mention of a flat diamond
with six sides, of a heart shaped dia:
mond, of a diamond with eight sides.
of a lozenge shaped dlamond, of a dia-
mond pointed on four sides and of 2
reliquary in which was set a diamond
cut in the shape of a shield.
History informs us that 150 years
before the first work of Louls de Ber:
quem there were at Paris, at the cor-
ner of the Corroyerie, several diamond
cutters.
The Duke of Burgundy, after a fas-
tidious repast given at the Louvre to
the king and the French court in 1403.
offered to his noble guests eleven dia-
monds estimated to be worth 786
pleces of gold, the money of the pe
riod.
It is hardly possible to suppose that
these were uncut diamonds; all of
which goes to prove, notwithstanding
some opinions, that Louis de Berquem
did not invent the process of diamond
cutting.
It is no less interesting to follow the*
fortunes of the Sancy a little further.
It remained in the Sancy family some
time, and Henri III. took it from
them. It was destined to serve as a
pledge for the raising of a body of
Swiss soldiers, but the servant intrust-
ed with bringing this diamond to the
king was attacked, put to death, and
the diamond was thought to be lost
Finally it was discovered that the
servant had been assassinated in the
forest of Dole and through the care
of the priest had been buried in the
village cemetery. Then the Baron de
Sancy resolved that the diamond must
uot be lost. In fact, they found it in
the stomach of the hapless, faithful
servant, who swallowed It at the mo-
ment that he fell. According to the
inventory of 1791 the Sancy weighed
33% carats.
It disappeared in 1792 to reappear io
Russia, Tis value Is estimated at ¢
million francs. Before the revolution
'* was among the French crown jew
sls.—New York World.
Never bear more than one kind of
trouble at a time. Some people bear
three kinds—all they have had, all they
DYNAMITE IN THE MAKING.
Workmen Who Are Encircled by Death
in Gallons and Tons.
So thoroughly deceptive is dynamite
in the making that you are apt to be
disappointed on viewing the surface
of things. You could more readily
fancy thunderbolts leaping and crash.
ing from tender blue skies than that
the most fearful forces in creation are
hidden under such a peaceful exterior.
Nitroglycerin, a cupfui of which wouid
distribute you over square miles of
landscape, is diligently mixing around
you in hundreds and thousands of gal-
lons.
It is making itself in big iron retorts,
cascading down leaden gutters and
merrily tumbling in minute Niagaras
into immense vats, where the deli-
quescent yellow peril pursues its jour-
ney powderward. Out of one recep-
tacle it fares furiously through special
lead coils, driven only by cooling blasts
of air, and is drawn off like draft ale
and piped on to the next perfecting
stage. Gaze with the nitroglycerin ex-
pert into one of those big caldrons.
The interior is brilliantly illuminated
by electricity, the only illuminating
agency permitted In or about the dan-
ger houses.
Around you are other houses at uni-
form distances apart and connected
by a series of narrow gauge tracks
wherein workmen are railroading ni-
troglycerin from here and pulp cotton
from there to be compounded into dy-
namite and blasting gelatin. Greates:
care is taken in rolling the product
from house to house. As soon as a
loaded cart is ready to pass out of the
nitroglycerin house, for instance, a
semaphore signals from an adjoining
station, to which the consignment is
carefully hurried.
Around you are long storehouses
packed with pulp in tons of innccent
whiteness. Presently this pulp will as-
sume a tan color under the nitrating
process, and then, suddenly becoming
carbonite, red cross, hercules, judson
and giant powder, forcite or what you
order, it develops the quasi virtues of
dynamite—dynamite or blasting gela-
tin in which more natural forces are
condensed to the cubic inch than exist
anywhere else in creation. Death,
curbed and sleeping, encircles you in
gallons and tons. Annihilation threat.
ens at every turn in the form of poten
tial pulverizing forces. But the man
and the mercury are there also, alert,
responsive, reliable.—Leslle's Weekly.
LIBRARY SLOW POKES.
Time Killing Methods of Officials In
Continental Europe.
“Americans who grumble about hav-
ing to wait a long time for books when
applying to a public library,” said a
Boston literary woman, “should try to
work or study in a foreign library, par-
ticularly in Germany.
“The typical contizental librarian
takes no account of time. The reader,
worker or student must turn in his or
her application for books at least a day
in advance. The men who search for
the books applied for are aged, totter
ing creatures who have been shuffling
around the dusty piles of books for
years, and the word hurry is not in
their vocabulary.
“The most priceless books and man-
uscripts are kept in places which are
perfect fire traps, and disorder pre-
dominates in every department. When
you speak about the impossible meth.
ods employed the librarians tell you
that they are too poor to introduce any
modern indexes or catalogues. This is
to some extent so, but as a matter of
fact they would not change if they
had all the money in the world at their
disposal. "
“They do not wish 16 encourage the
common people to use books. The
learned are among the aristocracy, and
the spread of the knowledge which is
hidden in those wonderful literary mu-
seums is far from the purpose of the
men at the head of Europe's libraries.
“There may be some delay in our li
braries, but our people in the lower
walks of life are certainly ahead of
the common people of the old world In
the matter of getting books when they
want them, and generally free of
charge.”—New York Telegram.
The Town to Be Born In.
In the German town of Klingenberg.
near Aschaffenberg, Bavaria, in addi
tion to haviag no rates to pay for the
upkeep of the town, those actually
born in the parish receive from the
municipality a sum of £12 15s. a year.
This sum, if invested regularly at, say,
3 per cent, would entitle the owner to
receive about £1,500 at the age of sixty
—a very handsome old age pension.
Were it not necessary that the inhab-
itants should prove birth in the parish
before becoming entitled to this pay-
ment the popularity of Klingenberg as
a place of residence would doubtless
be enormous.—Westminster Gazette.
For Bargain Day.
“She's no lady!”
“Why, I always thought her most re:
fined.“
“On the surface, yes. But what do
you think of a woman who wears her
little boy's football shoes to the bar-
gain sales and spikes every one who
gets In her way?'—Cincinnati En
quirer.
After Him.
“It's hard to lose your friends,” re-
marked the man who was down and
out,
“Hard 7?" snorted the man who was
on the high tide of prosperity. “It's
{mpossible.”"—Philadelphia Record.
The Prompter.
“1 suppose that inspiration prompts
many of your jokes.”
“A few,” admitted the press humor
fst. “Desperation, however, prompts
have now and all they expect to have.
the most.”--Loulsville Courier-Journal.
IT HAS A STORMY HISTURY.
This Picturesque Burial Place Has
Served as a Battleground as well as
a Graveyard—Its Monuments, Lovers
and Disconsolate Widows.
Pere Lachaise is the largest and
quite the most interesting of the Paris
cemeteries and named after the Jesuit
confessor of Louis XIV. whose coun-
try seat occupied the site of the present
chapel until the ground was made a
cemetery in 1804. It covers 110 acres
of ground, is picturesque, but quite un-
lovely. Hare wrote about the tombs
that “weight was their chief peculiar-
ity and that all the monuments looked
as if each family had tried to pile as
much marble as possible on to their
deceased relatives.”
Pere Lachaise has a stormy history.
In 1814 the Russians fought the French
there and gave them a beating. Dur-
ing the commune the Versaillais and
Communards fought several pitched
battles among the tombstones and did
considerable damage. But it is not
so much with the history of the ceme-
tery as with the people buried in it
that we have to deal. A volume might
be filled with the mere list of all the
celebrated men and women buried in
it, for, as Victor Hugo wrote, “being
buried in Pere Lachaise is like having
mahogany furniture—a sign of ele-
gance.”
In Pere Lachaise the monument
which attracts most visitors is that of
Abelard and Heloise, the two most fa-
mous lovers in the world. The monu-
ment was first erected 637 years after
their death and brought to Pere La-
chaise in 1817 from the museum where
it had been during the revolution. An-
other famous lover, Alfred de Musset,
lies buried not far from the two wil-
lows over the graves of Heloise and
Abelard. David, the painter; Rachel,
the actress; Balzac, Scribe, Michelet
and many other well known folk lie
near at hand. Admiral Sir Sydney
Smith, Lord Seymour and other well
known Englishmen are to be found in
other portions of the cemetery, while
literature is represented not only by
great authors, but by Lesurques, the
victim of Dubosc in the famous legal
Lyons Mail imbroglio.
But Pere Lachaise has more romance
than in its tombstones. Chatting one
day with one of the old soldiers who
are the keepers of this grim park, I
learned some curious facts about it.
“We never have a dull moment,” the
man said. “You may think that our
time here is monotonous, but you are
quite wrong if you do so. To begin
with, there are the burglars. The
cemetery is overrun with them. There
are three kinds of burglars. There
are the connoisseurs who often get
away with valuable prizes, for you
will be surprised at the works of art
of small size which people put in their
chapels. The window is broken, a
‘gtick slipped through the hole, and all
sorts of things worth having are fished
out; then the bronze stealers, who
take away as much as they can carry
in their special pockets and make from
15 to 20 francs a day at the game until
we catch them,
“A little while ago a bust weighing
forty pounds was taken out of the
cemetery over one of the walls. But
the most curious form of robbery is,
perhaps, that of the peari wreaths.
Women are the principal offenders.
They select the new ones, which are
not weather stained, flatten them with
their backs against the tombstone,
slip them under their dresses, and
when they have got away with them
(we have no right to search even .sus-
picious looking customers) sell them
to dealers, to whom they tell the well
worn story of a poor workwoman who
has need of food.
“You would hardly believe it, but
Pere Lachaise,” said the keeper, “is a
favorite meeting place for lovers. We
get lovers of all ages, and perhaps
more schoolboys and schoolgirls than
anything else. But the three most
curious things we see here in the ceme-
tery are the forlorn widows, the letter
boxes and the cafe.” “The cafe?’ I
asked. “Yes. There are hundreds of
people in Paris who refuse to believe
that thelr dead do not enjoy after
death the good things they used to like
when they were alive. Mothers bring
apples and sweets and leave them on
the tombstones of their children. Peo-
ple bring wine and glasses, and there
is one old gentleman who leaves a
potato salad on his son's tombstone
regularly every Sunday. Of course
the children soon find out these things,
and we have never been able. to con-
vince the people who bring them of
the absurdity of doing so. It is a very
harmless superstition, after all.”
“And the letter boxes?’ 1 asked.
“Lovers' letter boxes?" sald the guard-
fan, “There are dozens of them in
all parts of Pere Lachaise. Sometimes
they are holes in the trunks of trees;
sometimes they are little hollows un-
der stones.
“I'he inconsolable widow is a fre
quent visitor. She is a pretty woman,
and black suits her. She kneels down
by a tombstone, rarely the same one,
and when a likely looking mourner of
the other sex appears bursts into tears.
He consoles her pretty soon, and the
two leave the cemetery arm in arm.
One of these widows Invited me to her
wedding six months ago, and iast
month I was called to give evidence
about her meetings with her victim,
for she had seven other husbands liv.
ing."—8t. James’ Gazette.
The Whale's Blow.
Porpoise—What Is the whale blowing
about? Dogfish—Oh, he got so many
notices for his feat In swallowing Jo
nah he's been blowing ever since.—Fx
change.
Progress Is the real cure for an over.
estimate of ourselves.—Macdonald.
THE STORAGE WAREHOUSE.
it Sheds Some Side Lights Upon Life
and Morals.
For a few dazzling side lights upon
life and morals apply to the storage
warehouse. You can find almost any-
thing there from baby alligators to
blocks of ice cream and from Teddy
bears to sauerkraut. So you won't be
amazed at what the institution has
most recently divulged. Here you have
the story:
Mrs. Q. repaired to the storage ware-
house to extract her soup spoons,
though it may have been aunts or un-
cles or popcorn or guinea pigs. At any
rate, her property declined to come out.
It had been tucked in by Mr. Q. Only
Mr. Q. might tempt it forth. Mrs, Q.
protested. She wanted her catnip or
theology or safety razor, or whatever
it was, and made representations with
great emphasis. She moved upon the
management. She stormed and wept.
After long wrangling the warehouse
decided it would yield up the college
fce—or was It the piano?—if Mrs. Q.
would swear she was still married to
Mr. Q. and would send him a written
statement (he was in Quebec, and 1
lost track of him owing to bewilder-
ment produced by merely thinking of a
storage warehouse) and make him re-
turn the statement, countersigned, to
the management. This, then, is how
Mrs. G. regained possession of her golf
links or prayer book or sugar tongs.
Well, say it was sugar tongs, though
golf links would be likeller,
Pressed for an explanation, the ware-
house remarked: “Have to be careful,
you know-—divorces, separations, af-
finities, you know. Minute such things
start up there's a race to the storage
place. Game is for each to snatch out
everything first. Becomes embarrass-
ing!" —Boston Transcript.
MIXED THE SIGNS.
Sarasate and the Sandwich Men In
Edinburgh.
To advertise Sarasate’s performances
in Edinburgh eight sandwich men were
sent out, each of whom bore in front
and behind him one letter of the great
musician's name. They started all
right, but after a time removed the
boards from their shoulders to have a
rest.
On resuming their labors each man
shouldered the board nearest him and
fell in behind the man who had for-
merly marched before him.
When the leader, who bore the initial
“8,” turned around to see if his men
were ready, what he saw was “Sata-
resa.” He knew enough to realize that
something was wrong, but how to
right it was more than he could tell.
After changing a man here and there
he got it “Starasea.” But still it didn’t
seem correct.
By this time the poor fellow was in
a terrible state. If any of their em-
ployers' people were on the outlook
and could see them, their day's wage
would be stopped! He tried again and
yet again, but it was no use.
And a moment later a man bearing
the letter “8S” before and behind was
seen running toward the music hall to
copy down the name from one of the
posters there. And along the right
side of Princeton street there walked
toward the appointed rendezvous at
the Mound three men who bore the
strange device “A A E,” while opposite
them there paced along the left side
gutter four others, who, if to advertise
means to attract attention, succeeded’
wel], for every one who passed looked
around in wondering amazement as to
what “Rats” meant.—Edinburgh Dis-
patch.
Too Much For the Ferret.
An old buck rabbit is not to be light-
ly tackled by weasel, stoat or even
ferret. On the sanded floor of a small
public house a ferret of long experi
ence was matched with an old lop
eared buck, the property of the land-
lord. The ferret made straight for the
rabbit's throat, but the latter was in
the air before master ferret could
reach him and, leaping clean over the
ferret’s head, let out with those power-
ful hind legs of his a kick which
hurled the ferret bodily against the
wainscot. Twice the ferret returned
to the attack, and twice he missed his
grip and went hurtling through the
air. The third repulse was enough for
him. He knew he was beaten and
could not be persuaded to stand up for
a fourth round.—Pearson's Weekly.
Brilliant Fish Hues.
Like birds, many fishes assume their
brightest hue when they wish to at-
tract the opposite sex of their species.
The colors of the male common pike
become exceedingly intense, brilliant
and iridescent in the breeding season.
The eel also puts on an intense silvery
hue at the breeding time which is very
noticeable and at one time caused nat-
uralists to distinguish it as a distinct
species. The males of the tench, roach
and perch also show a marked inerease
in brilliancy in the breeding season.
Mental Arithmetic.
“Two years ago I asked Aunt Jane to
visit us for a fortnight, and she has
not gone home yet.”
“It's a blessing.”
“What's a blessing?”
“That you didn’t invite her for a
month.”"—Harper's Weekly.
Uncovered.
Horace—I can't understand you girls.
Now, you hate Mabel, and yet you just
kissed her, Hetty—I know, but just see
how the freckles show where I kissed
the powder off.—London Tatler,
Domestic Politics.
“Whom did you support during the
last campaign?”
“A wife, two children and a mothep.
in-law and kept up my life insarance
at the same time."—Puck.
Lyon & Co. Lyon & Co.
Lyon &. Company.
WE HAVE BEGUN A GREAT
REDUCTION SALE
OF COAT SUITS FOR LADIES
and Winter Coats for Ladies’, Misses, and Chil-
dren. The continued warm weather drives us in-
to this early sale. The comments on our Coats
and Suits have been that we are selling the finest
Suits and Coats in the town this season.
00
A handsome Herringbone Weave Coat Suit, the
new browns and blue, also black, all made in the
new long Coats, new sleeves handsomely lined and
well made. This Suit we sold for $20.00, reduced
price $17.00. A better quality in the new stripe
handsome Suitings in the new blue, green and
black, new cut skirt and new style coat and new
sleeves, the best quality in workmanship, a fine
suit at $28.00, reduced price $22.00.
All our Coats for Ladies’ in black kersey and
black Broadcloth handsomely lined and well made,
ranging in price, 10, 12, $15, now sell at 7, ¢
and fz.
Misses and Childrens Coats at a big reduction.
All onr Dress Goods in broadcloths must be
sold at a big reduction,
A handsome Chiffon broadcloth in the new
colors and black that sold at $2.00 now $1.50. A
cheaper quality of Chiffon broadcloth, black and
new colors that sold at $2, now $1.50. A cheap-
er quality of Chiffon broadcloth, black and new
colors that sold for $1.35 now gr.co. All other
new dress weaves of this seasons styles at reduced
prices. Give usa call if you want these fine goods
at the reduced prices.
Our Furs are all of this seasons. A handsome
line of new furs just in, see them and get our re.
duced prices.
LYON & COMPANY,
47-12 Allegheny St., Bellefonte, Pa.
Bellefonte Shoe Emporium.
EE
$1.98
‘Men's
First Quality
Snag Proof
Rolled Soled
Laced
Lumberman
Gums
$1.98 a Pair
Every pair guaranteed to
give satisfaction.
YEAGER’S SHOE STORE,
successor to Yeager & Davis.
Bush Arcade Building, BELLEFONTE, PA.