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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1960-04-21, Page 6Dia nci Selling Intricate Game Pelican Street in Antwerp,, though neither big nor bolster- ons, Is Europe's .most dramatic and wealthy street. It is the cen- tre of the world's diamond trade. Often called "Glitter Street," it contains the offices of 114 cutters, as many as the rest of the world put together. It is said that on any day of the year there are diamonds worth at least $15,000,000 in Pelican Street. But no rough diamonds are sold in Antwerp. About eighty per cent. of all legal "roughs" are introduced into the trade through dealers in Hatton Gar- den, London's diamond centre. The two associated companies of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. —the Diamond Trading Com- pany Ltd. and Industrial Distri- butors Ltd. --market more than $200.000.000 worth of stones a year. De Beers, who have a virtual monopoly on "roughs," from their urines in S"uth Africa, Yarm nut supplies in driblets— to keep the price at a "reason- able" level. Diamond production this year will be about 28,000,000 carats— just over six tons. Of this quan- tity, five tons are clouded stones, not brilliant or fine enough for the jewellery trade, hut valuable to industry for drillirg, cutting and polishing. Once a month Hatton Garden's "sights" are attended by the world's leading buyers, After several days' examination and dealing all purchases are com- pleted and most diamonds are 'then sent to Antwerp for cutting. Cutters can easily handle smaller stones, They rub one against another until the dia- monds look like miniature spin- ning tops. Then, each diamond is given facets or faces—thirty- three on the top and twenty-five on the bottom. The facets break up white light into rainbow hues and by reflecting light in every direc- tion make the stone appear to be alive, Not long ago, in Pelican Street, a cutter was polishing a d ia- snond worth nearly $15,000. The stone had a small imperfection on its edge and the purchaser wanted it polished away. The cutter advised against the operation, but the purchaser in- sisted. After only a few minutes et the polishing wheel the stone exploded into fragments. The imperfection had been caused by gas under tremendous pressure trapped in the stone. After cutting and polishing, stones are ready for sale in Ant- werp's "diamond clubs" — the city's four exchanges which are Week's Sew -thrifty PRINTED PATTERN 4915 ; ;e SIZES 12-20 WONDER blouses — sew -easy sand so smart! They take so little fabric, you can whip up alt three for practically pennies. Printed Pattern 4915: Misses' Sizes 12, 14, 16, 18, 20. Size 18 Cop style leis yards 35 -inch; mid- dle 1",a yards 39 -inch; lower 1?a yards 35 -inch. Printed directions on each pat- tern part. Easier, accurate. Send FIFTY CENTS (500) stamps cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety) for this patt::rn. Please print plainly '17,,E, NAME, ADDRESS, 1( TYLE NCMB1ER. Send order to ANNE ADAMS, 'Doe 1, 123 Eighteenth St., New ' eeento, Ont. long, high stalls furnished only with narrow, bare tables. Sellera sit on the east side of the tables, buyers on the west. The seller displays his diamonds on a white cloth and the buyer takes up one stone at a time and examines it closely. Frequently he will eeoncentrate on a stone. for as longus five or six hours. Then he will make an offer and trading begins. Finally, per- haps hours later, agreement is reached and the two men form- ally shake hands as they say, "Mazal u' Brakha"—Hebrew for "Good hick and prosperity." The words traditionally conclude a deal. Any disputes later arising are settled by each club's review board. Should a member not abide by the board's ruling he is barred from trading in all the world's fifteen exchanges. The fine organization of the legal diamond trade is paralleled by that of the black market, a profitable but dangerous game. Rough stones for the black mar- ket conte from Sierra Leone, Ghana, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. The clearing house is Liberia, the world's fourth largest ex- porter, Because Liberia has low export tax most stones are sent out legally, but many are smug- gled out. Russia, Lebanon and Turkey buy most of the industrial black market diamonds; other stones, through devious and often sinis- ter channels, find their way to Antwerp where they are sold at underground "sights" like those of London's Hatton Garden. No reputable cutter will touch a black market stone, but many others with small home work- shops are not so particular, After polishing, the stones are distri- buted all over the world—with every effort made to escape cus- toms duty. This year a customs officer in Boston, U.S., found $30,000 of stones parcelled up inside a newspaper. Normally newspa- pers are not opened, but this one happened to be posted in Ant- werp. Nobody claimed the stones. A write-off of $30,000 is petty cash in the diamond trade, Special messengers use ruses so ingenious that even astute customs officers cannot always spot them. One messenger is reputed to have smuggled into the U,S. dia- monds worth $1,500,000 before he was caught. They were hid- den in tiny bags which were sewn to the inside of his cheeks, Big Ben is Having Learn Time If the ghost of very tall and stout Sir Benjamin Hall ever walks across Westminster Bridge at nights, no doubt he's looking up with special interest at the 320 ft. tower of the world-fa- mous clock, Big Ben. Why? Because it's suddenly been discovered by engineers that Big Ben is leaning. And Sir Benjamin's nickname was "Big Ben" because of his great bulk. He was First Commissioner of • Works when the naming of the clock's great bell was being dis- cussed in Parliament. • "Why not call it Big Ben?" shouted one M.P. And so the name was adopted, amid laugh- ter. There's no laughter -to-day following the discovery of an un- suspected tilt in the 102 -year- old clock tower. It's four .inches out of the true. Engineers found deep cracks in the thick mason- ry where the arcade in New Pal- ace Yard — the approach used by 1U:.P,s and others from West- minster Bridge — joins the foot of the Tower. But there's no need for alarm, • say Ministry of Works officials, a four -inch tilt isn't really seri- ous, although it's a matter for • concern. So they intend to watch the tower with special care and make many further tests during the next few months. Cracks don't worry Big Ben much, anyway. The great bell, originally called St. Stephen, weighed fifteen tons and cost $200,000 but it cracked ater a few weeks' use. It tea., recast and reduced to thirteen and a half tons in weight, but crack- ed again. 11 h:,s never been recast since then. Down the years the great bell's crack has not affected its tone in the slightest. serietts riot n vtecttutn cleaners darlie, ..it'z'bkt talents REFLECTIONS IN THE SUN — Warmed by the bright Roman sun, these two benchmates of different generations seem lost in the world of their own thoughts. Bread, love and dreams, per- haps? The pensive girl and news -absorbed old man are seated on a ledge near the Trinita de Monti Church, which overlooks the famed Spanish Steps. 2a zdrole craw ICL 5 FARM Gwactolin.e P. C16h,11k.e What we had been hoping for — but almost dreading — has finally come. A sharp, sudden thaw. There was so much snnw around we had visions of over- flowing culverts, flooded base- ments and uncontrollable water everywhere. Well, there is wa- ter everywhere but thank good- ness it has kept to its proper channels — with a little persua- sion. Directly the temperature rose Pratner was out with axe and shovels, opening up frozen ditches and running little gullet's here and there to direct the wa- ter to the culverts. With an acre of ground we naturally have plenty of snow to contend with. But now, after only twenty-four hours, it seems incredible the amount of snow that has already got itself away. And- so soon af- ter that record cold moo for the month of March. - I must lull you whet gem eened during that cold snap last week. It dropped to zero one night and thn.t had to b.' the night Partner woks up and realized the furnace had given up the ghost. With a new motor on the furnace we wero not anticdaating any more trouble — but wa gut it just the same, Thi: time it was a pulley -wheel that bi'. ke, Part- ner heard a lot of ban'int going on down: emirs enol went diem to investie'eta 14 knew it had sweet hie to do wish t'ut Waiver but no lei couldn't locate the trouble h.. ehut the-fern:ice reeht off. But h r Aren't put in en emer- • gency ca!1 — • not until 6.30. Why? Because he hated to get anyone nut of bed at 3 o'clock in • the mor'nin' ! "We won't suffer for a few hours," said Partner, "we'll be -warm enough in bed with plenty of blankets nn, And when. I get up I can tarn the electric stove on full -blast." The repair men said he wished a few more people would think that way. And Partner was right — we didn't suffer and the repair man got a good night's sleep But something else happened that turned nut to be funny but it could quite easily have been serious. Partner was holding a spreli'ht for the repair man, naturally iu front of the moon furne-e ,door. Then the switch we.: turned on and a shoWer of het serf blew back over Part- ner's head. It scorched his hair leaving a bald patch just be- yond the hair line. He was a sorry looking mess when he came upstairs. No serious injury at all but it shows how easily accidents can happen. After that the furnace was going merrily as usual and the house was soon as warm as toast, It certainly didn't look much like spring that morning but I began to notira the birds were acting differently . and there are hyacinths and daffodils a few inches above the ground, We have two feeding stations and it' wasn't long before they were black with starlings. Ditto watched from the window and soon became restless, not know- ing whether she wanted to be in or out. But finally decided to go out and chase them. I have never seen her catch a bird yet but she has all the fun of stalk- ing them. The dogs around here are having a great time too, more or less running around in packs, obviously with a view to mating in the near future. So what better sign of impending spring could you get? Nature knew that thaw was coming long before we did, Of course the roads have been a mess for some time. Mud, slush and salty water. The high- ways are bone dry but the side - roads and parking lots — they belong to a different story. Part- ner has been taking Taffy for a walk most days and he comes in coated in slush. His wee, short legs make his poor little body as vulnerable as a low - slung cor. There are times when I think keeping a clog and a cat isn't such a good idea, Of course when he gets so dirty he has to stay downstairs and then at night I hear low, throaty, growl- ing noises so I gather we occa- sionally are visited by venture- some rabbits, stray cats or — perish the thought — a maraud- ing skunk. We have wide glass panels at both the front and the back so Taffy gets a good view of any midnight visitors that Come around. Well, we hear a lot these days for and against television — and we may hear more in the future now a new Ontario station is in the offing. But this last week I have been thinking what a lot of pleasure .people miss if they don't enjoy watching hockey. We wouldn't miss the games for anything — more ex- citing on TV than it used to be on radio, We may also he miss- ing a little sleep! 13y the time last night's overtime game was over I noticed ours was the only light still burning in the neigh- bourhood. We have friends on a farm who are enjoying TV for the first time this winter and it has made quite a difference to their outlook on life. Instead of coming into the house and worrying about the price of eggs and everything else they have to -sell, they turn on the TV and forget their worries for a few hours each night. Lengthy 'Walks When his doctor told a New York man he should take more exercise, he walked from New' York to Los Angeles -- 3,162 miles — according to his pedom- eter. He took 228 days. "I was offered a lift no fewer than 949 times," said the man, John Sarkauslcas. "I wore out three pairs of shoes," It was also said that because the left side of his face was turned towards the sun during most of the tune, it became tan- ned several shades darker than the right, Some long-distance walkers have hcl!eved in covering the ground the hard way. A man named Lloyd walked backwards, accomplishing a distance of thir- ty miles in nine successive hours including stops, Lloyd's walk took place in Surrey and several times he fell on his back or blundered into trees. Still, he managed to fiit- ish fourteen minutes inside the time allowed him and with the money he won must have been able to buy quite a lot of liniment for his sore 'feet. Some people's jobs make it necessary for them to undertake long 'and difficult walks. In 1935, a tough little Scotsman walked all the way from Scotland to London guiding a lorry taking e sixty -ton dynamo to a sugar re- finery. While he walked, his pal drove. They had to take very special care 01 their load. Obey the traffic signs — they are placed there for YOUR SAFETY ADJUSTMENT — TV's Nora Hay- den fixes things up as she pre- pares to soar away from Inter- national Airport. She's ofF to Copenhagen and a new film, "The Green -Eyed Elephant," for television. Modern Etiquette ily Anne Ashley Q. Is it permissible for one'* calling cards to have any kind of decorations on them? A, No; this is only for business cards, Social cards should be of plain white, of good quality, en- graved in black, and without em- bellishment of any kind. Q. De you consider It proper, when in a group of people. to speak with another person while someone else Is already speaking to the entire group? A. It is rude to "cross eon - verse." When one attempts to talk with another person while someone else is talking to the entire group, it probably pre- vents that person from listening to the first speaker and he may be very much interested and wish to listen. Q. 1 have just received an in- vitation to an "open house." Am I supposed to bring a gift? A. No. An "open house" is more or less in the nature of a reception. If however, you were invited to a "house-warming," then you would bring some sort of gilt. Q. is it proper for a guest at a wedding reception to congratu- late the mother of the bride? A. No. It would be much bet - ten to tell her how pretty her daughter looks and "what a fine couple" they make. Her Pride and'yJoy t, t.or 555 °r `,,,,.- Heavenly gift for a new mom — she'll cherish this story of baby's birth now and always. Embroider this pretty sampler in nursery colours — baby will love gay birds, fluffy clouds.. Pattern 555: transfer 12 x 1e inches; 60 names; colour chart. Send THIRTY -FIVE CENTS (stamps cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety) for this pattern to Laura Wheeler, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St., New Tor- onto, Ont, Print plainly PAT- TERN NUMBER, your NAME and ADDRESS. New! New! New! Our 1960 Laura Wheeler Needlecraft Book is ready NOW! Crammed with exciting, unusual, popular de- signs to crochet, knit, sew, em- broider, quilt, weave—fashions, home furnishings, toys, gifts, bazaar hits. In the book FREE — 3 quilt patterns. Hurry, send 25 cents for your copy. ISSUE 16 — 1960 THE KHRUSHCHEVS MEET A LITTLE FRENCHMAN — Gerald Sigaux, 4, at the "School Chave" in Marseilles gets hugged by Nikita and thanked by Nina, the Soviet Premier's wife, for the bouquet of flowers, The Soviet Premier had occasionally indicated that he would like to meet more people and see less factories while he was in France visiting Charles de Gaulle, This was one time he could not deny that he was mee ting the "little people," not the "big shots." •