Decatur Democrat, Volume 38, Number 2, Decatur, Adams County, 30 March 1894 — Page 2

LIMITATION. For all philosophy may teach, Oiily eo far can knowledge reach. _ Ail that wo know. fr'oiu breath tn breath, Is Luo and Its arent question- Death. * -Frank D. Sherman in Lippincott’s. PASTE OH DIAMOND? “Yes, it belonged to poor Tureune,” will Wyse ns ho polled the ring from , his linger and handedit to ns for inspection. “He left it to me by his Will, and I keep it in memorjwof one the Dost actors and one of the beat men I over knew.” Meanwhile tho ring was passing from band to hand, and the universal verdict was that none of us had ever seen afiliei . stone. “Turenn# was rather a wealthy man. ” said one of our little circle, “but I lidn't think he could have afforded or would have cared to spend so much money on an ornament as that ring must have cost.” “He wanted it for some special purpose which afterward fell through, ” rejoined Wyse. “I know all about it, for I bought it for him myself. 1 had quite a little adventure ou the occasion.” “Tell us the story,” we cried. “Well,” said Wyse, taking a pull at his and settling himself back in his chaiij, “it is a good many years ago now. I was playing high comedy characters at the old Princess, and as I had been working very hard I set off for the south of France as soon as the season closed. It happened that Turenne, who had proved himself a true friend to me, wanted a good diamond for a purpose I needn’t trouble you with, and before I set out on my travels I told him that if I met with a particularly fine one at a moderate price I would buy it for him, and he, being too busy at the time to attend to the matter himself, gladly consented. I was staying at Nice when there came to the hotel one of those tall, loquacious Americans who are now so plentiful all over Europe. There seemed to be nothing objectionable about the man, except that he was vulgar and eternally talking about the United States. “On the evening after bis, arrival a few of us happened to be sitting in the billiard room, and by some chance or other the conversation turned on the subject of diamonds. ‘I don’t know much about the business myself,’ said the American, ‘but I’m told by good judges that thar's about as good a stone as you'll see in a day’s round.’ “So saying he drew a ring from his finger and handed it to me, who happened to sit next him. It was indeed a magnificent brilliant, set in a ring of a peculiar pattern. When the lamp was removed, it seemed to gather into itself the light out of the semidarkness and glittered like a bit of broken glass in the sunshine. ‘ What is it worth?’ asked one of the men present. “ tThat I can hardly tell you,’answered the American, ‘seein a friend at Buenos sent it to me direct, and I had it cut myself. But I’m tired of it and seldom wear it. ’ - t “ ‘Would you sell it?’ I inquired out of curiosity. “ ‘I might,’ answered the American, ‘especially as this European trip is cleanin me out faster than I expected, and I don't want to go home to Vermont skinned as neatly as a cod. Yes, you may have that diamond for £BO of your money, stranger, and dirt cheap at that, I should say.’ “I looked at the stone again, and the longer I looked at it the more I liked it. Eighty pounds was quite as much as my friend wished to pay for a stone, but what if I could get one for him worth £IOO for £80? " ‘Will you trade?’he asked. “ ‘I am not a judge of diamonds myself, ’ said I, returning the stone to its owner. ‘l’m afraid I couldn’t buy without taking a lapidary’s opinion as to its value. ’ “ ‘All right.’ said the American carelessly; ‘if you care to hev it, we can go round to a jeweler’s in the mornin. And if he puts a lower value on the stone than I did you can hev -it at the price he names, if you like to buy. I can’t say fairer than that.’ “The offer did indeed seem a very fair one, and 1 wenLto bed that night deter-’ mined to-secqßrthe jewel for my friend if the expert reported favorably on it. “Next morning the American and I strolled down to the shop of the chief jeweler of the town, and when we entered the place I first of all paid my footing by purchasing some trifle, and then taking the ring from the band of my new’ acquaintance I placed it before the jeweler and asked him to give me an opinion as to its value. ‘A ver’ fine stone, sir,’ said the Frenchman. ‘I congratulate you on the possession of so fine a diamond.’ “ ‘lt is not mine. It belongs to my friend here.’ “ ‘Ah, if that be the case, then I congratulate heem,’ said the polite tradesman. “ ‘What do you suppose it is worth?’ I asked. “ ‘Oh, it is difficult to say,’ said the Frenchman, shrugging his shoulders. ‘Von gentleman sinks von price mor’ for him ; another sinks’—— “ ‘Yes, but what would you give if you were to buy it? Would you give 1,800 francs?’ • “The jew’eler did not reply for a few seconds. He popped his microscope once more into his eye, held the ring up to the light, examined the setting and fell to making elaborate calculations with a pencil on a sheet of paper. “ ‘I do not often buy such large stones, but I will give you 2,500 francs .mid i for this one.’ iavnil hi'.*- ‘‘The Yankee did ndt reply, and tho gniq-j i. Frenchman, assuming that hisoffer was h; n o Cfc; V l ed, pl ;ed, I fthp, jrijig on a little grijlo(( 9 ;.Jpdgfi bglijfld.rhinimnd opened his desk of Brother Jona*than. ‘The diamond’s not for sale.’ . “ ‘Two thousand six hundred francs,' was the Frenchman’s reply.

“The American shook his head. “ ‘Seven hundred-—eight hundred!’ “ ‘No!’ “ ‘Nine hundred—ll,ooo francs! That ;s my last' offer. Pause, I beg of you, 1 monsieur, l>efore you retuse it. It is a I large sum -8,000 francs.’ And as if he were convinced that no one could refuse ■ such a price he put the stone once more ' among his own treasures and again | turned round for his checkbook. “ ‘Thunder, ’ exclaimed the Yankee, j ‘what do you take me for? 1 tell you I can’t and I won’t sell you the ring. It j was as good as sold to this British gen- [ tieman last night, and it isn’t mine to sell any more. Give me the ring.’ “So saying the American took the ring rather sharply from the jeweler’s hand and replaced it on his finger. The Frenchman next made me an offer for the trinket, but as I bad not bought it tor myself of course I could not sell it, and we left, the shop. "My mind was clear now as to tho prudence of giving £BO for the diamond. I had heard the best jeweler in the town offer 8.000 francs, or £l2O, for it. “ ‘Well, I must say you have acted most honorably,' said I to the American when we reached the street. ‘After all. a bargain can’t be all on one side, and I had never promised to buy the ring,, so yon had a perfect legal right to sell it to the Frenchman.’ “‘You needn’t say no more, stranger,’ said the Yankee as if he were tired of tho subject. ‘You can hev the stone now if you choose at the price we fixed on last night.’ And beheld the ring out to me. “But I had to get my letters of credit cashed, and I agreed to meet the American in the billiard room in an hour’s time and conclude the transaction. “No one was in the billiard room when I entered it, for it was still early in the day, except the American, who was standing by the empty fireplace. The transfer did not occupy more than five seconds, and the Yankee immediately proposed drinks. These being discussed, we separated, and I saw no more of my friend from the States that day. “That evening after dinner I happened to besitting not far from the fireplace in the billiard room when I noticed a small round object lying just inside the marble fender. Curious to know what it was, I left my seat and picked it up. It was a jeweler's ringcase, not an uncommon article certainly, yet hardly the sort of thing one often sees on the floor of a billiard room. “Suddenly I remembered that the American bad been standing close to the spot where I found it when earlier in the day I had exchanged my 2,000 francs’ worth of notes for his diamond. An uncomfortable feeling crossed my mind. What did he want with a ringcase? He had been wearing the ring he sold to me. He might have kept a case for it of course and might have thrown it away when be parted with the ring. “I opened the case. The maker’s name was inscribed in gilt letters insidgthe lid, and the address given was Paris. ‘Paris!’ said Ito myself. ‘He said the ring had been bought in Brazil. ’ There was no real ground for suspicion, yet I was uneasy. I went up stairs and tcok out the ring. The pattern—you sec it is a peculiar one—l remembered well. Somehow I judged or fancied that the diamond did not shine as brightly as it had done the night before. “Next morning I took the ring to a second jeweler and asked him his opinion as to its value. He examined the diamond carefully and laid it down on the glass case before him with one contemptuous word: “ ‘Paste!’ “ ‘Paste!’l echoed. ‘lmpossible!’ “ ‘Certainly paste, and a very good imitation,’ he replied, turning away. “My heart sank within me. Eighty pounds was a sum I could ill afford to lose. “With'a faint hope that the second expert had been mistaken. 1 took the ring to the jeweler who had offered the American 3,000 francs for it. “He seemed pleased to see me, but as goon as he had glanced at the ring his lace changed. “ ‘This is not the same ring you showed me yesterday,’ he said in a tone that made it plain that he thought I meant to cheat him. ‘At least,’ ed, ‘it is not the sanje stone. This is not a stone at all—it is paste.’ “ ‘So I htfve been told,’ I said sadly. ‘Are you sure the jewel I showed you yesterday was a genuine diamond?’ “ ‘I am certain of it, ’ heanswered. “The honorable conduct—as I had thought it—of the stranger in refusing to sell to the jeweler was now intelligible. The jeweler meant to keep the real stone. It was not difficult to see how the fraud had been managed. The swindler had had two rings made exactly alike of a striking and peculiar pattern. In one of them he had placed a genuine and very fine diamond. This was the decoy. In the other he bad put a false diamond, closely resembling in size and shape the genuine one in the first ring. The one he wore and offered to sell was the true stone. When he got it back from the jeweler, he had kept it and had given me the sham one in exchange for my £BO. What was I to do? “The first thing was to ascertain whether my friend had left the hotel. Os course he the afternoon of the previous day. Still the scent was so hot that I fancied I should have little difficulty in tracing him. But when 1 found him my difficulties would only begin. Os course he would swear that he had sold me the ring with the stone which the jeweler had declared to be genuine. I might conceivably have substituted paste for the true gem as well as he. In any case, when I thought of the difficulty of getting back my money from an American wandering about Europe, my heart sank within me. Even if the police consented to help me, taking my word against his, even |f the rogue were convicted, how was I io recover the 2,000 francs? “These thoughts passed through my mind as I hurried baek to the btftel. Certainly the prospect was gloomy. ‘‘ I easily ascertained that the Amer-

ican had taken the train for Paris the day before, and I determ Ined to follow him at once. I <lid not despair of finding him, as he would probably put up at <ne of the good hotels. “On the way up to Paris I could think of nothing but my loss. Thia felI low I saw had hit upon a very safe and i profitable method of swindling. In nine cases out of ten the cheated man would not discover bis loss for years after he had seen the last of the American, if indeed the trick was discovered at all, for tHe paste was quite good enough to deceive a casual observer, and the own- ' er would of course be actuated by a profound faith in his diamond straight from Brazil. Had it not beqn for the incident of my finding the ringcase, which the rogue had accidentally dropped, 1 should in all probability have unwittingly cheated poor Turenno out of his.money, and he might afterward have been supposed to be trying to palm off a spurious diamond for a real gem. In all probability the fellow made a living, and a very good one, by going about Europe and practicing this trick. “This idea sent off my thoughts on a new track, and by the time I had arrived in Paris 1 had decided on my course of action. “First of all, I made careful inquiries at the railway station as to a tall American who had arrived from Nice by a certain train on a preceding day, and by the help of some 5 franc pieces 1 found the cabman who had driven him to his hotel —the Continental. “This being ascertained, I chose a .quiet, unpretending hotel for myself near one of the railway stations. Then I emptied the contents of a light bag on my bed, and taking it empty in my hand went to a theatrical costumer’s, and saying I intended to take part in some private theatricals I hired the costume of a French abbe. It was a part I had often played in a piece that had a pretty long run in London some eight years ago, and I had little doubt that I should be able to acquit myself in it fairly well. I got the proper dress, wig, powder and everything complete, and having put all the articles into my bag I went to one ot the railway stations and took a return ticket for a station a little way out in the country. “To my disgust 1 found it impossible to get a compartment to myself. The train was too crowded, but I reflected that the trains returning to Paris would probably be much less crowded in the afternoon than those going into the country. “In this supposition I was right. I hung about the suburban railway station till a return train was about to start. It was nearly empty, and a douceur to the guard secured me the privacy I needed. By the time I returned to Paris I was a stout, benevolent looking French priest in comfortable circumstances. My suit of tweeds I had placed in my bag. which I took care to leave at the railway station. Then I made the best of my way to the Hotel Continental. “I was just in time for the table d’hote, and as I took iny seat I noticed with great satisfaction that my transatlantic friend was sitting not far off, and that he had not a suspicion of my identity". Nothing, I knew,.cotfkl bp done until after dinner, so I waited through the tedious procession of courses as patiently as I could, and when at last they came to an end I followed the American and a little group of men who surrounded him to the smoking room. It was not exactly the place for a priest, but I could not help that. • “I sat down by a little ronnd table near the American, but slightly,behind him, so as to be able to hear the conversation without joining in it unless I wished. From time to time I offered a remark, speaking of course in French, to the man who sat next me, but for the most parti smoked my cigar and sipped my coffee in silence. “As I expected, it was not long before diamonds became the subject of conversation. “ ‘I don’t know much about diamonds myself, ’ said the American, speaking in his native tongue, ‘but I’m told by good judges that thar’s about as good a stone as you’ll see anywhere round.’ Almost exactly the phrases, I said to myself, which the fellow used to me at Nice! “ ‘ You kin take a look at it,’ he added carelessly, drawing off the ring and handing it to one of the group. I bent forward, so as to see more clearly what was going on. One after another the men who were sitting near examined and admired the ring. The man next me was the last to look at it. “ ‘A friend 1 hev at Buenos Ayres sent it to mp, and I had it cut myself.’ “At this' point I noticed tifat my neighbor had finished his examination of. the diamond, and I touched him, intimating that I, too, would like to have a look at it. He handed it to me as a matter of course. “It was the very ring which had been exhibited in the same way at Nice. I had the imitation one which had been palmed off upon me ready in my hand, and under pretense of txying the effect of the gem on my finger I easily substitued the one for the other, slipped the false ring on my finger, admired it, as in duty bound, and then pulling jt off handed it back to iny neighbor, who in turn gave it to the American. “I put the real diamond, which! had secured, into my pocket and finished my coffee hastily just as Brother Jonathan was making an appointment with a rich young Frenchman to meet at the shop of a fashionable jeweler next morning and take his opinion on the value of the gem. “ ‘And since it has taken your fancy, said the‘ unsuspicious American, ‘you shall hev it for the same sum the jeweler offers me for jt. I can’t say fairer than that now, can I?’ b “I went back th' the tailway station, got my bag, changed my hat arid coat In the waiting room, slipped into the hotel and next day set off for Cannes. “My only regret was that I was unable to make a study of the American’s face when the Paris jeweler put a price on his beautiful diamond next mortiing. ’’—Exchange. ° --

NEW SPRING CLOTHING AT . . ~ -Pete Holthouse & Co. v - : gIOUR SPRING GOODSg- fl) OTO IB MIW are coming „ is complete in <la| b in every respect. < iU ® pite HATS and CAPS • M in various hard times. different styles *• 1415 if * j» .. st 'AM We have W H and colors - a larger stock wO'BW' eleOt K° m ; f !?TtILOR MiiDb than any time before £>''' ***!?’’•'•s ’ with prices to suit the ’ w/ rsv''' ’‘‘■iWi >”O3 i/ J “‘Times.” T We carry an immense II line of Piece Goods Confirniatioii Suits! WByr* The most attractive line spißl® Patterns in the city to select your and Styles. Boys Confirming Suits from. v At remarkable 88l Come in Low Prices. _ .Mp-JW K'W and select USmaH and see them. early. WTETE HOLTHOUSE & CO. S I KCE2xrETvr-A.Krixr bros., f FARMERS’ FEED YARD. W®®!® \ NORTH HARRISON ST., Ft. Wayne, Ind., Xu (formerly Melching’s.) nmiinrin n Stable Room for 200 Horaea. ltl!III I L’A OTHELLO 11. COMMENCING AFRH. 1, 1894. In connection with our Feed Yard, the above named Horses will make a full season, (Spring and Fall stand) at reasonable prices. All old patrons and as many new ones as may be able to give us part of their patron - age, will find the best of accommodation; good wide stalls, a pure well of w’ater ana a dry yard. Horse shoeing and Harness shop on premises: also a first-class Farmers Eat ing House w’here meals are served at 20 cents. Farmers who should be drawn on the jury, boarded at 50 cents per day, lodging included. We solicit vour trade. Your Servants, KttNEMANN BROS.

GROCERIES 11 — GROCERIES 11 Bremorßamp ‘ wl■ W■■■ ■■■■ w v v (SUCCESSORS TO DONOVAN & COFFEE.) This i —I J established Everything w iPjL in the line business _ rAy house enjoys M ~ household a trade ./ wiw ftvßnfTß i I /ItiWT necessities second ir vtiWsaM'Wn v I 'll H a re to be to none ■ IM \ found there in the city. \ _- r ■- lust received from the Jerome B. Rice & Co., Seed House, Cambridge, N. Y., “New Early Queen and “Early Rose” potatoes. rfj|r|pUGißS, SYRUPS, & CfiHHED of all kinds such as Asparagus Tips, (Club House Brand) Extra French Peas,, Deviled Crab, Kippered Herring, Lobsters, etc., etc., sold at 25 pounds of Light Brown Sugar for SI.OO ROCK BOTTOM PRICES. Oasli X»«.lca for Butter and Doira & Mun w . * ~ , | East Side ot Second Street, Decatur, Ind. .'l' , IHU '7l 11'1...,!'! 11l JI I . " ' . Ib "■= . - , < ■■■ I ' .p.’ .mH Juv ... r-,,.;- J<if, I- bf'djj W ,J ' i _ nao I —' ’ ** ' -■ • ! ~ .mitki Hili t'JOV? JSVrif®] y U ■ ) 1. ‘ —— ----- . ' - .. . ■ I

The Human Electrical Forces! How They Control the Organs of the Body. Tho electrical force of the human body, as the nerve fluid may be termed, is an especially attractive department of science, as it exerts so marked an influence on the health of the organs of the body. Nerve force is produced by the brain and conveyed by means of the nerves to the various organs ol the body, thus supplying- the latter with the

vitality necessary to injure tneir health. The pneumogastrlc nerve, as shown here, may be said to be the most important □f the entire nerve system, as it supplies the heart lungs, stomach, bowels, etc., with the nerve force necessary to keep them active and healthy. As will be seen by the cutthe long nerve descending from the base of the bxain and terminating in the bowels is the pneumogastrlc, 1 while the numerous llt-1 tie branches supply the] heart, lungs and stom-l ach with necessary vl-1 tality. When the brain becomes in any way disordered by irritability] or exhaustion, the nerve! force which it stawlies is lessened, and MB organs receiving the diminished supply are consequently weakened.

Physicians generally fall to recognize! the Importance of this fact, but treat th® organ itself Instead of the cause of the troubl® The noted specialist, Franklin Mlles, M. TtJ LL. 8., has given the greater part of his Ilf® ‘ to the study of this subject, and the principal discoveries concerning ft are due to his e fforts|i Dr. Miles' Restorative Nervine, the unri® . valed brain and nerve food, Is prepared on th® principle that all nervous and many othel difficulties originate from disorders of th® nerve centers. Its wonderful success incurln® these disorders is testified to by thousands i® every part of the land. Restorative Nervine cures sleeplessnKJl nervous prostration, dizziness, hysteria, sex® ual debility, St. Vitus dance, epilepsy, etc. I® is free from opiates or dangerous drugs. I® is sold on a positive guarantee by all drug® gists, er sent direct by the Dr. Miles Medical Co., Elkhart, Ind., on receipt of price, $1 pel bottle, bottles for $5, express prepaid. M Sold by all Druggists, I 1 Notce to aid I That we will keep constantly on han® at our mill corn, oats, chop, mixed chopl bran and shorts of the best quality, anil at the lowest possible prices. Will del i i HVer’frig tb'any part of the city. Call and ■ 34 -t s

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