Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1894 — Why Diamonds Are Not Cheaper. [ARTICLE]

Why Diamonds Are Not Cheaper.

A traveler who has just returned from the gold and diamond fields of South Africa says that there are enough diamonds in that country to stock four or five worlds with buttons almost, but that the mines are in control of a great syndicate, of which Sir Cecil Rhodes is the head. He was shown through the company’s establishment and saw thousands' of buck-. ets filled with diamonds, but the combination controlling them keeps track of the market, and when prices are good a a uantity of the gems are taken to Londoil, care being always taken not to send enough to glut the market. Any man caught trying to smuggle a diamond but of the” country is given seven \ ears at hard labor, so it is a dangerous business