In Peoria, Quincy, Rock Island, Galena, Alton, Cairo, Belleville, Springfield, LaSalle, Ottawa, Morris, Kankakee, and low-license towns generally, the number of saloons as compared with population is still greater, averaging but little better than Chicago with its license of only $103, and one saloon to every 160 inhabitants—men, women, and children. Fifty-eight high-license towns of the State, with a population of 189,000, contain 401 saloons, or one to every 470 inhabitants. Make all the allowance that can be reasonably asked for the moderate drinking of the farming classes, and discount, if possible, our estimate for Chicago, and the total cost of liquor drank in Illinois exceeds $60 000 000 per annum. 2. The Illinois crop report for 1882 makes the winter wheat of that year worth $45,472,045 and the spring wheat $1,242,331.
THE DIAMOND.
Shenandoah, Iowa.
When, how and by whom were diamonds first discovered? What is the etymology of the word diamond? How did their value when first discovered compare with the same now? What is the value of a one-carat diamond of the finest quality?
R. P. Drake.
Answer.—The discoverer of diamonds is unknown. From references in Exodus it is apparent that the diamond was a precious stone in Egypt in those early times; and even before that it was known in India, where probably it was first obtained. The name is derived from the Greek word adamas, meaning “unsubduable,” referring to its hardness, and later was written diamas, in Latin. From Pliny, a writer of the first century, we learn that the diamond was regarded as the most valuable of all things, and but few kings even could afford to buy them. But as no means of artificial polishing had been discovered the stone depreciated in value, so that the ruby and emerald became more precious. The discovery by Ludwig van Berquen, in 1476, of a mode of cutting and polishing it, at once returned this gem to the first place among precious stones. The present value of a fine brilliant, weighing one carat, varies from $50 to $100. The rose and table diamonds command much less. Larger diamonds appreciate in value much more rapidly than the ratio of their weight. The Orloff diamond, 193 carats, is valued at $500,000; the Pitt diamond, 136 carats, at $600,000; the Dudley diamond, 254½ carats, at $750,000; while the Kohinoor, for various reasons, although now it weighs but 102½ carats, is estimated to be worth $2,000,000.
AUTHORS OF CERTAIN POEMS.
Randolph, N. Y.