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FIRE IN THE EARTH
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They
tried another blast and another, and the steel door gave way. They
seized every diamond they could. The Nazis, by this time, were swarming
toward that place. There is a small stream half a mile from the bank.
These men with their diamonds jumped in.
That
much of the story we know. The only thing we know besides is that the
men and their diamonds never have been heard of since.
Indeed,
long before this second World War or the first World War or any World
War, diamond-mining people came into the United States and settled, as
did most merchants, in lower New York. Since everything was
concentrated there in the way of business, they sought out some
special place to do business where they could get in touch with each
other quickly—Maiden Lane. It was a short lane, running westward from
Broadway. You can stroll through the street and see the dim outlines of
signs painted fifty years ago. You can see "Maiden Lane Diamond
Dealers." You still can see a few stores there.
But
so far as diamonds of today are concerned it is a dead street. Yet it
was not so many years ago that the police were saying in effect: He who
is found in Maiden Lane, if he has a police record is subject to
immediate arrest. Maiden Lane was the deadline. There were a number, of
spectacular robberies in the street over a long period of years, but
for the most part the street was a quiet one after the jewelry business
moved into it in the latter part of the eighteenth century.
Slowly
but inevitably the diamond business moved uptown, namely, the
importers, the cutters, the dealers. Maiden Lane began to fade and
today there is a Maiden Lane Historical Society to perpetuate its past
glories. A block, a long block between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Ave-
(122)
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