This article was originally published in Manufacturer and Builder Magazine March of 1870. Excerpt: WHEN, a few years ago, the writer of this article found in the French journals an account of a new application of the diamond, namely, for boring rocks, and gave to an American newspaper a translation of it, which went the rounds of the whole press of the United States, the story was disbelieved by many, and was thought absurd and extravagant. It was indeed known that glaziers use diamonds to cut glass, and that engravers on glass and precious stones employ them; but to use diamonds to bore in common rock, instead of the usual large steel punches and drills, was supposed by some to be the height of foolishness.