White, Fred Merrick: The Leopard's Spots. V1. 30 Apr 2012
 

Frederick Merrick White (1859-?) wrote a number of novels and short stories under the name Fred M. White, including the six 'Doom of London' science-fiction stories, in which various catastrophes beset London. These include The Four Days' Night (1903), in which London is beset by a massive killer smog; The Dust of Death (1903), in which diphtheria infects the city, spreading from refuse tips and sewers; and The Four White Days (1903), in which a sudden and deep winter paralyses the city under snow and ice. These six stories all first appeared in Pearson's Magazine, and were illustrated by Warwick Globe.
Wikipedia

Excerpt

Stagg made a sort of shield of the evening paper, and on it the young man proceeded to pour a handful of glittering diamonds, together with an ornament set with the same sort of stones which looked to Stagg uncommonly like a five-pointed star. When he came to examine it more closely he saw from a tiny fracture on two of the edges that it was beyond question the counterpart of the star that he had picked up in the house in Porchester-place.