The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1873-09-03
The Plot to Rob the shah.

A plot to rob the Shah of his diamonds
has come to the knowledge of the Lon
don police, and forms the subject of a
very interesting letter to the New York
Horld The scheme was one of stupen-
dous and unparalleled audacity, involving
the seizure and chloroforming of the
King of Kings" and the ingenious ar
rangement of its details does great credit
to its accomplished concoctors. The or
ganizer of the conspiracy was Colonel Al
gernon Hawkins, an adventurer of world
wide experience, though wealthy and of
good family. He associated with him
Jew, Sevopino, and dealer in diamonds;
Narses Dadian, a Persian, who was tho.
roughly familiar with the language and
knew the Shah's weak points, and Zoby
Spring, a frst-class burglar and accom-
plished safe-cracker. The robbery was to
be committed in London, but it was
thought necessary to know perfectly the
" lay of the land" before the Shah's ar
rival there, so Narses was sent to Mos
COW to attach himself to the royal suite
This he easily did, in the capacity of In
terpreter to one of the Ministers. He Sc
cured photographs of the Shah, which
were sent to Paris and examined under
the microscope; patterns of the jewels
and their settings were drawn, and imita-
lions in paste were made. Meanwhile
Hawkins had established himself in great
style in London as an American nabob
spending a few weeks in the city for the
recreation of his daughter, a very lovely
blonde, just graduated from school, and
Spring had been experimenting the con-
struction of q splendid set of burglars
tools. When the Shah arrived in Lon
don, Narses met his associates, and the
plan was laid.
The London police had taken such ex-
traordiuary precautions to prevent Just |
such robbery that the actual burglary |
of the Buckingham palace was contem-
plated only as last resort-the conspira-
tors preferred first to work upon the
Shah's peculiarities. And this was their
best hold" for he was narrow minded |
and superstitious and exceedingly suscepti-
bic to female beauty Of this last "pe-
culiarity" they decided to avail them
selves The shrewd Narses brought about
! meeting between Hawkins and one of
.he Shah's ministers, an ambitious and
INSCRIPTIONS man, and while
hey hobnobbed over their wine, Haw-
Sins arranged things beautifully Briefly,
.he beauty of the mademoiselle, Haw-
inns supposed daughter, was to be used
o inveigle the Shah into making her one
# his harem, and her probable influence
'ver the amorous monarch would be use
III in advancing the interests of the min
ster aHd of Hawkins, who pretended to
Iesire a position on the staff. The plans
we're laid and Hawkins hied to his "pals''
o report progress and arrange final de-
ails, in which the minister was not con-
erned. Photographs of the beautiful
were brought to the notice
f the Shah with the information that the
rize could be had for the asking. Bark
= was more than "wilIin,n eager, in
lct, and so one day when the retinue re-
armed from Windsor the girl was con-
placed at the window where the
-Oman-worshipping eyes of Nasrid Din
II upon her. A glance was sufficient to
snder him ten5erly alive to her charms
nd next day she received Essom him costly
nitatiOn Of rose cut in enamel and stud