The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-02-18
WHAT WILL SHE DO WITH 1T.
An Elephant In the House that will Require
Constant Watching and Many Hours of
Anxiety.

An Elephant In the House that will Require
Constant Watching and Many Hours of
Anxiety.
There is at present stored in this city,
says tue New York Times, for safe-keep-
ing-we need not say where-a diamond
necklace of such splendor and value that
it would be worthy of public notice,
even were it not on other considerations.
1t is double necklace, and each of
these consists of three rows of diamonds,
any one of which lady might with
pleasure see upon her finger. But in
each necklace, both inner and outer,
there is, at intervals of about an inch
and half, a large diamond, so large
that no lady could wear it on her finger,
and of size that few of the fair ven
ture-even if they can afford-to wear
as solitaire earrings. In the middle of
the inner necklace is stone of great
size, the worth of which must be fully
ten thousand dollars, and from the outer
one depend seven pearl-shaped stones
of very unusual size, the middle one,
which hangs just below the large one of
the inner necklace, being of even greater
size and value than that. The necklace
is not alone. 1t is accompanied by ear
rings of corresponding value and design
a union of round stones above with
pear-shaped pendants below, all within
borders of smaller stones-which, how
ever, are small only by comparison with
the great ones to which they are satel-
lites. This magnificent decoration, the
value of which cannot be less than one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and
which, if all the stones were of the very
first water, would command more nearly
two hundred thousand, is merely an ad-
dition to the long list of rich presents
received by Miss Sherman on her mar
riage. 1t is a compliment from the
Khedive of Egypt to the soldier who
made the great march to the sea.
The question presents itself, What
will she do with it A.? What does any
lady, who does not wear crown, or at
least cOronet, when she is i'll full dress,
do with such a stupendous ornament as
this ! She may keep it locked up, and
on proper and rare occasions feast her
eyes by looking at it, OF provoke the envy
of her dearest friends by exhibiting it to
them. But think of the anxiety accom-
panying such a possession A guard
ought to be set over it night and day.
AS to wearing it, the owner would. if
she had any taste or sense of congruity,
be utterly at a loss to find any good
reason for SO doing. We have no occa-
sions here when such ornaments are in
place. Even in Europe they are worn
very rarely-only on state occasions or
at some very grand festivity. The no
ton that the noble women-the "female
Markisses," and such like-of the old
world go about blazing with diamonds,
even in the evening, is as absurd and
unfounded as the belief formerly enter
tanned that kings and queens wore their
crowns as other people wore hats. Dia-
monds or jewels of any kind, except a
modest brooch, seal ring, or some
thing of the kind, are scarcely ever seen
upon ladies of rank in Europe, except
Oh full dress occasions, and then they
wear not great deal, although what
they do wear is apt to be of the very
highest value and quality of the kind.
But diamonds or fine jewels of any kind
on other occasions would be regarded
among such people as evidences of bad
taste, and even of inferior breeding.
1t is undoubtedly true that much of
the European misapprehensions of the
genuine American character-that, for
instance, which comes of long New Eng
land, or Knickerbocker, or Southern
descent-is produced by travelling Ameri-
cans who have suddenly acquired wealth,
who have not had the advantage of the
best training at home, and who suppose
that to produce good impression and
get among the best people they must
make display of their possessions.
This duty is committed to the ladies OF
the party, and by them it must be con,
fessed, it is generally performed with q
thoroughness and a dash which are
quite startling. The diamonds in which
they are occasionally seen at taJlcS
dhOte, even in the morning, actually
frighten some of the very people upon
whom they are seeking to make a ia
vorable impression. They would be rs.
tonished to learn that the rather dowdy
looking person in dingy wrapper
whom they passed in the corridor, was
! the wife of one nobleman and the de
scendant of coroneted line of ancestors
This new diamond necklace may be very
pretty to look at; but the young lady
who has received it ought not to be
trusted out with it unless she is accom-
panied by two or three sharp policemen
in plain clothes and well armed.