Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-09-16
A REMrNiscsNcE.
The Work of a Clever. Diamond Thief on
Board of Mississippi; Steamer

Tho Work of Clever. Diamond Thief on
Board of a Mississipp; Steamer.
In the Year 1859 this writer was pub
lishing newspaper on the magnificent
'low-pressure steamer Richmond. which
piled between Louisville and New Or.
leans. The vessel was 1920 tons
burden, nearly five hundred feet long
and fitted UP in truly paiatial style.
She had two cabins beside the Texas; I"
a brass band and string
band, and the expense of rnn-
ming the craft was enormous Befrg
of such grand proportions and so e}e-
CANT in all her appointments. and pos.
sessed of many novelties, among them
q newspaper printed on board. rich
and titled people from all parts of the
world were her passengers and guests,
and many strange and thrilling epi-
sodes were connected with her career.
The writer is reminded of one Of these
by New York letter which was pub
lished in the Omaha Herald concerning
the future Duke and Duchess Of; Man
chester. now yiscoqnt and Lady Man:
deville.
In the year mentioned at the begin.
min of his article the wife of a wealthy
Cuban was q passenger on TIE Rich
nond. accompanied by her little
daughter, child of singular beauty,
and they were going from the North,
where they had been spending the sum-
mer, back to husband and father in
tiieir Southern hame on she 'CycI
Faithful Isle ;,
:. .Lateone night dpriag the nap when
the Richmond was blowing majestical-
liy a,ong.the quiet .w;stefs Of toe Missis-.
.sipri. iis.What is knoYsn as the ''coast
region. S-~ between Bayou Sara aud
New Orleans, and while few gentle:
men were yet loungins. about the fors
ward pars of the main salon, suddenly
a lady III startling desIabille, Wits pros
fuse dark Aaii dishevellsd and stream.
ing about ,hcr neck ;snd shoulders,
burst from she door of s,er state-roem.
and ran toward the gentlemen, almost
shrieNing: My diamonds! my dia.
mOn IS are gsale!'
!, She was followed by hesHittla dauga.
Ter, then a cidid of tender years, whe
was crying p;seously, mofa doubtless
over her mothers distress than hex
loss. .ti sr..
The situations was soon made appar-
ant- Some. OLE had reached through
the transom of she ladys statc-roOm,
evidently. from tlie 1arbOarGa side, and
knd cut the pocket from ,&r dress,
Niiieh hung behind the door,: and had
thus secured great mass of beautiful
and. costly diamonds, worth hundreds
of thousands, and more than the ira
ditioNal ransom Of Prince.
f, snon. all were In commoti5as. The
boat and ever% body on board were
SEARCHED for thsiost jewels. but they
werenever foun.A 1t was a&pposed
that dle theft hadsfollowed the lady for
wee:ss and perhaps months, watching
his opportunity, End finally having sue
ceed.al in obtaining the booty had left
the boat at the tirss opportunity when
she Tszade a landing for fuel or sor the
discharge of frelgits, or he. may have
sprary in the water and swan ashore.
At any rate he escaped and the
diam ,nds were lost The lady subse-
iuCudlN SuCu tIlCt t6kAitl VI INT tefstt lOT
the value of the jewels, and the case
was sfied' monsAs afterwards in Il
court, T5sh what resuITs this
wIitelsis unableto state but it is probable
that she never recovered any thing, as
there was a safe On the vessel, kept eX-'
pressIt for the care of the .vanablcs
of passengers, aniithe lady WAS GER
tainly very heedlessin leaving diamonds
of such quantity sgd value in tha PLACE
from syhence they We're stolens and
doubtless no court would be lisble to
hold others respc asible for such. care
lessness.
The'commandef of the Richmond and
owne1'of large interest in the vessel
was Captain j. S>tutt Neal who IS an
uncle.of the present Territorial Secre-
tary Of Wyoming, Hon. Z. S. b. Nor
gan, from whons he gets parst of his
Christian namei. and who is now a
citizen of indianapolis, living in a
handsome .home-in the northern SUBJ
Urbs of that city
The lady who lost the Diamonds was
Madame Yznaga, the mother of the
present Lady Vaudeville, and ihe little,
girl who crieG so piteously was the
present Lady Vaudeville herself, the
future Duchess Of Manchester. Viii
FISCHER, IN Cheyenne Mirror. eF