St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-06-11
A Strange Story That Has Recently
Come to Light.
SOME LONG LOST DIAMONDS,
Which Ruined the Happy Home Of a
Former Resident Of This g
City. IL :

young bride, who subsequently died,
leaving one child. The facts on which
this story is based occurred many years
ago, and as printed in the jewelers.
Review form a remarkable tale! that
reads like novel. Thirteen wears ago
| young Poland was clerk in small
| jewelers. repairing shop in Kansas City,
kept by Lyman j. EIlsIer. Ellsler's
business prospered as the city grew.
| and on the day he received a consign-
ment of $500 worth of diamonds he
built castles in Spain from the increased
| profits which must heneeforth attend
his business. His stock of goods
he nightly locked in small
| safe, the combination of which was
known to himself and his young
| clerk only. With, perhaps, slight bit of
formallty, pardOnable in man who had
| that day received heavier consignment
than any other merchant in town, he
locked his safe that night, and bidding
| his clerk good night, went home to a
happy wife and JOYOUS daughter. who
soon expected to become the bride of
EllSler'S young assistant in business.
| When EllSler arrived at his place of
business next morning, contrary to the
general order of things, the store was
| locked. The show cases had not been
llIICu 1OI Tic udy UuSIH0SS. opening
! the door, EllSler waited for the clerk,
who soon arrived, flushed when giving
as an excuse for his hardness that he
| had oversight himself. The young man
busted himself with putting the store in
order, while EllSler turned the cOmbina-
ton OF the safe, preparatory to begin
ming business for the day. Suddenly
! Ellsler gaSped, fell backward, and ut
| tering the one word "Gope!' fell into a
| dead stupor. The precious gems re-
| ceived the day before, and the chamoiS
| bag which contained them were not in
| the safe. The combination being found
untampered with and its workings be-
| ing known but to himself and his clerk,
| the latter was
ACCUSED OF THE ROBBERY,
! which charge he stOutly denied. Surely
| burglars were not the nocturnal visit
OrS, else the array of gold and silver
| ware would also have disappeared.
| The clerk was placed under arrest, but
| as no definite testimony could be
brought to bear against him he was re-
| leased. Even after her fathers heavy
| loss, and when circumstances pointed
| to. her lover as the guilty person, ELS
| ler'S daughter Emily would not believe
| ing which time the young clerk had
! been employed in st. Louis, they were
married, removing to st. Paul. A year
passed, and with its departure
came boy baby. Much against
his own wishes, but at the ur-
gent request of his wife, the husband
sent news of the happy event to EMsler
and his wife. The answer was brief
but terrible. you have given birth.
to the son of thief,' was all itsad:
but it was enough to break the young.
| ,Afh So -IN IL
course of a week. Ellsler's business,
rapidly dropped off, and financialdif1
cultieS following, he was finally enabled
| to sell out for enough money topur-
| chase several acres on the edge of
| LeaYenwOrth, and became one of the
many gardeners who in the early
morning supply the market with
vegetables and fruits. For nine
years he has been engaged in
this business, during which time
he and his wife have constantly.
mourned the unhappy ending of their
daughter. The recent heavy rains. and
bad roads have often prevented the old
man from making his accustomed trips
to the city market, and upon one of these
| occasions the FAMILY clock having be-
come out of order, he determined to
| give few hours to righting it. In some
way the pendulum was accidentally
broken during the job, and the old
clockmaker was about to give the job
up for the time being, when he be-
thought himself of what might prove to
be substitute, which had hung notion
less since the day he had crossed the
ocean and landed, carrying in his arms
the big family clock which had timed
the hours of his boyhOod days in Ger
many.
TIE FAMILY HEIRLOOM
had hung on the wall of his store in his
more prosperous days, but it was al
ways silent among the many ticking
watches and clocks. When Ellsler,
with the nervousness which sometimes
comes in obi age, quickened by the
sight of an article which brought back
to memory father and mother, sister and
brother, opened the old timepiece, he
certainly had no thought of what he
would find within. Closely ensconced
behind the pendulum was small
chamois sack, covered with dust, but
its contents as brilliant as the day,
twelve years before, when they had
first come into Jeweler Ellsler's pos
session. The old mans feelings at the
time of the discovery are. of course, i'm
possible to describe. Tears cOursed
down his cheeks, and when his wife
found him with bowed head, holding
the lost treasure in his arms. diamonds
falling to the floor with each heave of
his breast, she, in some unaccountable
manner, SurmiSed at glance what had
taken place, and fell to the floor faint
ing and calling upon her dead daughter
for forgiveness.
In conversation with correspondent
EllSler said: ''At first it seemed too
much like dream to believe, and at
least dozen times day | would run
I diamonds thvo,1crh Ey,n
less of where they scattered, in order to
convince myself that it was all real.
After awhile it all came back to me so
plain. Before locking up that evening
| thought that it would be better to Sc
cure the diamonds in some out-of-the-
way place. thinking that should the
safe be blown open during the night l
would
LOSE NEARLY MY ALL.
so Just before closing | secreted them in
the old clock. Being tned | slept
heavily; the next morning my surprise
at not finding them in the safe where /
nightly deposited all my goods must
have chased away all recollections of
where | had put them the night previz
Gus, and in the excitement following
my mind was turned. My wife and |
are growing old. We have a small COM
petence which our garden bringstIuS-
We intend spending our newly-acquiFed
wealth and more in searching fOpnup
son-in-law. How happy we would beM
and tear after tear dropped from the
dimmed eyes-''if we knew if Hour
grandchild were alive, and if we could
see him before we die" Il
The old man has disposed of his stand
on the public market, and has, I'M all
probability, begun the search for his
old clerk, Francis Poland, whosei pa,
rents formerly lived in Somermille,
Mass. 's.i