The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-01

strongly to the Orleans family as hav-
| ing some share in the business.
| AS the French revolution ended with
| one diamond scandal, so ii began with an
| other. The story Of the diamond necklace
/ passed from mouth to mouth at a time
/ when party spirit ran high, was used as
a powerful political weapon against the
/ king and queen, and probably contribut-
ed in no small degree to bring on the rev.
/ olutiOn. Briefly told, the tale of this his
I tOric scandal is this: In 17S5 one BONNER
Paris jeweler collected a number of
me diamonds and made a necklace val
ued at 100000 francs. He offered it to the
queen. who was unable at the time to
purchase and bemoaned the fact so loud
| ~ that 1t became matter of common
/ gossip in the court, and finally reached the
ears Of Prince Cardinal de Rohan at that
/ time in disgrace and anxious to be restor-
/ ed to royal favor. Rohan saw his oppor-
| tunity, and determined to improve it by
| securing the necklace and prese nting it to
/ the queen. Among his other faults, how
! ever Rohan talked too much and a
| couple of roguish intimates, for he had
| many such, resolved to turn the matter
| twain Were Nine. de la Motto, a daShing
woman of bad reputation, and her hus-
! band. Playing on the hopes of Rohan
| they exaggerated the queens desire for
| the necklace, and went so far as to gain
! Tor him an interview at night with a wo-
| man named D'OliVa, who bore so strik-
| ing likeness to Marie Antoinette that
| Roman. in the gloom of the Versailles
! gardens, was completely deceived. Ro-
/ lAeAAi PhA NildSGA ln6 HtCkldCe ana gave NJ
| TO the countess to turn over to the queen
| but, instead, it was taken charge of by
| de la Motto who hurried to London with
/ 1t and turned 1t into cash.
Many months passed before the fraud
| was unearthed, the discovery coming
about through the jeweler, who failed to
| get his money, and finally approached the
| king The whole story then came out
| Cardinal Rohan was arrested as he was on
/ ms way to sing mass at court, and hust-
| led OFF TO the Bastile. Nine la Motto was
J tried, convicted branded on the should
! ers, and sentenced to Imprisonment for
! life. La Motto never ventured back to
/ france, and after q year or two the mad
anne escaped and went to England, where
/ she printed pamphlets about the wicked
| ness OF the French court. The people,
| however, who hated Marie Antoinette,
would not be convinced that she was in
! nocent of the affair, and the story of the
diamond necklace was cited to her dis
on her way to execution.
| Some years ago Paris jeweller told
| story of one diamond which had passed
! over his counter no less than eleven times.
| 1t was beautiful stone of nearly four ca
! rats of perfect color and lustre but cas-
| lily Unidentified by means of small "feath-
! er" in the tip of the lowest part. He
bought it from an East India dealer and
| had 1t set in ring. 1t was sold to a coun-
| tranco-PrusSian war. The countess died
! in a few weeks, and the ring was worn by
! her husband. He was killed in the siege
! of Paris, and a few days after his death
the ring was brought into the store for
sale by common soldier. He was arrest
ed and the ring sent to the family of the
dead count.
Before the siege ended they brought in
! the ring and sold it to the dealer in order
| to procure money to buy food. Directly af-
ter the siege 1t passed into the hands of
an English tourist, who visited the city to
| get look at the ruin wrought by the
! Communists, and a year later back came
| the stone from the Indian buyer of the firm
| who, ON being written to and desired TO
| tell how he got 1t, stated that it had been
the property of am English tourist hunter
| who had been Killed by tiger, and his
friends sold the ring to get means to send
| the body home. The stone was rest and
soon found a purchaser in a prominent
member of the domi-monde, who not long
! after was murdered in her room Among
! the articles taken by the murderer was
| the ring and the firm began to wonder
! how soon 1t would turn up. They had not
| long to wait, for all their people had by
! this time learned about the stone and
were on the lookout for it. After six
months it was found in the showcase Of
a jeweller in London. who had bought it
from a firm in Amsterdam. 1t was bought
by the Paris agent and sent back to be
| started afreSh on its travels. 1t was pur-
| chased again by a woman of the town
| who six weeks later was drawn out of
Seine with the gem on her finger, and, by
| a strange coincidence it was offered to
the firm that sold it by the police agents,
the court having jurisdiction having or
! dered 1t to be sold. And so it went from
hand to hand, attended with misfortune
at every change, and usually bringing
death TO Ine DOSSeSSOr. LdDOrerS IN COL
conda mines used to say that when
stone was baptized in blood when first
taken from the earth it caused the she'd
ding of blood wherever it went, and the
story of one such ill-omened gem goes far
to confirm belief in such superstition.
Fantastic Rites in Chinese Temple
From the Literary Digest.
In letter to the American board from
| Rev. Mr.. Goddard, who is doing mission
airy work at Foochow, China, is the fol-
| lowing description of a temple service of
the Taoist order, which we take from
LET us watch the devotee and see how
| he WorShips idols of wood. First he lights
two of these minute sticks of incense,
such as are sold in America now for
seeming rooms placing them in the urn
| on the ground before il and, with hands
on the ground, bows until his head touches
the floor. He knocks his head three times
| against the floor, and then rises upright
| on his knees, and then repeats this three
times, making nine knoekings in all.
| After this he remains some time on his
| knees, mumbling a form of words or ador-
4 ing the idol. When he thinks that he has
done this enough to secure the good will
altar two pieces of wood that in shape
and size are like an ostrichs egg split
sprout that has been sawed in two. These
he waves in the smoke Of the incense
and then returns to his kneeling position
of bamboo before him for a minute he
losses them into the air. If one falls on
the fiat side, and one on the round, il
means that the idol win graciously an
swer his prayer; if they both fall on
the fiat side, the result is uncertain ana
he must resume his devotions; but if they
both fall on the round side the
idol is said to be laughing at him or re-
| fusing to answer. If one falls on the
fiat side and one on the round, he then
| goes to the altar and takes a wooden
| cylinder half filled with fiat strips Of
bamboo on which are written different
numbers or characters. Holding this in
| both hands he slowly moves it up ana
down. He moves it faster and faster
making tho bamboo strips hop up and
| down, until one hops out upon the floor.
| This he eagerly scans and then takes to
| the priest, who for a small sum gives
| him sealed paper corresponding to the
number on the slip that hoped out, and
| which contains the answer to his PRAYER
| 1t processes to tell him the lucky day 10
plant rice or to begin the repairs on his
| house"
! -Rumor has it that a prominent Amer
| Jean magazine Is trying TO induce Ii Hung
| Chang TO furnish an article unOn the M