The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-25

winter was relieved courteously Of her
ornaments by her coachman while driving
home along through a deserted street at
midnight, not only de many discreet New
Workers hire none save those coachmen,
footmen and buffers who will give bonds
as to their honesty, but on leaving the
opera house they render up their sun
bursts and necklaces to a discreet-looking
person in a high hat and smart evening
coat, who carries a small black case. He
is not a detective, as you may think but
a tried and true safe deposit man. The
black case is chained to his wrist, and he
collects jewels at the back doors of boxes,
and hurries them off to the security of
underground steel defended bank vaults.
Last spring there was a great litter of
excitement in New York society because
Of a gruesone adventure that befeH the
lovely Countess of Mar and Kellie in Lon
don. She was attending a reception given
the Prince and Princess of Wales and
wore her six strings of family pearls with
six diamond pendants. In the crush around
the door of the ducal town house. while
she tired to press through from her car
rage, the pendants were coolly wrenchod
from her neck. That London episode
seemed to settle it for our great ladies':
they come to and from the opera house as
bare of jewels as an orchestra performer.
The ornaments they are going to wear
stored in velvet-lined trays within and
fastened by two very business-like locks.
In the cloak closet behind her box the
owner of the jewels first puts hers on,
and there she takes them off and packs
them away before she puts her nose out
into the public corridors. With bonded
coachmen and the benevolent care of opera
house and safe deposit vault officials you
would think there was next to no danger,
but jewels are slippery things, and in this
opera house some notable gems have been
lost in the most mysterious manner"
Disappearance of Big Pearl.
A curiously unhappy instance is remem-
bered in society history concerning Mrs
Willard Ward, whose rings are quite as
splendid as rings can be. She treasured
however, above all her other gems soil
taire green pearl, the only perfect pearl of
its tint that ever came to New York,
and taking off her gloves one evening to
applaud with great comfort, she at once
saw its setting was empty. Down on the
floor went theg entlemen with her and her
husband, the box opened came in and took
even the carpet UP. Folding the skirts
of her dress close about her, Mrs Ward
went home and had the entire costume
ripped TO pieces over a sheet that night,
but the great green pearl was lost for
ever
an accident as befell Mrs. Whitney. to
whose box one night a friend brought in
and introduced a handsome young English
man. The good-looking foreigner had a
seat behind his hostess and between one
act he dwelt admiringly on the beauty of
the single string of big pearls about her
neck He told fascinati stories about
going down with a diver for pearls off
Ceylon, and eventually she unclasped her
string and gave it to him to examine He
raved over its perfection, aud as the cur
tain went up handed the gems back with
profuse thanks, at once gracefully TAX
ing his leave.
During the act Mrs Whitney held the
pearls in her hand, 50 absorbed was she
in the scene and singers, but as the cur
tain dropped again she found to her hor-
ror that the slight moisture of her palm
had so dulled the surface of the gems
they were quite unacceptable. 1t did not
take her very long TO realize that the af-
| fable stranger had eloped with her treas
ures, having left behind a clumsy dupli-
cate in the poorest wax imitation. The
friends hair grew almost white when he
| found his stalwart Englishman had with
! all celebrity quilted the opera house, and