Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-08-03
THE TRUTH ABOUT
The B/ue-Diamond Robbery.

| this ridiculous assertion, and after the
process of search had been repeated
again and again, Blumefeeld returned
with two of the police to his Office in
Hatton Garden, where it was thought
possible that the thief might have
managed to drop the stones. But the
most careful scrutiny of every nook,
Granny and corner failed to discover
them. Blumefeeld, very naturally, fell
into fine state of mind.
In the interval between the arrest
and his trial Blumeseeld obtained leave
to see the prisoner in Newgate.
''Look here" he said to him Il am
condensing the evidence subsequently
given by warder at the triaD, "I'll
make you an offer. If you'll tell me
what you've done with those dia-
monds, and enable me to recover them,
I'll pay $4,000 to any representative of
yours you like to name. The money
shall be paid to him in cash here, in
your presence, and then you can have
it when you come cut. You're not
making matters q bit better for your
self by sticking to that absurd and in
credible story. If anything, rather
worse, for you'll get dropped on more
heavily by taking that line than if you
do your best to restore me my stolen
property. Now, then, you'll be fool
if you refuse; you will, upon my
word"
eff I had stolen the diamonds, or
knew where they were, I'd close with
you like shot, Mr.. Blumefeeld, for
know very we'll that I'm in for five
years, anyhow. But 1 didn't steal
them, and don't know where they
are any more than you do" answered
Morris. "My story sounds unlikely
enough, I'm we'll aware. Maybe the
judge and jury won't believe it, either;
but it's true, and that's all about it.
From this position-true or false
nothing could induce him to bulge.
The day of his trial arrived. The
case excited great interest, and tho
recorders court was packed. There
were two counts in the indictment,
the one I'm not lawyer, and only
quote from memory, therefore l will
crave indulgence i'll case my legal
phraseology be incorrect)-the one of
feloniously breaking into" Blume-
feeld's premises in Hatton Garden; the
other of ''srealing tnerefrom diamonds
to the value of go, 000" To the for
mer the prisoner pleaded guilty, to the
latter not guilty, and the prosecution,
in the hope of procuring more ex-
emplary sentence, proceeded with the
charge of stealing the jewels. But
this was difficult matter to prove.
Every body, of course, was convinced
that Morris had stolen the diamonds;
but to establish it by the tech lical
rules of evidence was another affair.
Against the fact that he was eau hit on
the premises, admittedly with the in
tention of stealing the diamonds, had
to be set the fact that no sign of
diamond, or any tIer stolen article,
was found upon him when caught.
Furthermore, the circumstance of his
having refused Blum efeeld's offer of
g2000, which was ELECTED by his coun-
sci in evidence, went to some slight
extent in his favor. But this the
prosecution tried to discount by ad-
vancing the theory that he must have
had an acconplice who had made off
with the jewels and that the prisoner
would be hardly likely to give away
600, 900 for $4,000. On the other hand,
the defence urged that there was ab-
solutely no evidence of the existenae e
Of any accomplice; and, besides, after
the manner in which the theft of the
blue diamonds had been bruited abroad
and advertised, it would be impossible
for the thief or thieves to dispose of
them for quarter of their real value,
if indeed at all. In which contention,
of course, there was some truth.
The recorder summed up at consid-
erable length-a careful, equipoised
summing up, as 1 remember thinking
at the time, balanced, like the SEN
tences in Greek dialogue, with FER
petual "on the one hand" and con the
other hand;" impartial, no doubt, but
colorless, and atfording no assistance
whatever to the jury. The latter, after
considering their verdict for an hour
or so, at length brought the prisoner
in mot guilty" on this indictment.
He was then sentenced on the other in
dictment to 20 months hard labor, the
recorder observing that if anything
previous had been known against him,
which apparently there was not, he
should have sent him into penal servi-
tude.
Such is brief--a very brief-re-
capitulation of Robert Morris's trial
and sentence in connection with the
theft of the blue diamonds.
now come to the important point
in my story, the only part of it which is
not mere recapitulatlon, namely-the
elucidation of the mystery as impaired
to me only a few weeks ago by Morris
himself. may take this opportunity
OF saying that am the doctor who at
tended the ex-convict in his last i'll
ness, Of which the fatal termination
came SO recently as fortnight since.
He died in a lodging in Bloomsbury,
in miserably root eircums ances, and
being unable to pay me any fee, i'm