The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1899-07-26

wv ihhN H. iAhbh'h INV AhHifNNtOls
I'll give hundred To the first mau
that puts his hand on them" cried the
diamond merchant
Which offer, You may be sure. made
the Inspector ury his very hardest IN
the matter. but did not, any the more,
make the discovery of the missing
Jewels an accomplished fact.
Next morning Morris MAS charged Mt
the Mansion House before the Lord
Mayor. He admitted, as he had done
overnight. his felonious Intention In
breaking into Blumefcelds office, but
he still strenuOuSly denied that he had
stolen amy thing.
II meant to steal the blue da-
monds.N hc persisted. But Id been
forcStallcd by some other man. I've no
more to say, and shouldn't have II
You was to question me till the day of
Judgment"
lie was rcmundcd for Il week to give
the police an opportunity of finding
the missing stones: and when brought
up again mt the end of that time, the
diamonds still being undiscovered, and
there being no Immediate prospect of
their discovery. Morris was duly com
mitted to the old bailey.
In the interval between that event
and his trial, Blumefeeld obtained
leavc To see the prisoner In Newgatc.
Look here" he said To him Il am
condenSing the evidence subsequently
given by Il Warder Mt the trlaD. "Ili
make you an offer II you'll tell me
what you've done with those dia-
monds, and enable me to recover them,
I'll pay t2,0on To any representative OF
yours you like 10 name. The money
shall he paid 10 him In cash here. In
your presence; and then you can have
ii when You come out. You're not
making matters n bit better for your
self by sticking to that absurd and
incredible story. II 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
il You refuse; you will, upon my
word"
III | had stolen the diamonds, or
knew where they were. I'd close with
YOU like a shot Mr. Blumefeeld. For
| know very we'll that I'm In for five
years. anyhow. But didn't steal
them. and don't know where they
are amy more than You do" answered
Morris. My story sounds unlikely
enough. I'm well aware. Maybe the
Judge and Jury won't believe II. either;
but It's true, and that's all about it
From this position true or false
nothing could induce him 10 bulge.
The DAY of his trial arrived. The
ease excited very great interest and
The Recorders Court WIS packed.
There We're two counts in the indict-
mrnt: tie one U'm not II lawyer, and
thapa ~
will crave indulgence In ease my legal
phruspology he Incorrect the one of
''fclonlously breaking into" lilume-
feeds premises IN Hatton Garden; the
other of Stealing therefrom diamonds
10 The value of l2O,Oo0." 10 the form
or the prisoner pleaded guilty To the
latter not guilty, and the prosecution,
In the hopes of procuring more ex
emplary sentence, proceeded with the
charge of stealing the jewels. But
This Was difficult matter Ia prove
Everybody, of course, wils convince,
that Morris had stolen the diamonds
but To establish II by the technica
rules of evidence Mis- quite another af
fair Against the fact That he was
caught on the promises, admittedly
with the intention of stealing the dia
m0nds, had to be- sci the fnct that ne
sign of diamond, or any other stolen
article, WnS found upon him when
caught Furthermore. the clrcum
stance of his having refused iIlume-
feeds offer of f2OO0, which WAS ellie
tied by his counsel in evidence, went
10 some slight extent In his favor,
But this the prosecution tried To dis
count ~ advancing the theory that he
must have had IN uccomplice who had
made off with the jewels and that the
prisoner would be hardly likely TO give
nWaN I2o.UOO for I2,0oo. On the other
hand the defense urged that there was
absolutely no evidence of the existence
of any uccomplicc; and, besides, inter
the manner In which the theft had
been bruitpl ahrond and advertised, II
would be impossible for the thief or
thieves to dispose of them for II quar-
ter of their real value. If, indeed AT
ali, in which contention, of course,
there WAS some truth.
The Recorder summed up At consider
able lcngth--a careful, equipolsed
summing up, ms | remember thinking
mt the time, balanced, Ike the sen
tenres IN II Greek dialogue, with per
petnal con the one hand and "on the
ullcr hand impartial, no doubt. but
eolorlcss. and ailording no assistance
whatever To the jury. The latter af-
ter considering their verdict for nm
hour or 50. AT length brought the prls-
onor In mot guilty" on this Indictment,
lie was then sentenced on the other In
dictmeut to twenty months hard Ia
hor. the Recorder observing that ifany-
thing previous had been known against
him. which apparently there WAS not,
IT,. 5aI,. a.
serviludc
Such * u brief II very brief recapi
tulntlon OF Robert Morrls's sentence
in connection with the theft Of the
blue diamonds. Any one who IL inter
estcd 10 go more. into the details Of
the matter can turn up the ease in the
baek NolunnS of the newspaper, which
he can put his hands upon at any of
The public libraries. If he does so. he
will find | believe, that much as
have prIIncd and condensed the re-.
ports. / have not omitted any material
item And, indeed TO say nothing OF
the requirements OF space In these col
umuSD 1t would be wcarlsOIne to retcll
the story at any length, since, for the
| one mystery in the matter the DISPOSE
| tl0n Of the stolen diamonds by Morris
assuming him To have been the thief
MS everybody still did the rest Of the
| features urr commonplace enough.
now come Ia the important point
IN my story; the only part Of il which
Il not mere rccaptulation. namely
the calculation of the mystery rs I'm
parted to me only q few weeks ago
by Morris himself. | may take this
opportunity Of snying that l am the
doctor who attended the ex-c0nvjct In
his last Illness, of which the fatal
termination came 50 recently rs Il fort
| night since.
"Doctor," he said TO me one day,
about II week before he died, Il shan
leave any effects behind me to pay
your bill But | can leave you Il little
secret which you might turn into Il
nice sum of ready money, II you set
about it right away. ALI! what fool
was 10 20 and make ducks and
brakes Of all that oof. Do you know
doctor, after came out of shop | was
worth IS,OO0T
Eight thousandH exclaimed
"rhcn you did steal the blue Ola
monds? How the devil did you man
age TO hide themY
That's the secret I'm going 10 tel
You. All. doctor the chuckled gleeful
| iy: | am not writing Il moral tale; an
| telling the truth; and the truth Is tina
| Robert Morris was not in the leas
| penitenD, | had the diamonds on me