Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-08-03

oIuS VI CrlMluul CdScS, Us TopOTUeO Dy
the newspapers, and who have a good
memory for such matters, will recollect
the interest aroused, now several
years ago, by the trial of one Robert
Morris for what was known as "The
Blue-Diamond Robbery" In the
minds of some, perhaps, the details of
this crime may be still fresh. But for the
benefit of that infinitely greater number
of persons whose memorial faculty is
only nine days affair, it will be as
we'll to recapitulate all the facts Of the
case before proceeding to the elucida-
ton of one very mysterious point,
which at the time batfled the clever est
detectives in London.
First, then, for the recapitulation
of the facts, as disclosed before the
Right Honorable the Lord Mayor at
the Mansion House and subsequently
before the Recorder of London at the
Old Bailey. The victim of the rob-
berry was one Jacob Blumefeeld, an
Anglo-German Jew and a well-known
diamond merchant in Hatton Garden.
This gentlement, in the course of a
visit to the Dutch East Indies, with a
view to the purchase of pearls (in
which also he doalt) had picked up
from native Sumatran, for song,
six stones, which the vendor supposed
to be small, pale and therefore COM
paratively worthless sapphires, but
which Blumefeeld's practised eye told
him at once were those rarest and
cost,iest stones in the market, viz,
blue diamonds. 1t was stated in court,
recollect, by expert witnesses, that
there were not more than 80 blue dia-
monds known to exist and that the
ratio of their value to ordinary dia-
monds of the same size and water was
at least 100 to ]. On this basis the
six stones referred to, despite their
insignificant size, were worth fully
EGO, 900; indeed, at the time when
they were stolen Blumefeeld was ne
gotiating a sale of them to Messrs.
Rostron, the Bond street jewellers, for
n sum several thousands in excess of
that amount. 1t may be readily imag-
ined, therefore, that the theft of such
gems excited no small sensation.
The circumstances of the theft were,
or appeared to be, sufficiently COM
monplace. On the day of the robbery
Blumefeeld had carefully locked the
diamonds in his safe when he quilted
his Office at 6 O'Clock. At about s or
9 the watchman who was on duty, and
who had received particular instruc-
tions to keep an eye on Blumefeeld's
Office, happened to catch the flash of
light through the keyhole, and push
ing open the door, which he found
unfastened, made his way inside and
actually caught the thief red-handed
in Blumefeeld's room. He at once
collared the fellow--a small, weak man,
who made little resistance to his stall
wart captor-and raised the alarm. In
minute or two several constab es
were on the scene, and little later an
inspector arrived, who lost no time in
despatching special messenger to
Blumefeeld's private residence in
Pembridge square.
On the diamond merchants arrival
a thorough examination of the prem
ises was made, disclosing the fact
that his safe had been opened With a
duplicate key, which, in fact, was
still in the lock, and that, while every
thing else had been left untouched,
the most valuable contents, namely.
the blue diamonds, had been all
stracted. The thief, of course, was
then conveyed, without de'ay, to the
nearest police station and duly
charged by Blumefeeld, who now rec
ognized him as man who had called
upon him at his Office few days pre-
viously in reference to a proposed
purchase of gems, which had fallen
through. He recolected, also, that
he had had occasion to leave the
stranger alone in his office for min
ute or two. when, probably, the latter
had managed to get an impre. 8 on of
the lock of his safe. The prisoner
did not deny this. Nor, in spite of
the usual caution, did he make any
secret of the fact that he had broken
into the Office for the purpose of steal
ing the blue diamonds. But that he
had stolen them he stubbornly denie I.
Someone else had forestalled me-,
he said. 81 found the safe open and
key already in the lock. I'd got my
own duplicate, but l didn't have to
use it. If you search me you'll find it
in my waistcoat pocket"
In confessing he had entered the
Office with felonious intent he was, of
course, only admitting as much as the
circumstances of his capture rendered
obvious and incontrovertible and, so
far as that went, was doing himself
neither harm nor good. But his state.
ment that he had been forestalled was
SO clearly of the cock-andbull type
that no credence whatever was nat
urally attached to it. He was subjected
to the usual rigorous search. The du-
plicate key, as he had said, was in his
waistcoat pocket, and in his coat pock-
cts there were one or two other felo-
NOUS instruments. Yet not sign of
blue diamond, nor any other jewel
or valuable, was found upon him. His
clothes, his boots, his hat, his person,
even to tho insida of hiS mouth vera