Evening star., 1902-09-15
FATAL POSSESSIONS.
Weird Romance of a Finger Ring That
Killed Bride.

From 1ft-Bits.
Some Of the most weird and curious ro-
mances are associated with possessions
which appear to have no other purpose than
to bring misfortune and trouble on those
who own them. A tragic instance of this
is related in connection with the Lindsey
family. According to the legend Colin
Lindsey a former Earl of Balcarres was
quietly eating his breakfast when he should
have been awaiting his bride at the altar
When reminded of the fact he hurried of 10
church, and, forgetting the indispensab BILE
ring, borrowed one from a friend, which he
duly placed on the brides finger.
At the conclusion of the ceremony the
neWly-made countess took a plance at the
ring and. on seeing that 1t bore a grinning
deaths head. suddenly tainted away. The
incident affected her to such an extent that
on recovering consciousness, she expressed
her conviction that she was destined to Lie
within twelve months. And. sure enough
in less than that period her life came to an
end. Napoleon III was the possessor of two
rings. which he constantly wore, and which
had belonged to his predecessor. Napoleon
L, who was fatalist in the fullest meaning
OF the term. When Napoleon III died 1t
was proposed that these rings should be
removed from his finger; but the ,rince I'M
perial refused to have them.
They were accordingly buried with IFS
father at Chislehurst, and. SO far from -e-
garding them from the same point OF view
as the prince, the emperor's servants firmly
believed that he would come to an untim,-
ly end for discarding the rings And when
In lS19, the unfortunate young man met his
death at the hands of the Zulus. against
whom he was fighting for this country they
saw in this deplorable event the realiza tim
OF their fears. One of the best-known pub
lie men In New Zealand, a wealthy resident
of Hokiangi, North Island. recently Travelled
all the way to St Louis L, s. A in a
fruitless endeavor to have an idol cremated
which had cast an evil spell over him. The
heather idol had come to him as part OF
legacy from his grandfather to whom IL
had been presented by Maori chief Said
Its owner, Il have Travelled 10 go miles with
the image. and It has brought disaster after
oisaster upon me. i have often endeavored
to destroy 1t, but without avail
Il once threw II under a train ana n,
running to get out of the way fell and
broke one of my fingers. Then / was ar
rested Tor endangering the lives of passan-
gers. When In London three months ago I
threw 1t into the Thames and a drunken
sailor who hshed Ii out brought Il back 70
my rooms, and In his rage at not receiving
a reward almost beat me to death While
IN San FRANCISCO tried to chop it to pieces
with an ak, when the AK rebounding
struck me on the forehead with almost fatal
effect. The wood is so hard that an orii-
nary fire will not destroy it. and I am afraid
TO get rid OF 1t otherwise because of the evil
results. The image was a crude figure In
rosewood and ebony, and about two feet
long. Failing to get It cremated In St Louis
its owner started for New York where he
was determined to have 1t destroyed at
whatever cost.
Buried in the shadow OF Diamond Head
Volcano, at Honolulu, Is a violin known as
the Violin OF Death" In the space OF q
few months two persons who had owned II
took their own lives and a third mysterious
ly disappeared. The last victim of :hfs
weird instrument was George H. Scott o
sergeant Of the United States army. Goth
Coast Artillery. This victim killed himself
at the barracks at Camp Mckinley. but a
few days before doing so he realized the
evil influence OF the violin and buried II
as above stated.