Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1907-08-11
ALL PARIS G0SSIPS
OVER DIAMOND RING
RUSSIAN AMBAssADoRIAL GUEST
CHARGED WITH THEFT
Question to Be Solved Is Whether the
Guest Is a "Raffles" or the
Hosts Played an
Intrigue

PARIS, Aug 1O-The mystery of the
blue diamond ring theft again amazes
and puzzles France, filling the land with
noise such as the disappearance of the
grand masters star of the Order of st.
Patrick, Of which Mark Twain has so
amusingly exculpated himself, filed
England. A year old the mystery has
been revived by legal proceedings, and
France is now torn with doubts as TO
whether 1t really was theft that dis
closed a Raffles in the Russian embassy
! here. or whether it was an intrigue with
some design as yet impenetrable
| The story was told by the Paris news
! papers last year The Comtesse de Ro-
: dellec du Porzic lost a wonderful blue
/ diamond ring in her own chateau of ker-
Stears. near Brest. There were twenty
two guests staying in the house at the
time: among them was M. Greger, state
councillor at the Russian embassy FOR
. some, reason he was suspected. his DAG
gage was searched by the police, the
missing ring found In his tooth poWoer
| box and he was arrested
| The case was subsequently dropped not
| however to the satisfaction of the IN
eliminated person, who insisted on an
| opportunity being given him to clear MS
| character That opportunity mas no"
taken the form of civil action for dam
ages for defamation, brought by M
Greger against the countess and her nus
band
Lawyer Dramatically Tells Story
In more dramatic form the story of the
theft was retold in court by Maitre Al
lain, the well known Paris advocate. VINO
appears for M. Greger, and by Maltre
Labori of Dreyfus fame, who represents
the de Rodellecs. In opening, Maitre Al
lain gave the court an intense picture
of the accusation. He said that on the
morning after the disappearance of the
ring. M Greger was leaving Paris. He
went to say good by to his hostess, who
was in the drawing room. Il hope you
have enioyed yourself" said the countess
with apparent affability. "Oh, perfectly,
said the visitor Then give me back my
ring" said the countess in dramatic
tones"
At the same time curtain at the other
end of the room was drawn aside, re-
vealing the presence of the husband ana
of the local police m. oistrate. The count
advanced toward the astonished visitor
and said, You are the thief"
Months afterward the two men met
again on horseback in the Bots. The
Russian raised his hunting crop and
struck the other on the shoulder. DE
Rodellec galloped off, says M. Greger.
The counts explanation was that his
horse was FESTIVE.
Women in smart dresses filled the court
and listened attentively to every word
of the celebrated lawyers speech for the
defendants. Was the plaintiff a sort of
Raffles, after all? Did he move in high
society and stay in country chateaux
merely to rob his hosts? Counsel did
not say as much, since such things re-
qure proof, and there is no proof. Can
1t be proved that the count and countess
acted in bad faith in arresting their Wis
itor? On the other hand, can it be
proved that he was guilty merely because
the ring was found in an article OF
toilet perfectly accessible to servants and
others in the house?
The oldest feature of the case is the
readiness of NJ. Greger's femme de
chambre" to denounce him, both to the
police and in an extraordinary communl-
cation made to the Matin in the form of
personal memoirs. A '1adys maid who
writes memoirs is certainly something of
"rara avis"
Celebrated Diamond Thefts
There have been celebrated thefts OF
diamonds in the past. One of the most
noteworthy was that committed by
court jeweler in the days of Louis XIV.
He had specialized and lost money, and
this induced him to pawn large guam
tity of precious stones which had been
confided to him by the king for the con-
lection of an ornament destined Tor the
elector of Bavaria. Suddenly the JeWeler
died and his brother-in-law burnt his
books so that the theft might not be
discovered. But the Roi Soleih who knew
a good deal about human nature, ordered
an inventory to be taken. Restitution
was Immediately ordered.
Yet the greatest robbery of this kind
took place under the Revolution. The
crown jewels were kept at that time in
a furniture warehouse. On the morrow
of the massacres of September Paris
learned with stupefaction that the pan
technicon had been broken into and the
crown diamonds carried off, including
two famous stones known as the Regent
and the Sancy. The Monitem related on
the morrow that the thieves had entered
the strong room where the jewels were
kept by means of ropes attached to the
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