The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1907-10-18
LINKED WITH DEATH,
Articles That Brought Tragedy to
Their Owners.
SOME QUEER CONDOLENCES.


Ordered Destroyed-A Grim Exhibit
In a London Museum-A Ring That
Brought Its Owners to Suicide.
OF course the psychologists have ex-
plantations for them all, but there
are lots of things that happen that
somehow do not respond readily to
these so called explanations Of purely
mental effect" or accidental coinci-
dences" and all that sort Of thing.
When Nine. Carnot, widow of Sadi
Carnot, died and her will was read, a
clause in it caused considerable COM
ment. This was to the effect that
certain small Hindoo idol carved from
a hard stone which would be found
among her property must be taken out
and crushed until completely destroy
ed. Many marveied at this apparently
singular request, for the idol seemed
a harmless, ugly little thing, but her
instructions were carried out to the
letter.
! The idol had been presented to Sadi
Carnot years before he had ever
thought of the presidency of France
by friend who had brought it from
India. Later he learned that there
was legend attached to it which as
serted that whosoever would retain 1t
in his possession would rise to the
fullest height Of power in his chosen
profession, but die Of a stab wound
when at the zenith Of his career. Car
not traced the history Of the idol and
found that for 500 years the rulers
who had possessed It had all died
either in battle or by assassination of
stab wounds. Yet he laughed at the
story, called the facts adduced by his
search q mere chain Of condolences
and retained the idol. He died by
dagger In the hands Of an assassin;
hence Nine. Carnot's strange request.
In Chicago pawnbroker has a queer
looking old turnip Of watch that he
will not sell and will not wear, for he
knows its history. He bought it at a
sale Of accumulated police property,
and after the sale as warning one Of
the police officials related three "coin-
cidences'' in connection with 1t. The
first Chicago man to own the watch,
so far as the police knew, had been
killed by burglar, and the watch was
one Of the few things the thief got
away with. A few weeks later the
burglar, with party Of his pals, puT-
sued by the police for another crime,
took refuge in house on the outskirts
Of the city and sought to hold the off,
GERS at bay. Ali were taken alive ex-
cept the burglar, and he was shot dead.
The watch was found on his body. It
was around the detective bureau for
long time, and one day one Of the
force asked permission to take 1t home
to show some friends, his description
of its quaint, curious case having
aroused their curiosity. On his way
back to report that night, with the
watch in his possession, he was shot
dead by a crook who Had long stand
ing grudge against him. ia
The pawnbroker put the watch In
his showcase, but purely as an orna-
ment, and made such Investigation re-
garding its history as he could. He
learned that it. had been made in
France more than a hundred years
ago, and five men who had worn 1t had
died violent deaths. Yet these were
all condolences, and the curse Of the
old woman from whose hands 1t had
been snatched by thief in Bordeaux
shortly after 1t left its makers hands
had nothing to do with the case what
ever.
In the South Kensington museum,
London, there is an object catalogued
%, 459. 1t Is cast of woman's face
and was found in an excavation not
far from Luxor, in Egypt. The cast Is
that Of a beautiful woman, but the
face wears an expression Of sinister
evil. The man who found the cast
died within twenty-four hours after he
had touched 1t, and the two workers
who handled 1t died within q few
weeks. Three of the carriers who ham
died it on the Nile boat died within
short space of time, and the man who
reshipped 1t at Cairo also died within
less than a week after he had, played
his part in the work Of getting 1t to its
destination. All these were seemingly
natural deaths, but 1t Is odd that all
the men whose fingers touched the cast
in Egypt should have died so soon aft
er the handling.
Then there is the ring of which
Girouard, the French detective, has
told us and which now is in one of the
museums Of Paris. 1t is odd in that
it is flexible, slightly so, for it is form
ed like twisted serpent In closely
woven gold links with an opal on the
top Of the head. two tiny emeralds for
eyes and ruby In its mouth. Seven
such rings are not apt to be in exist
ence In any one city, yet seven times
during the Twenty-Five years Girouard
served the Partisan police In position
which brought him to the morgue daily
he found this ring on the bodies of
suicides. Four times it had been
claimed by relatives of the dead, and