The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-01
SOME COSTLY TRIPLES.
Gnndon Tit-Ritsl

{lOndOn U1t-BltS-)
The Queen of Siam possesses thin
bic which was a wedding gift and Is in
the shape of a lotus flower. 1t is val
ued at e1S,O0O. Each petal. bears the
enlaced initials of his majesty, King
Chulalongkorn 1. and Queen Pongsi, set
in rubies and emeralds. while inscribed
round the rim is the date of the mar
riage, the letters and numbering being
decorated with diamonds and pearls.
The quill pen which one of the colon
ial pFemiers took home with him S a
souvenir of the conference will probably
some day be valued and coveted pos
session. though it may not rival in in
interest one in the possession of Isaac
B. Reed, of New York. This pen. for
which its owner has refused an offer OF
$3.50 was made from carved box in
which George Washington. when a
young man kept the lenses of his sur
veying instruments, the wood of which
once formed the lid of the captains
desk on the Mayflower. The value of
this pen is enhanced by the fact that
it has been used both by Lincoln and
by Grant.
The Empress Eugene treasurer 3
pen made from the quill of a golden
eagles wing, and richly mounted with
diamonds and gold, which was used at
her request by the fourteen plenipoten-
tiaries who signed the treaty of Paris
in 1856 When the Honorable Mr..
Ward, eldest son of Lord Bangor, was
married some time ago, the register was
signed with the quill which was used
by the high contracting powers in
signing the treaty of Vienna, and which
has several times been utilized at we'd
dings i'm the Ward family.
The most valuable fiddlesticS in the
world is the one used by Paganini at his
farewell recital, afterward possessed by
Verdi, the great composer. 1t was Civ
en- by Paganini TO his favOrite pupil,
the late Count di CessOle, and by him
bequeathed to Verdi. Many large sums,
ranging from e1,00O have been offered
in vain for their unique possessions, and
its estimated value is at least e13,0OO.
Seventeen pounds is a long price to
pay for a key but this sum has been
given by a member of the Rothschild
family for what may be said to be the
most valua BILE key in the world. 1t is
marked with the arms of the Strozzi
family, and is believed to be the work
of the great Italian artist, Benvenuto
Cellini, who fIourished in the sixteenth
century. The key is chiseled out of q
block of steel, presenting two grotesque
female figures, and Ornamented with
various masks and scrolls.
Five hundred and fifty pounds was
paid by nobleman at the beginning OF
the eighteenth century for a dog collar
of gold. A collar of silver, with -four
small diamonds. costing 200 guineas,
was sold to a society lady for her pet
pug dog. 1t is fashionable in France
to put bracelets studded with jewels
on the fOTelegs of poOdles. The plain
gold collars with jeweled settings cost
no less than $50. while the jeweled col
lars mount quickly up TO e100. The
bracelets cost from e. to SO each
A thermometer can be bought for a
shilling, but there is one used at the
Johns Hopkins unIY ersity in the United
States, known as Professor Bowland' 5
thermometer, which is valued at e2.000
The gradations on the glass are so fine
that il is necessary TO use a microscope
to read them.
Women's hats are both common and
costly as a rule. but a woman in Bruins
wick, who made no great pretensions to
fashion, holds the record for the high
est price paid for an article of millinery
She bought hat with a lottery ticket
which the merchant accepted in place
of the money, A few weeks later the
ticket drew the grand prize" of s15,00(
and, though the wOman's husband tried
to induce the merchant to share the
results. he only received G25. That hat
cost e14,975.