The Cairo bulletin., 1908-04-28
ISABELLA JEWEL WENT CHEAP.
Diamonc Pawned to Aid Columbus in
HIS First Voyage.

The recent sale at auction Of tn
t, nous Isabella diamond, alleged Il
be one of the original gems pawnet
by the Queen OF Spain to pay for tn
voyage of Columbus which resulted
| in the discovery OF America. ha
brought to light some interesting de
tails of the histor- Of this and othel
gems. 1t was sold in Denver to sat
isly a note given by Elizabeth Tabor
widow OF Senator H. w. Tabor, who
Was one of the most picturesque char
acters Of the West.
The jewel, valued at s25, goo. was
one of a collection that has figured
IN Western courts more than any sin
gle lot in existence. The entire as
sortment. estimated TO be worth pos
sibly $4,000, was sold to John Ma
son of this city. the only bidder, for
$500.
Mrs. Tabor was the second wife of
a man whose career reads like a
page from some romance, Once a
prospector for gold, he discovered the
Matchless Mine, near Leady.le
which made him many millions. He
built fine business blocks In Denver.
including the Tabor block, the Tabor
Grand opera House block and other
fine buildings. He was an idol OF
the people. He was elected to the
United States Senate and took a
prominent place In the affairs of the
West.
Then reyerses came. He lost his
fortune His wife died and he m r
fied again, and then. when he reached
the depths. he passed away. His sec
ond wife. with the estate all gone, the
jewels pawned and sold and nothing
lett If the former splendor. now livcl
with her only daughter in los
caDin near Leadyille, close to tha
famous mine. which made the Sena-
tors wealth.
The collection of jewels which has
passe out Of the hands of the Tabor
es att was pars of the gifts made by
the Senator to his second wife The
Isabo la diamond was the principal
one in the collection. 1t was brought,
TO Denver from New York with OF.
fetal papers which authenticated its
q tory, and was transferred to the
Tabor collection through a local jew
Try house. That was twenty years
ago. Since then it has been the sub
iert Of almost constant litigation.
. h.. L., 2 ha
tic was e.. belt valued at $4,000, !
wli, was the only one of the kind
In the world. II was made in almost
perfect imitation of a big snake ana
was OF eighteen carat gold. The Two
eyes consisted of two brilliant dia.
nords. the tongue was made OF
rubies and the tail was
formed of beautiful green emeraiis.
The belt was made of hundreds of
pieces so joined together that it coNld
be coile1 and placed around the body
with as much ease as If made from
leather The ether jewels in the col |
lection consisted of earrings, brace /
let's. and loose diamonds.
Ht IbilGtAib4i " do paw AEl VAN /
he First National Bank of this city,
through Herman Powell. to secure a
lote for $4,000 owing Powell by tho
Tabor estate. Ii was sold by Powell /
o satisfy the note and in that way
got into the vaults of the bank. Eff
o.ts were made to sell the gems pri.
,atel~ through a commission appoint
ID for that purpose. This resulted
n suits being brought in court to
are them sold at auction,
The Tabor estate at that time vas
in debt ana the widow
vas meeting with the first of the re-
-crses which finally completely en-
.ulfed her The popularity of the
ate Senator caused steps TO be taken
~ his friends three years ago to set
lie be claims. Mrs, Tabor was en-
bled to retain the Jewels. One year
20 she was in want and she pawned
hem with the Continental Trust
company to secure loan Of $3.50,
his loan she was unable to take up
nd the present sale followed.
A pitiful climax to the tragedies Of
he Tabor family was presented when
he sale was over. An elderly gray
aired woman, who declined to give
Ter name or reveal her identity 9TH
r thai. to say that she was a close
ersonal friend of Mrs. Tabor, was
resent TO watch the disposal OF the
ems At the conclusion of the sale
he motioned the purchaser to one
ide and with a qniyering voice asked
IL, not TO sell the smallest gem in
he collection for n while. 1t was
rs. Tabor's engagement ring which
ad gone with the others, and she
.anted an opportunity to save 1t il
cssible.
Mason, who bought the collection,
I'll give part Of the jewels to his
.ife and the others will be sent East.
he Isabella diamond, the most val.
able in the collection, shows the eff
oct of age, and in order to restore
$ brilliancy. ii will have to be re-
ut. The danger of injuring ,hd
EN- through that process. has de-
acted from It's speculative value
enver Post.
India's Valuable Coal Fields.
india, the land of mystery. is rap
corpfpp a tho front In ,.j,sta