Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-03
DIAMONDS CUT BABYS TEETH
Jewels Supposed TO BE Glass the
Toy of n Jersey
YOungster.

Having nothing to play with except
10000 worth of diamonds, the year old
baby of S~tephano Bardogo. a laborer, who
lives at No. 1866 Third street, Jersey City.
has been having a hard time lately to
amuse himself.
h ~youngster had grown tired Of its
diamond bowknot brooch, it's diamond
tiara, diamond paved watch and other
playthings that he made no protest at all
last night when three Jersey City police
men took the gems away.
Since June %, when they were lost on
the Passaic, an Erie ferryboat on the
Twenty-third street line, by somebody who,
through Dreicer & Co., No. $50 Fifth ave-
nue., offered a reward Of $3.50 o for infor-
nation leading to their recovery. most
of the gems have been the toys of the
Bardogo baby.
The baby's relatives, who thought the
diamonds were glass, had traded with
their n%eighbors a couple of diamond rings
for cups of sugar, slices of bacon and
other articles of real value.
1t was because Paola Cantanella thinks
the Bardogo baby is the cutest thing on
earth that the diamonds were introduced
into the Bardogo household. C~antanella,
who is a laborer In Port Morris, boards
with the B~ardogos. Being a generous
soul, he frequently brings home a toy for
the baby.
Leaving the ferryboat Passaic on JUNE
q, he saw a package lying on a bench,
He picked 1t up. thinking that, no matter
What was inside, 1t might come in handy,
He opened 1t on the way home and saw
a lot of tewelry set with sparkling stones.
Now, CRntanella has been in this country
long enough to know that all that glitters
is not gold. In his wisdom he diagnosed
the diamonds as pretty pieces Of glass
When he got home he gave the whole
bunch to the baby.
The baby already had a Noah's ark
from the wooden inhabitants, of which
most Of the paint had been licked off. He
had also a dog cared teddy bear. So it
was with difficulty that the child's par
ents got him to accept the diamonds. His
mother placed the tiara on the youngsters
head and his father, tying a piece of blue
ribbon to the diamond paved watch. hung
It about the baby's neck. Then they
handed to him a couple OF handfuls OF
diamond rings and bracelets and told him
to go ahead and have a good time. When
he got sleepy they took the gems away
from him and put them with the Noah's
ark and the teddy bear, so that he could
get them in the morning.
There were more than two hundred dia-
monds in the collection. They all looked
30 much alike the baby soon grew tired
of what his father and mother called
the pretty beads" His affections re-
turned TO the wooden animals from the
ark and the teddy bear and lately 1t has
been only under protest that he has dali
lied with the gems.
Realizing that even a lot OF glass has
Its uses the baby's parents then began to
off some Of the larger speoiments to
of their neighboTs whose own stocks
Of imitation jewelry were not so large as
they wished.
Whenever one of the girls In the neigh
Dorhood had a picnic or other social func-
to attend she ran in and borrowed q
pint or two OF diamonds. The principal
trouble which the Bardogos had to con-
tend with was the chance that either the
baby or one OF the households chickens
would eat some of the playthings.
Mrs. Antonio Loori, of No. 121 Third
street. who had noticed that, although the
baby's love for the pretty glass was cool
the hens in the neighborhood had be-
fond OF trying to peck the gems
from the baby's grasp. borrowed a ring
at which a Plymouth Rock hen had been
pecking for some time. Mrs. Loori wore
the ring a couple OF days, and on Friday,
happening to pass the jewelry shop Of
B. Davidson, at No. 1903 Newark ave-
nue.. something told her to go in and find
the ring was real gold. She said
the thought that the stone in
the ring had any value had never occurred
TO her. Handing the ring to the jeweler,
she asked him to tell her how much it
was worth.
He carried It to a window, squinted at
t through a microscope, gasped a couple
Of times and said:
Fifteen hundred dollars"
She took the ring away with her. and
Davidson told the Jersey City police about
Ter visit. Captain Larkins and policemen
zee and Maxwell went diamond hunting.
they found Mrs. Loorl easily and she led
hem to the Bardogos. In describing that
visit Captain Larkins said:
Il never saw so many diamonds before.
they were so bright they hurt my eyes.
I anybody had asked me to put a value
N them I'd have said s., OOO,O 900. We gath
red 'em in handfuls. Some Of them had
oiled under the bed and the baby had
tucked some more under the carpet. We
lot 'em all together finally and will hold
hem till the owner Identifies them"
The police said the Bardosos were will