Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-04-27
Marvellous Jewels, Gold Plate,
Books and Prints
Detectives Live in Windsor Castle
and Buckingham Palace. Contents
Valued at $8,5OO,OOO... Plate
for BanquelS Weighs FIVE Tons.

they were at the death of Queen Vic
toria, when Edward VII inherited
them AT that period the valuable
jewels, plate and works of art had
been locked up for years, and We're
neither catalogued or projected from
fire
One of the first things King Ed
wand did was to have electric lights
installed through both the possible ap-
/ pl.ance and arrangements for fire
fighting TIE extended the royal il
brary, and had all the treasures Of
Windsor Castle and buckingham Pal
I;nce properly inyentoried and dis
played.
1t is said that the value of the plate
inherited by King George is practi-
Cally inestimable. What is termed
.tl- gold pantry" at Windsor consists
Of two large fireproof storerooms, IN
which is kept plate of value of at
lcasts IS, 900 The gold plate used
for state banquets weighs over five
tons, though, of course, it is not all
solid gold. If the larger pieces werl
unalloyed, they would be too heavy
to lift at all, and, as it is, some OF the
apergnes tax the strength of four men,
though they are only silver gilt. OF the
pure gold pieces it takes one man to
carry two dishes or eight plates,
There is not much plate in the gold
pantry Of great antiquity, as the ex-
.igencies of the civil war forced Charles
l. to melt down all he possessed to coin
into money, but there are some very
fine specimens OF foreign workman
ship. Among them are d great silver
1agon taken from the flagship of the
Spanish Armada and the famous "Nau-
titus Cup made by Benvenuto Cellini.
There is a shield of the same great
Italian artist and the wonderful gold
tigers head taken from Tippo Sa-
hih's throne after the storming of
1CI III SdpItCdIll III L'SV' II - NE SlLS
ana it's teeth and eyes are cut out of
IrGre rock crystal
Another leic, captured at the same
time, is the jeweled bird called the
Una" In shape it is like pigeon
with a peacock's tail Its feathers
blaze with precious stones and a mag
nificent emerald hangs from it's breast.
According to an old Indian legend,
whoever owns the Una" Will rule
India. There is also another shield,
formed of snuff boxes and valued at
$4,000, and a great quantity Of cups
and salyers, among them a rose Wa
ter fountain of silver, designed by the
Prince Consort, husband Of Queen
Victoria, and weighing nearly 1900
ounces.
The plate and jewels are guarded
day and night by detectives, who live
in Windsor Castle as ordinary officials
and inspect every stranger who is seen
in the vicinity of the famous gold
pantry" These jewels are the private
property of the royal family, and have
nothing to do with the crown jewels,
which are kept in the Tower of Lon
don.
Queen Mary's. like Queen AIexan-
dra's personal jewelry is of immense
value, and for precautions sake has
all been duplicated in paste So far
no enterprising knight of the Jimmy
has attempted to break into Windso,
Castle and steal. There is an old and
still unrepealed law which enables the
reigning sovereign to put to death
any person or persons through whose
carelessness any one of the royal
gems may be lost This royal prerog-
ative was not exercised when some
Of the royal jewels were stolen from,
ublih Castle a few years ago.
The royal library of Windsor con
tains over 100000 volumes, and in
cludes many voluems that would fetch
enormous prices if they were put up
1T auction There is a Metz Psalter, il
5 said, for which any collector would
sell anything he possessed; also a
) Charles L., Shakespeare, a Caxton on
vellum, and other treasures too M
r!erous to mention. On the floor be-
low the library is a room containing
one of the finest collections of prints
in existence, which, il has been esti-
mated, would fetch $350,000 at aut
ton. The rooms also contain 10000
drawings of the old masters and over
l. GOO miniatures, which Queen Vic
toria collected
In addition to all these King George
". has also inherited the great collec-
ton of valuable objects gathered to-
gether by his father. These include
the coronation presents made nine
years ago. which are worth $1,250,OO0,
and many gifts from India, including
a magnificent embossed shield of gold
given by a number of rajahs. 1t has
been stated by those experts who are
in a position to know that no reigniug
monarch, not even the Car of Russia,
has such a wonderful collection of val
liable objects as King George V.