Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-07

tory and the worlds great characters
who wore them. loved them, lost them or
committed crimes to win them. This
stone Of 1877 carats (the Koh-i-noor weighs
of Pitt, the great English statesman. He
had bought it In Golconda from one
Jamelchund. a Hindu merchant, as he
published in a pamphlet aimed to mfti-
gate Pope's lines in 1.-The Man of Ross
Asleep and naked as the Indian lay,
An honest factor stole the gem away"
He sold it dirt cheap to the dissolute
French regent for f135,OO Today it Is
worth anything from s4.o0o.OoO to $s.o0O.-
coo.
Thus it became chief Of the French
crown jewels. which were to get the I'm
fortunate Louis XVI into his first trou-
bles 1t was worn by Louis XIV, Marie
Leszczinska Nine. Pompadour and Ma
r1e Antoinette. They always put it back.
Then Louis XVI one day in 1855 took a
mere 10000 livres' worth of small dia-
monds and rubies from the crown col
lection for private gift to Marie An
toinette. and later 10000 livres' worth
more to pay certain debt Of hers to
divers jewelers.
The national assembly called it steal
ing. 1t ordered that all crown jewels be
deposited in the national strongroom
and while they were actually thus cared
for they were famously stolen in lump
by the Miette band.
< !;
How the king laughed while the legis-
lators mutually accused one another! In
the greatest police inquiry ever opened
for such a matter most Of the stones were
recovered. The Regent only long eluded
search. Finally 1T was found in the
hands of wineshop keeper. who had
bought It Of an unknown for ~ livres.
Later Napoleon wore 1t I'm the pommeI
Of his sword.
This immense ruby has greater his
tory, said the guard. He pointed to a
slowing bloodred object shaped like
cinmera or great flea and hanging
against a white velvet background just
above the center of Napoleon's sword.
1T is one of the largest rubies in thu
world. For cutting 1t might fetch be
tween $1GO.OO0 and $4,000, 600 It came
to Europe with the Moors OF Grenada.
Peter the Cruel murdered one of their
princes to snatch it from his bosom. By
the way OF the house of Folk it came to
Anne Of Brittany. and Francis + made it
the foundation stone Of the crown jewels
when he started the collection in $780,
is the Mazarin diamond called the Peach
blow, worth $500, 600 as a stone, and any
fancy price for its associations There
is jeweled watch given by the Bey of
the Elephant Of Denmark (kept for no
one knows what reason), the reliuuary
brooch worth SSOO.OOO, the modern pearl
necklace beqeuathed by Nine. Theirs,
valued at $250,OOO. and two crowns That
to the right is the original crown of
Louis XV-its stones replaced by paste.
That to the left is the crown OF Napoleon,
copied from the ancient one Of Charlie
magne, but decorated with real antique
stones
The rest Of the crown jewels were sold
at public aution in 1885, when they
fetched the ridiculously low total of
81, 10000. Today they would bring thrice.
Yet they are not numerous. Louis XVIII,
fleeing. lost some on the road to Gand.
Charles x, fleeing. mislaid some on the
road to Rembouillet. The republic of
1S4s transferring them to the finances,
lost a lot more, and after the fall Of Ma
poleon III q batch was mislaid on the
road to Brest arsenal.
These are the remnants. When will
they be stolen, ask Parisians? They take
melancholy satisfaction in picturing some
Arsene Lupin who has found a secret
entrance to the Louvre.
1t must be by q cellar OF the Rue de
Rivoli The old kings were known to
have their subterranean exits, and the
underground world Of the palace Is
labyrinth to the architects.
As to the Louvre walls, comparative
measurements Of inside ana outside would