The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-12-28
lNew York releRranh.A

The most brilliant pearl in the
wonderful necklace that the Dowager
Queen Alexandra worc at the recent
coronation OF her son. George ".
was found BY Jumbo" Adams. a con-
, vict who is now serving q sentence Of
tWenty-one ear in the Illinois pcni.
Tertiary at Chester.
The queens necklace is famed for
its beauty. and has long been known
for the rarity OF the gems that COM
pose It. But the central or pendant
pearl lost its luster. or became what
Is Known to the trade as dead" and
the our jeweler was instructed to
replace It. There was considerable
dtMculty in finding one that would
exactly match. and the tewelcr was
almost in despair until he heard that
a gem had been secured by Tiffany's
n was just what he wanted.
There was no haggling over the
price asked. which was high up in
the thousands. and the convict's pearl
became the property of the queen
mother Of England. At court func-
ions and amid pon,p and splendor 1t
full purity. and thousands paid tribute
to Its loveliness-and Jumbo Adams
lay In n felon's cell in the Chester
pen1tentiary and cursed the day that
II fell into his possession as he opened
the dirty mussel on the banks of the
Wabash far away.
Three years ago Jumbo Adams lived
at Mt. Carmel. ILL.,. and made a some.
what precarious living by digging mus
ssis. selling fish and doing odd jobs
OF telling timber for portable saw.
mills. He was .5 years old and had
a wife and three children. He had
been to school but little. and his small
world was the river. his home and
the saloon. When he sold a load of
shells to the button factory or earned
a OIL OF money in some way he went
iirst to a saloon and drank all the
liquor he could hold. then he stag
was left. Day after day and year
after year this was his program. Up
to this time he never had as much as
$50 In his possession that he might
call his own.
Then day he went down to the
point where the White river Joins the
Wabash in its whipping rush to swell
the ohio. 1t was Very early. the sun
a Just coming up. not another pearl
fisher was in sight. and Jumbo was
Just recovering from a prolonged
spree. But nature seemed to Ne smil-
ing orgivingly. and the heart of Jum-
DO Adams beat with a resolve to lead
a better life. In telling OF it after
ward he said he communed with him
self to the effect that If he could only
md a pearl and get a start he would
forever after lead a good life. He
said ne almost prayed to find a pearl.
He strobe slowly toward his dirty lit
tie nat bottomed boat. with his head
bent and his thoughts on his failure
in life.
Just before he reached the boat he
stopped and picked up a big ugly.
black mussel. Mechanically he pulled
out his knife and pried open he mud
~ jaws. In n hand he held the
gaping shells. and then with the fore
niger OF the other he probed amid
the quivering mass. Suddenly his An
ger struck an obstruction nearly as
large as q marble. He pulled it from
its fastenings on the side of the shell.
Then he brushed the pasty covering
IRON: it and the chief Of the Alexandra
pearls cleaned and glowed and first
made glad the heart Of Jumbo Adams.
Al Hrst he feared 1t was but a trick Of
the imagination, and he could hardly