The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1912-05-02
To Force Return of a Big
Amount of Loot Taken
from Vessel.


LONDON, April 27.--An expedition
will be dispatched shortly from Alden
to punish the Sultan OF socotra un-
less loot taken from the British
steamship. Kuela, which was wrecked
on the island OF Socotra, is restored
and an apology given.
The punitive expedition will consist
Of cruiser of the East Indian squad
ron and the steamship Dalhousie,
which win convey company of ma
tive infantry from the Alden garrison.
The command OF the party will be
given to>Adajor General Sir ]. A. Bell,
political resident at Alden.
The Kuala. bound from Dundee TO
Singapore, went ashore in November
and one of the crew was compelled to
travel. 200 miles in an open boat for.
assistance. The lives Of the crew were
threatened and the vessel was looted
by the natives. Subsequently, the
crew was rescued by Russian ship
and landed at Singapore.
Socotra is an island of the Indian
ocean lying near the entrance of the
Gulf Of Alden. 1t is eighty miles long
and contains 1,3s0 square miles.
Enough virtually part Of an Arab sui
tanate. socotra is under British pro-
lection, constituting a dependency Of
Alden.
| Tho ,rin,,,r ruhv has heen a mart. oe
the British crown regalia since it was
presented to Queen Victoria in 1851
by the directors, OF the East India
Company. There has been more or
less mystery in the history of this
Jewel, some experts even contend
ing that it has been lost. The recent
visit of the King-Emperor and his
consort to India resulted in the pub
LEGATION of history of the jewel writ
ten with the idea Of clearing away the
misapprehensions surrounding it.
The Timur is the largest known
spinel ruby weighing just over 352
carats. 1t is uncut but polished and
was probably discovered in. one of the
old ruby mines of Badakshan. 1t
| was seized by Ameer Timur, better
known to western historians as Tam
erlane. when he plundered Delhi in
1898. In duetime it descended to his
grandson, by which time the great
Tartar empire was on the wane and
during one Of the many wars between
the tnrtars and the Persians the, ruby
fell into the hands OF the Kings of
Iran. Shah Abtas l presented the
ruby to its friend the Mogul Emper-
or Jehangir in 1912. When his ia
vorlte wife demonstrated with him for
inscrtbing his name on the Jewel, Je-'
hangir made the striking prophecy
that the ruby would more certainly
carry his name down to posterity
F., than written history. for It would al
ways remain in the possession of the.
ruler of Hindustan, prophecy which
has been FULFILLED to the present day.
In 1910 Nadir Shah sacked Delhi
and carried the ruby away with him.
When Nadir was assassinated in 1747.
Ahn1ad Shah seized the ruby with
other booty, and, proceeding south,
founded the kingdom Of Afghanlstan.
When his grandson was expelled from
the country he sought refuge in the
Punjab.. where he was compelled to
surrender both the Koh-i-noor and
the Timur.
When the Punjab was annexed by
the British in 1S49 the Koh-i-noor,
the Timur and all other state jewels
were taken over by the Board of Ad-
minlstration and the first-named jewel
was taken directly to London, where
it was presented to Queen Victoria.
The Timur was later packed up with
other Jewels and taken TO London
for the great exhibition OF 1851. At
the close of the exhibition the ruby