The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-04-29
EXPEDITION PLANNED
TO PUNISH SULTAN
Great Britain Intends to Chastise Soco-
ira Leader-Story of the Timur Ruby
Told--Raising Of Beet Sugar in Eng
land Past the Experimental Stage.

TAKEN iIOUl JHe DfitisH steamship Auaios
which was wrecked on the island of
Socotra, is restored and an apology Civ
en-
The punitive expedition will consist
OF a cruiser of the East Indian squad
ron and the steamship Dalhousie, which
viii convey a company Of native lnian-
try from the Alden garrison. The com
mand of the party will be given to Ma
jor- General Sir j. A. Bell, political resi-
dent at Alden.
The Kuala. bound from Dundee to
Singapore, went ashore in November and
one of the crew was compelled to travel
300 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. II is eighty miles long and
/ contains 300 square miles. Though
virtually part Of an Arab sultanate. So
cotra is under British protection, con
shutting dependency of Alden.
The Tmur ruby has been a part Of
the British crown regalia since il 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 contending that it had been lost.
The recent visit Of the king.emperor
and his consort to India resulted in
the publication Of history OF the jewel
written with the idea of clearing away
the Interpretations surrounding it.
The Timur IS the largest known spinel
ruby weighing just over 352 carats. II /
i, uncut but polished and was probably I.
discovered in one of the old ruby mines I
of Badakshan. IT was seized by Ameer |
Tnnr. better known TO western his I
t0rians as Tamperlane when he plum /
dered Delhi in 1898. In due time it de-
scended to his grandson, by which time /
the great Tartar empire was on the |
wano and during one of the many wars /
between the tartars aud the Per,ians, |
the ruby fell into the hands of the |
kings Of Iran. Shah Abbas /. presented |
the ruby to his friend. the MoguI en-
peror ,Tehaugir in 1912 When his ia
yorite wife demonstrated with him for
inscribing his name on the level, Je-
hangir made the striking prophecy that I
the ruby would more certainly carry
hi. name down to posterity than writ
ten history. for It would always re-
main in the possession Of the ruler Of
Hmdustan, prophecy which has been
fulfilled to the present day
In l740 Nadr Shah sacked Delhi aud
carried the ruby away with him. When
Nadir was assassinated in l747, All
mad Shah seized the ruby with other
booty, and, proceeding south. founded
the kingdom OF Afghanistan. When his
grandson was expelled from the country
he sought refuge in the Punjab. where
h. was compelled to surrender both
thu koh.i.noor aid the Timur
When the Punjab was annexed by the
British in ls49. the Koh-inoor. the ri.
mul and all other state jewels were
taken over by the boanl OF administra-
ton and the first named jewel was tax
en- TO London, where it was presented
to Queen Victoria The Timur was lat
or packed up with other jewels aud
taken to London for the great exhibit
tIoa of 1851 At the close of the eN-
hibition the ruby was presented to the
queen by the court OF directors Of the
East India company, since which time
il has been out OF the crown jewels.
During conference OF the Societies
for the Relief Of Foreigners in Distress,
held at the Mansion house, the lord
mayor declared that he was inclined to
agree with the American critics of Eng
land who asserted that there were too
many charitable societies in this coun-
try He was almost disposed TO think
that there was one society very much
missing in London and he would like
To give il tho name OF the Society OF ,
Education in Industry and Thrift The
two qualities were scarcely known among
the prolctariat of this country; other
wise they would scarcely need the work
Of the numerous societies formed and
managed for the relief Of people who
lid not help themselves.
The annual report OF the British sugar +
beet council shows that the raising OF
sugar beets in England has passed the
experiment. stage The greatest advance
exported by the council was the estab
ishment OF a factory at Norfolk. There
.he farmers will be able to test their G
,eets and those who have not yet plant
III their lands will be given instruc-
ion.
The members of the council are CON ,
,inced that the industry will soon be ,
placed on sounde financial basis with r
,ut any assistance from the develop
nent fund, which could not be drawn Z
ipon because the international sugar
convention prohibits subsidies or grants
II any kind by the government for an I
planned to produce sugar q
or commercial purposes. :,
The collection Of bones. the remains
# at least II 1000 people, in the crypt +
f Rothwell church, near Kettering.
has been re-arranged
nd placed on shelves, to save them from =
ecay by damp.
The crypt containing the remains was
uncovered by workmen some
wo hundred years ago. Many sugges
IONS have been ventured as TO the origin
f the bones. among them that they
lark a monastic burial place, or that
hev were the skeletons Of the victims
f a plague, or that the bones are those
/ the slain al the battle of Naseby. A
pcent theory is that the remains are
he bones of villagers buried in the four
q - ~.