Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

Nh u IN would appear 10
VMSsN ~ him a circus pro-
SEFk~D cessIon winding It's
SWH3A1 glittering W
s~ through the streets.
past the gray bamboo houses, past 'he
glistening. golden palaces OF the Mis-
sr,lendid in their barbarc magnihcehce'
past the gay bazaars busy Win hoiSS
traffic. out into the country roads ana up
toward the hills beyond. And the saiie
boy might venture many guess oeioie
he would alight upon the true purpose
OF this gay train OF soldiers and grantees
and great elephants. brightly trapped
walking with dignifed and Ponderous
tread For just such a parade was Pc
culiar to Mandalay, that city OF the
sunshine. and the palm trees ana 'he
tinkling temple bells"
Around the Burmese capital rise the
Ruby mountains, with jungle-coVereu
slopes and wild beast-haunted forests,
holding In their ciefts and recesses sloIes
OF rich red treasure The King OF Burma
was called the Lord of the Rubies. ne
owned all the mountain mines OF precious
stones and when a valuable gem was
found a runner from the hills bore the
glad news to the ralace. Then the klis
would order out his troops with all the
trappings of state. and the PROCESSION
meet the ruby welcome IL and escort II
hack TO the monarch and the royal treas
ury. For next TO the sacred white ere
plant. no possession was so cherished by
the Burmese royalty as was the ruby
In 1886 Burma was annexed to Eng
land and the British government took the
mines The professions no longer wind
their welcoming way TO the hills; the
elephants are busy ''pilin' teak. in the
sludgy. sQudgy creek" and the ruby has
lost a bit of its charm by becoming mere
" valuable article of commerce, in
stead Of an almost sacred treasure.
All through the ages the ruby has been
called the stone of good luck. According
to the old stories, whoever owned ruby
would never fail in anything he under
took for that beautiful jewel held in its
glowing red heart a magic power which
always brought success. No matter how
dangerous the task, the ruby was sure to
give courage and victory. In the days OF
ancient Greece, when a rich man wished
to express to q friend good wishes for
wealth or honor, he sent him ruby
engraved with the figure of an orator
Today the ruby is considered the luckiest
of stones, though the good fortune. as we
see II, lies IN the owning of anything so
precious for even the diamond Is not so
valuable a gem.
The ruby is the stone OF July. and the
fire which ahides in Its red heart IL truly
typical of that burning month of sum-
mer. According to legend. however. this
fire varied with the fortune of the owner.
popular superstition in regard to the
ruby was the belief in its power to fore
tell danger or disaster by the changing
of its color.
II was a favorite talisman and love-
token in the time of the Crusaders. Many
gallant knight, clothed In armor, has
m hot h lie 1adv " ~ In, Aa
shape of the burning gem: or has ridden
out to wage war with the unbeliever.
leaving a pledge of his true love in his
sweethearts keeping-a red and fam
ing ruby.
Henry v wore a magnificent ruby at
the battle Of Agincourt and It proved to
be stone of success for him. Queen
Elizabeth had a weakness for Jewels.
Vaudeville says that she displayed to him
"a fair ruby. great like racquet ball.
Sir Johns stories. however. will always
bear a little pruning. Elizabeth presented
ruby ring to each of her favorites the
Earls of Essex and Suffolk. There is a
sad little story connected with Lord Es-
sex's ruby. When that noble, sentenced
for treason. was in the tower awaiting
his death. he sent the ring. the gift of
happy days. TO the queen. Perhaps II
would have softened her heart with its
memories of old-time friendship but she
never received It, Instead, IL fell into the
hands OF Lady Nottingham. who, by her
husbands advice. withheld 1t. When she
was dying Lady Nottingham sent for the
queen and confessed. May God forgive
you!' cried Elizabeth. Il never can"
The coronation ring Of Scotland was
set with ruby. 1t was the custom to
send this jewel with the messenger who
notified the heir of his coming to the
throne I
kingly flight across the channel he had
the ring concealed on his person. and it
narrowly escaped being taken by the fish
ermen who searched their royal passen-
ger for gold. The ring is now In the
royal collection at Edinburgh.
The finest ruby in the world is owned
by the King of Burma. The largest
European ruby is in Russia and is the
size Of pigeons egg.
There are three ways of obtaining the
ruby-by cuttings made in the hillsides.
by boring into the clefts and seams and
by washing the ruby gravel. The small
stones are of little value but a perfect
ruby OF five carats Is worth five or six
times as much as a diamond of the same
size and quality.
After all what is ruby? The man
wise In science will at once say that II
is a transparent and coiored variety OF
corundum, possessing properties of double
re.raction and electricity; that its color
is OF the heart of the solar spectrum
that its name, ''rubino," signifies red.
and that the oriental is the only true
ruby. But all that means so little: IL ex-
plains nothing of the beauty ard mys-
terry OF the stone. 1t does not tell how
that light, caught from the deepest tint
OF the hearts blood. came to be held
in the tiny crystal nor how the fable
grew up about il and the fairy tale
clothed IL with its charm. Why try to
analyze it Rather take il as it IS, a bit
OF petrifed glory out of the great warm
earth. set in a shining circle Of myths
and fancies.
There is very Old story or legend as
ISOLATED with the ruby. II IS told by an
ancient Latin writer:
THE CRANES GRATITUDE.
\ Sit OF Greek Folk Lore
Ferac,ea sat at her door her baby on
fer knee. Before her al the foot of the
hIltSlure az Athens the beautiful the