The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-14
Hundreds of Years Ago They
Were Buried to Keep Them
From Turks.
~ LA MARQUISE DE FoNTENoY.

hf LA MARQUlSE DE EONTENOY.
HE Servians at the present time
are actively engaged in prose-
cutting. in the territory which
they have taken from the Turks dur
ing their recent war against the Sui
tan, search for the missing regalia
or Servia, Consisting OF superb
Je"eled crown and sceptre. bestowed
upon Car Michael In 1917 by Pops
Gregory VII, and of various other
Jeweied amulets. necklaces. swords.
chahces. anointment urns, etc, OF
Byzantine workmanship. they wero
carefully buried just before or i'm
mediately after the great battle Of
Nossovo. In 1889. in which the last
Car of the Serbs, Lazar by name, and
Sultan Murad Of Turkey. both lost their
lives, and in which the flower of tho
Serb aristocracy was wiped out Of
existence
The regalia were buried to prevent
their falling into the hands of the
Turks. and so carefully buried that
they have never been found since
The description of the Jewels, even con-
tenn porary pictures OF them. are still
In existence, and while the place OF
their concealment remains n secret.
they form the theme of many national
epics. ancient ballads and time honored
legends.
There Is every reason to believe that
IL not actually buried somewhere in
the vicinity OF the town of Kossovo.
they are at any rate concealed in the
former Turkish province OF Kossovo.
indeed, agents OF the Servian govern
nent have recently been searching in
the library OF the Vatican and In the
National Library OF France. where
there arc n quantity of old Servian
MSS, in tho hope OF discovering some
data which Will help the discovery OF
the reSlliD from tha ,,.hn
have lain concealed for near 600 years.
Inc crown which King Peter now
wears Is merely a temporary affair.
made in Paris, from the bronze of n
cannon used by his ancestor. the first
karageorgevitch, a robher chieftain. in
ms successful rebellion against the
turks century ago. 1t is counter
part of the steel crown which King
CHARLES, when proclaimed and crowned
as King Of Roumania. had made from
one of the steel guns which the troops
under his command had captured from
the Turks In the battle of Plevna, in
1877.
The burial OF crowns In the stormy
days OF the Middle Ages, to prevent
their falling into the hands of tho
enemy, was by no means uncommon.
Thus tho crown OF Saint Stephen, with
which Emperor Francis Joseph was
crowned In 1867 as King OF Hungary.
iioS uioapptdit u oIl no less IMAM five
occasions, for years together, carefully
buried deep In the ground. The same
fate has befallen the so-callcd Iron
Crown OF Lombardy, encircling n nail
that Is said to have been used in the
crucihNion of the Founder OF Chris
tianity, Is the principal feature Of tho
regalia Of the Kings OF Italy. while in
these letters L have more than once
related how the present Earl OF Kin
tore owes his peerage, and the for
tunes OF his house. to the clever way
In which his ancestor, the first earl,
concealed the regalia OF Scotland in
the churchyard OF Kinneff. throughout
the Cromwellian regime. and until the
restoration OF Charles II.
Lord Sackvilles grand old ancestral
country seat at Knole, in Kent, has
been SO frequently mentioned during
the last two or three weeks In conncc-
ton with their sensational suit to re-