Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1913-04-18
A DIAMOND FROM THE SKY

| WO uuHuIcO years dSo
peasant family lived in Swiss
hamlet, and one evening a ter
rife storm broke rom the Alps,
and amid the incessant flashes OF
lightning end peals of thunder
came a binding glare and a
deafening crash,- setting fire to
the roof Of the cottage. Next
day the peasant, as he ruefully
contemplated the smoking ruins,
noticed a deep assure in the gar
den leading to the root of a pine
tree. Without knowing exactly
why he fetched a pickax and be-
gan digging until from the
depths Of the hole a mysterious
blue light shone ftfully," is the
beginning of a strange story
from Lyons that. SAYS the Paris
correspondent of the London
Standard, reads Just like fairy
tale,'
Hurriedly making the sign of
the cross the man fled, but the
following morning. returned and
saw the sd me curious CLEAN, like
a star. from the depths of the
furrow cleft by thunderbclt.
Thrrsting his hand down he
| brought out a marvellous stone
still darting uncanny rays Of
light.
Much disturbed in his mind,
the honest peasant took his find
to the parish priest, who said:
The stone came to you from
heaven and it is the finger Of
God that placed it in your field.
AS long as you keep it you and
yours will be safe from storms
and evil chances" Faithfully
respecting the priests word, the
the stone has been ever since
religiously preserved by sue
ceeding generations of the fam
lily.
But it has never brought
much luck, the last survivors be-
ing now without peuny. The
present poSsessor. woman As
years old, is married and the
mother of II children, five of
whom are still living while a
thirteenth is expected shortly. A
few years ago she and her huS-
band left their native village and
went to Berne, where they start
ed a small business which fail
ed" continued the story. They
then came to Lyons, where rhey
have since lived a hand-to-mouth
existence. Reduced to the last
extremity Of want, they decided
to part with the famous thunder
bolt stone and took it to a we'll
known Lyons jewe)er.
''Petrified with establishment
seeing such a splendid diamond
in the possession of almost a
beggar woman, the jeweler in
formed the police. and not till
the family had sent to Switzer-
ladd for documents certifying
that the dimond had really be-
1onged to them for the last 200
years was the woman allowed to
regain possession of the precious
pebble.
Since then she has been be-
sieged from morning till night
with absurd offers of the hun.
dredth part of the value of the
diamond, which has been ex-
unined and photographed by ex-
perts. What will probably be
known as the 'thunderbolt' di-
amond-if there is any truth in
the story and if it proves a gen.
uine stone-is said to show all
the unmistakable signs of rough
dia mond. 1t is one of the biggest
known, weighing 29O carats,
whereas the Grand Mogu1 di-
almond only weighed 2SO carats.
1T will doutless soon arrive in
Paris and be submitted TO the
final judgment of experts who
cannot err. Almost every FAM
Gus diamond has its own pedi-
gree and story, but none has ever
remained hidden so long in the
keeping of poverty-stricken own
ers whose secretiveness is at least
as strange as the reputed MINER
Of the discovery"