Gilpin observer., 1913-05-01
FELL FROM THE SKY
REMARKABLE STORY OF THE
FINDING OF DIAMOND.
Wonderfully Beautiful Jewel Alleged
to Have Been Found Long Ago In
Hole In Earth That Had Been
Cleft by Thunderbolt.

1.-Two hundred years ago peasant
family lived in a Swiss hamlet, and
one evening terrific storm broke
from the Alps, and amid the incessant
flashes of lightning and peals Of thun-
der came binding glare and deaf
ening crash setting fire to the roof of
the cottage. Next day the peasant as
he refully contemplated the smoking
ruins, noticed deep fissure in the gar
den leading to the root of a pine tree.
Without knowing why he fetched a
pickax and began digging until from
the depths of the hole mysterious
blue light shone fitfully" is the begin.
ming of a strange story from Lyons
that, says the Paris correspondent oa
the London Standard, reads lust like
fairy tale"
Hurriedly making the sign OF the
cross, the man fed, but the following
morning returning and saw the same
curious CLEAN, like star, from the
depths of the furrow cleft by the thun
derbolt. Thrusting his hand down he
brought out marvellous stone still
darting uncanny rays of light.
Much disturbed in his mind, the hon.
est peasant took his find to the par.
ish 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 wordd, the stone has been
even since religiously preserved by
the succeeding generations of the
family.
But 1t has never brought much
luck, the last survivors being now
without a penny. The present pos
SCISSOR. woman forty-tive years old, is
married and the mother of twelve chill
dren, five of whom are still living,
while thirteenth is expected shortly
| A few years ago she and her husband
| left their native village and went to
| Germ, where they started small bust
ness which failed" continued the
story. They then came to Lyons,
where they have since lived a hand
to mouth existence. Reduced to the
last extremity OF want, they decided
to part with the famous thunderbolt
|
| eler.
''Petrified with establishment at see.
ing such a splendid diamond in the
possession of almost beggar woman.
the jeweler informed the police, and
not till the family had sent to
Switzerland for documents certifying
that the diamond had really belonged
to them for the last 200 years was
the woman allowed to regain posses
sion of the precious pebble.
Since then she has been besieged
from morning till night with absurd
offers of the hundredth part of the
value of the diamond, which has been
examined and photographed by ex
perts. What will probably be known
as the 'thunderbolt' diamond-if there
is any truth in the story and II II
is genuine stone-is said to show all
the unmistakable signs of rough dia
mond. 1t is one of the biggest known
weighing 290 carats, whereas the
Grand Mogul diamond only weighed
$50 carats.
ut will doubtless soon arrive In
Paris and be submitted to the final
judgment of experts who cannot err
Almost every famous diamond has Its
own pedigree and story, but none has
ever remained hidden so long in the
keeping of poverty stricken owners
whose secretiveness is at least az
strange as the reputed manner of the
discovery.