The Washington herald., 1916-12-23
Seen and Heard
By GEORGE MINER.

New York, Dec. 22.-The famous
Hope blue diamond has been accred-
tied with bringing no end of misfor-
tune to large number of people and
now the list is added to. 1t seems
that all the troubles of the late EN-
peror of Austria were due to a sim
liar unlucky stone and the curse that
it carried.
1t is rather an indirect story Fred
Stone has recently returned from
England. While there, an English
officer, who is now at the front or
in his grave, told him remarkable
story which he got from a Buddhist
priest when stationed in Ceylon.
This priest, he says, was a man OF
high repute in the native community
there and asserted that every word
of his narrative was true. Person
ally, the English officer said, he was
not believer in the occult and had
no opinion to express on the series
of remarkable events related by the
priest. He only repeated them for
the benefit of those who take an in
terest in such mysterious matters.
Many years ago." said the priest,
"a member of the house of Haps-
burg, one Count Hermann, in con-
nection with Duke of Braganza and
number of followers, set out on
an expedition to Burmah with the
ostensible purpose of converting the
natives.
"They sailed from Lisbon and in
due time reached Mandalay, near
which place they speedily became in
volved in religious controversy
which ended in the death of more
than thousand Burmese worship
pers
"The count and the duke and
their followers then made for the
great temple of Rama and Sta, which
was known to contain gold and jew
els in enormous abundance and Of
priceless value. They slaughtered
the priest and all, the guardians of
the temple and looted its treasures.
The temple walls were inlaid with
gold and in it were set, in almost
every square inch, precious gems
Every stone that could be wrenched
from its place was stolen by the
marauders. Each of them took a
share of the booty.
1.-TWO of the finest stones in the
temple formed the eyes of the golden
statue of Rama. One, to be known
later as the Hope blue diamond, was
appropriated by the Count Hermann
and the other taken by the Duke of
Braganza, fell after several genera
tions into tho possession of the late
King Leopold
Rama called down upon the
thieves the vengeance of all the gods.
More than Fifty persons of high de-
gree have already fallen under
Rama's curse and lost their lives by
violent means With their death, the
curse came to an end, but in the case
of the house of Hapsburg it goes on
forever"
Whether or not one takes any
stock in occult matters, history does
record the looting of this temple by
Europeans under very distressing
circumstances and that the gems
taken were scattered by marriage or
inheritance through most of the roy
al houses of Europe, with the ex-
ception of England and Denmark.
1t is a singular fact that these are
the only two royal houses that have
not been afflicted with remarkable
tragic record. To be sure, many of
the gems have come into the possess
sion Of people in private life by pur-
chase, and whether or not the curse
has kept with them it is impossible to
say, except In the case Of the motor
ious Hope diamond, which wrought
havoc with the life and fortune of
that American actress, May Yohe,
who got it along with the pussillani-
nous Lord Hope when she married