South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-01-09
BEHIND THE SCENES
With Rulers and Leaders of Wartime Europe
By the Princess RddziWill
Copyright.

heavy, and on the day OF his coro-
nation Nicholas IL. overtired by the
long ceremony. dropped it from his
hand as ne entered the cathedral OF
the Arch-angel. one Of the most i'm
portant churches Of the Kremlin.
whittier the cars repair after the
ceremony of their coronation The
incident caused an immense sensa-
ton at the time Of its occurrence
and was interpreted as an ominious
sign by many Russians. most of
whom are painfully superstitious
The imperial globe is also a part
OF the regalia. II is surmounted by
what is probably the largest ruby i'm
existence. one which formerly be-
Ionged 20 the Princess Radziwil,
from whose castle OF Nieswiege in
Lithuania. it was removed during
the Napoleonic wars and taken over
10 Petersburg 20 be included among
the crown jewels. Ii is an immense
but not at an beautiful stone, i'm
view Of the numerous flaws il pos
sesses, and il is supposed TO have
come into the possession of the
Radziwill family together with many
other priceless gems. thanks 10 the
alliance contracted by one of its
members with the heiress of the for
tune of King John Sobiesd of Po-
land, Tradition will have il that il
once formed part Of the treasures
belonging 20 the famous Turkish
Grand Vizier. Kara Mustapha. who
together with his armies was driven
away from Vienna by King John.
The pearls which formed one Of
the very valuable ornaments of the
Russian imperial treasury, were per
haps the most wonderful collection
Of their kind in Europe and COM
prised some absolutely unique speci-
mems. But the most remarlIa BILE
gem in the magnificent collection Of
the czars was a diamond necklace.
consisting of three rows of stones,
each the size of a pigeons egg This
the Empress Marie Feodorowna
liked TO wear on state occasions. 1t
was supposed to be worth 100000
rubles, and together with the huge
tiara whose centerpiece consisted of
one immense pink diamond. consti-
tuted a parure, the like Of which
will probably never he seen again.
Among all of these treasures
whose complete description would
sound as extravagant as an Arabian
fairy tale. there is one ring with
strange aad sinister history. Ii be-
longed 10 Peter the Great. who had
given il TO his daughter Elizabeth,
later 10 be empress in her own right.
This princess wore it for some time,
but discovered that whenever she
put IT on some misfortune befell her.
Being superstitious TO the extreme.
she gave orders that the unlucky
jewel be sold. Her nephew and fu
ture successor, hearing of her com
mand, bought the ring for himself.
Thenceforth ne constantly wore it on
his finger from whence il was re-
moved only after his violent death.
It will be remem bered that he was
strangled by Alexis Orloff, the lover
of his wife. the future Catherine the
Great That empress had the gem
removed to the treasury and for
babe it ever being used again. This
order was obeyed during her whole
life but after her death Paul l, find
ing the jewel beautiful, took il out
of its safe and began wearing IT, He
also came TO a violent death and il
became a popular belief that the I'M
lucky ring was a kind of Italian Jet
tatura. which should never be touch
ed. This ostracism of what was a
wonderful ornament continued until
one day when Alexander II looking
over the crown jewels, took a fancy
to this cursed ring and carried it
away to his private apartments. 1t
seems that his intention was TO pre-
sent it as a gift 10 his mOrganatiC
wife, the Princess Youriewsky, but
he was assassinated before he could
give il 10 her. So this famous ring
! fell once more under ostracism and
/ remained so for good many years,
| but the Empress Alexandra declared
that the legend attached to il was
nothing but nonsense and had il ar
ranged TO tit her own finger Anu
now she also has come TO grief and
it would be interesting 10 know who
at present possesses the unlucky
gem.
The government that assumed
control IF russia immediately after