Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1919-07-17
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"A
!: J: !
/A4%AH was killed by casual automobile
kS4 W\ in front of Friendship, the Mclean
N@V Washington home, the superst-
ND tious people Of the country shook
+ their heads with al "I-told-you-so"
air and Invariably they We're heard
to exclaim: "The evil-eye Hope
diamond is active again"
Presumably almost everybody has heard of the
hope diamond and of the long history of mystery
MISFORTUNE shattered hopes, blasted fortunes and
violent deaths which is declared to center about
.ne famous gen. Suffice it to say that the Hope
ualilohd is sapphire-blue stone Of AK karats:
that II made its appearance in France in 1868:
that it is believed by the superstitious to have tho
evil eye;" that its published history, which is
proDaply largely imaginary, would seem to bear
out It's evil influence on the fortunes of its many
owners and that the parents of the dead bow are
tae present owners of the gem. so far as the
world Knows
Inc ,S2ooooO,ooO baby" was the son of Mr.. and
MIS-. Edward Bea Mclean. He was expected "a
inherit vast fortune from his orandf.+hrs
oohh II. Mclean, the owner of several ne,ysna.
pers, ana Thomas f. Walsh a millionaire nina
operator OF Colorado. He slept in a gold cradle
the gl1t OF King Leopold of Belgium a partner
WIN "alsh IN the famous Camp Bird gold mine
ID the San Juan district of Colorado Ha nod
hve nurses in five of the finest mansions in an,r
lea. be had private car, which carried him TO
gam Beach, to California or wherever he was IN
go. He had half dozen automobiles Of his own
FROM the moment of his birth yinson was fo
nous as the most carefully guarded baby on eo,th
slnill army OF guards. detectives and attendants
ana a corps of doctors and nurses watched over
MN a hours in the day. When he was an infant
ne TOOK his arings in a baby buggy which was
vefltabfe steel cage locked by special padlocks.
FMS was one of the precautions against kidnapers
Ihen came a moment when the vigilance of his
attendants was relaxed. Slipping ;.way, the boy
started across the street. A "fivver" bearing
West Virginia license and containing three women
came along and ran him down i'm front of his
home!
Ii was in 1868 that Jean Baptiste Tayernier n
French traveller, appeared in Paris with diamond
OF marvellous size and coloring. Some said it had
been stolen from it's place among the ornaments
OF Hindu idol. More insisted 1T had been taken
from the palace of the Grand Moguls of Delhi
Wherever it came from, the story places it i'm
mediate]y afterwnrd in the possession of Louis
NV. who placed it among the crown Jewels of
France and permitted it to be worn by Nine de
Montespan.
Thus the diamond is launched upon career Of
I'LL fortune and disaster and tragedy
1t was not long, the story, after Trave-.
nier sold it to Louis NV for 100000 francs and
barony, that Travernier was torn to pieces by
WHO dogs While he was on hunting expedition.
Mme de Montespan's fall is part of history.
AT this time the diamond weighed G71h karats.
The story says that in the rough it was Of 112
karats. and that the king sent it to an Amsterdam
jeweler to be cut and polished
Along with other court jewels the diamond de.
scended upon the death of Louis XIV to Louis XIV
Tradition permits several of his favorites to have
worn 1t, and so the lives of all of these are sup
posed to have ended in tragedy, failure or worse.
Louis XVI came into possession Of the stone in
course of time, and through him il went to Marie
Antonette, who wore it, extending the same privi-
lege TO her friend, Princess de Lamballe Genuine
history records that Marie Antoinette died on the
guillotne and that the princess was torn to pieces
by q French mob and her head carried about lpon
a pike.
The stone was lost sight Of about 1892 Then
after span of 80 years the stone reappeared in
1880 In the meantime the story writer's apain
reduced its size to a. karats Wherever the gem
was in those years of mystery stories are numer.
GUS today that 1t still was performing it's mission
Of blighting lives and fortunes.
One Of these accounts attributes to Daniel,
Eliason. jeweler Of London, who got the stone in
1880 story that after it was supposedly stolen
from the royal treasures of France by Paris
mob the gem sold to an Amsterdam ieweer
William Falls, who recut the stone to Its present
dimensions The story goes that Hendrix, son
of William Falls stole the jewel from his parent
who died a ruined man. Then this record dis
poses of Hendrix by suicide, after which the
stone got into possession Of one Francis Beau
lieu, to whom the story ascribes death by star
vation 1t was this man who sold the stone to
EIiason.
From GLEASON 1t passed into the ownership of
Henry T. Hope, banker of London, and &C.
Aquired the name under which 1t is known
The price is stated to be $4,000. 1t is not clear
nut Hope suffered greatly through his possession
the diamond; nevertheless stories are to be
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