The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-07-24

to exclaim: 1.-The 'evil-eye' Hope
diamond is active againI"
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
the famous gem. Suffice it TO say that the Hope
diamond is sapphire-blue stone of AK karats;
that it made its appearance in France in 1868;
that it is believed by the superstitous have the
evil eye" that its published history, which is
probably largely imaginary, would seem to bear
out It's evil influence the fortunes of its many
owners and that the parents of the dead boy are
the present owners of the gem, so far as the
world knows.
The "$20O,OOOO00 baby was the son of Mr. and
Mrs Edward BeaI Mclean. He was expected to
inherit vast fortune from his grandfathers
John r. Mclean, the owner. of several neUsna-
pers, and Thomas F. Walsh, millionaire mine
operator of Colorado. He slept in gold cradle
the gift of King Leopold of Belgium a partner
with Walsh in the famous Camp Bird gold mine
in the San Juan district of Colorado. He had
five nurses in five of the finest mansions in Amer
lea. He had private car, which carried him to
Palm Beach, to California or wherever he was to
CO. He had half dozen automobiles of his own
From the of his birth Vinson was IA
nous the most carefully guarded baby on earth
A small army of guards. detectives and attendants
and corps of doctors and nurses watched over
him "a hours in the day. When he was an infant
he took his arings in baby buggy which was q
veritable steel cage locked by special padlocks.
This was one of the precautions against kidnapers.
Then came moment when the vigilance of his
attendants relaxed. Slipping away, the boy
started across the street A ''fivver' bearing a
West Virginia license and containing tSree women
came along and him down in front of his
hOmel
1t in 1868 that Jean Baptiste Tavernier, a
French traveller appeared in Paris with a diamond
of marvellous size and c0lorng. Some said it had
been stolen from its place among the ornaments
of Hindu idol. More insisted 1t lad been taken
from the palace of the Grand Moguls of Delhi.
Wherever it came from, the story places it i'm
mediateiy afterward in the possession of Louis
XIV, who placed it among the crown Jewels of
France and permitted it to be 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 Traver
nier sold it to Louis XIV for 250O0 600 francs and
| barony, that Travernier torn to pieces by
wild dogs while he was hunting expedition.
! Nine. de MOntespan's fall is part of history.
| She supplanted soon by Nine de Mantenoz
! At this time the diamond weighed 67h karats
| The story says that in the rough it of 112
| karats, and that the king sent it to 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 it, and the lives of all of these are sup
posed to have ended in tragedy, failure worse
Louis XVI into possession of the stone in
course of time, and through him il went to Marie
| Antoinette who wore it, extending the same privf-
lege to her friend, Princess de LambaIle Genuine
history records that Marie Antoinette died on the
guilotne, and that the princess torn to pieces
by French mob and her head carried about upon
pike.
The stone was lost sight of about 1892. Then
after a span of 80 years the stone reappeared in
1890 In the meantime the story writer's again
reduced its size to A karats. Wherever the gem
| was in those years of mystery, stories numer-
today that it still was performing its mission
| OF blighting lives and fortunes
One of these accounts attributes to Daniel
Eliason, jeweler of London who got the stone in
| $780, story that after it supposedly stolen
from the royal treasures of France by a Paris
mob the gem sold to an Amsterdam ieweler
William Falls, who recut the stone to its present
dimensions. The story goes that Hendrix a son
| OF William Falls, stole the jewel from his parent
who died ruined Then this record dis
poses of Hendrix by suicide, after which the
stone got into possession of Francis Beau
lieu. TO whom the story ascribes death by star
vatio1 1t this who sold the stone to
EliaSon. q
From E1iason it passed into the ownership Of
| Henry T. Hope, a banker of London, and ac-
Quired the under which it now is known.
The price is stated to be $4,000. 1t is not clear
that Hope suffered greatly through his possession
af the diamond; nevertheless stories are to be