Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1919-07-18

V !: +: !: I: !: &: !: :: ::
N wv In front of Friendship, the Mclean
NV W \ Washington home, the superstl-
Va tous people Of the country shook
" ! their heads with M "I.told-you.so'
= air and invariably they were heard
to exclam: "The 'eyll-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 ana
violent deaths which Is declared to center about
the famous gem. Suffice Il to say that the Hope
damcnd is Il sapphlre-bue stone of 44A karaIs;
that il made its appearance in France In 1868;
that is believed by the superStitouS TO have the
"eyl eye that its published history, which Is
probably largely imaginary, would seem to bear
out It's evil influence on the fortunes Of It's many
owners. and that the parents Of the dead boy are
the present owners of the gem, so fur as the
world knows.
The "$2O0O0oOoo baby" was the son OF Mr. and
Mrs Edward Beal Mclean lie was expected to
inherit vast fortune from his grandfathers,
John X. Mclean the owner of several nevspa.
pers, and Thomas +, Walsh, millionaire mine
operator OF Colorado He slept in gold cradle,
the gift of King Leopold Of Belgium 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
60 He had half dozen automobiles OF his own
From the moment Of his birth VinSon was IA
nous MS the most carefully guarded baby on earth.
A small army Of guards detectives and attendants
and corps vi doctors and nurses watched over
him "a hours IN the day. When he was an infant
he took his airngs in a baby buggy which was q
vertabie steel cage locked by special padlocks
This was one Of the precautions against kldnapers
Then came moment when the vigilance Of his
attendants was relaxed Slipping away the boy
started across the street. 4 "hyyer' bearing
West Virginia license and containing three women
came along and ran him down in front Of his
home!
II was In l6Gs tina, Jean BaptIste T0yernier, a
French traveller appeared In Paris with diamond
: OF marx size aud coorng. Some said II had
4 been stolen from its place among the ornaments
: Of Hindu idol More insisted It rad been taken
from the palace Of the Grand Moguls u Delhi.
9 Wherever it came from, the story places i i'm.
nediately afterward in the possession Of Louis
| XIV, who placed il among the crown jewels Of
| Franco and permitted Il to be worn by Nine. de
Montespan.
Thus tire diamond is launched upon career OF
4 i'll fortune and disaster and tragedy,
1t was not long 50 runs the story, after Trayer
nier sold 1t to Louis NV for 100000 francs ant
| a barony that TravernIer was torn to pieces b.
| wild dogs while he was on a hunting expedition.
| Nine de Montespans fall Is part Of history
She was supplanted soon by Nine. de Mainenon
| At this time the diamond weighed GIi2 karat.
| The story says that in the rough 1t was Of II
| karats and that the king sent II to an Amsterdam
| jeweler TO be cut and polished.
| Along with other court jewels the diamond dc
| scended upon the death of Louis XIV to Louis Ky
Tradition permits several Of his fayorites TO hav
worn il, and so the lives OF all Of these are SUI
posed to have ended in tragedy, failure or wors
| Louis XVI came into possession OF the stone
course of time. and through him II went to Mar
Antonette, who wore it, extending the same priv
lege to her friend Princess de Lamballe. GenuIr
history records that Marie Antonette died on Il
| gulotine and that the princess was torn 10 pec
by French mob and her head carried about upc
pike.
The stone was lost sight Of about 1892 The
= after span of 3S years the stone reappeared
- 1890 In the meantime the story writer's aga
n reduced its size to A karats. Wherever the -
Iia was in those years of mystery, stories are nun'
len Gus today that it still was performing Its nlss
oft of bllghtng lives and fortunes.
oil One of these accounts attributes TO Dan
nu Eliason jeweer of London, who got the stone
~. 1890 story that after 1t was supposedly stOl
IN from the royal treasures Of France by a Pa
mob the gem was sou 10 an AWslefualn Jewel
William Fails who recent the stone tn ;s uruss
dimensions. The story goes that Hendrix, a
kind. of William Falls stole the jewel from his pare
Y, h.e, =, who died n ruined man. Then this record
write. poses Of Hendrix by suicide, after which
,.,, stone got into possession of one Francis Be
- lieu, to whom the story ascribes death by 81
\ vation 1t was this man who sold the stone
Eiason.
From GLEASON 1t passed into the ownership
Henry T. Hope, banker of London, and
auired the name under which it now Is knO'
The price Is stated to be $4,000. 1t Is not cl
r that Hope suffered greatly through his possess
of the diamond; nevertheless stories are to