davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
ne Hope Diamond, Blue in Hue Ruby Red in Re1uatio

tragedy seems to have been as much
It's attribute as the cold blue hue of
the gem itself-unlike any other
diamond in the world.
Blood was split all along the trail
it travelled in the earlier days of it's
history. Sudden death, misfortune.
misery, have accompanied it since it
reappeared in 1880 and became
known as the Hope diamond.
Perhaps Mr.. and Mrs. Mclean
thought of the sinister stone as they
stood beside their dead child. They
may have remembered what thew
said when the diamond came into
their possession.
my luck thus far has been good
enough to counteract any hoodoo
that this foolish stone may carry"
the father Of Vinson Walsh Nc
Lean boasted shortly after he had
purchased the Hope diamond.
II have an abiding faith that any
thing given to me by my husband is
certain to bring me good luck" his
wife remarked when the stones rep
utation was brought to her atten-
ton.
The rock and steel fence around
Friendship, the McLean's great
home in Washington, has been
robbed Of it's main purpose now. The
gates that were always guarded, ex-
cept for that moment when the nine
year-old lad slipped through them,
need be guarded no longer. The
squad of private detectives who
watched over the boy lest he be kid
mapped will be discharged. Up to the
present the Hope diamond still lies
in the vault, waiting for the light to
quicken it into cold blue fame as it
passes into the hands of still another
owner. .. ~
No one knows when It was first
found or from where it came. Its
beginning is lost in a mystery as
deep as it's apparent evil influence
upon its owners.
Probably it was found in some
lost mine Of India, for no diamonds
OF it's hue nd composition are found
anywhere to-day. In India, where
men love jewels and are careless of
life, the earlier days Of the stones
career must have been ringed about
with violence.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

OF skepticism, confirmed by centu-
ries of failure to fly like a bird,
obscured the whole issue of me-
chanical flight. The professor near
the beginning of his work made the
confession that the whole subject
was generally considered 'to be a
field fitted rather for the pursuits
of charlatan than for those of the
man Of science" In the scoffings
which the press accorded his man
carrying machine he had the sad
opportunity of judging the correct
ness of his prediction. He concluded
in his Experiments in Aerody-
namics,' published in 1891, that
the mechanical sustension of heavy
bodies in the air, combined with
very great speeds, is not only pos
slble, but within reach of mechani-
cal means we actually possess"
Furthermore, in 1896, he made
model with the now conventional
planes, equipped it with steam
engine and sent it for a successful
flight of half mile over the Poto-
mac River. Then, backed by an
appropriation from the War Depart
ment, he constructed what he hoped
would be practical vehicle and
found man to fly it. He placed it
IN a boathouse in the fall of 1908
and newspaper correspondents,
hearing the rumor of a possible
flight, camped about the boathouse
containing the professors "aero-
drome,' watching it day and night.
Their vigilance was disappointed,
first because Professor Langley dis
liked publicity and, second, be-
cause the two launchings attempted
resulted in failures. The "aero
drome" also dropped into the
ridiculous class. They nicknamed
the hapless machine "The Buzzard"
and the name stuck, as we'll as the
decree of failure which the unin-
vlted observers accorded it.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

Hope for SOS, 00O-only a fraction
of what it had cost the crown of
france to obtain it in it's larger
form. A little while thereafter
Hope, who had enjoyed great in
tuence and power in the financial
world, failed in business. He never
recovered his earlier prestige.
Since then the gem has been
known as the Hope diamond instead
of by its earlier title, The French
Blue. Hope gave the stone to his
daughter in 1861, when she mar
rled the sixth Duke of Newcastle.
1t is said that on her death she left
it to her brother, Lord Francis Hope.
1t may have been the evil in
f1uence of the diamond that led him
to fall in love with May Yohe, a
vaudeville actress, in 1892. 1t is
certain that his marriage to her
was productive of as deep misfort
une as ever the stone inspired.
Reared in an atmosphere of which
publicity is the chief ingredient, the
newly made Lady Hope appreciated
the value Of the diamond as We
hicle to keep her name before the
public. She protested publicly a
fear Of its baleful influence and
attributed the smash-up which end
ed her life with Lord Francis Hope
to the curse laid upon the gem.
II have only worn the Hope dia-
mond twice." she said, eight years
ago when the McLcans had pur-
chased it, "but better that a mill
stone be hung about my neck than
that | should wear it again.
The immense blue. diamond has
cut trail down the centuries that
is red with blood, black with shame
and wet with tears. If Mr.. Mclean
is wise he will cast it into the bot
tom of the sea. The Hope diamond
bewltched me. Under it's spell I
committed the most unhappy mis-
take of my life"
Whether this referred to her mar
rage to Lord Hope or to her en-
suing elopement with Captain Put
nam Bradlee Strong, son of q for
mer Mayor of New York, is not
known. Lord Hope obtained a di-
vorce and May Yohe married Can
tain Strong, only to figure in a sec
ond divorce, after many sensa-
tional quarrels. She blamed this on
the Hope diamond, too, but has since
made third venture into matri-
mony.
Hope is said to have become ter
rlfed himself at the misfortune
which had fallen upon him since lie
came into possession of the diamond
and to have sold it to a New York
Jeweller named Joseph Frankel.
This phase in the gems unhappy
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

How it was brought to Europe is
a story also lost. Andre Tavcrnier.
a French adventurer Of the latter
part Of the seventeenth century,
alone knew, and he never told.
Legend has it that during his
wanderings in Hindustan he saw the
stone in the eye socket of an idol and
when opportunity offered blinded
the god. This is probably fiction,
however, for the diamond was still
uncut when brought to France.
At that time it weighed 112 carats
not large when compared to the
great Cullinan stone and other more
recent discoveries, but its strange
blue color made it immensely valu
able. Tavernier offered his find for
sale, and since jewellers declared it
unique among gems Louis XIV, the
Grand Monarch, decided that no less
a parsonage than he should have it.
Louis was at this time head over
heels in love with Nine. de Monte
span, one of a succession of mis-
tresses, and was determined to give
her the precious stone.
Tavernier drove his bargain we'll.
He sold it for 100000 francs, or
100000, and the Grand Monarch
threw in barony to boot. Accord
ing to modern standards the king
was scandalously fooled as to it's
value, for Mr.. Mclean paid only
$4,000 for it in 1911.
However, the stone changed hands.
was sent to Amsterdam to be cut, re-
turned flashing blue fire from each
facet, and was hung about the neck
of Nine. Montespan. Cutting and
polishing had brought it down to a
weight Of 81 carats.
Tavernier settled down on his
barony to enjoy it and the $500 900
fortune his treasure had realized,
and the kings light OF love was as
sured Of his affection because Of the
magniflcencc of his gift.
Less than q year later Tavernier
was torn to pieces by wild dogs while
hunting In Spain. This was the first
blood tAat the diamond had split on
European soil, but it had already in
flicted its first instalment of mis-
fortune.
For Nine. de Montespan was
no longer the favorite Of the king.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
rom da Vncis Dream to the Achievement of TO-DAY

December day In 1908 when the
Wright plane first flew. Orville
Wright himself tells the story:
after running the motor few
minutes to heat it up released the
wire that held the machine to the
track, and the machine started for
ward into the wind. Wilbur ran at
the side of the machine, holding the
wing to balance it on the track.
Wilbur was able to stay with
it until it lifted from the track after
q fortyfoot run. One of the life
saving men snapped the camera for
us, taking a picture just as the ma
chine had reached the end of the
track and had risen to height of
about two feet.
"The course Of the fight up and
down was exceedingly cratic, partly
due to the irregularity of the air and
partly to lack of experience in hand
ling this machine. The control of
the front rudder was difficult on &C
count of it's being balanced too near
the centre. This gave it tendency
to turn itself when started, so that it
turned too far on one side and then
too far on the other AS result the
machine would rise suddenly to
about ten feet and then as suddenly
dart for the ground. A sudden dart
when little over 100 feet
from the end of the track,
or a little over 100 feet from
the point at which it rose into
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
Gem Disappears
For Forty Years

Daniel Elias, a London jeweller
in that year offered for sale a dia-
mond of strange blue color. 1t was
not the diamond of Tavernier and
the Louis-at least not all of it, for
this weighed only ID carats and the
original cut stone had weighed 81.
According to the story that Elias
told, the jewel had been taken into
Holland by the man who stole it
from the royal treasury and sold to
one William Falls, an Amsterdam
jeweller, who, to avoid unpleasant
questions, recut the stone to it's
present dimensions.
Two other fragments Of what is
believed to be the original stone
have since come to light. In 1874
the Duke of Brunswick DISPLAYED
another blue diamond weighing ten
carats, Of the exact shade of the
Hope diamond, as it was then called
According to Edward W. Streeter,
an English expert, both we're "of
most beautiful sapphire hue with an
adamantine lustre of extreme bril-
liancy."
The second fragment was bought
IN Vienna by a French jeweller
twenty-five years ago and sold to an
English noblewoman. 1t weighed
only one and quarter carats.
The reduction in size had no ef
feet upon the malevolent power of
the main stone, however. Hendrix
Falls, according to Elias, stole the
diamond from his father, William,
who died ruined man. Hendrix, it
is said, committed suicide and the
gem came into the hands of one
Francis Beaulieu, who died of star
walton. Still another person then
gained possession Of it and through
him Elias purchased it.
Elias sold the stone to Henry
Thomas Hope, London banker. and
here the tragic tale Of the diamonds
existence comes out of the fog of
tradition and legend into the clear
light of fact.
The jeweller sold the diamond To
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

the air, ended the flight. AS the
velocity of the wind was over thirty
five feet second and the speed of
the machine over the ground against
the wind ten feet second, the speed
of the machine relative to the air
was over forty-fve feet a second,
and the length of the flight was
equivalent to a flight Of $40 feet
made in calm air. The fight lasted
only twelve seconds, but it was,
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

wreck and ruin, the diamond vans
ished. Eventually, after no ona
knows what bloody chapters, it re.
appeared in the hands of Selim
Habib, one of the few persons who
have been able to handle the dia.
mond with impunity. He took it to
Paris and was SO eager to get rid Of
it that he accepted $4,000 for it.
According to his story, he pur.
chased the stone from the new
Turkish government. He also told
of two more deaths that it had
caused. Kulub Bey, guardian Of the
Sultan's treasure house, was slain by
mob while trying to escape with
the diamond, and Jehver Agha, into
whose hands the stone then fell,
later was hanged.
On June "a, 1909, the Hope dis4
mond was sold by Habib in Paris
Shortly thereafter it came into the
possession of P. c. Cartier, Jew
eller, from whom Mr.. Mclean pur.
chased it on January %, 1911, as
gift for his wife, who shortly before
had become the mother of the "hun'
dred million dollar baby"
All Of the half-forgotten history
and legend clinging to the great
blue stone was revived in the news
papers at this time, and either this
or the influence of the diamond II
self made the multimillionaire hesf
tate before purchasing it. Into tie
bill of sale was written the following
clause:
Should any fatality occur to tie
family Of Edward B. Mclean within
six months, said Hope diamond
agreed to be exchanged for delivery
of equal value"
But no such fatality was to occur
for eight long years.
Jewellers have always been warm
defenders Of the reputation OF ta0
Hope diamond. Several wears ago.
when discussion of its sinister MS
tory filled newspapers, T. Edgar
Wilson, of 'The Jewellers Circusi
Weekly wrote a letter OF pro'sss
against the alleged libel Of the stonS'
THE writer he said, "has been
unable to verify one of the incldeH''
as to misfortune overtaking any DIV
known to have had the stone, aio ~
therefore asks of you aid in getois
at the facts if there be any onta'I.
able, and if the stories be not tl''
in contradicting the canards wh''a
appear in print every time the hcp'
diamond comes into prominence
Yet something very close to 'no
reason for its existence has lett mo
great home in Washington, ana NV
man who built it in the hope 'ia,
one day it might be his sons sun
owns the diamond of evil inhushSS
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
lVinson Mclean 6
Tragic Death the
Last of it's SIN
lister Associa-
tons
By F. F. Van de Water

A MN EYE A R-OLD boy
N slipped away from those
who continually stood watch
over him a week ago. He ran
through the gateway of his fathers
home into the centre of Washing
ton street. For him this was to be
a day of days.
Born heir to s150,oOo,oOo, Vinson
Walsh Mclean. who had passed his
infancy in a gold cradle, present
from King Leopold of Belgium. had
been promised his first ride on a
trolley car! So, thrilled by this adj
venture, the boy before whom Law
all that money could buy rushed off
TO watch for the approach of the
wonderful car.
But he did not see the automo-
bile that bore down upon him. nor
did its driver see him until it was
100 late to swerve. Six hours later
Vinson Walsh Mclean had turned
his back forever on life that start
ed so auspiciously to end in tragedy
Deep in vault of a WASHINGTON
trust company lies brilliant. pale
blue stone, the size of a robins eoo
1t is worth kings ransom, and. If
legend be believed, has seen two of
its royal owners hurled from their
thrones. 1t Is the hue of a per-
fectly pure ice crystal seen in the
sunlight, but II the tradition that
mas grown up about it be true Il
should have turned long since into
the blood color Of the ruby.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
On Verge
OF Success

Nevertheless Professor Langley
was on the verge of success. Bit
terly disappointed as he was by the
adverse criticism, he had invented
a machine which could fly, though
he never lived to see the proof. For
the machine, which minor accidents
had probably prevented from flying
IN 1908, was taken in hand by
Glenn H. Curtiss in 1915 and flown
successfully without material altera-
ton.
No one can deny now, since the
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

noted Lillienthal, with his carefully
constructed gliders, which he was
perfecting for lateral control at the
time of the accident resulting in
his death.
The question Of lateral control
on the glider was the stumbling
block, problem not to be really
solved until the advent of the
Wright brothers, despite the inves-
legations Of Chanute and Pitcher
and Herring. The Wrights' inven-
ton Of warping the wings to change
the angle with relation to the path
Of flight was the first step to per-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
And HaWker's
Last

Then turn to week ago and read
of the start Of the Sopwith plane
that carried Hawker and Grieve to
the land of the missing. There, in
startling brevity, is the record of an
achievement in less than two decades
which man had been trying earnestly
during the last four centuries to &C.
complish:
"The biplane took the air after
short run across the field exactly at
17:45 Greenwich mean time. Hawker
maneuvred in circles until he at
tanned the desired altitude, then he
headed at tremendous speed for this
city (St. John's), five miles away.
"The machine passed directly over
St. Johns, across the hills in the dis
lance and quickly disappeared from
view"
Yet even at the beginning of this
century and ever since the time when
Leonardo da Vinci added to his fame
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
Kings Have Lost
With the Jewel

Legend says that the gem then
fell into the hands of Nicholas Fou-
quet, Louis's superintendent of
finance, a power in his day. He was
accused of embezzlement and COM
mitted to prison for life.
Whether the grand monarch's
successor, Louis XIV, ever assumed
actual ownership of the baleful gem,
or whether he was content to let it
lie in the royal treasury, is not
known. He may have bestowed it
upon Pompadour and others of the
long line of favorites, most of whom
came to dismal ends. At all events,
he escaped its influence and died
after having contrived to stir up so
much suffering for others that the
revolution ensued.
But when Louis XVI assembled
the throne, his vivacious queen.
Marie Antoinette, wore the beauti-
full stone often. Louis himself be-
slowed it upon her and she treasured
it so highly that as a special mark of
favor, she permitted her dearest
companion, the Princess de Lam
bale, to wear it also.
Then revolution boiled up in
France. Louis, titular owner of the
diamond, was torn from his throne,
and eventually trod the steps of the
gulllotine. His queen, the actual
owner Of the gem, followed him.
Princess de Lamballe, who also had
worn it, was torn to pieces by
mob.
Here the earlier history Of the
dlamond--if it be history-cnds. In
the turmoil Of the revolution it
vanished. Probably it was stolen
during the pillage of Versailles or
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

Only little while after the diamond
had first shone against her white
throat, Louis turned from her to an
other, Nine. de Mantenon.
The new favorite was deeply re-
ligious, and finally inveiglcd the
monarch into marrying her. But
she was of a sober and nun-like dis
position and probably never wore
the stone that had been one of her
husbands final offerings to his earl
Ter faVorite.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

time has passed when the airplane
was emerging from its swaddling
clothes, that the Langley contribu-
ton suggested the modern flying
machine and that he came closer to
success even than Hiram Maxim in
England with his huge multiplane
with its 104-foot span and total
weight of 5000 pounds. He was
nearer the right direction than the
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

nevertheless, the first in the history
Of the world in which a machine
carrying a man had raised itself by
its own power into the air in full
flight, had sailed forward without
reduction of speed and had finally
landed at point as high as that
from which it started"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

the record Of designing the first pair
of wings for man inventors have
tried without stint to perfect a man.
propelled air vehicle. The reasoning
behind it all was simple and time has
proved it correct. A bird has wings
and with them is able to fly. Give
man the proper wings and he also
can fly.
1t remained, however, for Samuel
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
in twelve hours.

in twelve hours. ~
"ln flight" says William Dinw;a.
die in "The Century Magazine,s
1--WE have a huge, headless pair a,
wings, with the front edge roundsa
in a graceful curve, stretching side.
wise to almost feather-like edges =,
the ends and backward in slightly
bowed curve to the tail controls 4,
it purringly cleaves the air tbers
will not be a thing in sight exceot
the FURNISHED wings of this mon.
ster."
And yet who cannot rememh.yy
the Wright brothers in their earlv
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
SuIfan's FavOrife
Its Next Victim

Salma Zubayda, favorite of the
tottering Sultan, is said to have
been the next person to wear the
gem. Then came the Turkish revo-
luton, and the mob that broke into
the royal palace found Abdul gone
mad with fear and the murdered
body of his favorite at his feet.
Again, having brought about
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

advanced stage, although the =.
provements on the aeroplano a '''
1alr to change even its convent;oo NJ
shape. Recent news, for instsa- s'
tells of an aerial leviathan Of ~,
oatwlng type without a strut "
stay wire, expected to travel at ~.
rate of 25O miles an hour, and w ,.s
such lessened resistance to tho w.; -. I.
that it hopes to cross the Atlanss
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
Tragedy Pursued
The Hope Diamond

For the great diamond that Ed
ward r. Mclean, father Of the dead
boy, purchased in 1911 is a stone
with history, and all Of that his
tory Is bad. From the time IL came
into possession Of Louis XIV Of
France down To the present day
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

From then on for forty years
stories of the blue diamond were
continually springing up. This man
had it. This one had been killed to
gain possession of it. But no def
mite trace Of the stone was OBJ
tanned until 1880.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
Present and
Future

Even to-day, when a plane can
bank at dizzying angle, it still is
known to slide; it still is known to
crash even in experienced hands.
But in principle at any rate me-
chanical flight has passed into an
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

flights sitting we'll forward between
the wings of their biplanes with
their trousers Tapping in the
breeze?
Yet no less a man than Professor
Simon Newcomb predicted in "Mc-
Cures Magazine" in September,
1901, that
"The construction of an aerial
vehicle which could carry even a
single man from place to place at
pleasure requires the discovery Of
some new metal or some new force"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

Pierpont Langley, of the Smith
sonlan Institution, in Washington, to
make the first practical contribution
to practical flying.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

and where toward the end of the last
century NJ. Renaud built a toy model
of an airship which he caused to fly
ISL feet in that same garden of the
Tuileries.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25

feet air mastery, though the prin-
ciple has been changed and simpli-
fed.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
Pursuit of
A CharIafan

When Professor Langley started
his Investigations in 1887 a cloud
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-25
Mans First

Mans First
Flight
Or again, draw the veil of time for
moment and look at the Kill Devil
Dunes in North Carolina on windy