New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-08-14

II here from MOSCOW
in the deportation proceedings against
the envoy.
"At the conclusion Of the examina-
ton Of the witnesses called by the
government to testify in relation to
/ ibis matter" said Mr.. Hourwich,
"Charles Rccht, of counsel for Martens,
asked Inspector Schcll for commits
| sion to be issued to Stockholm for the
examination Of the person by whom
these diamonds are alleged to nave
been sent to New York.
"The matter was laid before Assist
art Secretary Of Labor Post by Mr..
Recht in the presence of Inspector
Schell. but Mr.. Post ruled that this
matter has no relation to the deporta-
ton proceedings and that therefore the
examination of that witness IN Stock
holm is unnecessary"
Proceedings Kept Secret
Mr.. Hourwich said that counsel for
Martens ha, heretofore RETAINED from
commenting upon the diamond case,
which had been drawn into the depor-
tation proceedings by the Department
of Justice for the reason that these
proceedings are conducted behind
closed doors and the press is not adj
mittcd. We felt that we could not in
honor divulge what was going on in
! those proceedings.
"Now, however, since the Department
of Justice has seen fit to give its YER
sion of the matter to the public, we
| feel that we are no longer under OBJ
legations to preserve silence.
"The facts in the case disclosed al
the hearings before Inspector Schell
have absolutely no relation to Martens.
1t appears from the governments evil
dence that somebody in Stockholm sent
an envelope addressed to some person
in care of Martens. The address on
the envelope conclusively shows that
Martens was merely to deliver that en-
velope to somebody who presumably
was to call for it.
at is a well-known custom for con-
sular officers of all governments to
receive mail for delivery 20 their ma
tionals. AS rule the consul in whose
care a letter is addressed to somebody
does not know the addressee, but when
the latter calls for his mail the same
is delivered to him. The consul never
opens the mail of the addressee in his
care and has absolutely no knowledge
of its contents. That is the whole case
Of these diamonds"
Gems Worth S1OO.O0O,O00
The Kremlin Palace in Moscow was
the greatest Russian treasure house
and in it were the thrones and crowns
of past emperors Their total value
was estimated at Sl00000,O00.
In the Winter Palace at Petrograd
were kept the crowns of the Gar and
Czarina and there was one room said
to have been literally filled with dia-
mond, emerald and ruby ornaments.
Another royal palace where many. jew
els were kept was Tsarskoe Selo, just
outside of Petrograd.
These jewels were never on public
display and the only chance persons
outside the royal family had for gazing
on them was at court functions.
While there were at least two huge
diamonds in the Cars collection, there
were several fortunes in huge rubies
and emeralds. these three gems, to-
gether with black and white pearls,
making up the bulk OF the royal treas
ure in jewels.
The most valuable of the crown
jewels was the Orlov diamond, which
weighed 1888 carats, and was said to
have once formed one of the eyes OF
the Hindu idol Vishnu, in the island
temple of Sirangam. 1t was purchased
in Amsterdam in l775 by Count Grigori
Orlov and presented to Catherine IL.
He paid $560o0O for IL
1t is rose cut in the old Indian style
to preserve as much as possible of the
original weight. If it were recut in
the modern style lis weight would not
be more than 1875 carats. 1t has a
faint yellowish tint and contains sew
eral flaws.
Another famous diamond was the
Shah, which weighed S6 carats. This
was presented TO Gar Nicholas | in
1890 bv of IA Dnrs5a, l,.o7,-,
Prince. following the murder Of the
Russian Ambassador at Teheran.
Black Pearls Unequaled
The Czarina's collection of black
pearls was said to be unequaled. There
were four strings Of these, with large
pendent pearls besides bracelets and
earrings. The Czarina also had a
coronet in which huge black pearls
altemated with diamonds.
A historic pearl necklace, said to
have belonged to the Czarina Nathalia
Narishkina, mother of Peter the Great,
contained % pearls, weighing 400
grains. The largest single pearl
weighed % grains. 1t was reported
last winter that this necklace had been
smuggled into England and would be
placed on sale.
Among the crowns in the Kremlin
storehouse was that called the Grown
Of kazan," given by Ivan ~ to King
Edward of Kazan. This was set prin-
cipally with turquoises. The crown of
Michael Feodorovitch contained among
other jewels a huge pierced topaz set
IN the arch above, and below which
were pearls. There were also 9 hat
pierced sapphire. an octagon sapphire
of pale blue color. numerous smaller
sapphires and large emerald from
Colombia.
The tiara of Peter the Great was
st1lIGcJ Wifi,