The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-03-13
Her
at.All
lines
to Insure
Their.
Safe
Return
to This
Court"
Of the CoVt, and the utmost ef-
forts to insure their safe return
must be exercised.
Dated, January 81. 1921.
"THOS. F. GRAHAM. Judge" y

The curious petition which
Judge Graham, Of San Francisco,
had before him arose from a pro-
vision in the will Of the late Mrs. ~
Rosa Blum, very wealthy widow
of the same city Mrs. Blum left
the bulk of her fortune to her son
and many costly Jewels to his
bride. She left, too. number Of
requests to charities.
Among the elder Mrs. Blum's =.
possessions was q very wonderful Ns
rope OF pearls. At conservative
estimate they were worth at least
100000. There we're many mem
cries about the necklace, associa
lions that set it apart from all the
other things she owned. And @
when 1t came to the question OF W
disposing of it, she did not quite
know what to do. Che did not
like the idea of simply passing It *
on to her daughterin-law. That
seemed rather too commonplace
a way to treat 1t.
WAS tueTe uOt SO"C Way tNo'
the sentimental value of the gems
could be preserved? Some way
of making it still stand for the
romance, the unique value, that 1t
had for her?
Mother Blum decided that there
was. So she stipulated in her
will that if there was girl
baby born to her son and his bride
within four years that baby should
have the necklace. 1t would be grand
mothers pearls" to her, and the child
knowing of the precious thing which was
hers, would wait eagerly for the time
when she might wear it, and she would
invest 1t with all the glamor that 1t de-
served. All through the years 1t would
stand for the girl child as the symboi OF
her emergence from young girlhood into
Young womanhood. That necklace, Mother
Blum figured slfrewdly, would stand for
something in her granddaughters heart
beyond its mere monetary value.
And IL no girl baby came along IN those
four years, then the necklace should brlns
comforts to the poor and afflicted. II
should be sold for the Federation OF Jew
ish Charities and many people would bless
IL and remember II TOT Wnat IL hao uohe
for them.
So It was set down in her will And
after her death the pearls were taken and
placed in a safe deposit vault to await the
decision OF the stork
But while inspecting the necklace re-
Gently young Mr.. Blum noticed that the
gems had lost some Of their lustre. A
faint bloom Of their beauty had been wiped
from them. There was a slight discolora-
ton. They looked-"sick."
And sick they literally we're, so the
Iapidarists that he called in to inspect
them told him. Born Of the tropics, I'M
prisonment behind iron bars and steel
walls was killing them. They needed
light and air. But more than anything
else, they told him, the gems needed con
tact with the soft, warm breast and neck
OF healthy womanhood.
1t was for this that they were starving,
and unless they had It, and soon, their
worth and beauty would steadily and swift
ly decrease.
Why such a thing should be so Is one. OF
the most curious things In nature-more
curious by far than young Mr.. Blum's peti'
ton to the Court when he was convinced
his mothers gems needed nursing. The
pearl is different from every other precious