McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 17 Jul 1919, p. 7

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f PLAINDEAL ©pC(g) . **<-/f/isy r->:\ SKs^Sv^rvEK ifr " i"f.1 /'1 1 *HEN V$m& Walsh McLeafc *• years old, the "^200,000,000 baby," was killed by a casual automobile In front of Friendship, the McLean Washington home, the superstitious people of the country shook their heads with an "I-told-you-so" air and invariably they were heard to exclaim: "The 'evil-eye' Hope diamond is active again!" . Presumably almost everybody has heard of the • • diamond and of the long history of mystery, Misfortune, shattered hopes, blasted fortunes and tloient deaths which Is declared to center about |he famous gem. Suffice it to say that the Hope : diamond is a sapphire-blue stone of 44*4 karats; '•ihat it made its appearance in France In 1668; that it is believed by the superstitious to have the . fevll eye;" that its published history, which Is probably largely Imaginary, would seem to bear 0ut Its evil influence on the fortunes of its many • Owners, and that the parents of the dead boy are present owners of the gem; so far as the World knows. The "$200,000,000 baby" was the sor^of Mr. and Sirs. Edward Beal McLean. He was "expected to •herlt a vast fortune from his grandfathers, jjjfohn R. McLean, the owner of several newspapers, and Thomas F. Walsh, a millionaire mine fperator of Colorado. He slept in a gold cradle, *he gift of King Leopold of Belgium,' a partner s ^th Walsh in the famous Camp Bird gold mine - the San Juan district of Colorado. He had live nurses in five of the finest mansions in America- He had a private car, which carried him to Palm Beach, to California, or wherever he was to |fo. He had'a half dozen automobiles of his own. From the moment of,his birth Vinson was famous as the most carefully guarded baby on earth. small army of guards, detectives and attendants *nd a Corps of doctors and nurses Watched over §im 24 hours in the day. When he was an infant lie took his airings in a baby buggy which was a Jjerltable steel cage locked by special padlocks. Jfhis was one of the precautions against kidnapers. Then came a moment when the vigilance of his attendants was relaxed. Slipping away, the boy started across the street. A "flivver" bearing a l^est Virginia license and containing three women £ame along and ran him down in front of his home! . ) It was in 1668 that Jean Baptlste TaverMer, a French traveler, appeared in Paris with a diamond of marvelous sise and coloring. Some said It 'had . been stolen from Its place among the ornaments a Hindu idol. More insisted it had been taken 'from the palace of the Grand Moguls of Delhi. Wherever it came from, the story places it immediately afterward in the possession of Louis XIV, who placed it among the crown jewels of France and permitted it to be worn by Mme. ds Hontespan. Thns the diamond ip launched upon a career of 111 fortune and disaster and tragedy. It was not long, so runs the story, after Traverser sold it to Louis XIV for 2,500.000 francs and barony, that Travernier was torn to pieces by , jplld dogs while he was on a hunting expedition. Mme. de Montespan's fall <s part of history, /^he was supplanted soon by Mme. de Maintenon. - & At this time the diamond weighed 67% karats. J|he story says that In the rough it was of 112 jBarats, and that the king sent it to an Amsterdam •Jjfeweler to be cut and polished. !i« Along with other court jewels "the -diamond defended upon the death oM^ouis XIV to Louis XT. aditlon permits several of his favorites to have |orn it.and so the lives of all of these are sup- >sed td liave ended- in tragedy, failure or worse, ouls XVI came into possession of the stone in ^Ourse of time, and through him 11 went to Marie Antoinette, who wore it, extending the same privilege to her friend, Princess de Lamballe. Genuine Wstory records that Marie Antoinette died on the ,guillotine, and that the princess was torn to pieces by a French mob and her head carried about upon M pike. The stone was lost sight of about 1792. Then, lifter a span of 88 years the stone reappeared in yVl>30. In the meantime the story writers again Mdaced its size to 44 karats. Wherever the gem ^jks In thpse years of mystery, stories are numer- r today that it still was performing its ™iggi«B blighting lives and fortunes. . One of these accounts attributes to Dafelel Eliason, a jeweler of London, who got the stone in 1830, a story that after it was supposedly stolen ft<om the royal treasures of France by a Paris •laob the gem . was sold to an Amsterdam jeweler, William Fals, who recut the stone to its present dimensions. The story goes that Hendrlk, a son «f William Fals, stole the jewel from his parent, who died a ruined man. Then this record disposes of Hendrik by suicide, a{ter which the stone got Into possession of one Francis Beau- Ben, to whom the story ascribes a death by starvation. It was this man who sold the stone to filason. From Eliason It passed Into-the ownership of .Henry T. Hope, a banker of London, and acquired the name under which it now is known. The price is stated to be 165,000. It is not clear 'that Hope sufteed greatly through his possession of the diamond; nevertheless stories are to be v/jyja/y/vejL£AjyA/ra/MS&?orsf£y? (o#Ljr/?r) •-taw JL found that he suffered financial reverses and other personal misfortunes. Hope Is credited with having given, the diamotfei|- ^to his daughter at the time she married the sixth* duke of Newcastle in 1861. But apparently It was the flctiop mongers and not she w ho bequeathed the gem TO her son, Lord Francis Hope, that It might get sensationally into the life x»f May Yol^ the American actress. | This part of the story Is mere fiction. It is troe that Muy Yohe married Lord Francis Hope. It is true that she eloped with Capt. Putnam Bradlee Stroufe, son of a former mayor of New York. Lord Francis obtained a divorce, Vnd the wife married Captain Strong, only to be divorced a second time. But May Yohe, although she has been quoted ta saying that she wore the Hope diamond only . twice and that her troubles were due to its malign influence, probably never even saw the stone. Certainly Lord Francis never had possession of it. So, when the story goes on to say that he sold it for $168,000 to Joseph Frankel, a New York jeweler, the statement is untrue. V It is true that Frankel had the gem In Near York. Where And from whom Frankel acquired the stone never has been made clear, but the stone went back to Paris and into the possession of Jacques Colet, who bought it from Frankel. Colet has been reported as having killed himself after losing his mind. Before that tragedy, however, the diamond Is reputed to have passed into the ownership of Prince Ivan Kanitowski, and the legend promptly disposes of the prince at the hands of a mob of Russian revolutionists. Thence,the story skips to the murder of Mile. Ladue, to whom the Russian prince had loaned the diamond. A Jealous admirer is charged with this murder. Next In the legend of the jewel is listed Simon Moncharldes. of whose Identity there appears to be uncertainty. But the legend sends him riding close enough to a precipice to be thrown over and - killed. Just before his death Moncharldes is credited with having sold the diamond to Sellm Habib, a Persian, who acted as agent for the Sultan Abdul Hamld. One version of the next chapter is that Habib was drowned in a wreck and the diamond lost The publication of this was later explained as a mse to throw thieves off the trail. This version takes the stone to Constantinople, where It cuts a wide swath in violence, misfortune and death and finally brlngff about the end of Abdul Hamid. Be all that as It may, it appears that instead of having drowned with the gem In the shipwreck, Habib got back to Paris with It. It was sold at auction for $80,000 June 24, 1909. The gem then, passed into possession of P. a Cartier, and the Cartier firm brought It to this country. In January, 1911, announcement was made that the stone had been sold to the McLean family and that the purchase price was $180,0001 Mrs. McLean wore the stone at* least once in pub# lie, according to the newspapers.' An authoritative article by T. Edgar Willson in the Jewelers' Circular WTeekly about the time of the McLean purchase states that the "evil eye" reputation of the' Hope diamond dates from the publication of a sensational article in 1901, when Frankel brought the stone 4b New York. Willson says the authentic story of the stone begins with 1830, when Ella son sold it to Hope. He traces it through the Hope heirs to Its sale at auction to Frankel in 'London In 1901 Habib bought it in Paris and it was sold at auction in Paris when the Habib col lection was disposed of in 1909. It is believed, though it has never been proved, that the present stone 'was cut from the 67%-karat blue dla mond that formed * part of the stolen French regalia No mention of III luck having befallen Eliason, Hope or tbe New castles was ever made. Frankel was prosper ous while he had the stone and Habib's misfor " tunes came after he sold the stone. Sir Francis Hoj>e never had the stone and May Yohe never saw it. All of wlHch states T. Edgar Willson, as aforesaid. Nevertheless and notwithstanding, the reputa- ' tion of the Hope diamond is probably blasted for ail time. If It hasn't the "evil eye" there are millions of superstitious people who believe It has and will give credence to everything evil they may read about it. They may, in the course of time, even attribute to its malign Influence the automobile accident which made Vinson McLean at his birth the sole heir to the great Walsh fortune. In 1905, when automobiles were rare, Vinson Walsh, brother of Mrs. McLeafi, was killed in a smashup at Newport, Mrs. McLean, who was then Miss Evelyn Walsh was also in the car and received injuries which made her an invalid for a year. Two other children have been born to Mr. and • Mrs. McLean, both boys, one of whom is four and • the other a year old. At the time of the probating of his grandfa ther Walsh's will It was found that there was only $6,210,000 to be divided between the twO heirs, of the Mcl^ean union, Vinson and John R., Jr. Young McLean was a democratic youth. For several years his boon companion was a small negro boy. His tutors said he was an exceptionally bright student, and be was populate with his mates. ' ~ He was fond of anlntffs. Fifty-six Shropshire sheep were sent all the *ay from Colorado to Bar Harbor by express for him. They came from the big Walsh ranch, Wolhirrst, near Denver. He himself directed the purchase of a great flock of white Brahma chickens, ducks and turkeys, a Russian wolf hound, six blooded terriers, two Great Danes and a half score of other dogs and a great number of ponies. ; Art the McLeuns superstitious about the beautjful gem? Nobody seems to know definitely. But one of the stories about the stone since it has been to their possession seems to indicate that its evil reputation had its effect upon them. Anyway, as the story goes, there was some hitch about the payment of the purchase price of the stone. It evidently was not because of lack of money. There was a law suit. In the course of the controversy stories were printed to show tha\ Mr. McLean harbored a feeling of timidity Secnuse of the evil history attributed to the stone, and that he stipulated that the jewel should be taken back by the Cartier firm in the event that any tragedy occurred in the McLean family within six months. Whether that story is true is not dear, but eventually formal announcement was jnade by attorneys connected witb the suit over the purchase price that a compromise bad been effected. The superstitious who believe in the scums FLOORS Spends $1,000 a Month by Sifln- . tag Papa's Checks f Away. IS PLACED IN "HOME' Beautiful Girl Tires of Rural Life and Tries Smart Chicago Hotel*-- .» Eats Porridge Instiij >. »'•• .*>. of Artichokes. ' v Chicago.--Two thousand dollars ltt two months ought to buy a fairly good living, even in these times. But It seemed small to Margaret Lamb, a beautiful girl from South Dakota, who In that two months lived at six of the smart hotels In Chicago, anil intended to visit ihem all, signing meantime nice green checks on her father's bank account. Margaret also bought a dress and* paid $135 for it, and she bought silk stockings for $12.50, and yellow silk ones for $8 and corsets for $20, and French hats, and In Minneapolis on her father's checking account she bought another gown for $1^0,. ordering by mail. „ / - And violet ray baths? • , .... ' Margaret had two a dlsy and a hair dress and manicure every time sh* ventured out into the broad light. It wasn't easy for Assistant State's Attorney Hogan to decide what'to do with Margaret, because she is a very upright person, with nothing against her but the floating of father's fat checks. Margaret's mother died when she was four. Her father, who is wealthy, has had a housekeeper on his farm In South Dakota for the past many years, and she cared for the younger sister and the little brother. Margaret suddenly got ambitious and came to Chicago to study music, promising to live with her mother's brother and his wife In Oak Park. Oak Park bored Margaret. She hit the trail for the loop. She decided li< tels would suit her. She went shoj ping and bought $1,000 worth t • In • \ay • ,\ ! > 'ii'! ' h,' ••/ V V \\ i ilf:/ il iL il It -v.knr i 1J1! >l': M '.J 1 / • ii / III1. -Vr'-J-JSu N -1 - N t, i c- - This summef don't spend hours over a hot stoffl*} Serve Libby's dclicate Corned Beef chilled--It" will give you an entirely new idea of how easily a n a p p e t i z i n g s u m m e r m e a l c a n b e p r e p a r e d . - . * j } Okt a package from your grocer today. ^ V j '*'; Libby, McNeill A Libby, Chicago ! - v ^ Horn of Plextfar Qffere^cHiBaatth' IT# Western Canada flor yew hn helped to tow otld--the same napoo* evil eye," which Is world-wide belief that neither Christiaar Ity nor civilization has been able to kill, will pin their faith on the evil spell of the Hope diamond to this fact: Vinson McLean was probably the most carefully gftard^d child in the world, yet a casual automobile came along and killed him. A FLOWER FOR AU. .It's a tiny little house near Bedford. It needs Mint and the one front window is cracked, yet Ute people who pass it always look toward that window and then pass on with a smile. For In that window during all seasons is a pot containa blooming plant. "I began to put It there for the mlnera who ?H^nt past," the owaer said. "I thought of bow they were going 4own into the earth wlt£ ^darkness and danger all around them. Flowers 'bring hope, so I thought if they would see my ^ nwy mornlhr Qpf epiild'fb down * " a little more cheerful. And after the mine over there closed down I just still kept putting one there."--Indianapolis News. DEER JUMPS 1MTO ENGINE^ ***** ; m- . ALL DOUBT BANISHED. "Bear Clara," wrote the young man, "pardon me, but I'm getting so forgetful! I proposed td you last night, but really forget whether you saldii 'Yes' or 'No.'" £ "Dear Will," she replied by note, "so glad to hear from you! I knew that I bad said 'No* to: yWZ&fh#* hut I bad forsqttm wM#, Attempting to jump acr^fs a cut In advance of a train, a young buck junf-.ied partly through the window of a cab on the Philadelphia and Reading railroad near Carlisle, *'a. The engineer and fireman had narrow escapes from injury Tfr# #er was dragged and killed. ^ ,/ i J ANNUAL IMPRESSION. w "So you think things are to be less expensive?" Yes. But I always teel that way on compaai the price tags with those before Christmas." Scrubbing Floors at • a. m. clothes. Then she hit the Cooper Carl ton, the La Salle, the Surf, the H.vdf Park--and so on. She signed check! liberally and tipped like a loop hound The aunt and uncle notified the fa ther in South Dakota that Margare. had disappeared. Detectives found her comfortably located at the Kdgewatei Beach. She told every one she wa? twenty-three. She's barely seventeen. Likes Her Chickens Fried. Mrs. Anna L. Davern of the JuvenlU court was sent to talk to Margaret anC for days she and Mr. Hogan have tried to convince the girl that the cows anc chickens weren't so bad when you ha<: a fine and adoring father. Margarei frowned on the chickens. Officer Fred Becker and Mrs. Da vera took Margaret in a cab to th( Chicago Home for Girls, with the consent of both her uncle and her father, and there she will be locked uf' till she awakens. BOY HIS OWN DETECTIVE Pennsylvania Lad Shows That He ^»ss<s^iQ Help From tha Cfry - L Police Force. • (Chester, Pa.--Rhoades Heald, 15, ol 1102 Price Place, has the distinction of being the best Juvenile detective in the state. A few days ago he left hi* bicycle in front of a barber shop while he was getting his liair cut. When he came out his wheel had disappeared and he notified the police He also started to do some detective work himself. He learned that two hi>ys had torn apart a wheel and had thrown, the frame into an old quarry hole where the wheel was taken. The lad fished It out and found It was the frame of his wheel. In the meantime the boys had taken the good parts of Weald's wheel and attached them to an old frame. Young Heald learned this and the boys promised to pay him $15 rather than be arrested. The police called off matters owing to the age and respectability of the boys under promise that In the future they wlil not tamper with othe* people's property. •-- w- the worid--tauuc icatm Hlity of production atill rests upob 1 While high price* for Grain, Cattle end Simp are sure to remain, price of land is much below its valua Land capable of yielding 20t*4S |n| •Is of wheat to the acre emm km had mm •asy torata at from $18 to ISO par •era--good grazing land at aMtch loan. Many farms paid for from a ainale yeax*acrqf». cattle, sheep and hops bringsequafauoceaS. TbtGovemmail encoorasee farming ^nd stock raising. RaBway and Land Companies offer unusual indncemaota to Hom Saak* era. Fmths may r>« stocked by loans at moderate imcroat. Western Canada offers low taxation, good markets and atrip* ping; free schools, churches and healtnful climate. Farnwtteolmas to rwhiced rmilw*j ntas. lasatisa of IsaS. Ml tntsd UtantOM. ate. uppiT to Sopt. ot imati*., Ottawa. Cn, C J. fcswteaa, Rmsi4U, 113 W. Mm _ «L V.Msclaa^ 1WJ^»aiAwawTpSZlMw ernment Agents m It Is Impossible to beat an ignorant man in an argument. Important to Mother* Bhramlne carefully every bottle of GASTORIA, that famous old remedy for infants and children, and see that it Bears the ^ 81gQatare In Use for Over MO Wars. Children Cry for Fletcher's Castoria HEARTY EATERS IN AUSTRALIA Citizens of That Country May Claim (h^l^ave the Best Appetites , on the Planet ® • ' Some surprising statistics were published recently of what the average Australian eats. To judge from these figures, he has the best appetite, If not the best digestion, of any human heing on the plerhet. He eats every year 264 pounds of meat, which works out at an average of two sheep and one-fifth of a bullock for every man, woman and baby In Australia! He eats more than twice as much meat as the average Englishman. and three times as much as the average Frenchman, and four times as much as the average German or Swiss In addition, he consumes about three and three-quarter hundredweight of wheat, two and a half hundredweight of potatoes, and almost one hundredweight of sugar. If he Is a Tasmanlan he eats a quarter of a ton of potatoes in a yearl Fiancee and Wife. "Flubdub used to call his flaBtee kitten. "What does he call his wife?" 'Well, you know what a kitten develops into." No, Cordelia, a good cook isn't necessarily one that attends church seven times a week. HARD TO TRACE ITS DESCENT Story of the Standard Yard and Ita Origin Must Be Accepted With ; Some Reservation. " : ' -I The picturesque story of tfaa sal*- tion between the length of Henry Ta torm and the standard yard which the lord chancellor will disinter from thewalls of Westminster palace Is one we should all like to accept, write* a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. But the historical standards have changed so often that there must be many gaps In the chain ot descent. If the yard and the pottnd are as described they must be exact copies of the less romantic standards of the board of trade, which date from no later than 1884. And why prosy Victorians should have buried them b> a wall Is hard to understand. The oldest standard In existence, so far as I know. Is the yard of Henry VH which should be in the Jewel boose, but as it has only 35.983 inches it is no longer good measure. Parliament had a standard troy pound and a new yard constructed in 1700. They were deposited with the clerk to the house of commons, but in the fire of 1834 the pound was lost and the yard injured. This yard was then lost sight of until 1891, when It was placed in the lobby of the clerk's residence, together with a standard "stone" of 14 pounds. . &M Nonchalance. "Is Jlbway In comfortable stances?" "He tries to create that impression." "How sor . "He refers to his $10,060 as a 'shack.'" There Is always hope for the who minds his own business. drafters believe in addition for themselves and subtraction for othe nniiiniiiiiimiiiiiBiimuiunuinmi -Took His Home Away. • Francisco. -- Fred Porchleaa lived at Florida and Twenty-sixth streets the other night, but today he has no idea where his home is. Bold, bad men with a truck moved the hdnse away while Fred was out. Too Hesitate to Give ^ MCoffee to Children Then tray give it to growif folks? You can pleasantly A solve the question of at table drink by giving the family Bonfire, Girt Six, Dead. Ban Claire, Wis.--Katherine, sir, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hanson, Wheaton, is dead as the result of Jwrns received when her clothing eaught £?# fyom brash her father was Boiled full 15 minutesafter boiling begins, it tastes)! much like superior coffee, its an At Tw® sizes, usually soU at 15c .and « r \ : ' '•'v. VV, -<SS

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