IRISH CROWN JEWELS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 19, 23 January 1913, Page 4

IRISH CROWN JEWELS

IS THE REGALIA REPLACED ? AN OFFICIAL DENIAL. CfBOM OtJB OWtt COBItESPdNDkNT.] LONDON, ' 14th' December. *The Daily Telegraph provided the sensation of Tuesday morning by an* nouncing that the Stt Patrick's metal' lation regalia,- stolen from Dublin Castle over five years ago, was, now lying intact in the original safe.' It Was a matter which the evening papers eagerly seized on for copy, but, unfortunately, the sensation ' Boon died. The official denial was readily available, and the .mystery' of the trieh Crown jewels iremaifted-uflsolved.- -, . . > Next morning the Daily Telegraph accepted the official denial. A LUDICROUS .FAROE. ■ . " NoVe© ,the Daily News, and. Leader. This paper also-made enquiries on the previous day, and it published on Wednesday the following remarkable statement : ;'The Daily News and Leader is assured on unimpeachable authority that the statement that the jewels are back is true, in spite cf strenuous assertions to the contrary, <.nd is, further, in^a position to State that on. a certain day in August, 1907, within six weeks of the date on which they. Were reported to be missing, they back, if not in the strong-room^ at least in the hands of the authorities. They have been there ever since, and no replicas have been made to replace them. Ever- since the scandal of the disappearance of the jewels was made public the most streii' nous efforts have been made to shroud the whole unpleasant business in myetery, and influence in high quarters has been brought to bear to throw dust into everybody's eyes. As a matter of fact, from the very outset, the strings were pulled, and the curtain was lowered on tho gross ill-adventures of the historic regalia. "It had hever. been intended, for instance, that (he fact of their temporary disappearance should be made public ab all. But it slipped out by mistake, and as a consequence the utmost consternation was caused amontj those concerned. With the jewels gone, and the cat out of the bag, the best had to be made of a bad job, and what followed can now best be described an a ludicrous farce— no more and no lees. "Dublin, Castle called in the assistance of Scotland Yard, and Inspector Kane, a most astute officer, was sent over to the Irish capital to make full enquiries, and io report from time to time to headquarters. But so far as the public were allowed to know, the mystery only deepened, and the actual result of what Mr. Kane managed to unravel is still carefully shrouded in the archhes of the official bureau." The paper also states :— "We understand it is highly probable in the next few weeks that a full statement of what exactly happened on and previous to the sth of July, 1907, both in Dublin C&stle and in Parit 1 in regard to the jewels, will be at the disposal of the House of Commons to do as they think fit with .V* THE MISSING JEWELS. The missing regalia con-.prised the diamond star of the Grand Master of tho Order of St. Patrick, worth nearly £50,000," the diamond badge of the same Order, £16,000, and five collars of Knights Companions of the Order, worth, roughly, £1000 ear.i. Also a number of smaller jewels, the personal property of Mrs. Vicars, The theft' '■anks as one of the most remarkable robberies in history. On the morning of 3rd July the woman who cleaned the office found on arrival that the fitrong-room door was open. This was reported to Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster King-at-Arms, but no action * was taken. Three day* later, on 6th July, tho woman again found the strong-room door open. That afternoon there was occasion to go to the safe to place in it the collar of a deceased Knight of St. Patrick. It was then found that the contents had 'ieen abstracted. The safe had not been previously opened since 11th June, but presumably it was on the night of sth July that the robbery look place.