THE PEARL NECKLACE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 52, 29 August 1913, Page 7

THE PEARL NECKLACE

HELD BY A GANG OF THIEVES. (By Telegmph.— Press Association.— Copyright.) BERLIN, 23th August. A gang of thieves hold th» Mayer necklace for ransom. £io,ooo"eeward. SYDNEY, 28th August. The New South Wales Police Depart* ment has received advioe from Scotland Yard that a reward of £10,000 has been offered for information which will lead to the recovery of the pearl necklace which disappeared while in transit through the post between Paris and Hatton Garden, consigned by Mr. Salomon to Mr. Mayer. [The i feeling among experts yesterday respecting the chances of recovering the necklace are not very 'sanguine (remarked The Times on the 18th of last month). Those who are pessimistic reaeon that thieves who could be expert enough to extract the necklace from the box in which it was sealed are probably men of means. They would have derived sufficient plunder from past exploits to enable them to "lie low" un* til the jpresent hue and cry are over. Then, if they escape justice and their resources are straitened, the sale of one or two pearls would enable them to survive in comfort a further' period until the proceeds of the present coup can be realised. Experts have little doubt that if the pearls are not retrieved shortly they will sooner or later pass through the Suez Canal, perhaps in a mail boat, perhaps in a less imposing craft. It is proverbial that once jewels are taken east of &U62 they are never seen by their European owners again. The wealth of India offers a vast field for the disposal of jewels of superlative quality Mid enormous value. But if these pearls go to the East as a result of the theft they will not go in their collective capacity as a necklace. Yesterday the centre of interest shifted from London to Paris. The discovery of the loss was made in London; the theft is believed to have been committed in Prance. This conclusion ia supported by the fact that not only were the "11 lumps of sugar which were placed in the box to equalise tho weight of the pearls of French manufacture, but the box also contained a scrap of a French paper.