CHINA’S CROWN JEWELS

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 September 1927, Page 9

CHINA’S CROWN JEWELS

LOOT FROM TEMPLES. Through the agency of the Secret Service, steps are being taken in London to trace certain gem-studded insignia of Chinese royalty, stolen from the dethroned Emperor at Shanghai, as well as a gold image and a quantity of precious stones looted from native temples at Hankow. It is asserted that the articles are worth more than £1,000,000. Chines© Bolsheviks are believed to have had possession .of the loot and to have succeeded, by a ruse, in getting on board British-bound ships as members of tlje crew. The jewels from the royal regalia are in the form of a dragon rampant. The ground work is of gold and figure and tail are outlined in large diamonds. Tiie secretary of a well-known dealer in Chinese antiques in London was visited lately by a fashionably dressed man of middle age, who appeared, despite his perfect English, to be a Frenchman. An appointment was made for the following day at the dealer’s country house. The visitor drove up in a motor-car in which there was seated a prosperous-looking Chinese. The visitor produced the dragon and explained that he wished to have it valued, but had no desire to sell it. The valuation took more than an hour, and at its conclusion the visitor was told that the value would approximate to £lOO,OOO. When asked what his fee would be, the dealer replied, “Ten guineas,” whereupon the visitor, saying the service was worth more, paid £25 in onepound Treasury notes. The numbers of these are now in possession of the special officers of Scotland Yard, who are acting in conjunction with the Secret Service and the ag’ents of the Chinese official representatives.