AEROPLANES TREASURE-FILLED

Hawera Star, Volume L, 29 November 1930, Page 16

AEROPLANES TREASURE-FILLED

'POUR aero planes, carrying the priceless crown jewels of the Shah of Persia, gold and silver carpets and dazzling treasures and relics worth untold 'millions from the sac red mosques of Knm and Isfahan, left Teheran in Persia, recently oil a perilous flight acros wild mountfains and trackless deserts te the Island of Abadan in the Persiani 'Gulf.

:At Abadan this- Arabian Nights collection —never yet. soon by flic; eyes of an infidel—was taken secretly on board a 'British mystery ship ;a.n,d brought to, London for the International Exhibition of Persian; Art at the Royal Academy next January. But nm tail l olf the l Arabian Nights ever surpassed! this true story c'f -modern. 'adventure, say the ‘'Sunday Express-. ' The.' news that these treasures of the Orient, are to be moved l .for the first time in memory has spread throughout Persia' and Arabia, and the untamed baud's- of brigands that? roam the. country unhindered! are guarding every mountain, pass and watching every roatii from Teheran to the sea. That is why the ‘Shall of Persia has insisted' that they shall be taken across the mountains by air. The pilots have .been warned that a forced landing Tna'y mean death by torture at the hand's of the bandits. Among the crown jewels which they are carrying is a 'shield' of rubies and emerald's, wit'll one great emerald in the centre, as large as the palm of a man’s hand. There are also swords with turquoise hilts, a baton in. red l enamel, studded; with diamonds, a. royal sceptre with a diamond-encrusted shaft and a handle of rubies, a dish cover of emeraildte and rubies, and a peanl-o.ovor-ed saddle cloth of red velvet.

Shah’s Jewels for Exhibition

Silken' carpets woven in silver and gold thread frotor the tomb chamber of the Shah Abbas l'l., two early iKoraus, eleven selcctedi 'miniature's of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. and holy manuscripts and objects' front the shrine of Imam Elza, have all been packed away in the fuselages of the machines. Although it is impossible, 'to estimate the 'exact value of the treasure, the ‘•'Sunday Express” understands that it has been; insured in various parts of the world 1 for 'more than two million . The man. ,mainly responsible for persuading the Shah temporarily to part with his jewels is Mr, Arthur Upham Pope, Director of the Persian ..Section of Fine Arts in America. Mr. Pope has spent many years in Persia, amd hi® knowledge of the art of the country made him a personal friend of the Shah, who eventually appointed lvim art. adviser to the royal house and 1 the Persian Government. The four jewel-laden aeroplanes were due to arrive at Abadan, where they were awaited by at British steamer. Objects of Persian art will be lent from, all parts of .the world l for the exhibition. Sir Edward Denison Ross, director of the School of Oriental Studies, and a member of the exhibition committee, said fo a “Sunday Express” representative: — “We halve asked for , and hope 'to obtain, the loan of a globe of the; world made of jewels, worth £I,OOO,000. ‘ ‘The seas are 'made of emeralds, and the various continents and countries are .picked! out in turquoises, amethysts, and rubies. “I think that ' the carpets to be shown at the exhibition are probably worth more than the jewels. ’ ’