GEM CARRIES CURSE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23761, 14 September 1940, Page 2 (Supplement)

GEM CARRIES CURSE

Hope Diamond's ill-starred Hope Diamond has - a sinister history, writes Dennis "Bar dens in a London journal., |Owned -by Mrs. Evalyn Walsh ■McLean, of Washington, U.S.A., jwho bought it for £30,000, it has consistently brought misfortune to •all -who handled it. An investigation into the lives of those who have owned it has led many people to declare that the jewel is cursed. Its story really starts in 1642, when 3ean Baptiste Tavernier, a'Frenchman, brought the stone to Europe. He was & famous diamond merchant and one of the richest men of his day. Yet from the moment he disoovered the gem his fortunes steadily, declined. At eightyfour years of age lie died penniless. Later the lovely diamond graced the neck of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France'who was beheaded in the French •Revolution. Broken Lives

It wobbled about tho market, this dream of the jeweller. Wealthy -collectors,/knowing the stone's record, gave it the go-by. But presently Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey bought it for £IOO,OOO from the estate of Selim Habbib, who lost his life in a drowning accident. "The curse?'' Sultan Hamid Baid at-the time. s 'l am a great man. Nothing and nobody can curse me. As for Habbib, he should, have learned to swim." This callous jest must have come back to him •when he was dethroned in 1908, flung into prison, and left to die there in disgrace. • Yet 'still the gem wielded jta sinister May Yohe, tho singing star the 'nineties, could not resist it. : / ;

Sinister History

Beautiful, successful, May Yoke liad tho world at lier feet. And then sho married Lord Francis Hope in 1594. As she went toward the altar Bhe wore around her neck the fateful diamond. For a time they were happy. But in New York she met a Captain Strong, fell in love with him. Her marriage was dissolved and she married the dashing American officer. Still she was not happy. In 1910 that marriage, too, was dissolved. She married yet again, but somehow as the years went by, her world fell to pieces. She trod a weary trail that led her into a Bohemian club, where she worked as a waitress, a Seattle shipyard, where she worked as a charwoman, and a restaurant, where she helped in ( the kitchen. Eventually she died at Boston, penniless. When Mrs. McLean, the diamond's present owner, first decided to buy the gem, May Yohe begged her not to buy it. And when this advice was ignored she urged Mrs. McLean to "throw it away." •