MAD PRIEST'S CURIOUS HOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 318, 6 July 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

MAD PRIEST'S CURIOUS HOARD.

" WONDERFUL " SPUEIOUS CHALICE ; From Berlin at the beginning of May came a wonderful story of the finding among the effects of a retired priest who ' poisoned himself of an iron bos containing beautiful jewels and a wonderful chalice worth thousands of pounds. The most ingenious theories were put forward to account for ths ex-priest's possession of the treasure, among them being one that it was the proceeds from a monastery, while another story had it that gems had been collected during tours in foreign countries and profitable deals with natives. All this ingenuity was in vain; for investigation by experts showed the gems to be imitations, while the marvellous chalice turned out to be a cheap and paltry production. The ex-priest was named Liebe, and it seems highly probable that the opinions of many of his friends that ho was not sane was well founded. He lived in a suburb of Berlin, and on May 1 took a fatal dose of atropin. Why is not known. His financial affairs were in order, and he was even making arrangements to get married. Following his death came the discovery of the treasure. Having died intestate a public official was appointed receiver of his property, and while going through Liebe's effects he discovered in a cupboard an iron box. It was securely locked. After some trouble it was opened.

The official was dumbfounded. There lay <M)O or 700 magnificent pearls, diamonds, turquoises, sapphires, opals, and other precious stones, each sort in its own little division. There was, too, a marvellous sacramental chalice that seemed like the creation of fairy fingers. It was thickly encrusted with about 500 gems, both cut and uncut. It was estimated that the loose jewels were worth £75,000, while the chalice was valued at £20,000. Where did these wonderful things come from? We were told that in his early days Liebe had been employed as a missionary in India, Japan and other Eastern countries. He was represented as an expert in precious stones, and it was quite possible that in his travels he had acquired the gems from natives for practically nothing. Then another theory was suggested. Nearly three years ago a number of the monks at the monastery of St. Paul the hermit, Czentowchau, near Warsaw, were arrested on charges of theft, sacrilege and murder. They confessed they had stolen over £300,000 worth of jewels from the monastery, but refused to say what they had done with them. But the police were stated to have learned that the jewels had been sold to an agent near the Austrian "frontier. Was it not possible that the agent was Herr Liehc? He knew many Polish monks. What more likely than that the monastic thieves, knowing his ability as a judge of precious stones, induced him to sell some of the monastery's treasures and to secret the rest of the plunder?

Alas! All the ingenious theories tumbled to pieces when experts examined the "treasure" found in Herr Liebe's house. The ''golden chalice, studded with gems," proved to be worth a paltry £lO, the "priceless pearls" could be cracked between the fingers like eggshells. The other "gems" of the collection were equally worthless. The German newspapers say that Herr Liebe has ensured for himself an immortality comparable only to that of the famous cobbler from Koepenisk, who, wearing an officer's uaiform, ordered some passing soldiers to help him carry away a town treasury. It remains to be seen, however, wheter Liebe knew that his treasures were mere shams, and if so what his motives were in accumulating such rubbish.