FAMOUS DIAMOND THEFTS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue XIII, 28 March 1896, Page 342

FAMOUS DIAMOND THEFTS.

Diamonds—so easy of concealment, and always possessing a high market value—are, next to cash money itself, most greatly desired by professional thieves, and to getting them much daring, ingenuity and skill are devoted. Besides this, there is frequently surrounding great diamond robberies an air of adventure and romance. For these reasons the stealing of diamonds makes a most interesting chapter in the history of crime. THE DU BARRY DIAMONDS. A ■’hort time ago a statement in a London paper that one John Francis du Barry, who claimed to be heir to the famous Mme. du Barry, was in that city searching for lost diamonds and other jewels that had been stolen a century before, brought to mind one of the most famous and tragic diamond robberies of history. As the storj- goes, in 1791, Mme. du Barry, who had ingratiated herself with Louis XV., and who was a prominent and influential character in Louis’ gay Court, and who had possessed herself of great wealth, which had been diverted from the Treasury of the State, was living in the Chateau de Louveciennes. On the night of January 10, gorgeously arrayed, and bedecked with /'60,000 worth of diamonds and jewels, Mme. du Barry attended a grand fete. She returned to her chateau at an early hour in the morning, entered her boudoir, and, wearied by excess, hurriedly placed her diamonds on the dressing-table and sought her bed. Before sleep had closed her eyes she saw the hangings of her window part, and two men. wearing masks, entered the room. One, with a drawn knife, bade her keep silent, while the other gathered up the jewels, and then the two quickly departed, leaving her in a faint A scaling ladder was found at her window, and the dagger that had threatened her life on the ground at its foot; but the thieves were never again seen in France. They were, however, seen in London, where they tried to sell the diamonds, and were arrested ; but as the theft was not committed in England there was then no way of holding the thieves, and they were allowed to go, with loss of their booty, which was placed in the care of a firm of bankers. Madame du Barry offered / i,ooo reward for the return of the jewels, and when she learned of their fate took

steps to get them ; but pending negotiations, which were lengthened by the bankers’ code of red tape, war broke out between England and France, and she lost her head as well as her diamonds. The thelt of diamonds of such great value only called attention to the ill-gotten wealth of Madame du Barry, and during the excitement of the times she was impeached and guillotined. The hiding place of the precious store of lost diamonds no one knows, and therefore the heirs of Madame du Barry have little hope of their recovery. AN INGENIOUS PLAN. Coming down to our own day, a diamond theft with a woman in it, which was much talked of at the time of its occurrence, in 1884, happened in Paris. An Italian gentleman, named LouisFrankenmann, andhisdaughter, Minon, occupied adjoining rooms in an hotel, against the communicating door of which the father had his desk. Many jewellers were invited to take samples of their wares to the father’s room, for he wanted to buy some handsome wedding presents for his daughter. When the jewellers came with their goods, he cautioned them not to let their business be known to his daughter, for he wanted to surprise her. One jeweller, who had a beautiful necklace and a gorgeous sunburst, valued at /‘i,600, on the father’s desk, was on the verge of closing the desired sale when the door opened and the daughter entered. The father quickly closed the desk, hiding the jewels from sight, made excuses for getting rid of the daughter, and finally succeeded. * I will follow, and see that there is no danger of her returning,’ he said, as he went out of the door, and left the jeweller gazing at the desk where he had seen his diamonds hidden. The jeweller became restless after waiting fifteen minutes without the return of his expected customer. After another fifteen minutes he forced open the desk, and found an opening in its back and one in the door, but did not find his diamonds. Neither did he ever find the bride-elect or her generous father. STOLEN IN THE POST OFFICE. Some of the largest diamond robberies occur in the fields where the gems are found, and there, when the thief is discovered, justice is as swift as a leaden ball fired from a pistol.

A noted case was one at New Brush Post Office, in the Cape diamond fields, which occurred in 1871. From that Post Office many thousands of pounds worth of diamonds were sent by registered letters to London, and shortly before the sailing of a ship from Cape Town there would frequently be a large, and therefore valuable, collection of packages ready for shipment. It was on one of these occasions, when /,35,000 worth of diamonds, ready for the mail, were left on a table near a window unguarded for a few minutes while the postmaster went to an adjacent saloon that James Harvey, a diamond hunter in ill fortune, who was well acquainted with the premises, stole the package. Harvey was cunning enough to play poverty, and even borrowed money to pay his way to Cape Town and to London. Two months later, while at Cape Town, and on the eve of sailing for London, while in convivial mood, he made a display of wealth that led to his arrest and conviction. Being outside of the diamond fields when arrested, he saved his life at the time, but shortly afterwards lost it by disease while in prison. A WOULD-BE THIEF SHOT DEAD. Two years afterwards there was a diamond robbery near the same place, but the thief enjoyed his booty only for a few seconds. Three brothers named Robbins, who had had remarkably good fortune, went to sleep in their little tent on the eve of their departure for London, with the accumulation of their joint labour for six years, under the pillow of the middle one, when a Spaniard, named Marc Martano, entered. He came through an opening made by a stiletto, which he carried in his hand to murder with if one of the three sleepers moved. Fortunately for the brothers, thev did not move until the robber had secured the diamonds and was parting the tent to retreat, when the three on the same instant awoke. With a quickness born of years of watchfulness they aimed their cocked revolvers, and with the moon to light their human target, fired.’ Martano fell dead, with three bullets in his body, any one of which would have caused death. A THIEF AT A WEDDING. Some years ago there was reported from San Francisco a theft of wedding presents, where a woman was the thief, but who, through absolute rashness, failed in her

purpose. It was at a wedding, and the bride, who honoured a guest by escorting him to see her presents in an empty room, was surprised to find empty cases where she had seen diamonds earlv in the evening. But few of the diamonds were left. She said nothing aloud, but quietly informed her father of the loss, and as he entered the room to assure himself that the diamonds were gone, he saw a lady friend, his guest, pick up a case holding a solitaire ring, and return the case to its place empty. The woman was invited to an adjoining room,

the diamonds recovered, and a promise made to mention no names. A BRIDE ROBS HERSELF. Four years ago there was a yet more strange case of robbery in St. Petersburg, where all of the diamonds presented to a bride—who was of the nobility, and whose name the paper suppressed, as such things are done in Russia—were stolen immediately after the departure of the wedding guests. The cause of their disappearance

remained au absolute mystery for two months, when the bride was discovered selling some of them. She had actually robbed herself. She said that she preferred ready money to the diamonds. Jewellers tell of many small robberies that the police never hear of. An invitation into the jeweller’s private office, or the suggestion that the lady has made a mistake in slipping a diamond into her pocket in the folds of her handkerchief, is frequently sufficient to insure the return of the gem, without more being said.