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Show GOT $60,000 PICTURE u BY PAYING PALTRY $9 SL Louis Man Picks Up What Is Alleged to Be Dc Vinci Madonna Stolen From Vatican. "' ST. LOUIS, Mol, Teb. 24. A genuine "De VlncJ Madonna; worth thousands pf dollars, was sold by a second-hand dealer in Carondolet for $9 to a St. Louis man, who Fold it to a friend, James Hilton, president of the Hilton minting- company, com-pany, for 110. Hilton declined an offer of 115,000 for the picture, a few day ' he bought it, and now holds it at $50,000,. which price he says n is not at all sure is as high as it ought to be. ' Experts of New York and other cities, according to Mr. Hilton, have pronounced pro-nounced the madonna in his possession to be a rare gem, one of those stolen from the Vatican over 100 years ago. He has written to J. Pierpont Morgan and other art collectors and also to the noted art masters of Europe, describing the madonna madon-na in detail and asking their opinion as to its authenticity. - . Mr. Hilton saw the picture in a friend's office and bought It for a present for a sister, who is a devout Catholic. He does not pretend to be a Judge of works of art. but says he was impressed by the beauty and power of the picture from the moment he first saw it. |