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Show Amerlrn are much Interested It, the recent Importation of n wonderful fk blu diamond ntid speculation la rife W aa to the probul'le purchaser. The largest and most valuable diamond In tha world, the Koh-l-.Noor. In one of tha crown Jewels of Great llrltaln and will h worn by Queen Alexandra at ... the coronation In June next. Doalde 1 Ita great al. beauty and value, thla Hm haa had a hlatory wllh whlrh romance haa had aomctblng tn do, and seas of Mood have been shed for Ita possession. It came Into thi possession posses-sion of the British crown aa a part of tha apolla of the conquest of India and It will douhtleaa remain aa one of the English royal Joweia na long the empire ahall last, for Burn Jewels are InnllPtialite anil ran only lie wrested from llrltaln hy force of arms, an event that la exceedingly Improbable of occurrence. i Where thla greatest of diamonds or- .a (glnnlly came from no one ran tell. All j lh.it la authentic regarding It la of comparative recent date. It wua in 1783 that Ita existence first Clime to the notice of Englishmen t)i toiikIi the I trlalt of a British atiihaisndiir to the mogul court of the Itajah Ji'hiiuJIr. f JehanJIr'a grandson, Aiiruiig-zch wore the atone In hia turban ancl I Jianded It down to Shah Alum. Thla t monarch and hla two aiicccasnra were f murdered and the mogul empire waa I faat going to plecea. I In IHty a mutiny of two Sikh rcgi- , f menu nave the English an excuse to 1 Interfere, and the Kajah Dhullp-HIng, -ji-a J a mere boy, waa Induced to alnn a treaty, which provided for the annexation annexa-tion of hla dominion tn the British possessions and for the tranafer of the Lahore treasure to the East Indian Company to reimburse It for the war xpansea. There waa a prorlao that the Km Noor should be presented to Qu Irtorla. Thua I.. 1860 the (real diamond of India reached England and became on of the crown Jewels. It then weighed i , 186 rarata, - Other diamonds have acquired a world-wide celebrity. For many yeara mund In the world the Pitt or llegcnt diamond The lint of famous dlnmnnds might tie stretched out much lunger. There la the Nuasnk, which waa atolcn from a temple of Hhlru, and now show Ita elghty nlne-rarnt beauty In the duke of Westminsters aword hilt. There la the llaatlnga diamond, which was part and parcol of the Warren War-ren Una! lugs scandal and Inaplred many a street ballad. There la the great Auiitrlan yellow, weighing I3i carats, among the Austrian crown Jewels. Jew-els. There Is the Dnrya-t-Nur, which Is the shnh of IVrsla'a chief pride. It la the driest Jewel In his regnlln. weighs I art rarata nnil Is set In a bracelet, with the TaJ-e-.Mah for companion. The bracelets are valued at 1 .OOU.OOO. The Paaha of Egypt, a forty-carnt atone. Is I lie finest diamond in the Egyptian treasury. The tlreen Urea-den. Urea-den. In the (irern vault at Dicsdcn. weighs 4S'j carats and is Saxony's bonNt. The Nlram beloiiKed to the nlzam of Itydernhad and weighed 310 carats, but nothing certain Is known of It now. The Plgotl diamond, like the Regent and the Hastings stones, waa connected wllh tho Ani.-lii-ln.llan suinduls. An Kngllsh men hunt finally sold It to All Pasha, who treasured It mightily. When mortally wounded he ordered hla favorite wife killed and the diamond dia-mond deatroyed In hla presence, lie would leave neither to another man. The first order waa not carried out, but the aecond waa obeyed, and that diamond vanlahed from history. J the Hope Blue, a a blue diamond In the collection of Henry T. Hope I if" called, ha held a unique place a being diy long odd the lineal blue diamond In (the world. It weigh only 44V4 carata, imt 1 of a beautiful sapphire blue, excellent In ehape, and abaolutely flaw-leu. flaw-leu. Mr. Hope bought It for 18.000. but It I valued today at about 30.000. The origin of the atone haa been wrapped wrap-ped ! olio uncertainty, aa I the caae with moat great dlamonda, but It I W practically certnln that the Hope Blue 1 la one of three fragment Into which I the famou French lllue wa divided f after being stolen with the other ro- gnlla from tho flnrden Meul.le. V Shah Jehnn had owned many of the moat famous Jewel of the Orient, among them tho Ureal Mogul. The 1 Great Mogul weighed 1W0 carat In the V rough and waa a true dtumond of fine water, ahnped like an egg rut In half. The Orloff diamond, which ornn- 1 ment the Ku.dan royal scepter, la f larger than the Moon of . mains l.ut not o pure, being slightly yellow- lah. H. too, waa an Indian cut alone and weighs U'3 carata. ! Another fanioua diamond ! the Ku- genie. Catherine II. of Kiih.iia had this fifty-one-carat Jewel in a hairpin, fihe gave It to Potemkln. who waa then her lover. It waa In hla fnmlly until hla grandnlece aold It to Napoleon II., who gave It to Kugenle. It waa the renter diamond of the famoua necklace neck-lace which waa afterward aold to the galkwar of llaroda. k Th. French royal Jewela have had " ja varied career nd many of the beat were lost before Eugenie, the diamond lover, came to power; but France haa ' what I, perhaps, the moat perfect dla- |
