Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 October 1878 — An Ingenious Jewel Trick. [ARTICLE]

An Ingenious Jewel Trick.

For six years past a pair of adroit scoundrels have been working tho “ Empress’ jewels” triok in Spain with great success. They would write to a merchant in Paris that after the Revolution of 1870 the Empress Eugenie intrusted one of them with f L 600.000 worth of jewels to be carried tdlfadirid, which he had buried in the Bois de Boulogne. He was in Prison for debt, and could not get back to France, and to make matters worse, a rapacious landlord had seized his trunk in which was the map on which tap spot where treasure was buriod was marked with a red cross. In this cruel dilemma he applied to the French merchant, whom he had heard spoken of as a model of prudence and probity, to help him by sending the rapacious landlord 600 francs, and so getting possession of the trunk. The French merchant would then dig up the jewels and notes—for there were SBOO,OOO in bank bills in the buried box—and send them $o the prisoner, retaining the money he had advanced, and whatever sum he desired as recompense for his good action. A great many honest merchants sent on ((heir 600 francs, and in due course received advices from the Madrid office of the Messajerias entra Espan* y Francia that a trunk had been deposited there, which would be forwarded on payment of express charges. The honest merchant sent on the money, and that was the last of it. Sometimes, instead of being a French ollicer, it was an aide-de-camp of Queen Isabella, arrestod for plotting for the restoration of King Amadeus, who knew where the Queen’s jewels wore;, sometimes it was one of Don Carlos’ aids, sometimes a Turkish Pasha. At last, however, the swindlers were run to earth, and now the Parisian authorities have advertised for evidence against them, which is forthcoming in such abundance as to show that the swindle has been very widely worked and very generally successful.