Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1903 — Our “Great Diamond Robbeg.” [ARTICLE]

Our “Great Diamond Robbeg.”

The facts regarding the suspected case of diamond -robbery here Friday are these: Thursday night Mrs. T. J. McCoy placed three diamond rings, her magnificent D. A. R, pin and some other articles of jeaelry containing diamonds, belonging to herself, Mr. McCoy and eon Taylor in the small box where she always kept them, and placed them in the accustomed drawer. The D. A. R. pin alone is worth >2,500, and the other articles probably $1,500 more. The next forenoon, after their colored girl, Bessie Murray had gone to the depot to take her departure for Chicago, Mrs. McCoy, who was re-arranging the contents of some of the drawers, accidentally discovered sh at the box of jewelry was missing. A tbhrough search was made and then Mr. McCoy wa s te I eph oned t o at the bank, and accompanied by Constable Vick he went to the depot and informed the girl of what was missing and that she must come back and have her baggage searched. She readily and good-natured- J ly consented to this proposition. The search of the hand-satchel ! revdaling nothing “contraband,” but in the trunk was found a fine ' assortment of canned goods of various kinds, from Mrs. McCoy’s cubbard, and several bottles of ■ rare old wine, and a valuable silk umbrella belonging to Mr. McCoy, but still no diamonds. The girl was told, Very truly, that here was enough to send her to the pen, but still she insisted she did not have the jewelry. During a good deal of this time the girl stood leaning against a bureau in which were several drawers.

Finally she dierobed her fair young form and took down her wavy hair, in the presence of a lady of the family and Mrs. Jones, the colored woman who works for Mrs. A. McCoy. Still no diamonds were discovered, but the girl kept suggesting that they had better look in some other drawers. They did look in the bureau beside which she had been standing for some time, and sure enough there was the box under some otherarticles with all the valuable jewelry in it-' The girl’s trunk was repacked, inclading even the confiscated articles from the pantry and wine closet, and even the silk umbrella, by mistake, and she went on her way rejoicing. She promised, however, to send back the umbrella, which she will —maybe. Of course, no one can say for certain whether the girl had the diamonds or not, but it is altogether unlikely that Mrs. McCoy could have moved so valuable a package to another bureau, and not have remembered it; and the further facts that the girl had

taken the other articles, found in . her trunk, and had also had plenty of opportunity to have slipped the jewelry box into the place where found, previous to being searched, makes a'’'pretty conclusive case against her; though not clear enough to have been conclusive in a court of justice, nor even that anyone can say for certain that she took the diamonds. If she did take them it was in the night, while Mr. and Mrs. McCoy were asleep.