The Seaforth News, 1953-11-19, Page 7Stole Rich Jewels
From Royal Train
As an illustration of a tithing
robbery, take the theft of the
jewels of Lord. and Lady Dudley
in December, 1874.
Lord.. and Lady Dudley wore
toaving London to spend Christ-
mas 021 tapir country estate at
Witley Court, Worcestershire.
Their intention was to take the
6:30 p.m. express from Padding-
ton on Saturday, December 12th,
and they drove to the station in
his Lordship's brougham.
Following behind the broug-
ham in a "growler", a four -wheel-
ed cab, were two of her lady-
ship's waiting women, each nurs-
ing on her lap ponderous jewel
boxes and other articles such as
a lady of the period carried with
her on a journey of this nature.
In those boxes were jewels said
to be valued at $250,000,
The Dudleys arrived about
6:20 p.m„ with the servants im-
mediately behind them. Porters
and station employees were per-
haps a little excited because the
Prince of Wales, later King Ed-
ward VII, was to travel by that
very train. His Royal Highness
was proceeding to Windsor to
join the Royal mother; he was, of
course, travelling in a special
"slip coach," which would be
slipped at Slough.
The newspapers of those days
were looser in their reporting of
matters appertaining to the pri-
vate lives of Royalty, as witness
the following from 'The Times'
of the next day, also reporting
the mishap to Lord and Lady
Dudley.
It seems that the Rev. Dr.
Norman McLeod, speaking near
Glasgow, had been asked about
reports that Queen Victoria was
— and I quote — "morally and
mentally incapitated for work."
The Rev. Doctor said he had just
returned from Balmoral where he
had seen Her Majesty, "I leave
it to Mr. Disraeli to explain, for
I cannot comprehend it. I have
had the honour to minister to the
Queen for the last thirteen or
fourteen years. I have seen her
in the highest prosperity and hap-
piness and in the very depths of
her distress. I have not seen the
.,� remotest trace of a moral or men-
tal weakness, but Her Majesty
has just passed through an attack
of rheumatic -gout, o
c ut which so
af-
fected her hands that for some
time she was utterly unable to
sign her name. She also suffered
from severe neuralgia,"
This setback to the health of
the Queen may possibly have
affected the temper of her Heir
apparent, and so indirectly affect-
ed the disappearance of the jewel-
lery belonging to Lord and Lady
Dudley. But let us take the story
as it comes to hand.
The four -wheeled cab stopped
0, in front of the station, and one of
the waiting women took the jewel
eases and put them on the pave-
ment for a moment while she
turned to assist her companion
to alight from the cab. Ili those
, , 4 few moments the jewel cases
vanished.
The maid who had put the
jewel cases down at once rushed
after Lord Dudley and told him
in a few words what had hap-
pened. He alerted the station-
master, who in turn alerted his
staff, while Lord Dudley mobiliz-
ed his servants, valets and so
forth who had gone on ahead to
look after the heavy luggage.
And it was at that dramatic
moment that the Prince of Wales
arrived to entrain for Windsor.
With the station -master, Lord
Dudley approached the Prince
and begged that the departure
of the train might be delayed a
little so that a search might be
made, There was a slight alter-
cation between the Prince and the
peer, but the Prince was adamant
and the train left as arranged.
The Royal coach was slipped
at Slough and the express made
Don't
5
ur Car Becomeri lF l
Auto thief on lookout for motor-
ist to leave his car briefly,
That is the slogan of a drive by
police chiefs and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation to cut
down on the alarming number
of automobile thefts. The big
point is that most stolen cars be-
come involved in crimes. Many
are in fatal accidents, especially
those pursued by police, the FBI
says. Professional actors in the
pictures below show how an un-
suspecting motorist can become
an unwitting partner in crime by
leaving his car parked with
doors unlocked, although he
carefully removed the key and
took it with him, Other important
"dont's" are: Don't leave valu-
ables in view, whether the car
is locked or not. Thieves don't
mind smashing a window, And
above all, don't leave your keys
in your unattended car.
Thief drives to underworld garage and pays to have stolen car
disguised. First step is to change the license plates.
As soon as the owner is out of sight, thief moves in on car. Owner
took key with him, but thieves can start car other ways.
Then car gets new paint job, while thief waits impatiently, He
may go on to rob a bank, crack a safe or stage a holdup.
its first scheduled stop at Read-
ing. Here Lord Dudley sununon-
ed the station -master and the
guard and insisted that the train
be thoroughly searched before it
was allowed to proceed. This
was done but nothing was found.
Lord Dudley then told' her
ladyship and the servants to pro-
ceed to their destination, but he
kept Miss Scott, the waiting
woman who had put the jewel
cases on the pavement, with him.
Then he chartered a special train
and with Miss Scott returned to
London.
It was late when they arrived
at Paddington. For in those days
peers of the realm not only ex-
pected people to obey their or-
ders but, what is more, their or-
ders were obeyed—except by the
Prince of Wales.
Late on this Saturday night
Lord Dudley ordered his jewel-
lers in New Bond Street to open
up. They did so. And Lord Dud-
ley summoned detectives from
Scotland Yard, Together the
peer, the police and the jewellers,
drew up a list of the missing
jewels Then, in the night, lists
were printed and the next day,
Sunday, pawnbrokers all over
England were being circulated.
Then a real mystery began.
There appeared in 'The Times'
the following inspired statement:
—"We are informed on undoubt-
ed authority that the amount of
the loss of Lady Dudley's jewels
is not half what it was first stated
to be."
On Christmas Day, Lady Dud-
ley's father wrote a letter to the
'Perthshire Constitutional' say-
ing that the jewels were worth
only $75,000. He also pointed out
that Miss Scott was "a stout mid -
Want Better School — Parents in Center Township near Kokomo,
Ind„ set up picket lines to protest their children's attendance in
school building they term "unsanitary and dangerous. Some
345 pupils turned the demonstration into en impromiu holiday.
dle-aged Scotchwoman" who was
in service with Lady Dudley be-
fore her marriage. She had put
her foot on the jewel cases but
they were taken from under her
„
beno doubt,"he
foot. There can
concluded, "as to the maid's faith-
fulness and honesty."
No more was heard of the dar-
ing robbery.
THEEA2M FRONT
'You probably don't think you
life?
* * 0
You probably don't thing you
do. If you suddenly developed
the symptoms of pneumonia,
chances are you'd call your doc-
tor in a hurry! If the brakes on
your car didn't properly hold,
you'd undoubtedly take it right
to a service station for repairs.
In either case, ot course, you
could simply trust to luck that
nothing serious would happen—
but you don't because you know
the risk is far too great.
* *
But wait a minute. Are you as
careful as you think? Without
even realizing it, you may be
taking chances every clay with
something just as dangerous —
fire:
* * x.
You know, "fire hazard" isn't
just a term used to frighten peo-
ple Instead, as the National
Board of Fire Underwriters points
out, it refers to conditions and
practices which year after year
have proved to be the cause of
thousands of fires. If you don't
want to risk losing your home,
your family and your life, the
sensible thing to do is to check
your home and your habits for
fire hazards. Best place to start
is with the "Big Three": Matches
and smoking, misuse ot electri-
city, and petroleum and its prod-
ucts. Together, they cause near-
ly 50 per cent of all the fires that
occur
* 0 *
Let's start at the very begin-
ning, Suppose you are a smoker.
Careless use of matches and
smoking materials causes over
25 per cent of all fires. So ask
yourself these questions:
* * *
1, De 1 ever smoke in bed?
2, Do I ever throw lighted match-
es or butts out the car window
when I'm driving — or into
wastebasket at home—instead
of using an ashtray?
3, Do I ever put a cigarette, or
cigar, or pipe down on a table
or chair and forget about it?
4. Do I leave matches around
where children can reach
them?
* *
I£ the answer to any of these
qucs!ions is Yes;' neves the time
to maize it "no."
Misuse of electricity comes
next—the cause of over 12 per
cent of all fires. Do you overload
electrical circuits by trying to
run too many appliances from
one outlet? Do
ever use over-
size fuses, or tinker with the 15 -
ampere ones which should he
used in most household circuits?
Do you continue to use electric
cords after they have become
worn or frayed? Do you buy
cords or appliances without mak-
ing sure they are of the best
quality, and Safe? Does the
home handyman" in your house
try to repair defective electrical
appliances himself? Then you're
in line for an electrical fire.
* * *
Petroleum and its products
ranks third on the list, causing
almost 9 per cent of the country's
fires. Does that affect you in your
home? It does if you ever
"quicken" a fire with kerosene, or
if anyone in your home ever
uses gasoline to do a home dry-
cleaning job. Gasoline is explo-
sive and will ignite at room tem-
perature, Its vapors will spread
throughout the house, and it takes
only a tiny spark to set it off.
Kerosene, when heated, acts just
like gasoline. You can never be
safe using flammable fluids in
your home. If you must use them
at all—for gasoline -powered ma-
chinery, or for stoves and heat-
ers — keep those liquids outside
the house, in safety cans.
x * *
Folks, these days, do a lot of
worrying about "The Big Four"
—when, if ever, they're going to
get together and what, if any-
thing, they'll accomplish toward
a lasting peace. Which is all very
well; but for practical, everyday
purposes, a little more attention
to the above-mentioned "Big
Three" would be effort far better•
spent:
°Amer Records
They are at it again — those
queer sportsmen who achieve
stunt records, There's the Bav-
arian ".ho rode a motor -cycle
across a tightrope between two
high mountains — and the Am-
erican who played billiards with
his nose as cue, producing a
break of forty-six!
Remember the schoolboys who
held a freckle -counting contest
some time ago? One boy was
found to have 3.961,
When he• was 67, George
Brown pushed all his belongings
2,000 miles across Australia in a
wheelbarrow, A cowboy rode
2,700 miles to New York on a
bull. And, in a very queer race
in Brussels. sixty waiters, each
holding in one hand a tray and
five glasses of water, walked a
mile and three-quarters. The
winner covered the distance in
13 minutes, 29 seconds without
changing hands or spilling any
water!
In New Hampshire a woman
threw a rolling -pin 79 ft. 7 in.
Another woman won $100 for
listening to gramophone records
for 106 hours continuously, She
was taken home delirious.
SNAKE -MILKING
World's first puff -adder farm
is being established this month
by Mr, Dennis Stegmann at Ded-
za Nyasaland,
He will "herd" over an area
of five acres no fewer than 500
puff -adders. Each will be"milk-
ed" twice a month, and together
they will yield at least 100
grammes of deadly venom a
month.
The venom will be flown to
a medical research institute in
Johannesburg. As venom has
been selling at $7.50 a gramme,
Mr. Stegmann may net an in-
come of about $9000 a year. He
pays natives forty cents a head
for snakes,
Modern Etiquette
Q. Is it alt aright to bold the
fork in the hand at the dinner
table while talking?
A. No: if one has entered a
lengthy conversation, it is much
better to lay the fork on the
plate while talking, Of course,
this does not mean that one must
lay the fork down quickly for
each "yes" or "no."
Q. When a woman Is prepar-
ing to leave her home within a
few minutes, and nailer arrives
unexpectedly, what should the
woman do?
A. She should not hestitate to
tell her guest she has an appoint-
ment, but that she hopes her
guest can stay a few minutes
anyway.
Q. At a widow's second mar-
riage, her first husband being
deceased, should she invite the
family of her first husband?
A, Yes, indeed, if the relation-
ship has always been pleasant.
And furthermore, these people
should make every effort to at-
tend,
Q. Is it good manners for a
girl to ask her escort for a cig-
arette?
A. This is quite all right, An
attentive escort should, of course,
make such a request unneces-
sary, but should he be forgetful
enough, it is perfectly proper for
the girl to make the request.
Q. When invited to join a
group in some sport yon have
never played, but which you
would like to try, what should
you do?
A. First, be frank to admit
that you have never played the
sport, Then, if they insist upon
your joining them anyway, it is
quite all right to take part.
Q. What is the proper length
of time for a young woman to
wear mourning for her father?
A. This depends entirely upon
her feelings in the matter. The
custom of wearing mourning is
not so strict as it formerly was.
Many people do not consider it
necessary at all,
Q. When a man is registering
at a hotel for himself, Lis wife
and their sixteen -year-old daugh-
ter, how should he sign?
A, Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Ful-
ton, Miss Betty Fulton.
Q. If two women friends have
always remembered each other's
wedding anniversary with cards,
and one's husband has passed
away, should the other woman
continue the practice?
A. It would be much snore tact-
ful not to do so.
Q. If a man and a woman aro
walking together during a rain,
and both have umbrellas, should
each one use his own umbrella?,.
A. This might prove awkward.
It would be much better if both
were to walk under the man's
larger umbrella.
Perky duck seems unruffled with arrow through its neck , .
Fowl Experience Is (H)arrowing — Syracuse archers hove been
hard on wild fowl lately. Two luckless birds in less than a month
have chanced to fly in the paths of sharpshooters' arrows, Both
survived, though the first, a seagull, complete with arrow, still
eludes capture. The latest unfortunate is a wounded duck, pic-
tured with Edward C. Jones, chief of the Syracuse office of the
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who
netted it, Jones removed the arrow from its pierced neck and
plans to keep the bird in custody until it recovers from its "arrow -
deal."
.. , and scorns food offered by rescuer when arrow is removed.
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