The Washington Post, Tuesday, January 28, 1896, pg. 3 A DEAL IN DIAMONDS Why Mrs. Roberts Did Not Raise $300 on Them. HER GEMS HAD BEEN DOCTORED Seemingly Stones of Purest Bay Serene, they Suddenly Changed Color When Put in an Acid Bath, and Thereby Manager Evans, of the National Trust Company, Was Saved Some Money – The Diamonds Were Genuine, Although Disguised. Mrs. E. A. Roberts, who says she owns blocks of houses in Syracuse, N. Y., made an effort yesterday to borrow $300 from the National Savings Loan and Trust Company, 617 F street northwest, on diamonds which she claimed were worth $600. Mrs. Roberts did not get a penny of the $300, but she did meet Detectives Horne and Weedon, and much against her will was taken to Police Headquarters. The detectives believed that Mrs. Roberts was endeavoring to consummate one of the cleverest bogus diamond deals ever attempted in Washington. But the woman from Syracuse proved that her diamonds, despite the fact that they had been “doctored”, were genuine. Inspector Hollinberger therefore decided that he could not hold her under the laws of the District, and she was allowed to depart. But during the hour she spent at Police Headquarters, and the half hour at No. 1 station-house, Mrs. Roberts demonstrated to the satisfaction of the detectives that she is a very clever and remarkably quick-witted young woman. How She Caught Mr. Evans. The story of her attempted deal in diamonds is unique. One day last week Manager Evans, of the National Savings Loan and Trust Company, saw an advertisement in one of the daily newspapers that a well-to-do widow, in need of ready money, was willing to pay a bonus of $50 for a thirty-day loan of $300. Good security was guaranteed. Manager Evans read the advertisement, and then he sat down and penned an answer to it. Last Friday a tall, slender woman, of thirty or thereabouts, in a tailor-made gown of black cheviot, and a genuine seal-skin cloak, called at the F street offices of the trust company, and asked for Manager Evans. “I have come to you,” she said, “to consummate that $300 loan. I am a widow, and have $20,000 worth of real estate in Syracuse, N. Y., but I am in need of $300 ready money, and I will give you my note for thirty days.” “And how about the security you have to offer?” suggested Mr. Evans. “Certainly,” answered the widow; “in order to avoid delay, I brought the security for the loan with me. See, these are worth twice the amount I want.” Flashed a Couple of Sparklers. She drew from her purse two big, white diamonds. One was set in a stud, and the other in a pin. Manager Evans flatters himself that he knows a thing or two about diamonds, and after his first glimpse of Mrs. Roberts’ jewels, he was more than delighted. “If these are all right,” he said, “they are worth a great deal of money.” “Test them and see,” said the widow, with a laugh. And test them he did. He put them under the searching light of his jeweler’ s glass, and he tried them by all the conventional tests. But he failed to find even a suggestion of a flaw. “Come Monday, and you can have your money. I am satisfied with your security, “ said he. Mrs. Roberts, thinking that Mr. Evans had satisfied himself as to the genuineness of the stones, did a bold thing. “I will seal them in this envelope,” she said, “and indorse it with your name. Now they will not be removed from that envelope until you receive them. I will call at 9 o’clock Monday morning.” Mrs. Roberts glided out of the office, and Mr. Evans began to think it over. The more he thought about the proposed deal the less he liked it. But he did not really suspect that anything was wrong until he started to locate the rich widow in need of ready money. She had told him she was living at 1327 S street northwest. He found that there was no such number. At this stage of his investigation he decided to ask the aid of the police. Inspector Hollinberger heard his story and Central Office Detectives Horne and Weedon were assigned to the case. They soon discovered that Mrs. Roberts was living under cover. Acting under the instructions of the detectives, Mr. Evans perfected his arrangements for the reception of Mrs. Roberts. Discovery of the Fraud. As early as 7 o’clock yesterday morning Detectives Horne and Weedon were walking up and down in front of Mr. Evans’ office. The widow failed to materialize until long after 11 o’clock. She wore her sealskin sacque, and was apparently in the very best of spirits. Evans met her at the door of his office and ushered her in. “Here are the diamonds,” she said, handing him the sealed envelope. He opened it, and saw apparently the same stones that he had seen last week. “Just sign this thirty-days’ note and these receipts,” he said. “I will be back in a moment with the money.” He took the diamonds into a rear room and subjected them to the final and deciding test of all. He plunged the gems into an acid bath. When Evans came out of the back room he was very nervous, but he did manage to disguise his true feelings until the detectives had entered in response to his signal. “What’s the matter?” queried Mrs. Roberts. “Has anything happened to my diamonds?” “Yes; they have turned from white to yellow. They are painted stones.” No Law to Hold Her. Mrs. Roberts took her arrest very quietly. As Detective Horne started her on the way to headquarters, she said: “You have no case against me. You will find that they are real diamonds, and it is no crime to raise as much money as you can on real diamonds.” The detectives took her to Hollinberger, but after the Inspector had questioned her he told Horne to take the alleged diamonds to an expert and have them tested. “If they are genuine,” continued the Inspector, “let her go, as we have no law to hold her. If they are bogus, hold the woman.” Mrs. Roberts accompanied Horne to H. K. Fulton’s pawn shop, on Pennsylvania avenue. There the diamonds were tested by the experts and pronounced genuine, but worth comparatively little. Horne took the widow over to No. 1 station-house and handed her back the diamonds. Then she was released, and went on her way rejoicing. The police say that this is the first case of raising the value of diamonds by “painting” ever recorded in this city. Transcribed by: Jamie M. Perez [email protected] “Trying to confirm or refute that CORNELIUS McLEAN SR. (circa 1774-Sep. 12, 1836) of Washington, D.C., was the uncle of WILLIAM McLEAN CRIPPS (1799-1876) of Washington, D.C, and, furthermore, that Cornelius was born in Staten Island, NY.” ==== DC-OLD-NEWS Mailing List ==== District of Columbia Newspapers http://www.NewspaperAbstracts.com/district/ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ County and State Coordinators are needed. http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/siteinfo/volunteer.shtml ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ To unsubscribe from this list send an email to: [email protected] with only the word unsubscribe in the subject line Replace the -L- with -D- if you are receiving mail in digest mode. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ To receive a listing of all maillists at Rootsweb in which you are subscribed, see: http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com/