DEFYING DISASTER.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1402, 30 March 1912, Page 5

DEFYING DISASTER.

The famous "Hope diamond," .which is known as the world's unluckiest stone, was (says the New York correspondent of tho "Daily ExDross") worn in public for tho first time for years at a reception in Washington to the Russian Ambassador bv Mr. and Mrs. E. B. M'Lean. Mrs. M'Lean dismayed the gem as a pendant, having decided to Tun the risk of inheriting the ill-fortune which has so persistently followed the diamond's previous owners. Mr. M'Lean bought the diamond last year from Cartier, tho famous Parisian jeweller, on the understanding, the New

YoTk papers assert, that if the stone brought misfortune within six months it could be returned. Mr. M'Lean desired to return it within the stipulated period, but Cartier declined to receive it, and a lawsuit followed, which has now been amicably adjusted. Mrs. M'Lean agreed to, retain the diamond, and the price of .£52,000 has been paid. The recent reception afforded a fitting setting for tho. exhibition of the famous jewel. More than .£6OOO has been spent for tho decorations and the collation, including £1600 for 4000 English lilies specially ordered from Eng-. land. The M'Loans are the parents of the "Billion Dollar Baby," so called because ho is expected to inherit the vast wealth' of his multi-millionaire grandparents, Mr. John ,R. M'Lean and Mr. Thomas F. Walsh. He will be the richest child in the world. The Hope diamond waa brought: from the East by the French traveller Tavcrnier, who sold it to Louis XIV.. Tavernior's' son ruined his father by speculation. Fouquet, Louis XIVs famous Minister, borrowed the stone and met with disaster. It was given to Marie Antoinette, who died on the scaffold. The Princess de Lamballe, who' occasionally woro it, •was torn to pieces by the-Paris mob. In 1830 Mr. Henry Thomas Hope, from whom it gets its name, bought it for .£IB,OOO. He escaped disaster, and it seems to have remained quiescent until 1901, when Lord Henry Francis Hone sold it to a Loudon merchant, who resold- it in New York. Tho New York jeweller promptly became a bankrupt, and in 1908 a French broker got it for .£60,000, and.sold it to a Russian prince, who gave it to a beautiful actress. Ho shot her-from a box the first night she wore it, and was assassinated by revolutionists soon afterwards. The broker went mad and committed suicide. _ The next owner, a Greek, came to a violent death a few days after he sold it to the then Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey, who promptly' lost his throne. ■ FACE TREATMENT. There seems to be a widespread idea that Beauty Culture is a luxury which, lies only within the reach of those who are blessed with a superfluity of this world's goods. Mile. Rubinstein, the keenest and ablest Skin Specialist _ in Australasia, on being on this point, unhesitatingly gave it as her opinion that the woman who can spend only .£1 or £2 a year on her complexion may do an amazing amount of good for herself. She should first of all provide herself with a jar of Valaze, that marvellous skin food, which beautifies the skin as no ordinary face cream has power to do. This preparation removes freckles and spots, blotches, lines, pimples, and wrinkles, until the complexion is soft, smooth, and flawless, and perfectly healthy. In jars, 4s. and 7s. ' ■ ' She should next get ft' jar of Novena Cerate, which is without doubt one of the finest skin. cleansers (without the use of soap and water) in.existence.. It gives the skin a velvety softness, anl allajs all irritation. 2s. and 3s. 6d. To these preparations should be added Valaze Skin Tonic, which tones and braces tho skin; stimulating ond wratirti ing~a tonic in the truest sense of the word. 3s. 9d. Powder, of course, Teiy few women can do without. Mile. Rubinstein provides tho Valaze Powder for a greasy, evermoist akin, and the Novena Powdw for a normal and dry skin; 2s. Cd. carfn. In conjunction with Valaze Oomp.fxipn Soap, 2s. 3d., should be used Voskpasta, 35., and the two invariably produce that smooth, supple, eatiny skin that is so noticeable in all Mile. Rubinsteins All Valaze preparations aro obtainable from lending chemists, or direct, post iron, from Maison Valaze, Brandin 5-trwt, IV tllington.* Weddings.-Shower Bouquets for bridea and bridesmaids. Only the choicest of Flowers used. Specially packed and sont to any part of the Dominion. Miss Murray, $5 Willie Strest (Flonit to. hu Ex. oaHmat Lord Muhnh