£20,000,000 BOY KILLED

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 244, 9 July 1919, Page 9

£20,000,000 BOY KILLED

PATHOS OF GUARDED LIFE

UNLUCKY HOPE DIAMOND

Vinson Walsh Jl'Lcan, Hie ten-year-old )x>y who when born was known as the <t£o,(KNI,UOO baby, was killed recently by a motor-car while crossing the road in front of his jiarenis' house in a suburb of Washington. He is the eon of ilr. Edward Beale M'Lean, and would probably have, inherited the fortunes of nis grandparents, John M'Lean, owner of the Cincinnati "Enquirer," and Thomas E. Walsh, the Colorado "mining king." The boy mis surrounded bv guards from ths day of his birth lo prevent him from bniug kidnapped, even his iierainbulater in babyhood having u steel notwork over llio iop. It was probably the guards who were indirectly responsible for his dentil, as the boy was in the act of escaping for u few minutes' freedom when run down by a motor-rnr.

At the time of the accident Vinson's parents were attending a race Hireling at Louisville, Kentucky, whence they hurried back bv special train. Though brain tiiweialisls, army doctors, and iiui-scs (ought for Hie hoy's life (hey were unable Iα save him. He died before the parents could reach his bedside. Though the boy was brought up like ji prince (hero was much that was pathetic in his life. He was practically never alone, either nurses or guards being constantly at hand. An instance ot Hie constant surveillance to which the boy's overy movement was subjected is furnished- by an incident which occurred recently, iriien one of his pet fowls escaped and the boy followed it, through the front gates of the house down tho eh-eat. Some thirty other youngsters joined in. the chase. The young multimillionaire's taste of joyful freedom was very brief, for ho was immediately ' pursued and captured by half a dozen guardians. The boy had six motor-cars of his own, but had to live in the house and grounds, which wove surrounded by n steel fence. He. had five mansions in various parts of tho United States in which he kept his collection of animals; of which he was immensely fond. They include a flock 'of 5G Shropshire sheep, a tlock of while Brahma- chickens, a Russian wolfhound, (i lerriers," i Great Danes, and 20 other dogs, and several.ponies. When tho boy was born the late King Leopold of Belgium, who was a partner .of Thomas Walsh, the boy's grandfather, sent him as a present a rosewood and gold cradle. Tho boy'.s death will be coupled with tho fact that his mother is the owner of tho famous Hope, diamond, which has brought misfortune, lo each of its many possessors. The diamond was bought by Edward M'Lean. for his. wifo soon after marriage. He presented it to her at a great ball at Washington. He lias since, been involved in a lawsuit over tho jewel. The circumstances of the Iwy's death recall that it wns a, motor-car accident which made him tho heir to an immense fortune when his mother's brother was killed in a smash in 1905. Mrs. M'Lean, at Mint time Mrs. Evelyn Walsh, being in the car, received injuries which made her an- invalid for nioro than a year. A Jewel With a Curse. The Hope diamond is a Who sionc of 4-l-J carats, and J/as a sinister fame as the iinluclcicfit diamond in the world. It is believed to have been stolen irom an imago in a Hindu temple, and to <yrry the curse of misfortune or violent death. Tavernier, who .brought it to Europe aud sold it- to Louis XtY, ditxl-n ruined man. Mme. do Montespan woro it, and was at once supplanted by Mini-, do Maintenon. Fouquet borrowed it, and died in prison and disgrace. Mario Antoinette- challenged fate by weariiiK it frequently, and ended oh tho guillotine, while her friend the Princess Liimbalk-, to whom she lent it, wns lorn to'pieces by the Puns mob. t was stolen in Urn Revolution, and sold for Mm to Mr. T. H. Hope, and it remained in the possession of his descendants till Lord Francis Hope Pelhani-Cliuton-who uiaiwd Misw May lobe, tho American actress-sold it in I'M. In the Hope family itscvil record seems to have been temporarily broken. \ Its mulelicciit career was resumed wlien Mi. Simon Frankel, a New York jewelHer, boughtit. Hi* firm foil into linancial dieullies, and he Bold it .to M. to ot Hroku, who committed s»i«de sloitly after ho bad disposed of it to Irmce Kanitovsky. The prince lent it to an active and shot her as she was weaving ( oif'the Foles-Berger, stap; he was hiinsßlf slabbed by Terrorists two dnjs lil i£ passed to the Sultan Abdul Hamid, n-lio shot his Sultana, Salma Zobeidj, as she was wearing it, and was lumsetl depowd. It was sold in Paris in 1909 lo a Mr. Tlftbib, who drowned.at sea olf'singapore, but H'« France, and was bought in Pan. in UH by Mr. Edward M'LcanJorjCiia.OOU.