MARRIAGE OF THE KING OF SPADES WITH THE QUEEN OF DIAMONDS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 85, 9 April 1875, Page 4

MARRIAGE OF THE KING OF SPADES WITH THE QUEEN OF DIAMONDS.

A Fio de Janeiro correspondent contributes the following to the Albany Journal .— " The high contracting parties to the marriage were Malia, only daughter of De Souzti Cabral, the great diamond king of South America, and George Arthur Throckmorton, a native of Kentucky, U.S.A., who has been railroading in this country. The stupendous wealth of Da Souza Cabral of cours9 gave color to the most glowing of reportial flights. Doubtless you have beard estimates as to the sum total he derives from all the many irons he keeps in the fire of business ; but I know some of the sources of his immeasurable revenue. He is principal owner of nine of the richest diamond mines in South America, and from them derives an anuual income of not less than twenty millions of dollars. His interest in goldmines probably amounts to as much more ; and last August he sold a one-tenth interest in the Bahia mme — of which, until then, he had been sole proprietor — for three millions five hundred thousand dollars. His diamond interest in South Africa and Liberia he lately estimated under oath at the enormous sum of fifty millions of dollars ! He has, beside?, a great penchant for real estate, and I was but recently informed by one of his agents that Cabral's rentals in London and Glasgow alone yielded over one hundred and fifty thousand pounds annually. In 1868 he purchased the patent of a machine for making eyelets from a poor fellow starving in a garret at Marsaham for one hundred and eighty-three dollars. To-day the machine is used all over the world, and Cabral draws twenty-five hundred dols a day from this source alone. And then there are his sewing-machine royalties, that yield him over five thousand dollars a day. Indeed, it is easy to tell what hs is interested in, but bard to think of auything he is not. It would be a puzzle to name a leading railroad in South America or England in which he has not a stake. He rakes in over a million and a half from bis steamship stock, and probably twice as much more from other sources. A clear-headed man of sixty, six feet high, straight as an arrow, with an eye like an eagle, a judgment as unerring us fa-te, and a decision as quick as lightning, with superb nerve, unconquerable boldness, aud an apparent incapacity for blundering, De Souza Cabral stands to-day the wealthiest mnn on the globe. He was lately asked by an intimate friend, in my presence, if he had any conception of the sutn total of bis possessions. He thought for a moment, and then quietly replied, 'I could not swear that I am Dot, worth — presuming that I could realise on all my property — fifty billions of dollars.' " The bridegroom is descended from one of the oldest and wealthiest families of "the blue grass country." He came to Brazil with half-a-millioo, and since has prospered famously, so that to>day he cannot be worth less than six millions of dollars, a poor pittance in comparison with his father-in-law's gigantic fortune, but still quite sufficient to relieve him from the imputation of marrying for money. The wedding invitations were written on parchment by artistic hands, in quaint text, exquisitely illuminated. Instead of being' enclosed in paper envelopes, they ■were sent to their favored recipents each in its dainty box of sandal-wood. These boxes, oneth^jjsaftd. in number, ■were' manufactured expressly, for this wedding at Canton. Each was furnished with i lock and key of solid gold, exquisitely carved with cupids and hearts, and other designs appropriate to the occaeioo, and cost £150. " The residence of the great diamond king is a little over half a mile from Diameutina, the chief town of the diaro^ud district, and is the complete realisation of the ideal castles of English novels, and the grounds are the last expression of nature at her loveliest re-inforced by art at its raostconsummate This evening the place seemed a paradise. Wax candleß by the thousands, each held in its place by a^ bronze fi& ur l&» ..flooded the rooms withiu and the miles of ground without, wiih a soft, yet brilliant light. F.Here and there, on the green slopes, or in the rustic bowers, or at the edge of come romantic ravine, large music-boxes, completely hidden from view in moss, played a dreamy accompaniment to the 'tfoice of the fountains. One, hundred music- boxes were empioyeS in this service, and the tunes pricked on their cylinders composed especially for tbe nuptial night by Liszt. He received 25,000 dollars lor his work, and who shall say that he did not earn it? Certainly no one that listened to the music. The music boxes will be distributed on the morrow among the bridesmaids and other guests. Each of them was imported from Paris, is cased in mosaic, elaborately finished in gold, silver, and a variety of precious stones. The hundredrooxes cost as many thousand dollars. Tbe drawing room had one feature in its adornments which elicited the most fervent expressions of delight frgm all present. The foui' wallß were one mass of full-blown white roses. " The bride's presents were, by actual count, eighteen hundred and forty in number, , and the greater part took the form •of either gold or diamonds. The mother's gift waa a dinner set of two hundred and eighty pieces of solid gold. Each piece bears the monogram of the Cabrals and.

Throckmortous in diamonds. The coat wns ovor four millions of dollars in gold. In addition Madame Cabral gladdened the bride's heart with one thousand yards of point lace, three hundred and sixty-five morning afternoon and evening costumes, and, to crown all, a certificate of deposit issued by the Bank of England for one million of pounds. Does not this last item seem the very apotheosis of prodigality? It does until you hear what the father did for his darling. He gave her titledeeds of a magnificent town and country bouse in all the leading capitals of the world and the more famous watering places. The mansions are thoroughly furnished, and in each there is an apartment that exactly corresponds to her own rooms at her father's house. Not contenting himself with this display of bounty, Cabral presented her with as fine a steamship as could be built on the Clyde, with a full complement of sailors under contract for ten years; one dozen milk-white Arabian horses, and — this as^fl^Gke — one thousand poupds caronfOTs. a confection for which thellgjde iVawd to have a pronounced likiwgL. But his crowning gift was a necklafee that ranked among the wonders of thV^vvorld. Sixteen y^ars ago, soon after Btajia's birth, he bWan to collect the diamonds. Whenever he heard of k marvellous stone he secured it. He Bad all Europe, Asia, and Africa ran^a^lced in behalf of the proposed necklace, and at one time made overtures for the celebrated Pitt diamond, which coßt the Duke of Orleans six hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, aud which Napoleon atone time wore on his sword hilt. After ten years of unremitting hunting/ he at last got together thirty of the largest and purest diamonds in the world. Taking these to Amsterdam, he summoned the best diamond cutters/ and stated what he desired — which was, that each of the stones should have a fantastic face cut upon it. Amsterdam at first said that it was impossible. But when Cabral stated the stupendous sum he was willing to pay, Amsterdam consented to do its best. id did its best for five years, and the result was that a week before the wedding, the diamonds, cut, carved, set on a golden string, and all ready to embrace the snowy neck of the bride, were placed in the bands of the jubilant Cabral. I happened to be present when Malia first was shown the necklace. She wore a black silk dress, and her father, after throwing the brilliants thatjeontrasted so Qtrongly with the color of her dress over her head, stepped back j a few paces to notice the effect. Having I gazed at the flashing necklace for a I minute or bo, he suddenly broke into aj loud luugb, and cried out merrily, 'My I dear, on my life you'd do for the head-! light of a This necklace cost De Souza Cabral one hundred and I sixteen millions* nine hundred andl eighty dollars and eighty-eight cente. 1 Cabral showed mo the receipts yester- M day. And yet this doting father added I that he would willingly have paid what j he did twice over, rather than have j been unable to give his darling the wedding present he desired for her while yet in her cradle. "You must not expect from me any description of the toiletsatthe wedding. I do not understand such matters, and I venturing to discourse concerning them, I likely enongh I should call lace gimp, fl and peasant waists polonaises. 11 " There was one feature of the I arrangements which Btruck me might/ have been omitted. I allude to thel hospitable provisions made for thel hackmen who drove the guests. Onl the velvet lawn, just outside of thel Cabral mansion, a dozeh s or more exquisite Sevres vases were" set — corresponding in size and shape to an American peach-basket — each one of which was heaped to the brim with gold coin. The drivers as they dropped their loads, had their attention called to the currency, and were cor-j dially invited to help themselves. Aa often as s^e vases were emptied, they were promptryjaipienished. One of the hackmen responded so heartily to the invitation, that when the time came for him to drive back, he was forced io request his two passengers to favir him by taking a seat on the box. Ho explained that the inside of his coach was occupied by the gold pieces he hid accumulated during the evening, and that be woulJ not have taken so maty had it not been for the thought ofl a sick wife at home. Having listened to him, his load returned to the house and / related the incident to Cabral, who was/ so touched at the mention of the side/ wife that be proposed a subscription for her benefit. The response was a, onug sum of 10,000 dollars, raised amongst the guests, to which Cabrdl added his own cheque for 40,000 dollatfe more, saying that he did not wish ant heart to be sad on that joyful occasion. When the 50,000 dollars wera handad to the hackman, 'a cordial for yoir ailing wife, my man,' ag Cabral put It, he burst into tears, declaring that there never was such a roan in the world/ns Do Souza Cabral. And he was rigbft."