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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1905)
9 THE SUNDAY OREGQXrAy. PORTLAND, PECJE3IBER 3, 1905. ' C 39 QmyYtirceguctuewels Edith Aitfus, Portland Actress, Has One of Two Duplicates of Original Worn by the Wife of the Shah of Persia M I ' HH oriel a graceful recognition of bld-tlrae favors. This might be woven into a romantic story if a Prince Charming had ridden through Portland town and bestowed each favors upon this lady fair, but In these day 3 we want plain facts, after all and the jewels are not real diamonds, and the giver Is not a sweetheart who would a-woolng go. Nevertheless, she likes them both. MARION MacRAE. Musings for Three Minutes o Great UlfTereace BetTreea Greek Stories and Actual Oc currence la Oregon. EDITH ANGUS. a Portland actress, owns one of the rarest and most beautiful sets of fctagc jewelry in the world. Part of these Jewels, were copied from a lgn made especially for the wife of me Shah of Persia, the only other copy in existence being made for and pwncd by the famous French actress end model, Cleo de Merqde. Another sec tion of the beautiful collection is copied from the jewels worn by Sarah Bernhardt in her characterization of Cleopatra. How Miss Angus came Into possession of this unusual collection Is a story of expositions. In the Far East, now as in the time of Cleopatra, rare Jewels set In gold and silver of exquisite workmanship, adorn -fair women, while bejewelcd armor and the trappings of favorite steeds be speak the pricoless wealth lavished upon me iaorues or great potentates. To all this. In our sterner civilization nr West, we are superior and eschew such gauoy trappings in this day as relics of barbarism. And yet the charm of Or!. cntal splendor Is ever a bright spot In literature and In the romance of ancient times, and were the Prince of India to walk before the footlights of today, had he not the atmosphere of luxury and an untold wealth of jewels and other per sonal adornments brought from that won derful tomb of Hiram. King of Tyre, he would be commonplace. One has only to imagine what the Queen of Sheba would v look or seem like in a tailored gown to realize the necessity of atmosphere and proper settings for Oriental characters, and the actor of today impersonating such characters must divest himself of 20th century culture and surroundings by calling to his aid such customcs. regalias, jewels and other stage accessories as the barbaric splendor of ancient times calls f for. To impersonate long dead and gone kings and queens, or such bedecked, tin seled women of today as live In Egyptian harems or in the garish atmosphere of the great splendor and dazzling magnifi cence of the Orient, and do it properly, more depends uKn proper costuming than upon talented acting. Realizing how absolutely necessary such personal adornments are to people in the theatrical profession. I was more than Interested In the most unique and elab orate collection of stage jewels It has ever been my privilege to see. and which has lately become the property of Miss Angus. This set of Jewels was awarded the gold medal at the St. LiOUls exposi tion and was included In the Verslan ex hibit there. It was made at special order by the most celebrated expert in Paris, and It is estimated by a Portland jeweler that the workmanship alone is worth nearly $3)00. the detail being most perfect The entire set consists of a tiara, dog collar and elaborate pendant, two corsage ornaments or epaulettes and a magnificent cestus which encircles the waist and hangs to the floor over front of the gown. The stones ued are cut from crystal found on the River Nile, and are called Nile stones. Tholr brilliancy exceeds that of Rhine stones and the exquisite cutting of the lapidary has made It dlflicult to distinguish them from genuine diamonds. The set contains 1733 atones of various sizes, all perfectly set and fitted in plati num The pieces, which are copied from the jewels which the Shah of Persia had de signed and set for his wife, are those worn as corsage ornaments In the pic ture. The first copy of these was made for that beautiful artist's model and act ress. Cleo de Merode. who wore them on her shoulders. It Is estimated by Portland jewelers that the worth of these pieces In genuine diamonds would bo at the very least J33.0CO each. This seems a fabulous sum to invest in such ornamental trap pings, but to one of the vast wealth of the Shah this, as Miss Angus says. amounts to no more than a piece of sterling silver docs to us.- All have read with wonder and a bit of incredulltv of the wonderful collection of precious stones owned by the Shah, and of how he has all visitors put on boxing gloves before en tering the apartments in Which they are displayed, in order that rubles, diamonds, emeralds or pearls may not be confiscat ed by strangers with the kleptomania habit. If the value of his jewels were turned Into good American coin and dis tributed among the poor of this country, charitable institutions would go a-begging. So with all this the expenditure of 37B.O00 lor two diamond ornaments for Iris wife is not an unusual event in his career. The costus is an exact copy of that worn by Sarah Bernhardt in her fa moan impersonation of Cleopatra. It Is a most elaborate affair, and when Miss Angus first received It was much longer than at present. She had one paction takon out ana made Into the tiara which she wears with the set. Tho original tiara, or crown. Is now the property of May Irwin. The effect of this entire outlav of l-H. llant Jewels Is most gorgeous The stones, being fastened together with double rings. so that there Is given ample opportunity for them to bond or niove gracefully with the xnevoments of the body, makes the whole a shimmering, bewildering mass of briHlaBcy which could not be excelled by diamonds. No one could be found to place an estimate on the entire collec tion duplicated In real diamonds, Mr. Frledlander stating that It would be such a Sabulous nam that it would be almost Impossible to make a correct estimate. But It is a fact that no one actress has such a complete and magnificent collec tion of stage Jewels which can be worn In an entirety &b these owned by Miss Angus, and their effect In an Oriental characterization, such as Cleopatra or Irin in "Uon-Hur," would be Inexpressi bly beautiful. The many friends of Miss Angus hope that an opportunity will be given her to wear them while la Port land, but unless some play Is produced by the Belasco company In which an Oriental, character role Is given this popular young actress the handsome stage Jewels, which took the prize at a world's exposition, will continue to repose In the safety de posit vault, und Portland audiences de nied the privilege of viewing them before the footlights. Miss Angus is tall and of an unusually graceful figure, and ner un osnal regularity of features flu her ad mirably for such an Impersonation as the Jewels would adorn. a In addition to the Oriental "ct" re ferred to, this young lady Is the fortunate possessor of many other unusual pieces of Jewelry designed for stage wear, one being a curious Chinese ring, which was looted from the Imperial Palace during the Boxer trouble la Pekin. It once be longed to a mandarin whose high rank Is indicated by the tiger-head carved in the gold. Three odd little bells hang on curious chains In the general form of bangles. These rings are passed down from generation to generation In the royal family of China, and are made so as to be adjustable to the finger. The one owned by Miss Angus is very old and has the Greek key design as a finish. She has a number of other odd rings, brace lets, brooches, necklaces and pendants. all of which go to make up one of the most complete collections of the day. How would The Oregonlan readers like to have all these or any one of them duplicated Jn -steel-white diamonds? How did this fortunate girl come Into possession of these unusual Jewels? There Is a bit of heart Interest in this, but not romance, as one might suspect. 'Her father was a lawyer, and the donor of the Jewels was a client up to the time of his death. Past favors which the Judge was able to bestow during his life time still llve In the memory of the client, and the purchase and presentation of this wonderful set of stage Jewels, which Miss Angus bad loag coveted, were IT Is almost startling how some of the old Greek stories fit In with modern times and conditions. Change a. name here and there and one can hardly realize that he Is being- enter tained by an Idea three thousand years d. Take the story of Prometheus, for Instance. Prometheus was an all around hustler for the Greeks and their gods, a sort of Tom Richardson. And at tho time in which this tale com mences the contributions and offerings to tho gods had been falling oft at an alarming- rate; some of their competi-" tors were getting all the trade. The Greek god3 had a great many human at trthitt and It n.-s nnlv natural that ) they should dislike to see the altars of me opposition puea mgn wnn sms, while they only got the leavings. Thus it came about that Zeus hit on the happy Idea of having a sort of business jnen's excursion down to Earth and let the mortals have an op portunlty.rt'o get acquainted with the gods and goddesses, 'in the hone that near acquaintance might increase the offerings. Thus one Summer day they started out among the Greek towns. At one hamlet, probably about the size of Ash land, Or., Prometheus was the master of ceremonies. There had been some thing to eat, and as it was too early for J. Ogden Armour with his canned product they had to chase in a bullock from the plains. It was here that Prometheus got in his fine Vork and showed his sympathy for the mortals. "While Zeus and the rest of the gods wero marching up the main street headed by the village band, and while they were in the town hall listening to the Mayor and the heads of some of the best families expatiate on the desira bility of settling In that particular spot of Attica, and of always buying their brand of pickled olives, Prometheus was out in the public square dressing the steer. He made two piles of it; taking the meat and all the tidbits, he placed them Inside the hide and set the stomach on top of that pile. In the other, he put all the bones and offal, but covered it over with fat, his idea being that Zjus would pick out the pile of fat and the mortals would get the meat; but Zeus saw through the trick, and In his anger refused to give the mortals fire, which Prometheus promptly stole from heaven. As a punishment for this act. Pro metheus was chained to a rock, and during the daytime an eagle came and ate at his liver, which grew again in the night. This went on for thirty thousands years, until a fellow named Heracfes came along one day and killed tne eagle, and Prometheus was free. Thl3 liver business is the meat of the entire cocoanut. What I wish to impress on the Irate reader is that tho people of the state of Oregon have got the liver disease "bad" and that the Eagle that Is eating- at their liver Is the Harrlman system of railroads. The lumber Is sawed; the hops baled; the wheat thrashed; the ore mined; the visit made to the metropolis; thus does our liver grow. Then the railroad steps in and It is a freight rate here and unequal taxes there and so on ad nauseam. Thus does our liver get eaten up. "While we are waiting for our Heracles to come along we can para- phrase the pious Englishman and say: "Death, taxes and the Southern Pacific are always with us." MARCUS "W. ROBBINS. Grant's Pass. Or. Ballade or the Mistletoe Bougli. Ellis Parker Butler. In American Illustrated. I am standing- under the mistletoe. And I smite, but no answe'rlng smile repll For her haughty glance bids mo plainly not for me Is the thing I prize; Instead, from her coldly scornful eyes. Indlfferenee looks on my barefaced guile; She knows, of course, what my act Im plied But look at those Hps! Do they hint a smile? I stand here eager, and beam and slow. And she only looks a. refined surprise As clear and crisp and as cold as snow. And as Stop! I will never criticise! I know what her cold stance signifies: But I'll stand Just here as I am awhile Till a smile to my pleading look replies But look at those lips! Do they hint smile? Just look at those lips, now! I claim the show A spirit unmeet under Christmas skies; I claim that such lips on such maidens ow A something the custom Justifies;. I claim that the mistletoe rule applies To her as well as the rank and file: "We should meet these things In a cheerful guise But look at those Hps! Do they hint smile? These customs of Christmas may shock the wise. And mistletoe boughs may be out of stvte. And a kiss be a thing that all. maids despise But look at those lip. d6! They hint a smile! I