Four dollars fetch $1 m
NEW YORK: A man who paid four dollars for an old painting at a flea market removed the frame and found a copy of the Declaration of Independence that was printed July 4. 1776. and may be worth 1 millton dollars, an auction house announced Tuesday, reports AP.
"Here was the most important single printed page In the world In the most spectacularly beautiful condition." said David Redden, vice president of Sotheby's, who authenticated the document
"It took one second to know it was right.” he added. "But what really astonished us was the condition -- so fresh, so clean."
The painting - an old. torn depiction of a country scene -was purchased two summers ago at a flea market In rlamstown. Pennsylvania, by a Philadelphia financial analyst who liked the wooden frame. Redden said.
When he removed the painting, the frame fell apart. But he noticed a folded document between the canvas and the wood backing that appeared to be an old copy of the Declaration of independence.
The man threw the painting and wood frame away but saved the document, thinking it might date to the 1800s. Several months later, he showed it to a friend who collects Civil War memorabilia and was advised to have it appraised.
The owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, declined a request for an interview placed through Sotheby's."
Calculator but no wealth!
JAKARTA : Three villagers, hearing a local Chinese man had been buried with all his wealth, dug up the grave but the most valuable treasure they found was a calculator Bisnis Indonesia daily reported Tuesday, says Reuter.
"rhe results were not what they expected. They only found a calculator and 14.000 rupiah (seven dollars)." it said.
Rumours had gone around the Central Javanese town of Cilacap that Ethnic Chinese Ko Yong's possessions had been Interred with him.
The three grave robbers were later detained by police. They are due to go on I rial soon.
Remains of ships of Columbus
ST. ANNS BAY: Archaeologists believe they mav soon find the 500-ycar-old remains of two ships Christopher Columbus and his crew lived on for more than a year while mareoiM-d on Jamaica, reports AI’.
The two caravels, ihc Capitana and the Santiago de Palos, were the Iasi ships Columbus commanded and would be the first recovered.
Columbus abandoned t liv vessels fastened side-by side on a beach when he and his crew of | 15 men and boys were rescued from Jamaica on July 29. 1504. al Ihc end of his Ill-fated fourth voyage. He died in Spain Iwo years later.
The Capitana and the Santiago de Palos arc thought to be buried under water, mud and sand at St. Ann s Bay on Ja maica's northern coast. Repealed al tempts to find them, going back to the 1930s. have all failed.
Now. thanks to sophisticated sonar and probing equipment and exhaustive research of historical documents. nautical archaeologists have narrowed the search to a relatively small portton of the bay.
They hope to recover at Iasi some the ships remains in thne for the 500th anniversary in 1992 of Collumbus first voyage.
Project director James Parrcn l of ihc Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A and M University rates his chances, "on a scale of one to 10. an eight
Parrent believes the chances arc gcxxi of finding well-preserved hull remains because the caravels ran aground in soft sediment and shallow waler. St. Anns Bay is sheltered by a coral reef, but the beach has been altered over the centuries by hurricanes, earthquakes, erosion and de post te of sand and sediment.
No swimsuit in beauty contests
KAZAN: The Muslim holiday Navruz has been marked In Kazan for the third lime, reports IAN.
A beauty contest of Tatar girls was held for the first time, attended by women of the Republic of Tatarstan, and guests from Moscow. Byelorussia. Bashokorstan. Kazakhstan, as well as from Poland. Norway and Turkey.
The girls were to make an Impression on the Jury not only by their appearance, but. above all. by performing their na ttonal songs and dances, showing their knowledge of Talar poetry and folklore, and folk customs.
There were no swimsuit displays typical of beauty contests — Muslim customs frown upon demonstration of naked women's body.
Gulanz Salyakhova. student of the Kazan Teacher's Training School, and Gulshag Galimova, a student of the Kazan Medical Institute, were the winners.
Apart from many uprizes, the girls received an Invitation to visit Australia. It came from Rustam Sad ri. a Tatar, who is an Australian businessman.