"EMPEROR OF THE SAHARA."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 272, 14 November 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

"EMPEROR OF THE SAHARA."

M. LEBAUDY IN LONDON.

Has the fame of "Jacques 1., Emperor of the Sahara," reached colonial shores? M. Jacques Lebaudy, to give him his unofficial designation, is now in London, staying at the Savoy Hotel, and as an object of public interest and speculation he vies at present with the fiscal question and the reconstruction of the Cabinet. An air of mystery enshrouds the "Emperor's" presence here. Is it with refei-ence to his projected empire? No one can say, for M. Lebaudy will say nothing and- see nobody. His extraordinary scheme, of course, is widely known by now. M. Jacques proposes to found an Empire on the sandy wastes of the Sahara, peopling it with emigrants recruited from Brittainy, Corsica and elsewhere. The capital of the Empire would be Troya, a town to be built of collapsible houses with celluloid windows. The new capital (so the story i-an) would be inaugurated on January Ist of next year with appropriate festivities. Then the new subjects would set to work with the vast stock of spades and ploughs which were to be imported, and in due course the desert would blossom as the rose, and the fame of "Jacques Premier" wax mighty before the nations.

So much for the scheme; but in the meantime it has leaked out that M. Lebaudy's claim to 30vereignty has been challenged by a syndicate, which bus powerful members in London. One of these seen yesterday by a press representative said: "M. Lebaudy hoisted his pink flag somewhere about Cape Juby, which is clearly in our concession recognised by European Governments. If he tries to organise a settlement as reported we must treat him seriously and convict him of piracy. So far, we have preferred to regard him as a humorist 'en grand,' but if he begins to build a palace, collect a guard, buy a guiibtine, start a newspaper, and hire subjects, we must politely inform him that he is going a little too far. With our concession we hope to develop North-west African trade by shipping from Dij di Oro, thus avoiding the long and expensive caravans which go from Timbuctoo to Morocco and Algeria. There is no room for us and M. Lebaudy, too!" It is jcssible that one object of the "Emperor's" vis-it is to arrange affairs witb this syndicate.

Meanwhile the Savoy Hotel has been in what is virtually a stage of siege. M. Lebaudy may be only st, stiam Emperrr, but he 'is i-cported to have £1,200,000 in hard cash, left to liim by his father, and that is enough for the peopfe with wr.res to sell and billets to seek. From early morn till eve on the day following the "Emperor's" arrival, the Savoy Hotel was besieged by an army of commission agents and men who wished to see His Majesty on urgent business. But haste, persistence and importunity were without avail; lady journalises, photographers, tradesmen and bill_.-_nn*.e - 3 alike were sent empty away. M. Lebaudy would see none of them. He wouldn't even open their letters! When later, in the day he slipped out for a stroll on the embankment, and was pursued by the inevitable interviewer, he m-rely said "Bon jour"—and fled. Wherefore the "Daily Mail" casts doubts .i;pon his Imperial identity: ''Is this conduct imperial? Is it the unrcgal conduct of a monarch who is afraid of discussing the fiscal problem as it affects an export trade of building sand, giraffes and dates? Or is it merely the despairing, effort to avoid notoriety of another M. Lebaudy who has been mistaken for the real Emperor?"

Fortunately the "Daily Telegraph" can reassure us on that point. Yesterday, reports that estimable journal, the stranger patted one of the Savoy pages on the head in kindly fashion and said, "Vous vouley parler a PEmpcreur, mon enfant? Eh bien, l'Empereur c'est inoi!" So London may breathe again. It is the Emperor! The "Echo" enshrines the verse, after this strain:—

Oh, bus conductor in the busy strand, --• Take heed! It may be that the inside fare Who gently drops a penny In your hand Is weighted with a mighty Empire's care. ne may be lord of those far-distant lands Which principally run to burning sands.

Oh, staid policeman, firmly fixed at point Eemernber that the man who asks his way In English that is somewhat out of joint, May be the mighty ruler who holds sway O'er deserts to a fabulous amount, And cassowaries more than you could count