More About the French Swindler Allmayer.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 266, 10 November 1888, Page 3 (Supplement)

More About the French Swindler Allmayer.

When Allmayer, on his arrival ab Paris wibh the police after his arrest at Havre, was waiting at the railway 3tation for the omnibus which was to take'himto the office of the head of tho Criminal Department, he complained that he was being shown oft 'like a strange animal.' Attention was at once paid to his protest, and he was conducted into a room until tho vehicle was ready for his reception. Ho seemed shy and cast down ; when he is under lock and key he retains the same modest demeanour. He humbles himself before the examining magistrate; ho is gushingly polite to his turnkeys ; he makes effusive inquiries after bhe health of all wibh whom he comes into contact, and on the faintest symptom of the appearance of an official he Vises timidly from his seat and lu3 politeness is simply overwhelming. Such (says the Paris correspondent of the ' Daily Telegraph ') is the present attitude of bne man whose motto in bhe past scorns to have been ' De l'audace, toujours do l'audaco !' He may be merely acting a part, bub in the meantime he is puzzling t'nj lovers of the sensational. The scale on which he carried on his operations and the extraordinary success with which ho wriggled out of many a scrape have brought him at once into the front rank of notorious criminals. Connoisseurs are now discussing whether he is really a genius or merely a lucky rogue. Opinions are eoraevvhab divided. One high authority regards him as a 'past-master' in the (swindling 1 craft;' another pooh-poohs him as a mere vulgar impostor. ' What strikes people most jnsb now is the ea.«e wHh which plausible adventurers contrive to make their way, living on the fat of the land, and often filling their ' gulls ' with respect, and even with love. They treat themselves to 'a title,' which in certain circles still goes a long way. No inquiries are made. When Allmayer took up his abode at Veules, the local journals informed . their readers that they had the honour of possessing the 'Vicomto de M.iistre' within their walls. The gendarmes even interfered to prevent tho little boys playing about the roads, and from throwing stones, as one of bhem might perchance hit ' Monsieur le Vicomte' as he drove by in his equipage. No one thought of asking who this ' Vicomte de Maistre ' might happen to be. It was enough that 'happy' Veules and this 'Vicomte' within its boundaries. In another of the towns which he favoured with his patronage Allmayer dined regularly wibh bhe officers. Everywhere he tried the role of the 'grand seigneur.' Ab Luchon, Axl-le-Eains, and Biarritz he lost the bagatelle of £2,000 in lesa than a month with the best frrace in the world. History repeats itself. Some years ago another selfstyled 'Vicomte,' a dapper fair-haired little man, ' went the pr.ee' in the ' gay metropolis ;' drove handeome 'turnouts' in the Bois ; surrounded himself with fair but frail beauties; gambled, and after he had run through a million of francs, or £40,000, book "the train one fine morning to Brussels. He was brought back by the police, and then it leaked out naturally tor tho first time that be was a mere impostor, and had been born and bred in a hovel in a low quarter of the city. The 'Vicomte' n-as sentenced to ten years' impri?onment, but his dupes are still weeping, over their weakness and folly. Allmaypr'p trial is now fixed to come off at the Seine Assizes on the 27th inst. He is still much cast down. He sheds tears frequently and has offered to turn informer and to give tho head of the Criminal Department valuable information as to tho misdeeds of certain persons whom he calls 'his accomplices.' He is said, by the way, to have had quite an organised band of scout.? and spies in his pervice.