CONTINENTAL CRIMES AND SENSATIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 38, 13 February 1904, Page 5 (Supplement)

CONTINENTAL CRIMES AND SENSATIONS.

A BLACKMAILER'S TRICK, Macsard Meyer, a French blackmailer, of women, has been sent for trial on the charge of obtaining under false pretences jewellery valued at £ : £OOO. and for having obliged a lady to pay his accomplice £1400. The man's proceedings with, the lady were rather original iv the annals of blackmailing. She is the wife of a wealthy merchant of Paris, and was at a certain inland watering place during the recent summer. She met Mansard Meyer in the outskirts of the town one afternoon as she was walking alone, iier husband, being ia Paris. The fellow spoke to her, and she was foolish enough to enter into frivolous conversation with him. While the two were talking a sort of rural policeman appeared on the road, and, taking paper and pencil out of his pocket, he told the lady that he was drawing up a summons against her for misconduct as a married woman. She became frighten-ed, and agreed to give £1400 to the rustic Dogberry if he tore up the summons. Mansard Meyer then went away to meet his accomplice, this mock policeman, at a cafe, where the pair divided the plunder. The police soon afterwards heard of the trick, and arrested Mansard Meyer, but could not find his confederate. BERLIN HUMBERT CASE. A miniature Humbert case is creating sotoo sensation in certain Berlin flrcles. Professor MorHz Meyer, G3 years of age. and his pretty wife.wlio is 40 years younger. were recently a-rested on charges of obtaining goods and money under false pretences, and also with perjury and procuring. Dr. Meyer, who was formerly a lecturer on political economy at the Technical High School at Chariottenburg, and is, besides, a well known author, was mixed up in the Cassel and Leipzig Bank failure. Two years ago tie naarried his present wife, who was then a music-hall artiste. The un-equally-matched pair began their married life by contracting large debts, and it is alleged that the young wife obtained a considerable amount of jewellery on credit from shops in Berlin. She was always elegantly and enquettishly dressed, and gave her orders with the air of a duchess, and it is stated that she could obtain anything on credit sit the best milliners and dressmakers'. At their elegant home—also furnished on credit—they entertained most lavishly numerous visitors, most of whom came, it is said, out of their admiration for the "Frau Professor." At one dinner it is stated, the caterer put in an appearance and declined to leave until he was paid for the dinner, for which the guests were then assembled, anci in order to get rid of him' a collection was made among the diners. TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION. Victor Hugo has made us all love Jean Valjean, but Jean does uot simply live in the pages of the novelist. Recently lie appeared in Paris in the shape of a young man about o0 years of age, who was employed in" a big commercial establishment He was entrusted with some money by his master, but, yielding to temptation, he fled with it to Algeria. The court, however, took up Iα is case, and he was condemned in his absence to six years hard labour. In the meantime the criminal flourished exceedingly in Algeria; everything in his hands seemed to-tuni into gold. All wont well, in fact, until he fell ill and was ordered by his doctors to c" back to France and T.a Rorholle. There lie speedily recovered, and eventually entered the Town Council of the place. In an uninrkly hour, however, he was rocognised, taken to Paris, and now be Is in prison. WINDFALL OF DIAMONDS. How a poor charwoman, Frau Blaschek. came into possession of a large number of valuable diamonds, which she had had for the most part set, pawned, or given away, came out on December 23rd, when the woman and her son were arrested by the Vienna police. Last August Herr Lachmann, a Court jeweller, sent away by parcel post a packet containing 30S diamouds, woth a considerable sum. These never reached their destination, and the mystery of their disappearance has only just been cleared up. Frau Blaschek's son has confessed that he found the precious packet in a railway parcels van which he was cleaning, and gave it to his mother. The charwoman was remarkably liberal with the jewellery so easily obtained. To the godmother of one of her children she gave three stones, and to her sister, also a charwoman, and her niece, she bestowed sixteen diamonds each, after having had them set in gold. It was this display of jewellery which led to the suspicions of the police and the woman's arrest. She herself possessed five rings, three pairs of earrings, a necklace, and a pendant cioss, all richly set with diamonds, and these she usually hid in her bed. She sold 97 stones to a jeweller, giving another dozen as presents to his children. She explained that they were gifts from a relative in Chicago. When Frau Blasehek was taken in to cnetody there were still in her possession 59 large and 82 small unset brilliants. WIFE AND TWO PIGS FOR £2 10/. According to the "Wostotschy Westuik," a peasant living in the village of Petrowka, near Irkutsk, sent the following extraordinary letter to the police authorities at Irkutsk:— '•I have the honour to ask you to kindly make it publicly known that in the village of Petrowka I have a young wife, 20 years old. and two pigs for sale. The price for all three is only £2 10/. My wife is very pretty and young, but of a somewhat quarrelSome and capricious disposition. The pigs are fat. If anyone thinks of making the purchase. I shall be glad to send all three on receipt of cost of carriage." According to the London "Daily Mail's" correspondent, the police sought out the peasant, and found him to he perfectly sane. His wife frequently beat him on account of his drunken habits. In order to get rid of her he had written this strange request to the police, and threatened her that unless she altered her attitude towards him she would be sold. The pigs apparently were thrown in as a special inducement tc any would be purchaser. LADIES' TER.RIBLE STRUGGLE. The two Countesses yon Goertzen. of Berlin, had an awful encounter with a crazy student at the Dienhold Hotel, Dresden, on Christmas Eve, which very nearly cost them their lives. The old ladies one 63 and the other 5T years of age—occupied rooms adjoining those of a young student named Hans Gaehde. and they had retired about 10 o'clock. Half an hour later Gaeh-de returned to the hotel from a Christmas jollification. He had not been drinking, being a teetotaller. About four o'clock In the morning the whole house was awakened by terrible shrieks coming from the rooms of the countesses. The proprietor rushed-upstaiiß, toivke-open-the doois, and

beheld Gaehde kneeling on the prostrate form of the elder countess, hacking at her face with a large knife, while shouting, "You shall die, you serpent!" The lady tiad fainted. Herr Dienhold fell upon Gaehde, and. encircling his arms, tried to disarm the madman. The latter, however, " dragged Dienhold to the window, and won d probably have succeeded in throwing him into the street had not the hotelkeeper's wife sind servant arrived in time. But the mad student still fought fiercely, got hold of Dienliold's hand with his teeth, ana hit off a. finger and swallowed it. Finally he was floored and held down until the police, summoned from the window, arrived. The two countesses hud suffered severely. Dienhold, too. was bleeding from several stabs'Young Gaehde had never shown any signs of a disordered mind before, but his case'is probably hopeless. DEVJL AXD THE THREE WIVES. An extraordinary story is reported from the small Bavarian village of Oberleupoldsberg. near the Bohemian frontier. There for several years past the devil himself was reported by the neighbours to have paid visits in person to a certain farmhouse. The first wife of the owner of thd house was so terrified by one of these; diabolical appearances that she left the house and was never heard of again. Her bereaved mate married again, and his second wife died in childbirth through the shock caused by another visitation of the kind. A third wife, who had been bold enough to become mistress of the hannted house, was in her husband's absence a short time ago subjected to the same experience, the devil appearing by her bedside. Being of sterner stuff than her predecessors she parleyed with the fiend, who demanded money as the price of her life. ■ The woman said that she must fetch a light in order to get the money, but the Send explained that he rould not bear terrestriaJ light, and would ppppar the following night, when she must have the" money ready. Next night the woman concealed one of the farm labourers, armed with a stout cudgel, in the room, who, when the devil appeared, dealt him such a mighty blow that he fell to the ground. His horns, tail, and other diabolical appurtenances being removed, it was found that the 63-year-oia mother of the woman's liusband had been thus masquerading and had paid the pen- c alty with her life. The liusband has now; been arrested as Her confederate in com-i passing the death of his three wives. THE ALPIXE DEATH RECORD. The number of recorded fatalities on the Alps during the season which has just drawn to a close has been • the highest on' record. According to figures recently published in Geneva, two hundred persons have been killed by accidents on the Swiss, Savoy and Tyrolese Alps. Out of the grand total of victims 136 were killed instantaneously, and tße remainder succnmberE as the result of accidents. The Swiss and the Austrians head the list of the climbers who have been killed: the English and' Germans form the next largest contingent. These are followed by the Italians, whilst at the foot of the list are the French. A! Parisian newspaper, commenting on. the nationality of the victims, says it is easy to understand why the Swiss should head the list. They are the professional Alpinists, and familiarity witU danger often: mates them reckless and -causes them to take great risks, the results of which are often fatal. The English, it is stated,. «&;..„ cupy a high place in the list of fatalities because they make it a point of honour toi . arrive at the top of a mountain, in three minutes Jess time than that in which the journey has ever been accomplished before, and thus lower the record. The Germans risk death for a branch of edelweiss. But French, like the sensible people that they, are. have no desire to collect rare flowers at the cost of their lives, neither have they,. any wish to lower the records of mountain climbing; hence they return safe and sound to their own country, having admired the marvellous panorama of the Alps rfom an easily accessible point. None of these explanations is either true or ly invented. Each, nation's percentage of accidents probably corresponds pretty; closely to the proportion which it furnishee of the whole body of climbers.