DUKEDOM FOR SALE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18760, 17 July 1935, Page 11

DUKEDOM FOR SALE

PRICE IS £15,000 VIENNA AGENCY VIENNA, May 13. Any one may become ;i nobleman; in Vienna-rut a price. Ami here is ai sample pi'icc list:Duke .. •• £15,000 Count .. •• £B,OOO Baron .. .. £2,000 | A vast trade in titles hna been ro-! vealed bv. a Vienna court ca.se in which Kail Fialu, a student, sued Joseph Fleisch, a business man styling himself "Duke ol ! Mantnu," for the return of £IOOO. Fiala paid £IOOO to Fleisch, who adopted him, for the right to the title Fleisch. claimed to have come by the titJe legally through a Viennese organisation specialising in the .sale of'title?. Official investigations show that 200 such organisations exist and that their, promoters arc making up to jisooo* a year. Titles "can be conferred by marriage or adoption. Continental titles are inherited by every child, even adopted children. j AIAJMiV FOB MONEY I On the files of these organisations are the names of hundreds of impoverished noblemen who will marry or adopt people for a fee, thus giving them their ancient names; A correspondent ex'amaminod one such file to-day and found the name of a descendant of a famous Austrian statesman who wishes to communicate with the daughter of "a rich financier." Hindi bargains are even discreetly advertised in newspapers. The nobleman, usually gets 40 per cent of the money paid. The agent gets tlio rest. I