The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1873-03-27
A "rEMALE FRAUD"
Mile. Adele Spitscder, the Famous
German Banker-One Of the
Great Swindles Of the Century.

Among the prisoners IN the city jail
OF Munich, the capital Of Bavaria.
there 10 ooufined at the present time .
comely looking woman, who is accused
OF having defrauded the good people
Of that kingdom Of the enormous sum
Of twelve million norins. Her fnan-
cial transactions during the past few
years, IL We may believe the criminal
| authorities Of Bavaria, exceed In bold
nest aud magnitude those Of most OF
the noted questionable financiers Of
modern times, including those Of the
famous John Law; aud her history is
exceedingly interesting, not only on
account of her humble descent, but a.
20 OF the singular manner In which
she was brought to embark in opera
tions in which she handled upward OF
forty million forms In gold, Of the
marvellous credulity Of . whole people.
who unhesitatingly poured all their
hard-earned savings into her Golfers,
and Of the suddenness Of her down
fall, by which she was transferred
from one Of the most magnificent pal
aces In the world TO \ poorly furnished
felon's cell In the common jail.
This remarkable woman was born
in 1882, either In Munich or ~ others
assert, In the United States. At any
rate, she herself has repeatedly said
now that abe was native Of Bavaria,
and now that she was born in Ameri-
CO. Her parents were strolling play
ers Of some ability, who travelled all
over Europe, And were among the car
Hest German singers who visited our
shores. They had but one child.
Adele, the subject of the present
sketch, whom they tried to educate
for the stage. They believed they dis
cerned some histronic talent In the
girl, and on their death. beds (both o:
them died within . few days Of one
aDother) they told her that she would
find lucrative employment st ono of
the numerous theatres at which they
had oftea played before delighted su-
diences.
Such, however, did not prove to be
the case. Yosag Adele's debuts as an
actress were every where decidedly
unsuccessful. Her favorite role was
Leah, In MosentAsa's weli-known
play; and the critics Of Germany, with
ono accord, advised Mile. kpitzeder to
to leave the stage for more eoageoial
deId Of occupation. She WAS slow to
follow I his advice. and contented her
self for several years with filling sub
ordinate p ositions 1t second-rats thea
tres In Ger many and Switzerland. ua-
I'll, in the au tumn of 1864, she return
ed almost pen niless, without reputa-
tion aud without prospects, TO Mu-
Mich,
On the 18th Of November, 10 that
year, at . moment when she had but
= few kreutzers In her pocket, and was
harrassed by her creditors. with utter
destitution staring her in the face, she
inserted in the principal Munich jour-
nal, the Neaesee INachrichtcn, . brief
advertisement. which proved tho turn.
ing point In her fortunes, and which
was destined to lead to truly momen-
tous consequences. 1t read as follows:
"A respectable lady desires to Dor.
rev one hundred and fifty fiOrins for
two months. She Is willing to paw
ten per cont. interest for the loan, and
can give excellent references. Address
A. g., this office."
In the afternoon Of the day on which
this advertisement had appeared Mile.
Adele Spitzeder, who, ~ she herself
has repeatedly stated, had not had
meal for twenty.four hours, and whose
pure was entirely empty, returned to
the Office Of the Neueste Nachrichten,
trembling between hopes and fears,
and expecting that the clerk ct the
deck, upon her inquiry for answers to
her advertisement, would tell her that
there were none.
She was, however, most agreeably
The clerk handed her
not one letter, but at least fifty. All
Of them contained offers OF sums of
one hundred and fifty fiorins, and not
. few Of them Of much larger amounts
ct ten per cent. interest for two
The head Of the young lady fairly
swami - she suddenly found what
seemed to her riches at her command.
During the next few days she called
upon the writer's Of the answers to her
advertisement, and at the end Of this
time she found herself In possession Of
four thousand d0rins-a sum that
seemed almost fabulous TO her.
What vas she to do with II? She
passed aleepless night. revolving In
her restless brain many schemes for
the Investment Of what che looked up
on - her own money. So 1t was, 1t
least for tho next two months, for she
had paid the lenders interest In sd-
vance.
All ct once startling idea occurred
to hsr. What II she should advertise
again and again Tor loans, and then
lend out the money again at an inter
est higher than she paid for II? The
idea was worth trial, and 90 she r.
newed her advertisement In the Neu-
este NdcArichtcn for one week; but, to
facilitate matters, she desired persons
willing 70 entrust their funds to her
to call upon her at small hotel, the