Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1876-04-06
CARTOUCHE.


CARTOUCHE.
Louis Dominique Cartouche, the son
Of respectable, well-to.lo wine-seller,
was born in Paris in October, 1903.
Anxious to secure for his son a higher
position than he himself occupied, the
father sent him to the College of Cler.
mont, his native instincts soon assert
ed themselves; lie ran away and joined
aparty Of gypsies. He was adopted rs
Il child of the band. and his new friends
formed the most sanguine anticipations
rs to his future. Bold, crafty. and in
ventive, he was nimble as an ape,
plant as an acrobat. TO AL unconquer'
and Of idleneSs, he united remarkable
ability to endure. when necessary, pri'
Walton and fatigue. After he had re.
manned three years with the gypsies,
they were abruptly ordered by the Par.
lament Of ROuen to quit the province,
and. as Cartouche was sick at the time,
they left him behind. On his recov'
cry he found himself alone and friend.
less in the streets of Rouen, without Il
single sou in his pocket.
BY good luck he fell in with an uncle
who fed, clothed him, and sent him
home, thereby affording him another
opportunity for pursuing al honest ca.
reer. \ domestic life. however. had
no charms for the ex-gypsy. After a
few months tranquility he decamped
from the paternal mansion one moon
light night with his fathers money
box under his arm. He was then about
II years of age. Participating was
the first branch of his future industry
to which he devoted his talents. He
formed partnership with one Gaguis.
and. between them. they reaped Il rich
harvest. when one unlucky evening
CartOuche's comratle was arrested and
transmitted to Marseilles. This mis-
adventure led our hero to turn his tai
ents in another direction, and lie took
to dice and cards. Haunting the bet
ter hells. he used the skill acquired
among the gypsies to such purpose that
suspicious were awakened. and NJ. Car
touche was kicked into the streets and
debarred forever from that branch of
industry. Tradition atfirms that his
police spy. This, however, is apoc-
ryphal. and probably arose from the
fact that when lie appeared, as he soon
did, as the organizer Of Il band of
thieves, he exhibited ideas of discip-
line and subordination that, with his
known character, must have been &C.
4uired from without.
Becoming at last all Ishmaelite his
hand against every one. and evey ones
hand against him. it became his COLI
slant care to impart to the skilled and
desperate band which rallied around
him an organization and discipline APP
proximating as closely as possible to
the military; he appointed lieutenants,
sergeants. sentries, rallying and pass
words, and spared no detail to insure
the perfection of the instrument un-
der his control. This completed, the
campaign opened with night skirmish-
ing. Thus some three or four of the
band would pounce upon an unwary
citizens, whom blow on the head
from loaded bludgeon reduced to a
temporary silence. When the victim
regained sufficient consciousness to
give an alarm, the troop was at a safe
distance, arranging the next affair.
Paris was regularly apportioned into
districts, one of which was allotted
each night to some particular detach-
ment of the band.
Becoming aware of the existence of an
organized system of crime, the city in
alarm, appealed to it's natural protec-
tor, NJ. D 'Argenson, head of the police,
but found little consolation. Police
there were in abundance, but no con.
trolling power, order. or system.
Each worked for himself. They plum
dered the robber and the robbed alike.
Selected without reference to their an
tecedents, many had served in the gal
leys, and many more bore the conyicts
brand OH their shoulders. Miserably
paid, they were perpetually exposed to
the temptation of a bride, and it was
not long before the sheep.dog became
almost as dangerous to the flock as the
wolf himself.
1t was in 1920 that the terror in.
spired by Cartouche's band reached it's
climax. They held virtual possession
of the capitol, especially by night.
Their depredations were conducted
with the military order and precision
50 much inculcated by their great lead.
er. A party would assemble before
some rich mansion. Then some huge
fellow--very frequently one Simon.
once a brawny ex.pOrter-w0uld offer
his gigantic shoulders as the base of a
living pyramid, which formed by the
lighter and more agile members of the
gang, speedily reached the lower win.
dows. Some panes were adr0itly re-
moved, the apartments entered, and
the most attractive objects began to
glide down a chain of ready hands till
the pillage was complete.
The gang hunted noble game. In
September, 1920, they invaded the resi-
dence of the Spanish Ambassador, and
stripped the chamber of the ambassa
dress, seizing a magnificent pearl neck
lace, a breach with twenty.seven large
diamonds, rich table-service of gold,
and the lady's entire wardrobe. In the
Palais Royal, then occupied by the Re.
gent, they stole two of the silver fam
beaux. At the Louvre Cartouche' 8
brother possessed himself of the sword
and mantle Of the Prince de Soubise,
while the Regent himself was robbed
one night on leaving the opera. Here,
however, the laugh was on the other
side, as, purposely to deceive the rob-
UClSs uO udO CSSUSCU u1S SWOlu'ul1t 10
be richly chased.--in steel. 49,
Now that the inconvenience of such
state of things began-to be felt in the
very highest society, government set
itself seriously to the task of reform.
A little incident helped to spur it on.
One May morning in l72l some labor.
ers came upon the body of a murdered
man. 1t proved to be that Of an OBJ
scure poet named Vergier. What could
possess any one to kill poet, and 80
poor a one at that, was a puzzle, till
some one suggested it was the Regent s
work. Philippe d'Orleans was black
enough, in all conscience, but rumor
painted him IN still deeper colors. In
. series Of rhymed philippics he had
been branded with every conceivable
crime. What more natural, said the