The daily gazette., 1877-07-10
THE L.Oeyyss;:,&,Iaa L.ey s:&,I Girl-Wife
THREE WEALTHY SPANlARpS
, CONVICTED AT PARIS OF. .aao
m. SH0PLIfTiNG.
A BRIDE IN TIE HONEYMOON
CONFESsES HER GUILT TO
SAVE HER LORD--WHO
e4 LETS HER DOSO, .

CONFESSES HER GUILT TO
4 SAVE HER LORD--WHO ~, Z
- LET'S HER DOSO. L .i.a
PARIS, June 23.-A singularly roman
tic and painful scene was witnessed il the
Court of their EleventhC Chamber aicouple
ofdays since On the seat allotted to de-
PENDANTS cited to appear but not restrain
ed of the liberty SAT woman some thirty
years Of age, ofimposing appearances aud
naughty demeanor, with a head such as
one sees on Roman cameo. She toyed
negligently while being questioned with
n jewelled fan and gave her answers dis
dainfully Beside her, but upon the pris-
oner's bench was girl eff eighteen, tall
and slight brunette whose great dark eyes
wet with tears resemDled, those of a Ma
donna in ecestatic prayer. They were aunt
and niece, both of Spanish korigin. The
elder, Virginia Pulgar, is the wife of a
Venezuelan general who sn 1874 repre-
scented Venezuela in France; then became
governor ofa province; then revolted and
was defeated. He is now planning anoth-
er revolution, while his wife lives OF
rather lived, an elegant life, having an
ample fortune of her own, in one Of the
elegant hotels on the Champs Elvees
The niece, Carmen Dosseda-"Nina," as
her aunt called her--is the daughter of an
ex-President of Venezuela wife of u
handsome young colonel, Lopez Mendez
aged "a. They were married last winter
and cane to Paris to spend how sad a
hOneymooul H1..'
In some respects the case resembled
that of Mime. Kouwitchinsk the wealthy
Russian, who forced her little daughter
of twelve years, Nodine, to steal In the
shops they visited. According to the
prosecution the young woman Gifted"
everything she could secure at the count
ers, while her husband and aunt kept the
shopmen occupied. Why people SO rich
should steal as these stole, why they
should steal as omnivorously rs these
stole, the prosecution did not pretend TO
explain; but at Nine. Pulgar's residence
the police found articles of all descriptions
| aud every value from l 1,500-frahc ring
down to q pair of course woollen hose,
! from gold bracelets to haudkerchiefs at
francs a dOzeIl-8 cents apiece.
The young girl indicted as principal
| offender took upon hersely with q touch
ing resignation the sole and entire re-
sponsibility for the thefts. She bad but
one thought, one desire-to save her hus-
band and her mothers sister by establish
ing that she had taken the articles in
uestion without their knowledge or as
| sistance, and she set herself to make out
her own guilt as piteously and resolutely
| as another woman would have striven to
prove her complete innocence. The
| principal witnesses against her were two
jewelers.; from one, Boucheron, she had
stolen a sapphire ring; from the other,
| Fontana, gold chain. Boucheron
missed his property just as the trio left
the store on the LIST of May land had them
| arrested. Their rooms were found full
of goods still bearing the trademarks of
the great shopping emporiums, the
Louvre, Printemps and Bon Marche.
M. de La Fuye, who prosecuted called
| for a severe sentence upon the husband
and aunt, asserting that they had shame
lessly worked upon the poor girls ig-
norance, ga child scarcely conscious of
what she did" as the Venezuelan Minis
ter wrote to the Court. Maitre Georges
Lachand defended the two women
| Virginia Pnlgar, he claimed had not been
| with the ofense, and as for the young
| bride who said In her examination that
she felt an irresistible desire to stea;
when goods were placed before her, was
she not rather poor, silly child to be in
strucsed and cared than q guilty wretch
to be punished? The husbands advo-
cate placed the whole guilt upon his
wife, Insisted that her story was true, and
in support of his theory read the follow
ing letter, written by her twelve days
| after the arrest: li -IlT .-HIE
fI do not think, dear husband of nay
| life, That they will find you guilty, They
cannot, for you are completely innocent.
| l hope they will soon.set you at liberty,
I am dying of pain to think that you are
in prison. Pardon me, my husband, par
don mel / did not know the gravity of
my offense; 1 did not know to what
was exposing myself; 1 had lost my
senses. You have forgiven me, have
you not? know how good your heart
is, and am so unhappy. Do not aband-
on me in my despair. If you have for
given me l shall be tranquil and resign
ed. All, how repent, my darling hus-
band, how bitterly | repent
The magistrates, it is comparatively
pleasant to report acted upon the theory
of the prosecution and recognized de-
grees of responsibility. The young wife
was sent to prison for eight months,
while her husband and aunt were SEN
fenced to imprisonment for year and a
day, which, the term exceeding year,
involves confinement at one of the CEN
tral prisons where the discipline is much
more severe. Besides this, the two SEN
iors will be subjected to five years sur
veillance by tie police after regaining
their liberty.