, 1877-10-07
NEW YORK.
The Libel Suit of Count Joannes.
Otherwise George Jones.
Iatters Theatrical in the MetropoIis---
Bouclcault's Legitimate Come
dy Of Marriage
Mabel 1eonard's Woes---A
Managers Practical
Joke, Etc.

-'A@AA4CA30t --0NklCa4
Joke, Etc.
From Our O,rn Correspondent
NEW YORK. Oct. 4.-Thcre has been nothing
in q long time so thoroughly funny as the cast
made out By the Count Joannes against Mr.
Sothtrn. 1t is funny all around. The appear
c:icc ii the q Crushed Tra.cdian,' in whom tbt
Count secs himself and through whom he feel:
himself damaged S50,000 WORTH is rcry funny
AMI never fails to make the little Park Theatre
ring with irreprcssible laughter. More funny
by far, however, is the appearance OF George
tie Count in court, With his yolunlinous manu-,
scripts and frcsn papcr-collar, bent on urscttn.
both bench aud the goddess OF the scales, il that
be necessary to co1yict the inintable actor OF
lasc and unworthy imitation.
This Count Joanncs has figured more or less
in the papers aud elsewhere for the past sixteen
years. Before that he had confined himself to
the other side of the Atlantic, where anonr a
mostly, hc was highly appreciated. Finding his
genius too cra1npcd over there, he sailed west
and made his
FIRST IMPRESSION ON BOSTON
His publicity in this city has been due almost
entirely to the continual notice paid him BY the
Sun. which rc2kons him one uf that iI1us;rious
galaxy comprising George Francis Train, Eli
Perkins, and Deacon Richard Smith. This notice
honors the ignorant people are left cyer to in
quirc, who IS the Count .JoaEncs:' I intend
tu allow Your readers no further chance to ask
such 8 question. 1t is not necessary that all the
EYeat-llu matter Nhat-sh0u1d die before their
history is recorded.
The Count Joanncs, then, is vuIgarly named
George Jones. To call him so would be to in-
cite suit lor heavier damages than Mr. Sotl1crn
ncntly plebeian, while tile Count is
but newspapers must be cautious.
The Count is L lawyer More tllan
That, or less than that, he is critic, a book
maker. Il tragcuan, scientist, q n1etapbysieian
and uoblcn1an. That is, hc says be is all these
things aud incompatible iu every department.
Where he was born, OF where lie came from be-
fcrc Boston Knew his libel suits, the bographcr
has only the Counts Torl on which to deter
Nine One thing is certain that before lapdin.
on this continent lie had learned to appreciate
tue pathetic histich:
Such power hath beer. The heart which grief hath
cankcred.
Hath unf:lling remcdy-the tankard.
Hc Eal learned also to substitute other aud
more harmful beverages for beer, so that he was
nu novice when he began his daily practice ut
the Boston Bar. He managed to gct-his start,
twelve or fourteen years ago, through the
medium OF that deceased Journal the Boston
Grc, which furnished him a chance for three
lio:l suits, by speaking OF him, when lc APP
ptared at hisi'-toned reception, rs the
sO1-plsAST COUNT.
tUu each, and the clief editor called to account
in the same sum. The Count produced his
patent Of nobility, which seemed to be regularly
Er=1tcu and a1tcstcG to by the Austrian Gov
erE!rcnt, believe, and which he said WAS con
fcrrcl upon him tor the authorship Of dis
tl!-uslea work Oh some abs,rusc subject. The
Count, furthermore won the two suits against
the roprictors. though the latter had for coun-
etl the most ctninent lawyers Of Boston. With
this $2o:0O orospcctlyeIy in pocket. the third
suit was brought on. The counsel this time |
saw that he had serious matter GA hand, and |
Investigated TIC question Of nobility thorough
The Count vas asked whether he was Protestant
or Catholic. be refused to answer. Compelled /
hv the Court, he SAID Protestant, which settled |
TIE business. as the Law showed that the order I
claimed could never be conferred Un auy but
Catholic George Jones
HAD GUESSED WRONG,
anu the decisions in his former suits being re-
ve-scl: be crew OUT Of hunlo: with Boston and
raMe to New York. where. ii his own claims be
a:iowcd to hold, lie has been tnc most notable |
and most Hal1sucd Of men. not excepting Mr..
Train, whom In some characteristics be much
resembles.
the Count gol lis patent Of nobility from the
Luaduu jokcrs, who conferred it upon him with
al apparent seriousness for his admirable rep
rtscnlaiions Of Hamlet, character he has not
tailci to assutnc both in Boston and this city,
aud which he declares TO be his proulcst tr:-
u1nph. For SO eminent noblc1nan, Count
toncs has for some years been known mostly as
aangcr-on about the courts, and is described
amounts As said, he owes his publicity to
the tcrsstent SIN, which as likely as not has
set him the present instance. The case
IN regard to Mr.. Sothcrn is now pretty
"Crusi,ca Traecdian,'' who takes s:his u some
times mixed, but more often straight, does bear
striking resemblance to
JONES TUE COUNT GEORGE;
bat nobody would have thought OF it, not even
tlc Count himself, had not the papers seen the
vast opportunity 1or amusement, and called at
tention to the TACT. Indeed, there arc some who
70 SO far as TO assert that Mr.. Sothcrn, Who has
"a ere for practical jokes which will pay, is :
himself at the bottom OF the whole affair. Ger
ta:nly no more inexpensive aud telling adTer- {
tisemcut could have been devised by the
sl11ewdcst manager, for all the papers have
Unused the public with their accounts Of the |
suit, aud the public have been drawn to the t
Park with the double purpose Of seeing at the {
same time Mr. Sothcrn's new character, and
What What the Count 1oanncs looks like, Be all &
5 @ as on IL the m'5 aav it beo4c brns be eensa M
!scat claim for s5o.ooo against the c
nan who was willing to fight him, and who i
andy chose cannons for the weapons, the | c
Count was jn his usual haunts. dressed in his c
Usual shabby. .gcnteel, coilarlcss costume, and t
in his usual practice OF contilcntialy
cques1ing loans OF from u cents upward, Sc | s
I1lly for which he always had ready III his vest il
NEkct+ IN tnc shape UI notes 01 manu-. Behold |
he sudden change in his condi1ion Next morn il
,,g. when he appeared to file his claim,--a mo-
lsrnt which he describes as among the proudcst
! his lie, not exccptin. those spent in friendly
WITH KINGS AND roTESrATEs,
I eetcra,-hc was dapper with clean shirt
'osoul aud new paper-coIlar, while his seedy /
lt1hcs had given place to garments becoming
obieman who wis able to be damaged to the
xtcnt OF half hundred thousand of dol C
ars. And then, at Ta1nmany Hall last night, | =,
ow should nc appear to deliver his lee y
urc save in specalcss broadcloth, with q
'hitc vest red crayat, pierced by modest A
in, white Kids. bit Of bright ribbon in his q,
stton,hole: and q lovely Young lady upon his .;
rIne Something in the way of fortune has as
ured}y betallcn the hitherto impccunious but
roud and naughty noble, vino counts among o.
is millions Of friends Sir Oakley Hall and Lord
hccdorius Magnus Tiltonius, who was tutored | to
oratory by that master, Daniel Webster, aud f,
ilo could never be crushed tragedian since -.
facrcady was his stage sponsor. While the III
.!cbrated case drags on in the courts, Mr.. Soth vi
p continues to clay as well As his nervousness OF
i'll permit. *'Thc Crushed Tragclian' by the c,
az, sn far thr n01t s1rrcpssfl,f nrndrrfjn nf |