Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-07-26
THE LOVE OF, A GIRL-wIFE.
THREE WEALTHY ,sPAEIARps CONVICTED
= AT PARIS OF sHoP-LIFTING.

a-.. EsAh -TAhlS Or Sk1oI AA-No. g
A singularly romantic and painful
scene was witnessed in the Court of
the Eleventh Chamber a couple of
days since. On the seat allotted to
defendants cited to appear but not re-
strained Of their liberty sat a woman
some thirty years Of age, OF imposing
appearance and naughty demeanor,
with a head such as one sees on a Ro-
man cameo. She toyed negligently
while being questioned with ieweled
fan and gave her answers disdain-
fully. Beside her, but upon the pris-
oner's bench was girl Of eighteen, a
tall and slight brunette whose great
dark eyes wet with tears resembled
those of Maddona1 in ecstatic
prayer. They were. aunt and niece,
both of Spanish origin. The elder,
Virginia Pulgar, is the wife of a Eene
zulean general who in 1874 represent
ed Venezula in France; then became
governor of province; then revolted
and was defeated. He is now plan
ming another revolution, while his wife
| lives, or rather lived, an elegant life,
having an ample fortune of her own,
in one of the elegant hotels ON the
Champs Elyses. The Niece, Carmen
Losseda-''Nina' as her aunt called
her-,-is the daughter of an ex-Presi-
dent of Venezula, wife of a handsome
young colonel, Eopez Mendez, aged
twenty-four. They were married last
winter and came to Paris to srend
how sad honeymoon.
In some respects the case resemblcd
that of Nine Kouwitchinski, the very
wealthy Russian, who forced her lit
tie daughter of twelve years, Nodine,
to steal in the shops they visited. Ac-
cording to the prosecution the young
woman Gifted" everything she could
secure at the counters while her hus-
band and aunt kept the shopmen oc-
|cupied. Why people so rich should
steal us these stole, why they should
steal as omnivorously as these stole,
the prosecution did not pretend to ex-
plain; but at Nine. Pulgar's resi-
dence the police found articles of all
descriptions and every value from Il
,l0O franc ring down to Il pair of
coarse WOODEN hose, from gold brace
lets TO handkerchiefs at five francs n
dozen-eight cents apiece. .......
The young girl indicated as princi-
pal offender took upon herself with a
touching resignation the sole and en-
tire responsibility for the thefts. She
had but one thought, one desire--to
save her husband and her mother s
sister by establishing that she had
taken the articles in question without
theis knowledge or assistance, and she
set herself to make out her own quit
as piteously and resolutely as another
woman would have striven TO prove
her complete innocence. The prin-
cipal witnesses against her were. two
jewelers. faom one, Boucherou, she
had stolen sapphire ring, from tue
other, Fontana, "A gold chain. Bou-
cherou missed his property just as the
trio left the store on the first of May,
and had them arrested. Their rooms
were found full of goods still bearing
the trade marks of the great shopping
emporiums, the Louvre, Printemps,
and Bon Marche.
NJ. de La Fuye, who prosecuted,
called for severe sentence upon the
husband and aunt, asserting that they
had shamelessly worked upon the
poor girl ignorance, "a child scarce
ly conscious of what she did," as the
Venezuelan minister wrote to the
court. Maitre Georges Lachaud de-
Tended the two women. Virginia
Pulgar he claimed, had not been
proved guilty of the slightest offense,
and as for the young bride who said
in her examination that she felt an ir-
resistable desire TO steal when goods
were placed before her, was she not
rather poor, silly child to be in
and cured than guilty
wretch to be punished? The hus-
bands advocate placed the whole
guilt upon his wife, insisted that her
story was true, and in support of his
theory read the following letter, writ
ten by her twelve days after the ar
rest:
Il do not think, dear husband of
my life, that they will find you guilty.
They cannot, for yon are completely
innocent. l hope they will soon set
you at liberty, for am dying of pain
to think that you are in prison.
Pardon me, my husband, pardon me !
i did not know the gravity of my
offense; did not know to what ]
was exposing myself; / had lost my
senses. You forgive me, have you
not? 1 know how good your heart
is, and l am SO unhappy. Do not
abandon me in my despair. If you
have forgiven me | shall be tranquil
and resigned. All, how l repent, my
darling husband, how bitterly l re-
pent. "CARMEN.
The magistrates, it is comparative
ly pleasant to report, acted upon the
theory Of the prosecution and recog-
nized degrees OF responsibility. The
.yonno wifi, was sent to prison for