The sun., 1880-08-01
;~yr THEFT OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE
a urnmn with tho spanish Prince. Don Car
los, for the Principal Actor.

MILAN, July l4.--lulS uHdlI vi but OOlucu
fleece is clearly destined to take It's place
among tho causes celebres OF the nineteenth
century. After 80 much tragedy. O comic inter-
ludo Is welcome.
The chief actor Is Don Carlos OF Bourbon.
Duke OF Madrid. nephew OF the Comte do
Chambord and descendant OF Saint Louis and
of Louis XIV, who In the civil war which he
vaged against the Spanish people to recon-
ouer his throne. reestablished in marching
che Holy Inquisition, burned villages. and
bombarded cities. He is the man also who
launched into his camp one day proclamation
menacing every soldier who should be heard
10 utter an oath with having his tongue bored
with red-hot iron by way OF teaching him
more respect for the Deity on whose favor and
aid this prince counted In his effort to aubdue
his rebollous people.
His adversary in this litigation "a, Con. Boot.
an ex-aide-d -de-oamp. intimate counsellor and
companion in arms. Born in tho south of
France but brought up In Spain. Charles
Bo5t In early youth entered the army. In
1869 he was captain OF infantry, and
was sent to Cuba. A good and daring soldier.
he showed intelligence and courage. and rose
in his profession; but his dseipated life and
certain debts contracted In not the most honor
able way cost him a suspension from his grade
in 1878. Ho became a chief OF military police.
and in this position showed IN extraordinary
contempt for human rights aud human life At
Iona he shot thirteen prisoners without trial.
In November Of that year. by decision OF the
Supreme Council OF War. he was turned out OF
the army for good and all. the reasons assigned
being disastrous to his reputation. During the
~Carllst war he was sentenced en- cont,imdciam
10 ten years i'm prisonment In the galleys for
having ordered the arrest OF young girls and
then left them at the mercy OF the brutal SOL
diers OF the legitimacy.
The main points in the accusation brought
against the ex-General by Don Carlos before
the Milan Court Of Assizes arc these:
eo,G3anSS eGnS % q the desorati9ns n dianonds Of the
Ss reeSe % e ey al the late Duke Of
@ at 4 SennS Noe, s Surs is9 The Prnos PS%
eonflded 4 to his faithful valet de chambre.
purse provided with lock and d Key. M p which 't he
constantly carried with him in all the journeys
Milan. toward the end Of a supper, Don Carlos
wanted to show the jewel to Baron Galvani.
S SSad 5Sy ds6s 6 6ss @
no very definite a suspieions Then the Prince
strike him as queer. Bost suddenly Expressed
and the Prince felt his suspicious Increasing.
He at once procured the services OF q private
aDd wife Of asn. Boae 6aa
part q the decoration Of the Golden, Fleece.
Don Carlos Immediately commn nicatsd this
fact to the ROYAL Procurator at Milan.
The affair BECAME public. and Boet while
not been sold, proclaimed loudly that he was
fhe victim Of an odious plot: that the Prince
stones secretly In order to secure ready money,
OF which he was then In pressing need but that.
as the sale OF this precious family souvenir,
which all the Bourbons regard as a relic would
nave been opposed by Donna Marguerite. his
wife.and the whole Carlist party. be had invented
sale becoming noised abroad. S s tte e Prince. ac
cording TO Boot. lost his head. and determined
the truth. This is the explanation of Boat who
alleges that during his absence he kept up a
OF the sale He has in his possession, he says,
letters from Don Carlos. positively ordering
him to make the sale according to the verbal
agreement made between them at the CATS
=" Bost appealed TO the testimony of a lady who
the Baroness Samoeei. alias Hownth., She as
serts that she knows nothing about the affair.
During the sale Of the diamonds the Con-
wishing 1 2 shun scandal f3r the honor Of his
Baron Esparza. the Secretary Of Donna Mar
guerite. to hunt Boet up. This emissnry en-
OF Boat. who tells him that the General does not
wish his whereabouts TO be known. and will not
addressed to Retsmero Here are some 81 the
kilograms:
IF the goseeuton not abandoned the defence will bo
~ will give a lesson to the wretchea cdarchs)
Then. soeinR that these menaces produced
no effect. Boot took q softer tone:
Set ont 70. PART. See the King and the oaeen alone
All can e Be f1 s between
their Sear nShins win % e ss'i; as to
Furthermore. the first restitution OF the tiia-
,monds pSa,s remaining unsold took place without
1on that Would shield him. Donna E M marTueTito su
called hetameros attention to the fact that
Ha BSS SS nsDss Ma1SS da%Snas as! were still miss
desire to shun scandal III am psrsseuted I shall
not be able to shun It
" Here we detect the old ring OF menace. But
soon he weakened again:
Let know the solution by telegraph; you ought to
understand my impatenco
" Retamero telegraphed back:
see The solution y letter which you must write i'm
escape. '''F'''' '''| '"''' !" no '''ef way"
" Boot finally answered:
f cossrsiaed by aeeep, in spite oimy
asked for your despatch 'n' ''sf Ana 'ae 0N'ee''
In fuihlment OF this promise. on March |
guerite very humble letter in which he had
nothing more to say about his Innocence but
suDplicated in the name Of his family:
to . s :. s:ey to rTs, g s,
wife, OF my mother, and Of my children. ''
4" However. the most valuable diamonds were
not easily restored. BoSt had pledged them for
sum Of $4,000 francs. and he had only 5000
francs lett. He requested. through tho Marquis
d Alex, that Don Carlos and Donna Marguerite |
would furnish the $4,000 francs needed. The |
Marquis himself finally advanced this sum He |
rependcd Of doing 80, and Indignantly accused |
Gen. Bot. Il introduced him at Toulouse to |
all my friends said the MARQUIS; I gave din
wife about tho 1900 francs. She would have |
called me Tool and with reason. since shall |
Tho affair at last ended In a manner not too |
agreeable 10 Boet- Don Carlos agreed to stop |
fhs H1s,, legal prooeedipes. already begun by the |
Milan Procurator. by signing a dsnlande en- |
deSisterneIu on condition that Boet should be |
stripped OF his rank and titles and should hand |
over all the political documents in his posses
slon. Boot failing to surrender these papers |
Don Carlos left Justice to take its course
. II Is affirmed now that the Boot family were
N DIRE extremity at the moment OF the theft
he has acknowledged that he had no Income
and no fixed salary; from time to time he re-
celyed sums OF money from Don Carlos but he
says ~ they were inadequate to defray his expenses
the family at times suffered great priyations
In vain Boot sought loans from those of bia
Irl6luB who I'm Dthar da va Ind