The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-05-03

XA& AEAkPv1
II Thu half es.tury q, imnsuss ip6s
ecoe-Napoleoe, Csveur, VlN0nell;
- - . tie fourth; tbo Ant lived b
- o!oe4 q Ba1upe; tho secood w
married T. The glo6e; the third iDcarna
I'd . people, want % bear Q whole %
e1ceY q ny hsad." How wen h
achieved hio purpose TIE undhdin9 hu
@on interest Of his novels still a6ovs
1salsae va Diseeably poor. not oven
ne advance guard q his later milliona
q hann having yet reached him. But
D Tssooete)y po6hed the question a
money ID hio suit, and then, after seven
yeo!y acqualntance Mime. Hauska mar.
red him out Of pity when he Wa on
me edge oS the grave. Under his i'd
veee:he gave oil her property to her
children, one OF whom, the Countess
Anissech, finally inherited it all and
Kept pace with with her mother in the
which have lately been the gossip Of
Paris.
When Balsac married. in 1910, he had
reached the summit Of fame and pecun-
larry success. He devoted the five
nsonths between hismariage and death
70 6ttjng up his house in the Champs
EIysees with the most elaborate and
costly brica-bac and gems Of sculpture
and painting, and there his widow lived
and continued to he known ~ Madame
de- Balxac, though in reality she took q
third h husband, the painter, Gig0ux. A
couple Of months ago some pictures and
clrios were sold ct the great Paristan
art auction rooms, the HOel Dru0t, and
were described as the property Of Bal
1ac. PEOPLE were xstounded. The for
tune Of Madame was supposed to he in.
exhaustible, and that Of her daughter,
Countess Nniszech, colossal. Inquiry
was 1T once made, but before much
could be learned the Balzac house was
suddenly reported sold to Madame de
ROthschild tor SOC, OOO francs. 1t leaked
out that the two women had for four
years been suffering from the decorative
art craze In most acute form, and had
not only dissipated their fortunes but
had done Paris dealers to enormous
smOuuts. Count Mnisxecll devoted an
immense sum to the construction Of q
paltce in the Rue Balxac, and his wife
and her mother undertook to furnish
and I'LL it with works Of art, under the
advice Of the artist, GigOux. This was
during the Paris Exposition Of 1878, and
the nayniflcenoe u the displays
aroused . perfect mania in the two
women, who bought right aud left
without regard to payment. The rarest
clOisOnnes and brOnxcs in
the Chinese and japanese departments
were secured by Madame de Balzac and
her d laughter, and after the close Of the
exp,~itiOn they turned their atten-
ton 10 native art. They were con-
sidercL enormously wealthy and got
Whatever credit they asked. Goupil
alone trusted the countess to q million
francs for paintings, and her purchases
Of peintings on CREDIT from variOue pic
ture dealers are said to have reached i've
millions. As soon - the houses were
20 completely filled with paintings,
statuary. and brio a-brac that they could
hold no more the women began selling
the articles ut low rates to dealers aud
replacing them with new purchases.
Then they suddenly went in for jewell
~. Ann BOncler0n trusted the Count
ess with l, 4O, QUO francs worth Of dia-
mOnds, while dealers i'm bijOuterie, curl
osities and rocks were taken in on u
similar SCALE. Count Mniszech saw the
Of affairs too late, lost his rea-
son and died last December. His death
brought the crash. The dealers began
to look after something to seize, and
Goupil followed some Of his pictures
through the hands Of three dealers, who
had got them ut ri,liculously low prices.
He finally selzed part Of Madame de
I}s,lzac's collection AM ! advertised and
sold it.
The announcement has lDeen painful.
Nine. lie Bulzac's suburban house was
cleaned out by the auctiOneers about thu
middle Ot last month, and steps were
taken to bring the Hotel Mniszech and
all its wonderful contents under the
hammer. There seems to bc no question
but that the case WAS one OF absolute:
mania, and the enforced sale Of her treas
aures is undoubtedly what caused Mime.
de Balzac's death. 1t remains to he seen
whether the Countess collection is not
enough to reimburse the credalous deal
crs whOse readiness to part with their
wares without security encouraged the
madness of the unfortunate wonian.-
PNil0. Times.