St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-10-27
London Letter.


narrative. He was never vulgar crimi-
nal. but lived in luxury, and. under one
| name or another, participated in all the
gaietieS of French life. When in
Paris he drove about in ele-
giant carriages, was always at the
theatrical premiereS and at the races
and was admitted TO several clubs. His
personal appearance was all i'll his
favor. He is of medium height, with
bright eyes, auburn hair, and smiling,
amiable cOuntenance which made him
a great favorite with the ladies. His
father was an honorable tradesman,
living in the Boulevard Haussmann.
He gave to his son, Eugene Altmayer,
all the advantage of first-class educa-
ton, but he only profited by it to more
easily make dupes. He was naturally
depraved, for, when quite young, he
robbed his parents on several occasions.
HIS father was in hopes that
| the army would reform him.
| but he stole some jewelry from
| the captains chimney-piece and was
condemned to five years Imprisonment.
He failed i'll an attempt to escape by
| getting his fellow prisoners to conceal
him in sack of old papers, but he OBJ
tanned communication of his sentence,
and after serving the rest of his time in
the army returned to Paris. Here he
led gay life and kept a carriage and
mistresses, but in 1856 he was detected
in fraud effected by initiating a per-
sons voice in the telephone He was
arrested after desperate struggle. but
on the way to prison tripped up police
man and took to flight.
He was again arrested and interro-
gated IN MaZaS prison, but while the
magistrate went into the anteroom to
wash his hands Altmayer, who had been
ScrutiniZing the papers on the table,
snatched up blank form of release,
forged the magistrates signature,
walked coolly into the next room,
showed the turnkey the order and asked
him to accompany him to the indorSing
office to get it Endorsed. This done, he
WALKED OFF.
the magistrate meanwhile SuppOsing
that the turnkey had been Impatient
and had taken him back to his cell. This
happened in November. 1886; and Alt
mayer had the effrontery to frequent
Paris cafes and theaters while the police
were looking for him in distant parts.
Last October he induced eight dupes
to try and negotiate bills of exchange
with the forged signature of Moorish
tinancier. When these men were az
rested he wrote to the authorities offer
ing to appear and clear them on cOndi-
ton of safe conduct. This summer he
has been visiting a Norman watering
place, clubbing himself VicOmte de
MaiStre and leading a luxurious life.
He induced lady to lend him 14.OO0
francs, assuring her that the sale of
bit OF his estates in the south would in
sure her speedy repayment. She had
resigned herself to the loss of her money
and had resolved to keep it secret, when
q m taH bo,.
an envelope containing the sum Dor
rowed. Why he made restitution III
this one case does not appear. At
BiarritZ he cashed a forged check for
1900 francs. A detective traced him
to Bordeaux, weere he registered his
luggage for Cette, but he went instead
to Contras (GirOnde) and thence to
Havre, where with his mistress he az
rived on thursday. On Sunday after
noon detective saw him taking a
drive, He Snatched the bride and
stopped the horse while colleague
seized Altmayer. Taken before a mag
istrate he spontaneously avowed the
theft OF letter containing 10000 francs
in Algeria, for which an innocent man
is in custody. Altmayer, who is twen-
tY-nlne years OF age, was condemned by
default last February to twenty years
hard labor. lie has now been brought
to Paris and there will be second trial.
His demeanor is astonishing everybody.
He is perfectly calm and self-possessed,
and when taken before the police COM
missary at Havre he made fun of the de-
tectives, telling them he had seen them
hundred times looking for him. He
had recognized them, but the detectives
had failed to identify him. Addressing
one of them he said: My poor fellow,
L have kept you running after me a
good long time, but now the chase is
over" He will be tried for an inter-
minable list of offenses, ranging from
breach of trust to robbery and forgery.