The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-06-21
ROMANCE OF A CRIME.
The Case of Jeanne Weiss and Her
over.
Erom the punIap cable Compann

Lover.
From the Dunlap Gable Company.
A dispatch from Oran, Algiers, a few
days ago, told the story OF the suicide by
poison Of Nine. Jeanne Weiss, who had
been found guilty in the assizes of conspir-
ing with her lover, NJ. Roques, to remove"
NJ. Weiss. her husband After the trial she
was stripped and serched by the jailers.
Even her hair was combed by the cautious
officers in order to make sure that there was
no poison concealed on her person. Sewn
into pocket handkerchief, which they did
not examine, was tiny package of strych-
nine She died IN convulsions twenty
minutes after taking the poison. Her
death closed one Of the most extraordinary
romances of crime of the nineteenth CEN
tury.
At the time OF Mime. Weiss's attempt on
the life Of her husband, who was a public
administrator, she was only % years old
and very pretty and captivating woman.
The union with NJ. Weiss was happy one
until M. Roques, young railway engineer,
came on the scene. For him she suddenly
felt an irresistible affection which was re-
turned with interest. She now forgot all
about her husband and two children, aud
abandoned herself to her new passion. But
81. Weiss was au obstacle to them, and they
ually poison was chosen as the best means
M. Weiss, as fate would have it, was in the
DOCTORS hands at the time, and profiting by
these circumstances, his wife poured an ar
senical preparation into his medicine He
would in all probability have died had not
letter addressed by her to her lover been
intercepted; it contained the words, II
have no more poison" This led to her ar
rest, and the discovery of the crime. M.
ROuras wa also faI hVf ha
his brains on his way to prison. NJ Weiss
is still living, though it is doubtful IL he
will ever recover from the terrible shock he
has undergone
We now come to the most extraordinary
part of the story. Nine Weiss, during her
life in prison, wrote diary describing her
past and present feelings. AS a mixture Of
impudence, sophistry and hallucination, it
would be difficult to surpass it. It none the
less showed her &c be highly intellectual
criminal. Referring to her acquaintance
with M. Roques, she said that the first time
he asked her for q rendezvous she remarked:
Are you aware that it is a very serious
thing you demand Of met 1t may lead you
farther than you imagine. Reflect a
little" NJ. Roques replied: 81 will
follow you wherever you like to
CO." TO which she rejoined, las your
future as well as mine depends on my an
TO chance. | will throw this five franc
piece into the air. II it falls heads will go
to your rendezvous; If it falls tails. we will
separate Immediately and never see each
other again" 1t fell heads. The expert
men, to say the least, was curious. il not
original, but most people will think that
had it fallen tails the couple would have
gone on tossing until the piece fell on the
side which favored the guilty happiness to
which both aspired
Coming down to the preparation Of the
crime, Mime. Weiss says that divorce was
first proposed as the way to get rid of their
obstacle, but 1t was not expeditions enough.
M. Roques then suggested revolver. He
would get revolver exactly like that pos
sessed by M. Weiss. He would fire on him
during his sleep. and once killed he would
place the revolver of M. Weiss in his hand
as If he had committed suicide. The idea
was tempting, but Mime. Weiss observed
that her husband had insured his
life for 10000 francs, and that the
money would be lost in the case of suicide
For brace of lovers supposed to
be acting under the influence of passion and
to have lost their hearts, it must be adj
mitted they calculated pretty ooolIy. 1t was
necessary, therefore, TO find another kind of
death, which would set aside all suspicion
| Poisoning was then studied They tried on
all too violent. At length M. Roques found
a slow poison which might be administered
| in security. He photographed to his mistress
Are You still of the same mindF On her
answering in the affirmative he sent her the
arsenical liquid, and the murder of tho hus-
band began.
Nine Weiss, Notwithstanding these facts,
declared in her diary that it was her lover
| who suggested the crime. Like Gabrielle
| ROmnar1 gha 1rafaDhad che xxa
tool. 1T was he who insisted on doing
away with my husband" she said. 81 did
| not act as free person. / oheyed the or
ders which the man l loved gave me.
During whole year / struggled against
the power he had over me. How
many times l took UP the poison
and put it down again; but his will
overpowered me. In vain l fought against
It'll no longer belonged to myself. Roques
had aroused in me a woman / had hitherto
unknown, woman violently passionate,
but passively submissive. Not only did he
upset my existence, but he like wise changed
my whole inner being. 1t was his fatal in-
fiuence that shattered my life and tore me
away from all l loved. Am l alone 70 pay
| for what we committed together?'
She tried TO commit suicide soon after her
arrest, but failed. "Alas" she exclaimed,
death would not come to me, and for
weeks l endured sufferings the intensity Of
which nobody can imagine. l learned that
the man whom loved to the extent of he-
coming a criminal for him was dead, and
that | remained alone to support all the
weight of our guilt, alone to expiate the
past. My husband. by the manner in
which he treated me, made ms feel thou
saud times more cruelty nv culpability
toward him; instead Of abandoning me to
my punishment, he surrounded me with
pity. Yes, he had pity for me, because more
than anybody he knows that the woman
which manifested herself in me during that
fatal year was not the woman who had
rendered his home happy during five years.
but, instead of claiming any remorse,
his pity made me feel the greatness of my
fault all tine more acutely. What is the
punishment to which society can condemn
me compared to the terrible blows 10 which
fate has destined met Death to-day would
be a Joy and blessing. Deprived of my
children, what is life worth? Although my
husband may not forget me, he will soon
understand that have not violated the law,
but merely ignored it. 1t was not wicked
ness Of heart that led me to the crime, but
subtle sophism, rational persuasion AND
blind passion. Judges may punish me in
the name Of society. and above all, In the
name of example. On this latter point they
may be right, but they will fail to ace that
after all my crime was only an error"
EXCURSIONS.