New-York tribune., 1894-04-22
TOPICS IN PARIS.
THE LIFE OF THE GREAT CITY.

Paris. April y.
n the claim Of the Splritualists be well founded
that they are gaining ground daily. and that they
number more than 10000 in this city alone, con-
siderable misgivings will arise, not because there
Is anv harm In the Spirltualists themselves, but
because of the opportunity that the movement
affords to INSCRIPTIONS people for defrauding
| persons endowed with much wealth and MINI
mum of common-sense. An interesting lius'ra-
ton Of this has been afforded during the last
three days by the extraordinary proceedings be-
fore the Fifth Chamber Of the Civil Tribunal OF
the Seine in which a picture dealer named De-
nola brought suit against the Marquse de la
Tour du Pin and Nine. Gigault for the recovery
Of the amount Of promissory notes to the value
/ IL some 10 900 francs. bearing the signatures OF
the ladies' The conjunction Of the name OF Nine.
| Gigault with that OF the Marquise was IN lts'l
sufficient 10 arouse suspicion. For Whlle the
former used to be an actress of doubtful repu-
tation the Marquise belongs to one of the Oldest
families Of France by birth. and is connected
with many others by marriage; besides which
she ls wealthy and is the owner OF the Chateau
des Ursns.
According to the evidence given in court. it
appears that the Marquise. who is some sixty
years OF age has for some time been in the
hands Of n group Of unscrupulous adventures
headed by Nine Gigault who made the Chateau
dcs TTrains their headquarters. and drove the
Marquse half crazy by spiritualistc seanccs al!
the servants Of the establishment being In league
with the band What seemed to her phantom
was made 70 pass her door every night at given
signal which was only the cook dressed up Tor
the occa sion. \ handsome groom pretended 10
drown himself because he was infatuated with
the old lady. who thereupon considered herself
hound to give him large sums Of money 10 keep
away from the neighborhood les' his adinira-
ton should compromise her In the eyes OF the
people In fact. every conceivable device was
adopted by the gang to cXtort money from nor
and t. prevent her from holding any communl-
cation either with her relatives or with tho local
clergy
Finally. after they had exhausted all her avail
able resources. Nine. Gigaut induced her 10 put
her name to a number Of notes. which she pro-
cecdcd to convert into cash The courts have
now decided that the signature of the Mar1use
has been obtained 10y improper means. that she
cannot bc hold responsible for IN" notes. and
that the ONLY person liable in connection there
with ia Mn. Gigaul: who VIII now either have
I, refund the money T. the brokers who DIS
counted the paper or els" expos" herself u iHe
danger Of prosecution for obtaining money under
false prctcnccs.
Among The prin ,lpal social events of the past
week has boon the Charity Fair hell NJ IN"
Ansiro-fGunga,1an Embassy. which occupies IN
Tho Rue DO Varenue that superb palace be
oucathcd T. Emperor Francis Joseph by IN"
late ppch,sso DO Galllcra T. was puilt for thr
famous Marshal Mor'morcncv. and was "'"u-
,loI I'm turn 10y tine Prince of Monaco. IN" great
Tall,vranl. "Mademoiselle" Pri"c"'f Aielalde
was called. General dc Cav'ignac MI Ih'rh''
= the United states. AMI tho CONT" DE- farS.
n possesses a superb garden ~ vas' 'Nteh''
nll,l with trcos ccntury-od The Austrian AM
hassa,l ,lress. tho Comt"sso Iloy's. who spent soy
cral years n washington with her husband
was assis,cd 10y Tho Amha 'sadrosscs of IN"
United states England spain. Denmark ana
re'riur vhNo among tho atali-h"l i'rS "'i'
r,lv Tc~cur. Pl9ckwo0l. TN" Prnc'1.'7 GO
LIMA and Iucinee- FauriEny. and The Amor' an
born R1roness Raymond Sell"re. tho HA'h'Ss'
u,eaze and Mrs Austin Lee Of the English En-
bae-y.
~, even the most aiyan,cl - Radicals c'n'd
o,I auvthinc &, which objection could h' WaA"
in She existence - the lat" Nbn" J." f"''urs'
v.l, for n~lrlv quarter - century h"'' 'n'
on. ~ rector ~ rhr Madeleine. q fa0" mex
oriv &, N1'.e Dame in importance as OPP ~
,h, l,r.lmarkr aud ua;l.~' ~ ramen's ~ this
n . .t .I y
refused T., u.,r his utle on thre s'para'" "r-
ca~!.ns %, declined hishopii- and even "r'n-
h,sb,rr.cs ihat wcr, offered to him wai,. De- de-
voted bis entire very large private for'un" to
the Door of h.s great parish. who assembled in
immense crowds a. his obscquic-. He even de-
cllr.l T., accept tho cross ~ thr Legion Of
Honor which the Government wished % CON
fe- rpon him f,~ the courage and devotion die
rl1vrl los him as almDnor ~ ON" ~ Oh" regi-
m,n,s at ORLEANS during The war 81 $50 In
dr-I e. would hr diHcuit To nnd a man more
truly unaffected. more simpr-Winded and sin
ccrclv democratic than the late re tor who's"
death was brought about by The shock which
~. received AZ the time of the explosion Of the
dvnami'r bomb at the Madeleine. 4 fnw weeks
ago.
He may be- regarded a. having bon one Of the
Victims ~ this sacril"gious outrage. a fact all
the more remarkable when one remembers that
hls predecessor At the Madeleine the Abbc
Dcgucrry. likewise met with a violent death.
having been shot along with the Archbishop
Of Paris and the other hostages by the Com
munists a. the time Of the nsurrec,ion in 1871.
Infinitely less entitled t. public sympathy is NJ.
TaiIhade. the most seriously wounded victim OF
the dynamite explosion ~ the cate Foyot. near
the Luxembourg For. at the ,ime of the out
rage In the Chamber Of Dtputies committed by
the Anarchis. valiant. he went about eXciaim-
ing "Qulmportent les victimes 81 le geste est
beau CWhat matter the victims provided the
gesture l. grandD and asserting that the
gesture Of valiant In throwing the bomb was 90
magnificent as 10 redeem the crimnaity Of the
act. Now. inasmuch "a vanity and a craze for
notorety are declared. by those best competent
to Judge to be the motive Of nine-tenths Of the
perpetrators Of these outragcs. 1t will readily be
seen how very pernicious remarks such as those
made by the poet Tailhadc are likely to prove.
Some comment has been caused here by the
failure Of the Comte de Paris and of the MEM
l.r fh fl, In.