New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-09
ROGUS NOBLEMEN.
,,popEAN ARIsToCRATs HAVE BEEN
OFTEN DECEIVED BY CLEVER
IMPOSTORS


Tho Hospitality entertain titled visitors subse-
.rtIy 10 discover to their cost, that they were
we adventures. may derive comfort from the
x,owledge that Europeans themselves get taken
:, ouite as frequently and with equal facility.
,,v doubts which they may have on the subject
iii be set at rest by the perusal of a volume
~h,ch has just appeared at Paris under the title
:, "Mer,oires d'Ardisson," constituting an auto
.,,eraphy OF that bod and pebeian-born card
harper who. couple years ago. was summary
.oslIed from one of the leading clubs at Paris
-here he had been ruling the roast for some
,onths under the title and name of the Comte
rAndrac He had been elected in due form,
.fer being proposed by couple Of old and re-
.nected members who had given him their sup
nort in the belief that he was member of the
nA southern and highly respected noble family
=, Andrac. The very fact Of his being otherwise
unknown was in his favor, since 1t did away
With any personal prejudice against his election
For three months he won nightly without arous-
ting any suspicion to the unfairness Of his play,
and Il was not until one evening when men,
her of the club who had been spending the winter
IN India entered the cardroom and recognized in
tho Connie one of the most famous professional
swindlers Of the age. that his career was brought
"a q close. During one entire season at Pau he
rranoueville becoming a member of the most
exclusive club there, and forming intimacies with
the most notable visitors and the prominent
members Of the local aristocracy. Among those
who became his dupes shrewd man as
tho MARQUIS de Breteuil Miss Gamers husband,
who used to take perfect delight in listening
N his witty conversation and TO his unfailing
stock OF anecdotes concerning the leading per-
sonapes in every capita. of Europe. At Vchy he
anpeared in the guse of aged and infrm old
German baron. He apparently had only few
months TO live. and 1t was upon the local doctors
advice that he was wheeled 10 the card table at
the Casino every afternoon in an invalid chair
by couple Of superb footnen, with the OBJECT
OF rousing and keeping alive his apparently 1aii-
ing faculties and mental vgor by means or rev
turns at baccarat. Strangely enough. he Won
almost continuously and to an enormous extent
His victims far from feeling vexed or annoyed
at losing their money, were apparently giad 'ha'
the poor old white-haired and snowy-oearoeo
man should have this little last pleasure peio'e
he died These are only few OF the eplsoues Vi
his extraordinary career. and in every page OF MS
memoirs one finds the most ASTOUNDING lius''a-
t,ons ~ the gulhbfity and credulity OF precisely
those very people in Europe whom one wou'u
imagine to be beyond tie possibility OF impo-
sition.
Quite the shrewdest person in the discovery OF
,rards and shams is assuredly the Prince OF
ua,es who Possesses many of the qualifications
n, q guardian Of society including an astonish-
tho n,emorv for incidents and faces, as well as an
extensive knowledge concerning the history OF
men and things Yet two of the very polueS'
and most impudent adventures have been seen
At his table and were indebted In great meas
IRE for their social currency not only In LONDON
hut also on the Continent. 10 the patronage ac-
corded 10 them by His Royal Highness. The one
was the soi-disant Count Jaracewski, VINO useo
10 be known in London by the name or Sherr!-
and-Whiskey." and was frequent Visi'or a.
sandrin CHAM. He was good-looking man. fair
haired with a blond mustache. small hanus ana
feet, clean-cut features and an aristocraoc APP
nearance Owing to the friendship OF the Prince
no was received at all the best houses at Lon
don and Paris without any inquiries being maue
&c IN his birth and parentage. and was likewise
elected to the most exclusive clubs In Fan Mall
A word which he inadvertently cropped serNe'.
however. at length to arouse the suspicious u,
Lord Hastings, who was at the uHe stewart
OF the Jockey Club. Keeping his rereouohs "
himself the young peer. who is an amateur w
,sc,,ve Of no mean order, and imagines II 10 De
his duty to act as watchdog over Lohuoh so-
cietv left suddenly for the Continent on HIS
sion OF his own devising. On his return ne pr Il,
ceeded direct 10 the Counts lodgings IN poVei-ot''
6, James's and remained closeted with Jarace"-
ski for some time. When ne ieit ms iace 10
singulary grave, and on the ioilo"ihs mo, t'ne
his landlord brought the startling news 10 MAI =
horougb House that the Count had been louhu
dead i'm his bed, suicide. IL SUBSEQUENT!
came known that Count JaraceWsh Was nv my 81
nobeman but merely the son OF tne iaiu s.e" a. u
~ q Polish nobeman who had had the lad
educated with his own boys from d ieei"e VI
kindness toward his servant. IT., ,o.,, ,,o,
has n-c4l
uoffmann. who is now undergoing term OF
penal servitude in an Austrian penilehtiaay ne ~,
was the son Of small glassware oea.ei az
Prague. and began his career as d ilo'I -; an
IT, years later he was established at Paris an
intimate friend of the late Due de Monty, aiiu 49,,
Baron Haussmann, and, through the"' r ~uS
only invited to the state balls at the 1u!ie
bmt also m the more private imperial parties at
St. Cloud Compegne and rontaiheo'etau pr,nce
nshed with letters Of introductloh Wy hare
Nanoleon he proceeded to stockholm "nei
King Charles of Sweden created him khight u,
the Order of ST. Olaf AT Berlin ne aoi 49, Nv
several hundred thousand dollars as "eso'IH'
Of fraudulent railroad contracts HVeu ~ i.a e
nieaan, s,vie ~ the palace of Count HencKei-
Donnersmarck and found means OF insi I he
himself with Count Herbert Bisinarck ,S anu -
late Duke OF Ratibor The late King Alonso ~,
Spain found so much pleasure and enterta,i'i,ied
in Hoffmann's company that he conierreIh n upo ~
him the Order of Isabella the Catnone. ton of
Rome King Humbert showed his apprecia'io... -
the advenfurer's amiable qualities Dy cIen'."S
him knight OF the order Of the crown .d,,N
II was about 1880 that he appeared IN .itonebin
where on the strength of his alleged relationsnap
to old Baron Won Hoffman, VINO AT .naa The The
held the post of Minister OF Finance u ' an
Austro- Hungarian Empire. he was nlaue a., OF,
honorary member of several Of the best 90 ibe
clubs He soon won "a host OF 1riehus W W.
highest rank including even the frin iS -. n
at whose hands he received many klndhe Sc, he
was not only his winnings at cards ' ina bmt
netted during his stay In the BRUSH zap Rr;tish
also letters of recommendation 10 tie - ~
representatives at foreign courts ana neht os - y
that he was sometimes to be met at the tapes o.
the English Ambassadors and Ministers AZ, az ists
Rental capitals 1t was during one OF NE ms 80
70 Brussels that he became acquainted VIII VIII s q
late Crown Prince of A"stra. who co,cerreu ges
great liking for him. Foreseeing tne e aun an
Of an Intimacy OF this character. Hoilnal,n aL,