The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-24
HE WEEDS sI7.OoO,OOO.
BERNARD MaIiHa the Lucky Man Who
Captured WoodcIiR's HcireSs

Twas a swift. sweet wooing. lmpOrtuned
by 300 inpecunious suitors. the heiress of
woodclim. N. J.. has made her choice.
having separated tho one kernel Of wheat
from all the chaf To-day at . p. m. Nine.
Byzantine Gaudin, who has Sl7,OOO0oO in
prospect. becomes a bride once more Ber-
naryl Maliza is the lucky man. And it was
a homely stove and washtubs that brought
the couple together.
mo one knows whore the lightning will
strike" is the way all Woodcliff comments
on the affair. Short seven weeks ago the
happy bridegroom was a stranger to
Woodchff and TO Nine Gaudin. Her ST.
100000 legacy from South America he had
never heard of. But some 800 others had
for bushels Of letters came to the stately
French woman day after day, in which the
writers appeared ready TO love or TO bor-
row Many were the financiers, too, who
thought themselves capable OF caring for
the vast Inheritance. But the widow spurn-
ed them all. though she kept their ardent
letters.
OF this however. the World told four
months ago. when news Of the legacy
leaked out. This is a story of the success
full one-the lover who came. saw and con-
quered i'm the fleeting period between the
Fourth Of July and Aug 1. The $lHOO0,000
cuts no figure with him, oh. no! II IL comes,
as the lawyers say IL will. why, so much
the better. If not well, there's comfort
able home and a good wife. And whether
1t does or not. Woodcllff will be en- fete
to-day.
To begin with, Nine. Gaudin hasn't
her fortune yet. Her husband died when
she was still a bride. and for years she
toiled at dressmaking, slowly saving the
dollars Eli she had enough to buy mod
.Ia.ma H.n
April, came TO her a lawyer. Was she the
Nine Gaudln who was once Mile Eglan-
tine Marie Manuel? Yes? Then she was
heiress TO 81. 10000
when a niece. who married, Is found,
said the attorney "half the S34,0OOOOO left
by the widow of Andre Pinaud, a tanning
Croesus Of South America, will 90 to you,
Nine Gaudin."
Pinaud's widow was Annette Larcot,
aunt OF Mile. Manuel, now Nine Gaudin,
widow When they told her this the old
lady-she is ffty-five now-promised to do
all sorts Of things for Woodcliff; that Is,
If the legacy came.
Meanwhile she busled herself fixing up
her cottage against the day the money
might arrive II is an unpretentious lit
tie place, shabby, implanted and Scantily
furnished, 100 yards from Woodcln' 3 lone
street First OF all, Mime Gaudin decided
she needed a stove and washtubs. When
this city. to recommend her a good man TO
direct her purchasing he spoke TO her Of
his friend Malta, superintendent OF the
Cosmopolitan Range Company, No. 243
Center street. New York
out to tho plain little place at Wood
cliff went Maliza. He attended TO the
placing OF the stove and tubs, and then
stayed on to superintend the laying out
Of the grounds around the house. A new
fence was put up. Lawns were sowed
and shrubbery was laid out Still Malta
stayed.
You see" said he yesterday, II had
been widower eight years, and / was
thinking again OF settling down and
having my own home And Nine. daudlh,
she is a fine woman"
DAY by day the letters from would-be
suitors came in. Blond young men wrote.
So aid brunettes and bald-heads. Nine.
Gaudin showed them 20 Malta, for he was
getting to be indispensable about the place.
He laughed, but said nothing-that is,
for a full month. But when he did no was
sure Of hts ground.
1t was three weeks ago, and they wero
sitting together in the little. uncarpeted
parlor The time had come for Malta
to go back TO town, for the stove was in
and the washtubs all up.
ITS so nice and homelike," said Ma
liza, twisting his curling mustache, that
l hate to 60"
Nine. Gaudin b1ushed a shell-pink and
looked at the cracks In the floor.
why do your" she said.
Five minutes later II was all right To-
gether they burned up all the love letters
from the unknown, but ardent, suitors for
Nine Gaudin's hand and her prospective
S17OO0OOO To-day the bride chose for her
wedding. Then came the busiest Of times
for there was wedding dress and trous-
seau to be made, all In three weeks. Three
or four women were called in to help, and
1t was sew, sew, sew from morning TIL
night. Maliza busted himself out-of-
doors getting the place in shape for the
wedding festivities.
There a World reporter and artist found
them Yesterday. The last stitches were
being put on the wedding dress by beVy
of pretty girls. Outside two men were
raking OF the lawns where the wedding
party will celebrate to-day. The big mas
tin that had scared away scores Of i'm
pecunious suitors snoOzed in the sun. while
Malta, with a smile and snatch Of song,
hustled in and out. The dog didn't bother
him. the brute understood.
Madame called the backgrounds
be. very deferennally, when the reporter
explained things. "Eglantine, chere"
The visitors were led into the sitting
room, where the bride was experimenting
her trousseau. On look was enough for
her
"Reportairsy' she cried, oh oh, OH
A little scream and she bolted for the
closet door. There the bride Of So
locked herself in, while the bridegroom
looked on and laughed at her confusion.
Maliza IS a Swiss, OF fine bearing and
ruddy counteaance. He is 4S years
old and twenty-one Of them have
been spent in business here. His hair Is
curly and his mustache would be the en-
Wy Of a grenadier. Rather modestly he
told the story Of his conquest and the ar
rangements for the festivities to-day,
which include not only the wedding. but
a christening.
Il don't know" said he, whether we
get 81, 100000 or not. If there's any
thing in It. why, 50 much the better. Any
way / get a fine wife and home, nest ce
pas?"
The ceremony will be performed at the
home Of a enighbor M. Charles A.
Grandjean. The Rev. Grand Leonard Is
going out from this city 20 tie the knot
Then, as Mr.. and Mrs. Maliza, the bride