Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-07-09
RUIN IN HER WAKE
REMARKABLE CAREER OF A
YOUNG PARISIENNE.
PRINCES AMONG HER PREY
Their Infatuation for Her Surpassed
ANYTHING Known IL History-OInef
Women Of Paris whose Cohqu70to
Have Become Notorious oolll0
Beautiful Sirens.

Lame de Pougy, who ir I'll OF des-
oeration tried to kill herself one Gay
last week in Paris, was the most con-
sDicuous of a certain group OF beauIl-
f11I women in the French capital
Tbough she reigned in her world as
a queen, and princes Of the blood royal
laid fortunes at her feet, she was not
herself Of royal blood. Though she
souan6ered millions Of francs each year
TO crafty her whims and caprlce9. teL
with those millions she could not Iur-
chase that which she secretly craFeo
above all else. She realized at iasI
/ that the worlds honor and respect she
had so long scorned and cast aSlue
could never be regained, and so, IN oe-
spair, sought to end her life.
Penciled on a scrap of paper was
brief letter of farewell addressed TO
the woman whose house she had
scueht, respondent and weeping, early
in the morning of the day which mar
! rowly escaped being hat Of her death.
This woman. by the way, was propaoIE
the only respectable friend OF her own
sex that Lame de PougT had, VINO, Tor
the sake of their friendship in glrlhooo,
would still make her welcome beneath
, her roof.
This letter, in its pathetic simplicity,
would be text enough for more than one
sermon, and it seems hard to believe
that the hand which traced it could
have belonged TO the woman who, above
! all others in Paris, has long been FAM
: Gus for being the most mercenary and
heartless, and who has caused more
scandal and dragged more honored
names into the miro than perhaps any
c woman in France
= She first asks pardon Of her friend
for the trouble she is about to cause
her, then that she tell her mother as
! gently as possible Of her death. and
= remain with her to comfort her. She
further asks that she be buried moi
from her palace in the Rue Victor Hugo
=. but from the house of her mother. The
. letter ends with these words:
81 can endure it no longer. l loatht
the life lead. It is better, for the sake
of my son and for everyone, that
should end my life am no longer IN
nocent. as was in my childhood years
:, of the horror of living as I do. | made
= a will this morning. It is at my house
! Mother will be provided for. To you
- bequeath my two large solitaire5.
pray you accept them and forgive me
Farewell and pardon
This letter was signed "Marie Chas
saigne," her real name.
When the news ran from table t.
:. table that afternoon along the boule
- wards that Lame de Pougy had tried t.
- kill herself it excited more surprise ant
% comment than would the impendin;
downfall of the new ministry.
;, Some said she was the daughter Of ;
- naval officer, a gallant major Of marin
> artillery She had lived with he
father at L'Orient, and it was there sh
met and married young lieutenant il
the navy, NJ Pourpe. The marriage
as is the custom in France, was ar
ranged by the parents, the future !irid
/" having no voice in the matter.
There were many different storie
u, which ensued and it's sudden ending
II Some say Lame was at fault, and tina
IS the divorce suit which eventually cam
K was brought by her husband, who no
long afterward died of consumption
s. Another version is almost exactly con
I trary t. this and places the blame Tpol
a, her husband. Half crazed by the dis
covery Of his infdelities, it is said, sh
lie fed from home, going to Paris, wner
u she at once plunged with fierce ardo
Is into the life she has led ever since
One thing, which has eften been denied
n her letters make certain, however, am
'e that is that her son. whom her husband
II took from her, is still living.
It It was not until some six years ag,
that Lame de Pougy became the &C
Ii knowledged leader of her class, ant
since then she has probably ruined ;
dozen spendthrifts ami been the means
of forcing half a dozen of the petit,
municipalities of Europe to the verge .
u bankruptcy. Among the earliest o
" her Noted conquest5 was that Of Thu
70 Marquis De MacMahon, the cousin O
the great marshal He was million
% aire when he met her, but when sht
L discarded him a few months later h
8 had, comparatively speaking, as little
/ money left as a well-squeezed orange
e has juice.
> Her mansion has always been a hot
- bed of political intrigue, and many o.
- the great financial scandals of the las
y few years are known to have had theil
- inception and their development there
y AS result of this she has at various
- times spent a month or so in prison
= Another noted name with which hers
= was linked was that Of General Boulan-
. ger. Despite the fact that the genera
: was the open and devoted admirer OF
another, Lame de Pougy quickly
= brought him to her feet. He was the1
plotting for his coup d'etat, and had at
his command a vast sum of money
: which had been raised by his sup
porters. He was afterward accused OF
having squandered on Lame the greater
o portion Of these millions. 1t is known
to be fact, however, that when BOul-
> anger's fortune fell Lame loaned him
large sums, and that he, following the
same course she pursued so often,
calmly cut her acquaintance when no
= further funds were forthcoming.
: Within the last year or two Lame
10, -,