The San Francisco call., 1896-06-27
Their Discovery a Result of
Bitter Political Contro-
verSieS.
SOCIALISTS DOG HIS STEPS.
While a Discarded Mistress, Out of
Revenge, Causes the Arrest of
the Fugitive.

BERLIN, GERMANY June 26.-The
Supreme Court of the Empire, sitting at
Leipsig, has rejected the appeal of Baron
Won Hammerstein, formerly leader of the
Conservatives in the Reichstag, and editor
in-chief of the Kreuz Zeitung, from the
sentence imposed upon him by the Berlin
court upo,l his convection of forgery on
Auril D last
The sentence of the court was that he be
imprisoned for three years at hard labor,
that he forfeit his civil rights for five years
and that he pay fine of 1900 marks.
Baron Won Hammerstein became IN
volved in bitter political quarrels, in the
course of which the fact was made public
that he was guilty Of acts of forgery and
embezzlement for which he should be
prosecuted. He tried for while to brave
the matter out, but seeing that his arrest
was inevitable he, with his family, fed
from Berlin last July, all of them being in
somewhat straitened circumstances.
In the meantime evidences of his guilt,
as the result of fresh discoveries, were ac-
cumulating. 1t also transpired that he
had been maintaining mistress, young
Jewess named Flora Glass, in luxurious
style, which accounted for the fact that he
and his family were in such a pecuniary
plight
From Fraulein Glass the socialists man
aged to OBTAIN by purchase and otherwise
a number of Hammerstein's letters, i'm
plicating a number of Conservative lead
ers and others in his crimes and misde-
meanors, and threatened to make them
public. They tried to have them read in
the course of a debate in the Reichstag,
but the president would not permit their
contents to be disclosed. They also ac-
cused the Government of having conniyed
at Hammerstein' escape, and declared
that the authorities had frowned upon any
genuine attempts to capture him, in order
to prevent disclosures affecting the Con-
servative supporters of the Government.
These insinuations and open assertions,
however, were completely iattened out by
the discovery of Hammerstein in Decem-
Der last by a Berlin commissary OF police
in Athens. where he had represented HIM
self to the Greeks as a well-to-do commits
sion merchant of the name of William
Herbert. The German police had tracked
him through Switzerland and Italy, ana
finally overhauled and stopped him as he
was landing from a steamer at Plreus,
the port of Athens, and five miles from
the city.
Having run him down the police COM
missaries watched him closely during he
entire time occupied in making applica-
tions in secret to the Greek Government
for MS surrender.
The Greek Government does not extra
dite culprits except for capital offenses,
but under pressure from Berlin the Athens
authorities took advantage of Hammer
STEMS having registered himself as evil
Ian Herbert" to expel him from the
kingdom as an anarchist suspect.
Hammerstein, therefore, was compelled
to leave, and EN- mbarked on a steamer for
Brindisi The German police also took
passage on the steamer and the moment
the vessel sailed Commissary Wolf of the
German police placed him under arrest,
and he was subsequently brought back to
Berlin for trial. 1t was learned that his
mistress. Fraulein Glass, had informed the
police of Hammerstein's " Whereabouts from
time to time, Detraying this and other
secrets out of revenge, because he did not
take her with him in his flight instead of
taking his family.