The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-02-14
"LE PETIT sucRIER."
An Unfortunate Boy, Who Was First
Ruined and Then Killed by His MIL
lions.

Not for long time yet will the French
baudy, the youthful millionaire, whose
latest portrait is reproduced below. Not
only did he illustrate, both in his short
life and in his premature death, the evil
effects which wealth will occasionally pro-
duoe, but his story furnishes strange
ant phase of contemporary French poll
tics and morals.
Lebaudy's father made colossal for
tune in the sugar business. Some years
ago the father died leaving every member
of his family more millions of francs
For they We're not aristooratio people but
plain bourgeois, with no traditions to
help them to a position in which there
are other uses for money than thosewhioh
lavish expenditure or unnecessary PEN
uriousness provides.
In the family were three sons OF
these, two, already of age, came into
possession of their fortunes at once, and
showed an inclination to use the goods
bu0 SUuS ussl given WIN EndG OAUUlOQ
which usually passes for wisdom. Max
was still minor when his fathers de-
mise occurred, and the elder brothers sew
to it that he had none too much money.
He was an ambitious youth, however,
with aspirations that ran chiefly toward
hosses, bicycles and athletic sports, but
which occasionally also, turned toward
the facile divinities ST the stage. All
these tendencies seemed equally di5repu-
table at the Hotel Lebaudy, aud before
long the boy came to be regarded as q
sheep decidedly black.
Ensued the period of the money lender.
Max discovered that certain obliping
persons would give to d young man with
such gorgeous expectations whatever
sums he wished. asking in return only an
occasional signature az the foot of piece
of stamped paper INSTANTLY began the
wild, short race that ended the other
day in the military hospital at Amelia
les- Bains. The boys extravaganza soon
sent his nickname, Gle petit sucrier''
flying pretty nearly around the world
His Mortified family tried to put him in
an Insane asylum-and failed miseraply
He was not mad, or even particularly
vicious. His generosity equaled his ex-
travagance and won for him lnnunera-
BILE parasites and few friends. The
story of his career does not need rehears-
ing. 1t has been told too often and too
recently.
Only the end of the story is at all out
of the common. When it came time for
Max Lebaudy to render the service which
every able bodied Frenohman owes, or,
at least, is forced to pay, his country by
serving In the army, the Partisan press
almost with single voice declared that
way would be found to exempt the mil
liunaire from the hardships which other
oonscripts undergo. So loud was this
cry that no way was found. Instead the
cowardly officers under whom Lebaudy
served were SO afraid lest the inevitable
charges of bribery might stick that they
treated the famous ''sucrier" with out
rageous EEseverity. Privileges that a
peasant eonsoript got for the asking We're
! denied to his. absurdly and dangerously
rich eomrade. Even when repeated ex-
aminations had disclosed that the young
fellow was far advanced in consump-
ton, and therefore entitled to an imme-
diate discharge, fear of newspaper sus-
picions and revilings silenced the very
doctors, and the only favor they would
show was to send the wretched victim
of wealth to a hospital crowded with
typhus patients just returned from the
marshes of Madagascar.
And there he died. 1t is a remarkable
story.