The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-12
SHE GETS MILLIONS.
REMARKABLE STORY OF A pLucKY
FRENCHWoMAN.

hcr husoanu-Now Falls Heir to a Fer
tuno OF at Least ST., 1000, COOLER Many
Struggles In Different Cities.
Woven around the one great fact that
Mrs. Byzantine Gaudin of Woodcliff. n.
j., has unexpectedly fallen into n for
tune estimated at nearly $17, 1000, 900 is
n story which if written by u novelist
would be treated as fiction ONLY. Yet
every detail of it is true. TIE wonder of
those who have heard it is how any wo-
man could have crowded so many events
into the 80 years of her life.
Married and divorced, he- children
dead, she has been wanderer for years.
She has walked the streets of Madrid
shoeless- She has starved almost for
want of the necessaries of life. She has
slept on hard boards for want of bed.
In fact. she is sleeping that way now.
Eyes. will inherit something like
SIT, 900, 000," she said yesterday in tell
ing her story, "but am too feeble now
to enjoy very much of it. Twenty years
ago it would have changed the whole
| course Of my life. Today it will bring
no greater pleasure than the Joy shall
feel i'll rewarding the friends who helped
me in my hour of need"
There was nothing like exultation in
the voice of Mrs. Gaudin as she spoke.
Mrs. Gaudin was born in Alsace,
Germany. Her father died when she
was very young, and her mother had
difficult task i'll trying to educate and
bring up her children. When Byzantine
became old enough, she was taught dress
| making, and it was by this means in
after life that she made her living
After the Franco-Prussian war the
Gaudin family refused to live in their
native home as German subjects, so they
started for Spain, and it was in Madrid
that Byzantine met the man she after
ward married, and of which marriage
three children We're born.
"Twenty-siX years ago." she said, II
buried the last of my children, and with
them buried all hope. My husband
turned out Q drunkartl. All the money
that l had saved, as we'll as considerable
left me by my brother, who was n mem
Der of the Imperial guard, he squandcr-
ed and then deserted me. / had been i'll
and wasted away. 1 was unable to work
! and was simply starving. 1 applied for
divorce, but the Spanish law was then
very strict in the matter, and 1 worked
five years to obtain it. They would only
grant divorce then for abuse and vio-
lence. How lived do not know, but
one day wrote to my husband. told
him 1 was starving and for God 8 sake to
send me something that / might eat.
He wrote back that he would give me
nothing, and that the sooner died the
better
g l took his letter to the court and on
it obtained the divorce. The day the de-
cree was granted did not have a shoe
to my feet and my dress was i'll rags.
i worked harder than ever then and
managed by dressmaking to save small
sum Of money. Then heard that my
husband had become insane
"What was 1 to do? Only one thing,
of course. So 1 went to where he was
and had him conveyed to private asy-
lum at Barcelona supported him there
for three years, when he died. / won't
tell you his name. 1t is enough that
dropped it and resumed the maiden
| name of Gaudin.''
Passing from this subject, Mrs. eau
din, as she has been known for years,
told of her departure from Spain 20
Paris
There she set up dressmaking estab-
lishment and soon was doing quite an
extensive business. She made dresses for
many prominent women, among whom
We're many Americans. 1t was while in
Paris she thought Of looking up her Aunt
Emll1e-her mothers sister whom she
had not seen or heard of III many years
While i'll Franco this aunt had married
man named Pinaud and had started
with him for South America That was
the last heard Of her.
The lucky F'renchwomans health
| again failed her. She was unable to at
| tend to her business, and six years ago
she was nearly penniless.
Among the American women in Paris
| who took an interest in Mrs. Gaudin
was Mrs. Louise Jackson. The latter
had read somewhere that Pinaud had
amassed large fortune i'll this country,
and she supplied the dressmaker with
| money to come here.
On arriving and realizing the hope
lessness of her task III searching for her
lost relative, she began to work again as
q dressmaker. She had many New York
women as customers and managed to
save few hundred dollars. With this
she started for Woodcliff and bought q
| couple of lots.
She entered into a contract with
building and loan association to build q
house for her. The plans contemplated
D rather pretentious looking affair. She
made two payments and the house had
been nearly completed when the builder