The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-11-09
Wasting GouId's Millions.

"oStifig 0OuiuS Ni'hsoiiS.
Anna Gould's husband, Count Boniface
de CasteHane, stu continues to amaze the
world by his reckless expenditure of his
wife,s fortune. There would seem to be
few possibilities left TO the little pink
count II he should, however, fail to con-
tinue finding ways and means OF d-sours-
ing the entire s, 10000 left by Jay Gould
to his daughter Anna, his lie would De
bitter disappointment His EFFORTS in
the money-spending line have been thus
far not only strenuous and unfailing, but
actually picturesque.
His latest unique fancy Is to run for the
chamber against a man OF brains The
outcome viii undoubtedly point a moral,
in any event De Castellane's great spend
thrift career viii not have been retarded
On the contrary, 1t may have gained fresh
impetus.
1t is a curious circumstance that IN
Paris the hot-bed of frivotty, the home
of fatterers and sycophants, the school OF
reckless squander despite the money that
De Castellane filings all about him, de-
spite the title that is so cringlngly adored
in republican countries, despite ms youth,
good looks and undoubted wit, he should
be generally characterized as a most IN
popular fellow.
If De Castellane could be given credit
for any motive other than the desire 10
spend the proposition might be corsioereo
that in this new project there IS posi-
bilfty of an effort on his part to gain tne
esteem and recognition of really GOOD So
cety, from which he has thus lar precluu-
ed himself by his untoward course.
The alarm of George Gould for his SIS
la>!I I'd ie
visit Paris for the sole purpose of expos
tulatIng with the count. The visit was
not without issue. Since then De Caste.-
lane has gambled unremittingly. with the
seeming purpose of demonstrating how
much It is possible for one man to lose.
Periodically Paris produces world-re-
nowned spend;hrift, but none in the pas.
has come up to De Casteilane. he no;
only sinks money in preposterous enter
prises, bu; he actually gives it away. No
losing scheme, however wildly fanciful, IS
without its merits in the eyes of De Cas-
teIlane. All Paris was dazzied last year
when ne celebrated the Fourth of July
hy burning thousands of dollars in grand
pyrotechnical display. That well-remem
bered event marked an epoch in the IKE
OF the young count; it was the first in
dicaton of his laudible desire to create
a stir in the whole civilized world.
The millions of dollars so thrifty sccu-
nuIated and carefully boarded up by the
late Jay Gould are speedily being spun IN
to circulation by the little nobleman, whom
the French have playfully dubbed Boni,
the Powder Puff" With an almost midas
like power of turning everything into goic,
the more Count Boniface expends in the
idle amusement of himself and his friends
the more ne seems TO have. Never has ne
been known to lack the ready cash TO-
any undertaking or adventure, great or
small. 1t is said that his debts are fab
ulous yet he is not only willing, but ao!e
to increase them.
In his latest fancy, that of a political
career, an ambition to represent the town
OF his name in the chamber OF deputies,
the cost as computed by reliable men mold
ing public positions and knowing the ex-
pense involved in running campaign as
he is running this one, Will be no less
than 100000 francs.
His palace an the Bots de Boulogne.
though it is not near its completion, has
cost more than any mansion that has ever
been put up in this country. Our most
extravagant conceptions, including such
foIlies as the Storey mansion" etc.. are
mere card houses by the side of it The
building is reproduction Of the Grand
Tr,anon The actual cost of the palace
has not yet been estimated, but it is well
understood that the sum originally pro-
posed for the project has been enlarged
threefold, and the fact that the property
alone, which has been chosen for the site.
al the corner of the Avenue du Bots lie
Boulogne and the Avenue de Malakoff.
cost 400, 900 francs, may suggest faint
idea of the ultimate price of the modest
residence when complete.
An $4,000 lawn party, a $4,000 yacht,
$500 O00-franc campaign, palace involving
a fortune in itself, etc, seem TO be calmly
regarded by the American girl as trifiinS
expenditures incumbent upon the purchase
of that invaluable bit of property, for
which so many Gould millions were orig
inally given, the title of the little PINK
nobleman. Anna Gould herself does not
hold a close hand upon her purse strings.
he began by assisting vigorously in the
disposal of the 100000 that was in her
own possession. And since then has un-
ouestionably led Paris in halter OF fashion,
which cannot be done for a song Her en-
tertainments are invariably of the cost
hest kind and the women of her set have
despaired of keeping pace with her.
1t is one of the little pleasantries of fate
that a woman who married avowedly for
a title should, despite her ambition, retain
her despised individuality as an American
girl. and having achieved the proud in
sigma fine It all but ignored by the peo-
pie of two continents, who think of her
not as the Countess de Castellane, but
who refer to herself and Count Boniface
in all seriousness as Anna Gould and her
husband"