Evening star., 1898-10-22
! HO ROU GHlY DISLIKED
Major Esterhazy Was Never Popular With
His Fellow Officers.
Oriental in His Appearance and
tharacter-Lived in luxury on
Small Salary.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

! Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
NEW YORK, October 81 1898
IL Is se!dom that man whose name is
so familiar to newspaper readers as is that
of Major Esterhazy is actually SO little
known. There are probably not more than
half dozen men in this country who are
personally acquainted with the disgraced
French officer. One of those who knew
him we'll is Baron de st. Mars, French
captain, retired who now lives in this city.
Among those who are not surprised at
the final downfall of Major Esterhazy,
said the ex-captain the other day, may be
safely counted those officers who served
with him in Africa back in the seventies.
He held the rank of captain at that time,
ard l remember his appearance well. He
was man of medium height and weight.
with long, thin face, tanned to an olive
brown hue. The most noticeable of his
features was pair of black eyes, deep
set, continually in motion, and surmounted
by heavy brows. The nose and the mouth
with thin lips drawn at each corner, gave
him an eastern cast of eountenance. AT
first meeting him the idea naturally sug-
sested Itself that his origin was neither
Latin nor Saxon. Rather he looked like
one of the figures depicted by Ingres, in
his celebrated paintings of oriental war
rors. .t
was looked upon as nothing less than an
exile. Naturally, it was lonely work, with
no neighbors, except the wandering tribes
of Arabs. We were thrown upon our own
resources, and the young officers all tried
to relieve the general monotony of loneli-
ness. Therefore, we kept to one another S
society as much as possible, and naturally
the men got to be well acquainted. But
nobody knew Isterhazy well. He had no
friends. no intimates. He always seemed
furtlVe which ei
under a showing of arrogance and hauteur.
In short, he was far from being a good
fellow in a place where that was the only
crime that counted seriously against a
man.
Feathered His Nest.
fsterhazy's position made this attitude
Of isolation possible, though not at all
necessary. At that time he was detached
from his regiment, and had charge of the
collecting department Of the Arabian bu-
reau at Setif. 1t is difficult to explain
clearly the exact duties of this bureau
which had charge of the entire administ "a
ton of that half-wild country previous to
the establishment of civil jurisdiction. It's
officers were judges, sometimes lawmakers,
tax collectors, and in fact, the one con-
Meeting link between the native tribes and
the home government. They were usually
good friends of the sheks, who, for the
maintenance Of their own prestige, found
the officers.
'E,sterhazy, as l have said. had charge
of the collecting department Of the Ara
bian bureau. The chief reason for his se-
lection to fill this post was his excellent
knowledge of Arabic, a qualification wiich
was rare among US, but which he had pick
ed up somewhere in the course of his mys-
terious past. His position was one of ahso-
lutte authority; he had no subordinatas IS and
no superior, except the brigadier general
in command of the entire subdivision, to
whom alCne he had to report.
There was one other popularity about
EsterhaZys position. 1t was almost the
only one in Africa which gave man the
opportunity to reap a personal advantage
from his connection with the government
While the heads of the collecting DEPART
ment in the various districts did not fix
the amount to be paid in by each tribe they
had sole charge of the collection and the
power to grant full discharge upon their
signatures.
Now, it is characteristic Of the Arabian
that he will always try to evade at least
a portion Of any debt laid upon him, no
matter how small it's amount. If he sue
ceeds he is proud of the fact that he has
overreached Christian, and will boast of
it to all the other tribesmen. To attain
this object he is willing to give the most
lavish presents-guns inlaid with silver or
gold, thick carpets Of priceless value,
fabrics woven by his women, If necessary
even of his fne-blooded horses. 1t
matters not to him that the value of his