The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-08-30

tames they have titles Of NOBILITY more or
less anthentlc. liz
But they are almost all fsrelsners. ana
IN each case ignored khe embassy 81 TIE
country o ftheir origin. as. for instance.
the soidlsant Spanish noble who brought
about the death Of che unf5Mrnate cous-
tess De Carney. she had been tmprudens
enough to perna Aim 10 render her some
slight service az qnbEic ESTABLISHMENT.
upon the trengsRs of which ne called Al
her house.
at the second vislt she discovered that
there was somekhing wrong about him
ana ended by forbGddtng him to caIl again.
He swore to be rsvenged. ana one night,
when, at 9 O'Clock an the evening. she was
crcssig from the house Of her mother-ln-
law. where she had been dining. 70 her
own residence. ea1e was arrested by two
agents d moeurs-Saa& IL. police charged
with the surveillance Of the women Of the
towu-burdled into q CAB and locked up at
q police station on charge Of soliciting
and being without her police book.
It was only on the following morning
that. after having passed the night IN the
company OF the vdlest women IN the lock-
up. and after being subjected TO the worst
indignities, her Identity wa established
and her liberty restored. She immediately
returned home. and AFTER writing q letter
20 her husband and relating what had TAX
en- place, blew out her brains. The men
who had arrested her wers c::ccvered and
could nok be reached.
It Is no exaggeration TO say that the
Habits Noirs'' are Of al Partisan bands
OF criminals. the most dangerous. mainly
by reason OF the fact that II Is almost
impossible to secure their conviction WITH
out disclosing scandals that the victims.
OF the victims families, are the very first
to wish kept unknown.
It was the urgent entreaty Of the family
OF the late General Michael Ney, Prince de
la MoscoWa and Duke Of Elchingen. that
no attempt was ever made by the police
to run TO earth those responsible for his
horrible death In the sinister looking IStle
house at Croissy where his body was
found, partially devoured by rats. II
could be seen chat ne had been murdered
by some members Of that band Of Habits
Noirs'' in the tiols Of which his relatives
knew to their bitter cost that he was IN
volved.
Another Of the seven bands, which Just
at present Is the subject Of a good deal
OF notoriety Is that which operates in che
Bdis de Bouiogna The police supervision
of that famous park h the most made
quate character, and the result Is that
each clump Of bushes. each copse Of trees
has become the hi0ding place OF bandits
4 -.
an extent Is his the case that II has be-
com positively dangerous for solitary
promenaders to turn of into any Of the
less frequented side paths. and scarcely q
day passes withou tone or more robberSes
being reported to the police.
The Bande de Nelly, league made up
of the corser class Of thugs, make night
attacks upon be1ated citizens returning
nome Through the streets that are badly
lighted and little frequented. Their au-
dachty remains almost incredible. They
think nothing of attacking a policeman on
his beat.
In Neuilly and in other similarly infest-
ed quarters of aPris the patrolling Is done
by theh police in couples, or even in par
ties of three. Marquelot, the founder Of
this gang of thugs. ultimately met with
his scafold for the murder OF an Old lady
and during the course of his trial the fact
was brought to light that as chief of the
Bande de Neuilly he had taken part in no
less than seventy seperate night assaults
with robbery.
His hideous society survived hsm. As
general rule its members content them
f,ir
in their victims into insensibllity. But
IL the persons thus assaulted show fight or
lead their assRilants TO believe for che mo-
ment that they have recognized them,
they will stab them, or beat in their skulls
without the slightest hesitation. then drop
their bodies over the parapet Of the bridge
at Neuilly into the swiftly flowing river.
There Is no bridge In all Paris that has
been the scene OF os many murders Of
this kind as the bridge at Neuilly.
This club Of highwaymen of ePris has
its counterpart In the smaller bands OF the
so-called terrors de RochechOuarant.
names that indicate the quarters of the
metropolis in which other criminal gangs
operate.
Why are bands allawed to continue In
existence, seein gthat they are admittedly
known to the police. and that the authori-
ties even profess TO know even the very
membership of the gang.
Why are they not broken 10 as they
would be for instance here in New York?
The reason for this Is twofold. In the
first place declare with polite duplicity
that It is Of great advantage to them
selves to permit these bands TO continue
as organizations. since II enables them TO
at once place the responsibility of any
particular crime.