The Washington weekly post., 1899-05-09

near NAaatA~A ~
have explored. and that during tae time
that he was alleged 10 have been engaged
in geogra phical work Of a partic aiarly
dangerous character he was taking Part
in hunting parties around Saigon with
merchants and officials, who subsequently
furnished affidavits to the effect that he
was in their company at the time men
toned.
His only real absence from saigon was
when he undertook the ordinary tourist
excursion to Angkos ard its ruins, and
il was ciaimed in these sworn statements
that the data contained in his reports 70
the government ana in his lectures be-
fore the Geographical Society at Paris
were merely secondhand. and obtained
from the records of previous expeditions,
which he had found in the archives OF
Saigon Let me add that among the
sgners OF these affidavits was an emf
nent colonial official who had known
Prince Henry almost from childhood ana
that if there had not Oeen some serious
foundation for these statements, they
would never have received the Importance
which was given to them by suCn weighty
and reputable organs of the French press
as the Temps and the Debats The matter
however, was ultimately allowed TO drop
the government. fer political reasons
being unwilling TO adopt the only course
open to il IN the event OF a full-hedged
official investigation. proving the truth of
the charges against the Prince. namely.
his expulsion from the Legion of Honor
But the Princes fame as an explorer is a
thing of the past, and his claims to having
rendered services to geography are now
adays the subject of a good deal of de-
I p - rfa
that particular branch of science. both at
home and abroad.
Czsr Alexander III Fooled
Both the late Car and King Humbert.
like Emperor William, have been hoaxed
by false embassies hailing from Abvs-
sinia, hoaxes that were organized i'm the
case of the Gar by a Russian adven-
turer OF the name OF Ashinoff, and in
that OF Humbert by an Italian scoundreI
OF the name Of Livarghi. once a Colonel
OF the Italian Army but now a fugitive
from Justice The Abyssinian Embassy.
which reached st. Petersburg under the
guidance of Ashinoff. vas stated to con-
sist of the Archbishop of Harrar and
Primate Of Abyssinia." and of tbe
princes Belyko and Damito. nephews of
Emperor Menelek and. Ike him. de-
scendants from King Solomon and the
Biblical Queen of Sheba" They were re-
celved with eXtravagant demonstrations
OF honor and hospitality on the banks of
the Neva They were the guests of the
Idte Czar' court, society, and officiaIdon1
/ FSIhS with each other to provide for their
entertainment, while on one occasion
When the ecclesiastical dignitarv of the
| embassy yentured into the St Isaan's
| CathednlL he was led within the sane
luary by the clergy, and all the devout
present came up one by one reverentIv tn
kiss his hand or his foot.
Inc embassy was already on i+s wav
back to Abyssinia when horrible runner
became current at st. Petersburg to tba
eHect that the mission was not What -
purported TO be. The people who had
received Abyssnian ecorations-and tbev
were many-began to have doubts as IN
the quality of the gems with which their
orders were studded, and when If was
| discovered that the Jewels were of glass
the storm finally broke The fact was
then brought to light that there was no
] such an ecclesiastical dignitary as the
Archbishop of Harrar." that there was
| only one Archbishop or abouna i'm Abys-
| sinia, who was at that time In the Abys-
sinian capital with Emperor Menelek.
and that the soi-disant Mgr. Gobro Ek-
zlaber was mere archimandrite-that Is
TO say, dignitary of inferior order. Fur
ther, II turned out that the alleged neph-
ews of Emperor Meneek were not related
TO him at all, had no right 20 the title
of Prince. and were merely the sons. of a
| petty warrior. Finally it was ascertained
| that the orders which the mission had
! been distributing with so lavish a hand
/ had lffiniQl ayicfanaa NH
| were nOthing more or less than an auda-
| ciOus invention on the part of tile three
Abyssinians, and OF their Russian conf
| paniOn. To-day the latter is interned
! i'm the most remote part of Siberia. For
| 1t is not safe for Russian TO play hoaxes
/ upon his Little Father" the popular
name by which the Emperor of Russia
| is known TO his people.
| How King HumberI Was Deceived.
| Still more gross was the manner in
which King Humbert and Queen Mar
| guerite Were taken In by a woman who
claimed to be an Abyssinian Princess ard
| her two brothers" who were alleged
to have come ali the way from Abyssinia
| to do homage in behalf of MeneIek 10
| King Humbert in his capacity as suzerain
OF what was believed to be the great
lAdlleSlA plOttAAOldNC VI WI tiAtdSN All ia
| They were entertained by the Italian
| government at a cost Of over 100000. and
only after they had sailed from Naples
| for home did it come to light that the
woman who had been kissed by Queen
| Marguerite and feted by all the mem
| bers OF the Italian Court was not I'm the
| least related to the Emperor Of Abyssinia,
| as she had claimed TO be, but was merely
| one Of the numerous Abyssinian demi-
| mondaines of Cairo, while her two
| brothers" were intelligent daTkies who
| had been trained 70 play the part Of Abys-
| sinian Princes The object Of the hoax,
| which, as above stated, owed its origin
/ 10 Col Livarghi was TO revive enthu-
| siasm in Italy on behalf Of the colonial
| venture in Abyssinia. which the Italian
| government had a short time previously
! manifested intentions Of abandoning.
| In the latter part Of the ffties there was
dusky adyenturer who played a great
/ role at the court OF Berlin and In society
| there as a Moorish Prince and az rep
| resentative Of the Sultan OF Morocco, be-
ing received not merely with the highest
Diplomatic honOrs but actually with those
accorded 10 ROYALTY Suddenly the govern
ment became aware that he was a fraud.
and he was arrested one night and quietly
| conducted by the police 10 the Irontlef-
| No exclamation was ever yOuchsafed BY
! the officials the most mysterious silence
! being observed about the man, and 20
this day IL has never become known either
how the German authorities were made
| aware that the man was a fraud or what
/ was his identity. He disappeared from
| view, and Was recognized several years
| later in an Austrian penitentiary by some
one who had known him AZ Berlin. But
even the Austrian prison suthOrities' were
entirely ignorant az 10 who he really was,
and he died shortly afterward IN jail.
The Swiss government a few years ago
was successfully hOaxed by an ex-con-
Wet and notorious criminal, who actually
forged diplomatic credentials nominating
him as Minister PlenipOtentisry Of enc Of
the South American republics 10 the Swiss
republic, and he formed part Of the dip
lOmatIc corps al BeTne for more Than
six months. until by mere chance his
identity and antecedentg were brought 10
light.
) AZ the time OF the Centennial Exhibition
; az Philadelphia In 1916 a distinguished
looking Austrian appeared upon the scene
who styled himself Baron Feezy, and
bore credentials from the Austro-Hungs-