The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-11-28
DAUGHTER SAVES A FATHER.
nero OF Panama Scandals Released From
Prison Through Her Efforts.

10 ITO limit TO the endurance
ana patience of a woman's devotion.
Arton, the brother in-chief in the Pana-
ma Ina alialr, which wrought such ruin in
france, released from prison after four
ysaIs, energies marked for an early
us a Inc daughter to whose ceaseless
eiiorts ms release Is due, does not ex-
pect that she will enjoy her reward
more than the sorry satisfaction OF
soothing his last few months of life.
II IS not SO long ago that Anton was
r ran n hts. prominent figure in the cur
the world the corruption of France.
his name stood for a widespread in
fanny absolutely unparalleled in the his
tory of the world -.
IT was the Panama affair which gave
MN ms Importance. He got to know
Ferdinand De Lesseps and Charles he
Lesseps (sons Of the great engineer).
Bafon Reinach and Cornelius Herr the
american promoter. naturalized
Ffenchman, in whose salon the Pana-
ma corruption was planned That was
IN the days when the scheme of cutting
the Panama canal was on the brink Of
avowed failure.
Ferdinand De Lesseps enjoyed i'm
mense credit with the French people.
SO that when he dreamed of Panama
French capitalists flocked to his sup
port. Caring nothing for details, he
countersigned every demand made up
on the funds. What mattered the saw
ing of a few millions here or there?
Panama would pay as Suez had paid,
though contractors robbed him q
thousand times, though Tweed ring
gathered around him, every man of
them amassing a princely fortune on
the margin.
Charles De Lesseps once voiced this
view when he said that even though
canal all the shareholders would have
reason to be glad Of their investment
But the time passed and still there
were no results. no apparent progress,
nothing but continuous outpouring Of
gold. People began at last to whisper
OF colossal confidence game.
De Lesseps honestly believed in his
dream. To declare himself beaten was
impossible. His own ambition and
faith and the presence of the men who
had grown rich on their ill-gotten gains
led him to consent to a vast effort to
conceal the real state of affairs. 1t was
here that Anton came upon the scene.
Of the millions of money that still re-
manned at De Lesseps' disposal vast
vast sums were set aside for purposes
of corruption, and Arton was made the
agent for the work.
He did it on the De Lessep principle
-lavishly, boldly, afraid Of nothing
First the press was gagged. Then he
went to work on the politicians, He
scattered money into the chambers.
Deputies and senators alike fell before
his offers. each man according to the
price he set on his honor.
But all the money, all the wholesale
buying of press and chamber and SEN
ate could not in the long run prevent
doubt growing in the strong minds of
the people. 's
Quesnay De Beaurepaire, once heard
of for a moment in the Dreyfus affair,
was instructed as prosecutor general
to open an inquiry. Almost at the out
set he stumbled upon clear evidence of
the wholesale corruption of the press,
of the parliament and of the great Of
1cers of the state.
All who had put their money in this
vast failure, the hundreds Of thousands
of poor people, whose hopes in life had
been centered in their investment, all
who cared for the honor of France and
concerned themselves with her internal
soundness and purity, rose as one man,
wild with rage, to denounce the crime
and the criminals
Anton, the channel through which all
the poisoning gold had flowed was pur-
sued by the hate of a whole nation.
He disappeared from public view at
the first disclosure. 1t was a. Homeric
chase that followed The government
put men upon his track in every coun-
try in Europe. The politicians he had
bought sent hired assassins after him
to secure from him, dead or alive, the
documentary evidence of their guilty
appearances. He had sworn that IL
the charges were pressed he would give
out all their names and prove that two
thirds of the senators were in his pay.
For 16 days, while detectives and as
sassins alike were securing Europe for
him, Arton lay in hiding in Paris.
A beautiful woman of high social po-
sition, who somehow loved the cold,
hard, corrupted and corrupting man,
gave him safe harbor in her house until
r1-% Il e. ~
Then he managed to escape in disguise
and reached the frontier. For weeks
he wandered over Europe, hunted like
a wild beast. At last he reached Lon
don, where he fell into a snare, was ar
rested in a dingy lodging house. taken
to Bow street and handed over to the
French government.
His trial revealed much, of course
but not all that was expected. y s-
understood that the prosecution agreed
to handle him lightly if he would be
as delicate as possible in his handling
of the honor of France, so much was
hushed up.
And Reinach. who had been the inter-
mediary between Anton and the Pana-
ma chief, died opportunity. Some say
he was poisoned by the same man who
had sought to assassinate Arton. 9th
ers say he committed suicide. The doc
tors say ne died natural death, and
no one now will ever know the truth.
So Arton got off lightly. A five years
term was found sufficient for the man
who had brought corruption into the
very heart of France.
Miss Anton loved her father passion
ately. In the days of his criminal pros
perity, when he was growing rich on
the vices of others, this cold, hard man
was tender and devoted father, and
when all his schemes had turned
against him and his shame filed the
world, she was loyal to him.
From the first day of his imprison-
ment Miss Arton began her task. Ev-
cry day she saw some minister, some
deputy, some journalist, not as her
father had seen them. but to plead
with them for pity and mercy. A clever.
graceful, charming woman in bitter
trouble has wonderful arts at her COM
mand. Miss Anton became one of the
most sympathetic figures in Paris life
To-day she is probably the most tri-
umphant woman in Paris, as she takes
her broken fathers hand and gives
), ttvn ~