The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-01-15

NUM- I'LL illlLlolAl anu
~ puzzles-men of Becke3s ilk-
there is one who died last week
I who holds the distinction of be-
ing without a peer. De was a
man clever, cultured md widely
known. He was philanthr0pist to the
bounds of extravaganza, patriotic be-
yond the measure of the primary man.
His name was Ritter Won Boor. He
came from a poor but nob'e family and
had a lineage coeval with that of En-
perior Franz Josef himself.
AS an opuIent landlord the chevalier
was without an equal in Austria. He
was the founder of the Vienna Building
Bank and the prime promoter of the
Donau Steamship Company. Like Mae
cenas he was a most indulgent patron
of the fine arts and bellies lettres. He
established asylums for orphans and
the INDECENT aged and was considered
the foster father of all the sick and the
destitute.
AT the same time this sanity man, in
ventor and genius, was the most sue
cessful forger aad counterfeiter that
ever operated in civilized country.
He was born in Austrian Flanders in
1920 At a very early age he became an
orphan anu lelt lIllO the tldIlQS u SOiIlc
of his near relatives. They sent him to
g college, where he began to manifest a
decided leaning toward art. To cult
vate this penchant for SketChing he
withdrew 10 a school at Orwald in
Flanders, and later to the Academy of
Art in Paris.
His small income being cut off by the
death OF his uncle, the chevalier retired
to the little Austrian village of Klagen-
furt. Here he dropped the ariStocratlc
appendage to his name and subscribed
himself merely Macmillan Boor. After
q few months struggle TO obtain en-
ployment suitable to his talents, and
meeting with sorry success. he CHANGED
upon e charming young milliner. whom
he welded after brief cOurtShip.
To raise funds for their sustenance
the young husband turned his artistic
bent to good use in painting portraits,
while his pretty wife still continued to
work at the millinery trade. Altogether
. 1t was a precarious living, even at its
best. and there can be little doubt that
it was at this period that Boor, goaded
by unsatiSfied appetites, began to seek
a means of lettering his fortunes by IL
legal methods.
After enduring more than the usual
share of adversely Boor suddenly met
with an affiiction that frightened him.
He began to lose his sight to degree
where the disCernment OF coIors became
impossible TO him. His means OF liveIi-
hood came to q sudden end. But con-
traTy to the usual run OF MANKIND the
artist did not despair.
Shortly after this aff1ictiOn it began to
be noticed by the curious neighbors
that times were lettering for the BoorS
He who had been but a mediocre paint
er soon developed into a business man
of the highest order The little millin-
cry shop seemed to be a veritable gold
mine. OF course in town of limited
size this sudden acquisition of wealth
caused a ripple of curiosity. However,
no one suspected that the gold which
the artist so generously handled had an
illegal origin.
Five years later Boor, who had set foot
in the town a penniless knight, rose to
the rank of its most opulent citizen. He
purchased several mansions which he
furnished most sumptuOusly. He began
also to take a hand in large business
transactions and acquired no little fame
as a financier of the first order.
The domestics in the mansion, how
ever, began to consider their master
very erratic, If not demented. They
told in whispers how he would seclude
himself for days at a time in a dark
ened chamber, doing no one knew what.
But to the wiser and more important
citizens Of Klagenfurt no shadow Of a
suspicion of any evildoing ever came.
At this period Won Boor began to feel
the restrictions residence IN the COuH-
try imposed and he sighed for a larger
field of action. Finally he departed
with his wife for Vienna. There he
launched out in the schemes that made
his name a part of the industrial and
commercial history of Austria,
He began a life of uneXampled splen-
dor by purchasing the magnificent do
mains Of Auf der Mauer and Koenigs-
foerde, near Erlau, for six million gull
den. He associated with the elite of
the capital and his home soon became
a rendezvous for the devotees of art
and the sciences. Among those whom
Boor especially favored were engrav-
ers. This fact, little noticed at the
time, came to bear a wonderful signi-
ficance in later times.
The genius for business which was
so remarkable a trait in the chevalier's
character soon made him engage in gil