The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-10-16
HINT FOR PRESS AGENTS.
An English Masterpiece worthy
Close study by the American Pro-
fessiOn.

An English Masterpiece worthy
Close study by the American Pro-
fessiOn.
From the London Express.
Many people have wondered why
Zaeo, the once daring aerial performer,
disappeared so suddenly from our pal
aces and halls of public entertainment,
Possibly nine out of ten people who
read the story she told the other day
to an Express representative of a man
of mystery who manifested himself in
the audience whenever accident or
disaster occurred will say that the
whole of the mysterious circumstances
she relates are merely coincidental
The condolences, however, are remark
able.
my first accident" said the lady,
occurred at the Alexandra Palace,
when the machine, which was modelled
on the lines of the ballista of the an
clients, shot me. too far. and 1t was on
that occasion that 1 first felt the in
f1uence of the man who has haunted
me for years.
When l first saw him'-she shud-
dered slightly at the recollection-'it
was just prior to my accident at the
Alexandra Palace-he stood close to
me. and his sallow skin, closely crop
ped red hair, and black clothes gave
him very Mephistophelean appear
ance, and do what would could not
forget him.
He wore bangles, fashioned like n
snake coil. in no way connected him
with the mishap and I was fortunate
enough to escape with only a scalp
wound.
TnFA Ia
the same man in the audience as I
was balancing in mid-air, and the wire
snapped and I fell.
I'm May, 1882, l was performing at
Santiago. One of the supports of the
trapeze broke, throwing me violently
forward against the wall of the thea
ter, and rendering me insensible. No
one observed the man with the bangles
until he pressed forward in the crowd
and asked If was hurt.
His lean figure. his hight, his ghast-
illness, and the bright red light i'm his
eyes made him conspicuous. He was
the image of the Vampire Count in
Bran Stoker's awesome novel, Ora
cula.'
"a year passed. On Oct. Z, 1898, I
was giving a performance at the The
alter Rossetti, Trieste. when a huge
piece of iron balustrade detached itself
from the gallery and fell into the pit
/ saw it fall while l was balancing
sixty feet from the floor of the thea
ter. The thing fascinated me; | watch
ed 1t. 1 saw the upturned face of a
woman below. I saw the terror in her
eyes as it killed her. l forgot where
! was, and with a prayer on my lips
raised my hands to my eyes to shut
out the sight and lost my balance.
he he Aa
seen at the theater that night.
Subsequently the mysterious strang-
err turned up at Cairo, and was seer
by Zaeo's manager In the streets. Pre-
! cautions were taken to prevent hin
entering the Cirque, but one night he
was seen in the building. and was po-
litely asked to withdraw his patron
age. He expressed surprise, received
back his money, and went away.
THAT night" said Zaeo, two of my
circus men had quarrel, and one muir
dered the other"
The mysterious stranger also made
his appearance when Zaeo was giving
her serpentine dance in London, and
the lady strained her foot the same
evening Zaeo's manager spoke to him
and he gave a Spanish name though
he spoke English perfectly. Fear OF
this strange man has been largely 1e-
sponsible for the artiste's absence from
the stage.
II don't think. however" she said
"that we shall be troubled with hin,
again, for received the other day an
unsigned letter from Madrid, inclos-
ing a check ticket, on which was writ
| ten in a delicate hand:
"'October Z, 1888. Trieste.
have gone before you, after all.
August 2, 1901. Madrid
$50 you see. unless he is the Prince
of LIARS, / am rid of him as far as
this world is concerned"