The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-23

OA1O I
] the world is locked up in L dlow street
ia |, awaiting eXtrad-tion papers from
England, says the New York World He
has admitted, seeing that there was NJ
use CT denying it. that he was Known in
England as DR.. Franz Won Berger. but
that is no more his true name than are
DR.. Emil Blum, EgOn Won Niedern lorf,
Emanuel Borges and many other names
/ he has tackled onto himself during the
years In which he mas become a. world
wide swindler
striking feature of Won Berger's
makeup is his briliancy Of intellect ami
his learning. With fourteen languag s
at his tongues end, with an appearance
and manner of one born to the purple
and with an effrontery 50 at as to
be hardly conceivable, he preys uLon the
| highest society and upon the a. tute m an
of affairs with equal AMI remarkable SUI
cess. With clever, experienced and
wealthy people Won Berger has ever
been an IDOL, and the strange thing of it
| is that when they have found him cut
nine out Of every ten CT .ng to the rascal
and aid him.
In New York where he has performed
some astonishing tricks, he IS best known
! as Dr. Emil Blum. In reality he is moth
ing that he has ever pretended to lie.
His father is a wealthy tanker In b.
henia, who cast him off years ago as an
! incorrigible black sheep, AMI here in New
ork he has relatives Of the highest
/ standing. but to whom ne can no mOre
appeal successfully than to stone wall
Won Berger's latest exploit, so far as
known, is the robbery in London, a
cording to a complaint in the han Is Of
| Sir Percy Sanderson, the English consul
general here, of a woman he gently
made his wife. 1t is intended to take
! him back to London and send him to
| prison, if possible. He was ARE stsd on
! Sunday last, in the Grand Central sta
! ton, as he alighted frcm a lail from
! Niagara Falls, where he mad been on a
| sightseeing tour. He was accompante d
! by a handsome and stylish woman, who
I is said to be a wealthy widow, living in
/ her own house on the West side near
! Riverside drive, and who has fallen into
! his snares since he arrived in this coun-
! try On the Oceanic, on April 16, ana took
! up his quarters at the Waldorf-Astoria
! Notwithstanding that she has been in
formed of the true character of the man,
she remains his firm champi n and at
| tends him, whenever permitted to. in the
! jail.
! When the famous swindler was brought
! into Commissioner AleXanders court at
the federal building. on Tuesday last to
be arraigned. his right wrist was chained
! to that of q deputy marshal What an
! ingloriouS position this was for one Who
! eight years ago was toasted and feted
| in Chicago as though he Were a prince.
/ Even tEen he was carrying out one of
! the most aUdacious rretenses imaginable.
but he did it with such a grand manner,
With so much tact, politeness and geutil-
ity, that after he was discovered to be a
fraud there were many who felt a sneak
| ing respect for him.
FETED IN CHICAGO.
A few days before the worlds fair
opened in Chicago eight years ago DR..
| Won Palitschek, the Austro- Hungarian
| consul general at Chicago and COMMITS
| sioner general of Austria to the exposI-
ton, appeared on the streets arm in arm
with a distinguished parsonage, whom he
/ introduced freely and proudly as Dr. Emil
Blum, special envoy of his MAJ esty En-
| peror Francis Joseph, and, incidentally,
correspondent Of the Vienna Neue FIeie
Presse. commissioned to await the ar
rival in this country of the heir presump-
! tive to the Austrian throne, Archduke
Francis Ferdinand, who was then or.at1is
! tour of the world, and whom Dr. Blum
| was to guide safely through the United
! States.
| The distinguished foreigner was taken
! up with avidity by Chicago society. And
| why not, pray? Wouldn't he provide a
! personal introduction to the grand prince
| who was to come, and wasn't 1t worth
while to be nice to such an influential
| man and secure his good offices?
DR.. Blum was lion. He received dozens
| of invitations to banquets and receptions
rendered in his honor. But the distin-
! grished foreigner was very exclusive, and
! declined many Of the invitations. He
made exceptions in, favor Of the late
Henry Willard and Of Mrs Potter Palmer
and once IN a while also consented to at
| tend some distinctly Austrian affair,
where he generally occupied the seat OF
honor alongside of Commissioner General
1 Won Palttschek aNd where he always
! kindly consented to make an address.
At one of these occasions, the opening
Of the Vienna cafe, On thu Midway Plais-
ance, where. besides a couple of hundred
newspaper men from all over the country,
! few distinguished citizens Of Chicago
attended as invited guests, Dr. Blum
made a speech. Sigmund Zeisler, at
| that time assistant corporation attorney
! of Chicago, was seen to watch the orator
closely. IF would not be sure. through