The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-08-10

J ~ looking violin to an old white
~ haired woman by Recorder
Golf in a New York court re-
Gently marked the elimination of the
romance of at least one Stradivarius.
The "Strad'' is worth $4,000 of any
ones money and when Mrs. Bot has
sold it and paid the debts incurred in
it's recovery it is to be hoped that it
will leave her enough yet on which to
exc out the small pittance of life left
to her.
The restoration of the violin to its
rightful owner not only does this. 1t
restores to a prominent business man
and VirtuOSO of New York the reputa-
ton and freedom which had been I'M
der a cloud while he was accused of
having been a party to the theft of the
StradivariuS.
| Victor F1echter of Union Square, the
well known dealer in violins and musi-
cal instruments has been a greater suf-
ferer financially and otherwise by the
| loss of the StradivarIus Jnan anyone
else in the community.
The other party to the tragedy was
Jean Bott himself, the original owner,
who died of grief seven years ago be-
| cause of the loss of the Stradivarius.
At the time of its loss Mr.. Bott lived
| in New York. He had been man of
energy and liberality in his younger
days and had been well known in the
upper musical circles of Europe. The
| Stradivarius, which was the principal
| remnant of his fortune had been pre-
scented to him in prosperous days by
the Duke of Cambridge.
Ill health and business reverses had
brought him to a position where he
thought it advisable 10 part with his
treasured violin, which had already
been valued by the well known virtuoso
Victor M. Flechter, at $4,000.
Fine Riddles Scarce.
Signor Nicolini then the husband of
/ Adelina Patti was in New York at the
time and heard of Bolts violin. There
were but twenty or thirty genuine Gre
monas and stradivariuses at that time
in the country and no others that the
owners were willing to part with.
Nicolini was staying at the Windsor
hotel and he notified Bot of his de-
sire to see the violin. He was always
intensely interested in those instru-
ments and already possessed large
collection of them. HIS request to
view the violin was granted. He saw
it and was satisfied that it was a gem
uine Stradivarius-so much that he
offered $4,000 for it at once.
After some elaboration Bott decided
to sell it and delivered it the evening
before the signor was 10 sail for
Europe. The latter offered his check
having cash. The hotel managers and
Madame Patti vouched for the check
but Bott was obdurate, would not ac-
cept and took his violin home.
About a week after Nicolini had
sailed two men called at Mr.. Bolts
house while he was away. One of them
told the servant that he had an APP
pointment to meet Mr.. Bot that aft
ernoon and he asked permission to
wait for him in the house. The other
man remained outside. When Mr..
Bott returned home both the strangers
had disappeared and with them his
valuable "Strad."
All kinds of stories were current as to
who had stolen the violin and one gen
tleman made an offer Of 81 900 reward
for it's return, guaranteeing that no eff
fort would be made to trace the thieves.
1t was his intention to dispose of the
article at it's value ana give the ball