The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-09-29
GREATEST FRAUD on EARTH.
HOW the Humbert Family FIoated
7OO.O0O.00O Francs in Note.
{ New York Evening Post.)

the condemnation Of tn I-u.--lc-,-
the case with which d myatv... L--r-I-
etable for many years. has been IN
raveled in a few sessions of 4 French
court. on the strength OF the phan-
tom millions the Humbert family, as
our Paris correspondent tells else
where, fIOated no less than 700, 900, 900
francs of notes. much Of which went
in usury and renewals. but $1,000. 900
francs Of which they actually received
in cash. To understand how Il fraud
which deceived shrewd attorneys,
grasping money leaders, trained Off
GERS Of justice. and all Paris has reduc-
ed itself TO Il very simple and even vuI-
gar lie, one must go back 70 the time
when the peasant girl. Therese Dau-
rignac. lived humblY with her father
at Toulouse.
Old Daurlgliac was a visionary, such
rs Daudet would have loved. He
brought up the family on the expecta-
ton Of sudden richie from mysterious
but certain sources. He imagined
himself heir to u Portuguese estate.
While his part in the later gigantic
sWindle remains. in doubt, it is posi-
bic that he was merely the victim Of
an incOrrigible Imagination. In any
case. ii is interesting to note that The
IeSt, QI4Nt eli IIlD Il EDIIeE ny CItSS-
examination. offered as sole and suffi-
Gent evidence of the fictitious Craw-
fOrds and their millions. merely her
fathers word. Her own beginning as
IN imposter was apparently the dis
cOVery that she could borrow money
on the family lies. and her first really
characteristic transaction was to out-
wit her dressmaker into furnishing 4
rousseau for n brilliant. but wholly
Imaginary. marriage.
But the sheer inVentiveness of The
reSe'S temperament somewhat disqual-
flied her from working out the details
of her fiction; this defect she showed
constantly 1t the trial where she fell
back on rather stupid iteratiOn-"The
CrtWfOrdS exist: the millions exist"
etc. Accordingly. it is very doubtful
if she would have achieved intern =
tiouaI renown i'm faIsehood had she not
added to herself an ideal cOnfed tie
i'm Frederic HUnbert. The son of "A
highly respected jurist and esteem
member Of D~ufaure's cabinet. Frederic
HUmbert concealed under the mask of
dIiettaute poet and artist the qualities
Of "a skilled advocate and the capacities
of an astutc man of affairs. To him
We may credit, probably. the invention
Of an iutermiuabIe lawsuit with those
imaginary litigautS. the CrawfOrds. 1t
must have been the genius Of Thercse
lllsLj lllsttlt' the llf perfectly safe ana
permanently available by obtaining a
writ. which sealed the SuppOSititguS
millions against all the worldIand
herself For il is only the part played
by the empty safe in the Avenue de IL
Gr1nde ATmec which raises the Hum
bert affair above the average of rogue
comedies. The law had assumed that
the safe was full OF valuable securities.
creditors could DO no less. When they
pressed for payment ThereSe could
show them the safe and bid them he
patient. as she was. Her argument
WAS iuCOutroVertibIe: the millions in
the SAT" was under litigation in the
French Court: the lawsuit must have
an end; sooner or later she was bound
to come into possession. the risk was
at the worst merely on the scale of Il
post ObiJ advance. Every bit of this
argument was true except hat the
millions were not in the safe or else
where-Hn embarrassing detail, as
Maitre Labor later acknowledged for
his clients. Before the mystery of her
unopened safe Nine. Humbert was
i~mpregnable.
Whatever genius there was In the
fraud lay in making a legal sequestra-
ton take the place Of visible seCur
ties. The rest was very vulgar lyi 9
or primitive legerdemain. For exarl-
pie. NJ DumOrt. an anxious creditor,
a tII'N tu Il pctp-IOle NlSlOIl Oh the
inventorying Of the estate by the
Humberts and C~rawfords. He heard
people counting what looked like Sc
C~urities. saw ~palpable p cut. and
was satisfied. Another creditor was
made manager of the fictitious chateau
IF Narcotic. about which so insalubri-
Gus Il climate was promptly cast that
he cOuld not be persuaded to occupy
his most. The viveur brother, Roman
DduriSnac. habitually played the parts
Of the young CraWfOrdS on the rare
occasions when any of that persistent
ly litigatiOuS family had to appear in
person All this was fraud of a very
commend kind. Accordingly We feel
mat the counsel for the defense had
recourse to Il wholly untenabIe para
COX when he maintained that the story
or the HumbertS was. too strange
complicated and consistent to be any
thing but true 1t was. on the contra
~. reducibIe to two simple inventions:
namely. fictitious l~itigants and a le-
Eally registered. but realIy uncertifed,
deposit Of the contested property under
seal.
When the safe was opened and
found empty eXcept for 4 little rub
bish. the Crawford millions vanished
in the haze. from which they had been
evolved For nobody will believe
Therese Humbert IN the iuCOherent
assertions in which she builds a new
and less plausible fabrication upon the
wreck of the old She will have us
believe that Crawford was the nom de
Euerra Of the condemned traitor. Reg
nier. BiZmarck'S reputed intermediary
with BaZaiue. It was-On this theory
the deteStdbIe origin Of the HUmbert
fortune hat we Reeiner-CrawfOrd
unlimited power over the unhappy
benefCiaries- And again. il was by
~COmpulsiOn Of the sons Of the traitor
that the securities We're removed To no
one knows where just before Mime.
Humbert's creditors had the safe
opened. BY 4 dire stretch of profess
~iouaI LOYALTY. Maitre Labor asserted
his belief IN this legend. Few will
follow him. 1t IS far easier 70 see that
Tha~cSe. COMPOUNDED in the arch lie
and cornered by the law. fell back
upon the family habit of lying deSper-
a,"ly and incOnsequentially-
contrary to expectation. the trial
oIi not disclose official completely In
the fraud. The Humberts had invent
Ell premises so plausible and so readily