The Penn's Grove record., 1903-08-28
uMBERTSALLCoNvlCT
Promised Revelation" Of asecre.ts
Fails With ths Jury.
Madame and Husband Go to Prison For
Five Years. Her Brothers For
Two n Three Years.

farls, France--Maitre Labori, tho
lawyer who conducted the defense Of
Dreyfus, sprang a dramatic climax to
theftrial of the Humberts. He timed
1t a minute or two before the case was
given to the jury. His client, Madame
Therese Humbert, delivered an i'm
passioned speech to the twelve men
who decided her fate. She closed by
making a theatrical show Of revealing
a rue identity Of the mysterious
Crawford, the mythical American
whose millions she was supposed to
have inherited.
Now, gentlemen of the jury she
said. Il will give you the name Of the
CraWfords, as they told it to me. They
told me In answer to my insistent ques-
tlons. ! cannot guarantee its accuracy,
as l had to rely on their word. NJ.
Crawford said to me: We are known
as Crawford, but our real name is Reg
nier: My fortune was made during
the war of 1870 by speculation in
rentes, which were then very low. and
a large number were bought here
"Regnieri That is his name! Not
CraWford!' she declared; ssthe Regnier
who was intermediary between Mar
shal Bazaine and the Germans"
hen h made q long pause, during
which she and her husband, Labori
and Romaine Dauregnac watched the
effect of her revelation on the jury.
The faces Of the~latter suggested that
1t had done little more than kindle a
half-amused interest. I
you Know Of this Regnier," she con-
tinued. sHe intrigued with Bismarck.
He was connected with the treason Of
Marshal Bazaine. He was condemned
to death by court-martial. His iden-
tity seems to be otherwise unknown.
What | say is true. I learned Craw-
ford's real name in the name l have
stated, I never told my husband. /
swear it on my daughters head. This
is the first time my husband has heard
the name"
She paused again and turned to the
presiding judge. What / say is true
she reiterated. "The Crawfords exist,
the fortune exists. ], have cheated no
one. / have made no false representa-
tons. / shall bring. actions against the
Crawfordss"
Once again she addressed the jury:
II will say no more. gentlemen. 1t is
enough to assure you that the fortune
exists. There you have the whole
Humbert ease and the whole Crawford
case"
Then she pitched her voice to a much
higher key. 81 have full confidence"
she declared, complete confidence,
and now / await my fate"
VNhoro yvoc n pIsnlnnro6 Tnnu0Ynnnf
among the spectators. Their faces, like
those of the jury, cviaced a feeling OF
disappointment.
Maitre Labori arose and delivered a
brief address to the jury. The sub
stance Of it was that the twelve men
were now in full possession Of the Sc
cret of Nine. Humber; that she had
told them the same as she had told
him. He read from a paper some facts
bearing on the secret History of the
Franco-Prussian War. By these it was
that a Regnier acted as inter-
mediary between Prince Bismarck and
Marshal Bazaine.
The grand climax came a little later
when the jury brought in a verdict of
From the manner In which it
received by the people it was a
decidedly popular verdict.
There was no delay in prOnouncing
sentence. Nine. Therese and Fred
mnisk-Humhert were each sentenced to
FIVE years, imprisonment, Romaine
to three years and Emile
to two years.
Following the announcement Of the
verdict Maitre Labori raised technical
to the proceedings as a prob
able basis Of appeal.
The great epoch of Nine. Humberts
career. of fraud dates from the inven-
ton OF the American millionaire, Rob-
ert Henry Crawford. The story she
told was that at Nice, in the South OF
France, she saw a stranger, Robert
suddenly fall as he was get
ting into a train. She went to his as
sistance and nursed him back to life.
In gratitude he left to her his whole
amounting to $2O,0OO,OOO.
The fictitious millions served as Sc
curity on which loans were raised from
all classes of people, bankers, usurers,
small ~tradespeople and country squires.
In order to prevent the opening OF the
safe. in which she declared the will
had been placed, and the inevitable ex-
osure Of the fraud, she instructed
who represented the phantom
nephews, and other lawyers who ar
gued her own use thus putting on
from year to year the opening OF the
safe. The whole cumbrous legal ma
chinery of the French Republic was
turned to her own purpose, but the
crash finally came, and she and the