The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-13
SAD LITE ROMANCE OF THE
 CHEvALIRR LUIGI FETISH.
xzAlian Diplomatist and Envoy to Mexico Who Died in
 Poor Basement.
BY STEPHEN BoNsAL


 New York Herald.
 Some three or four yeats ago an Italian gentleman of courtly bearing and ais kinguished antecedents disappeared from xhe cosmopolitan haunts of New York, in which for many months he had been a prbminent and sympathetic figure. He was known as the Chevalier Luigi Fetish. whose services as a companion of arms to Victor Emmanuel and Garibaldi in the Italian independence wars had been so considerable that the House of Savoy had resoknized the obligation with a post in fhA Automatic service.
 His Hast legation had been that in the City of Mexico, where his home had been tlm rendezvous of the music loving and tfin artistic in the southern capital There 4lieyst talk today of the generous hospital 1tE which the Chevalier dispensed and the charm of the garden parties which he gsire in the vale of Cuernavaca.
 When he came to New York the Chew aiier took a country house on Staten 1si- and a matter of some surprise to his ffScnds, who had expected that as for mkriy, he would soon return to his post fnk Mexico or proceed to another; field or duty in some other part of the world.
 Soon, however, the irumor spread that 1fe Italian Government was getting so republican that all the traditions of a dipldmatic career were being dispensed wI<h. It became known to. the few that cared to inform themselves that the Rkman government had apointed new representative to Mexico and that Chev- aiter Luigi was placed on waiting orders.
 a'he diplomat was then about sixty years of age and, as he was supposed to have large private means, the loss of his official pay was deemed a matter of little frsbortance, and certainly the Chevalier took 1t very lightly. He continued to live for some months in the same style as be- fore, and then suddenly he and his ac- c0mplished wife disappeared. Intimate friends received P. P. c. cards, and 1t was generally understood that they had returned to Italy or one of the quiet German spas. where steady income pur- cliases so much more of comfort and respect than in this country.
 RE-~ -.yed for Ninth Avenue.
 This supposition was borne out at the time -by the fact that the -Chevalier's s name appeared on the passenger list of Trench line steamer. As a matter Of fact he did not sail on the ocean grey hound. as announced, but. leaving that hotel on Fifth Avenue then so generally patronized by visitors of the Latin race, he simply embarked on a crosstown car and got out at Ninth Avenue. Here, be- tween Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Streets. heyhad rented an old fashioned basement residence which stands out with much distinction amid the surrounding desola- tion. of dingy brick tenements.
 So far as is known the Chevalier never crassed Sixth Avenue again. In this once suburban hamlet, which has been surrounded by the mammoth metropolis ana sdevoured hv it's pulsating life, cross seetioned by elevated roads. the Chew .Sts akn sR1 faA wrTau attempt to rise superior to adverse for tune, For, with the exception of a pitt fully meagre pension for his military and sIipipmatic services and a few curios wllfeh he now began to sell, the Chevalier was penniless.
 The advent of this strange couple into the Ninth Avenue world was pictu- resuue event, and the neighbors hurrying about their daily affairs yet had the time to oliftstheir eyebrowh ana sniclker as they said: ''Hully geei get on to that" It was noted blythe thoughtful and the well read-and there are such in the vicinity that the newcomer looked eonugh like Lord Byron's picture to be his own broth CT Certainly the stranger had Byronic neck and wore a low cut collar and the careless .neckwear which is so generally associated with the poet of passion.
 Further, he was tall and slight, very graceful in his carriage and was eVl- dently always quite unconsciously trying to set his neighbors at their ease and banish any embarrassment they might feel at entering upon relations with one not of their world This did not increase ahe ChevaIier's popularity, for Ninth Ave nue is not timid and cannot be abashed by any one save the police sergeant be- hind the platter.
 Though the exile always looked spick and span, neat as new pin, as time wore on his care of his toilet could not conceal the fact that his clothes had been ltDg worn and were getting threadbare. This growing shabbiness, however, was not noticeable in the wife who presented a picture the like of which Ninth Avenue had never seen before, not even at a fancy ball. She was much younger than the Chevalier, but possessed of little phy- sical vigor, at least so far as walking went.
 Sometimes on a bright day, so bright and clear that the sun could creep through the apertures of the gloomy ''L" road structure In front of their residence, she, leaning in an Old World way upon the Chevaliers arm, would slowly descend the. steps of the high stoop. Her face was generally yelled in lace and she walk ed as one unusued to walking. Generally before the corner was reached she would lay her hand wearily upon the Chevafer's s