The sun., 1903-08-09
HUMBERT SWINDLERS' TRIAL.
WOMAN WHO BORROWED Sf5, ,OdDO,-
600 HISTORICAL IN COURT.
Her Replies Cause Taught Document
duplicating . Member Of the Govern
ment In the Swindle Said to Have
DIsappeareti--Scnsa Are Promised

Special cable Despatch to THE sun.
PARIS, Aug. s.-The trial of the Humberts
began here to-day. The defendants are
accused of swindling operations to the
extent Of millions on the basis Of an imagin-
ary inheritance left to Th6rese Daurignac.
the wife of Frederic Humbert. The court
room, which is small, was crowded. but,
owing to the strict precautions Of the au-
thorities, the scenes Of excitement attend
ant upon the trial of Emile Zola were not
repeated. Counsellor Bounet is the pre-
siding Judge, and Messrs. Labori and Clunet
represent the accused.
The newspaper Oil Bias says that docu-
ment duplicating member of the present
Government in the swindle has disappeared,
and that this fact is expected to cause n
scene when that subject is reached in the
course Of the trial
Mime. Humbert, by her answers to the
interrogatories OF counsel, made the au-
dence roar with laughter. To one ques-
tion she replied: "Our family is most
honest and We are the glory of France.
She accompanied her replies with sweeping
gestures.
Mime. Humbert protested. almost in
coherently, that she was i'll and had not
slept or eaten since her arrest. She also
averred that she could not hear. When
the Judge questioned her husband, Therese
promptly interviewed, and the Judge re-
marked: "You have reganed your h ar
ing"
She became violent when the presiding
Judge expressed his disbelief in the ex
istence of the Chateau Mariette, which
she alleged was situated in Spain, be-
queathed to her by her godmother and
on which, she said, she had put mortgage.
Subsequently the President persuaded
Tharese to admit that she believed in the
existence of the chateau because her father
told her so.
When the name of Gustave Humbert
was mentioned in the proceedings Frederic
Daurignac jumped up and declared that
Gustave was the "noblest man that ever
lived and the soul of honor"
After all of the witnesses had been heard
the court adjourned until Monday.
The Humbert swindle began twenty-five
years ago. Then Theress Daurignac was
heritance was this: When she was travel
ling in a railway train she heard groans in
the carriage ahead, and, making her way
along the footboard, found in the car
riage an old man in great pain, She loos-
ened his collar and aided him generally
| to such good purpose that when the train
| reached Paris he was able TO take care of
himself He there took her name and
| address, however, and told her that he was
Robert Henry Crawford. an American.
| In 1870 she married Frederic Humbert,
! a lawyer and the son of a former Chancellor
| of France. In 1877 she announced that she
| had inherited lOO00O,0OO francs from Mr..
| Crawford, by his will dated at Nice on Sept.
| of that year. A few days after receiving
| word of this Inheritance she received call
| from two brothers. nephews Of Crawford,
who produced will made by their uncle on
the same date az that giving his fortune TO
| Nine Humbert, but giving the money one
third to each of the nephews and one-third
to Marie Daurgnac. Nine, Humbert IS
| young sister, then schoolgirl
| The nephews explained that they were
| wealthy and did not want their legacies,
but wanted the money to remain in the
| Crawford family. They suggested there
| fore, that the fortune be left in Nine. Rum
| berts care, to be untouched except for the
| $4,000 per month due her until Marie should
| become OF manageable age and select
! which Of the nephews she would marry
| When she came to suitable age Marie posi-
lively refused to marry either of the men
and the fortune became tied up in the courts
| until the question of which will should stand
could he adjudicated
On this remarkable tale no part of which
! was true excent the litigation over the bogus
Wills, Nine. Humbert was able for twenty
five years to borrow money right and left
to the enormous total of $15,OOO,OO0. The
lawsuits, which were prolonged in the
courts by the most perplexing technicalities,
were reported in the press and the notoriety
of the litigation was an aid to Nine. Hum
bert in carving out her schemes She
fraternized with the great people of Paris.
both socially and politically, and entertained
them magnficentlv
Meantime Madame's borrowings had
ruined several banks, two Of her victims
had committed suicide, and NJ, Schotsmans
banker Of Lille, who had lent her 81, ,25O, :
900 and was on his way to Paris to make
complaint against her, was mysteriously
| murdered in n train.
Through all the farce Of the mythical
legacy Nine. Humbert kept in her house
a safe in which she declared were the
/ Crawford millions. When numberts and
Daurignacs had fled to Madrid and the safe
was opened, it was found to contain a rusty
buckle and few dscolored en velopes.