The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-13

vorably impressed, and, knowing by per-
sonal experience that the count actually
moved in the most exclusive circles, gen.
eral commission Of espionage was intrusted
| to him. Soon he began to send the Russian
| government reports on military matters or
startling and sensational character.
| These reports were brilliantly written and
contained so much that Russian military
| experts knew to be accurate, and were
drawn up with such command of the tech
nicalities of the subject that they were
regarded as genuine. and the count was
literally remunerated for them. The infor-
nation was duly treasured up in the ar
| chives of the Russian Ministry of War, and
| IL was not until several years later that the
Russian government ascertained by chance
that Count Savin's highly appreciated re-
ports were nothing but the inventions of
his own vivid imagination.
simultaneously with his espionage for the
Russian government Count Savin offered
/ his services, which were accepted, to Ger
many, to Austria and to Spain. To all three
countries he supplied military reports of a
nature deeply. interesting to their respective
military leaders, and in each case he sent
them his own inventions, though, as in the
| case of Russia, this was not discovered till
some time arterWard.
PLOT AGAINST THE CAR
AT the same time that he was in the pay
| of four European governments this ex-
| traordinary man was a member of a Rus
| sian Nihilist association, the headquarters
] of which were in Paris, and he possessed
the full confidence of the political conspira-
| tors, who had not the slightest idea of his
official connections AS a matter of fact
Count Savin appears to have been more
sincere in his Nihilism than in any other
respect, and so far as has been ascertained
| he never played his revolutionary friends
| false. On the contrary, he was a warm
adherent of the cause, and plot to assas-
sinate the late Gear Alexander III in 1883
was clearly traced to the Partisan group of
| desperadoes of whom Savin was the most
| prominent.
| Thanks to the high social position which
he occupied in Paris, and to his reputation
for the possession of boundless wealth, an
ambitious matrimonial match was the cas-
lest thing In the world for Count Savin to
manipulate. His choice fell on a young
| woman who was as beautiful as she was
! rich, the Countess de Lautrec, one of the
daughters of Count Lautrec, then a we'll
known French nobleman. The countess re-
| ceived a dowry of half million dollars,
and her parents and friends considered that
i she was exceptionally lucky in securing
such a husband as the dashing Count Sa-
vim. According to the custom of the coun-
try, the husband took possession of the
wifes dowry and it went the way of all
money that came into Count Savins hands
Subsequently, after two or three years of
martyrdom, the countess obtained a di-
vorce.
Finally there came time when Paris be-
gan to be an uncomfortable place OF resi-
dence for the count. Stories were whis-
pered about. To avoid open exposure, the
subject of them proceeded to Berlin, where
he repeated what he had done in Paris.
| When he had obtained all that he could
hope for in Berlin, Count Savin went on to
Vienna, and from Vienna to Rome, and
from Rome to Madrid. and from Madrid to
Copenhagen.
| SCHEMED TO BE A MONARCH
Toward the end of 1892 when he was
| thirty-four years of age, Count Savin as
sumed the name of Count Lautrec de Tou-
louise and went to the Balkans to seek new
| adventures in the troubled zone of the near
| East. At that time there was grave dis
content In Bulgaria. Prince Ferdinand had
| failed to realize the expectations conferred
on him at his election and the count arriv-
| ing in the Balkans when this discomfort was
| at fever heat conceived the idea of ousting
Prince Ferdinand and becoming his success
sor BuIgaria's ruler. Count Savin began
TO plot and plan for this end with all the
skill and cunning which he had acquired in
his countless intrigues of all kinds through
out Europe. His transactions with several
European governments had put into his
hands letters from numerous neted person
ages of the highest Importance in interna-
tional affairs. and now he made use of these
communications to prove TO prominent Bull
garians. whose support he needed, that he
possessed the entire confidence of the prin-
cipal statesmen of Europe, and that conse-
quently he would be a thoroughly suitable
candidate for the Bulgarian throne 1t says
much for Count Savins diplomatic genius
that he was able to deceive even Stambu-
loff, the greatest statesman whom the Bal
kan countries have produced.
Stambuloff fully believed that Count Savin
stood high In the favor of the Russian gov
eminent and that his elevation to the Bull
garian throne would be welcomed by the
Car and his ministers. Stambuloff also was
deluded into the belief that Count Savin
possessed a claim ON Austria, which would
assure him OF the Emperor Francis Joseph
valuable support in supplanting Prince
Ferdinand. How Count Savin contrived To
fool the willy Stambuloff has remained un-
known. but the fact remains that the great
Bulgarian statesman favored his preten-
sions to the throne and was supporting
them when an event happened that put an
| effective stop TO all further plans i'm that
direction.
Count Savin had gone TO Constantinople
to secure the Sultan's assent 10 his attempt
on the Bulgarian throne. While In Con-
stantinople he was recognized by a mem
Der of the Russian secret service as man
with whom the Russian government had