The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-25

buy. borrow and steal and sold II TO the
bank at the rate of seven times its nominal
value. The Union Generate went to smash,
and Lebaudy | buys the stock he had sold
for $500 francs share for sous. his profits
I'm the transaction amounting TO twelve mil
lions. which the amazed admiration Of his
countrymen magnihed into twelve hundred
millions. Exaggeration or no exaggeration,
when Iebaudy died he was able TO leave
his wife and two sons 100000 francs each.
The widow Lebaudy is a very pious lady,
who devotes her money chiefly to the cause
OF anti-Semitism, but her first born, I4e-
baudy III, had better uses for his coin, or
worse. If you like.
OF course everybody remembers Gle petit
sucrie" by the grace of the BOulevards,
Lebaudy H. At an age when other boys are
busy with their vocables, Max was the
spoiled child of the all-night cafes, the hero
of our local red light district Like the
erstwhiIe King Milan, he kept an army of
dancers, chorus girls and courtesans on his
payroll. changed his official mistress ac-
cording to the fluctuations of the theater
programmes. and investing In a racing sta
bic, the coIors Of which stood for defeat
wherever they showed.
A corps of trainers, Jockeys. grooms and
book-makers formed the second division of
this Lebaudy's body guard. while a horde
OF chemically unattached journalists was
another contingent. These latter made it
their business to see that Lebaudy was bled
by no one but themselves
Girls, jockeys and bIackmailers made
steady inroads on the twenty-seven Lebaudy
millions. but Max did not consider them
rapid enough To divest himself OF the care
Of his fortune, nc named one Balensi grand
administrator. with fun powers to act Ba-
lensi acted with notable dispatch and took
himself and Maxs millions 10 the land
where the dollars came from. 1t was an
poying. but Debaudy had not even time 10
prosecute his faithless banker, for just then
the republic drafted him for army duty.
Duty. work, Not for Lebaudy H. He hired
an actor, the most expensive he could find,
20 teach him play the consumptive He en-
gagged a sufferer from the dread disease TO
furnish him, morning after morning, with
increased quantities of tuberculosis bacili
10 substantiate this deception The scheme
worked very we'll indeed. but as usual the
unexpected happened. Instead of the hired
consumptive. Max himself died at the age
of twenty.
LEBAUDY III, THE EMPEROR.
Lebaudy III is the second son of the man
who smashed the Union Generate. the late
Max's only brother Like the average
French parvenu graduated from dry goods,
the slaughter house mill. he contracted
craving for titles early in life. Titles have
never been SO numerous in France as since
theS were officially abolished. Every French
man who belongs to club or subscribes TO
the Figaro is at least a baron. A stranger
entering Paris salon, nowadays, is intro
duced to counts, dukes, viscounts and mar
quises only. A mans visiting card is his at
testation OF nobility, and if my lord OF my
lady condemn the revolution, no one will
ever dare dispute any title they may choose
to assume
But is this fraud generally recognized?
of course it is-seeing that nobody and ev-
erybody is interested in upholding the de-
ception. At the same time it shall not be de-
MED that emperor is somewhat unusual
appellation to adopt-even in Paris.
Yesterday I was talking to the police cap
tain commanding the district where the
first Of the name built his ancestral halls.
Monsieur Emperor Lebaudy," he said with
no more sarcasm i'm the tone of his voice
than If he was speaking of monsieur, the
Emperor of China, or Austria. The republic
of course. denies. and will continue to deny.
him titles and dignities. but this heartless
institution refuses titles even to the Castel-
lanes, the Murats, the Richeleus, etc. The
way to parry the republics discourtesy is
to assume an incognito when at home That
is the sovereign right of emperors and
kings.
So far, so good. but here the Lebaudy
idiosyncrasies begin to- break loose jacques
conceived the notion that he must have an
empire as we'll as imperial title What
nonsensei Who ever asked for, or heard of
Boni's earldom or his fathers marquisate?
Where, outside the moon, is Harden-Hick-
eys barony? Even if France were twice as
large as the United States she could not set
aside single village or hamlet for every
nobleman, or duke, claiming TO lord il over
this or that territory How chauffeur and
subscriber to telephone service came to
adopt so medieval sentiment almost passes
comprehension. Yet Lebaudy III assures us
fn dead earnest that he will be Emperor not
only on his visiting card, but on the map.
too
LOOKING FOR TERRITORY.
A bizarre proposition. but not wholly I'M
reasonable if properly carried out Look at
Menier, the chocolate man, for instance
Several years ago he bought Canadian
island. bought il in its entirety, ground for
est, mountain and rivers. II he had mind
To. he might calf himself Emperor of his
tnsular acknowledgements of Anticosta. 1t
doesn't sound half bad. Empires of that sort
are plentiful in all seas and in some rivers
even. in islands of all sizes and prices. trop-
zeal islands and islands adapted for furs
islands for sport, malaria. summer resorts
islands for big game, small game and board
of trade speculation. If Lebaudy had
adopted Menier's plan. he might be Emper-
ar. indeed. and. besides, would be able to
produce a title to his kingdom under a
lawyers guarantee Moreover his enterprise
would be a thoroughly business-like trans
action. but Lebaudy III evidently never
heard that the world passed from the period
Of conquest TO that of commercalism.
Or, perhaps. he does not wish to know
because he thinks he can get his kingdom
cheaper by Lansquenet methods. At any
rate, he went about ii in most mserly fash
ion Instead Of employing a professional
geographer to find him choice of worlds
10 conquer, he consulted old school atlas
Of his a to available emDires and nv those