Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-02-20
Spent S. 600, 600 in Five Years and
Tried TO Get a Great Deal
More.
GAMBLED AT MONTE CARLO.
Also Bet on Horse Races and Led a
Wild Life Of Extravaganza and Was
Arrested by Creditors.
Special Correspondence,

L
~ monty interesting to see what eff
J. feet her recent narrow escape from
Imprisonment for fraud Will have
upon Princess Alexandra Won IsenberG,
whom II Is no eXaggeration to describe
as one Of the most extraordinary spend
thrills Europe ever has produced. 1t
was, OF course, this handsome daughter
of one of the oldest and noblest OF Ger
man titled families who succeeded, after
her romantic divorce and second mar
riage, In getting rid of fortune or
over Ss,OOO,O00 in less than I'VE years.
one might have expected her highness
to practise economy for bit after that,
especially as she was heavily in debt,
but instead she realized upon vari-
Gus historic estates which still remain
ed tn her and with the proceeds plung-
ed into the widest sort OF speculation.
Most of her coups failed, and before
long the bearer Of one OF the proudest
names in Germany was penniless again.
Her position, however, made II COM
paratively easy for her to borrow huge
sums, with the aid OF which she went
In for betting on horse races, hoping In
this way TO retrieve her fortunes. on
the track, however. the princess lost
more heavily than ever, 80 she bor-
rowed more money and tried her luck
at Monte Carlo, but that venture turn
ed out as badly as the others had done.
There was q sensation when bailiffs,
acting under orders from her creditors,
ul,ald ntAi th.. pri IN tho at rpptq ar
| Stuttgart and took from her what valu-
ables she was carrying, and another
when the noble woman opened u board
| ine house on the shores Of Lake Con-
stance, and every one supposed that the
princesss career was about ut an end
when she was arrested not long ago
al the instance Of moneylenders In
Munich, Frankfort. Kassel, Stuttgart.
Constance and other cities, from whom
she had borrowed, and ordered to be
tried for fraud before the Frankfort
court But the trial has resulted In tho
remarkable decision that though the
princess methods OF gaining funds UNI
doubtcdly were shady, she did MOTH
Ing absolutely illegal. On this ground
she was acquitted. and now German
society folk are asking each other what
the next chapter will be In her amazing
life story.
ONLY DESCENDANT.
The princess. now n woman OF ~, Is
the only living descendant OF the former
electors OF Hesse Nassau. South Ger
many, who lorded It In the ancient cas-
ties Of Falkenberg and Waechtersbach
500 years ago. and upon whom wealth.
titles and all sorts Of distinctions were
conferred. Princess Alexandra Inherit
ed a fortune of s5000,O00. Her first
husband was her kinsm0n, Prince Adal-
bert Of Isenberg who also was inn
mensely rich She married him at 20.
They went 10 live In Stuttgart, and all
the signs seemed to Indicate that their
life would be happy one. They both
had youth. their social position was
distinguished, and their homes and es-
tates numbered DO less than nine.
STRANGE lNFATUAT1oN.
Trouble, however, came almost i'm
medIately, In the shape OF an infatua-
ton formed by the princess for a mill
tnry officer named pagenhnrdt who was
stationed at Stuttgart. What the at
traction was It is hard to tell, for Lieu
tenant Pagcnhnrdt was not good to
look at and, moreover, was poor and
nobody However the Princess Alex
andra sacrificed everything for his
sake. left her home to live with him.
and did not defend the suit which her
husband promptly brought against her
for divorce This was granted him. just
two years after bis marriage with the
princess, The noblcwOlnan received
back her dowry Of S50O0,00O, aud I'M
medIately married. paRenhnrdt after
which she oXerta1 an her influence 10
get MIN ennobled finally succeeding IN
gaining for him the title OF baron.
WENT A DIZZY PACE,
Thcn this couple started on such q
life OF ostentation and extravaganza as
would have boggared Croosus or n
ROckcfellar They took q palace In
Stuttgart--In spite Of the fact that the
princess former husband stlll was Nv
ing IN the town-whlch they made their
chief home, but they had also a country
house in Bavaria q shooting lodge In
the TyrOl villa In the Rlviora, and q
town residence In Berlin Tho staff
which was required 20 run all these os-
Establishments consisted NJ some thOus-
ands of servants, and the couple kcpt
over 800 horses They had n private
yacht more magnificent than that
owned by the emperor ana all their
travelling was done I'm their special
train, 'Shich was fitted mp throughout
with luxury equalled by Few drawing
rooms IN the 'atherland Princess Al
eXln1a scOnod 20 wear an evening
gown that had cost less than $500. and
when she appeared IN playhouse or
other place Of entertainment she dis-
played Jewels worth at least $3.50 600,
The baron was as lavish. No cigar was
good enough for him that Ind not
cot n dollar or more, and ha would buy
no cheaper ones FOR his guests Per-
haps this couples oYtraVagancc reached
IFS cllmaN however vhou, Onc winter,
they bnnouotc' 'reFf' on l60 eve
nnga In succession. the vIand9 ai
wines at each o. ttcs' fodsts being III.
emily the choicest that money could
buy.
MONEY RUN LIKE WATER.