The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-01-02


ing the money, for ] had no influence
and failed to secure the contract. But
the $4,000 put me%On my feet In fine
shape.
Next I turned up in Rochester. N.
Y, under the name of ]. G. Davis,
beautiful widow, the daughter of a
lumber millionaire, and married her.
T was then 25 years old and in the
best of spirits and felt that I could
meet any emergency in life. She had
been divorced from her husband, a
doctor, and was not allowed to marry
in New York. We chartered a special
car and went to Canada for the cere-
mony There were forty guests, with
champagne and mucha gayety. We
were married at st. GATHERINGS,
thence going to California on our
bridal trip, stopping at the principal
points en- route.
st thought 1 was in clover, for the
widow had a private income of $4,000
per year, but did not realize that her,
property was tied UP by a wise pro-
vision, so that not a. cent Of it could be
squandered. In st. Paul I lost several
thousand dollars gambling, and
reached San Francisco again a bank
rupt. /,
Manufacturing Drafts.
However, the pretty young widow,
now my wife, was cheerful, and pro-
ceeded to manufacture, by the aid of a
| photographer, exchange drafts, which
were made out in proper form. Sc
cured money on these drafts to the
amount of about $4,000. Result: We
were arrested-she as my accomplice
and thrown into Jail. Her father
came to the rescue and we finally got
free. That was a tough experience
for a newly-married man on his we'd
ding tour, but the Jail feature did not
please my wife. She secured a di-
| vorce.
"This was in. 1895. From Califor-
MIA I went to Europe by. way of Vera
! Cruz and Havana, landed in Spain,
| did Monte. Carlo, Rome, Venice and
other cities, and finally turned UP in
Berlin, where I met Louis LANCER
man, representing an American cor
poration and noWsIInited States Con
sui to Morocco. He was destined to
play an important part in my life.
cit came about in this way. He
invited me to visit him in Vienna
We lived at the Hotel Imperial and
patronized the races.
Romance of a Gondola.
can event occurred that proved my
undoing. One evening at a granc
miniature Venice spectacle five time:
larger than the Madison Square Gar
den, and one Of the sights of the city
I took a ride in a gondola plying OF
the artificial canal. The boat wa
). genuinely Italian. Only two or tire,
persons besides myself were in thu
gondola, when a lady Of unusua
: beauty entered. She was a countess
accompanied by her husband, in full
Austrian regimentals.
81 had recently been in Venice AM
7 knew the Italian custom Of risin,
when a lady enters. a gondola,, / dit
so and observed that the lady ,seeme'
; attracted by the act, as none Of tn
: others arose. 5
l 81 did not then know that she wa
l a Venetian by birth. A. few days late
l she saw me riding: on the Prado be
8 hind a team of Russian racing horses
was with Langerman, whom tn
!. countess knew, and she recognize
:, me as the man of the gondo1a. Ian
4 germar1 was inyit to, present hel
and I met the countess. TO say tina
t I was charmed with her witeheH.
4 beauty and chic but family expresse
a the impression she made. It was sih
s beginning Of long romance. Th
$ presentation launched me at once int
s the exclusive social world Of Vienna
q Our acquaintance fipened and she ir
: troduced me to some of the first fam
: lilies Of Europe. Invitations ito fune
: tons and entertainments followed
p and I had to make returns whic
Y rapidly reduced my funds.
n The Countess Suggests an Alias.
d eve became intimate and she se
d cured divorce from her HUSBAND
II keeping one Of the children. The
we were openly together. Like a
r Europeans of a certain class, even
n the highest circles, the lady in tt
ss case wanted money, and believed TT
: American purse inexhaustible. 1 ha
" spent my funds giving her handson
+ presents, in entertainments and,
= fact, conveying the impression tn
" I was of bonanza wealth. So she cou
n not be blamed for anticipating en-
less fortune and luxury on the pa
a. of a prodigal foreigner.
S, "But my end was in sight, and the
I'd was nothing but to tell her frank
d my circumstances or retire. The tru
lg is, I was rather glad of chance
a test her. 1 said I was bankrupt. 81
ID was astonished, couldn't and wouldr
TX believe it until a week had pass
&c and announced T. would have
ID leave her, having reached the end
my resources.
as 'Then the countess showed me tn
j. she was not a mercenary woman of Il
a hour, but my friend. She was ECU
t. to the situation, and decided VIII