Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-26

The release from an English prison
yesterday Of the notorious and much
married Ann O'Della Dis Debar has
revived the interest in the erratic ca
reer of the woman who fleeced sus-
ceptible men and women all over the
United states, and whose influence
over several wealthy and intelligent
men in this city Is still fresh in the
memories Of New Workers. Her re-
puted husband, Frank Jackson Is
still in prison.
Mrs Dis Debar had a spectacular
career in America. 1t was she who,
as a spook priestess. succeeded in so
fascinating Luther r. Marsh, the dis
tinguished old lawyer of New York
with a belief in her occult powers as
a painter of spirit pictures, that he
gave her large sums of money and
decided to her his splendid residence
at 166 Madison avenue.
In all the annals of occult takers,
there is no stranger tale than that of
the operations Of Dis Debar, who
boldly proclaimed herself the "Prin-
cess" Editha Lolita, daughter of the
king of Bavaria and of Lola Montez,
the actress
She was In fact Ann O'Della Salo-
mon, daughter of John c. f. Solomon,
merit and respectability. He had left
the Fatherland for political reasons,
and after settling In Washington and
later in Louisville, KY, he married a
Miss Thompson, belonging to one of
the most famous Of the Blue Grass
families Ann was the youngest of
four children. A brother was, until
his death a few years ago, prominent
Louisville business man, while the two
nf y,r.fr ~ q
grammar school, are highly respect
ed. The parents long ago died Of grief
over the erratic and disgraceful be-
havior of Ann.
She became an outcast and adven-
turess of her own volition at the age
of Is, after attempts had been made to
confine her In an insane asylum. She
is now over go years old. In 1871 she
ran away to France with a young
Frenchman, DR.. Messant, whom she
married. Later she became the wife
Of Gen. Dis Debar, and two children
were born to them. She Travelled about
the country representing herself as the
poSsessor Of occult powers and the re-
vealer of spiritualistic truths. This so
disgusted Gen. Dis Debar that he left
her.
In 1888 she turned up in New York
city with her husband. They had in
their possession about 100 famous old
paintings. These they used in delud-
ing various men of wealth, including
the antiquarian and art collector, S. L.
Loewenhertz and their best known
dupe, Luther r. Marsh, a wealthy re-
tired lawyer, 10 years old, who had no
near relatives living. Having con-
vinced Marsh that she had been sent
to him by his dead wife from the spirit
world to guide his affairs, Mrs. Dis
Debar used the paintings to clinch her
hold on the old man. She would first
smear painting by Titan or Rubens
or Van Dyke with a coating of chalk,
and, after hypnotizing Marsh she
would invoke the spirit of the ancient
master and then deftly "materialize"
the painting before his eyes with a
damp CLOTH Some color was lent to
her claim to being the daughter of
Lola Montez by the fact that many of
the pictures with which she duped
Marsh and Loewenhertz seem really
to have belonged once to the collection
of King Louis / of Bavaria, and his re-
lations with Lola Montez were of such
a nature that his Scheming and beau
tiful mistress might easily have Sc
cured possession of them.
With some of these, which she
claimed that her spirit guides painted.
she fooled Loewenhertz. With others,
WHICH Sue seCureu lIoiu tne old COL
lector, she fooled Marsh. Dis Debar
himself, who was an artist, is supposed
to have painted some of the pictures.
Marsh's friends, fearing that he was
being victimized, in spite of his pro-
tests, descended on the home to wit
ness some of the spiritistic marvels of
which the old man talked. They found
the house, one of the finest on Madison
avenue, in the possession of host of
spiritualists. Marsh explained that in
response to the request of his dead
wife, he had decided it to Mrs. Dis De-
bar and that he had made his will in
her favor He was wildly indignant
when his friends became rude to the
heavenly messenger in the person of
the Dis Debar, and ordered them out
of the house.
AS it was apparent that the old man