The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-18

10 mad kept himself hidden from his SUBJ
Pots and the rest Of the world for more than
voar. Though he is an International
r,odigy. no newspaper had ever inter-
,eved him. On the first count, the EN-
,aror II he's any kind of n sport at all. will
NV have TO give in. As to the interview.
bough. there is distressing uncertainty.
a.. The r.mperor. who is better friends with
NJ real nam . Of Jacques Lebaudy than he
ras when the reputation OF IL cost him a
ndlon francs, hoated INTO the French
Gable Cnmpany's branch Office at 85 Fifth
venue Yesterday afternoon. Nothing for
yack Laybodee?' No? Then why come
,sre any more? The post Office box,
Mould II not do for everything. and time
.bus be- saved to Il busy man? Yes? Then
El the manager.
And when the Emperor whisked about to
yn. who should he standing in the doorway
tl, = reporter, whose kind his Imperial
Ma ,es,v had been lodging for -four years,
Al tho way from Cape Bojador TO the Hotel
s,vov and from Brussels TO Boston. In
,me sinner days of the E%mperor's career
NE nuisance would have been seized by
bussios from the imperial suite and flung
IKE a frog across the moat. But here was
IN~' A|'lEF " phNN'A'Ss hiO'N w nun Vht
nuI q cop IN sight.
such a parcel of things there was 10 ask
him Vas he still Emperor. or did they
snally knock him out hat time they tried
IN pinch him for piracy? Was it all up
With the plan of founding a greater Liberia
,n the west coast. with tin roofs to keep
tie sprv little sandhills quiet. a railroad
across the Sahara from border to border.
H. a. 1900 ~ LA-.N ek.A.
bees IN a field of violet, floating over a newer
md loftier Camelot? Why did he leave
France in the spring of 1909 and where had
he been ever since? What was he doing
IN New York? When was he going away?
Vas he hunted. that he lodged in and out
',f ~doorways. caught cabs On the fly. lived
in plcheian quarters uptown where nobody
could know him as the Sugar Kings son,
and when he walked abroad was always
Jerk ing his head TO peer over his shoulder?
But Jacques L.. when the reporter got as
far as The Sun in Introducing himself.
turned on his imperial heel.
Yong man. you are mackeeng a Rrr-r-reat
neestake." he said.
With that. having accomplished a bout
face that suggested fine application during
the thirteen days reservist military duty
% which the Emperor was once subjected
nv an unfeeling country. he thumped his
cane against the pavement and strobe back
mir. OPERATORS he said. looking coldly
o. the wall above he desk, MIR. Opera
tore, will you kindly see wen ! come veesit
Franch Gable Compa gnie no on. ees here to
hothere me. ices man, l don't know heem.
Idon't know wat he want. You onrastan'.
Yes"
saifting his cane to the right hand and
his leather satchel 10 the left, the Emperor
moved YEARLY away, At the Fourteenth
street corner, though, he made for a passing
cab. jumped IL as IL IL had been the rear
end Of a fast freight caboose and moved on
Ike Ahasuerus.
jacques Lebaudy's father was head Of
the French sugar tTuet. He left ever 80
many million francs to Jacques. who soon
developed a capacity for spending them
beyond the ordinary reach OF Gallo in
genuity. The coast along the Sahara was
q sour waste. Lebaudy. with his sugar
cured millions. proposed to sweeten II. II
the natives had any claims he would satisfy
them. He will then, announced his friend.
the Boer General Maritz. found a maritime
city and emporium of commerce., establish
settlements, create a port for vessels OF
deep draught and max the adjoining region
hahitable. VI. Lebaudy intends to inhabit
the region personally. and he might employ
his great fortune worse than by building
up a colony where nothing exists at pres
emit
In the spring Of Iora the news came along
that a French force had landed on the west
coast Of Africa. Various desert sheiks, II
was said, had h~otfod&ed their camel cavalry
10 he spot when they heard about it. to
find that the force" was Jacques Lebaudy
and three Of his sailors from the yacht
Frasquita. nursing a Hotchkiss gun. Upon
lebaudv's announcement that he was
Jacques /. and had decided TO be Emperor
over the neighborhood. the natives stared.
hut, 90 the story goes. RETAINED from dis
turbing the Frenchmen out OF respect for
the Hotchkiss: So Lebaudy went ahead.
imported 100 recruits from France. all under
pav. established three posts and began to
figure on a railroad,
But about the time the Emperor had had
a batch Of stationery printed with the
letterheld The Civil Governor OF Troja,
Empire of Sahara. via Las Palmas. Grand
Canary, per Imperial Saharan Line. I'M
imaginative oficiaidom began to poster him.
The French Ministry of Marine wanted to
know by what authority he was romping
around the seas with a special rag and 20
snip 3 papers, why he had left hve French
sailors alone on the Moroccan coast. who
said he could be Emperor OF the sands
and other fussy questions. Members OF his
crew who got worried o his being
richer than most kings began suing him
IN the law courts. Doctors popped up with
certificates Of insanity. wanting alienists'
fees. One day the Frasquita having sailed
10 Las Palmas the Spanish authorities
sized her, on the ground hat Lebaudy, a
French subject, had no business flying
the Portuguese flag.
Il come from my own country; have no
Information 10 give you; l recognize no
nag but that. the Emperor hotly answered
them. pointing up at the violet burgee OF
Tie Sahara. II took Commandment Jaures
ana a French man-o'-war TO rescue the five
sailors whom the Ministry Of Marine had
asked about. From Lebaudy then Jaures
got a telegram thanking the commandment
IN the name Of humanity and regretting
that the unfnendly attitude Of the French,
spanish and Portuguese governments had
made II impossible to punish the pertidlous
natives himself. Lebaudy next turned up
IN London to hit out another expedition. but
here was such an avalanche OF reporters.
photographers and agents of Quitting
nrinsthat he stuck TO his rooms In the Savoy
ana never got very far. He had ordered
q throne for his Inauguration from a Paris
upholsterer, hired an army Of 100 men
under a Northumberland. whose pay was
equal that of a French corps commander.
ana arranged for a shipload OF colonists TO
rave Paris for the Sahara on November l5.
Then the Swiss Government threatened
nun with criminal suit for recruiting Swiss
%croonlsts, France chucked him on to the
frontier for thirteen days military duty
HlC fCll,nal 10 49,. -, NhroaNantNn az arraaf