The Washington herald., 1907-12-24

New York. Dec. pa fuI-faced. mid
dle-aged woman. with red hair packed
close about her brow, after the English
style. sat in the window in a faded par
Tor that looks out into one Of the shabby
genteel streets Off Broadway. where it
IS frightened at night. and told some of
the things she knows about the life Of
the Baron Carl Ludwig Won Veltheim
She IS known as Mrs. Veltheim to the
milkman and the baker She probably
knows more about the doings Of Won
Veltheim than anybody else, because she
is his wife
Baron Won Veltheim is the man who
Is now being sought by two nations OF
Europe. England ard Germany both want
to get him on extradition from France.
which is holding him under arrest in
Paris. II is no new experience for Won
Neltheim. he is now securing protection
as an American citizen.
Whenever hear indirectly from my
husband said the woman with the red
hair. 1t us when he is arrested What
,s the trouble nOw?'
BIackmaiI Is Charged.
Mrs Veltheim was told that England
wanted 10 extradite Won Veltheim on a
charge Of blackman preferred by s. B.
Joel. member OF the South African
diamond syndicate that was once headed
by Barney Barua,0. Germany wanted
him because he was charged by a woman
or Berlin with swindling her out Of 81, 600
Oh said Mrs. Veltheim. I know
about that charge that SOlly Joel is
bringing-that arises out Of some btfsi-
ness that my husband was implicated in
down in South Africa Just before the out
break OF the Boer war SOlly Joel is
bringing suit, I suppose. because my hus-
band Is seeking % recover the money
promised him FOR his part In the plot to
kidnap Kruger.
Ny husband left me in England Just
after the Jameson raid. telling me that
he had plan for making plenty of money
out or the men who We're controlling the
diamond syndicate in the Transvaai
When he came back 10 England. deported
py orders Of Lord Roberts with only go
IN his pocket and the clothes he stood in.
he told me how he had plotted and failed
al the last minute. because Of the cow
ardice Of the man who had hired him
Promised $4,000 for the work.
'Barnato, the Joels. and some others
who wanted 10 see President Kruger oat
Of the way after the very crude attempt
OF Jameson. 20 bring about tha. object.
hired my husband, on the promise Of
$4,000. to organize q small company Of
the desperate men who lived about the
Transyaal. go into Pretoria and kidnap
old Kruger. They We're not 10 kin thin;
Just get him out of the country and hide
him. Then the younger Beers. who IA
vored the English, would set into power.
Won Neltheim jOinted the Bechuana-
land mounted police so as 20 be near
the scene OF the attempted kidnapping.
NooN Joel kept in constant comrnuuica-
ton with Won Neltheim. urging hin TO
strike.
'One night, just on the eve Of the de-
parture FOR the kdnappers 20 Pretoria.
Noob Joel and Strange. his secretary.
came hurrying to the place where my
husband was IN camp. Joel told Won
Neltheim that the plan must not be car
ried into effect; il would ruin his husi-
ness. he said. Won Neltheim said that he
had gone so far that he would not turn
back They quarreled. Strange, the sec
retary pulled out a revolver and fired at
Won Neltheim fun In the face The bullet
glanced from his skull but the powder /
burned his forehead
Won Neltheim pulled his revolver and |
shot al the first man he saw II was
Woolf Joel. Strange had climbed under /
the table. Joel dropped dead.
That was the end Of the kidnapping
expedition she said
Fought for the Beers.
After Won Veltheim was cleared by /
the courts in Cape Town on a plea OF 1
self-defense. he went over TO the Beers |
and commanded a battery of artillery |
during the war. After Roberts took I
Pretoria. Kruger fled.
My husband has told me- really
don't know il it is all true-that be- /
fore Kruger fed from the capital he 4
gave over into my husbands hands 4
and those OF three other men. S5.0OO.O 900 /
of freshly minted gold, a part of the /
treasury deposit Of the Boer republic.
with instructions to hide it. Won Vel
theim says that the four of them hid /
the gold in four different places in the
mountains back Of Pretoria"