Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-24
COUNTESS LIVES IN GARRETT
Born in Luxury, She Gives Wealth
Away Under HypnOtism.
LIVES ON TWENTY CENTS A DAY
One of NnpoIeOn's ROmances Recalled
by TRANCE Career of Titled
Russian Woman Descendant
of His Favorite.

WARSAW, Poland, Jan. 22-Special.)-
Seldom either in the pages Of imaginative
novels or in real life, which is said to
he stranger than fiction, is there to be
found an equal TO the astonishing career
Of Baroness Heintzel. born Countess wal
ewska, who, hypnotized by q friend, has
thrown away all her wealth and insists
upon living like a beggar. SO astonishing
indeed is her story that. were 1t not sup
ported by the statements of the unhappy
woman's husband and family. one would
be inclined TO laugh at It.
Baroness Heintzel married twelve years
ago, at the age OF Is, the richest cloth
manufacturer In Poland. She was, and is,
a woman Of remarkable beauty, tall. slim
and aristocratic, with an abundance of
fair hair and a pair of dark violet eyes,
The history OF the family to which she
belongs is a strange one. Her great grand
mother. the first Countess Walewska OF
any note, was present in Warsaw when
Napoleon Bonaparte stayed there before
his fatal Russian campaign. The great sol
der promptly fell in love with the beau
tiful Polish ountess. but for some time
she refused to listen to his addresses
Finally, however, she surrendered on con-
dition that he should free Poland from the
RUSSIAN YOKE as SOOn as lne campaign was
over. Needless to say, he never kept his
promise; but the countess was loaded with
presents Of magnificent jewelry, her hus-
band and child received large estates and
several French titles which the family
still use.
Gave JeweIry to H~ypnotixer.
The most valuable of the jewelry given
to her by Napoleon is now in the hands
OF the present descendants hypnotizer. The
police believe that it has been placed In
pawnshops in different parts of Italy and
Russia and that those who lent money on
it have not the slightest idea of its ire
mendous historical value. Among other
things there is a magnificent rope of
pearls, a diamond necklace and a pendant
consisting of one huge emerald set in bril-
liants. But the most interesting of all is
a marquise ring composed of diamonds
and rubies. Inside are Napoleon's initials
and the countess with the date DIX Avril
1910. A tot toujours" april the tenth, 1910.
Thine forever. Baron Heintzel is offering
a large reward for their discovery.
The descendant of this historical pair,
Countess Marie WalewsIi, spent most of
her time, before her marriage with Baron
Heintzel Won Hohenfels, in Warsaw. Her
mother, an eccentric though highly intel
lectual woman, set the fashion OF holding
what are there called Spirit Parties" that
is. seances where spirit-rapping goes on
until the small hours of the morning. To
these parties used to come a certain
Madame dc Smolenska, who often acted
as medium and soon became friendly with
the young Countess Marie.
influence of Spirit Medium.
On her marriage Marie removed to her
h,,gIaflfg o,,ntr .etota n n na1 al 1, oinru-
nika," and did not see Madame de Smol-
enska for some years. One day, however,
this lady arrived at the manor house on
a visit and suggested that. as the weather
was bad, they should pass the time by
trying to recall the spirits of Napoleon
and his amorata. Cuntess Walewska- The
aroness agreed, and from that day she
has been completely in the power OF
Madame de Smolenskas
At first her husband did not notice any
thing wrong. Madame de Smolenska is a
good looking woman, with a pleasant man.
ner, and all the ~neighbors were delighted
to have such an addition to their some-
what dull circle. The baron is n busy man
and only noticed that his wife seemed
enchanted with her visitor. 1t was not
until they had been going on for months
that he discovered that Madame de Smol-
enska was holding hypnotical sittings in
his wife's rooms, at which nobody but the
baroness, herself and a little peasant child
were present. The child, when questioned,
declared that Madame de Smolenska put
the baroness to sleep by means of passing
her hands before her face, and then read
her long lectures in which she declared
that it was a sin to have money, wear
Jewels and live in luxury when so many
thousands of human beings were starving,
The little girl was also put to sleep at
times, and some of the servants, who
overheard, by means of putting their ears
to the keyhole, say that the baroness was
perpetually crying that the poverty of the
world weighed upon her soul and hurt her.
Husband Grows Suspicious.
These sittings began to tell upon the
baroness health. Her husband noticed
this and noticed also that she ceased to
wear tewelry. One day he asked her why
she did not wear any and she
answered that she could not bear to think
people in the town close by were starv-
ing while sht came to dinner in a Paris
gown and a blaze OF diamonds. She did
not say that she had already given several