The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1909-05-22
SOCIETY PET BE-
COMES CONVICT
NEW YORK SMART SET AND No.
BILITY OF PARIS ARE AMONG
THE VICTIMS OF ACCOMPLISH.
ED AND CHARMING IMPOSTER.

"SSSSA hAo"A Ih 4NCW vi n dS
"Cheiro the Palmist," has been sen.
fenced to Is months Imprisonment
and ordered to pay fine of SOC
francs and restitution to Count Res
ltetics of sums of which he had swim
died that Hungarian nobleman
amounting to nearly 100000 francs
! Cheiro, who was originally SER
want in a Belfast hotel, and whose
real name is Warner, was sentenced
by default. He left Paris for Lon
don abruptly on Christmas eve
when he learned that a warrant for
his arrest was about to be issued al
the instance of two American women
Miss Pomeroy and her sister, from
whom he had obtained bonds and
stocks valued at $4,000.
Cheiro and his associates succeed
ed in settling this case, but Count
Festetics insisted upon prosecuting.
Other complaints against Cheiro are
| still to be heard, and the police hope
to secure his extradition. Cheiro
some. years ago had a tremendous
vogue in New York as a palmist He
published books on the subject,
which increased his reputation.
Tried to Collect Blackmail.
Among his visitors were some of
the best known society people Some
of the information he extracted from
women clients seemed SO valuable to
him that he attempted to force their
husbands to pay money. Complaints
were made to the police and though
Cheiro was not arrested he was driv-
en- out of town. Similar experiences
had put an end to his career as q
palmist in London His career as a
banker in Paris had been equally in
glorious.
Cheiro was last heard from in
London, where he was found on jan
uary z last, one day after he had
been missed fro mParis. The author
tiles did not know that he had fled
until they tried to serve papers in the
complaint of Mrs George Baldwin
Newell, widow of a New York law
yer, and her sister. Miss Josephine
Pomeroy
At the time Count Hamon, as he
styles himself, said he was in Lon
don simply on business. He insisted
that the complaint of the wealthy
American women was all a mistake,
and could be explained. He said
that the transaction was a legitimate
one and would have been settled in
London or New York without trou-
Bile. He pretended that he was not
in the least frightened and would
return here without delay.
Rich Women Love Cheiro.
But Cheiro did not return to Paris
to his apartment which had held
congresses of the most fashionable
women and where four hundred fer
vent love letters had been tossed
aside. The authorities were heart
less enough to search these apart
ments and to read the letters and
find that they came from the most
fashionable women in the wealthy
American colony here and from
French women of the noble houses.
These letters were filled with
endearing terms and since the disap-
pearance of Cheiro many of his cor
respondents have been almost in a
state of collapse for fear that the
letters and names would be made
public. Some of those who read the
letters said that the list of Cheiro's
correspondents, if printed, would
cause an international sensation.
One of his special friends was a
man known as "Abbe de la Fres-
naye," whose scholarly and agreeable
manner secured for him entry into
the most exclusive circles 1t was the
"abbe" who presented Hamon every
where and introduced him to Mrs.
Newell and many others with whom
later he had business dealings. There
are reports that Hamon and his
friends, as the result of their high
connection, were able to arrange"
many marriages among people of high
standing in the Anglo-American col
ony.
Everybody talked of the mysterious
Count" Hamon, his iashing manner,
his beautiful apartment, his horses,
his vast business ventures.
Discovered by Oscar Wilde.
New York, May 22.-Cheiro Sc
lected the three great cities of the
world-LOndon Paris and New York