Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-23
POINT BY DEFENSE
Disclosure Regarding Witness
Against ''Count" d'AuIby.
ON TRIAL FOR SWINDLING
Letters Read Containing Messages of
Endearment From the Plaintiff.
AUTHENTICITY NOT ADMITTED
Duchess Of Choiseul-Praslin, Former
ly Mrs. Paine of Boston, Pros
ecutes Charge.
ON TRIAL FOR SWINDLING
AUTHENTICITY NOT ADMITTED

TOURS, France. December 23.-The
defense played another card at the
opening Of today's session OF the trial
of Count and Countess" DAulby de
Catchy. charged with swindling, by
revealing the fact that NJ. Belleuse,
the art expert called by the prosecu-
ton to pass upon the authenticity Of
the defendants pictures. is now await
ing trial on charge of conducting
gambling house in Paris.
The appointment Of this expert was
suggested by the complainant, the
| Duchess de Choiseul-Praslin, formerly
Mrs. Charles H. Paine of Boston. Bel
| leuse characterized DAulby's paint
| ings as mostly worthless copies, and
their owner as an audacious trafficker
playing upon the credulity of art COL
lectors.
M: Bernard asked for the immediate
designation of another expert The in
cident caused tumult in the court
room. Bernard followed up this dis
closure by calling M. Desmoulin
painter. who testified that, of such of
lDAulby's pictures as he had seen. one
| certainly was an original masterpiece
and the others were excellent copies.
Case Reaches Climax.
court. where the trial of Count"
| Aulby de Gatigny and his American
wife is being held, on the charge Of
swindling, reached climax yesterday
afternoon in the introduction of love
letters alleged to have been written to
d'Aulby by the Duchess of Choiseul-
Praslin. the plaintiff in the case, while
she was the wife Of Charles Hamilton
Paine. During the reading of the let
tiers. which the duchess refused to ac-
knowledge as hers, the two women. the
| duchess and the Countess d'Aufby,
sat side by side exchanging furious
| slances, while the courtroom, damned
| to suffocation with fashionable women,
was filled with signs, murmurs and ex-
carnations all strained to catch the
| words.
Love Makes Him Ill.
81 love you so hard" read M. Bernard,
| counsel for d'Aulby, that it makes me
| ill. You have given yourself to me.
All I ask is that you love me always.
That is Gods best gift. The day passes,
fire dies, but my love goes on forever.
| 1T is an incandescent consuming flame
| that dullS me, sitting at your knees,
| Graded in your heart.
The duchess underwent a pitiless cross
| examination as to her relations with
d'Aulby, but she refused to answer many
Of the questions and begg. l the court 20
intervene to spare her She charged that
d'Aulby demanded $1,000 for the return
Of letters which she had write him and
that his entire conduct was that of a
| hlackmailer after the discovery that the
paintings were worthless. She denied that
she presented jewelry to d'Aulby, includ-
ing golden paddock bearing the inscrip
f10 IroI-
| Denies the Contract.
She denied. also, that she arranged for
d'Aulby contract with her husband for
the purchase Of pictures. as proof Of her
| love for him, or that she said: This
shows that I am your guardian angel"
D'Aulby insisted. the witness laid. that
all the pictures were original, but they
had not been authenticated, with one ex-
| ception.
D'Aulby. recalled, admitted having re-
ceived $500 for wine which he did not
furnish. He said he kept the money
| because the Paines owed him $4,000.
A French physician friend Of the
late Mr.. Paine, testified that Paine al
ways considered the picture al tiopee'' a
copy, not an original.
Duel Not Justified.
NJ. Labigur, the business agent Of the
duchess, whom NJ Bernard attacked yes
terday. declaring that his presence at the
bar with the counsel for the prosecution
was an insult to the legal profession Of
France. sent challenge last night to Ber-
nard to a duel, but the seconds decided
that NJ Bernard had not exceeded MS
rights, and that a duel was not justified.
Visit to New York Recalled.
NEW YORK, December e3.-The ca
bled account of the trial in Tours,
France, Of Count" d'Aulby de Gatigny
and wife. who was Miss Francesca
Lunt of Boston. on the charge Of SELL
ing spurious paintings. recalls to New
Workers the counts visit to New York
| in 1896. Ills mission to this country
was to raise money to rehabilitate the
estate of his family, which was then
in bankruptcy. he said. This he ex-
pected to do by the sale Of some thirty
or forty paintings that he brought
with him. He was small; thin, de-
The count engaged a showroom
| on SD street and displayed his pic
lures, which he valued at several hun
| dred thousand dollars. The United
$4,000 duty on them One was "The
Horse Show" That, he admitted, was
| a copy of Rosa Bonheur's painting But
| the other pictures, he insisted, were
all originals.
Fails to Make Sales.
| There were some credited to Frans
| Halls. others by Rembrandt and still
others from the brushes of Titan,
Raphael and Valesquez. The pictures
failed to draw buyers. although they
| received favorable notices from some
of the critics. and the count" was
finally obliged to take them all back
with him to France He was much
put out when the customs authorities
declined to refund the $4,000, which
had been collected and tried to have
bill introduced in Congress to give
him the money.