The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-12

hand in his pencil end. By this time 1t had disappeared. but to prevent bother the clerk purchased new pencil. cut off a piece about the length of the miss ing bit, and despatched it to the station ary department.
 After eight years of bitterly contested litigation in the courts, the romance of alleged changeling has been concluded by the decsiop of the imperial supreme court at Leipzig that the 14-year-old Joseph K wlecki is of noble birth and not a child of lowly origin. By this decision the little count a handsome black-haired youth now attending a. public school at Breslau, becomes heir to estates valued at s2,5oo,0o0 at kro- blewo, German Poland.
 Count Ignaz KwilecN and his wife, Countess Isabella Kwileck, who occupied a prominent position among the Polish aristocracy, were for many years dis appointed in their hopes of son. the lack of whom meant that the family estates, would, after the death of Count Ignaz. pass to Count Hector Kwilecki, a distant cousin
 Count and Countess kwilecki1 had three daughters, but the condition of the family entail necessitated that they should be stopped until there were no more male members of the entire Xvii lecki family The death of Count Ignaz would thus have plunged Countess 1sa- bella and her daughters into poverty
 When Countess KwileclSi was 51 years old an announcement was issued to the effect that she had given birth to son on January 27 1897 This baby was the Count Joseph KwilecSi, whose fate has now been decided.
 The legal contest began soon after the boys birth. when Countess Isabella. was
 IA1 from another woman to pass 1t off as her own son with the intention of de- priving Count Hector Kwilecki of his r1ghtful inheritance and thereby securing to herself the entaied revenues during the minority of her alleged child.
 Count Hector employed a small army of detectives. and in the course of their inquiries they brought to light many strange facts.
 Count Isabella instead of remaining at her magnificent home to give birth to her child, rented. a small fiat. At the time of the birth she refused to sum mon doctors but was attended by sev- eral Polish women who had been dones- tic servants in her household for years.
 Count Hector spent years In collecting discriminating material and then initiated an action demanding that the high court at Posen should adjudge the infant an interlouer- and that neither the rightful son of the Countess Isabella Kwilecki nor the Legitimate heir to the estates The case was tried In 1901, when the boy was years old and he was brought Into court to show the remarkable likeness between his own features and those of the Countess Isabella. The court rejected Count Hector Kwileclds claim, and ruled that there were insufficient proofs to warrant the denial of Countess Isa- bella's motherhood. Count Hector then pressed the public prosecutor to take action and the array of evidence laid before the official seemed to be over whelming and he ordered the arrest of Countess Isabella and her husband, as well as of the servants who were in attendance upon her at the time of the birth. The trial of Count Ignaz and | Countess Isabella Kwiecki, and of their servants. took place in Berlin in 1903, and ended in the acouittal of all. Count Hector persuaded Cecilia Mayer the all i legged rightful mother of the boy, to bring an action in the civil court for the rob bery of the child. Count Hector made 1 DO secret of the fact that he supplied her with money to pay the costs of this action The action was first heard and the counsel who appeared on behalf of the little count argued that Cecilia Mayer 1 boy. because if she were. she would naturally desire to see him the heir tc magnificent estates. living in luxury in- from his high position and reduce him cd 2 step further. According to the de-