The Penn's Grove record., 1912-05-17


In the government and the magistra-
ture. 1t explains many things that
mystif1ed the prosecution and the
world at large, but, on the other hand,
adds some new mysteries to the case,
which certainly give the book all the
qualities of a first-rate detective story
minus the solution. These new mys-
teries will be touched upon later on.
1t may be we'll here to review briefly
Nine. Steinheil's own account Of her
childhood and marriage.
Marguerite Japy was born on April
l6, 1859, at Beaucourt, a village a
Belfort and the German and Swiss
frontiers. Her father was a rich man.
the son of a manufacturer, her moth
er the daughter of an innkeeper at
Montbeliard. Nine. Steinheil pic
lures the home life of her parents and
her childhood as an idyl Of love.
happiness and innocence. Lombroso,
on the other hand, who. no doubt,
drew his data from the Investigations
of the French department Of Justice,
had 1t that both parents were gross
sensualists and addicted to alcoholic
excuses, holding them responsible for
the precocious d~epravity Of which
Nine Seiphe!4s was accused. There
was also mention of an illegitimate
child born to her in her teens.
In July, 1890, Marguerite Japy mar
ried Alexandra Steinheil, a mar nearly
twenty years her senior, a painter OF
some merit, but of a retiring DISPOSE
ton. which prevented him from shout
dertng his way upward in the world.
He was a nephew Of Meissonier. n
poor. The young couple settled In
Paris, the wife, according to her OWE
account, beginning at once to advance
her husbands material interests In
every possible way. Eleven months
later their daughter and only child
was born, Nine. Steinheil leaving the
conjugal roof shortly afterward ON
account of some offense on her hus-
bands part, which she does not spec
lily, but leaves to the readers mag
nation. She consented. however, to
a formal reconciliation for the sake OIL
their child, at the request OF M. b..
"a famous barrister and attorney gen.
eral," who appears to have been the
first of a bewilderingly long success
sion of her elderly, rich and inhuen-
tial friends.
All Sought Her Influence.
"My salon was more crowded than
ever before. Invitations were
cred upon me both from quarters
friendly with the government n
from quarters in league with the oppo-
sition. My friends were legion, n
my enemies-you cannot possess In
fuence or power without making enc
mies-were greater flatterers thai the
others.
Then there were men who tried TO
persuade me of this, that or the other.
so that I should in my turn persuade
the president, and those who laid traps
for me, men whose entreaties were
disguised threats, who tried to know
what I knew, and who did not seem to
> realize that their very attitude re-
vealed quite plainly their shameless
And 1 hasten to add that I sided no
more with one party than with an
other"
Faure she describes as an ardent pa
triot and an optimist who passed
through attacks of deep depression
over conditions in France. The coun-
try, he told her, did not hold it's prop
er rank among the great powers be-
cause its public men did not come
from the "elite" Of the nation, as they
did in England. He had unbounded ad-
miration for the craftsmanship OF
~Clemenceau, but disliked him, and
called him the most dangerous man in
France, adding tersely, "and VIA Is
worse, he knows it" According to
Nine. Steinheils pages, he expressed
himself to her with amazing frank
ness on the men and the events of the
hour. And often, according to her, he
formed impossible plans to end a cr1-
sis. One can we'll believe the report
that the French government of today
has tried to suppress this book, and
looks forward with anxiety to the eff
feet of its publication.
Faure'S secrets were HerS.
Knowing himself to be surrounded
by spies, Faure, fearing that the
manuscript of his memoirs might be
stolen If kept in his trong box In the
Elysee palace, requested Nine. Stein
he'll to keep it in her own house, SUBJ
shutting dummies for the originals.
All Paris knew that she entered the
palace on certain days by a side door.
No doubt, she says, she was Swallowed,
and the papers thus traced to her.
With the sudden and mysterious
death of the president of the republic
on February 16, 1899, began theAturn
Of Nine. Steinheil's fortunes. AS she
tells the story of the event. she visited
him in the afternoon. remarked that
Re was looking unwell, and received in
answer the assurance that thereafter
he would be more careful in the use
of the drug which he was In the habit
of taking to stimulate the weakened
action of his heart. She then, so she
continues, left him, and was not in
formed of his death until late that
night.
Paris, however, had another version
of the case, to which it clings to this
day. According to this account, Nine.
steinheil was with President Faure
when he died, and had to be hurried
out of the palace in a semkhysterical
condition, leaving behind her evidence
of her presence that was O discov-
cred until later. All of which, accord
ing to the story, did not prevent her
from being the gayest of the gay at a
large dinner party that very night.
The confusion created by the circum-
stances of Faure's death made it nee
essary to conceal the fact from his
wife and daughter until seven o'clock
in the evening.
I"Some Left" Two adjoining claims
are known as "On Time" and Late"
An odd case is shown in the name
of the Hoodlebug claim, which was To-
Gated by an Irishman and a German