The evening world., 1912-04-09
French Major, With Whom
/ She Had Eloped, Cannot
A Give Hsf Burial.
OFF TO POTTER'S FIELD.
1.-THE Wages of Sin Is Death"
/. Weep Women as Body
Is Taken Away.

".e kNV III ia
pared from mouth to mouth in che
throngeA neishborhood of Macdousai
- Houston streets. and there was
genuine grief In every face as the wom-
en- crowded about the wagon.
Fully two score women gathered abou.
the vehicle and watched the dismal work
going on through tear-dimmed eyes.
Seldom before had the Morgue wagon
penetrated to their neighborhood and
there was both fear and resentment
mingled with their deeper feelings.
They watched the sable vehicle absorb
~ burden INC go rumbhng or and then
they raised their voices excitedly and
vowed that the little French woman
would lever be buried in Potter's Field
II they a to 60 hungry to prevent II.
ohs had been their friend, had consoled
them In sickness and grief. haA made
them mourning hats IN mourning wells
with marvellously deft fingers and
would take no payment. As they talked
Il an over and recalled the sweet. sad
fooe Of the little oma they let their
team run tree and In the hearts Of
them an there was written an epi.aph
Of love for the dead.
BROKEN OLD MAN LEFT ALONE
IN MISERY.
But vastly greater than theirs was
the grief Of che bowed and broken old
man IN the Uhe miserable room from
which the dead was taken. The crown
ins misery had con into the bleak last
chapter Of his life-he could not bury
his dead. his Helena. who had sinned
for him and with him and who had
shared with him IN his descent from
aR1uencs to dire poverty.
HIS name 10 Jahier Prosper and he 10
Axty-dvs years old. He wal once a
Major of Hussars In the French army
and Helena then was the little daughter
Of one Of his captains. Capt. Leon Lon
tatne. This all began at Bases Pyre-
nsss In the sunny Midi. where you may
always md a rose in bloom.
Even looking at him to-day with all
his weight Of years ana woe one can
read that he must have been a gallant
looking Major in the uniform of Q
seventeenth Hussars. a regiment found
ed by Napoleon and carrying in It's
ranks the sons and grandsons Of heroes
of Napoleonic conquests.
Blu there came a great political up
heaval In the army and also a tragedy
! the life of Major Prosper. His young
wife left him. lie sold his commission
An6 came TO America. to New Orleans.
ma he opened a hotel on Tuilcr!es
Dtreet. which he called the Hotel Alsace
Lorraine. He soon made his hotel
vastly popular and achieved mis- for
He was rich ever among the
most prosperous OF the French colony.
but he was not altogether happy. as he
had neither wife nor kin to share his
prosperity.
Then came the Mardi Gras Of 1890
and with It Helena. She vas q woman
be saw her dining In his hotel ne had
20 learn her name and Aistory before
- recalled the little daughter OF his
Aptain OF Hussars. Leon Lontaine. She
>ad married on the day she had been
= faduated from the convent. and to .
nan she never saw before the day he
led her to the altar. a prosperous mer-
Jean Larrode. 1t was far from
y happy union, and that was why she
Vas In New Orleans for the Mardi
.Qras festival. having fed from her
husband to friends in America In the
Dope that he might never fnd her.
FORCED TO FLEE FROM
NEW ORLEANS.
II be brief. the former Major OF Hus-
0aSs and the daughter of his captain
became friends. Then Ahey fell In love.
HA- AAAA AhA -. a.
Aaught the existence of the bonded
partners who meant nothing to them.
For q few a they were immensely
happy. Then came the yellow fever
plague and on top Of that the vindic-
Give husband.
Prosper was forced to sell his hotel
ct Q great loss n flee with Helena to
Montreal. They were pursued by Lar
rode and fed to Quebec. From there
they were driven under threats Of pros
eoution for violation of their marriage
contracts and at last they found shelter
In che wilderness of New York.
When they first moved into No. o67
Houston street they had a whole floor.
There was stu a bundle OF bank notes
left from the sale OF the Hotel Alsace
Lorraine But II soon dwindled and
they got down TO three rooms. then to
tWo, hen TO one. The aging Prosper
found employment as a chef. then as a
cook, then as a scullion and then alas!
as q collector OF junk by which he
sasned q miserab BILE pittance.
And all the while the little French
woman was growing thinner and
weaker and her cough had become an
A1onized affliction. But she worked
day and night. making hats and bonnets
and while she got little enough for this
drudgery she was always able TO find
time to sit up with the sick or console
the bereaved or work late into the night
for those who were going into mourning.
In tina way she became known to
every family In the neighborhood. and
wa generally beloved. She died last
night after a violent ut of coughing.
They had been too poor to afford the
luxury Of doctor, and she died unat-
tsnded. In the arms Of th.a ex-Major "
Hussars. and he, miserable man. can
not bury her and must eat out his heart
white the little French oma Is being
Auele1 In rotter's Field, where, II the
MaltoARRt satss hsld the tsianss. hs 10