The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-07-31
SATURDAY CLOSING DAY in FARGO STORES
BIGGEST FAkER.
casilostro Made Record in Seven
faanth Century as kinn of Lara.

ICasilostro Made Record in Seven-
teenth Century a. King of Liars.
Detroit Free Press: History prel-
SCENTS no better example Of a great
impostor than is embodied in Cagilos-
tro. In many respects he was the
greatest Of all takers. who from time
to time have successfully carried out
their nefarious schemes of fraud
through their skill at deception. Thorn
as Carlyle pronounced him the most
perfect scoundrel that in these later
ages has marked the worlds history;
by profession a healer of diseases,
abolisher of wrinkles, friend of the
lpoor and impotent, spirit summoner.
priest, moralist and swindler; really
a liar of the first magnitude; thor
oughbred in all provinces of lying;
what n may call him is the king OF
liars"
Cagliostro seems to have been a mar
Vicious man, for he was able not only
to impose along certain lines, but he
was the master of hundreds of brill
liant fakes, even his h~igh-sounding
name being an example. He was really
Giuseppe Balsamo, the son Of a poor
shopkeeper at Palermo, born in 1743.
AS a mere child he seems to have ac-
CURED a deviliSh penchant for taking.
Being expelled from a charity school
for mischief, he was placed in a mon
astery, and set to reading The Lives
of the Saints to the monks while
they ate their meals, he was detected
in further disdemeanors and was liter
ally kicked out.
But having got work in the monks
apothecary shop, he showed a positive
genius for medicine and soon knew
more about chemistry and the use OF
| drugs than did anybody else in the
l whole airhhnrhnnH Hn TUac n1cn-a claw
er enough to, learn that people trust
physicians as they trust no; one else
and that a large percentage. of the
public is really fooled by any nonsense
that is clever enough to attract them.
After he was expelled from the mon
astery he forged theatre tickets. rob
bed an uncle, cheated a goldsmith into
buying from him at a large price the
secret of a treasure cave and being
accused of murder he was compelled
to flee Sicily, and started on a wander
ing tour through. Europe and the
Orient, perfecting himself in the best
art of all the takers he met on the
way and swindIing every simple-nind@
ed traveller. Then, with aag1oriousfy
beautiful girl whom he had married in
Rome, he launched forth as the dis
coverer of a miraculous liquor. which
he called wine of Egypt" and which
he claimed would prolong life and re-
store youth. Pointing to his lovely
young wife he related that she had
recently been a withered old cone OF
so. and that he himself had lived for
1000 years by constantly drinking this
wine.
In a coach-and-four these impos-
ters rolled through Europe, found ac-
cess to the highest society and
mysteriously dispensed potionss
washes, charms and love spilters. Peo-
pie listened greedily at Cagilostro's
absurd lies n through the sale of
his Wine of Egypt he grew fabu-
lousy rich, Princes and other not
ables wed with one another to do him
honor, and he speedily became one Of
the foremost men of Europe.
Apart from his wine and other
equally marvellous drugs Cagliostro be-
came famous as a founder OF a sort
of Masonic cult, and secured thou
sands of converts. He said he could
transmute baser metals into gold.
Cardinal de Rohan, bishop OF Stras-
bourg. eagerly took up Cagliostro, and
for five years followed the inposter
blindly and believed every word he
said, and in those few years he gave
the faker more than $200.0 900.