The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-07-03

Written by Nazariene Daan Kanni-
belle.
Especial Correspondencec)
Somewhere in FRANCE, on she'll
shocked piece of ground, in an atlno-
sphere laden with gas and sulphur
the inscription.
"Jean Lestaire, Soldat Francois,
| fell, 10 Avril, 1917"
Beneath that supplemented piece
| of earth is a. romance of war and
tragedy of peace.
| I did not see that strange grave by
mere chance. I journeyed from Bar
celona, Spain to visit that grave and
pay homage to that strange being,
Whose noble yet base soul had short
ly left him in that blood-covered field
of battle I pilgrimaged to that little
spot marked by simple cross,
crudely made wooden cross, because
"Jean Lestaire," (to me Jouhan Las
dar } had saved my life from the
gallows It was Jouhan Lasdar, then
a Macedonian brigand, who had
stormed the Monastir courtyard and
] carried me off from the hands of the
Turks whose authority I had question
| ed in the garb of an humble Mace
DOMAIN rebel. This was even before
the days of the Balkan wars. In those
days Jouhan Lasdar fought against
/ the Turks on our side, But during the
Balkan war he fought in the ranks
of the Turks against the Balkan AL
lies.
Who "Jean Lestaire'' was and
whence he came are mysteries that
may never be fully solved in this
world.
! This much is certain. His name
was not "Lestaire;" and he was not
French. The name DISCUSSES one of
the most amazing personalities that
ever provided the student of psychol-
ogy with material for thought.
"Jean Lestaire'' was a living para
dox. In his short life he ran the en-
tire gamut of human experience
gentleman and card-sharper, thief
and man of sterling honesty, hero
and abject coward, without moral
sense and yet sometimes responding
to the noblest of the appeals that lift
man above the brute.
II These mixed elements that would
have justified one in forming the
contradictory judgment that 'Les-
taire'' was a man and monster, an
amazing combination of all that was
good and noble with all that was base
, and ignoble.
There is no reason to doubt his
claim that his people were well-to-do
members of the Scottish ristrocracy
: and that he stood in near succession
to the peerage. He was intended fol-
the, army, and went to one of the SER
vice colleges in the hope of going to
the guards. :.
. AT Is he was expelled for cheating
at cards under circumstances of in
| ~ hi
ment he became a wanderer on the
face Of the earth. He drifted to Kim
herrey. and took to illicit diamond
buying and worse crimes.
On the outbreak of the war with
the TransvaaI he enlisted in the I'M
peria1 Light Horse, and served with
some distinction on different parts OF
the front. Three times at least he
carried his life in his hands through
T the Boar lines to take important mes
g sages to Sir White, who was so i'm.
pressed by the amazing personality OF
] the man that q friendship sprang VI
between them and survived the sub
s sequent disgrace which overlook
ttLestaire."
j At Colenso and spio Kop ''Lestaire'
o proved himself more than a hero, 'an6
8 for his bravery he was given a com
d mission. A year later he was dismis
d sed from the service for abandoning
his post under circumstances justify
ing the charge of abject cowardice.
He returned to England afte
friends had saved him from bein,
a shot as a coward, and for about fou
Years passed his days between Scot
land and London. His honest occu
! pations ranged from shoeblack to pri
e vate secretary to a nobleman. Hi
n dishonesty runs from three-cart
Il trickster to Highway robbery. OF thes
II four years two were spent in prison
~ Through all his good and ill for
r tune friends he met in South Afric;
= and his own family were faithful t
o him, trying in vain to guide him il
O better paths.
Among his friends was Sir Hectic
Macdonald, whose life ended so trag
ically in Paris hotel. After an I'm
usually profuse sowing of wild oat
"Lestaire," then known as Captain
:, John Lester which is probably tn
: origin of his French army name, at
y tracted the attention of the police Il
: such a way that he was warned t
. leave the country, and about the tim
Sir Hector Macdonald shot himself il
!" o Paris hotel Lester disappeared from
human kin for a time.
3 Later his friends heard that he wa
in the French Foreign Legion. Late
still they heard that he had been dis
missed the service with ignominJ
g under circumstances characteristic @
the man. He waylaid and robbed
civilian, whom he left unconscious b
u the roadside on a bitter cold night
Some time later he returned to thro1
n his caCak over the victim lest h
shouM die from exposure, and wa
T caught.
! He then went to the Balkans an
Joined the ranks of the Macedonia
IL rebel-brigands, and shortly afterwar
G his next appearance was in the Bal
kan war, where he served on the sid
G of the Turks, being badly wounde
4 at Adrianople. From there he wen
- to America and made several at
r tempts to earn an honest livelihoo
r for himself in the West Virgini
10 mines. He then went to Cranstor
IS Pa, where he was about to marry a
, American girl when one night he wa