The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-02-20
NERVY CRATER EXPOSED.
TELEPHONFs CLERK POSED AS
SPANISH COUNT.
Duped New York Financicrs and Had
j. u. Morgan e. Co. on The String
fer SS0,OOf,00O Loan for King OF
Spain.

week telephone operator, posing as
His Excellency, the Marquis Edmond
Roussellot di Castillot, confidential
representative of his majesty King
Alfonso NH IF Span," opened nego-
t;ations with lhe banking house of J.
y. Morgan s: Company for q loan of
$50, ,000, ,0OO to Spain and by promising
that Spain would enter the war on
the side OF tie entente allies brought
the state department into the matter
was revealed in the federal court here
today when three indictments were
returned against Edmond Rousselot
under the espionage law.
Rousselot was pressing his plan for
the loan wher chance caused his ar
rest on another charge, and his castle
in Spain quickly toppled.
William Pierson Hamilton of the
Morgan house was foreman of the
grand jury whlch returned the indict-
ments, and was familiar with the en-
tire transaction because he was the
.member of the firm to whom the mat
ter was entrusted.
When the subject of the loan was
broachcd TO the bank by Rousselot,
who had been properly introduced ry
w. Z. d. Stokes Of New York City,
the bank Immediately communicated
with Secretary Lansing, who opposed
the loan to the Spanish government
through an individual and suggested
that it be taken up through the
regular government channels Rous-
selot objected to this method of pro-
cedure, explaining that the loan w<ss
to be made personally to King AL
fonso and it was because of this Sc
cret arrangement he coul1 promise
that Spain was to join the entente al
lies
The negotiations wese still under.
way and Mr.. Hamilton had the mat
ter under consideration when Rous-
selot was arrested on the charge of
falsely representing himself as Count
Rousselot, French diplomat here
on secret mission, and being unable
to obtain bail was sent to Jail. This
/ led TO inquiry, and the whole affair
was laid before the grand Jury.
It developed that Rousselot had
not confined his operations to the
bankers hous~ but numbered among
his confiding friends one woman
from whom he had borrowed $4,000
on oil stocks of doubtful value. bu.
Tor the redemption of which he had
pledged his ancestral estates"
Another OF his friends was a
prominent actress. who told the au-
thorities she had been introduced to
Count Rousseiot and, believing him
to be in the French diplomatic SER
vice, had visired an English warship
in the harbor with him.
Rousselot. with the money obain-
ed from the oil stocks, esta ablished
himself in a suite in q fashionable no.
tel, and there received letters which
are described as being covered with
crests and seals, and addressed to
him as Marquis" Count and Kings
Messenger"
Ine documents proved to be letters
apparently written by Rousselot to
himself. Ore of them, purportine TO
nave come from the King of Spain,
pore large red seal impressed by
the stamp of the commissioner of
deeds of West Chester County. n. Y.
lie also had q rubber stamp bearing
the words Minister dc la Guerre."
which, the authorities allege, he used
while posing as French diplomat.
When representing himself as the
agent of the king of Spain he used a
crest cut frora the advertisement OF
II leading furrier. they declared.
little later Rousselot moved to
the Hotel Ans 1ia, where he told Mr..
stokes. the owner, that he was King
AIfonso's confidential agent in this
country. and in support of his state
ment displayed his collection of Gre
dentlals.' He stated that he expected
a visit from Jules Jusserand the
French ambassador, but did not have
the necessary funds TO entertain him.
Mr.. Stokes advanced him $500, and
one of the indictments has TO do with
this transaction. From this converse
ton, Rousselor succeeded in having
MIR. Stokes Introduce him to the Nor