The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-03-23
Real Parsonage Which En-
tirely Eclipse the Imagination
of the Great Novelist


imperial suite from London to Brussels soon to
sudden end.
Before Jimmy Langerman planted the seeds Of I'M
perial Iongngs in Lebaudy mind Lebaudy had devoted
large amount of time and money to horse racing Some
of the heetest and most valuable thorOughbreds on
Europes tracks raced under his eolo in France and hs
stables ranked among the finest in the country Before
setting his expedition to Africa however he dis
posed of all his horses released his jockeys and trainers
from their contracts and the great surprise Of the
French racing public announced his retirement from the
turf
Brussels is q racing center second only to Paris L
was the most natural thing in the world then that when
his imperial plans began to occupy rather less Of his time
Lebaudy should drive out the track and spend an after.
noon watching the Belgian races
Among the followers Of racing there il . saying that
true lovers Of horses retire from the turf only when they
die. This held true in Lebaudys After enjoying
the excitement Of watching the thoroughbres racing neck
and neck for victory all his old passion for the sport re.
turned and he dS pned to establish another racing
stable at ana his horses winning purses before
the Brussels seG>A should be over.
But Lebs decided that he would return to racingnoe
plain Jacques Lebaudy multi millionaire sportsman but
as Jacques the proud Emperor Of Sahara Accordingly
he wrote his imperial stationery to the Belgian Jockey
Club applying for the registration Of his racing colOrs
He signed the letter with the fun list Of imperial titles
which he had taken and specified that the registration
should be issued in his name as Emperor.
But the jockey club officials were not carried of their
feet by all this pompOus insignia They consulted the
Amanach de Gotha and unable to find any mention
of the Emperor of Sahara in the list Of the world rulers
They went the Belgian foreign office seek for nfor.
nation the subject and told that the title Of Sa
haran Emperor existed only in Lebaudys imagination.
Now the jockey club had q rule which provided that
for ho
wished it made under assumed name. They decided
that Lebaudys under this rule and accordingly
they wrote him that they pleased accept his regis
tratOn but would have to charge him additional $1,000
per horse per year. because he registering under
name and title not his own
Lebaudy was furious. This refusal to accept him at
what he believed to be his true imperial valuation angered
him than any of the rebuS he had received in Lon
DON He threatened the officials of the jockey club not
only with all kinds of nuneOns and other legal proceed
ingS, but even with personal violence.
The jockey club, however, stood firmly by its ruling
and Lebaudy after great show Of fight reluctantly
obliged give up his plans for resuming his active in
terest in racing.
The humiating experiences with the great Jockey
Club of Brussels set Lebaudy to thinking Had he made
great fundamental mistake in undertaking to establish
his imperial claims upon an African deserti While he
still stOuty maintained that he the Emperor of Sahara
he able to the force of the arguments that he had
no established domain capital city, localized gov
eminent to back up his claim Of imperial standing.
While in Brussels he met of the of the King
of Montenegro, who pointed out to him that what he
needed recognized prineipality matter how
small it This assured him that somewhere among
the Balkan States Lebaudy might with his millions pur
chase small independent government which would give
him unquesoned standing with every nation in the world
The small prnepaity of Monaco pointed out to
Lebaudy example Here little strip of terri
tory the shores of the Mediterranean Sea of only eight
square miles-a sovereignty small that walk
around its borders any afternoon between luncheon and
dinner And yet the ruler Of this little realm the Prince
of Monaco has perfectly good standing the world
If Lebaudy would purchase small piece of territory
from of the Balkan States he would instantly achieve
recognition and standing among the nations of the world
and would then have established foundation from which
he could safely build his African imperial plans as a
colonial enterprise.
The picture seemed auring and the reasoning seemed
sound Lebaudy had made little progress nLOndon He
was getting anywhere in Brussels and he had been
grossly and publicly nsulted he thought by the jockey
club He would at visit the Balkans and start all
again. Packing up his imperial belongings the En-
peror took the train his mind ahame with plans and
ambitions.