The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1921-11-21
BLUEBEARD CASE
INTERESTS THE
FRENCH PUBLIC
Strange Court Procedure
StartIeS AnhericanS-Lan-
dru Defends His
Own Case
BY GRANT GORDON
Special Cable to The AEe-Heraid.
(CopyriEht, 1921

| 6dnpdlS mas given ParlS It's great
/ est thrill since the 75-mle gun bonn
barded the French capital. 1t is
gay. mad trial, sort of free for all
battle royal. which ends up each day
in a bitter quarrel-judge. prisoner
and spectators taking part in the
| shouting and tongue lashing. The
| Bluebeard. who wears black beard,
had 2S3 love affairs, according to the
latest calculations, but he expects
more IL he keeps his head,)
Versailles, November I9-Another
| of those amazing French trials has
held the country spellbound for the
last fortnight, and has threatened
at times to crowd the Washington
conference entirely out of the French
newspapers. So much so, in fact,
that the prisoner at the bar cried out
| in spectacular rage one. day against
the prominence given him, protesting
that the attempt to disarm the ma
tions of the world was of vastly
greater Importance than his attempt
to cheat the polished blade of the
gullotine.
Tile trial is of Henri Desire Lam
Qru, the blueDeaTu OF 1dhOdlS, Ing
man of 2SS love Affairs. accused of
the murder of 10 of his frances as
we'll as the little son of one of them.
Daily the stuffy little court of as
sizes has been stormed by women of
fashion and the great luminaries of
the French stage--
A Paris newspaper has been con-
Quoting a symposium as to what
should be done with this so-calied
modern Bluebeard; what should be
done with any man of 2SS ."arraires
due Coeur?" The question was put to
distinguished actress
Actress Opinion
1.-TWO hundred and eighty three af-
fairs" she responded, mon dieu, the
man should be given the Legion of
Honor"
An American visiting the court
room and lacking previous knowledge
of French Jurisprudence. would think
himself in a madhouse. Most of the
day is taken up with wrangles be-
tween Presiding Judge Gilbert and
the prisoner, seated in the dock not
far from the bench The Judge hurts
charge after charge at Landru and
the prisoner lashes back with a
vengeful tongue. At times both be-
gin talking at once. and the excite
ment among the spectators reaches
fever heat. Occasionally the court
room laughs at some sally by the
Judge against the prisoner.
Shut up" yells Landru, this is
laughing matter. l am defending my
poor head"
All of which calls for more laugh
ter.
Every now and then other wit
htff WhaneVPr dull
ness threatens the proceedings
either the Judge or the prosecutor
turns upon the prisoner and proceeds
to berate him soundly. Then the
courtroom goes into an uproar ana
the debate becomes general Through
all the noise and Commissions Jury
of stolid peasant farmers is all put
forgotten. The divisions noticed IN
the courtroom crowd are indicative
of all France today You either are
a Landruist or an anti-Landruist.
Nothing else happens
Former sweethearts
Virtually all of the witnesses
AGAINST Laudru are his former sweet
hearts They are applauded or
Missed as they tell of their visits to
his villa at Gambais, the villa from
which the police say 10 OF the 2SS
women failed to return. OCCASION
ally a note of boastfulness from one
of the former sweethearts brings
teers and "ha has" from the others
The trial is a vaudeville show and
Landru is the chief actor in II. he
has a famous Corsican duellist as MS
attorney, NJ Moro-Giafferi but the
master seldom is heard from, Landru
conducting his own CAGE with cum
ming skill which more than ofteh
turns tables on his accusers. He mas
had a grilling every day of the trial.
He exults in 1t. He chats at the stu
p,dity of some of the witnesses for
the prosecution and never lets an
opportunity pass to slur the police.
Speaking of grilling. the trail oc-
casionally takes a CHASTITY turn when
the court at a certain hour each day
accuses Landru of having cut up and
burned his victims in his villa cook
stove.
The case is circumstantial. The
victims disappeared and many Of their
personal belongings and trinkets
were found when police raided Gam
balls villa The theory is that Ian
dru killed some of the women Tor
money, but he is said to have netteu
not more than $4,000 francs from the
entire lot.
RANGE From 10 to 90
Landru's conauests were not brill
liant lot, Judging by the former
sweetheart witnesses. Many OF them
were billiards They ranged in age
from 16 to 60, however and ietters
to one of his 51-year-old victims al
WAYS began Petite Frippone," mean
ing Little Rascal" Partisan women
insist they see no attraction in Lam
dru. He wears the beard of poilu.
is not impressive in height or bear
ing, but tries to keep himself I'M
maculate in appearance. The oniy
thing unusual about the man is
look in his eye. Some say II is
terminal eve. others insist ii Is hyp-
motto. In any event it is strange.
some of the details of ctrcum-
stances built up against the prisoner
are interesting. Each time Victim
disappeared the prosecutor mas peen
BILE to show Landru bought round
TRIP ticket for himself to Gampais'
but only single passage Tor MS
fiance But Dandru has Nnotner eA
planation. He did not want the
iarcee To feel she was not free to
STAY at Ganlbais as long as she de-
sired. 1t would have been an insult
to buy her a round-trip ticket
eleven Murders ut Once
Lanlru is being tried for all IL
of the. murders at once. Nothing IKE
that could happen in America Ana
the Judge who acts mostly as prose-
cutor as we'll as judge jumps from
victim to victim in an attempt to en-
tap the prisoner.
.Tell me-" demands the court, what
tecame of Mile Andree?
None Of your business" shouts
Landru. MY private affairs are OF
no concern to the public. to the po-
lice or to justice.
| ..a-,, ,aaHs m anOear as