The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-10-30

eventually was driven to suicide by his escapades. The elder Stavisky came to France in 1890, worked and saved in the crowded little Jewish quarter behind the city hall, and became naturalized.
 By dint of scraping Sacha's hard working parents sent him to one of the big colleges, the Lycee Condor cet. His leanings toward petty thievery, gambling and every kind of adventure offered in the streets of Paris soon made it evident th:t he would never be a doctor, as his parents wished, and when at the age of 16 a wealthy woman took fancy to him and took him to Deauville, the life that proved his downfall began.
 Caught Swindling in 1912
 Young as he was. he began to live on the fringe of the under world. In 1910, after being married and divorced in quick succession by a French woman, Armande Sever, he was caught in his first swindle. It was small, and his father came to his rescue. In 1912 he served IS days for passing rubber checks. Two years later he fled to Brus- sels, but the war sent him back to France. He joined the Foreign Legion, but 1t undermined his health and he was discharged three months later He promptly started a crooked bank. This time he served six months.
 After his release until 1917 he kept out of Paris, making living by various expedients in the prov inces, and then with a middle-aged woman, Jeanne Bloch, who fell in love with him, he opened a night club, but 1t collapsed and he dis appeared after Jeanne's savings and jewels had been swallowed up. Next came an arraignment on a charge of passing counterfeit pound notes, and for the first time Sta visky showed his way with the au- thorities. when the inspector, to the astonishment of the prosecution, suddenly decided to testify that he thought the notes were genuine after all. .a- e -sc, su.y .fogs4.
 Next Stavisky raised an 8O0-franc check to 48,000 francs. Brought into court, 1t developed that somehow the discriminating check had van- ished from the courts files, and the case had to be dropped.
 He became drug trafficker, fioated bogus movie companies, had a racing stable apd won races by bribing jockeys and trainers. He became police informer and seem- ingly immune from prosecution. While others with whom he was connecte were imprisoned, he went free. And slowly, he built up funds of information against men in high places, made himself dan- gerous to them and gradually in- creased the proportions of his crooked deals until, in 1926, he had several million francs. It was then that he married Arlette Simon, who had been a manniquin.
 In Gambling Trouble
 He obtained big names to back bogus company formed to get rid of valueless Hungarian bonds. He pulled several coups at French ca- sinos, which were 50 bald that his card of admittance with withdrawn. but he got it back.
 In 1929 came the near disaster when his plans to make mint of money out of the pawnshop at Orleans hit the snag of an honest and suspicious mayor. Even at that, before he mad his narrow get away there was a 65,000,000 franc shortage, which was not disclosed until the investigation of the Bay onne scandal, his last and biggest.
 Pawnshops Issue Bonds
 He picked Bayonne for two req sons. First, women, who are given costly jewels by gentlemen friends who win money in the casino, pawn this handy form of wealth with re- markable regularity. Second, Bay onne had no pawnshop. Stavisliy knew all about paWnshops which in France are not cluttered-up little stores with three balls hanging over the door, but are large official lock- ing places run by the municipal ities. And what is most important, they have the power to issue bonds in order to obtain cash.
 In his most convincing manner Stavisky approached Mayor Joseph Carat, deputy and for 25 years po- litical boss of Bayonne, and easily won him over. The town council approved, especially since rich Mir. Alexandre Che called himself Serge Alexandre that time) offered to pro- vide the necessary capital to start the pawnshop.
 Tn April. 1881, the pawnshop was set up. Aided by Louis Tissier, who