Evening star., 1938-08-07
FRENCH SEEKING
7 TREASURE HEIRS
Louis NiveI|e Gold Hoard Is
Found in Tearing Down
18th Century House.
BY PHILIP CARR.

.,old house
=. 1t will be remembered that the first
and by far the largest find was made
"a few weeks ago when workmen were
.tengaged in the demolition of 18th
century house in perhaps the most
ancient quarter of Paris-for the re-
mains of the Roman amphitheater are
!: not a hundred yards away. They
,came upon cavity in one of the walls
land in it were bags containing about
5000 gold coins of the reigns of Louis
XIV and Louis XIV, estimated to be
= worth today about $40 each for their
weight in gold alone. to say nothing
,,of their collectors value.
-. Document Found.
: With the bags there was also a
document giving the name of the man
.-who had hidden them there and ex-
planned why he did 1t. The man was
Louis Nivelle, equerry to King Louis
XIV. He wanted his younger daughter
to get the money when he died, and
did not wish it to go to his older
daughter.
How was it that the younger
daughter never did get this money?
We know that she inherited most of
+. his wealth, including the house. For
those men of law, the notaries, who
look after transfers of property in
France, have always had their
"etudes" or businesses handed down to
them by their fathers and grand
fathers before them or also have
hN1
who have preserved records going
back for many generations.
1t has been possible. therefore, to
find out that the elder daughter Of
Louis Nivelle only received as her por-
ton the minimum beneath which her
father was not allowed to disinherit
her.
Mother Favors Younger Daughter.
Eventually the mother also made
over the greater part Of her fortune
by q deed OF gift to the younger
daughter instead OF the elder This
fortune consisted Of considerable house
property and sum Of $4,000 ''livres"
,(about $4,000.
This younger daughter consequent
~ came in for nice little fortune.
How was it that she never had this
particular nest egg? Did Louis Nivelle,
besides leaving her the house, also
leave her q secret letter revealing
where the bags were hidden in the
wall, and did she never receive that
letter? Or did he mean to explain to
her by word of mouth, and did he die
suddenly before he had the oppor-
tunity? Or did he summon her to
his deathbed in order to tell her, and
die before she arrived?
This younger daughter married Le-
tariel de Forges, who died in 1910
without direct heirs. but leaving his
property to be divided among four
first cousins. all of whom had children.
Owners Known.
Consequently there are heirs to the
hoard and 1t is not question of
what in England is called treasure
trove," or the finding of treasure Of
which there are no known owners, In
which case, under French law, the
treasure would have been divided in
certain proportions among the actual
which it was found and the state.
The money was clearly the property
of Louis Nivelle. and he left heirs who,
in their turn, left heirs. 1t is these
ultimate heirs who are therefore the
owners of the hoard today. Although
some Of these heirs are known, some
have still to be found, and pending
finding all OF them. so that the money
may be equitably divided among them,
another legal official, a "huissier,"
who has taken charge of the treasure.
The remarkable thing about those
heirs who are known is there is not
one of them who may be described as
being in such straitened circumstances
that the windfall of his share of the
treasure could be regarded as being
to any great extent godsend to him.
This is indeed an illustration Of the
curious and rather surprising truth
that, in spite of the French revolution,
the French official. legal and military
caste is still to some extent a closed
corporation, limited to certain num-
ber Of families.
Four Cousins Listed.
Louis Nivelle belonged to this official
caste He was the Kings equerry.
Now look at the four cousins to whom
Louis Nivelle's son-in-law, M. de
Forges, left his fortune.
The first was Judge of the Tri-
bunal de la Seine. in Paris, and his
heirs are the two well-known higher
bourgeois families of Du Chatelet and
Grandmaison.
The second was a professor at the
Lycee of Caen, in Normandie, and his
present heirs are general of artillery,
deputy governor Of the Bank Of
France and an attache in the French
diplomatic service
The third and fourth cousins may
have descendants who would be glad
Of the money: for, although some of
them are in France and quite COM
fortably off-one Of them Is horse
breeder-others emigrated at the time
OF the July revolution in 1880. when
the restored bourbon Charles x, who
had succeeded his brother. Louis
XVIII. was driven out in favor of
Louis Philippe, who became. not king
of France" but King of the French
people"
Some Of those who emigrated are
known to have gone to England and
others may even have gone to the
United States. If there is any one in
either of these countries who can prove
his descent from either Hult de Thun-
cry or Charles Robert de Prize, both
of when were heirs of their cousin.
Lejariel de Forges, they may hear of
something to their advantage.
(copyrisht. 1898, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. 1nc.)
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