Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 February 1912 — Page 3

WORLD’S FAMOUS POLICE MYSTERIES

TRUE RECORDS OF EXTRAORDINARY CASES IN ANNALS OFCRIME

The Crimes of the Marchioness

iT is now more than two centuries since the notorious Marchioness of Brinvilliers lived and died, but her crimes have not been forgotten. They have formed the subject of many a 'romance; she has been pictured as a martyr, a woman driven to her inhuman acts by , jealously, love, or the extremity of need. But stripped of Its romantic aspect, the ' fact remains that this woman, who lived in the time of Louis IV. when France was at the height of her power and glory, was one of the most sordid and conscienceless of murders. Incidentally the circumstances attending upon the discovery of the deeds offer a curious justification for , the methods of police procedure then in existence. Torture was freely used to extort the truth from reluctant witnesses; and but for this there is little doubt but that he Marchioness would have escaped he fate which so deservedly overtook her. Portraits yet exist of the infamous Marchioness. Pretty and petite, blueeyed, with abundant fair hair and shapely hands, she proved a useful asset for her father, a gentleman named D’Aubray, who had affianced her to the Marquis de Brinvilliers. Their married life seemed to be happy enough, and five children were born to them before the Marquis began to seek other and perhaps more sprightly company. The Marchioness, not to be outdone, consoled herself with the friendship of a gentleman named St. Croix, a friend and brother officer of her husband, who himself Introduced him to her. St. Croix, who was a man of engaging address, handsome and accomplished, soongained the good will of the lady, and scandalous stories concerning their relationship began to go the round of the gossips attached to the court of Louis. The Marquis only smiled at these, but his father-in-law, a country gentleman of stricter views, was scandalized. Perhaps he .felt that, having succeeded in marrying his daughter well, he was justified in resenting any possible scandal in a family of such distinction which he had allied to his own. At any rate, M. D’Aubray went to Louis the King and obtained a letter de cachet against St. Croix, consigning that gentleman to the Bastille pending his majesty’s pleasure. St. Croix was promptly apprehended and cast Inta ‘he royal dungeon, and from that moment the trouble began. St. Croix had a companion in his cell, an Italian by name Exlll, a noted alchemist of the day who had been imprisoned for some trifling cause—possibly failure to find the philosopher’s stone on behalf of some impecunious great lord. If Exlll could not discover this great object of search among his kind, however, he had obtained a dangerous knowledge of poisons searches. The acquaintance of the two men ripened Into friendship, and Exili Imparted all his knowledge to his companion. When in course of time the whirl of fate brought about St. Croix’s release, he saw to it that Exili was also set at liberty. At a subsequent period some horrible discoveries were made in a garret of a house in which Exlll had had his laboratory. But this is mentioned merely as confirming the truth of the allegations against St. Croix, From the time of his release Exlll disappears from the story. St. Croix, set tree, professed a change of heart.'He married and settled down to the task of caring for his family. Apparently the ancient friendship between himself and the Marchioness had been effectively disrupted. Nevertheless, it was he who furnished her with the means of revenge upon her father for sending her lover to the Bastille, and incidentally, with the medium whereby she might secure the inheritance of the family property. M. D’Aubray, satisfied with hiring broken up the friendship which had threatened to deprive him of the alliance with the Brinvilliers family, forgave his daughter and, in the fall of 1666, took her to live with him upon Us country estate. Very soon afterward he was attacked by a mysterious malady. After great suffering he died In agony, and the physicians in attendance were of the opinion that the cause of death was gout, driven into the stomach. His daughter nursed him with the most tender solicitude du ring his fatal illness. There nOw remained three lives, between herself and the family property —those of her two brothers and of _ her eldest brother’s wife. The elder of the two brothers succeeded to the family inheritance and, enlarging his staff of attendants, was Induced to accept the service of a new valet named La Chaussee. On one occasion during the succeeding winter, calling for a glass’ of wine and water, he received some mixture from this man’s hand and, after drinking a small portion of It he threw the remainder away, say tag: *T believe you want to poison me, you rascal. That stuff burns like Uro.-

(Oopyrifhl by w. a. Chapman)

The dregs in the glass were tasted by others present, who agreed that the mixture apparently had contained vitriol. La Chaussee emptied the glass with many apologies, stating that he had inadvertently given his master a receptacle from which a fellow servant had taken some medicine. A short while after, while M. D’Aubray was giving a dinner party upon his estate in Beauce, the whole of the diners were seized with a serious illness after eating a pate. Upon this occasion La Chaussee had accompanied his master to the country seat. The rest recovered, but M. D’Aubray continued to grow worse. He returned to Paris, but on June 17, 1670, he died, apparently from progressive anaemia. A post-mortem examination was made by the doctors in order to determine the cause of death which was attributed to "malignant humors.” It was not longer than a few weeks before the second brother was attacked by the same disease. lie grew progressively weaker, and died before the end of the year. Again the doctors. performed a post-mortem, and suspicion of poisoning arose. They could discover nothing, however, but one of them declared that “the liver and heart were destroyed.” But one life now remained between the inheritance and the Marchioness, - The sini stor La Chaussee, having accomplished the death of two masters, sought a position with the widow of the elder brother. But the widow instinctively realized the peril that threatened her. She withdrew I to her country estate and lived actually secluded from all but her oldest servants and most Intimate friends. La Chaussee, baffled in his attempt and having no means of livelihood, wandered miserably about the Paris Streets.

Meanwhile suspicion had been rife, and it had fallen upon two persons—the Marchioness of Brinvilliers, as the one who stood to profit most by the death of her brothers and sister-in-law, and La Chaussee, the valet. Investigations were set on foot as to the relationship that had existed between them. La Chaussee had been in the employment of St. Croix, and this seemed to prove a connecting medium. Before any action was taken, however, St. Croix suddenly died, and a' new phase of the affair opened. St. Croix died in Paris on July 31, 1672, after an illness of several months. When his estate was examined it proved to be almost bankrupt. The only article likely to hold valuables was a small strong box, which the deceased by the terms of his testament specifically desired should be handed to the Marchioness of Brinvilliers. The widow of the deceased man opposed the surrender of this box, believing that it contained valuables to Which she was more entitled than the legatee. The box was therefore opened in the presence of the lieutenant civil. It contained two /papay certain’sums“ of money, signed by M. D’Aubray, the father of the Marchioness, and by a certain Pennautier. Among these two papera were several small packets of powder, two bottles full of a mysterious fluid, a pot containing opium, a small box with an “Infernal stone” Inside, and a little bundle of prescriptions marked “curious secrets.” The discovery of chemicals in those days always excited terror and suspicion. In the opinion of the lieutenant civil this box was the receptacle in which a poisoner had kept the tools of his trade. He ordered the contents to be tested immediately. A pinch of the .powder thrown into the fire produced a violet flame. The paper packets were found to contain “corrosive sublimate, Roman vitriol, antimony and powdered vitriol.” One of the bottles contained a colorless fluid which defied analysis; the other had a deposit of whitish powder. This < was administered to a pigeon, a. cat,* a dog and a turkey, and all died almost immediately; yet, when thw bodies were opened, no Internal injuried could be discovered. The report of the analysts was to the effect that the poison resisted every test that science could apply. The disco very of this fatal legacy to the Marchioness furnished a clue to the mysterious death of the two D’Aubray brothers. Three persons were clearly implicated now; the Marchioness herself, La Carussee and Pennautiet, the man whose name appeared upon the paper in the box. Orders were issued for the arrest of La Chaussee, and the valet was picked up in the Paris streets where he wandered homeless. He was searched at the police station and in one of his pockets there was found a small packet of. white powder exactly similar to that found in the strong box, which, he said, was used for sharpening razors. The Marchioness had gone into seclusion in a religious establishment at Piepus when the storm gathered around her; but, learning of La Chaussee’s arrest, she escaped by night from a window and managed to cross the frontier into the bishopric of Liege, where she sought and obtained asylum in Jg convent and gave herself up entirely to devotional ex-

By H. M. EGBERT

ercises. Even then her husband did not abandon her, but he had become bankrupt and .was unable to furnish her with means. La Chausee, interrogated, denied all knowledge of the poisoning, although it was speedily discovered that he had been intimately connected with the Marchioness. One witness,, a maid, deposed that on one occasion she bad found him concealed in the Marchioness’ room; another had heard the Marchioness praise the valet for certain services that he had rendered her. Torture was applied in vain; but, upon threat of its ronewal, La Chaussee confessed that he had poisoned the two D’Aubray brothers with poison given him by M. St. Croix who had told him that the Marchioness knew nothing of hl? design. Nevertheless he had acted as go-between for her and the dead man and affirmed his belief that the Marchioness had been cognizant of the entire murder conspiracy. Let us turn our consideration for the moment to Reich de Pennautier, whose name was found in the strong box attached to the paper. This was

a man-of lowly origin who had risen to become receiver-general for the French clergy at a salary of $50,000 a year. He had worked his way up from the bottom of the ladder by his astuteness, and his rise had been partly -due to the most opportune Afid mysterious death of several of his superiors. It was proved that he and St. Croix had come from the same part of France, that they had been intimately acquainted, and that considerable business relations had existed between them. Pennautier’s complicity in the murders was strongly suspected. But he was “too rich to be convicted,” as Count de Grammont put it One of the famous letters of Mme. de Sevigne contains an allusion to this case. “Everyone, the whole world, is working to save Pennautier,” she writes. “He has nothing to fear but the indiscretions of La Brinvilliers.”

The penniless Marchioness and La Chaussee could not purchase the indemnity which Pennautier was fortunate enough to obtain. The valet was found guilty of the murders and broken upon the wheel. As for the Marchioness, everything seemed to point to her guilt. She was proved to have uttered foolish phrases since the time when the box was opened. Even then the undisguised distress which she was strongly and unfavorably commented upon. She had exclaimed angrily that a plot was in progress to ruin her, had hinted that the police who had custody of the box were not Incorruptible, and that the incriminating evidence might be destroyed. The confession of the valet that he believed her to be an accessory in the crimes, and her own flight, sufficed to convict her. Her husband, having wasted his inheritance, had come down to his last sou andwas in hiding from his creditors. He could offer her no assistance nor obtain protection from the courtiers of -Louis. A decree of death by decapitation was pronounced against her. In those days extradition was a thing unknown. But the arm of French justice was a long one, and it was determined that she should be brought back to. the jurisdiction of Louis by stratagem. Even in those days the countrymen of Vidocq, who rose to fame long afterward, had begun to produce renowned "police spies, and a certain Francois Degrais was Intrusted with the task of luring the Marchioness back to Trench soil, or, falling that, of kidnaping her. He was a man of polished manners, insinuating, totally without scruples of any kind. If he failed in his task none other could succeed. Degrais put on the habiliments of an abbe and went to Liege, where he at once succeeded in obtaining admission to the convent in which the Marchioness was immured. At once he began to seek her friendship. The Marchioness, deprived of the gay society of the court to which she had been so long accustomed, could ill endure the enforced discipline of convent life. Theirfriendship progressed rapidly, and the abbe proved that beneath the monastic severity of his exterior he could, conceal a love for the pleasures of female companionship. One day he proposed that they should drive into the country and take breakfast at a rustic inn. The Marchioness gladly accepted and invitation, but when they arrived at their destination a carriage came bowling along the road and. stopped, and a number of police -officers dee scended and placed the Marchioness under arrest. Quite unmoved, Degrais then declared to her his identity and the ruse which, he had adopted. The carriage ’was driven at full speed across the frontier, and the arm of French justice had proved itself strong enough.to seize its .victim. The Marchioness was interrogated In the first place by a commissary. She assumed a resolute attitude and denied knowledge of everything. But she had committed one incredibly foolish act She had actually

Quite unmoved, Dagrais then declared to her his identity

made a written confession of her deeds, for what purpose is unknown. Degrais obtained leave to make an investigation of her effects and discovered this incriminating paper among them. In it the Marchioness not only admitted that she had been guilty of the murder of her father and brothers, but that she had committed numerous other offenses, many of them of a most degrading character. "I accuse myself of having poisoned my father,” ran this document. “I was angry with him because/he had sent my friend St. Croix to prison. Furthermore, I coveted his property. I also caused my brothers to be poisoned, and for the commission of this crime a servant has been broken on the wheel. I have often wished that my father was dead. Thirty “times I have desired the death of my brothers. I was anxious to poison my sister, and I gave poison five or six times to her husband, but afterward I regretted it and took great pains to cure him. Nevertheless, he always suffered from the ill effects of the dose. I accuse myself of having taken poison and also of having once given it to one of my children, becaus* she was growing tall?' When taxed with these admissions the Marchioness did not attempt to“attribute them to forgery on the part of the police spy. She claimed, however, that she had written them when in the depths of despair. Distraught, an exile, penniless in a strange land, her mind, she said, had given way; no credit must be placed in what she had written. On the way back to Paris she made several attempts to commit suicide by swallowing pins and other articles. Degrais now Instructed Barbier, one of his assistants, to pretend to sympathize w|th her and to offer her assistance. The Marchioness was once again deceived, and obtaining pens, ink and paper, she wrote a letter to an old friend who lived at Maastricht, a town which they would pass on the road to Paris. In this letter she implored her friend to attempt' to rescue her. It would be easy, she declared, for there were but eight spiritless creatures in her escort, and five men would be amply able to account for them. If he did not rescue her and also carry off the incriminating documents her cause was lost. Degrais, having read this letter, allo wed it to go to its destination, but th® friend had no stomach for the attempt and left the Marchioness se-verely-alone. Still she continued to confide in Barbier. She would make his fortune, she promised him, if he would assist her to escape. All that was necessary would be to seize and bind Degrais during one of the night halts, to kill the watchers, set fire to the house in which they were lodged, and flee. Even after her consignment to the Conciergerie prison she continued to have faith in Barbier, who upon receipt of these varied communications which the Marchioness made to him in her despair, immediately proceeded to lay them before Degrais, who in turn carried them to the authorities. These letters were considered merely as so much farther evidence of her guilt Among other persons she wrote to Pennautier, and the police eagerly scanned these, hoping to find therein conclusive evidence of his complicity, but without success.--: —— :

In spite of the decree already pronounced against her, the murderess was again put upon trial. But the evidence was overwhelming and her conviction was a foregone conclusion. The sentence pronounced by the court was that she should proceed “to the principal gate of the church of Paris, to which she shall be carried upon a cart, barefooted, with a rope round her neck and carrying a lighted torch two pounds in weight, and there upon her knees she shall say and declare that she has wickedly poisoned her father and her two brothers for vengeance and through the desire to possess their property." After the fulfilment of this task she was to be taken to the Place de la Greve, wher? her head was to be cut off and her body burnt, the ashes being afterward scattered to the winds. Before the execution of the extreme penalty, however, she was to be put to the torture, ordinary and extraordinary, in order to compel her to reveal the names of her accomplices. The question was to be applied by water. At the sight of the apparatus of torture the Marchioness declared that she would make a full confession. She did so, and acknowledgeTthat she had given poison to her father twentyeight or thirty times with her own hands, and that she had used the valet La Chaussee as a medium for killing her brothers. She had been careful, she added, to administer the druf in small quantities, so that the consequences might not become immediately apparent. She implicated a chemist, now* deceased, who, she said, had been sept to Italy for the purpose of obtaining drugs. It Is stated that until the last moment the Marchioness refused to abandon hope of a reprieve. The executioner spent a quarter of an hour trimming her kalr. In order that ft might not interfere with the sweep of his sword. We find an account of the execution in the memoirs of Mme. de Sevlgne. “It Is all over at last," she writes. "The Brinvilliers Is in space. Her poor frame, cast into a furious fire, has been consumed and the ashes thrown to the winds in order that we may all inhale the poison, with surprising effects to ourselves, as some foolish minds think. She died as she had lived, resolutely. On her way to the scaffold she only asked that the executioners would walk between her and Degrais, the scoundrel who had betrayed her.”

Fishing Rod with Pistol Handle.

Heretofore no particular care has been exercised In designing the handle of a fishing rod to suit the convenience of the fisherman; but a patent has recently been granted to an inventor on a unique handle for a fishing rod, which closely resembles that of a pistol. Extending from the butt of the pistol grip is an auxiliary handle of the type commonly used on fishing rods. Many advantages are claimed for this double form of handle. The fisherman in ordinary still fishing may support the auxiliary handle under his forearm while grasping the pistol grip In his hand. This will give him a much better leverage for MndHng a fish, and will be less tiring.

Beginning of Important Industry. May S, 1787, Is given as the date of the first attempt to engrave on glass. • . .

DEPARTMENT STORE FACTS

Vast Retail Commercial Institutions Pay Out Millions Yearly in Wages Alone. The department store of today first saw ‘pie light in the sunny land ot France 42 years ago—in to W | exact—when a venturesome Parisian divided a large building Into numer* ous departments, each of which was I devoted to the sale of a special class of goods. Paris looked and gasped, then admired, and finally patronized the departure. It succeeded, and then just to prove that imitation Is the sinew- M est flattery a number of similar stores sprang into being. . 1 Two or three years later the first department store in this country was born in Boston. Associated with the enterprising proprietors, says Harper’s Weekly, was that pirate of fOP-. tune known at that time as plain Jim Fisk; he had not then become a colonel, nor had he hoisted the black flag on the* financial seas that beat around Wall street He was a clever, hustling, Yankee peddler who had driven a gaudy and gorgeous peddler's wagon up and down New England. After Boston, Chicago entered the field; New York was a bad third, although Philadelphia dispates the claim. Then like mushrooms department stores sprang up all over the country until today there Is not an overgrown town anywhere that does not boast of an establishment in humble imitation of the great metropolitan palaces of commerce. "It takes as much generalship to organize a business like this as to organize an army,” said President ■ Grant at the opening of a department store In Philadelphia in 1877. This statement today seems to be almost modest when it Is borne in mind that J there are now two stores in this country in which the salaries paid at certain periods are at the rate of sls,- / 000 a day, or $90,000 a week, equal to ’ $4,500,000 a year—a sum approximating one-fifteenth of the public debt of the United States in 1792. These figures include of course the salaries paid not only to the sales people whom one sees but also to the “dead help,” the delivery people, office peopie, drivers, watchmen, etc., whom | one never sees. ploy from 4,000 persons at slow time up to 8,000 during the Christmas hdß> days and have payrolls averaging $lO,000 a day or $3,000,000 a year. There Is one store which at Christmas, 1910, had a population tn two cities of 14,- : 700. That would indicate a payroll of more than $20,000 a day for that period, or at the rate of more than $6,000,000 a year. What is the value of the stock that the pretty salesgirls and their dlploma tic colleagues deftly persuade ths public to -buy? From $5,000,000 to $7,000,000, the latter being the valuation about Christmas time. The stock contains anything from a spool of cotton costing a penny to a piece i? of antique lace costing SI,OOO a yard, 4 from a five-cent scarfpin to a $50,000 necklace, from a fur piece costing one dollar to a sable wrap worth $15,000.