North Carolina Newspapers

THE ALAMANCE GLEANER VOL. LII. Miserly Mother Kills Son's Wife Shoots Young Woman for Having Heir to Fortune She Hoarded. i New York. —Almost on the very day that Mrs. Frances Stevens Hall, gray baired, wealthy and socially prominent, appeared before a jury in Somerville, N. J., charged with the killing of her husband, Mme. Galllaume Lefebvre, gray-haired, a millionaire and a mem ber of one of the most prominent families in northern France, appeared before the Assize court in the City of . Doual, charged with the murder of her young and beautiful daughter-in law, says the New York World. The trials were conducted simul taneously for some days, and while in this country a puzzled public was following the grim details of the Hall- Mills murder mystery, all France was stirred by* the most. sensational "af faire celebre" since the trial of Lan dru, the French "Bluebeard," five years ago. The parallel between the two cases Is impressive. In both instances the principals were women of sixty, who, because of the dignity of, their age and the prestige of the large fortunes they commanded, seemed secure against any misadventure with the law. Both were charged with a cap » ital crime against one of their kin . by marriage. And In both trials there was the spectacle of two men, brothers in the case of Mrs. Hall, husband and son In the case of Mme. > Lefebvre, defending their women kin , against the accusation of a heinous and indefensible crime. Both cases presented a baffling mystery: the Hall case a mystery of fact, in which the issue was the iden tity of the murderer; the Lefebvre case a psychological mystery, in which the motive for the French woman's confessed crime baffled the best legal brains of France. An Amazing Character. But here the parallel between the Hall-Lefebvre cases ends. For when, finally the aged Frenchwoman's mo tive was unraveled there was revealed _ to the world an amazing psychopathic character such as only a Balzac could have created. The Lefebvre murder could have been committed only in a Latin country. And the Hall trial, muffled In the silence of the defendants, was a "dull . show indeed compared with the Le febvre trial, eniivered continually by Latin emotionalism, Latin outbursts °f passion in both the principals and Wie audience and repeated and frantic efforts by the judges to control the uncontrollable exhibitions of French temperament throughout the trial. Exactly one year ago, in the fall of 1925, Mme. Guiliaume Lefebvre learned from her son a secret that he had fcept for five months; that his wife, Antoinette Mulle Lefebvre, was soon to give birth to an heir to the com bined Lefebvre-Mulle fortunes. On toat very day Mme. Lefebvre bought J revo 'ver and, soon after, writing to er son, asked him to call on her, Jing his wife with him and take " both for a drive lh his car. The son, obedient to his mother's *'shes, appeared several days later ' «' e Paternal home with his young * and the three set out for a n 'e. Andre Lefebvre occupied the on t seat alone. His wife and his ®°ther sat together in the rear. When e > passed through the city gates and '■fged into the suburbs, Mme. ebvre requested that her son drive " le P B '* l kuown as "Solitude L a •• Andre, without Inquiring into i inV eaSOI ' s * or th,s stran se wish, stlil ■ is manhood as pliant before the ■j """"""iding will of his "mother as he ■ ' w ' ien a child, complied. I road'- W ' len ,ie hat * reaclled "Solitude I Ik. 8,1(1 the car was humming along ■ eserte d lane, he suddenly heard from his mother. Andre I |Jx aD( * w 'iat he saw madSMiim ■ sfcV he Car to a ( ' l,ck halt Hls M(*thi 'ay back In her seat, ■lown"! str ' >!lln of crimson trickling c ' ie ek from a wound in her ■^. e - *' is mother, spent, her hands B| o u j^ zel in her lap, one of them ■ fe&tly ? T a revolver - regarded him sl ■ li, ' , e J'oung man could only ask I «j !!oniz ed question with his eyes. ■.USetiyIVe 1 Ve killed her »" the mother said B Ut a word, Andre Le ■ , Swun S the car* around apd ■Hltai ma(ily toward the city and a I Am"'* Con,,uct ®hows Motive. ■ !lt the hospital, the young Hi»»tln Waß at once hnrr led to the Blht # g room, but it was too late. ■kg dead. Mme. Lefebvre, mak ort to Bhle, d herself, was Bfctd her son, Andre, his wife i bls m °ther a prisoner, Bfc contents to see that they were intact and inquire whether the ring she wore when she had left home was still on her finger. « Questionedvagain later in the day. Mme. Lefebvre declared she had killed her daughter-in-law because she was "driving ,her son to ruin." In report ing the tragedy the following morn ing, the French newspapers described it as a crime of mother love, another "crime passlonel." As usual, the case was tried In the French press long before it came to the courts and presently, though still recognizing a crime of passion, the newspapers became aware that they were dealing with something more than a mother's love for her son, a passion just as old, but in Mme. Le febvre overshadowing any feeling she had for her offspring. The star assigned to the case got their first cue to the real mo tive for the crime in Andre Lefebvre's conduct at the hospital, when he showed, such concern about his dead wife's purse and her jewels. Their inquiry took a-definite direction when it was estimated that the entire out fit of clothing worn by the millionaire at the time of her arrest could not have exceeded In cost more than sls. And when It was learned that the yOhng couple had been quite happy and altogether devoted to each other and that, If anything, they had been living beneath their means, Mme. Le febvre's bitter charge that Antoinette Mulle was "driving her son to ruin" specifically revealed the nature of the passion which had driven lier to com mit murder. Bit by bit, in the press and legal In vestigations and during the trial, there emerged the portrait of an amazing creature, a female Harpagon, such a monster of greed as neither Moiiere nor Balzac would have dared to por tray lest they tax too heavily the cre dence of their publics. A Love Match. The marriage of Andre Lefebvre and Antoinette Mulle was, to all ap pearances, a love match, but Mme. Lefebvre made it plain to her son that she considered it a mesalliance, be cause the Mulle fortune, though con siderable, was not quite equal to their own. Shortly before the wedding, Andre announced to his mother that he was to leave on a short honeymoon after the ceremony. -Mme. Lefebvre threw up her arms In horror. Honeymoons were a waste and a needless expense, she told him. Who had/put such non sense Into his head? Probably that awful girl, who already was filling his head with extravagant notions. However, Andre insisted that It was only decent for people in their posi tion to have a honeymoon and, on the following day, he went to a travel bu reau and arranged for the trip. It was perhaps the first time in his life that the young man, thoroughly under his mother's thumb, had ever asserted himself, and Mme. Lefebvre-sensed that this alien woman not only was leading her son to extravagance but was threatening her own authority. The resentment she nurtured in creased. . She yielded to her son's wishes, but when she learned that he had pro cured first class tickets for his travels, she immediately repaired to the tour ist bureau and had them changed to second class. It did not appear at all grotesque to her that a young couple representing two of the most substan tial families in northern France should travel second class on their honeymoon! The newlyweds had been gone only four or five days when Mme. Le febyre wrote to her son that It was time he was home. ' "You seem to think you are rolling in gold. If your wife won't come with you, come home alone." . . . And this In the second week of the honey moon. Madame Grows Panicky. By now Mme. Lefebvre was grow ing decidedly panicky. Not only was she incensed that her son had mar ried a "wasteful and Improvident" woman, but she began to entertain fears for the security of their own possessions, the Lefebvre fortune, a monument to her greed which she had built, stone by stone, franc by franc, ovtr a period of half a century. When her son had married, "though it was 'Beneath him," she saw the be ginnings of a new fortune which, by saving and self-denial, would swell the Lefebvre heritage to even more Impressive magnitude. And here he was traveling, spending freely, "roll ing In gold," and perhaps destined soon to make demands upon her to maintain the swift and destructive pace his spendthrift wife was setting. If the shadow of Mme. Lefebvre clouded the young couple's honey moon, It completely overcast their . . • • »fi' • ; ' , home lHfe after they had returned Andre's ifiother was a frequent visitor, casting up the household budget and finding it excessive, urging retrench ment and saving, warning her sor. that lie would laud in the poorhouse She was shocked beyond words wher, she found that Antoinette laid a fresh white tablecloth for each meal. "But it is scandalous," she whine* to her son. "Think of the laundry bill. White linen soils so quickly. W« have always used red tablecloths and napkins at home. They last a long time without washing." She was stunned when she discov ered that her "lavish" gift of "an tique" furniture had been consigned by Antoinette to the attic and that the home was tastefully furnished with n§w and expensive equipment The discovery led to a bltier quarrel between the women, one of the first of many to follow. Mme. Lefebvre was not appeased when Antoinette explained that she could not have used the worthless junk her*mother-ln-law had given her without making herself and her hus band the laughing stock of their set. She was not appeased when the young woman explained that she was spend ing largely out of her own pocket, that her people were well-to-do, and that she had been brought up to live according to her ample means. Mme. Lefebvre emerged from each of these quarrels with the conviction that her son had married Into a fam ily of spendthrifts and wasters and that his wife would lead him Inevita bly to his ruin. Yet It was brought out at the trial that the wealthy young couple's total expenditures did not exceed $4,000 a year. Her Hatred Grows. In the heart of Mme Lefebvre there gathered a consuming hatred for her daughter-in-law and' for the whole Mulle family which was soon to come to a head. It was hatred which grew as she realized she was alone In her desperate struggle to save the Le febvre fortune. Her aged husban 1, seventy-six and long retired from bus!- 1 ness, was a mere pale, carbon copy of herself, echoing her protests and re sentments but helpless and relying entirely on his wife to fight the men ace to their wealth. He had been cowed too long by this dominant wom an to show any fight now. He was just a whining old man. Her son, Andre, a war hero many times decorated, was a spineless crea ture In her presence, his will broken* from infancy to respond to her Im perious will. Then one day Andre Lefebvre an nounced to his mother that an heir was expected. It was the spark that kindled Mme. Lefebvre's hatred to a consuming flame. This alien woman, who was bringing her son to ruin, who was wasting instead of building a fortune, was about to bring into the world another Mulle—another waster. She bought a revolver and killed the young woman whose condition of fered a new menace to her greed. The Lefebvre trial lasted only four days, but into that short time there was packed more drama than in a whole month of the Hall-Mills trial. The jury was out only ten minutes, returning with a verdict of guilty. The audience broke into cheers as the judge pronounced the sentence, "to have her head cut off In a public square of the city"—the first woman to die at the guillotine In France in many years. Says He Has Found How to Square Circle Beauvais, Prance. Solutions of problems which have baffled mathe maticians for centuries, including the squaring of the circle, are claimed by Ludovic Leepere, an amateur mathe matician, who offers to give a demon stration before a competent commis sion. Lapere says he has solved the prob lems of trisectlon of angles, multisec tion of a straight line, division of the circumferente of a circle and an angle Into equal parts; squaring the circum ference of a circle, direct superficial quadrature of a circle, development of a circumference into a straight line of equal length, and, conversely, the changing of a circumference of equal length to that of a given straight line. In addition he says he has solved the problems of duplication, triplica tion, quintuplication and septuplica tlon of the cube and Its reduction to one-fourth, one-half and three-fourths. U. S. After Fakers Who Get $500,000,000 a Year New York. —A determined fight to exterminate fake advertisements of "antifat" remedies, patent medicines for incurable diseases, beauty lotions, creams, soaps, and other cosmetics, "health belts" and industrial schools practicing fraud, will be waged by the federal trade commission. W. E. Humphrey, member of the board, in telling of the commission's plans at the convention of the Subscription Book Publishers' association, estimated that such fraudulent advertisers ob tain more than $500,000,00 annually from the public, a greater part of It coming from the poorer classes. GRAHAM, N, C., THURSDAY NOVEMBER 18, 1926. Whippet racing is the latest fad of the screen stars in Los Angeles. Pauline Starke and Matt Moore are shown irting dogs in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer championship race. Arctic Rodeos] Very Attractive Uncle Sam Conducts Rein deer Shows in Alaska — Sport Exciting. Nome, Alaska. —Weeks after the state fairs are history the annual arc tic rodeos, or great reindeer exposi tions, become big events at Kobuk, White Mountain, Noorvik, Aklak and Shaktoolik, within a day's drive of Nome and St. Michael. These reindeer rodeos, which for picturesqueness, skill of exhibition and popularity equal the roundups of the western country, often draw 10,000 natives with many white miners and trappers. Not a horse, steer, saddle or gun enters In the unique program, yet races, contests and prize-winning en tries encourage much spirited compe tition. arctic fairs are staged under the auspices of States bu reau of'education for the natives of northwestern Alaska to advance, pri marily the reindeer industry. The ro- Jeos, usually held in January, February and March, add unlimited stimulus to the reindeer business and develop keen interest among Eskimo herders and herd owners. Contests Held. Prizes are awarded in contests, as racing, roping, herding, driving, crea tion and perfection of equipment. All affairs pertaining to reindeer are dis cussed and government representa tives advise on marketing and Improv ing the breed of stock. In the sports division of these shows interest is encouraged In racing. Awards are made for short and long distance races, speed and efficiency In slaughtering, handling of tandeiu teams and sleds, breaking to harness wild deer, snowshoe running while driving reindeer, building of sleds and harness. New Ideas are examined with a view to passing the good things on to neighbors. A huge circus tent pitched on the level frozen surface of a river serves as sleeping quarters for visiting rein deer barons and to house the exhibits. The spread of canvas is In Itself a big attraction to the Eskimos, who liken Hurls Canned Goods; Bandit Is Driven Out Omaha, Neb.—A barrage of canoed goods and glass bottleil pickles which greeted a youth ful and somewhat nervous ban dit who tried to hold up the manager and two clerks In a local grocery, proved more ef fectual than the youth's gun fire and the bandit re treated empty handed. Ar thur Bubln, the proprietor, was first to huri cans at the man when he ordered "stick up your hands." The bandit fired once at Bubln, when one of the clerks began throwing bottled goods at him. The bandit fired - five shots at his second attacker, all of which went wide, and fled. The man escaped but ths day's re ceipts were saved. it to a mammoth igloo of the happy hunting land. They come each year, and every season are just as much awed by the swinging stretches of cloth and the scores of glittering elec tric lights. Last year the first prize in sled con struction was one with no bolts In joints or mortises, each being wrapped with whalebone instead of rawhide or sinew. The sled weighed 50 pounds, with a capacity strength of half a ton. The long-distance contest is a ten mile round trip. The deer start away like bullets, last season's record being 37 iqlnutes In a field of 24 entries. Reindeer'* Drawing Power. One sled reindeer mqde a pulling test by drawing on level snow a sledge laden with 2,300 pounds of sacked sand. In voting for prize winners of har ness, sleds or reindeer products the ten judges stand with their hacks to the exhibits. They turn slowly around one by one, each pointing at their par ticular choice while a government of ficial records It. A peculiar rule In racing requires that the driver must bring his rein deer In to the starting point. If the animals balk at pulling the sled and driver, then the driver In turn hauls in the shackled animal. Contestants striving against such odds create an immense amount of comedy that adds as much fame to the luckless one as Is accorded great American movie stars. Other stunts of great Interest to these Industrious Eskimos Is tying cargo onto a sled, new ways of-attqch lng harness to the animals and Dry Czar of Finland Is Here mk Hp' i Johannes Wirtanen, prohibition director of Finland, who is here studying United States methods of enforcing the prohibition law. When this photograph was taken be was testing a bottle of beer In regard to Its alcoholic content ************************** | Woman's Prayers Spur * * on Crew; All Saved * sjc jk sjc Norfolk, Va. —A woman's faith * j in prayer maintained the morale * * of the crew of ten men of the * jjj schooner Edna M. McKnight of |Jj * Boston, while it was sinking 100 * jjj miles off Virginia capes. Mrs. | I * A. Loesche, w|fe of the schoon- * er's master, and the crew were * * brought here after they had * J been rescued by the British * * steamer Itadner. The men at- * sk J tiiiJiuted their rescue to her com- J * forting words and prayers while » * they were working frantically at * * the pumps from Sunday to Tues- * * day with the ship partially sub- * I merged. ' > # Hi * ************************** trick manners of hitching tandem. The principal products of the indus try are reindeer robes, leather goods, calfskins for coat linings, moccasins, reindeer meat, milk and cheese, tal low and sausage, hot dogs and pera mlcan, and various articles carved from antlers and fresh bones. Since the herding of deer has been popularized the Alaska natives of the tundra are wealthy and surrounded with comforts. Many are gradually assuming civilized ruethods of living, using wOoden and stone houses with electric lights, eating much the same food as the white population at the coast towns. Build Big Plane* New York. —Two monster airplanes intended for regular transatlantic flights are being built in Germany, the Gefman railroads information office announces. Long Engagement London. —After an engagement last ing 25 years, John Wllsher and Mar.v Marshall were married at a Clapton church in London. NO. 41. iryummj ..JMSkY •SAVING MADE BY BALANCED RATION up ttie ration which he . was te> 'ding to his cows made a dif ference of $46.46 a month to one county, Illinois, dairyman whose i-sue Is cited by dairymen at the college of agriculture. University of 'lllinois. as evidence that It pays to make sare that dairy cows are getting the right kinds and amounts of feeds. I When (his dairyman entered his eight Jersey cows in the County Dairy Herd Improvement association he was feed ing every cow equal parts of a ration consisting of two parts ground corn and one part ground oats srpple ■nented with alfalfa hay and corn sil age. The productiorf for the first month the cows were In the associa tion wvs 2,494 pounds of milk contain ing 1W pounds of butterfat worth $50.42. *>The feed which the cows ate was wi-rth $65.96, which meant a loss of $15.54 without considering any ex pense other than feed. Upon the advice of P. J. Smith, tester In the County Herd Improve ment association, tills membei' added one-half part of soy bean meal td the rution he had been feeding and cut down the amount of grain and silage to a little more than one-half what it had been. The next month the feed bill on his cows was $43.16. a saving of. $22.50 compared to the previous month. Furthermore, on the balanced rution, the ■same eight cows increased their production to 3,597 pounds of milk containing 171 i>ounds butterfat worth $7.08 or $23.06 more than the previous month, 'this Increased value of the butterfat and the $22.80 saving in feed costs made a total improve ment of 546.46. Another member of the same asso ciation fed his cows $22.84 worth of clover bay, corfc, outs, bran and oil meal during one month and got only 918 pounds of milk containing 4&S pounds of butterfat worth $19.14 in return, a loss of $11.70. The following month a new cow was added to the herd and each cow was fed according t«J her production. The feed cost was increased only 86 cents to a total of $23.70, while the production of the three cows was 1,844 pounds of milk containing 94.4 pounds of butterfat worth $40.47, or a profit of $16.77. The total Improvement of $20.47, which came as a result of changing a loss of $3.70 into a profit of $16.77, was ac complished by feeding the surplus feed which the two cows had been receiv ing to a third cow. Money Is Well Spent in Feeds for the Dry Cows Time was when the dry cow did not get any grath feed, or at best only a small percentage of her usual amount. : But that time Is past and practical | dairymen agree that money spent on ! feed for the dry cow is money well | Invested. Veterinary people, say that the i blood pussing from the heart to the j udder carries'the food elements which go to make milk. They also tell us ' that when the cow becomes dry this ! blood stream turns to the foetus and 1 this same food supply goes to build up and nourish the body of the un ! born calf. During the last three ! months before freshening, about 65 per cent of the development of the calf i takes place. What then will be the ! result if the feed of the dry cow is materially reduced? It means that In order for a cow to freshen In good condition, maintain her original weight | and go through her lactation period doing her best, she must be fed j enough to put on 75 to 100 pounds of j (lesh. If an amount of feed for this ; purpose Is not? fed, the cow will take tleKh from her own back for the n*>ur- Islunent of the foetus und will be thin and in poor condition at time of fresh ening. Dairy Notes oooooooooooooooooooooooxx Calves should have suit as soon as they begin to eat hay and grain. • • • Feed left In the trough spoils the cow's appetite for the next meal. • • * A cost sheet is a necessity in any business. Your milk sheet is your cost sheet. • • « The cow producing Ave gallons of milk daily cannot maintain her pro duction long without some concentrat ed feed. • • • Nearly ali feeds are selling at 50 per cent of their former value and liberal feeding makes dairying a good business. *