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Show LOSES ANOTHER OFITSILLOSIONS t Young Germany Has Been Robbed of an Ideal Author. KARL MAY NOT THE GREAT TRAVELER OP WORLD Man Who Had Been All Over the World Never Out of Germany. BY MAIK30ME CLAHK. Special Cable to The Tribune. BERLIN, May 7. Oermany and especially espe-cially young Germany, has just been robbed of one of its most cherished illusions. illu-sions. Who In the land of tho kaiser has not heard of Karl May, traveler, author and man of adventure? He has written a whole library describing his explorations explora-tions In remoto corners of tho oarth, and many a story book based on his strange experiences In thoso far lands. His villa at Dresden is crowded with curios which andh HS Ena" bck frora h,fl "K-anderings, n" J,Z ias ofttn liaPPeod that a prlnco-thaPf,?r,aB0 prlnco-thaPf,?r,aB0 has drPPed In to inspect I,?1 t?10 mueun of the veteran voy-,i voy-,i Tnfl "nder-stood that Karl May spoke all languages that no one else In tnp Immediate neighborhood knew anything any-thing about. Chinese and Choctaw were roilno. Sinning- of the linguistic at- uio Karl May of a few weeks ago. All Is Changed. fr,f"iL tU thtu. 1l'?R now ben changed. JSLh0 ?a .E0 lndiscreot as to appear as prosocutor In a libel action. Some one! it appears, had referred to liim as a born criminal." Unfortunatoly for him. t ie person In question undertook to prove that accusation, and his lawyer told a story about Karl May very nearlv as strange as those which that prolific writer lli'L 1,ab,!t of teUln about himself only of rather a dirferont order. To begin with, he offered to prove that the far traveled May, who is now GS. had never been outsido of Germanv till 1000, when Ills works of travel had" long been getting a little musty. He admitted that -May had experienced adventures, and those of a very remarkable kind. Has Criminal Career. In 1SG9. he 3ald, plaintiff, who already had sentences of six weeks' imprisonment and four years penal servitude behind him, relapsed Into a career of crime, and was soon wanted on a warrant. To escape es-cape arrest he took rcfugo in tho depths of tlie Sileslan forest, where he found a fellow outlaw in one Louis KruogeJ a deserter, who had left his regiment with a large sum of monev out of tho company's cosh box. The pair swore eternal friendship, and agreed, with other kindred spirits, to found a band of robbers. rob-bers. Headquarters in Cavo. A cave curtained with moss on the Paldonburg- domain was the houdquar-ters houdquar-ters of May and hi3 merry men. From thin center they practiced innumerable villlanies. Their specialty was to attack at-tack peasant women returning from market mar-ket and rob thorn of the produce of their salos. At last their raids established such a state of terror that attendance at the markets began to fall off. The towns of Hohcnsteln and Ernsthall accordingly entreated tho government to send a force of troops to clear Iho neighborhood of tho bandits. This ws-s dono, and with the assistance of tho local fire brigades and gymnastic clubs tlie soldiers proceeded pro-ceeded to beat tho woods. Tho two ring-loaders ring-loaders of the robber band saved them-solves them-solves by an ingenious and daring trick. Among, the plunder piled up in their cave thoy had found tho uniform of a Saxon wardor. This May put on, and. having tied Krucgel's hands behind his back, he marched him unmolcstod through the encompassing ring. Eluded the Officers. On another occasion they "were silting In an Inn. where a couple of gendarmes who wore searching for them rode up. As the gendarmes entered tho building May and Kruegol dropped from a window, and leaping on to horses, galloped off. Those were tho most Interesting, though by no means the only Incidents of a questionable nature which defendant proposed pro-posed to pro'o out of the lifo of the famous fa-mous Ivarl May. Tho latter denied the truth of these tales, but was obliged lo admit his acquaintance with the inside of prison walls, though under what circumstances cir-cumstances lie declined to state. To make a long story short, the court without with-out calling on the defendant to provo his assertions, dismissed tho oase, and Germany Ger-many has lost another of Its Illusions. |