Show 7a Insert at Left: Count Frederic de Janze Who Stuck by the I Pjfi jPh 7A v 11 1 n '" & m ¥- 14 ill ! O J fi "Shooting Countess" Until It Became Evident That She Would Recover from Her Wound V- - "33 II Ijfl i B I is i Ludicrously Lenient Decision of a Gallant French Court in "Rebuking" a Chicago Beauty for Her Lovelorn Melodrama isses Tears and Firearms U "Hysterical witnesses declared the Countess had Wounded jde Trafford while cayins rood-- ? bye to hint In his com partment in the train' ''-'''- v 1 4 ? Vf-S- ' k s PCrsfnl a J 5S q the best and when In 1921 she married Count Frederic de Janze Mrs John J Mitchell the former Lolita Ogden Armour was matron 6f honor at the wedding Unlike many of Europe's effete nobility the The de young Count was not a fortune-huntJanzes have considerable money One of them was manager of the vast estates of the Due de Rohan whose position was lofty before the Revolution The de Janzes acquired wealth then jand despite the turmoil of pikes and arquebussea which surged around them they managed to retain most of it The young Count's father and mother were highly esteemed by the late King Edward VII- of England for their charming social qualities And the son proved a worthy bearer of the fam- He is a sportsman and athlete ily traditions as guest or host and the best either charming drawing rooms1 In Paris London and New York ' V always are open to him To connect thi3 "base" and "altitude" Mr Raymond Vincent de Trafford son of the head of a very old English offered to family serve as "hypoten use" Thus the tri angle was complete As is usually the case the young Count and his American wife were considered PARIS fined four dold OR shooting lars I" This astonishing pronouncement recently handed down by a Paris boy-frien- court In the case of the most sets a record for Continental justice France may not have signal honors at recent - i i er Countess de Janze alat least one kind of acquitted herself with Her Geneva parleys in some as be claim the may sagging diplomacy middle her statesmen may be finding it difficult to keep their charges from Communist embroilments But whatever else is happening in this land of plot and counterplot when it comes to affairs of the heart French magistrates still mind with amuse and shock the Anglo-Saxo- n certain amazing opinions they hand down Thelatest instance of this came recently with the settlement charges of attempted murder against the beautiful Countess de Janze before her marriage Miss Alice Silverthorne of Chicago To sum up the situation it was a question of a heart broken by love a lung punctured by a bullet—and the French Court found the difference to be worth about 100 francs Aside from its interest as a masterpiece of French Jurisprudence the case has few parallels for exhibiting the airy grace still to be found It among a portion of the European nobility was a severe test of the "code" inculcated in succeeding generations of Europe's rulers and most of the principals weathered the ordeal with colors ' flying The "eternal triangle" long the sign and symbol of French literature inspiration of the beloved Anatole France and pet aversion of those custodians of the public moral and virtue was of course the plot upon which the little life drama was built The threads which later were to be woven into a compact and interesting fabric originated in widely separated corners of the earth Alice Silverthorne daughter of William Silverthorne of Chicago and cousin of J Ogden Armour multimillionaire of that city was the central figure Heiress to a vast fortune Miss Silverthorne was a decidedly attractive but highly temperamental girl Her social connections were of self-elect- j ? t ' the ' ed Above: Striking Photo of the Former Countess de Janze (Before Iler of Ufarrlage Alice Silverthorne Chicago) Whose Railway Melodrama Has Just Come to B "ideal couple" They cut a wide and shimmering swath through the social world in which they were pleased to live and also found time to have two children Finally however the' social whirl began to pall on the high-struCountess She became depressed and the Count always el Serio-Comi- c ng thoughtful ofwife's comfort took) her to Kenya thel - v " (irM nrn iiiimiiiiiiiriiiiliiiiiiiriiiiflrifiiniifii Photo-Diagra- m AJYJrM1 vv m mi nr r "J" f t V--r ' V¥"f Traitora Wearing the Uniform of the Coldstream Guards: Taken Shortly Before the Sanguinary Gare du Nord Episode 4 x - v - ' ' s vt ' mm-- i V " - J "fr s 'j' V v - - I ' - whose chief concern is tangling the woeful affairs British colony in East Afof mortals wa3 chuckling up his sleeve and everyrica which was then very body was waiting for the next move But while popular with London and the drama had its facetious side to the observers Continental society it was very serious for the Countess and her Here the separate strands young lover of the triangle began to De Sir Humphrey de Trafford from the vantage gather and weave Trafford was at Kenya point of his London club had been watching de- and while the Count de velopmenta and reached the conclusion that matHe called upon his ters had gone far enough Janze was off hunting lions son for a conference pointed out that the young in the interior the Countess man must break off his affair with the Countess and de Trafford found each De Trafford Ireached Paris sought the Countess other's society interesting de Janze and told her that their affair must end to de Janzes returned! The Everyone was very polite but also everyone Paris separated and divorce was very firm and it looked as if the Countess proceedings were instituted They would have to put her love in her pocket and were not pushed to a conclusion De Trafford make the best of a bad situation but the Countess returned to to to a reservareturn secured decided England de and Trafford Kenya joined boat and Countess a on and the train he tion announced that she intended to du Gare the Nord for started make her home in Africa They were strolling up the broad Avenue de By this time tongues were when the American girl suggested that POpera wagging The "my dear and c they stop at a gunsmith's shop while she made a heard j?" She would be alone at night she expurchase launched at the and wanted a revolver for protection plained Ritz In Paris Her escort readily agreed and they spent a half awoke an echo hour or so looking at automatics Finally the in the Ritz In Countess selected a business-lik- e looking weapon New York and and they proceeded to the station 1 bounded back j Here she excused herself visited a rest room I to Claridge's in where she loaded the weapon and returned a few time They were standing London The minutes before train beside the train which was due to pull out in a sprite I ! X v- - -- k k j little i &£BIG i Published in a French Journal Visualizing One of the Theories as to How the Shooting Took Place But Since Disproved i ' v ' V inrtiiinwfciii— ) Raymond de Conclusion moment Young de Traff ord's arm stole around the waist of the woman he was leaving and her Her right left hand clutched his coat collar hand pressed against him the conductor shouted the train gave a perfunctory jerk and the two drew close in a fond farewell embrace Their lips met in one last burning kiss and then there was a muffled explosion De Trafford staggered back clutching at his breast and fell A second later there was anto the platform other shot and the Countess a smoking automatic in her hand fell beside her lover The Countes3 and de Trafford were removed to a hospital Police who arrived shortly afterward were Hysgiven several versions of the shooting terical witnesses said it had happened on the plat- form others declared the Countess had wounded to him in his her lover while saying good-by- e others constill and in the train compartment tended that the shooting had taken place when he leaned out of the window to kiss her good-by- e as she stood on the platform They were both seriously wounded and it was if either would recover But while the a toss-u- p surgeons worked over de Trafford a policeman hovered about waiting to get a statement if the Englishman revived sufficiently De Trafford's eyelids fluttered he opened his eyes and the representative of the law stepped They exchanged a few forward expectantly "How did it happen?" echoed words in French de Trafford "Why Madame attempted suicide I tried to 6top her and the weapon was accidental- A deplorable accident 6urely Iy discharged but yet an accident 1" Then he lapsed into - unconsciousness The Countess told a different story She had She Her heart was breaking been miserable could not tolerate the thought that her lover was to leave her She had intended suicide when she bought the gun She had intended suicide when And she embraced de Trafford at the station then — a flood of blind emotion had swept her off her feet! She wanted to kill! to crush the thing she loved and crush her own spark of life at the Her finger contracted in spas- same instant modic motion De Trafford was stretched at her i s f - : j j - - - J i of the Keen Piercing Magnetic Eyes I A Close-u- p Orbs of the Countess Clearly Revealing the Temperamental Nature of Their Owner feet and she not wishing to live had sent a bullet into her own body For weeks the two hung between an earthly 'existence and that nether region beyond the I i j I I i eombre Styx But both recovered and appeared ' in court The Countess was In radiant costume but her face was pale and her expression intense De trafford was phlegmatic and taciturn The court was crowded with a fashionable' audience front De TrafEngland America and the Continent ford was asked if he wished to press charges surprise and against the Countess He exhibited Of course he did notl annoyance' de TrafTord Asked about the' shooting replied: " - "I am responsible She was leaving saw the revolver I took Madame — in my then the shot" me arms-- I The Court waited a moment looked stem and "One hundred francs fine and six months in jail I Jail sentence suspended V Her little experiment The Countess blinked And to properly round off was to cost her $4 the case the Court administered a rebuke to de Trafford : "He failed in his duty and did this from selfish interest if he failed to keep his word because he feared his allowance would be cut off"' Where goes the tangled skein from there? No one dares answer but it is safe to predict that somewhere between the pages of the Social Register there is an answer to this question A certain socially prominent young American matron is being mentioned as the next Countess de Janze Friends who know the former Countess well smile knowingly and intimate that the probably will venture aain upon the matrimonial sea "And why not?" they ask For so long as there are French courts and sympathetic judges there for a poor Countesajwith a always is a chance 1 broken heart then passed sentence ' 10 |