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VOL. XLI
PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY 31QRMXG, OCTOBER 8, 1923
NO. 41
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"Count Gregory," who died in-a swindlerV prison cell, was suchla
clever.imposter that Mrs. John Jacob Astor.held
la reception in his honor. , ;
ACROSS the screen of public happen
ings frequently there flashes a fig
ure that engages the attention of
the world hy posing as someone ha never
was and never could be.
Such a figure is the self-styled Prince
Henri de Chateroux de Bussigny de Bour
bon. He was "heir to the throne of
France" to those he deceived in New York
city, but plain Harold Schwann, factory
hand in his native town. New Britain,
Conn., to those who really know him.
Such a figure, too, is Stephen Wein
berg, now serving a term in Atlanta fed
eral prison, who represented himself as
Lieutenant Stanley Weyman, TJ. S. N., and
also as plenipotentiary to foreign govern
ments from this country.
Yet science, througn the medium of the
psycho-analyst, Andre Tridon, now comes
forward with the disconcerting statement
that these two and the "Count Gregorys"
and the Cassie Chad wicks and the "Lord
Grays" are not criminal. "They are
simply men with children's brain playing
out the parts of a fairy tale which their
defective minds invented," says M. Tri
don. "They're just like children 'play
ing house' or 'getting married. " .
Other psychologists arrive at a similar
verdict.
Those who do not fall prey to this
class of fakirs are loud in their sarcastii
criticism of those who were victimized.
Nevertheless, such individuals will go on
deceiving trustful folk just because the
average good citizen takes a man at his
word and has too much courtesy and too
little time to go about the task of Inquir
ing here and searching there for the proof
that a "count" is what he says he is.
Schwann and Weinberg were principal
ly interested in being regarded as "some
body." Cassie Chadwick, "Count Greg
ory" and "Lord Gray" got an easy living
out of it.
There is a strange parallel in the cases
, of Schwann and Weinberg. Each comes
of poor parents. Each exhibits a-mania
, for gew-gaws . and glittering uniforms.
Each has an engaging personality. Each
shows a' fondness for' titles. ; The esca
pades of one closely resemble the esca
pades of the other. Harold Schwann, ex
factory hand of New Britain, Conn., fake
prince, and Stephen Weinberg, grocery
clerk of Brooklyn, N. Y., might well have
- been twins. :
Schwann, the Fake Princes "
1- Associated In a Xaka million-dollar
" scheme, with the notorious "Lord James
Douglas . Moore Gray" and traveled
through New England accompanied by
"Lady Gray" and the '"Princes(S de Bour
bon." "Lord Cray" is now reported serv
ing time in a British prison.
2 Represented himself as the adopted
son of John D. Rockefeller.
- 3--Employed a secretary and support
ed an apartment with a dog and a monkey
as his companions.
4 Claimed to be the "leader" of 4,
600,000 Russians. -
5 Claimed to-be "heir" to the throne
of France. .
6 Carried four women, it is alleged.
. Weinberg, the Fake Naval Officer.
1 As "Commander Stanley Weyman,
TJ. S. N.,' gave dinner in 1913 in New
York city to vice-president of San Salva
dor, to which country he said he was
consul. :
2 As "Lieutenant-Commander Ethan
Allen Weinberg, IT. S. N.." paid an of ficial
visit to the United States battleship
Wyoming in the North river and a few "
nights later gave a dinner to the officers
of that ship.
3 Represented himself as Captain .
Rodney Sterling Wyman, liason officer
for Harold. F. McCormick, the millionaire
harvester king, in the latter's marital
troubles.
4 As Dr. Clifford Sterling Weyman
became secretary to Dr. Adolph -Lorenz,
the famous Austrian orthopedic surgeon.
ii,
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The Scientist Tridon Explains
Why There Are so Many lmpos
ters Such as Harold Schwann, the
Latest to Pretend to-Royal Blood
When Only a Connecticut Fac
tory Hand
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Harold Schwann ("Prince Henri de Chateroux de Bussigny de Bouf-.bon'-'.
the.Connecticut factory hand who posed as a nobleman.
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J'Lord and Lady'Gray. His lord
ship was actually a London catv
driver's son, but he imposed him
self on the gullible rich in this
country and captured two wealthy
.heiresses as brides?
in to Impress the other sex, but to satiate
bis vanity. The "prince's" wives after
Ethel Abets of New Britain, who divorced
him for cruelty, are: Miss Catherine Lynn
of Marcella street. Roxbury, Mass.. wbora
he married as "Dr. Henry Van Buren of
the Russian general staff": Anna rotor
son, a nurse, of Taunton, Mass., and Lil
lian Wllkomerson, a laboratory assistant
at the Metropolitan hospital on Black
well's Island, where the "prince" was em
ployed for $75 a month waile he corn-
Catherine Lynn of Dorchester, Mass., who was the third to- marry
Schwann. She had her marriage annulled.
5 Forged United States Senator Will- serving , a two-year term .for impersonat-
lam M. Calder's name to a check. '' ing a United States naval officer.
t Is now in Atlanta federal prison As C o m pi a 5 & e r-Stanley. Weyman,
Lillian Wilkomerson, who believed
she had become the "Princess de
, Bourbon" wheu 'she wed the
t fraudulent "Prince .Henri."
H. S. X. tec wefcs T3ie3 practiced
teoegOon tiat xras JaausiJaa: stock of
prosiiaieat tadfridaaJs. AC Oancemora
prison, wtara fc eseej orwed term for
awtmaHns, . Wtae3rs vra examined by
Dr. Jobs R. Ko!i. sapertntextdent of the
hospital for the criminal insane. "Maniac
depressive insanity, with Instability,
grandiose. Ideas and Insane elation." ran
that report in part,
' The chief difference between the two
swindlers is their attitude toward the
women. Mrs. Emile Schwann, mother of
the "prince," is authority for the state
ment that Harold married when he was
15. It is alleged he has married three
other girls since. But Weinberg appears
never to have troubled himself abont the
girls. Even though he had the obsession
or regalia, he seemed to desire ft uniform
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Stephen Weinberg, who wanted fo
be "somebody" and posed as a
diplomat until he was caught mas-'
querading in a U. S. naval uniform.
Now. he's Uncle Sam's "guest" at
Atlanta federal .prison,
plained of 135.0tt n.: up in litigation
at Boston."
While "Prince Henry" w pyln
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