STRANGE DRAMA IN PARIS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1663, 1 February 1913, Page 6

STRANGE DRAMA IN PARIS.

ALLEGED SHOOTING AFFRAY. MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR. ( Tho Paris correspondent of the London "Daily Telegraph,'' writing on December 15, 6tates:—Paris has been startled by the revelation of a society love drama. It is newly three days now sinco, according to tho reported statomont of M. Walter do Muinra, tho young American, Mrs. Barnes,.fired upon him in tho Ruo des Beiles-Fouiilcs, in the rich quarter of Pass}'. But tho thing is only now boginning to omcrgo at all fully to the light of public day, and even yet it is not clear cxactly what occurred. M. Walter do Mumm, suffering from tho bullet wounds which, he alleges, wero inflicted by Mrs. Barnes,' lies in a nursing homo, from which reporters havo bo far boen excluded, and Mrs. Barnes, who is said to havo fired tho 6hots, has gone, no detective so far has discovered whithor. So much is clear. Beyond that one is moro-or loss in tho realm of oonjeoturo. Tho story, as one knows it at present, begins with tho arrival of Mrs. Barno3 in Paris. She camo with a legend. Mon had thrown away. their lives in despair, it was sojd. for tho young Amorican, who was in tho full flush of her beauty. It. Walter do Mumm, young, rich, unmarried, alw met ■ her, and soon there wero visits to tho theatre, to balls, and to tho races. But Mrs. Barnes gradually put nil thought of a separation resolutely from her. Tho lover, on his side, however, wearied of tho - affair, and hinted that sooner or later it must end,-, To all such suggestions Mrs. Barnes shut her ears. Elements of Tragedy. Tho family of M. do Mumm, however, had no wish that mattors should end unpleasantly. There wore" thus nil the necessary. dements of a dramatic, oven a : tragic, conclusion to the story. Such an ■ end, both tho dramatio' and tho tragic, happens a scoro \of times in humbler circles every year, and they call it a "crime passionnol," and next day tho newspapers are full of it. And then 1 in a week the current of Paris life has rolled over it, and it is forgotten. But in this ca=o tho surroundings were more elaborate.' After a supper in a fashionable restaurant, tho recollection of the lover's ooldness returned to the lady, and thc-re wero taunts and recriminations.

Tho man docs not - attempt to deny that tho end must come, that '•'tout passe, tout casso, tout lasso." Ho even reaffirms it. ■; Still tho woman does not boliovo him. It cannot all bo;end. And it seems to her as\ though destiny in .the, form of. the* man' before' her' is too mocking;, too insolent, to be borno. If the world is. to "end for • her to-night," as his words say, it must,; at any rate it will, end for him, too. ' And, eo 6ays the story, suddenly spying a revolver, sho snatches it up and fires. * ,

What happened aftervrardsP Tho stories conflict. 'At first tho rumour was that tho man, in a fury, fired upon the woman in roturn. But M. do Mumrn, as will bo seen from his, own story,, denies this. At any rato, thfe woman vanished, crossing, it is said, the''Channel, and. seeking a refuse in London; 'according, to one story,'in Brighton aooording to another; but, acording to a third, not leaving Paris. M.'do Mumm's Statement. Meantime, the wheels of Fronoh Justice have begun to revolve. A jugo destruction has waited upon M. do Mumm in tho nursing home where, ho .is, and has heard from him his version of tho affair. . He said: , ; \ "I cared for Mrs. Barnes a great deal,* though I; think she cared for mo perhaps moro.' But my family were quite definite that, in spite of our mutual ; affection, tlio thing could not go on. Separated and not divorced, she could not bo my . wife. So, to tho : inovitableness'of a parting, L feicd to, prepare my- friend. l JwWr;v , an onw li'said'•tb'-.heri'i'Wo aro vfti'y fond of each other, but thero may come a Iday when eiroumstanoos will compel us o reparato,' ' But she never seemed to think there was anvthing final in, ( any reference of thA kind I mado. i ■"fin the meantime,' sho would pay, '"fet us gather our roses whilo wo may; lot us bo happy in our happiness. One never knows. It may be that circumstances will nmto us more closely instead of driving M .apart.' Sho alluded in saying this to ■a liojm of a marriage, which I knew could never be. : " "

."Last Wednesday night wo Trent to a inifflit restaurant in the Ruo Royals. It was a merry, supper, and the champagno flowed freely, too freely, perhaps. When we reached tho, Rue deg Belles-Feuilles, worn out with excitement, it. wag almost dow ?- , Instead ofgoing to bed we sat up talking. I repeated once again to my friend that our, love most end. Sho had "ever be/oro revealed emotion at tho words. But tonight she broke into a fit of crying. 7, It turned to a .furious rage. . "It must end,-must it?" she 'cried. "Wo shall see about that," and boforo I 'could stoi> her she snatched, up a.rovol- 1 vcr and fired,' I " "Not Seriously Wounded." ■ . The magistrate interrupted at' this point with a,question: "Is it true that' you flrcd on Mrs. Barnes ?"• ho asked. "It is said that sho has been wounded, and that, instead-of. having fled to London, 6he is in a nursing homo on tho outskirts of Paris." "No," replied M." do Mumm, "sho cannot say sho fired in solf-defonoo. I neither fired upon her, nor did I striko after sho fired., I disarmed her, and was not over-gentle in doing bo,'l admit. I may have been rough, to a certain extent, but that is nil." ' ' That is tho position of matters nt tho moment of wiring. If. Walter do Slumm is tho brother of M. H. do-Mumm, a well-: known racehorso owner. The wounds ho received were , not serious, One of the •bullets, according'.to the police surgeon who accompanied the juge bruised his collhr-bone, while the other prated tho oliest., ■Ho was ablo to walk out of tho flat and hail a cab_ to tako him to tho nursing home.. It is expected ho will bo well in a fow days' time.