Daily Advocate, Baton Rouge, Fri. Mar. 1, 1901, Page 1
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"ONCE RICH, DIED POOR
---------
Story of the Count Joseph de Susini, of Cuba
------
New York, Jan. 23 - The Sun prints the following:
Count Joseph de Susini, who was accounted ten times a millionaire in Cuba, in his palmy days when he controlled the cigarette industry there, died yesterday at 4612 E. 11th street. Few, if any of the old friends of Count de Susini knew where he lived and how. He did not care to expose himself to their sympathy. With his son Baron Justus Susini, who is an American citizen, and his son's wife he waited patiently for the tide of prosperity to turn in his favor, as he always believed it would, when Mexico paid back to him the money he lent to the State of Yucatan in its extremity. The count's death was caused by eczema which was brought out by the renewing of a wound received in a duel in 1838, when he was one of the leading young bloods in Havana and when stories of his gallantries and his spirit were the nightly talk of the cafes.
To the other people in the tenement at 412 East Eleventh street the rank and past wealth of the Count de Susiini were quite unknown. They knew that his son was a teacher of languages and that he was a far better educated man than the rest of them; but the old gentleman they seldom saw. When he went abroad he was ceremoniously courteous to the humblest of them, but he was absolutely uncommunicative. On Thursday he will be buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. It is not likely that any other man who possessed the orders and the honors of the Count de Susini ever had a funeral quite so simple. The count was a guard of the Apostolic Palace by the appointment of the Pope Pius IX. He was a Commander of the Holy Sepulcher of the Order of the Grand Cross of Malta; he had the right to wear the Grand Cross of Benevolence, a Spanish order given to those famed for their philanthropy, and was a member of the Portuguese Order of Christ, the Spanish Order of King Charles III., and the Order of Isabella Catholic, bestowed upon those who accomplished great things in the Western Hemisphere. He was the possessor of thirty-eight orders altogether. His parents were descended from the nobility of the Corsica, whence the title had been one of the highest.
Count de Susini's father was one of the wealthiest tobacco merchants of Havana. On his father's death the count succeeded to the business and built it up rapidly. He was the founder of the 'La Hernandez' cigarette factory, which had a capacity of 6,000,000 cigarettes a day and employed 5,000 hands. This factory was for years one of the sights of Cuba. Count de Susini came to New York after the factory was complete and purchased fire apparatus here that cost him more than $50,000. This he installed int he factory. Within a few days after it reached Havana a serious fire stared in the city, with which the city fire department could do nothing. As Count Justus de Susini told most dramatically to visitors at the house yesterday, Count Joseph de Susini, at the head of his own fire department of 600 employes, dashed out of the factory enclosure with their new apparatus from the United States and saved the city. Count de Susini prided himself on his ability to be the first (missing line of text) He presented his wife with the first sewing machine that was ever exported from the United States. He set up the first electric light plant in Cuba and imported the first street cars that Havana had. The lithograph presses he used for the printing of the labels of his cigarette packages were the first that were taken into the island.
In the days of his greatest prosperity, when his fortune was estimated at $10,000,000, Count de Susini provided for the care and instruction of fifty orphans and printed in the printing department of his factory all the books for the charity schools, and the other benevolent institution of Havana. For his many philanthropies the city of Havana granted him the right to use the seal and coat of arms of the city. In the 70's he was elected Mayor of Havana and after that was sent as a delegate to the Spanish Cortes.
De Susini came to grief through the failure of a vast plan he had arranged for the obtaining a concession from the Spanish government giving him an absolute monopoly of the cigarette business. The Rothschilds undertook to finance the plan and as security for his good faith De Susini pledged all his Cuban possessions. He was so sure of success, moreover, that he began the erection of cigarette factories in Seville and Madrid. The Franco-Prussian war started in the midst of the negotiations an they all fell through one after another. Within a year or two there was very little left of the DeSusini fortune. But there was still enough to give him a 'fresh start.' The outbreak of the Cuban revolution swept this away. He went to France and for many years lived most simply in Paris.
He sold the right to use his name and his brand in the manufacture of cigarettes to one Sanderson. Sanderson passed it on to another manufacturer who, in turn, sold out to the English Tobacco Trust. De Susini and his son always contended that Sanderson had not bought the right to assign the name to others and they have brought suit against the manufacturers of the brand for $1,000,000. They won their suit, Count Justus said yesterday, and it is now before the Court of Appeals of Cuba.
In 1858 when Count Joseph de Susini was in Yucatan he was visited by the governor of the state, who told him that the savage tribes were making a great deal of trouble on the Boundaries of the State and that the troops of the state could not hold their own against them; the soldiers had no clothing and but little food. De Susini was importuned for a loan. He lent the state about $11,000 at the prevailing rate of interest, 3 per cent a month, and stipulated that the money should be used for the food and clothing of the soldiers in the field. Once or twice since then the state and the Mexican government have signified an intention to pay the claim. The Emperor Maximilian caused it to be investigated and Count Justus has documents showing that the emperor called it a debt of honor that must be paid before any other obligation of the nation. It has not yet been paid and with the interest now amounts to nearly $200,000.
Count Joseph, all his later days and now Count Justus after him confidently expects that this debt will be cancelled. Meantime, Count Justus, who received a fine education gives language lessons and acts as an interpreter and translator and his wife is a dressmaker. Their most cherished possessions are the documents that show Count Joseph's right to wear the orders that were conferred upon him and the book containing the sentiments that were written by the visitors at 'La Honradez,' which contains the name of Secretary William H. Seward with hundreds of Americans of hardly less prominence."
=============================================
"ONCE RICH, DIED POOR
---------
Story of the Count Joseph de Susini, of Cuba
------
New York, Jan. 23 - The Sun prints the following:
Count Joseph de Susini, who was accounted ten times a millionaire in Cuba, in his palmy days when he controlled the cigarette industry there, died yesterday at 4612 E. 11th street. Few, if any of the old friends of Count de Susini knew where he lived and how. He did not care to expose himself to their sympathy. With his son Baron Justus Susini, who is an American citizen, and his son's wife he waited patiently for the tide of prosperity to turn in his favor, as he always believed it would, when Mexico paid back to him the money he lent to the State of Yucatan in its extremity. The count's death was caused by eczema which was brought out by the renewing of a wound received in a duel in 1838, when he was one of the leading young bloods in Havana and when stories of his gallantries and his spirit were the nightly talk of the cafes.
To the other people in the tenement at 412 East Eleventh street the rank and past wealth of the Count de Susiini were quite unknown. They knew that his son was a teacher of languages and that he was a far better educated man than the rest of them; but the old gentleman they seldom saw. When he went abroad he was ceremoniously courteous to the humblest of them, but he was absolutely uncommunicative. On Thursday he will be buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. It is not likely that any other man who possessed the orders and the honors of the Count de Susini ever had a funeral quite so simple. The count was a guard of the Apostolic Palace by the appointment of the Pope Pius IX. He was a Commander of the Holy Sepulcher of the Order of the Grand Cross of Malta; he had the right to wear the Grand Cross of Benevolence, a Spanish order given to those famed for their philanthropy, and was a member of the Portuguese Order of Christ, the Spanish Order of King Charles III., and the Order of Isabella Catholic, bestowed upon those who accomplished great things in the Western Hemisphere. He was the possessor of thirty-eight orders altogether. His parents were descended from the nobility of the Corsica, whence the title had been one of the highest.
Count de Susini's father was one of the wealthiest tobacco merchants of Havana. On his father's death the count succeeded to the business and built it up rapidly. He was the founder of the 'La Hernandez' cigarette factory, which had a capacity of 6,000,000 cigarettes a day and employed 5,000 hands. This factory was for years one of the sights of Cuba. Count de Susini came to New York after the factory was complete and purchased fire apparatus here that cost him more than $50,000. This he installed int he factory. Within a few days after it reached Havana a serious fire stared in the city, with which the city fire department could do nothing. As Count Justus de Susini told most dramatically to visitors at the house yesterday, Count Joseph de Susini, at the head of his own fire department of 600 employes, dashed out of the factory enclosure with their new apparatus from the United States and saved the city. Count de Susini prided himself on his ability to be the first (missing line of text) He presented his wife with the first sewing machine that was ever exported from the United States. He set up the first electric light plant in Cuba and imported the first street cars that Havana had. The lithograph presses he used for the printing of the labels of his cigarette packages were the first that were taken into the island.
In the days of his greatest prosperity, when his fortune was estimated at $10,000,000, Count de Susini provided for the care and instruction of fifty orphans and printed in the printing department of his factory all the books for the charity schools, and the other benevolent institution of Havana. For his many philanthropies the city of Havana granted him the right to use the seal and coat of arms of the city. In the 70's he was elected Mayor of Havana and after that was sent as a delegate to the Spanish Cortes.
De Susini came to grief through the failure of a vast plan he had arranged for the obtaining a concession from the Spanish government giving him an absolute monopoly of the cigarette business. The Rothschilds undertook to finance the plan and as security for his good faith De Susini pledged all his Cuban possessions. He was so sure of success, moreover, that he began the erection of cigarette factories in Seville and Madrid. The Franco-Prussian war started in the midst of the negotiations an they all fell through one after another. Within a year or two there was very little left of the DeSusini fortune. But there was still enough to give him a 'fresh start.' The outbreak of the Cuban revolution swept this away. He went to France and for many years lived most simply in Paris.
He sold the right to use his name and his brand in the manufacture of cigarettes to one Sanderson. Sanderson passed it on to another manufacturer who, in turn, sold out to the English Tobacco Trust. De Susini and his son always contended that Sanderson had not bought the right to assign the name to others and they have brought suit against the manufacturers of the brand for $1,000,000. They won their suit, Count Justus said yesterday, and it is now before the Court of Appeals of Cuba.
In 1858 when Count Joseph de Susini was in Yucatan he was visited by the governor of the state, who told him that the savage tribes were making a great deal of trouble on the Boundaries of the State and that the troops of the state could not hold their own against them; the soldiers had no clothing and but little food. De Susini was importuned for a loan. He lent the state about $11,000 at the prevailing rate of interest, 3 per cent a month, and stipulated that the money should be used for the food and clothing of the soldiers in the field. Once or twice since then the state and the Mexican government have signified an intention to pay the claim. The Emperor Maximilian caused it to be investigated and Count Justus has documents showing that the emperor called it a debt of honor that must be paid before any other obligation of the nation. It has not yet been paid and with the interest now amounts to nearly $200,000.
Count Joseph, all his later days and now Count Justus after him confidently expects that this debt will be cancelled. Meantime, Count Justus, who received a fine education gives language lessons and acts as an interpreter and translator and his wife is a dressmaker. Their most cherished possessions are the documents that show Count Joseph's right to wear the orders that were conferred upon him and the book containing the sentiments that were written by the visitors at 'La Honradez,' which contains the name of Secretary William H. Seward with hundreds of Americans of hardly less prominence."
Daily Advocate, Baton Rouge, Fri. Mar. 1, 1901, Page 1
=============================================
"ONCE RICH, DIED POOR
---------
Story of the Count Joseph de Susini, of Cuba
------
New York, Jan. 23 - The Sun prints the following:
Count Joseph de Susini, who was accounted ten times a millionaire in Cuba, in his palmy days when he controlled the cigarette industry there, died yesterday at 4612 E. 11th street. Few, if any of the old friends of Count de Susini knew where he lived and how. He did not care to expose himself to their sympathy. With his son Baron Justus Susini, who is an American citizen, and his son's wife he waited patiently for the tide of prosperity to turn in his favor, as he always believed it would, when Mexico paid back to him the money he lent to the State of Yucatan in its extremity. The count's death was caused by eczema which was brought out by the renewing of a wound received in a duel in 1838, when he was one of the leading young bloods in Havana and when stories of his gallantries and his spirit were the nightly talk of the cafes.
To the other people in the tenement at 412 East Eleventh street the rank and past wealth of the Count de Susiini were quite unknown. They knew that his son was a teacher of languages and that he was a far better educated man than the rest of them; but the old gentleman they seldom saw. When he went abroad he was ceremoniously courteous to the humblest of them, but he was absolutely uncommunicative. On Thursday he will be buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. It is not likely that any other man who possessed the orders and the honors of the Count de Susini ever had a funeral quite so simple. The count was a guard of the Apostolic Palace by the appointment of the Pope Pius IX. He was a Commander of the Holy Sepulcher of the Order of the Grand Cross of Malta; he had the right to wear the Grand Cross of Benevolence, a Spanish order given to those famed for their philanthropy, and was a member of the Portuguese Order of Christ, the Spanish Order of King Charles III., and the Order of Isabella Catholic, bestowed upon those who accomplished great things in the Western Hemisphere. He was the possessor of thirty-eight orders altogether. His parents were descended from the nobility of the Corsica, whence the title had been one of the highest.
Count de Susini's father was one of the wealthiest tobacco merchants of Havana. On his father's death the count succeeded to the business and built it up rapidly. He was the founder of the 'La Hernandez' cigarette factory, which had a capacity of 6,000,000 cigarettes a day and employed 5,000 hands. This factory was for years one of the sights of Cuba. Count de Susini came to New York after the factory was complete and purchased fire apparatus here that cost him more than $50,000. This he installed int he factory. Within a few days after it reached Havana a serious fire stared in the city, with which the city fire department could do nothing. As Count Justus de Susini told most dramatically to visitors at the house yesterday, Count Joseph de Susini, at the head of his own fire department of 600 employes, dashed out of the factory enclosure with their new apparatus from the United States and saved the city. Count de Susini prided himself on his ability to be the first (missing line of text) He presented his wife with the first sewing machine that was ever exported from the United States. He set up the first electric light plant in Cuba and imported the first street cars that Havana had. The lithograph presses he used for the printing of the labels of his cigarette packages were the first that were taken into the island.
In the days of his greatest prosperity, when his fortune was estimated at $10,000,000, Count de Susini provided for the care and instruction of fifty orphans and printed in the printing department of his factory all the books for the charity schools, and the other benevolent institution of Havana. For his many philanthropies the city of Havana granted him the right to use the seal and coat of arms of the city. In the 70's he was elected Mayor of Havana and after that was sent as a delegate to the Spanish Cortes.
De Susini came to grief through the failure of a vast plan he had arranged for the obtaining a concession from the Spanish government giving him an absolute monopoly of the cigarette business. The Rothschilds undertook to finance the plan and as security for his good faith De Susini pledged all his Cuban possessions. He was so sure of success, moreover, that he began the erection of cigarette factories in Seville and Madrid. The Franco-Prussian war started in the midst of the negotiations an they all fell through one after another. Within a year or two there was very little left of the DeSusini fortune. But there was still enough to give him a 'fresh start.' The outbreak of the Cuban revolution swept this away. He went to France and for many years lived most simply in Paris.
He sold the right to use his name and his brand in the manufacture of cigarettes to one Sanderson. Sanderson passed it on to another manufacturer who, in turn, sold out to the English Tobacco Trust. De Susini and his son always contended that Sanderson had not bought the right to assign the name to others and they have brought suit against the manufacturers of the brand for $1,000,000. They won their suit, Count Justus said yesterday, and it is now before the Court of Appeals of Cuba.
In 1858 when Count Joseph de Susini was in Yucatan he was visited by the governor of the state, who told him that the savage tribes were making a great deal of trouble on the Boundaries of the State and that the troops of the state could not hold their own against them; the soldiers had no clothing and but little food. De Susini was importuned for a loan. He lent the state about $11,000 at the prevailing rate of interest, 3 per cent a month, and stipulated that the money should be used for the food and clothing of the soldiers in the field. Once or twice since then the state and the Mexican government have signified an intention to pay the claim. The Emperor Maximilian caused it to be investigated and Count Justus has documents showing that the emperor called it a debt of honor that must be paid before any other obligation of the nation. It has not yet been paid and with the interest now amounts to nearly $200,000.
Count Joseph, all his later days and now Count Justus after him confidently expects that this debt will be cancelled. Meantime, Count Justus, who received a fine education gives language lessons and acts as an interpreter and translator and his wife is a dressmaker. Their most cherished possessions are the documents that show Count Joseph's right to wear the orders that were conferred upon him and the book containing the sentiments that were written by the visitors at 'La Honradez,' which contains the name of Secretary William H. Seward with hundreds of Americans of hardly less prominence."
=============================================
"ONCE RICH, DIED POOR
---------
Story of the Count Joseph de Susini, of Cuba
------
New York, Jan. 23 - The Sun prints the following:
Count Joseph de Susini, who was accounted ten times a millionaire in Cuba, in his palmy days when he controlled the cigarette industry there, died yesterday at 4612 E. 11th street. Few, if any of the old friends of Count de Susini knew where he lived and how. He did not care to expose himself to their sympathy. With his son Baron Justus Susini, who is an American citizen, and his son's wife he waited patiently for the tide of prosperity to turn in his favor, as he always believed it would, when Mexico paid back to him the money he lent to the State of Yucatan in its extremity. The count's death was caused by eczema which was brought out by the renewing of a wound received in a duel in 1838, when he was one of the leading young bloods in Havana and when stories of his gallantries and his spirit were the nightly talk of the cafes.
To the other people in the tenement at 412 East Eleventh street the rank and past wealth of the Count de Susiini were quite unknown. They knew that his son was a teacher of languages and that he was a far better educated man than the rest of them; but the old gentleman they seldom saw. When he went abroad he was ceremoniously courteous to the humblest of them, but he was absolutely uncommunicative. On Thursday he will be buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. It is not likely that any other man who possessed the orders and the honors of the Count de Susini ever had a funeral quite so simple. The count was a guard of the Apostolic Palace by the appointment of the Pope Pius IX. He was a Commander of the Holy Sepulcher of the Order of the Grand Cross of Malta; he had the right to wear the Grand Cross of Benevolence, a Spanish order given to those famed for their philanthropy, and was a member of the Portuguese Order of Christ, the Spanish Order of King Charles III., and the Order of Isabella Catholic, bestowed upon those who accomplished great things in the Western Hemisphere. He was the possessor of thirty-eight orders altogether. His parents were descended from the nobility of the Corsica, whence the title had been one of the highest.
Count de Susini's father was one of the wealthiest tobacco merchants of Havana. On his father's death the count succeeded to the business and built it up rapidly. He was the founder of the 'La Hernandez' cigarette factory, which had a capacity of 6,000,000 cigarettes a day and employed 5,000 hands. This factory was for years one of the sights of Cuba. Count de Susini came to New York after the factory was complete and purchased fire apparatus here that cost him more than $50,000. This he installed int he factory. Within a few days after it reached Havana a serious fire stared in the city, with which the city fire department could do nothing. As Count Justus de Susini told most dramatically to visitors at the house yesterday, Count Joseph de Susini, at the head of his own fire department of 600 employes, dashed out of the factory enclosure with their new apparatus from the United States and saved the city. Count de Susini prided himself on his ability to be the first (missing line of text) He presented his wife with the first sewing machine that was ever exported from the United States. He set up the first electric light plant in Cuba and imported the first street cars that Havana had. The lithograph presses he used for the printing of the labels of his cigarette packages were the first that were taken into the island.
In the days of his greatest prosperity, when his fortune was estimated at $10,000,000, Count de Susini provided for the care and instruction of fifty orphans and printed in the printing department of his factory all the books for the charity schools, and the other benevolent institution of Havana. For his many philanthropies the city of Havana granted him the right to use the seal and coat of arms of the city. In the 70's he was elected Mayor of Havana and after that was sent as a delegate to the Spanish Cortes.
De Susini came to grief through the failure of a vast plan he had arranged for the obtaining a concession from the Spanish government giving him an absolute monopoly of the cigarette business. The Rothschilds undertook to finance the plan and as security for his good faith De Susini pledged all his Cuban possessions. He was so sure of success, moreover, that he began the erection of cigarette factories in Seville and Madrid. The Franco-Prussian war started in the midst of the negotiations an they all fell through one after another. Within a year or two there was very little left of the DeSusini fortune. But there was still enough to give him a 'fresh start.' The outbreak of the Cuban revolution swept this away. He went to France and for many years lived most simply in Paris.
He sold the right to use his name and his brand in the manufacture of cigarettes to one Sanderson. Sanderson passed it on to another manufacturer who, in turn, sold out to the English Tobacco Trust. De Susini and his son always contended that Sanderson had not bought the right to assign the name to others and they have brought suit against the manufacturers of the brand for $1,000,000. They won their suit, Count Justus said yesterday, and it is now before the Court of Appeals of Cuba.
In 1858 when Count Joseph de Susini was in Yucatan he was visited by the governor of the state, who told him that the savage tribes were making a great deal of trouble on the Boundaries of the State and that the troops of the state could not hold their own against them; the soldiers had no clothing and but little food. De Susini was importuned for a loan. He lent the state about $11,000 at the prevailing rate of interest, 3 per cent a month, and stipulated that the money should be used for the food and clothing of the soldiers in the field. Once or twice since then the state and the Mexican government have signified an intention to pay the claim. The Emperor Maximilian caused it to be investigated and Count Justus has documents showing that the emperor called it a debt of honor that must be paid before any other obligation of the nation. It has not yet been paid and with the interest now amounts to nearly $200,000.
Count Joseph, all his later days and now Count Justus after him confidently expects that this debt will be cancelled. Meantime, Count Justus, who received a fine education gives language lessons and acts as an interpreter and translator and his wife is a dressmaker. Their most cherished possessions are the documents that show Count Joseph's right to wear the orders that were conferred upon him and the book containing the sentiments that were written by the visitors at 'La Honradez,' which contains the name of Secretary William H. Seward with hundreds of Americans of hardly less prominence."
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