A frequenter of the renowned restaurant Casa Capșa, Mateiu Caragiale was constantly surrounded by a tight group of party-goers, which included Uhrinowsky and the aristocrat Gheorghe Jurgea-Negrilești. They were later joined by the Russian admiral Vessiolkin, who was allegedly the illegitimate son of Emperor Alexander III. Thanks to Uhrinowsky's intervention, Caragiale became a press correspondent for the Ottoman press agency Asmanli, a job which he held for eight months, until, as he later wrote, "the [company's] 'sweet waters' dried out". In mid summer 1916, Caragiale donated money to a fund whereby the Bellu Cemetery tomb of Ștefan Luchian, a recently deceased painter and protégé of Bogdan-Pitești, was to be decorated with a bust by sculptor Dimitrie Paciurea (the world conflict and later events prevented this from happening).