Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-06-15
SWEET REVENGE,
austrian Women-W -Whippers Recetv.
mig the RexYacd of Their RrnfaIffv


lt is well known that during the revolu,
tlonary wars in Northern italy. in 1848 and
lo49, the Austrian commanders caused .
number of aristocratic ladies who had par.
tlclpated IN some patriotic demonstration.
to be brutally whipped by Croatic soldiers
IN front Of the city jails, and in the pres
ence OF large crowds of spectators. Thus
III Dresclas the Countess of Ferrari. a youne
| married lady of twenty-five, who had col
!ected money for the revolutionary volun-
teers, was placed before a Military Com
mission OF Austrian officers, and, by direc-
tlon OF Lieutenant Field-Marshal Neipperg,
sentenced to receive fifty strokes with the
0ef9eS' On the same afternoon she was led
on the Place d'Armes, and, after having
oeen stripped almost naked, tied to q
bench, she received her punishment
at the hands of two stalwart Croats,
who were armed with formidable
punches of birch rods. Every stroke with
them must have been intensely painful,
but the Countess did not utter a sound of
complaint. At the twenty-ffth stroke.
however, she tainted, and when her execu
TONERS had inflicted the full number of
strokes on her senseless body, she was car
rled back in an almost lifeless condition to
her cell, and thrown on bundle of straw.
She never fully recovered from this terrible
castlgat1on, and died a few months after
ward. This is only one case of many.
Inc fathers, husbands, brothers and sons
OF these martyred Italian ladies formed in
the year 1850 q secret league for the pur-
pose OF melting out punishment to the bru-
tai Austrian commanders who had ordered
their mothers, wives and sisters to be chas-
tlsed IN this cruel manner. They resolved
to abide their time, and to pick off the
Austrlans whenever an opportunity to do
so presented itself
Two years ago great excitement was Gre
ated IN Austria by the assassination of an
Austrian General, i'll Illyria, by young
Italian nobleman, who thus avenged his
mother, that had been terribly iogged by
order of the General. The avenger sue
eeeded IN making his escape, and the Aus
trlan government did not take pains to OBJ
tain his extradition froa the Italian au-
thorities. The other day q similar tragedy
took place in the neighborhood of Lay
bach, where Neipperg, the principal actor
IN the cruel scene which we have mar
rated above, owned q country-seat -
On the 9th of April last, we'll
dressed young stranger presented himself
at the chateau and told the servant who
opened the door to him that he desired to
see Count Neipperg. "The Count is in
the garden. Shall call him?" asked the
servant. mo, replied the young stran-
ger: ''take me to the garden, and will see
His Excellency there" The servant con-
Quoted him to the garden, in rather re-
mote part of which they met Neipperg, who
was promenadIng with his daughter, a
young lady of %. The stranger, address
ing Neipperg, said to him: 81 am Count
Ferrari What did you do to my mother?"
Neipperg looked in surprise at him. The
next moment Count Ferrari plunged knife
into his breast, and, despite the frantic at
tempts of the young Countess Neippert,
succeeded in making his escape.