The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-02-28
CASPER HAUSER.
His Wonderful story Brought 10 Light
In Dallas,
BY tho Death OF N Des 'itute German In
the Hospital.
Points OF n Strange Career,

proper ~ preface 10 inc Iollo"'hk oH""F'
story TO bllude briefly TO the history OF the
unfortunate young man. ga the 70 u o'
MAY, 1923, M history tells u, youth np'
parently eighteen or .enty years oi age,
late In the afternoon made his appearance
IN the staid city OF NnrnbeFs, Bavaria.
lie was stnking In appearance, could hposk
only A few words, walked with difficulty,
and presented letter directed -
a captain OF cavalry stationed with his
squadron IN the city. kind hearted citi-
zen showed him the residence OF this cap
tain, who having read the letter, could
make nothing Of IL and could gain no tutor
nation from the young man, who could say
little more han that his name was Caspar
Hauser and that he wanted u be- u trooper.
Without going into the details OF the his
tory OF this ypung man, suffice /. TO say
that he attracted pie.t attention, that he
was taken IN charge by the authorities
that the idea prevailed that he was the son
OF some important parsonage who had been
gotten out OF the way oy scheming, Avari-
cious or ambitious relatives in whose
way he was. IL was believed by
many that he WAS the heir 10
some one OF the German prncipalities
dukedoms or Kingdoms, and that he was
the victim OF foul play to keep him out Of
his rights. His own story was, for he
evinced remarkable intslli senoe and pro-
gressed rapidly under tuition, that from
his earliest recollection he had been con-
fined la a small dungeon. where he never
saw the light OF day; never saw q human
being or anything possessing life until
shortly before he appeared In Nurnberg
when n man, whoss face he had never seen
would slip into his Gel and Taught him to
write his name aud tue letters OF the alpha.
bet. and told him ne was 10 be q trooper.
After teaching him this he one night took
him from his cell. aud ticking HIM on his
back carried him long ways, aud then put
him down and made him walk. although
he had been s, long confined he got along
with great difficulty. they walked thus az
near as hs could estim ,ts when they
reached Nurnberg, AMI at tao gate Of the
city the man left him. giving the letter he
had to the cavalry csptan and telling him
to deliver II aud Ia would get horse and
be a trooper. During his stay In Nurnberg
he was twice t,cked Dy some unknown
person a tempting his life, aud from the
the latter part Of December, 1888. A short
while before Csspar's death u conmunica-
tion was received by the Bsvarian govern
ment stating that Ca par Hsuser VAS the
eldest son ~ @ rank Duke Charles Frederic
and was tbs right'ul heir OF the throne OF
Baden, bn, this assert on was never
asserted. This much by way OF preface
tho imp ance OF what 10 to follow.
A few days ago an aged aud
INDECENT German died at the city hospi o.
from old age and exposure. H had with
him packet Of papers which he chung %
closely during his orisf illness. scanning
afraid that he might be dispos-
sessed o, them. After his death this packet
was opened and consisted entirely OF letters
written In German, the most OF them sp-
psrently from his wife, anyhow from wo-
man, and one short docume on IN old,
stained and worn sheet o. naper written IN
English W tn faded lux, almos. iliegible In
places. IL ,tsted that his name was Adam
Bob we art and mat his fathers nsme was
Heinrich Sen Seik art, and that he hal lived
near R.eeusberg. 1 then went on 10 say
"the follow x is The true history OF Caspar
Hauser, As gwen to me by my father, Hem
rich Schwsikart, In u paper written in Cor
man, but | nisks thus trAnslition into
English, being now citizen OF the
Unitsd States. tho, ut my death
She mystery OF Caspsr Haus rm.y be clear
cd up, in accordance WIN promise | made
my father ON his dy ng BID"
The following Is a true copy OF the paper
which is headed,
THE HISTORY.
Caspar Hsuser wa, born IN Baden on the
9th day OF Ju y. 1903, and Was the hrst-born
of the Grand Duke ChhIls Frederic, and
therefore heir to the throne OF his father,
When he was three years old he manifest.
ed such strange nervous peculiarities, be-
ing thrown almost into spasms by the
sound Of music. flaming o. smelling any
kind OF perfume, even tina. from the flowers
of the garden aod having convul ions from
even the slightest pain. He al so showed
such unmistakable signs oi mental weakne
that his faith, r, proud IN Al, wantine = D
heir and successor 10 hi throne. To main
ta; I ga A
and the grandeur OF his Kingdom intact
determined that mis- sou C,-par should not
be his heir. Hi, isrhsrly heart revoltsd at
the thought OF the murder Oi his innocent.
So he decided upou the plan Of secretly
removing him aud reporting mis- dean ana
having a grand funeral which he carried
into effect Hrs iues ~as b. put him into q
spere OF life 30 far removed from that TO
which he belonged that whe he grew up
his identity would be- entirely lost. To
this end he hired my father to take the
child paying i'm well for IL, and tor fear
that the c.id might be recognized and
that he might learn some inkiipg
Ss. no h gre" STIPULATED, p1 d to that sn0 the he
Chi should be immured In dark cell,
never to SEQ human fsce or % taught any,
thing until he WIS 10 years old. 10 carry
this Stipulation into eff CT, my father con.
structed in bis house a stone
cell six tset long, tour ,,,i feet ct, wide vide
completed Osspsr was delivered to my
father, this being his nome 10. over sixte ~
years, his only bed being straw and bis ONLY
food BLACK bread aHd vat, Daring all
that tim he heard no sound save what he
NAV have made himsel' In his Cell. saw no
human face, no living thing. He was given
o wooden toy hose aud wooden dog, ana
with these he amused himsel', never know
lr< n s,s.,. a nj
for no ray OF light could penetrate his eel.
When he VS. asleep hisciothpg was chang.
cd and his food put into his
dark and lJsthsome prison. When Csspar
was twenty years old or about that, my
father received Instructions to teach him
how to write "Csspsr II ,u,er" and the let
ters OF the alphabet, and - repeat few
words and then 80 take him to Nurn berg,
never letting him SEQ any human face or
any OF the counlry on the road to Nurn-
berg. When Nurnberg WAS reached my
father was TO leave hun a. the gate, giving
him there letter sddres. ed to Captain Van
Wessening. tn. So instructions NV father
carried ont, and the youth entering Nun
berg showed his letter to the first person he
met, who cond sc'ed him TO the residence
OF Captain Van Wsssening, whsre he dt-
liyered the letter. The contents Of the le'-
ter we're simp that the bearers father
had been trooper and he
also wanted to become one
h was. m apparently imbecile In
mind, however, that the captain would not
rec i've him aud turned him over To- the
police authorities. The subsequent events
Of the young msn's life have become his
tory and It 10 not necessary 70 follpwt
further. This ~ the dying s'atement OF
Heinrich Sohweiksrt. vro was Csspar
Hauser's keeper. ard who. face 10 fsce with
death and hoping for mercy snd pardon Tor
the terrible crime he committed sratnet
the rightful heir Of Baden, solemniy de
olsres Chat OsspAr Hsusef was the first
born ard legitimate son Of Grand Duke
Charles Frederic OF Baden.
The paper vent on to State that be, Adam