New-York tribune., 1886-05-16
TUE, COUNTESS GOERLITZ.
THE STORY OF FAMOUS MURDER.

otthIS century was the .rder OF the Countess
Ccrmnnv both bccaus OF il,c hSh ro,tiun of tho
uutortunaie IN iy. tie mystery attaching 20 Ter
death, and becansc the ennrss OF haVns mnta,ieo
her rested on her husband the Count Hocrti7,
Chamberlain 10 The Grand Dukc 0i hesse, irNE
Cnrucillo a man OF fortune as well as rank ana
Of unimDcachlhie character. There was anolher
reason why tee case excited general interest IN
solution remained mystery for three whoie years
from lsi7 to ls5o.
great favorto at the CoCri. and OF fine appear
ance Nc bad married. in 1870. the daughter OF
lie Trivv Councillor Pitt They had no children.
TIE Countess was aged forty-siS when the 'errlne
event orSurrcd which we are about to relate. The
Conmt and Countess lived in their mansion In thc
Ncckalstrasse in Darnstadt-a large, paiatial
bonSe handsomely furnished. Although living
uuAer the same roof. husband and wife lived apart
She occupied the first hoor, ana lie the Paiterre. OF
ground aoor. They dned together. The cause OF
III uufriendlv terms on which they lived was The
fact that the Countess was wealthy. her family
was of citizen origin and had amassed large
fortune In trade Her father had been ennobled
by the Grand Duke. and she had been his heress;
The Count himself, had not much OF hls own ana
his wife cast this fact i'll his teeth. she loved 10
talk OF the bcggar nobility" who were obliged to
look ont for rich burphers' daughters to gild their
coronets. The Count may have been nor OF temper,
and have aggravated matters by sharpness oI
rcpartee: but. according TO all accounts ~ was hef
Miserliness and temper and tongue which caused
the estran cement There were but four servants III
the housc-thc Counts valet. the coachman,
man-scrvant of the Countess. and the cook,
Every Sunday the Count Goerlitz dined at the
ralace. On sunday, june I3, Is47, he had dned
at the Groni Dukes table as usual. As we know
from the letters of the Princess Alice life was
South Germany, early. The carriage took the
Count to dinner at the palace at 3 p m,, and he
returned home in it to the Neckarst AT nan past o.
When he came IN he asked the servant OF the
Countess, a man named John Stauh, whether his
wife was at home as he wanted to SEQ her. AS
matter of fact, he had brought away from inc
dinner-tabe at the palace some maccaroons and
bonbonS for her rs she had sweet tooth. and nc
thought the attention ght please her.
n L.. IN hn
assembled the stone staircase. a glass door led into
the anteroom. He put his hand TO 1t and found 1t
fastened Thnkng m thaf ms wire en was Ssoe pr
10 his own room. which under her sitting
room. There he listened for her tread, intending
on hea,ng it, 10 re-ascend and present her with the
bonhous As he heard nothing, he went out Tor
walk. The time was half past Z. little beiore9
o'clock he returned from his stroll drew on ms
dressing gown ana slippers. and asked for his
supper. light meal he was wont to take by MN
sell in his own room. though not always, for the
capricous As ho had the bonbons in his pocket,
and had not yet been able to present them te sent
was served. and that 1t would give him great sat
isfaction if she would honor him with her presence
Stauil came back in few moments to say that thc
Countess was not at home. 'NOnsensc" " saId tie
husband. of course she is at home. She may.
however, he asleep. will 90 myself and fin her"
ThereupOn he ascended the stairs aud found, as
before the glass door to the aneroom fastened:
lie looked in. but nothing. lie Knocked ana
received no answer. Then he went to the bedroom
no sound. The Count had key TO the dressing
room; lie opened and went in. and through that he
passed into the bed-c chamber That was eml ~
The bed clothes were turned down for the night,
but were otherwise undisturbed He had no key
to the antcrOom and drawng-room.
Then the Count went upstairs TO the laundry
which the highest story, and where were
also some rooms The Countess was particular
about her lace aud linen, and often attended to
them herself getting up some of the collars and
frils with her own hands. She was MT in the
laundry. Evidently she was, as Stagh had said, |
sartr, s.l uA
servant. Had his mistress intImated her intention |
OF supping abroad No. she had not. Nevertheless
it was possible she might have gone to intimate |
Prince Wittgenstein. and to the house OF Coun- |
cillor Won Sorch, TO inquire if she were at either
The Count was puzzled without. however, being |
seriously alarmed. He bade Stauii call the valet,
Schiller and the coachman. Schambs. who slept |
Stauf departed. Presently the valet and coach
man arrived. and after, Stauf, without the lock
smith, who he said iii, and his man was AZ the
tavern. The Count was angry and scoded Then |
the cOachman went forth and soon came back with |
open the locked doors in tie top story: Ihe
Countess not in them. At the same time the
young man noticed smell of burning but whence
il came they could not decide. Thinking that tins
smell came from the kitchen on the first story
that i, the floor above where the Count hved-they
the private sittng-room Of the Countess As yet
only the young locksmlth had noticed the fire, the
thing unusual or not. The key of the apprentice
would not lit the lock Of the Countess's anterOom,
so he ran home to get another IN Then the Count
il, himself perceived the smell of burning.
Accordingly, he went upstairs again, to find that
the cOachman had opened an iron stove door in the
passage. and that a thick puugent smoke was
pouring out of it,. We must enter here INTO an
explanation In many cases the porcelain stove OF
a German house has no opening into the room. 1t
is lighted outside through door into the passage.
Several stoves communicate with ono chimney.
and "a inf fla
courtyar to look at the chimney stack to see If
smoke were issuing from it, None was. Then they
returned to the house The apprentice had not yet
saw that there was smoke in the room. 1t had
been unperceived before, for it was evening and
dusk. At once the Counts valet. Schiller smashed
the plate glass. and through the broken glass smoke
rolled toward them.
The hour was half past 10 The search had
prosecuted with great activity; but then, no
piciOn of ANYTHING to cause alarm had been enter
tanned. If the Countess were at home, she must be
in the sitting room. From this room the smoke
must come which pervaded the ante-chamber. The
fire must be within. and if the Countess there,
she must run the danger of sulOcation. COnse-
quentIy. as the KEYS not at hand. the doors
ought to he broken open at once. This was not
done Count Goerlitz sent the servants away
Stauh he bade for chimney sweep, and
Schiller for his medical man, DR.: Stegmayer. The
coachman had lost his head aud ran out into the
who had come in. ran out to summon assistance.
The Count was left alone outside the glass door;
and there he renamed passive till the arrival OF
was wasted. None of the keys would open the
door, and still the smoke rolled out. Then the
apprentice beat the door open with a stroke of his
hammer. He did it of his own accord without
orders from the Count. That was remembered
aferward At a dense. black. sickly smelling
smoke poured forth, and prevented the entrance of
those who stood without.
In the meantime the coachman and Others had put
ladders against the wall. one to the window of the
anteroon. the other to that of the paTl0r. Seitz,
the apprentice up the ladder and pecred in.
The room was quite dark. He broke two panes in
the window. and at once blue fame danced up,
caught the curtains, flushed yellow, and shot out
q fiery tOngue through the bro ken window. Seitz.
who seems to have been the only man with
presence of mnd, boldly put hls through and
the valves, and catching the burning
curtains, tore them down ana flung them into the