Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1889-10-18
A Strange Reunion.
From London Telegraph.

Another illu tratiun ul the rsItdlul.
trite but still occasionally useful maZim
that truth is stranger than fiction is afford
ed b. the realistic yet thoroughly romantic
story which we published yesterday from
our Vienna correspondent The tale comes
from Eaeusa not the city in Sicily but
the town which is the capital If the circle
Of Ragusa, an administrative division OF
The province OF Dalmatia, on the shores ot
the Adnatic, between Spalatro and Boo
che ii Cattaro. Ia this picture sJue but
poverty stickeu territory, OF which the sto-
ny ana caleareoua soil barely produces 7ut
ticieut grain to feed the inhabitants during
three months out Of twelve, there lived
about twenty years ago peasant on whom
fortune continued to frcwn so implaclbly
that in sheer desperation he sought to bet
ter his miserable condition by emigrating
t. America He had wife. 6ut lie did
not desert this good woman when he cross
ed the ocean III quest Of bread, which Ra
gusat the impeeuuious, declined to yield
him. He confided his better half to the /
care Of parish priest, promising to remit /
money to him so soon as he was able to do
SO; and very shortly after his arrival in the
United States he found himself in suffi-
ciently easy circumstances to able TO dis
patch sum of 30 Horins-say f6--a
month to his ecclesiastical friend at Ra-
gussa, to be devoted to the maintenance of
his consort. As his position grew better
and better he was able TO increase the
amount of his monthly drafts, but the rev
erend gentleman abused his fiduciary func-
tions in most melancholy manner, and
only handed the paltry pittance OF horins
a month to the unfortunate grass widow
This state of things went on for fifteen
years when the priest, probably thinking that |
hehad netted sufficient sum, and dread |
ing, perhaps, that the long absent husband |
might turn mp some day and demand an
account of his stewardship from the rever-
endo, forged a certificate of the peasants
death and handed it to the wife. Ae then
proceeded to forge another document pur-
porting to certify the death of the wife at
Ragussa, and this he forwarded to the hus-
hand III America. Having thus, as he
thought, made matters comfortable all
round, the worthy successor of Tartutie |
prudently withdrew to Corfu, where he |
hoped to spend the remainder of his days, !
solaced hy the remembrance of the good |
deeds which he had wrought, and soothed
by the prospect of enchanting scenery and
the amenity of bright and balmy climate.
This was all very well for the shameless
rogue in the cossack and shovel hat; but
things assumed far less pleasant aspect
for the poor wife of the expatriated peas
ant. Five florins month is not much;
but it will buy a little oil and few figs,
and modicum of cheese and sardines,
which form the staple food Of the poorer
class of Ragusans.
Lodgings are exceedingly cheap at the
decayed Adriatic port, seeing that the
town is big enough to house 10000 people
and that its present population does not
exceed 10 600 When, however. the al
lowance of the ) florins a month wholly
ceased. the unfortunate woman was natur-
ally at her wits end to discover means for
keeping body and soul together. For want
of a better calling she turned beggar, a
profession which, at the first blush, might
seem to be a very unpromisng one in a
town where insolvency is hereditary and
pauperism chronic. 1t happens, however,
that the Austrian Lloyd steamers call at
Ragusa on their way to the Levant, so the
peasants wife may have been able to pick
up few kreutZers every week by assidious
solicitations from the steamboat passen-
gers whom she found strolling along the
Corso, and gazing at the quaint old man
siOns which recall the former importance
of Ragusa She might have gone on beg
ging until now, and have continued her
career of mendicancy until she died, aud
found pauper's sepulture in the Potters
Field, outside of the Porta Piocce, but for
the straugest of recontres and the most
unlooked-fo for of surprises which fate had in
store for her.
Everything, says the philosopher, comes
to him who knows how to wait; but the
poor beggar woman of Ragusa had lost
even the consolation of expectancy, the
twin brother of hope. Her husband she
implicitly believed had long been cold in
his grave in the far West. On the contra
ry he was very much alive; but, believing
on the strength of the forged certificate
| sent to him by his reverend friend, that his
| wife was dead, he had remarked with IA
| wealthy American lady, and the union had
been blessed by two children. After TWEEN
| ty years of absence it'occurred to him that
he would like to revisit Europe, and he
| determined to make, accompanied by his
wife and family, an extended tour Of the
| Old World. He journeyed to Paris, Wen
ma and Trieste, and on his way down the
Adriatic he touched at Ragusa. On the
| quay a beggar woman asked him for aims,
and a. once he recognized his wife of TWEEN
ty years ago. The recognition was mutual
Tableu; but not as the play books have it,
| Curtain, End" The denoucmeut of
this most romantic drama is yet to come.
The knayish priest courteously extradit-
ed, it may be assumed by the Greek Gov
ernment, is safe and sound in goal in the
Austrian dominlOns, and his trial will take
place in the course of the present month,
while it is anticipated that ulterior judicial
| proceeding will be taken to anuul the see
|