Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1890-12-17
A BEGGAR'S HISTORY.
The Queer Tale Told by Female
OrHan-Grinder.
She Claims 60 Be - Descendant OF q Noble
Russ an Family-Her Descent In
tho Social Scale Due to =
Romantic Attachment


Philadelphia correspondent OF the Chi
cago Times. 81 was born," she said, con
the 4th day of August, 1917, in Werin-
land, Sweden, and am now, you sec.
seventy>three years of age. My namc
is Anna Svenson. That is not my full
name, but is enough and will do. Our
family name was we'll known in Sweden,
and also in Russia; in fact, our family is
Russian.
I'm the time of Catherine our family
estates were of the largest held by the
nobility. My mother was direct de-
scendant of the Vasa dynasty. I mover
know nor, as she died when I was born.
You see that on my mothers side am
of royal lineage, and ON my fathers side
l descended from the proudest of Rus
sian aristocraoy. Ny father was proud
man, morosc and stern in the extreme.
The soldiers in their summer camp at
Visby, whom he commanded, would often
be logged by his orders for some trifling
offense.
81 remember little of Werinland, for
as child my time was passed in the
school at Stockholm, and as q young
lady I was at court more than anywhere
else. When 1 was twenty years old we
were at our Stockholm home, and daily
in attendance at the palace, or at Drott-
ningholm. / was the especial favorite
Of Princess Eugenie. was constantly
her companion. She loved me and spoke
to me as / think my mother would have
done. There was at court at that time
nobleman named Baron Phegren, of high
rank, but as poor as a beggar. He had
son Carl, u Captain in the navy, whom 1
had met at court balls and receptions.
Carl and during that summer met very.
often. We walked and talked and
rowed together until I found that /
loved him.
princess Eu;s enie said to me one day:
'Ah, my dear, this love of Carl's will
give you trouble some day I smiled Mt
her, but thought nothing of it. But one
day ut Drottningholm Carl told me that
no would at once speak to my father. l
hated that, but said: Yes, do so,' and
he went away happy. Poor Carl! don't
know what passed between him and my
father, but on the next evening my
father sent for me to come in the libra
ry. l went there; he was tall, cold,
stern; man of iron. so, so, my little
Countess he laughed, you love Carl, do
you? Well, we'll, I'll soon stop that
and then he began to tell me how poor
Carl was, that he wanted simply my
money, that he was a drinking man, a
bad man. Oh! how that night comes
back to me.
81 never said q word in answer;
simply stood there trembling from head
to foot. At length my father stopped
and putting his hand heavily on my
shoulder he said: Go to your room;
you shall never marry Carl Phegron,
never Carl met me the next day in
the garden. He was haggard and pale.
You know all, he said, and then, with
out waiting for an answer, he urged me
to leave Sweden-to 60 with him to
America to build little homo there in
the land of the free. 1 would not. I
could not l respected my father.
did not want him to curse me. Then
Carl left me and never saw him again.
A fcw days afterward they found him on
tho beach ut Waxholm dead, with O
bullet in his heart. They never knew
whether he killed himself or was MUIR
1ered.
II lived on. I was alone. that was
all. One day father told me was to
marry He had husband for me. 1
refused to obey him; then, in his
passion, he struck mo, and" as I Law on
the ground he told mo he would kill mo
as he did Carl. He stopped as he said
that and thon quietly, with white,
drawn face, he leftme alone.
MY father was murderer
II left the house that night and
Sweden shortly afterwards; first went
to London and then 1 came to this
country. saw notices about my strange
disappearance in the papers, but
wanted only to die. 1 went through
your rebellion as q nurse in the South.
Then wandered from one place to an
Their, and I descended still lower and
lower in the social scale, until now am
what Won see me.