The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-08-06
KILLED BY HIS RIVAL.
TRUE STORY OF THE MANNER OF
PRINCE RUDOLPH'S DEATH.

Prince to His Friend. Who Had Con-
Gded a Love Affair TO the Emperor's
Son-An Account by Gossip.
met at n dinner party most charming
old Austrian lady who had come from
Vienna 20 Paris to visit her daughter, who
IS the wife of French nobleman and had
just presented her husband with an heir
10 their joint estates. After dinner the
conversation turned upon matters and
things in Austria, and spoke OF the mys-
terious death of the unfortunate Crown
Prince Rudolph and the secrecy that had
been observed concerning all the details Of
that CHASTITY catastrophe.
The Countess Won x shrugged her
shoulders. st is mystery for the outside
world and for the newspapers. If you will. !"
she answered, but the true story of the
case is generally known among the upper
classes of VienDese society, and | have no
objection to relating it to you.
Briefly stated, the facts are as follows:
A foreign nobleman, the Prince de Z,
who was a widoWer and a connection by
marriage with a leading member of the
Austrian royal family, was presented one
evening at ball to the radiantly beautiful
Baroness Marie de Vecsera, instantly fell
madly in love with her and formed the
resolution OF making her his wife.
He was on terms of intimate friendship
with the crown prince, and before pro-
posing in due form for the young lady's
hand he consulted Prince Rudolph On the
ACCESSIBILITY of the step he was about to
take i must see the Baroness Marie re-
piled the prince, to ascertain if she is in
al respects as charming as you say before
! give you my full appreciation The in
PRODUCTION took place, and the superb
beauty of the lovely girl impressed Prince
Rudolph 10 less than it had done his friend
before him.
DEATH FOR TWO.
"The passion thus inspired was mutual
A liaison was formed. which was conducted
with the utmost possible secrecy, but
rumors of its rise and progress did not fail
to reach the ears of the unfortunate Prince
de L. At last the i'll fated expedition
to Meyerling took place, and the presence
there Of the lovers was betrayed to the I'M
happy wooer by one of the servants who
was in his pay. He fastened to Meyerling,
but was denied admission to the house.
He then made his way TO the back part
of the ground, climbed over the wall,
scaled the balcony attached to the princes
room, and, SCATTERING the windows, he
leaped into the presence of his false friend
and his faithless lady love. A terrible
hand to hand encounter ensued between
the two men, both of great strength and
accustomed to all sorts of athletic exer
cises. The furniture of the room was liter
ally smashed to pieces in the conflict.
Finally the Prince de Z snatched up
an unopened bottle of wine and dealt the
crown prince furious blow on the head
with it, crushing in his adversary's skull
and killing him instantly. The Baroness
de Vecsera had, it seems, always carried
about with her dose of strychnine, with
premoniti0n of some such catastrophe.
'On seeing her lover fall corpse before
her she swallowed the fatal drug, and
death ensued in very short space of time.
One of the young mobiles who had been
Prince Rudolph's guest at Meyerling has
tened to Vienna TO bear the terrible tidings
to the emperor, while another one remained
to guard the house wherein lay the bodies
of the lovers
THE EMPRRoR's DECISION.
"The emperor" continued the countess,
"would permit no legal proceedings to be
taken against Prince de Z, declaring
that he only acted in self defense; neither
would he consent to receive the princes
resignation of his position in the army.
The facts were hushed up as much as pos
sible. All discussion of the catastrophe
was prohibited to the journals of Austria.
But the story was known to too many per-
sons to be kept a close secret"
l afterward met at an evening reception
a Belgian physician who has been settled
for several years past at Vienna. He fully
corroborated all the details of the crown
princes death as impaired to me by the
Countess Won Y, and added curious
little history concerning the Emperor of
Austria.
1t appears that for long years past his
majesty has sought and found consolation
for his troubles and repose from the cares
of state in the remarkable intellect and
brilliant conversation of an ex-actress, by
name Catherine Schratt, whose counsels
are said to have been of the greatest ad
vantage to him on many important affairs
of state.
He is accustomed TO drive out 10 the
palace at Schoen brunn, and there, leaving
his equipage, he will be met by Nine
Schratt, and will take long promenades
with her in the forest to talk over matters
and things in general. So widely is this
friendship known in Vienna that the lady
is known there as the vice empress. Her
intelligence and clear. cool
judgment are valued in the highest degree
by the emperor, and are acknowledged
even by the empress hersen.-Paris Cor.
Philadelphia Telegraph.
The Girls Kept Quiet.