The herald., 1896-02-02

on the right bank Of the Danube, and an
swerlng to the name of Ferdinand M.
He himself went with his prisoner to &C.
neva, thence to Wie5baden and finally,
after the lapse Of nearly a fortnight. re-
turned to Budapesth, bringing with him
full and satisfactory solution Of the mystery
OF the Attilautcza, as it was termed by the
papers. Briefly, the facts are these:
After her divorce from her husband, Ella
Muller repaired to Geneva, and put herself
| in communication with a matrimonial
agency in Budapesth, giving her real name
and address. The agency, however, for
reasons OF their own, gave her one Of the
stock pseudonyrns of the institution-"Mme.
Sternweg"-and told her TO be prepared to
| receive letters addressed to that name. 1t
was as Nine. Sternweg that she had been
recommended by the agency to her former
husband, who, as we saw allowed consld-
cradle more than year to elapse before
taking the matter up. Meanwhile the lady
had gone to Wiesbaden, where she met
retired German officer, Colonel Ferdinand
Mauthner, of very prepcssessng appear
ance, who produced very fascinating ef-
feet upon her. Within the space of two
months he proposed marriage, and she un-
hesitatingly accepted. The ceremony was
privately gone through in Liege, in Bel
GUM, after which the pair went to live in
Cologne. But before the honeymoon was
that she had thrown away her heart and
hand upon an utterly unscrupulous ad
venturer, whose sole aim and object 1t was
to deprive her of her slender income of f120
year, and to appropriate all he could over
and above this. He was not a Colonel; he
had, however, served as an officer in the
German army, but had been forced to re-
sign for cheating at cards. During one of
his brutal quarrels with his wife he told her
that she was not legally married, as the
ceremony was performed by comrade of
his own disguised a priest. and that he
had wife living. The lady had consulted
lawyer in Cologne on the subject, and 1T
was from him that Beothy had o5ained
these particulars. 1t was evidently upon
this statement that she had relied for her
assumed right to remarry, and as she had
no doubts on this subject, or had no wish
to entertain any, she thought she might
reasonably keep the entire episode OF her
second marriaEr secret. even from ner
husband. She had succeeded in getting rid
Of Mauthner by threatening to reveal one
of his international swindes, the detaihi
of which had come to her knowledge. But
need or greed finally overcame his fear,
and he foil wed her to Budapesth, where he
laid his plans for ths extor.ion of black
mail. H3 success, however, had not an
swered his expectations. On the fateful
Sunday he followed Ella and her husband to
the Pesth Hill by the way they would prob
ably return, intending. perhaps, to make
scene. but he found the woman alone, and
possibly in reply to her threat to expose
him and his doings he killel and robbed her
then and thera.
After the murder Mauthner took no
means to conceal himself. Nor had he any
urgent grounds for doing so; fr not only
was he not suspected Of the crime, but Mul-
ler, the husband, was accused in the Hua
and Cry CT being the murderer. AS Mau;h-
ner, h1wever, was shortly af;erward cr-
rested for swindling two German tourists,
and was actually in prison when Beothy's
telegram arrived, no steps were taken to dis
tu,b him until he detective returned. When,
at last, he was questioned by Beothy, he at
first denied all knowledge of Ella Muller,
but before the interrogatory had lasted an
hour he confessed that he had murdered
The woman in tde heat of passion on her
threatening to inform the authorities OF his
:windle. He also admitted that mis- first wife
vas still living in Nurnberg, so that his
marriage with Ella Muller was null and
ycid.
"And to think" exclaimed Albert Beothy,
that that abominable crime is the result
of the anonymity practiced in matrimonial
agencies! 1t is a sin and a shame! II the
ady's name had been confided to her former
husband when he first applied for wife
he and she might have lived happy and
pr -sperous forever after. Oh, these matri-
monial agencies!"-London Daily Telegraph.