The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-05
COUNT EsTERHAzY.
Career of the Man Who Is to BE Court
MartIaIed-His Letters.

The full name of Count EsterhaZy is
Marie Charles Ferdinand WalsinE sterhazy.
He was born on Dec. 16, 1S47, and his father
was the head of the younger branch of the
famous Esterhazy family. During the lat
ter part of the empire Ezterhazy served in
a regiment of Papal zouaves, and after the
declaration of war between France and
Prussia, he, according to one report, en-
tered a French line regiment, and, as an
other version has it, being an Austrian, en-
tered the foreign legion. Esterhazy ap-
pears to have conducted himself in bril-
liant manner, for he was soon promoted to
the rank of second lieutenant and in 1878
was lieutenant. He reached the rank of
captain in the following year, and in 1892
was promoted TO the rank of commandant,
corresponding with the rank of major
in other armies Early during the
present year Esternazy. who is chew
aIier of the Legion of Honor, retired
from the army and went TO Italy IN bad
health. But from the fact that = court
martial has been ordered TO inquire into his
case his name must still be borne upon the
French army lists.
may or may not have had with the Dreytus
scandals. he is said to have admitted the
authorship OF letters recently pupushe ga IN IN
the Figaro which alone would seem 10 be
su .Heient for his trial by court-martidl. In
ore of these letters, after expressing his
intention to enter the Turkish service, lie is
represented as saying: II shall not leave
without playing trick of my own on these
amiable Frenchmen Other eXpressio is at
tributed TO him in these letters are fol-
lows: Our cowardly and ignorant great
chiefs Will only more people German prls-
ons. am capable of great things
or crimes that could avenge me.
Frenchmen are not worthy of the cartridges
inteP,Itd to kill them In one OF his letters
as p Lished by the Figaro, Esterhazy de-
picts "A drum of festiVity'' in the shape of
the pillage of Paris by hundred thousand
drunken soldiers.
Esterhazy IS said to have written. referring
to a certain actress, III / make the Slight
est mistake towards her. 1 wish l was in
Siam and could make her follow me here.
One of my carbines going OFF II by acct
dent would cure her forever"
When Esterhazy was first interviewed re-
gardng the publication of these letters in
Figaro, he was at first very indignant and
declared they were forged by the friends of
Dreyfus who, he added. had taken words
ard sentences from his letters and had
pieced them together by a process with
which he was acquainted. EsterhaZy also
asserted that he had been warned some
would be made On Wednesday last how
ever. EsterhaZy is said TO have acknowl-
edged the authenticity of the letters pub
lished by the Figaro. with the exception of
one in which he is said to have expressed
the following sentiments: If tonight /
We're told that i should be killed tomorrow
as a captain OF uhlans, while sabring
Frenchmen, should certainly be perfectly
happy. i would not harm a dog; but I
would see a hundred thousand Frenchmen
killed with pleasure"
The wife of Esterhazy, who is understood
% have been separated from him for some
time, wrote a letter 20 the Figaro during the
week, upbraiding the paper for laying bare
the recesses and human weaknesses'f of
her husbands private life, regardless of
the fact that II may break a wife's and
mothers heart" In conclusion, the wife
wrote OF the charges: "AI this is N.Y. con-