The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-14
THE MISSING ARCHDUKE.
The End of "a Remarkable Romance.


From the Lady's Pictorial.
The Mystery of Johann Ortiz has now
resulted in definite sequel, the Cantonal
Court of st. Gall, in Switzerland, having
given judgment in the matter of the for
tune of the missing archduke. Johann
Ortiz" who disappeared so mysteriously
some years ago. and whose story attract
ed so much public attention at the time
The Archduke Johann Salvador of Tus-
cany, and a nephew of the Emperor of
Austria, it may be remembered, fell in
love with an opera singer, whom he mar
ried in spite of all family opposition, re-
nouncing, at the same time, all his rights,
privileges and rank. and assuming the
name of ORTIZ" after one of his castles.
The romantic marriage was celebrated
secretly, but in a perfectly legal manner,
by the registrar of Islington, and coun-
tersigned by the Austrian consul. 10
hann Orth" next bought in Liverpool a
fine ship, which he rechristened the Santa
Margarita, after his wife, and so jealous
was he of the vessel being recognized that
he stipulated that all photographs and
drawings of it should be handed over to
him, and all these he burned. Moreover,
ne caused all protra5ts and negatives of
nlmseiI 10 be bought up at any price in
Austria and elsewhere; and all these were
likewise destroyed. These are absolute
facts. He then set sail with his wife for
South America and the vessel was duly
reported to have arrived and departed
from Montevideo for a destination I'M
known.
But from that moment every trace is
lost of the ship and all on board. Not a
scrap OF any sort of news as to her fate
has ever been recovered, although many
a search has been made along the coast
by order OF the Emperor of Austria and
the hungarian government Treasure
seekers, too have been at work, as 1t was
known that the Archduke had on board
over 10000 in gold 1t is believed that
he intended to have bought an estate in
but that the vessel foundered off Cape
Horn during a terrific storm which ragged
on the coast shortly after the ship left.
From time to time since then the most
startling rumorS have cropped up about
the missing Archduke' having turned
one of the leaders of the Gillian rebellion.
having divided his treasure among his
crew, burned the ship. landed on a lonely
coast and made his way to Chill; another
that he was the famous marshal who con-
quered the Chinese A third story is that
the eccentric prince IS still alive and Sc
cretly corresponds with his mother. How
ever, the st. Gall tribunal evidently does
not believe that the Archduke is still
alive, for the relatives of his wife having
claimed a million francs deposited by him
with the Bank of st. Gall prior to his de-
parture. the court has ordered the moneys
10 be now paid over to them, as he had
made a will leaving all he possessed to
her. And thus practically ends one of the
most remarkable romances In the dynastic
history OF Europe in this century; but
we may rest assured that for many year
we shall still be startled with reports Of
the mysterious missing Archduke" hav-
ing turned up in some part OF the world
or another, and subsequently of so-called
heirs.