The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-09-21
THE HAPsBURG TRAGEDIES.
Emperor Francis Joseph's Life has
Been Full Of Sorrows.
From the New York Hernld.

From the New York Herald.
| Again fate has dealt heavy blow %
the houses of Hapsburg and Witteis-
bach. adding another sorrow to that
heavy burden which has borne down to
despair the ancient rulers Of Austris
and Bavaria. The spirit of tragedy
seems to have marked them fer its own
aud to have played with them in order
to drive its lessons deep into the hearts
of men. The fate Of the empress OF
Austria is but the climax of life over
flowing with heart burning and trag-
edy.
Chief Of the recent tragedies Of the
house of Hapsburg was the suppressed
suicide in 1889 of the Archduke Ru-
dolph Francis Charles Joseph, son of
the emperor and heir to the throne, the
one ON whom all the hopes Of the inn
perial house had rested. This affair is
now known as the Meyerling drama.
Several versions of the tragedy have
been given out, but the facts in the case
probably never will be known to any
one outside the royal house.
The archduke WAS deeply infatuated
with the charms Of the Baroness Vet
eera, beautiful young girl, who re-
turned his love. he wished to be unit
ed to her by morganatic marriage, but
his father would not allow it. On the
opening of January p the archduke
met the baroness in gamekeeper's
house not far from the castle Of Meyer
ling.
In the morning both were found
dead lying side by side. 1t was assert
ed that the baroness had taken poison
and that the prince had SHOT himself.
Another story is to the effect that
forester went to the house where the
prince was staying in order to ask the
gamekeeper for some instructions re-
garding the hunt that was to take
place. He knocked loudly at the door.
a window was opened and a man
jumped out and ran away. The forester
aimed and fired. The fugitive fell, and
when the forester walked up to him he
recognized, to his horror, the crown
prince, who had tainted. The shot had
entered the princes shoulder. The for
ester called for help, and, with the as
sistance of man who ran to his aid,
carried the prince into the gamekeep-
er's house.
The baroness, seeing the prince in a
faint aud bleeding from wound, i'm
agined that he was dead. She imme-
diately took up her travelling bag and
pulled out phial. Before she could be
prevented she drank its contents and
fell dead upon the floor.
Soon afterward the crown prince
came to aud was taken by his own or
ders to the castle of Meyerling. Here
he ordered his valet from the room
into which he had been carried, and
here he placed pistol to his head and
fired fatal shot.
Letters of the prince and Of the bar
oness, found after the tragedy, ten to
disprOve this version, aud indicate
premeditated suicide on the part Of
both parties. Then there were several
witnesses who declared that they had
seen the bodies of the prince and the
baro ness lying side by side immediate
ly after the tragedy.
A man by the name of ohann Tran
quilein, known by the sObriquet Of ''Ba-
ron Schau," who died on Wards Is
land after u career OF dissipation in the
United States, asserted that he drove
the crown prince TO Meyerling on the
day of the tragedy, and told a very
different story of the princes death. He
said that he drove the prince and a jOl-
~ party of friends to Msyerling. No
women We're in the party.
Supper was served in the castle of
Meyerling, and during the festivities
the Baroness Vetcera suddenly made
her entrance into the supper room and
with flashing eyes asked the prince il
il was true that he had renouneed her.
The prince, after silence, answered
that his father woui "a not allow any
further relations between himself and
the baroness. The latter then drew
revolver and fired at Rudolf.
The ball wounded him but slightly,
and he caught the infuriated woman in
his arms. She managed however, to
turn the pistol against herself and in
fiicted a mortal wound. a relative Of
the baroness then sprang up and
brought champagne bottle with all
his might upon the head Of the prince,
who sank upon the floor and died. The
lovers were then laid side by side upon
couch, and all the Witnesses TO the
scene were sworn TO secrecy.
The court, Of course, hushed up the
affair as much as possible, aud so the
story Of the princess taking of has
never been authoritatively told.