The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-12-29

| her 10 ms lar, where ne f0rced ner 10
witness his cruelties day by day. Nat
urally this young and amiable princess
! revolted, and being unable to persuade
her husband from his dastardly course
| attempted to run away.
But her intention miscarried. and
thereafter, instead of endeavoring TO
amuse his wife by showing off his brutal
pranks before her, he made her the vic
tim. She had to dance with the female
domestics to the tune Of his whip, and
more than once saw the blood Of re-
tainer poured out before her Mortified
eyes. Finally she appealed TO old King
William, and the latter gave her a body
guard in the person Of a retired army
officer who was made Court Marshal to
Her Highness.
The officer attended to his duties Just
thirty days, earning the while the INDY
ing hatred Of Prince Leopold, who was
furious at being watched in his own
house and prevented from maltreating
his wife. on the morning of September
T. 1864, the Baron's dead body was found
in the princes bedroom, and near it that
Of Princess Ann, clutching revolver.
This was the version made known at the
royal court, and which sufficed to stop
al legal inquiries Prince Leopold
claimed that. returning home after mid
night, he found the Court Marshal and
his wife together, whereupon he shot the
officer in defense OF bis honor" while
the princess killed herself on seeing her
lover slain.
AS matter of fact, Prince Leopold
iured the officer to his room, murdered
him in cold blood and then forced his wife
to commit suicide.
Another notorious wife-beater among
the older generation Of Prussian Princes
was Frederic Charles, the famous field
marshal. His wife, Marie of Anhait
was one of the most famous beauties of
the continent and the favorite niece Of
King William.
While Frederic Charles was young and
vigorous these whippings were almost of
daily occurrence. Later on, when govt
laid him low, Her Royal Highness was
better able TO hold her own. This poor
lady, the mother of the Duchess of Con-
naught IS still living. and is said 20 bear
the marks OF her husbands cruelty to
this day She is now the wife OF Baron
Won Wangeheim.
With all that, Albert and Frederic
Charles were no worse than one Of the
other royal Hohenzollerns. Every little
while the newspapers tell US of gorgeous
festivities at Letzlingen, a huntingdon
near Berlin belonging TO the emperor.
What they do not tell is that His Ma
jesty would not sleep at Letzlingen a
single night for all the crowns in the
world as the castle is said 10 be haunt
ed by the spirit of a poor girl whom one
Of Williams female ancestors had i'm
INJURED alive in secret passageway lead
ing to her husbands bedroom. The
traces of the walled up opening can still
be seen and it is asserted that the ghost
Of the murdered girl can be heard moan
ing at every midnight hour,
And there is that other Hohenzollern, |
Frederic William. who lives in history as
the Great Elector. This prince allowed |
his second wife, Dorothy of Holstein, /
to poison three of her children by his /
first wife. That he waS an accomplish /
before the act is hard to prove; that he /
the murders is a fact. If his /
eldest son, afterward Frederick L of I
Prussia, had not run away the Hohen- /
zollerns would have died out under the I
Great Elector, the offspring Of the muir 4
ieress taking their place
The father of Frederic the Great was
prevented from numbering his children,
out equalled the Elector in fiendish cru
city The bullyings and beatings to
which his daughter. Wilhelmina, better
Known as the Margarine Of Bayreuth.
was subjected at his hands suffice to
stamp him one of the greatest brutes of
an times
The following is quoted from Wilhel-
nina's memoirs, the pages of which bris-
lie with similar reports:
"On August p latter informing my
mother that he had killed his son Freder-
e.. all the children ran to kiss his hands.
,ut he no sooner noticed me than rage
md fury took possession of him. He
became black in the face, his eyes spark
Ing fire. his mouth foaming. Infamous
.anaiile.' cried he. darest thou show
Myself before me- And SO saying, he
iezed me with one hand, dealing me sew
raj blows in the face with the other.
linched as a fist. one of which struck
ne on the temple so that I fell back.
AS I lay on the ground unconscious,
he king attempted TO trample upon me,
'ut the queen. my sisters and the rest
revented him
Wilhelmina was then fifteen years old,
delicate girl, but already the most
earned of the younger princess of Eu-
ope. Frederic. it VIII be remembered.
early died under the fists and boots of
his most royal father. who also sentenc-
q him 10 death. and when prevented
h
he assembled court.
Wilhelmna furthermore tells us that
4 those days servants had fun authority
o maltreat the royal children; and her s
wn governess, Lefty. used 10 whip her
n the legs so that the mother might not
90 the welts
'-Fisticuns and beatings played quite
art in the early education OF the late
rinue Imperial of France the son Of
-apoleon III. THE emperor. though.
new nothing Of this say the princes
iographers: the child was beaten by .
rder of his mother
After this il is refreshing to be told that
le present grand duchess OF Hesse. about
be divorced, avenged her royal sisters
8 occasionally thrashing her effeminate 7
usband.
It was said Of Car Alexander I that :
e went to his coronation preceded by !
le assassins of his grandfather. follow 1
I by those OF his father and surrounded =
y his own" and that he fully asreed
it'll the axiom that Russia was '-an :
lsocrocy tempered BY murder but
nee Peter the Great endeared himself
his subjects by ''thrashing his wife Ike :
common mujik'' the consorts Of Musco- 7
tie despots have Jared rather better (
,ar, the rest OF Ettronean Oueus. IN