The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-05-07
A PRISONER INATOMB
He TRIED TO STEAL THE JEWELS
FROM A DEAD DUCHESS.


He Thought That All the Ornaments
That Adorned the Corpse as 1t Lay
In State Were Buried with. the
Body-Caught In a Trap.
Only few weeks after her return from
Brussels, where she had seen her son,
then recently crowned king OF the Bel
gians, did the Duchess Augusta of Sach-
sen-Coburg die, In her seventy-sixth year,
Nov 16, 1881 The admiration and love
this admirable princess had inspired
drew crowds to visit the body as it lay
IN state In the residence at Coburg prior
to the funeral, which took place on the
10th before daybreak by the light of
torches. The funeral was attended by
men and women of all classes eager to
express their attachment to the deceased
and respect for the family.
great deal was said and tabled con-
corning this funeral. 1t was told and be-
heved that the dowager duchess had been
laid in the family vault adorned with her
diamond rings and richest necklaces. She
was the mother Of kings, and the vulgar
believed that every royal and princely
house with which she was allied had con-
tributed some jewel toward the decora-
ton of her body.
Among those who were present at the
funeral of the Duchess Augusta was a
Bavarian named Andreas Stubenrauch,
an artisan then at Coburg He was the
son of an armorer, followed his fathers
profession and had settled at Coburg
Stubenrauch had been one, of the crowd
that had passed by the bed on which the
duchess lay in state and had cast covet
GUS eyes at the jewelry with which the
body was adorned.
He had also attended the funeral and
had come to the conclusion that the Ouch
ess was buried with all the precious arti-
cles he had noticed about her as exposed
to view before the burial and with great
deal more which popular gossip asserted
to have been laid in the coffin with her.
The thought of. all this waste of wealth
chung to his mind, and Stubenrauch re-
solved to enter the mausoleum and rob
the body.
The position of the vault, far removed
and concealed from the palace, suited his
plans, and he made little account Of locks
and bars, which were likely to prove
small hindrances to an accomplished
locksmith.
To carry his plan into execution he re-
solved on choosing the night of Aug. IL
10, 1892 On this evening he sat drink
ing in a low tavern till 10 o'clock, when
he left, returned to his lodgings, where
he collected the tools he believed he
would require. candle and flint and
steel, and then betook himself to the
mausoleum. The tomb was closed by an
iron gate formed of strong bars eight feet
high, radiating from center in sort
of semicircle and armed with sharp
spikes.
He found it impossible to open the
lock, and he was therefore obliged to
climb over the gate, regardless of the
danger of tearing himself on the barbs.
Here he found a double stout oaken
door in the floor that gave access to the
vault The two valves were so closely
dovetailed into one another and fitted so
exactly that he found the utmost diff
Guilty in getting tool between them. He
tried his false keys in vain on the lock.
and for long time his efforts to pry
the lock open with lever were equally
futile. At length by means of a wedge
he succeeded in breaking a way through
the junction of the doors into which he
could insert bar. and then he heaved at
the valve with all his might. throwing his
weight on the lever.
1t took him fully an hour before he
could break open the door, Midnight
struck as the valve, grating on its hinges.
was thrown back. Then, leaning over
the opening. holding pole in both hands,
he endeavored to feel the depth of the
vault In so doing he lost his balance.
and the weight of the pole dragged him
down, and he fell between two collins
some IL feet below the floor of the upper
chamber There he lay for some little
while unconscious, stunned by his fall.
When be came to himself. he sat up, felt
about with his hands to ascertain where
he was and considered what next should
be done.
Stubenrauch was not the man to feel
either respect for the dead or fear of
aught supernatural. With both hands
he sustained the heavy lid of the coffin as
he peered in, and the necessity for using
both to support the weight prevented his
profane hand from being laid on the re-
mains of an august and pious princess.
Stubenrauch did indeed try more than
once to sustain the lid with one hand that
he might grope with the other for the
treasure he fancied must be concealed
there, but the moment he removed one
hand the lid crashed down.
Disappointed in his expectations. Stu
benrauch now replaced the cover and be-
gan to consider how he might escape.
But now, and only now, did he discover
that it was not possible for him to get
out of the vault into which he had fallen.
The pole on which he had placed his
confidence was too short to reach the
opening above Every effort made by
Stubenrauch to scramble out failed He
was caught in trap-and what trap!
Nemesis had fallen on the ruffian at
once on the scene of his crime and CON
demned him to betray himself.
Morning broke 1t was Sunday and a
special festival at Cobnrg. for it was the
twenty-fifth anniversary of the accession
of the duke, SO that the town was in
lively commotion, and park and palace
were also in stir. Stubenrauch sat up
and waited in hopes of hearing some one
draw near who would release him. About
8 o'clock in the morning he heard steps
on the gravel and at once began to shout
for assistance.
The person who had approached ran
away in alarm, declaring that strange
and unearthiy noises issued from the
ducal mausoeum. The guard was ap
prised. but would not at first believe the
report. AT length one of the sentinels
was dispatched to the spot. and he re-
turned speedily with the tidings that
there certainly was man in the vault.
He had peered through the grating at the
entrance and had seen the door broken
open and a crowbar and other articles
lying about The gate was now opened
and Stubenrauch removed in the midst
Of an assembled c.. I'd of angry and dis
mayed spectators. lie was removed to
prison, tried and cond emned to IL months
with hard labor.-Baring-G Ills
toric Oddities"