New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-05-01

which at the time surrounded with great
mystery. was due TO chloroform having been ad-
ministered by a at the dead mans
earnest request SlIobeeffs death plunged
Princess Catherine Radziwil into a sort of ner
vous prostration. She loved him. and her
morse was terrible For two years she retired
from society. She afterward reappeared in st.
Petersburg, where she entertained lavishly.
and afterward went 10 London, where, at
a dinner given in her honor. she became
quainted with Cecil Rhodes. She had already
been attracted by the halo of renown that
rounded the Napoleon Of the Cape and had
firmly persuaded herself that she loved him.
She gave her hero antique Russian
medal that he had admired. Cecil Rhodes &C
cepted the gift. and they met frequently.
LAS is we'll known Cecil Rhodes was an in
veterate woman hater He fond OF repeat
ing that woman a barrier TO mans nobest
and highest career He often declared that no
woman could ever penetrate his existence and
dominate his faculties On the other hand.
Princess Catherine Radziwill. whose charms no
man had yet been able to withstand, swore that
she would conquer Cecil Rhodes. and she
tainly had cause to believe that she had
ceeded in exercising over him unlimited sway.
When this occurred Cecil Rhodes was obliged
TO start for South Africa.
lutely devoted to him. She left London for ST.
Petersburg. having in her possession a quantity
OF shares of the Chartered Company. She
gotiated these shares in Russia after some little
difficulty and lived for while most sumptu-
ously, but she was always haunted by the recol-
lection Of the man who had consoed her for the
loss of Skobeleff. . Skobeleff's death weighed
heavily on her conscience. She imagined that
Cecil Rhodes passionately IN love with
her as Skobeleff had been. She feared that If
Cecil Rhodes felt himself abandoned by her ne
might commit some desperate act that would
cause her renewed remorse. She came 10 Paris,
where she sold for $4,000 some of her jewels
that really worth $4,000. She then had
her portrait painted by Benjamin Constant and
started for South Africa. She there found Cecil
Rhodes, who meanwhile had recovered from
his infatuation and had regained his equilibrium.
Rhodes was now anxious to end a situation
which he regarded as al insurmountable cbsta-
Gle to his ambition.
Princess Radziwn broken hearted. agitated,
and deceived to her hopes. plunged into all
sorts OF enterprises guided solely by her restless
spirit and ambition. She travelled hither and
thither, and at last became involved in pecu-
MARY embarrassments from which Rhodes at
first relieved her. Among her ventures the
publishing of a newspaper which she intended
as a means of aiding the realization Of Rhodes's
plans The newspaper attained a measure of
-uccess, but did not compensate for the sacrifices
that 1t imposed upon her. At the moment when
her pecuniary embarrassments were greatest
Cecil Rhodes managed to avoid meeting her.
1T was then that the world learned with stupe-
faction that this woman. allied to the Pachkoffs
to the Dachkoffs, to the Rostopchines. to the
2zewuskis, to the Tachkoffs. to the Gortchakoffs
to the Galitzines. that this woman who had
been welded 10 the brother Of the head of the
princely house of Radziwill. that this woman
whose daughter married to Prince Blucher,
grandson Of the Butcher surnamed the Fate Of
Napoeoa'-it Grouchy who was expected
and II was BIucher who came-that this woman
who was the peeress OF the most exalted per
sonages in the Russian Empire. had been ar
rested at the Cape on a charge Of forgery
People in Europe refused 10 believe the charge,
and II attributed to some huge mistake
1t was then learned that notes were in circula-
tlon in South Africa bearing the signature OF
Cecil Rhodes. When these notes were presented
at the banks they paid. bat not until after
some hesitation. The notes were shown TO Cecil
Rhodes who declared that he had never signed
them, but nevertheless gave orders that they
should be paid. The amounts paid esti-
mated at from $4,000 to 100000 The atten-
ton Of Cecil Rhodes called to the fact that
If he continued to accept and TO pay the notes
he would become legally accomplish In
their issue-an accomplice In their fOrgery-and
no one could tell what amount this mysterious
commercial paper might represent. Cecil
Rhodes then ceased to pay them. AS natural
consequence Princess Radzwill arrested on
a charge Of forgery. The death OF Cecil Rhodes
happened at this juncture
Those most Intimate with Cecil Rhodes assert
that ne was profoundly moved when he learned
what had happened, that he unable to OBJ
tain an avowal of the exact sums for which
his alleged forged signatures were circulating in
South Africa and that the shock and suffering
caused by the forgeries FASTENED the crisis that
In mind that all intimacy between Cecil Rhodes
and Princess Radziwill had ceased for some time
prior to the Issue OF the notes, and that at the
time of his last voyage TO Europe Cecil Rhodes
had changed his ship in order to avoid travelling
on the same vessel as the princess.
Princess RadziwiH is now in South Africa"
writes NJ de Blowitz in conclusion and will
soon be tried for forgery l consider it my duty
TO summarize facts bearing the case before
the tribunal pronounces judgment. Cecil
Rhodes has left behind him this living enigma.
before which remain in doubt If the
princess be declared guilty. then the enemies Of
Cecil Rhodes will accuse him OF not in the last
a crime that he had, 10 say the least,
couragei. II she be found innocent, a severe
Judgment VIII weigh upon the reputation Of a