The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-07-06
SON OF ARCHDUKE
A$5.A.NHk WAITER
IN BUDAPEST CAFE
Thrown on His Own Resources
by the Merciiess Rulings of
the Austrian Court, He Is Con-
tent to Make Capital From
His Name.


playing a hand organ, although he is
the heir to the title of Earl Poulett, has
a counterpart here in Baron Wallburg,
eldest son and heir to the title and
great estates of his father, the late
Archduke Ernest, cousin of Emperor
Francis Joseph. Because his father
married for love rather than for rank
the eldest son has had to go to work
as a waiter in a cafe in order to keep
his wife and babies from starving. The
story of his sufferings before he OBJ
tanned this work would seem almost in
credible if the baron in telling me the
story this week had not sup
piled the details.
Unlike the romances of SO many of
| the Austrian archdukes, there was
nothing scandalous in the love story
of the Archduke Ernest-quite the con-
trary from an American viewpoint. TIN
| lady Of his choice was a, charming Hun
| garian girl-FEaulein Won Skublics-of
good family, but not of noble birth.
This marriage was duly celebrated ac-
| cording to the rites of the Roman Cath
Ollie church in remote village of Sly
ria in 1864. Arehduke Ernest bought
an estate in Carinthia, and he and his
wife lived there in total retit ement
from the world.
| The. emperor and some other mem
hers Of the Austrian imperial family
were aware of the .archduke's marriage,
but they disapproved of it strongly,
and the emperor forbade his cousin ever
to bring his wife and children-of
| whom there were four-to Vienna This
20 ~
many years, SO that the archduke's
own children had not the least idea
what their fathers title was till after
they were grown. They had few. friends
| in their country home, for the arch
| duke was DESTROYS of keeping his iden-
| tity secret from neighbors in Carinthia,
who would only have given publicity
| to the union which he desired to re-
main unknown. 81
A few years ago the emperor, in rec
| ognition of the way in which the arch
| duke kept the disgrace" of his mar
| riage for love from the world at large,
conferred the rank of baroness on his
wife, who thereupon7 assumed the name
of Wallburg.a The imperial decree made
no mention of her children, but it was
assumed that, as in all casesIofs n Cr-
| ganatic marriage, they would inherit
! their mothers rank and title
Archduke Ernest died in 1899, and his
wife followed him into the grave a few
months later. but the Austrian authori-
ties refused to acknowledge their eldest
| son as Baron Wallburg. On the con-
trary efforts were made by the legal
representatives of the Austrian court
! 70 no Of bn 11xa'c
marriage on the ground that no mem
Der of the imperial family can con-
| tract matrimonial union without the
emperor's consent.
| Archduke Ernest left immense estates
| and a large fortune, but Baron Wall
| burg was absolutely disinherited, while
| several archdukes of the imperial fam
| lily, already millionaires, were enriched
| at his expense. He has conducted sew
! eral actions at law in defense of his
| rights, but court influence has caused
| him to lose each one -
Baron Wallburg was thirty-four
when his father died, and up to that
| time he had lived a life of idleness,
| roaming about the estate. hunting,
shooting, indulging in outdoor sports
and enjoying himself as a man whose
| future was secure. The ineXplicable
| refusal of the Austrian court to recog-
nize his title or to give him any share
of his fathers wealth rendered him
destitute at an age when it was eX-
tremely difficult for him to start life
afresh. His troubles were increased
by the fact that he had married Car
inthian lady who had borne him five
children, the youngest of whom was a
few months old when Baron Wallburg
was turned adrift in the world.
When I looked him up at the Cafe
New York the baron gave me the fol-
lowing story of his vicissitudes of for
tune since that time:
when it became evident" he said,
that was not only penniless, but that
1 must leave the home which had been
my fathers and my own for over a
third of century a friend of mine adj
viSed me to try my luck in Budapest,
and I followed his suggestion. After 1
| had sold my own personal belongings
I found that / had just $3.50 in cash
wherewith to face the unfriendly world
and when had paid the cost of taking
my wife and children to Budapest this
sum had shrunk to $400
II took cheap lodging of two rooms
for 5000 month, but it was a terrible
change for us all. We had been used
to the country and to living in a large,
airy house, with every comfort and
convenience and the small stuffy
rooms which smelled Of poverty, were
intensely distasteful to us. Che chill
dren suffered mostsof all, for previously
they had several hundred acres of
beautiful country as their playground,
whereas now they could not leave the
house unattended.
II set about tor get work without de-
lay. soon found that my education
and upbringing had rendered me I'M
fitted for nearlylsall the occupations in
which money was to be earned. My
title and descent were great disadvan-
tages to me, for every one to whom I
applied for employment told me that
| the son of an arehduke could not be
expected to take orders from an or
binary mortal. 1t was in vain for me
| to protest that / was poor, and that
| was willing to work and to obey as
other employees did. The invariabIe
answer was that no doubt my inten-
| tons were excellent, but that the SUI
| perior force Of birth and habit would
| make it impossible for me to carry out
my theories.
| .eWhen three months had gone by
| was still searching for employment
| and my money had decreased to a few
! dollars, for economical as we tried to
| be, we found it impossible to keep the
expenses down. / now realized that
| must obtain work or face starvation,
| and the knowledge that my wife and
/ children depended solely on my efforts