New-York tribune., 1907-05-10
HOBO A WALLENSTEIN.
Hero Of the Thirty Years Var Vas
His ancestor.

Count Otto Waldstein, whose body. officially
identified by the Austrian Consul at San Fran
cisco has just been rescued from paupers grave
there after he had been shot by a possA Of
officers in the belief that he was a fugitive des-
re-sdo named Smith, murderer of John Markovitch
Of Oakland. was A lineal descendant of that Cen
era Wallenstein who played so grand role in the
Thirty Years War, and whose career has furnished
the theme Of so many other tragedies and poems
IS well as Of Schiilers most notable work. At the
Chateau Of Dux, the ancestral home of the fam
jlv where the great Wallenstein was born and
where he rested during the brief intervals of peace
are preserved as relics the cuirass the doublet and
,bs blood stained ruff which he wore at the time
when he was assassinated I'm such n cowardIy-
manner at the instigation of Emperor Ferdinand
who had been led 10 believe that the great COM
rnander had the intention of proclaiming himself
King Of Bohemia. That exercised most of the
powers of a sovereign Of Bohemia cannot be denied
and great was HIS wealth and importance in
the Thirty Years War that lac raised and main
tanned at his own expense an army of fifty thou
sand men. 1t was st Dux, TOO, where the famous
but frivolous and extremely immoral Casanova
wrote his extraordinary memoirs. while employed
there librarian.
Walleustein's real name was Waldstein and al
though it figures in history. in poetry and in the
drama Welenstein, yet his descendants have
always styled themselves Counts and Countesses
OF Waldstein. They constitute a family not of one
but OF many tragedies, and among those which
occur 10 me At this moment are those of Count
John Waldstein. who killed about eight years
ago in India by tiger; Of the Countess Antonette
Waldstein, daughter Of the celebrated princess
Pauline Metternich, and who committed suicide
and her husband Count George Waldstein who
met his death by violence in the park around
Dux in explained. but which is
understood to have been in duel fought with a
young cavalry officer without witnesses
The suicide Of the young countess who was a
great favorite in Viennese society, created a great
sensation at the time Nobody ever quite under
stood her marriage. Born the banks of the
Seine. IN the time her father was ambassador at
the Court of Emperor Napoleon III. she combined
the high breeding OF Austrian aristocrat with
the refined elegance Of a ParisienEe while Count
George Wsldstein a coarse sullen and brutal
fellow, q notorious drunkard and debauche who
was ignorant that he was scarcely able TO read
or write. But. them OF course, his immense wealth
and vast territorial possessions rendered him a
prominent figure in the Old World aristocracy and
in the eyes OF some mothers most desirable mat
rirnonal parti. The young princess's married life
was much akin 10 a martyrdom, and one evening
when there grand dinner party about be
given Dux in honor of the Governor Of the prov
ince and of the Minister OF Commerce. Count
Bacquehen. the young hostess failed TO put in an
curse her for being so late, all the guests being
assembled. he found her fully dressed arrayed in
al her Jewels and seated in front Of her dressing
table stark dead, her eyes wide open and her
piquant face distorted by the effects the poison
which she had swallowed, the empty bottle which
had contained It lying beside her the floor.