The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1910-05-14


An utterly different type was Pepita
Duran, and the tragedy that followed
in her wake was moral rather than
| physical. She was a Spanish dancer
in 1852 when she met Lord Sackville,
an English diplomat of note They
lived together till 1871, when she died,
leaving two sons and three daughters.
He sent the children to boarding
| school and retired to Knole, the mag
| nif1cent old mansion that was his an
cestral home. When Henry, the old
est son, was nineteen years old, his
father told him that he could not in
herit either the title or the estates.
and that he would have to get out and
earn his living away from England
He became a farmer in South Africa.
but he was not satisfied, and returned
to England, where he tris4 to prove
| that Lord Sackville married his
mother. This so offended the noble
lord that he would have nothing more
to do with his son.
Husband in the Way.
The reason Lord Sackville hads not
married Pepita Duran was that she
already had a husband in Rhe person
of Juan Antonio Gabriel DE- Olivia, a
| dancer, who refused to get divorce
and did not die until 1888, thus dis
! appointing Sackville, who would glad
, = have married Pepita and legitima-
tized her children if only THE Spaniard
would have got out of the way.
On Lord Sackville's death a few
years ago the title and estates went
| to a cousin of the noble lords chill
dren Henry. the South African
| farmer, went to England and claimed
| the title. The case has just been
| tried before the House of Lords and
was decided last month, the House
ruling that Lord Sackville had never
married Pepita Duran and that there
fore the claim of the plaintiff had no
grounds. This for the young man was
a tragedy. moral but none the less
real
The recent death of King Leopold
of the Belgians brought into the lime
light another woman-the Baroness
Vaughan-whom the aged king had
| welded not long before he passed
away. She was a girl Of humble ex,
traction-her brother is a waiter, her
sister a seller of egetables-with
whom he had Slived for many years
and who had borne him several chill
| dren For her this king made his
daughters lives miserable, virtually
putting the young women out Of his
house; to her he left vast fortune
that ought, in the natural course Of
events. to have gone to his daughters
He ennobled her, he made one of her
sons duke, the other a baron, and
he built palaces for them. Thus his
infatuation for this woman cast a
cloud upon the memory of a king
who in many respects was really
great.
Mystery of Faure's Death.
The recent trial of Nine >Steinhefl
In Paris for the murder of her mother,
though it resulted in an acquittal,
opened the door of a cupboard IN
which skeleton had long lain hidden.
1t revealed that among the host of
| admirers of this wife of complacent
artist had been President Faure of
France; it did not, however, unveil
| the mystery that surrounded the sud
den death of that statesman, but
rather drew it more tightly, for it was
| more than limited that Nine. Steinheil
had been present in the presidents
| death chamber.
One Of the great tragedies of mod
| ern history has never yet been ex-
| planned authoritatively It is known
that the Crown Prince Rudolph OF
Austria and the beautiful young
Baroness Marie Vetsera were killed
together in hunting lodge at Meyer
| ling twenty years ago. The one man
/ still living who saw what happened
/ that night is the Prince of Coburg,
who is ending his days in such dis
ordered state of mind that nothing in
| the way of a revelation can be eX-
pected of him.
Archduke Rudolph married Princess
Stephanie, daughter of Leopold OF the
| Be1gians, but they soon tired of each
other, as they had little in common.
! Rudolph tried to have the marriage
annulled, but the Emperor Francis
Joseph forbade it. Rudolph was then
passionately devoted to Marie Vet
sera, lovely girl not much more thar
sixteen years old. How their romance
eliminated in tragedy will never be
known, but certain doctor, a friend
OF the Belgian Princess Stephanie,
Rudolph's wife, and Louise, wife of
! the Prince of Coburg, has just given
the following version:
Story of the Tragedy.
There was a merry party at Meyer
ling, according to this doctor, and
Prince Rudolph, excited by wine,
boosted that Marie Vetsera had the
most beautiful neck andssApulders of
any woman in the world. &pme one
disputed the statement. Wfereupon
the archduke roughly tore the girls
bodice from her Resenting this in
dignity in the presence of these revel.