The Washington herald., 1911-03-16
LEGEND OF WHITE
LADY IN PRUSSIA

upon the house of The HohenZollerns.
Almost everybody in Prussia, even to
| this day, is certain that the 'weiSSe
dame apparition really exists. She has
been seen" many times, and, strange
to say, her coming invariably was fol-
lowed by a death in the family of the
| King OF Prussia. She is supposed to be
the ghost of the Countess Agnes of
Meran, whose husband, the first Count
Won Orlando, so the story goes, she is
said to have murdered. together with her
two children, because they were, accord
ing to the legend. an obstacle to her
union with one of the Margraves OF
Brandcnburg. an ancestor Of the Kaiser.
Although she succeeded in accomplish
ing her ambition. the tradition is that
she became an object Of such execration
by the citizens of Berlin that on the
death of her second husband she was
| Obliged to seek refuge in Bavaria. Ac-
cording to the legend. she died in the
town of Hmmelkron. but her tomb has
been sought there IN vain. Recent opera
tions in connection with the strengthen
ing Of the foundations of the ancient
church Of Himmclkron. however. have
| led to the discovery. hidden away beneath
n
church, OF a lcaden coffin. the remaining
marks on which served to indicate that
II contained the remains Of a lady OF
the house Of HOhenzoIlern. this being
confirmed by the fact that when the
coffin was opened and examined, there
were found the skeleton Of a woman and
the remnants OF gOld-CmbrOidered robes.
Close by this coffin there were two small
er ones, holding The skeletons OF children.
fIH I.r1F-
that the remains in the larger coffin were
those OF the 'white lady" of the house OF
| HohenzOllern. speculation prevails as To
whether the children in the smaller ones
were the offspring OF the countess first
marriage. who met with death at her
hands. or whether they were the issue Of
her union with the prince to wed whom
she had perpetrated her crimes.
From the location Of the cofins it would
seem as II they had been thrust to ono
side without any ceremony. in order n
await the decision Of the highest ecclesi-
astical authorities as to whether they
were entitled to Christian burial and tho
rites Of the church. and had then hccn
forgotten. Perhaps If they are now. after
centuries. Inferred with the blessing ~
the church in rOnsecrated ground. the
ghost Of tho white lady" that haunts the
old ''schloss' at Berlin may hc laid.
or course. MANY scoff at the existence
Of ghosts and Of tho white lady Of the
Hohenzollerns But the late Emperor
Frederick the "U-nscr Fritz N tho
Franco PrILssian war; was particuIarlv
Interested in the subject and collected all
the evidence thereon he could. Perhaps
the most important testimony in this
connection consists Of the sworn state
mcnts OF Prince Ferdinand Of Prussia
and A number of his fel1Ow-offiCers to
all Of whom the white lady" is declared
to have appeared as they sat together on
the eve Of tho princes death at tho bat
tie Of Saalfeld in 1896 during the NaroIc-
onic invasion A. to FREDERICK the Great
the white lady, "appeared" To that IA
NOUS monarch the night before his death
The king was on the road to recovery.
when suddenly one morning he declared :
that he had seen tn" Whitehead sDectcr
during the night: that his hour had come.
and that il was useless to ward OF death
any longer. He refused - take medicine
or n0urishment and died
The white lady has beer considered
sufficiently real hv the mattcr-of-fact
commanders Of tho Frussan army 10
lead to their adopting special measures
whenever her appearance is reported
The moment she IS seen. the sentincIs
about the roval palace are doubled. The
object of this IS not so much to protect
the royal family from harm AS to pre-
vent the SentinelS from following the
example OF the two who shot themselves
while on guard At the palace in 1855. one
shortly before the death Of old Emperor
William and the other a few DAYS before
the demise Of Emneror Frederick the
men in each case declaring. before they
eXnired that they had seen the white
lady" their story being horne out hv the
fact that their faces were distorted with
terror.
Although the Duke NJ SaraCossa IS a
very wealthy C-andoe of Spain. where
he owns large estates he prefers the life
of an engine driver in the service Of
French railway. When dressed in the
rough garb Of a driver. there is nothing
about him 10 indicate that he was not
born to the husiness-excert perhaps
his white linen collar and his smartIv
cut boots. He qualified five years ago.
and since then has hern emrIoved on
several railways in Spain and Franco.
The Duke or SaraSossa is very popular
with his comrades on the railway. and
h. is the only engine driver in Franco
who smokes goId-tipped cigarettes.
Several European royalties also are
deeply interested in engine driving. The
King Of Spain. for instance. used to take
every possible opportunity of getting upon
the fnot-plate with the driver Of any train
he might he travelling with. Probably.
now that he is married man with
family responsibilities. he may not in
dulge in this propensity SO often. al
though he is quite expert and absolutely
fearless and has often driven his mother
and sisters on the railway. Ferdinand |
Of Bulgaria is another royal engine
driver. and some time ago actually drove
the express from Abbeville to Paris.
The London Society OF Knights Bache-
lor recently signed a contract to purchase
a large portion of Clifford's Inn. London,
including the hall and some of the adjoin-
ing houses. This will give the society a
permanent home. Clifford's Inn is one OF
those inns of chancery which, unlike
the inns of court, have lost their func-
tions. The oldest of the inns OF chancery.
it was originally a town house OF the
Lords Clifford. ancestors of the Earls of
Cumberland. and was first let to students
OF the law in the eighteenth year of King
Edward Wis reign. Coke. the great lum-
mary of English Jurisprudence. and John
Selden were among those who resided at
CIifford's Inn In the hall. which was
partly rebuilt in 1861. Sir Matthew Hale |
and seventeen other judges sat to deal !
with the questions of boundary and !
ownership which arose out of the great |
London fire. The decisions Of the judges |
fill forty folio volumes. which are pre- |
served in the British Museum.