The Washington herald., 1911-06-03
ARCHDUKE JOHANN'S DEATH.

WaleO laughingly remarked, wait until
mine are ready; shall revive the for.
tunes Of our house"
Viennese society is all agog over . neat
little confidence trick, involving the use
of, the name Of the Duke Of Leuchten-
berg. relative Of the Romanoffs. and
one Of the most aristocratic Of the Rus
sian ultra-feudal set. When one takes into
consideration that the Viennese bon
vivant of the teunesse doree' considers
himself the most knowing and one who
never can be deceived, the little episode
becomes just that much more interest
ing as a sidelight Of modern ''savoir
vivre" method. This Is the story as
printed In the Neue Freie Presse, the
leading Conservative organ Of the dual
monarchy:
On the last night Of the carnival the
great masked ball arranged by women
of the aristocracy had to close at mid
night. The earliest dawn Of Ash We'd
nesday approached. All the men at the
ball Immediately plunged into the cafes
chantants. Three young men Of noble
Austrian blood were entertaining some
ladies' OF the ballet in a music hall, when
Its proprietor, a woman, entered the
private box. She said, almost tearfully.
she had been ordered by telephone to re-
serve box for the Duke Of Leuchten-
berg, who had arrived from st. Peters
burg that night and was already on his
way in motor car to the hall. Every
seat In the house was taken. Would they
admit the duke to this box?
The Duke OF Leuchtenberg!" cried
one Of the women, joyously.
THE heaviest swell in Europe. a rela-
tive of the Gar. a captain in the Preo-
hrsa{ 4. v,olr, lat
whose father is president of a bank.
Enters a distinguished looking man,
whose attendant. removing magnificent
fur coat. revealed him in evening clothes.
with one or two replicas of envied deco
rations dangling from the buttonhole Of
his coat He was very gracious. He
spoke German with a slight Russian ac-
cent. He was witty. we'll educated. Best
Of all. he ordered champagne repeat
edly. as is the reputed habit Of the Ro-
manoffs and those close to them. The
Viennese clubmen reciprocated afte.
asking the dukes permission.
When the delightful night ended. the
duke called for the bill and 1t was pre-
sented-s50
"of course 1 pay this said the duke
smilingly.
The man about town ventured to object.
"Of course I pay this repeated the
DUKE peremptOrily. he ore" IOrtH a
fat wallet from his fur coat and ex-
tracted a 1000 ruble note. The waiter
returned full of apologies.
Madame regrets-she cannot change
the money OF his serene highness; be-
sides. 1t is Russian money-not current
here" and so on.
The dukes three new friends de-
clared they would be only too happy to
pay the bill and arrange matters at
their next meeting.
The duke raised all sorts Of objections
and-consented. But he declared that he
must give his kind hosts some memento
Of the evening. They were to lend him
their gold cigarette cases and on them
he would have his initials set in dia-
monds and the date Of the jolly night.
Hearty handshakes were exchanged amid
promises OF a speedy meeting.
The three men about town did not men
ton the affair until they were sure that
the Duke OF Leuchtenberg' had disap-
peared. and their gold cigarette cases
with him. FLANEUR.
Copyright 1911. By Court Gossip syDdicate.)