The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-12
Count Hermersbcrg Was at One
Time Volunteer Financial
Clerk in This Country.
ny La MARaUIsE DE FONTENoY.

il La hAN&IlSE DE FONIENOt.
~ CUNT HERMERSBERG. who has
just come to financial grief at
Berlin, where he has been ga
zetted as a bankrupt. is no other than
Prince Hugo Hohenlohe. who spent a
couple Of years in the United States
about a decade ago. as volunteer
clerk in some of the great banking
houses OF Wall Street, New York, for
tho purpose OF rendering himself
thoroughly acquainted with American
business methods. At first he was en-
tertained great deal at Newport ana
in New York. by the Vanderbilts and
others. but soon withdrew from So
ciety and from the limelight. harassed
beyond measure by the everlasting re-
ports which were being printed and
cabled over to Europe, to the effect
that he was about to marry this or
that American multi millionaire widow
or unmarried heiress. Indeed, the last
eighteen months of his stay here were
spent very quietly, and in a good deal
OF retirement.
Not long after his return to Ger
many. he fell In love with Nine. Won
Fryesleben. widow of the well-known
gentleman rider Of that name. and
who was no other than Helga Hager,
the famous circus rider. Her father
was the bareback rider Walter Hager.
and through her mother she was
granddaughter of old Ernest ROM,
founder and owner of that REM Cir
Gus which thirty or forty years ago
enjoyed such widespread fame
throughout Continental Europe.
AS Prince Hugo Hohenlohe was I'M
able to secure the consent OF the chief
and magnates OF his house in order TO
marry the fair Helga, he resigned his
position and status as scion of one or
the mediatized or formerly sovereign
houses of Germany, sacrificed his
name and title of Prince Hone nlohe,
and became q mere ordinary noble,
with the title Of Count Hermersberg,
granted by the King of Wurtemberg.
Then he was pble to we'd his inamorata
on a footing OF perfect equality.
The eX-prince took up his residence
with her in villa and large grounds
at Gross Lichterfeld, in the neighbor-
hood of Berlin. and. with the object
OF turning his American business
training to account. embarked in all
sorts OF commercial and industrial en-
terprises He became interested in the
so-called princes trust, in which his
eldest brother. the Duke of Ujest. his
cousin. the Duke of Ratibor. Prince
Macmillan Fuerstenberg. the Prince
OF Plcss, the Prince of Donnersmarck,
Prince DohnA Count Douglas and sew
eral other OF the Kaisers particular
friends and cronies are concerned. and
which has in operation mines of every
description, shipyards. steamship lines.
railroads. manufactures and even
newspapers.
Count HArmersberg, moreover, not
content with this. embarked in several
ventures Of his own, notably, the build
ing of a senatorium and casino mt
Madeira. 1t Is these outside ventures
that have ruined him. and in which
also he has sunk the fortune which his
wife inherited from her grandfather
REM. and 1t is owing to his connection
with the princes trust that on the
gazetting OF his insolvency there was
so heavy a fall in the trusts shares
on the Berlin Stock Exchange last
week.
The bankruptcy Of ex-Prince Hugo
Hohenlohe serves to teach one lesson
at any rate, namely, that In order to
succeed in business one has to be to the
manner born 1t Is necessary to pc
trained up thereto from the earliest
childhood. When one has been reared
on totally different lines until man
hood. It Is ridiculous to believe that
by means Of a few months stay in
foreign business house as a volunteer.
one can obtain n thorough mastery OF
business methods, which are necessary,
to succeed In the fierce competition
Industrial world. All that one can OBJ
tain in that fashion Is a mere smat-
tering of knowledge, which. by de-
stroying diffidence and cautions is far
more dangerous than complete ignor-
ance. There Is hardly n sir.S,le man
of title who, having been reared to
other callings, has embarked in a bust
ness career. who can be said to have
made n lasting success. and ex-Prince
Hugo Hohenlohc's bankruptcy is meme
ly one moro of long list Of blue
blooded failures
There is no doubt that the cx-
princes marriage has contributed to
his downfall For his brother-in- law.
Count Lucchesi Pail, the husband OF
his wife's sister. was arrested some
time ago In Berlin on charges OF fraud.
In connection with the circulation OF
checks upon banks where he had no
account, and when In Jail. made the
most OF his relationship with Inc ex-
prince, and even insisted that ne was
In partnership with him. Another OF
the brothers-,n-law OF Hugo jHohen-
lohe, namely. his wite's brothep, Fran
els ROM, was also overtaken by flnan-