New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-06

friend Joseph Teltscher, portrait
painter. ] think that Professor
SCHNEIDER Was also present.
Gerhard Won Breuning says that Bee
thovcn's brother was IN the room. as
was also the housekeeper, Sail;
SCHNEIDER adds nurse from DR., Waw-
ruch's clinic. No doubt all were pres
! ent ut one moment or another; they
! came and went as occasion or duty
called. Hdttenbrenncr says that Tclt-
schcr began drawing the face OF the
dying man, which grated on Breuning's
| feelings, and he made remonstrance
whereupon the painter left the ROOM
| Then Breuning and SCHNEIDER went
away to choose spot for the grave
! He continues:
Save Frau van Beethoven and me
/ nobody was in the death chamDer
! during the last moments OF oeetno-
! ven's life. After Beethoven had IAN
unconscious, the death rattle IN MS
throat from o'clock in the after
noon till after 8, there came hash
Of lightning, accompanied by vio-
lent clan Of thunder, which garishly
illuminated the death chamber. tSnoW
Law before Beethoven's dwelling.) Al
ter this unexpected phenomenon OF
nature. which startled me greatly,
Beethoven opened his eyes, lifted his
right hand and looked up for several
seconds. with his first clcnched and
very serious, threatening expression,
! as if he wanted to say: "lnlmlcal
mowers. | defy you! Away with you!
Cod is with me-" II also seemed as
! if. like a brave commander, he wished
! 10 call out to his wavering troops:
Courage. soldiers! Forward! Trust
in me! Victory is assured" When
he let the raised hand sink TO the
bed his eyes closed half way. NV
right hand was under his head, my
! left rested on his breast. Not an.
other breath, not a heartbeat more!
The genius of the master OF tones
fed from this world of dclusion into
the realm Of truth | pressed down
( the hslf-open cyelids Of the dead
man, kissed them, then his forehea1,
lips and hands. At my request FRAU
van, Beethoven cut lock OF haF
J from his head and handed 1t 10 me rs
n sacred souvenir Of Beethovcn's last
hour. ThercuDon | hurried, deeply
/ moved, into the city. carried the in
! telligence Of Beethoven's death to
( Herr Tobias Haslinger and after
: few hours returned to my home in
Syria.
The transcript in Mr.. Thayer's note
book of Huttenbrenner's recital OF the
supreme moment of the death scene IS
more sententious and dramatic: at
this startling, awful peal of thunder
the dying man suddenly raised his head
from Hutlenbrenner's arm, stretched
out his own right arm maje sticalIy
like a general giving orders to an
army. This was but for an instant;
the arm sunk back; he fell back; Bee
thoven was dead"
CAUSE OF BEETHOyEN'S DEATH.
II remained for modern science to
give the right name to the dIs"&s"
which caused the death Of the greatest
Of all tone-poets. Dropsy, said tn"
world for quarters Of a century.
But dropsy is not q disease, but only 4
symptom a condition produced by dis
ease. To DR.. Theodor Won Frimmel De-
longs the credit of having made it clear
that the fatal malsdy was cirrhosis of
the liver, of which GScitCS. or hydr0pS
GbdOmiHdIi%, was a consequence. Bee
thoven had suffered from disorders Of
the liver years before. In 1921 he en-
dured all attack of jaundice. In his
medical history of the cuse DR.. Waw-
ruch stated that the cause Of the dis
case was 10 be found in an antiquated
ailment of the liver as we'll as defects
in the abdominal organs. When he OBJ
served the first aggravation of the dis
case he recorded that "the liver plainly
showed traces of hard nodules the
jaundice increased" In his report of
the autopsy DR.. Wagner said: "The
liver seemed to have shrunk to one
half its normal size, TO have leathery
hardness, a greenish-blue color; and
its lumpy surface, as we'll as its sub
stance, was interviewer with knots the
size of bean. All the blood vessels
were narrow, with thickencd walls and
empty" The treatment prescribed by
DR.. Wawruch and adopted empirically
at the suggestion of friends was de-
signed not to go to the seat Of the diff
Guilty. but to relieve the dropsical con-
dition of the abdominal cavity; medica-
ments, decoctons, the unfortunate
sweat bath, all were intended to pro-
duce liquid evacustions from the bow
els, increase the secretion of urine or
induce perspiration; the final resort
was to pordccntCSiS.
When Breuning and SCHNEIDER left
the dying Beethoven in the care of
Anslem Huttenbrenner and Frau van
Beethoven they went to the cemetery
there selected place for Beethoven's
grave in the vicinity of the burial plot
Of the Vering family, to which Breun-
ing's first wife had belonged. The lad
Gerhard had run home at the ap-
| proach Of the storm. When his father
and Beethoven's famulus re-entered the
SICK room they we're greeted with the
words: at is finished" The immedi-
ate activities of the friends were now
directed to preparations for the
! funeral, the preservation of the physi-
cal likeness of the great composer and,
so far AS was necessary, the safe
| guarding of his possessions. In re-
| spect of the latter duty, Gerhard von
Breuning tells of a painful incident
which happened on the day after Bee
thoven's death.
LOOKING FOR BANK SHARES.
Breuning, SCHNEIDER, Johann van
Beethoven and Holtz were met in the
lodgings to gather up the dead mans
papers, particularly to look for the
seven bank shares which the will had
! given to the. nephew, In spite of
strenuous search they were not found,
and Johann let fall an insinuation that
/ the search was a sham. This angered
Breuning, and he left the house in u
state Of vexation and excitement. He
returned to the lodgings in the after
noon, and the search was resumed.
Then Holz pulled out protruding nail
in cabinet, whereupon drawer fell
out, and in it were the certificates. In
later years Holz explained to Otto
jain: Beethoven kept his bank shares
While Beethoven lay dying his brother
in vain tried to find out where it was"
On copy Of this memorandum, which