Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-03-16

TeldliOllSLlP.
1t a seven years later that Ru-
dolph met Marie Vetsera, the beauti-
full young daughter Of a Hungarian
nobleman, and instantly they fell in
love. Rudolph applied to Rome for a
divorce in order that he might wed her,
and the pope sent his letter to the EN-
peror. On receiving it Francis Joseph
summoned the prince. All night long
they sat in conference. What the father
said to his son before daylight came
none will ever know, but when the east
grew red with dawn Rudolph came
away, his face drawn and haggard, his
eyes burning as with fever. Attendants
entering the room found the emperor
unconscious in faint.
Two days passed and a message
came from Mayesling which plunged
anew the arrow of sorrow into the
fathers heart. His only boy, his crown
lodge, his head shattered with a re-
| volver bullet, and neal him lay the
J body of the beautiful Hungarian girl,
1t has been said, from a dose OF
s%trychnine. To this day the world does
not know whether Prince Rudolph was
murdered, killed accidentally or com
mitted suicide, but the world generally
believes that he died by his own hand.
From that day in January, 1889, the
emperor and the empress as we'll faced
the world still bravely but with torn
and bleeding hearts.
Nine years later the people Of Aus
tria and Hungary were making ready
for a great celebration, the golden
Jubilee Of Francis Joseph's ascension
to the throne. Fifty years had pass
ed since the happy, laughing youth,
at his mothers instance, had been
crowned; fifty years Of kindness to
| all with whom he came in contact;
fifty years Of striving to live rightly,
to govern his people with tenderness,
to show sympathy and help in every
direction. And his subjects, sharing
his many sorrows, had determined to
show their loyalty and appreciation.
At this time the empress was in
Switzerland for a brief period Of rest
and on September 10, accompanied
by a single lady in waiting, she was
on her way to board a steamboat
| which would take her from Geneva
so tina she might stond by her hus-
band and gratefully receive the ma
! tons homage. Just before the EN-
press set foot on the steamer a man
drew near; something glittered in his
hand and swiftly sank into the side of
the d~efenceless woman, penetrating
her heart. An Italian anarchist had
done the work only too well.
There in a hotel close by Don died
the friend and comforter as we'll as
the wife and empress. More than forty
years had she and Francis Joseph been
married, within a few weeks Of that
day back in 1854, when they first met
and first confessed the love that never
faltered, that but grew greater as the
decades marched on.
Another tragedy was the mystic
rious disappearance Of the Archduke
John Salvador, which has never been
cleared up to this day. The execution
Of Macmillan, whose wife, Carlotta,
lost her reason as a result OF the
| shock; the death of Rudolph, the as
sassination of the empress, it seems,
were not enough to fill the cup Of grief.
Not long after the anarchist had ac-
complished his purpose the dead m
prcss's most loved sister, the Duchess
d'Alencon, vas burned to death in a
| charity bazaar fire in Paris, and while
this shock was still fresh the emp
peror's favorite niece was burned to
death in the Palace Of Schoenbrunn.
Various members of Francis Joseph's
family have added their load Of TRACE
dy; sudden death, scandals with act
~tresses as we'll as with women Of high
station, forgery, dissipation ending In
lunacy, came in amending procession.
Princess Stephanie, widow Of Ru-
dolph, married Count Lonyay, although
her daughter Elizabeth fell on her
knees before Francis Joseph and beg
ged him to forbid the wedding. Eliz-
abeth herself when married to Prince
| Otto found out his character and one
night shot at a valet guarding the door
Of the princes room, then bursting in
fired at the actress whom she found
there with her husband.
Prince Stephanie's elder sister,
Louise Of Coburg, carried on such in
trigues with an army lieutenant that
the emperor had to force her husband
to defend his honor with the sword.
Later the lieutenant forged Louise's
name and vas sent to prison for five
years, while she was sent to an asylum
for the insane.
The brother of Louise, the arch
duke Leopold, kept up the family rec
ord Of marital adventure and was
exiled while the Princess George Ut
Saxony deserted her husband and
| clipped with a music teacher ten years
] younger than herself who in turn de-
serted her after the birth Of their
child. The Archduke Eadislas was shot
to DEATH with an explosive bullet.
The Archduke Otto enraged the EN-
peror by bringing home a party OF
drunken companions to whom he
promised thai he would exhibit his
wife, daughter of the king Of Saxony,
in her nightgown. An aid, loyal to the
princess, sprang in front Of her door
and fought the drunken gang until
overpowered by them. In addition to
this disgrace the emperor later found
out such other scandals that he was
compelled to dismiss Otto from the
army.
Archduke Louis Victor, own brother
of Francis Joseph, was attacked and
| soundly thrashed in a public bath by
the angry father of a young girl; later
! he had to flee the country for a similar
cause, and during later years was kept
in restraint as an incurable paretic.
The aged emperor's favorite grand
child, Elizabeth, eloped with a young
lieutenant whom she barely knew by