Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-11-22


sions of what occurred. One true
story relates that the Crown Prince
was struck dead by BaltaZZi, q Hun
garian chevalier who loved the Baron
| ess Marie Vetsera and who was
frenzied by finding the girl and
Prince Rudolf together in the castle
of Meyerling after the Crown Prince
had given his pledge not to see the
girl again. Another that the Crown
Prince killed the uncle of fthe young
Baroness when he came to rescue her
and that both of the young lovers
afterward committed suicide. The
truth is not known.
Clouded in still deeper mystery, If
possible, was the disappearance that
same year of Francis Joseph's favorite
nephew, the Archduke Johann Saliva
! tor. Heir to the throne at the death
of Rudolf, he renounced all his inn
perial dignities and fled the country
as John Orth, captain Of a merchant
ship, never to be heard of again. The
next of kin, the Archduke Francis
Ferdinand, who became heir pre-
sumptive, added a further burden to
, his uncle's heart by morganatic mar
riage to Sophie, the countess of Cho-
TEX. 1t was he and his wife who were
| assassinated at Sarajevo in June, 1914
But it is doubtful If any or all OF
these reverses weighed more heavily
uPOL llIS hodTJ lutlh Tie
tragedy at Geneva, when the EN-
press Elizabeth, who has been called
the most beautiful woman in Europe
was stabbed to death by a man, Ital-
ian anarchist, in 1898. True, she
| long had been estranged from the
Emperor, but he had never ceased to
respect and adore her. When a
crime he exclaimed: "Alas, nothing
can be spared me, nothing"
After each blow he renewed his
devotion to the state, his only solace
being in harder work. He labored
prodigiously. He was beloved for his
kindliness, his modesty, and rectitude
and his high moral courage made il
Czechs, the Poles, the Serbs, the
Ruthenians and the Burgars, who
made up the mosaic or nationalities
in his dual empire.
Gossip dealt plentifully with his
| private life, filled with romance and
misfortune. 1t is related that his
mother intended him to marry Prin-
cess Helena, eldest daughter of Duke
Max of Bavaria. With passive indif-
ference the young Emperor agreed to
his mothers wishes, and set out to
pay court to his intended bride. He
got no further than the park sur
rounding the Dukes castle, where he
| beauty attracted him.
He learned that she was Princess
Elizabeth, younger sister of his in
tended. He resolved that Elizabeth
should be his bride and so she became
in 1864.
In addition to her beauty Elizabeth
was highly endowed with talents, but
she found no welcome at court. The
Emperor's mother would hardly coun-
a oil nf he
Viennese aristocracy held aloof from
her. Elizabeth returned scorn for
scorn. Her enemies bore her every
tale that could wound her pride and
estrange her love. AT last they sue
ceeded. In burst of pique she fled
to her. native Bavaria She came
back, but the Viennese never forgave
her. They charged her with loving
fox hunting in Ireland better than her
duty and preferred to remember her
always as the absent wife.
The estrangement widened. The
Emperor was fond of pretty women
and Vienna did not lack them. The
Empress grew more and more to con-
slider herself "a dutiful sovereign
lady," and less and less a wife. The
| tragic death of her only son drew her
nearer to her husband for q while
but there came succeeding period
of stronger repulsion, and thereafter
she almost disappeared from the Hof-
burg.
Then appeared Katharine Schratt.
formerly of the imperial theater. BY
her tact and wit she succeeded In
creating for herself place below but
beside the throne, never accorded be-
fore her time so openly and so per-
manently to any woman. Speculation
as to her relations with the Emperor
was wide and malicious. OF course it
found it's way to the Empress, and
there followed an incident which tes-
titles to her uncommon delicacy and
courage.
Nettled by the continual humilia-
ton of such distasteful scandal mon
gering she devised a way to end it.
One day she took her youngest daugh-
ter by the hand, and, to the immeas-
ureable astonishment of her guests,
set out to pay long call on Frau
Schratt at her country palace in Ischl,
where all the world knew the EN-
peror spent hours daily. That ended
gossip before the Empress about a
condition which she herself had So
cia1ly Iegalized by her presense.
Whatever the truth about Kath-
arina Schratt and the Emperor, she
had the good sense never to attempt
to influence him politically. Those
of her, predecessors who had dared
more boldly paid the penalty of sud-
den and noiseless removal from his
surroundings. When upon the
assassination of the Empress, the
court went into mourning, Frau
Schratt was seen but little. Shortly.
the old intimacy was openly resumed,
but 1t was impossible to continue
malignant about a friendship, that
heightened into old age, and the sting
of criticism gradually died out! At
Shonbrunn Castle. Frau Schratt ap-
peared nearly every afternoon to keep
the Emperor company for an hour or
two. In turn, he delighted to call on
her at her town house as q private
gentleman. where he could meet .