The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-12-05

down into his heart, and to stir 1T to
it's very depths, for his love for her
was not the love which most men
consider a mere amusement, but a
| noble, generous, high-souled tender
ness of supreme lofty essence, law
ishing upon her fondness of un-
equaled and unutterable value.
unfortunately, she wanted more
than that; not more than she herself
gave, however, for he was all the
world to her, but more than he could
give, since it was unwearied, unceas-
ing, eternal and utter eonstancy that
she demanded"
And so they drifted apart. Gossip
assigned many reasons for it, and
many a tongue was kept busy enlarg-
ing them.
The "Uncrowned Queen"
OF the stories, that of Katie Schratt,
1.-THE unerewned QUEEN" was a favor
tie.
The accepted one is Of his utter
infatuation for this one-time popular
Viennese actress. an infatuation so
great that he elevated her to the role
Of another Madame de Pompedour.
Even of very recent years stories
have been written Of his nightly pill
grimages to her little home in the
suburbs Of the capital, Of the title
Herr Schratt," which his intimates
1aughingly applied to him; stories Of
the seamy side Of Francis Joseph's
life.
On the other hand there is the
p1easanter version; How pretty Kath-
erina schratt met the Emperor on
business connected with the imperial
Burg Theatre, where she was playing
back in 1888, of the subsequent at
tachment that grew up between her
and the Empress Elizabeth.
my comrade," is what the aged
Emperor called Katie, and a true
comrade she was to the lonely old
man. And as an evidence of her
standing among the women of Eu-
rope, who would likely be her severest
critics, it was not many years ago
that Empress Elizabeth's sister invit
ed Katie Schratt to accompany her
on her travels
1T is stated positively that the 'peo-
pie of Vienna and of Austria, who
know the true Katie Sehratt and who
knew the true Francis Joseph. view
ed the friendship with approval.
Murder of the Empress.
This was the situation when the
hand of an Italian assassin struck
down the Empress Elizabeth in Gen
eva, Sept. 10, 1898.
Francis Joseph was even then pre-
pairing to celebrate with elaborate
ceremonies the, Go1de>l Jubilee of his
coronation. The Empress, who had
been for several years in poor health,
being particularly afflicted with reur-
tits, had improved, and was prepar-
ing to join her royal spouse in Vienna.
Shortly after noon, accompanied by
Countess Sztaray, she left her hotel
and started on foot for the steamer
landing in Geneva. Suddenly man
rushed by, humping into her and
knocked her to the ground.
Apparently she was unhurt, for she
struggled to her feet and managed
to reach the boat. Then she col
lapsed, and a spot of blood showed
on her clothing, just upove the heart.
The ASSASSIN, a man named Lue-
cheni, had stabbed her with a finely
sharpened ice pick or file. The in
strument had, pierced the heart, but
the wound had been so small it had
not taken immediate effect.
That day, also, it is declared, the
=
Vienna. It was few weeks later
that the Emperor said that if he de-
sired to be in the company of his
peers. ct will have to spend my days
in the vaults of the Capuchins'
Church. For it is there that his low
ed ones were at rest.
An Emperor of Sorrows"
Now, quickly, came other blows to
this Emperor of Sorrows"
Elizabeth's favorite sister, the
Duchess d'Alencon, was burned to
death in the charity bazaar fire in
Paris, and shortly afterward one of
the best-loved nieces of Franz Joseph
met a like fate in the palace Of
Schoenburnn, where the Emperor had
been born.
Princess Stephanie, widow of the
Crown Prince Rudolph, married
Count Lonyay, a member of the Aus
TRAN diplomatic service, thus losing
her royal rank. Other more obscure
members of the family added to the
scandals and the sorrows.
Finally the murders at Sarajevo,
when the heir to the Austrian throne,
Arch luke Francis Ferdinand, and his
morganatic wife, the. Countess Sophie
Choteck, were killed by a Serbian.
Thus did the double curse-the
curse of the ravens and the curse of
Countess Karolyi-pursue, haunt and
ruin the happiness Of Francis Joseph,
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