Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-11-22
LIFE OF FRANCIS JOSEPH
ONE OF TRAGEDY AND GRIEF

Rudolf, he renowned all of his i'm
perial dignities and fled the country
as John Orth. captain of the merchant
snip st. Margaret, never to be heard
| of again.
| The next of kin, the Archduke Fran
els Ferdinand. who became heir pre-
| sumptive, added q further burden to
| his uncle's heart by morganatic mar
| riage to Sophie. the Countess of Cho-
| TEX, by whom he had three children,
no one OF which can succeed to the
| throne.
| But it is doubtful if any or all OF
| these reverses weighed more heavily
| upon the emperor's heart than the
| tragedy at Geneva, when the Empress
Elizabeth, VINO had been called the
| most beautiful woman in Europe, was
anarchist in 1898. True, she had long
been estranged from the emperor, but
| he had never ceased to respect and
adore her. When a courier brought
him the news of the crime he exclaim-
ed. Alas, nothing can be spared me,
nothing"
The eliminating tragedy in the life of
the aged emperor occurred SUNDAY,
June 20. when Archduke FIancis Ferdi-
nand, the heir to the Austro-HunSarian
throne, and the Duchess of Hohenberg,
his wife, We're shot to death by Gavrio
Prinzip, young Servian student, after
an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate
him by :; bomb thrown by Nedelji Cab
through the streets of Serajevo, Bosnia
1t was this calamity that meant so
much to the welfare of the dual mon
archy that, doubtless, led up to the de-
termination to exact PREPARATION of
Servia, the prime cause of the war
which has set Europe afame-
Devotion to State Despite Sorrows.
After each blow he renewed his deyo-
ton to the state. his only solace being
in harder work He labored prodigious-
iy. He was beloved for his kindness,
his rnodesty and rectitude, and his high
moral courage made 1t possible for him
TO hold in leash the Czechs, the Poles,
the Serbs, the Ruthenians and the Bull
ears, who made up the mosaic of ma
tionalities in his dual empire.
AS q soldier the emperor was beloved
of his army. In a crushing reverse by
the French at Solferino he suffered
such humiliation that he is said to have
SO wished to die with his men that he
terry, hoping to be struck down. But
none of his reverses made him any
the less popular 1T home.
In recent years he interrupted his
winter rides but each spring found
him on horseback, and he attended the
army maneuvers to the last. In the
field he was the embodiment of indie
/ fatigable energy. Three or four horses
a day he would wear out riding in a
gallop to the foremost front of the
reserve. and from wing to wing, to ac-
quaint himself with the least tactical
details.
| Truly Idol of His People.
| His popularity reached beyond the
| army. He was. truly the IDOL of his
| people, and especially of Vienna His
| tall. gaunt figure was familiar to every
| Viennese. He rode through the streets
| unguarded. be wing to the salutations
of his loving people. II it became
! konwn that he was to leave the city a
| crowd would congregate to see him
drive by. He was imperial yet demo-
cratic. and for years he held weekly
audiences with the common people at
| which any one of his subjects could
appeal to him for the righting of a
| wrong. When there was rioting in the
city once and a cabinet minister pro-
posed to quarter two regiments in the
center of disturbance, the emperor
said: Bah! Send them the imperial
band" All night the band played and
the people danced. and in the morning
| they went home to sleep off their
anger.
AS the emperor grew older and sad
| der he worked harder and permitted
himself fewer recreations. A week of