The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-11-24

zied by finding the girl and Prince Ru.
/ dolf together in the castle Of Meyer.
ling after the Crown Prince had given
his pledge not to see the girl again.
Another that the Crown Prince killed
the uncle of the Young Baroness when
he came to rescue her and that both Of
the young lovers afterwards committed
suicide. The truth is not known.
Blow Upon Blow
ClOuded in still deeper mystery, if
possible, was the disappearance that
same year of Francis Joseph s favOritC
nephew, the Archduke Johann Salvador.
Heir to the throne at the death. of ku
dOlf, he renowned all of his imperial
dignIties and fed the country. rs John
! Orth, captain of the merchant ship,
never to he heard Of again. The next
| Of Kin, the Archtluke Francis Fcrdl-
nand, who became heir presumptivr,
added q further burden to his uncle =
heart BY morganatic marriage to Sophie,
the Countess Of Cohtek, by whom he has
had three children, no one of which can
succeed to the throne.
| But il it doubted if any or all Of
these reverses weighed more heavily
upon the Emperor = heart than the al
most recent tragedy ut Geneva, when
the Empress Elizabeth, who had been
called the most beautiful woman in
| Europe, was stabbed to death by mad
Italian anarchist, in 1898. True, she
long had been estranged from the En-
peror, but he had never ceased to re.
spect and adore her. When courier
1 brought him the news Of the crime he
exclaimed, "Alas, nothing can be
spared me, nothing"
A Love Match
After each blow he renewed his de
votion to the state, his only solace be-
, ing in harder work. He labored pro-
! digiously. He was beloved for hiskind-
illness, his modesty and rectitude, and
his high moral, courage made it possible
! for him to hold In leash the Czechs, the
Poles, the Serbs, the Rthenians and
the Bulgars, who made up the mosaic
of nationaIities in his dual empire.
Gossip dealt plentifully with his pri.
vate life, filed with romance and mis-
fortune. 1t is related that his mother
intended him to marry Princess Helena.
eldest daughter of Duke Max of Ba
varia. With passive Indifference the
young Emperor agreed to his mother y
wishes and set out to pay court to hls
/ intended bride. lie got no further than
the park surrounding the Duke $ castle,
where he spied little girl whose rA
traordinary 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 80 she became
in 1884.
Estrangement With Empress
In addition to her beauty Elizabeth
was highly endowed with talents, but
she found no welcome at court. The
Emperor's mother would hardly couu
tenancc the match, and all of the
Viennese aristOcracy held aloof from
her. Elizabeth returned scorm for
scorn. Her enemies bore her every tale
that could wound her pride and estrange
her love. At last they succeeded. In
burst Of pique she fed 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 ana pre-.
ferred to remember her always as the
absent wife.
The estrangement widened. The
Emperor was fond of pretty women anu
vienna ull not rack them. The FIN
press grew more and more to consider
herself "a dutiful sovereign lady" ana
less and less wife. The tragic dcatn
Of her only son drew her nearer to ner
husband for a while, but there came
succeeding period Of stronger repulMon,
and thereafter she almost Disappeared
from the IIOfburg.
Seventeen years ago appeared Kath
arinn Schratt, formerly Of the Imperial
Theater. BY her tact and wit she sue
ceeded in creating for herself place
below but beside the throne, never az
corded before her time so openly and
80 permanently t" any woman. Specu
ntiOn rs to her relations with the I'm
perOr was wide and malicious. or
course 1t found Is way to the Empress.
and there followed an incident which
testifies to her uncommon dehcucy and
courage.
Ending a Scandal
Nettled by the continual humiliation
of such diHtasteful scandal mOngcrIng,
he devised way to end it. One dav
she took her Youngest daughter by the
hand, and. to the immeasurahIc aston.
ishment of her guests, set out to paw n
long cali On Frau Scratt at her country