Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-07-30
PLOTS or AusTR|ANs
IN BALKANS AMAZING
Responsible for Series of Sinister
Events Of Which World Has
Heard Nothing.
SECRET SOCIETY is ACTIVE
Subsidized by Government, Its Men,
bers Engage in Planning Murders
OF People in High Positions.
Crown Prince Has Narrow Escape.
by CAMILLE cIANFARnA.

ROME. July pa high officer Of
the Serbian army who has Just arrived
here on sick leave. following a bad ut.
tack of malaria fever. told tho cor
respondent of the International News
Service that Austrian diplomatic in
trigues and plottngs in the Balkans,
especially among the Serbian and other
allied contlngents. are responsible for
series OF sinister events about which
the world has heard nothing-thanks
TO rigorous censorship.
Among the events chroniclcd by tho
ohcer, whose name l am not at liberty
10 disclose for obvious REASONS, but
whose high standing In the army and
King Peters court are in themselves a
guarantee OF reliability and unqucs-
tionable veracity. is that of plot
against tho life Of the crown prince OF
Serbia. who owes his life to the fact
that the man detailed to Kill him miss
cd the mark and was in his turn shot
down by one Of the Princes aides.
PLOT IS MATCHED
BY SECRET SOCIETY
The plot against the crown prince"
the officer said. was Matched In Ser
oia last winter among a number Of
oncers and soldiers affiliated with tho
T1erna Ruka, a secret society for the
advancement OF tho political fortune
OF its members, who include a largo
number OF civilian state employees, be-
sides the military element with Aus
TRAN leanings. The order to kill the
prince was sent to the Tzerna Ruka
members at Saloniki, and ono day, sew
erai weeks ago, three revolver shots
were fired against Prince Alexander
while the latter alighted from his mo-
tor car In one Of the quiet streets OF
the city. But the shots went wide OF
their mark and the prince escaped alb
soiutely unburt
FOLLOWING this attempt over 100 Of
hcers and men were arrested by the
English and French police suspectcd
OF being implicated in the plot and
were Immediately transferred TO the
fortress o: Bizcrta In French Tunis
From official Information received at
tho Serbian court ut Corfu. IL is learn
ed that up to date the Serbian court
martial which trying the men has
passed nearly twenty death sentences.
which have Immediately been exccut-
ed. Among those who were shot was
General Popovitch. who wa. supposed
10 be the chief ins,igator of the At.
tempt.
LITERALLY SUBSIDIZED
BY AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT
The investigation to which the at.
tempted assassinati ton led has disclosed
that the Tzerna Ruka was and still is
an organization literally subsidized
by tho Austrian governnre mt. - During
nj
light that tho Tzerna Ruka exercised
powerful influence in shaping the
foreign policy OF Serbia, especially dur.
ing inc negotiations with Bulgars in
the latter part Of 1914; that the or.
sanization acquired it's ascendancy over
several branches of tho government in
1913, and that on moro than ono oc.
casion its Vaccinations were openly
inspired by agents in the pay of AUS
tr!as political police. During the lat
ter part OF 1914 the Tzerna Ruka was
unusually active in opposing every ter
ritorial concession 70 Bulgaria destined
to Insure the latter's neutrality in the
conflict.
The attempt on the lite of Prince
Alexander was TO be followed by one
against King Nicholas, of Montenegro.
who seems TO be a stumbling block in
the way OF Austria's program in the
Balkans; that Is, the organization Of
purely Slav state. comprising. among
others. Serbia and Montenegro. to be
later incorporated in tho Dual Mon
archy. The French secret service has
discovered that tho attempt on the life
OF King Nicholas had been scheduled
TO take place on Orthodox Easter Sum
day in the Russian Church at Paris.
where the King had been invited. The
aged monarch owes his life to the fact
that on that day he was slightly in
disposed. and was forced to remain in
doors.
Just now" the officer concluded,
numerous members of the Tzerna
Ruka are in Switzerland conducting a
Slav propaganda against Italy and try
ing to SOW discord among the allies.
These agents are all in the pay of Aus
tria and one day will be Austria's tools
In the Balkans for the realization OF
Austrian aspirations, which means the
complete subjugation of Serbia and