The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1922-12-29
|HISTlRY'S
T ERIES
WHO WAS KASPAR HAUSER?
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the public squares with his hands over
his eyes to protect them from the
glare Of the sun, they at first Thought
that he was some idiot who had eS-
capped from a sanitarium But lnveStl-
cation soon developed that here was
case as unique as that of the man in
the iron mask, and resembling 1t in a
number of ways.
: Not only were the boys eyes weak,
but his muscles were as flabby as
those of an infant and the s0les OF
his feet were convex. like those Of
baby that has never learned to walk.
He had to be carried bodily to police
headquarters and even there, the sight
of the commOnest objects appeared to
terrify him, while the slightest Of
sounds caused him to cover his ears
and vince as if his ear-drumS were
accustomed only to total silence. On
the other hand, his face indicated
that he was of good parentage, and
the clothing which he wore was fash
Toned of the sOftest, finest materials.
In an effort to discover something
about his identity, one of the police
officials offered him a pencil which,
much to the surprise of those present,
he seized and wrote the two words
''Kaspar Hauser," which, as 1t after
wards developed, was the only clue
he could give to his past.
Prof. G. f. Daumer of the University
of Nuremberg, hearing about the
strange case. took the young man to
his home amazed not only by the
fact that he could neither talk nor
walk, but that he would eat nothing
but bread and water. The professor,
however. started to educate him at
once and in a surprisingly short time
the youth had progressed sufficiently
to give a graphic story of his expert
ences.
For as long as he could remember
he had been confined to a dark cell,
into which the sun had never pene-
trate l. He had been visited once a
day by man who washed and
dressed him and fed him a ration of
bread and water. 1t was this man
who had taught him to write the
words |Kaspar Hauser," which Pro
fessOr Daumer believed to be false
name given to him in order to mislead
the authorities and to conceal his real
identity. Finally, he declared, he had
been blindfOlded and led into the
street where the police had found him.
The young mans story naturally
created vast amount of comment in
all sections of Europe and the Daumer
house became the center of attraction
for the curious, many of whom main
tanned that they might be able to iden-
tify Hauser, but none of whom were
able to produce the proof of their con-
tentiOn.
The next development in the myster-
iOus chain of circumstances sur
rounding the youth, came about five
months after Hauser's discovery by
the police, when he staggered into
Professor Daumer's library, half-blind-
ed by the blood which drippeG from
an open cash in his forehead. It was
some time before he recovered con-
seriousness sufficiently to state that a
masked man had struck at him with a
saber, that he had lodged the blow
and that his assailant had fed before
he could give the alarm. The infer
ence which the police drew from the
attack was that the same person who
had imprisoned the boy was now striv-
ing to kill him, lest he divulge the
secret Of his birth.
Shortly afterward, the case came to
the attention of the wealthy Lord
Stanhope, who, convinced that Hauser
was of aristOcratic and perhaps of
royal parentage, adopted him and sent
him under guard to Anspach, where
he was educated. Some three years
later. Lord Stanhope arrived in Ans
pach with the intention Of taking his
prOtege back to England with him. On
the morning of the day that they were
to leave HauSer received a note tell.
ing him to come to a certain place
where he would learn the secret of his
birth. Less than hour later the Eng
lish nobleman heard means from out
side his apartment and, opening the
door, was just in time to catch Hauser
as he fell, blood yelling from a knife
wound in his side. He had barely
gaSped the words, 'Uzen monument
palace grounds" when he fell dead
Lord StanhOpe hurried to the Uzen
monument and found there a slip of
paper bearing, in the young mans
handwriting, the cryptic message !:
''KaSpar Hauser-murdered at the age
of twenty-One Know by this that I
come from the 8avarian frontier on
the river. The initials of my name are
M. L. B."
And not even The offer of a reward
of 5000 forms bv Lord Stanhope nor
the investigation" of countless anna
teur and professional detectives could
ever throw the slightest light upon
the birth or death of this human
enigma.