Macon beacon., 1922-09-15
THE LOST GRAND DUKE

THOSE familiar with the pOmp and
ceremony which hedged In the
former court Of Austria have always
maintained that the tragic disappear
ancc of Johann Sllyator, archduke Of
Austria, prince Of Hungary and grand
ducal prince of Tuscany. cousin of
Francis Joseph and son Of Leopold II,
was due as much to his radical tend
encles and the fact that he persisted
In airing his views in print as to his
infatuaiiOn for Ludmila Stubel, the
beautiful daughter Of a Vienna shop
Keeper In furtherance of this opln-
ION, they advance the unassailable evil
dencc that Kaiser Wilhelm insisted
upon the punishment Of Archduke
johann when the latter urged an alll-
ance bctwecL Russia and Austria in
order 10 curb the threatened domi-
nance Of Germany in European poll
tics.
Whatever the cause, the young arch
dukes reaction to the discipline in
tIicted by his royal cousin was to re-
sign all Ids honors, strip himself Of
his titles convert a large portion of
his estate into cash, and, as the crown
ing Insult TO his relatives, to elOpe
with LuilnIla Stubel, whom he had
met lnCpgnitO some months before
According to all available reports,
!here was no doubt sof Ludmlllas
beauty hut a marriage between an
archdu&e Of the royal blood and the
daughter OF poor shopkeeper was
too much for the high spirited Haps-
burgs to swallow without struggle.
Johann, however informed all who
brought him messages from his titled
kinsmen that he was no longer Of the
royal hOusc-that he had renounced
all his claims to the hOnors which
We're his by right Of birth, and that
henceforth he could be nothing more
than Johann Salvador, private citi-
zen Of the world
When 1t became known that he
really intended carrying through his
wild plan, even force was resorted to
In order to prevent him from contract
ing what was recognized as a mesalli-
ance, but he concealed his identity I'M
der the name Of John Orth--the name
which he had used in counting Lud.
milla Stubel-and the pair were has.
tily married and then escaped to Lon
don Here, still retaining his adopted
name, the archdukC chartered the bark
Margharlta. signed up a captain and
crew and sailed for South America,
where the ship had formerly been en-
gagged in the nitrate trade.
The Margharita's usual course vas
between Buenos Ares and Valparaiso,
nnd after making several successful
trips. she finally left the forme* port
on July 13, 1S90-and vanished as
completely as If the sen had opened
and swallowed her Despite the most
dlligent searches, undertaken at the in
stigation Of the Austrian government,
nothing definite was ever heard Of the
ship or the members of the crew,
though rumors that Archduke Johann
had been seen at many times and in
many places have been current from
that day to this. The most credible Of
these reports Is that made by an Off
clal investigator Of the Uruguay gov
ernment, who secured afildavits to the
effect that the MargharIta had put
In at a lonely place on the coast
Of that country, where the name had
been painted out and she had then
sailed up the Uruguay river, "Orth,"
the report stated, had then paid off his
crew, and with the help OF two or three
Of his intimate companions had set sail
further inland-but here the trail was
lost, never to be rebound.
During the Chilean wag Archduke
Johann was reported to be fghtlng on
the side of the congressonalists, and.
some ten years later, the ron of the
president Of Argentina stated that he
had made the trip from BrHnos Aires
to Cherhourg with n mar who was
none other than the former archduke
Of Austria. In addition the iost grand
duke has been located" In California.
has been identified" as Admiral Yama.
gata of the Japanese navy. and was
'recognl2ed'' by reputable witnesses in
several engagements of the World war.
Evidently the emperor of Austria never
placed full crcdence In thf story of
his death, for in Francis loeph's will
was a clause to the effect that the
archduke'S estate of some $10.OOO,OOO
was to he held intact uniil something
definite was learned about his fate-a
point upon which the memoirs of the
former kaiser mav eventually throw
some light. Until this the mystery of
the lost grand duke must remain as
one of the unsolved riddles of history.