The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1922-10-09
His T1RY'S
hYST ERIES
THE LOST GRAND DUKE
,elsArsy mr. .an7 IN xT,N~r5f JrveAx1l

THOSE familiar with the pomp and
= ceremony which hedged In the
former court of Austria have always
maintained that the tragic disappear
ance of johann Salvador, 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
In airing his views in print as to his
infatuaton for Ludmilla Stubel, the
beautiful daughter of Vienna shop
keeper. In furtherance Of this opln-
ion, they advance the unassallable evil
dence that Kaiser Wilhelm insisted
upon the punishment of Archduke
Johann when the latter urged an ALI
ance between Russia and Austria In
order to curb the threatened domi-
nance of Germany in European poll
tics.
Whatever the cause, the young arch
dukes reaction to the discipline In
fllcted by his royal cousin was to re-
sign all his honors, strip himself OF
his titles, convert q large portion OF
his estate into cash. and, as the crown
ing insult to his relatives, to elope
with Ludmllla Stubel, whom he had
met incognito some months before.
According to all available reports,
there was no doubt of Ludmilla's
beauty, but marriage between an
archduke Of the royal blood and the
daughter Of poor shopkeeper was
too much for the high-sprited Haps-
burgs to swallow without a struggle.
Johann, however, informed all who
brought him messages from his titled
kinsmen that he was no longer of the
royal house-that he had renOunced
all his claims to the honors which
were his by right of birth, and that
henceforth he could be nothing more
than Johann Salvador. private cItl-
zen OF the world.
When II 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 mesalll-
ance, but he concealed his identity I'M
der the name of John Orth--the namo
which he had used In counting Lud
milla Strickland the pair were has
tily married. and then escaped to Lon
don. Here, still retaining his adopted
name, the archduke chartered the bark
Margharta. signed up captain and
crew and sailed for South America,
where the ship had formerly been en-
gagged In the nitrate trade.
The Margharlta's usual course was
between Buenos Aires and Valparaiso,
and, after making several successful
trips, she finally left the former port
on July 10, 1S90-and vanished as
completely as II the sea had opened
and swallowed her. Despite the most
diligent searches. undertaken Mt 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.
cial investigator OF the Uruguay gov
eminent. who secured afildavits TO the
effect that the Margharlta 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 lnland-but here the trail was
lost. never TO be rebound.
During the Chilean war Archduke
Johann was reported to be fighting on
| the side Of the congresslonallsts and
some ten years later, the son of the
| president of Argentina stated that he
had made the trip from Buenos Aires
TO Cherbourg with a man who was
none other than the former archduke
| of Austria. In addition the lost grand
duke has been "located" in California
has been identified" as Admiral Yama-
gaia of the japanese navy. and was
"recognlzed' by reputable witnesses in
several engagements Of the World war
Evidently the emperor Of Austria never
placed full credence in the story Of
his death, for in Francis Joseph's will
was clause to the effect that the
archduke's estate of some S10,000,000
was TO be held intact until something
definite was learned about his fate-a
point upon which the memoirs of the
former kaiser may eventually throw
some light. Until this the mystery Of
the lost grand duke must remain as
one Of the unsolved riddles Of history.