Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-21

THE three men left the auto. Pc
trak received 80 francs-which
to him, a man from the country of
worthless crowns, seemed like a
small fortune. There was brief con-
versation about the economic situa-
ton in Austria. Petrak complained.
as indeed he might, for the crown
was depreciating day by day. Earn
ings were decreasing all the time.
Food was expensive.
With growing emotion the Span
lard" listened to this complaint from
man of the plain people. He finally
gave him the remnants of his trav-
cling lunch-ham and chocolate. The
chauffeur thanked him. One of his
fares wanted to ride further with
him. There was brief farewell.
and Count Lasuen boarded the taxi.
The cane of the unknown traveller
remained in the auto by mistake and
was later turned over to the police
by Petrak.
The chauffeur now drove from no.
tel to hotel They were all crowded
This did not seem to perturb Count
Lasuen. He had foreseen this-and
had wanted it thus. Finally he left
the auto at the corner of Singer and
saw him ring the bell at No. Singer
street. Francis Joseph. Baron Won
Reischach, lived there.
Earlier that night the chauffeur,
Petrak, had made another observa-
ton that is not unimportant for the
story of this night. Although he had
stopped before No. in the Lands
krongasse--in other words, before the
wrong house-yet this must have
been the right place after all. The
two men who remained there must
have been admitted into it.
Such was, indeed, the case. The
supposed Spaniard and his compan-
ion rang the bell and asked to see
Count Thomas Erdoedy. Erdoedy
came. He knew the one and recog-
nized the other.
THAT other was-Karl, Emperor and
King. The Emperor of Austria
had returned from Punishment to the
city of his forefathers.
One night only was spent by the
Emperor in his capital and residen-
! tial city. Then, on the Saturday
before Easter, about noon, he drove
unrecognized through the streets of
the Inner City and the sections known
as Wieden and Favoriten. He was
bound for the Hungarian frontier.
The memoirs Of the monarch open
with the description of this drive.
x X
Saturday, March g. 1924.
lnN Saturday before Easter, at
" 1870 in the morning, in an auto
driven by a chauffeur named Meier.
who had once upon a time been IN
| the service of my grandmother, l
started from Landskrongasse via
Graben, st. Stephan's Square. Kaert-
| ner street, Paulaner Church, Wied-
ner Main street, and the whole length
of Trieste street, for Vienna-New-
town.
Schlederer awaited us at the en-
trance to the park of Sebenstein Cas-
! tie. Thence we proceeded via Aspang
Moennichkirchen, and Pingau to Sim
uersdorf on the Austrian frontier. 1t
was a wonderful day What a queer
feeling, to be in ones native coun-
try unrecogniZed!
At Sinnersdorf. the Austrian Off
Gals examined our passports-a func-
ton which they performed quite ex-
peditiously. At the Hungarian from
tier there was an old police sergeant
major from Debreczin, a typical brown
son of the Puzzta, who did not quite
know what to do with a passport.
Beside him stood a soldier in sum-
mer trousers made of ticking.
The auto went on to Pinkafo. This
was a courtesy on the part of the
Austrian border authorities. The au-
to had no right to cross the border.
At Pinkafo we ate at Jenners res
taurant. The first warm meal in two
days, Schnitze1 with pickles. The
proprietor retained our knives, forks
and spoons as well as the pickles as
mementoes. 1t was interesting to
observe how the people take to for
eign money. We paid for the schnit-
eel with French and for the vehicle
with Swiss francs.
From Pinkafo we took a cab, driv-
ing via Oberwarth, where the Easter
procession was just in progress. We
knelt down and let the procession
move past us. The garrison was out
marching, dressed in our good old
uniforms, the artillery equipped with
gun cartridges. 1t was an inspiring
sight! And to see the old uniforms
again for the first time. From Ober-
warth we rode to Petersdorf, thence
to ST. N1ihaly.
There we hoped to obtain an auto
from Herr Schey. This gentleman
is a great patriot, a legitimist and
friend of Tamas. We went into
Schey's house and talked to his
daughters. One of them, the younger
one, offered to go to Prangins as
chambermaid, although she did not
know who / was.
thought the King looked like. I ex-
pected they would bring out photo
graphs, but nobody recognized me.
Finally they all drank to the health
of the King and scolded me for not
finishing my glass, but the wine was
too heavy for me.
We now drove with Mr.. Schey's
horses the auto was out of commits
sion) by direct road to Steinamanger.
x X X x
A BOUT 10 pm. we halted before the
"A bishops palace at Steinamanger.
The bishop was just giving a dinner,
having invited a cabinet minister,
Vass, as his guest. When Tamas sent
| the servant up to the bishop to re-
quest a nights lodging for himself
and another gentleman the bishop
| was rather peeved. But, good host
| that he was, he nevertheless came
down to us into the great hall of the
episcopal palace. He shook hands
| with both of us. Then there was
| pause. Whereupon Tamas asked
whether the bishop did not recognize
his companion. The bishop declared
that he did not know the gentleman.
Tamas then solemnly announced
that it was his apostolic majesty the