Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, December 22, 1924, Page 7

IDIRIVIES IPipI HE Countess of Lonyay has become insane. The Hapsburg curse has been felt again. ee It wes 93 years ego in a beautiful park in the then proud capital of Vienna. A royal baby was being wheeled by his nurse down one of the’ flower-lined paths. The baby in the carriage was dressed in the finest silks. On the path played another baby, a ragged, half clothed bit of humanity, the child of @ Hungarian gypsy- ‘The proud nurse took no notice of the creeping Gypsy. She rolled the heavy baby buggy right over its foot. Its beggar mother screamed. “My curse on your royal charge,” she shrieked. “My curse on him and all his throughout the years! “For him and those with him there shall be nothing but battle, murder and sudden death.” She was still shrieking her awful curse as she was bundled off by police. . 8 @ ‘The royal babe grew up to be the Emperor Fran- @is Joseph of the old Austro-Hungarian empire. Truly, the words of the curse have echoed through the century. MOST TRAGIC REIGN Francis Joseph's reign was the longest in mod- ern history. And his reign was probably the most sorrowful. Battle, murder and sudden death were ever ebout him. His family suffered and died under the curse of the gypsy beggar. As the emperor Ile dying, he saw about him Uttle that could bring him happy memories, He had been an European monarch for one of the longest reigns on record, yet that record brought Uttle but tragedy to him. His court was honeycombed with intrigue and plotting. There was hardly a man he could put his hand on and say: “You are a friend of mine. You are true to me and the empire.” INTERNAL STRIFE Austria Hungary was made of divergent races. Its natives spoke various tongues. It was di- vided into a score of parties. Each race, colin- gulstic group, and party made demands upon the emperor. As he granted one concession, he made twenty enemies. He tried to please all. The re sult was that he pleased none. Even as the shadow of defeat spread itself ever his empire, Francis Joseph doubtless saw the coming victory of the Allies despite the ef- forts made by-his. ministers to conceal’ the truth. The empire was crumbling from within. Revolu- tionary parties were gaining strength. He was called upon to ebdicate. And if he looked back further, to earlier days, there was no happiness there. He had seen the other powers of Europe trim his empire, bit by bit. When he ascended the throne he was a mon- ae yy / arch in the true sense of the word. As he died he was but a figurehead—the figurehead on a sink- ing ship. And in his family Ufe there was no joy. His children quarreled. Sorrowful, he had turned to an actress for sympathy. He got sympathy, but he brought upon himself the echoes of scandal. SHADOWS ALWAYS There were gala days in his life. But every one was tainted with some sorrow. Always there had been an illicit romance, an unkind‘act, or a tragic ‘death to stir sorrow within nim. Some thought this olf man became hardened to sorrow. But the lines on his face told a differ- ent story. Francis Joseph was but the shell of @ man filled with tragedy, tragedy which in the legend of the Hapsburg curse had been brought upon him by none of his own doings. He had a dearly beloved brother, Maximilian. Under the inspiration and backing of the French, some Mexicans in 1863 set up in Mexico an empire and chose Maximiljan as the first emperor., Ih 1867, when the American Civil War was oyer, the United States practically ordered the French to leave, They did. MAXIMILIAN SHOT The Mexicans resumed control of their own country and Maximilian was tried by a Mexican military court, condemned and shot. Charlotte, daughter of Leopold I of Belgium, SPIRITS BUILD OR thirty years Mrs. Sarah Winchester lived in the land of the spirits. Her body, it is true, remained in the and of flesh and blood. But the life ehe lived was a life in spiritiend. % Of flesh and blood friends she had few. | Of spirit friends she had a multitude. ‘They were her companions in silence, her coun- selors in sorrow, and her advisers in business. Under their guidance she spent $3,000,000 in a 200-room house. A few rooms were for her ser- vants, The others were for herself and her horde of ghostly guests. Years ago Mrs. Sarah Winchester was beautiful and happy. She had just become the wife of Wil- Mam Wirt Winchester, son of the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Although their marriage was a society event, ‘and although both were surrounded by luxury in {mtoxicating confusion, they were extremely happy- A child was born shortly after their marriage and this seemed to swell their flood of Joy. Life seemed too good to be true. Mrs. Winches- ter was alarmed. Could any human happiness lest? She confided her fears in her husband. He laughed et what he thought a silly notion. “BUILD A HOME” “Don’t worry about anything happening to me,” he told her. ‘You have all the money you need. You can build a home—any kind of a home you want and be happy.” In a short time the husband died. The child ‘ied later. Her husband's remark seemed to have prophetic portent to the widow. The words—“you can build ‘© home’—seemed to be a command from the dead. As she pondered over this strange omen, came the ghosts. “Build a home! Keep building it! Keep the ham- mers sounding. When the hammers cease to sound. you, too, will die,” they seemed to say. In a secluded spot in Santa Clara valley in Call fornia she built the home. It had nine rooms. AS it neared completion the words of the spirits came back to her, BUILT FOR SPIRITS She would appease the spirits! She would keep the hammers sounding! She would build the home —for them. She started the carpenter building a wing to the PART OF THM WINCHESTER HOUSE FROM ONE OF THE GABLES. original house. As that was being finished sho ordered another. And for thirty years she kept building for the spirits, building rooms for them to play in, bulld- ing rooms for them to rst In, building rooms for them to work in, building ‘o please them only. One wonders {f not all thé ghosts of the peaceful valley came to enjoy her hospitality, There was a music room furnished with a dozen musical instruments. Who played these? Certain- ly no human hand, Was it there that her ghostly guests and masters strummed tunes too fine for the ordinary ear, tunes that were pleasing to them- selves und the aging woman? Mrs. Winchester knew none of the» neighbors. She deult only with a few contractors. She even evaded the workmen. Her servants did all other business for her. Appurently her natura! longing for companionship was satisfied, satisfied by com- panions from another world. For the pleasure of these she built more rooms, ee est WU i Empress “Queen Zita of Austria shared the curse of the Hapsburgs by marrying Maximilian; Upon learning the fate of ber hus- band, she went mad. ‘The emperor's énly son and heir to the throne was the dashing Crown Prince Rudolph. On January 30, 1889, he and the beautiful Marie Vet- sera, with whom he was in love, although seeming- ly happily married to another, were found dead in a hunting chalet at Meyerling. To this day it has never been made clear whetKer they were the victims of an assassination or whether they committed suicide. WIFE A VICTIM Emperor Francis married the beautiful Eliza- beth, daughter of King Maximilian of Bavaria. Immediately the Hapsburg curse fell upon her. Not only was her son found dead at Meyerling, but her cousin, Leopold of Bavaria, committed suicide and her sister, Sophie, duchess of Alencon, was burned to death tn the charity bazar fire In Paris in 1897, sinated by an Italian anarchist at Geneva in 1898. Rudolph's death left the emperor's Hapsburg nephew, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir. to The unhappy empress was herself assas devised more elaborate settl FOR SPIRITS ONLY was n at have pass WINDOV For Beyond any doubt this house signed for humans. There are balconies t no entrances, and but a can through a wall to sit on a balcony? There are windows. that open only who ghost to reyeal Elizabeth of Austria NEA Ser cities RG CURSE CIESS NID ee +\Stephanie of, Belgium ie Navi A} | / Wettig Tee Joseph of Austria the throne. This prince was assassinated on June 28, 1914, at Sarajevo. His death was made the pretext for stringent demands upon Serbia. The World War followed, The death of Archduke Francis Ferdinand left the heirship to the throne to another nephew of the emperor, the Archduke Charles, who mounted the throne in 1910. He abdicated in November, 1918, when the allies won the war and the empire crumbled to pleces. He died in exile and semi- poverty in Madeira. Leopold II, king of Be1gtum, ran into the Haps- burg curse by marrying Marie, daughter of the Hapsburg Archduke Joseph. One of his daugh- ters who married Phillp, prince of the German state of Saxe-Coburg Gotha. They were divorced In 1906 and Loulse had various love affairs which scandalized the roya] familles. She died in abject poverty and misery in Wies- baden last March. Ht sister, Princess Stephanie, made what was a seemingly brilliant match. he married Ru. dolph, crown prince of the Austro-Hungarian em- pire. But she didn’t hold his love and was was Princess Louise, Baroness — Mary Vetserav widowed by the Some years ppenings at Meyerling. later she defied the emperor by marrying a simple Hungarian nobleman, the Count Lonyay. This lost her the position of royalty at coyrt and brilliant functions knew her no more. And now they are locking her up in an insane esylum. ZITA ESCAPES There yet remains the ex-Empress Zita, widow of the ror Charles, and her eight children. They have escaped murder and sudden death. But they have tasted the bitterest poverty. They were exiled with the fall of the Hapsburg empire and driven from one refdge to another. The royal gems were stolen and lost. The nine are now guests of the king of Spain, living at San Sebustian. The oldest son, Otto, may some day lay claim to the throne of Hunge There is a royalist party in Austria that would support him. But the gypsy's curse may thwart him. Ru- mania, Jugoslavia and Czechoslavia will make war rather than see @ Hapsburg again on the throne. And once again there will be: Battle, murder, sudden death, ANSION another wail. the light that co: the celling, There are go to with never an op Who but a ghost can use such a st that is ned on both Each door opens revealing only There is one corridor sides with dc the wall, Wing after wing makes the house a maze Persons exploring the house have become separat- ed. They n room to ré d each other as they e had aim to get tog have he uke the the Pa construction. Hardwoods were p vide Onishings for There is no vice; Inc, No. 9) have ceilings within seven feet of the floor. Other ceilings rise 24 feet. SECRET ENTRANCE In one room ther 2 two closet doors. One opens into © closet. 1 other opens into an- other wing. Mrs. Winchester was trapped in a room of tho spirits’ de Bho was death, during the earthquake of unharmed, bi Sho ordered bt at gr speed. devised new doors and windows that permit easy escap’ She designed sliding doors springs that would open with the slightest Shortly after she purchased an expensive house bo: On the shore of San ancisco Bay she had a lake dredged. In the center an island was erect ed. Upon the island the houseboat was placed. A relative as installed on the houseboat, to awalt the day of greater earthquake when the wealthy widow could escape to the sea. another and possibly DINED WITH COMPANY ter dined alon least, appare: Mrs, Win t 1 ts sat at her ly alone. » one knows wha board an sho supped retired ea Her dishes t the were of ¢ the earthquake. 1, but the bach afe was allowed to remain cracked, am ea job for an amateur safe robber. Sho had 13 safes in the house. ed in she A new safe was Wh takt usually instal each wing. n the wing was completed moved in, trinkets with her 200 CLOSETS profusion. There are ap ure 47 fireplaces, 12 bath water system Closets were built in proximately 200, ‘The 4 on the house wers the hers are ad to them. Some roor Men were working on the t ing—when Mrs. AXIMILIAN victim of the gyps was the the Hapsburg family. He was a brother of Emperor Francis Joseph. With French backing he established an empire in only to be overthrown and 5 death. jot to NHARLOTTE, his beautiful A wont insan the f was bt i after she Jearr r husband. Th for this trag curse ROWN PRINCE RUDOLPII A helr to Francis Joseph and mar- ried, loved Marle Vetsera, Both were found shot to death in a hun chalet near Meyerling. It was known whether they w t v tims of an assassination or whether they killed themselves. H® mother, the Empress Eli beth, was tortured not only her son's death but the death of her sister, Sophie, burned to death in @ charity bazar fire. Then the curse fell on hee, She died from a bullet fired by an Italian anarchist TPN beginning bas been laid to the awful cur inand a fe were the victims of a bomb hurled at thelr carriage at Sara This was tho pretext for war. tion of armies and the Nie KE CHARL f LX ed Emperor Francis Jose the thro: His empire crumbeld & r him. And h died In exil ne, iches int ert f the others b hort time, th death relieved thelr s died last Mar