The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 26, 1905, Page 17

e e S | Pages 17 t0 24 ' GIDES UP INHERITANCE TO IWED WASHERWOMAN'S DAUGHTER. milies to a prett forfune of more than $1. him: he was socia For the i peasant gt rl. 70,000 a year. ed midst to back unt "ING. 1o young the Co ured | noble- among | for ow w ighout Count y peds tract ) came whose noble unt on d the and said, at your Serene neighborhood of sntions to my y fin. y from home daugh- e gen- | 4 who is g man in st there- Serene Highn to be r attentions to t n her head her in peace” | i Erasmus. who was| sconcer by this un-| ed that he was | e girl and that he | ke should not con- hich ‘A scene occurred, in Anna's brother ap- decided that the marriage could be ar- ung aris- | walked out of the A3oIning | early one morning and announced that up his fether. -~ More | nd finally the two ! seized th him into there administered to re able of t stis: Francis Erasmus inflict- emer con- ¥ | stacles to be insurmountable. —3 | | =t time the story is here told of the romantic marriage of n member of one of Germany’s noblest For love of Anna Schulzs Count Francls Erbach forfeited a vast property and a He guarreled with his aristocratic relatives, boycotted and compelled to fight two hot duels. who formally disinherited He is now looking for a job. Count Francis Er- bach Makes Peas- ant His Wife. —— Disinherited Noble-| man Must Earn Living. i motor car was awaiting the fugitives. After a residence in London of three | weeks they were able to be married by special license. As soon as he reached London the Count Informed his father of his intentfon and in the intervening | three weeks he was submitted to great andon his design. A ry of the Erbach family across to London and sought to! him by all possible means intention of marrying the reian ant girl. This emissary 15 present at the wedding and tele- graphed the news of the family disas- ter to the reigning Count. HBRIDEGROOM DISINHERITED. The ning Count on receiving news the mesalliance contracted cam dissuade from his the in Londen called a family council to con- sider the question of the family succes- sion. Without any ado whatever this | council resolved that Count Fram- | us must be disinherited and re- G s a soclgl outlaw. The husband ————— family { { ERBACK . — = [ ROMANTIC MARRIAGE CAUSED HIS ARISTO. TO DISIN T HIM AND THE WASHERWOMAN'S | WHOM HE MADE HIS WIFE. - 3 - Anna Schulz, who was very much in|of the washerwoman's daughter has been love with her handsome and high-born | reduced to an annual allowance of $1000. admirer, repudiated all responsibility | By his marriage he has sacrificed not only for her relatives’ violence and continued | one of the foremost positions of Europe, to meet her lover in the forest. At | but also an annual income estimated at that time. however, they took more care | $1,000,00. Questioned, on his return from to keeep their meetings secret. | Londqn, by a newspaper interviewer, GETS ANOTHER LICKING result was t Count Francis Erasmus’ r, the reigning Count, heard of the air and demanded explanations frem is son. A violent quarrel ensued in course of which Count Francis Eras- mus informe is infuriated father that he s fully determined to marry the rwoman’s daughter as soon as he of age On this occasion Count asmus, who was then with- in a few weeks of his twenty-first birth- . ved his second thrashing in connection with his romantic love af- fair. Count Francis Erasmus had to face otlter obstacles to his mesalli- All the members of the Erbach mily agreed among themselves not to eak to him or to recognize him as a relative until he gave a solemn pledge was boycotted not only by his own relatives, but by the members of the other aristocratic families in the neigh- | borhood. On twoe occasions this soctal she was boyeott Involved the self-willed young nobleman in duels with other young aristocrats whose neglect to treat him with the ordinary marks of respect ir- ritated him to such an extent that he challenged them to combat. One duel was fought with a certain Baron Gab- lenz and the other with a Count Buch- waldt RUNS AWAY TO LONDON. As soon as he had attained his majority last December Count Francis Erasmus began to copsider definite plans for marrying Anna Schulz. In his own neighborihood he found the ob- In Ger- many a muititude of documents are necessary before a marriage can be solemnized and the young Count was unable to obtain the necessary papers. He was also unable to find a clergy- man who was willing to marry him to the washerwoman’s daughter. He soon ranged in England with less difficulties than elsewhere. A few weeks ago he ancestral castle he was going on a hunting expedition ashing which their | go that he would not return home until late at night. An hour later he met Anna Schulz at an appointed place in the forest and proceeded with her to a ved to woo the peasant girl, and|village a few miles ' away, ~where a story of the thrashing adminis- | eu to the Count by the girl's father d brother also began to be whispered out and lost uothing in repetition. The | abandon his matrimonial project. He | Count Francis Erasmus said: ¥ relatives have offered me an al- lowance of 4000 marks a year but only on | condition that I renounce my princely nk and abandon the name of Erbach. have no intention of accepting their on this condition. I intend to re- 1 offer | main a Count Erbach and to reject their | money. They can disinherit me so far as the property Is concerned, but they can- | not rob me of my own name. I do not { for a moment regret the step I have taken, on the contrary we are perfectly | happy. 1 intend to work for my living {and T have already taken steps to find | employment. 1 am not sure yet what form of work I ghall obtain, but I be- lieve I shall choose the newspaper field. Aiter undergoing a course of tralning in | a newspaper office In Germany I believe 1 shall go to Parls or London as the cor- respondent of a 1.ading German news- paper.” —— THIEF'S BAGGAGE CONTAINS A RICH ASSORTMENT French Police Spend Hours Searching | /Trunks of Defnulting Baak Clerk Captured at Bahia. PARIS, Nov. 25.—Jean Gallay, the de- faulting clerk of the Comptoir d’Es- compte, who was arrested at Bahia,and | his companion, Mme. Merrelll, still are | undergoing the process of preliminary examination for prosecution. The baggage they took with them on the yacht Catarina recently arrived | from Brazil and the prisoners were, ! present at the prefecture de police - when it was examined. The dperation occupled four and a half hours, owing to the great:-quantity of the articles to | be sorted. They included guns, ammunition, automobile suits, twenty-eight women's hats, twefity-four white walstcoats, a gross of eyeglasses, Herbert Spencer's “First Principles,”’ annotated by Mme. Merrelli, tents, fishing rods, forty pairs | of boots, and a large stock of per- | | fumery. —_————————— Must Pay for Telephoned Advice. BERLIN, Nov. 25.—What is the price of a medical consultation by telephone? The Prussian Minister of Public In- struction (which includes public medi- cal affairs), has just put this question to various medical associations. The Pomeranian Medical Association, which is the first to reply, says the charge should be the same as if the patient called at the doctor's house. | practical knowledge was essential to its ' LAINS HER KNOWLEDGE FIRST HAND Wealthy American Girl Takes Job in Factory. Mrs. Bertrand Russell Studies the Lot of Wage-Earners. | | | | Gets by Experience Material for Address Before Woman’s Congress. Special Dispatch to The Call. LONDON, Nov. 2%.—It s characteristic of American women in England that when they go in for anything they do it most thoroughly, whether it be social splendor and extravagance or soclal re- form. A striking instance of this, in the lattér field, was afforded at the Women's Congress, held last week at Birmingham, by the Hon. Mrs. Bertrand Russell, wife of Earl Russell's brother and a daughter of Mrs. Pearsall Smith of Philadelphia. One of the subjects of discussion was the condition of women wage earners and the best methods of improving their lot. Unlike the great majority of the titled and untitled dames present who ventilated their theories on the subject, Mrs. Russell conceived the, notion that proper understanding. startled the She considerably emblage by describing her experience as a “factory hand.” It was a Bermondsey ropewalk that she fixed on as experimental ground. She disguised herself in a tawdry blouse with broken button-holes -and frayed and dirty lace, wore a row of curlers in her front hair and a skirt that had scen better days at some remaote period. She was given em- ployment on precisely, the same terms as the rest of the factory. ghls, the manage- ment being entirely unaware ot iden- tity. Aceording to her story she met with much rough Kindness- from her fellow workers and won their good will by join- ing heartily in the songs and choruses which were the features of thelr scanty “off-time.” She ate the same fare as they did. She listened to their confi- dences about their “blokes”” and parrie their interested questions as to whether “her bioke” ever struck her. ‘“Mind ye, he®™, do it yet; they mostly all does! was the universal opinion. She shared their lives ar® interests as far as possi- ble, only drawing the line at the swing- ing doors of the gin palaces where the “blokes” usually tried to get their sweet- hearts to finish the evenings. Mrs. Russell is still young and hand- some, and possesses a physique capable of during the somewhat cruel test of week r week in the fetid atmosphere of a rope factory. As simply attired she stood on the platform and told her interesting story she presented a strikfng contrast to some of the other figures on the plat- form, notably Lady Battersea in sables and diamonds, and Lady Aberdeen with solitaire pearls worth a fortune showing under the w«dge of her hat. It was Mrs. Russell, by the way, who first started the idea of founding scholarships for Ameri- can girls at the English universities on lines similar to the Rhodes benefaction. e FORMER ARCHDUKE 1S NOW COMMON SOLDIER Leopold of Austrin Gives Up Title to Wed Actress, but Has to Tater Army. GENEVA, Nov. 25.—Ex-Archduke Leopold, formerly a general in the Aus- trian army, who gave up his position, expectations and honors in Austria to marry the pretty actress, Mlle. Adamo- vics, and became a citizen of Switzer- land, is now an ordinary soldier in the Swiss army. 8 Military service is compulsory in the Alpine republic, and the former station of the Archduke afforded him no relief from conscription. He has finished his recrult's course as an ordinary soldler, though the Archduke is a military authority angd Strategist of no mean order. In his initiation into the Swiss army he was spared none of the duties of the ordinary recruit. He was obliged to clean the furniture and floor of the | barrack room and took his turn in the kitchen with the rest of the soldiers. LRSS i i) Thinks Wife Devil and Kills Her. BRUSSELS, Nov. 26.—A lunatic named Brassine, recently liberated from an asylum, murdered his wife at Ran- sart because he belleved she was pos- sessed of a devil. After committing the | deed he went to the office of the gen- darmerie and declared that he had just killed a devil. According to the ram- bling narratives he gave the gen- darmes, he arose at 6 o'clock, and see- ing, his wife engaged in her domestic duties came to the conclusion that “lit- tle devils were jumping upon her.” In: order to get rid of them the lunatic! knocked his wife down and then got | it into his' head that the devils had' entered her body. “They had to be gotten rid of at any cost,” said the lunatic, “and so I strangled my wife.” e Cockneys Criticize Yerkes. LONDON, Nov. 25.—Charles T. Yerkes’ interview in New York, in which he complained that Londoners were thei slowest people to “get 2 move on” he had ever encountered, has been widely ! quoted here and made the basis for sarcastic rejoinders about the uncer- tainty and irregularity of the electric underground service Yerkes has pro- vided, for London. Difficulties encoun- tered in the changing of the unde: ground from steam to electricity are causing repeated breakdowns and Mr. Yerkes Is invited to “get a move on” his trains before he complains again of cockney dilatoriness. P 3 KAISER'S SECOND SON "NOT HER FIRST LOVER Princess Sophie Charlotte, Who Will Wed Prince Eitel, Has Former Sweetheart Now Livin e AR Special Cable to The Call. BERLIN, Nov. he engagement of the Kaiser's second son, Prinece Eitel Frederic, to Duchess Sophie Charlotte of Oldenburg, only daughter of Grand Duke Frederic Augustus of Oldenburg, has given rise to so many conflicting | reports, so interesting and in some cases sensational in character, that a plain statement of the facts of the case appears desirable. It has been stated, for instance, that Duchess Sophie Char- lotte has becn forced to engage herself: to Prince Eitel Frederic by her stern | father, in oppostion to her own desires, | ip. order that she should contract a brillfant matrimonfal alliance. On the other hand, it has been suggested that | the Kaiser's son has contracted a mes- | alllance ‘on account of the varlous ru- ! mors and scandals connected with his: | | fiancee's name. These reports, which have been widely circulated in the Eu- ropean press, are based on a very slen- der foundation. | It is true that there is a disparity of | age between Prince Eitel Frederic-and | his future wife. Prince Eitel Frederic celebrated his twenty-second birthday | last July and Duchess Sophie Charlotte | will be 27 in February, so that she is more than four years older than her fu- ture husband. This, however, is the only possible objection which could be | urged against the match. Duchess So- phie Charlotte is in every sense a very desirable yvoung lady. SHE PINES AWAY. Some years ago her friends and rela- tives noticed that she seemed to be fad- ing away. She was sad and silent and | seemed to take no pleasure in the vouthful joys of life. Her stepmother, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, was greatly concerned and did everything in her power to asceriain the cause of Duch- ess Sophie Charlotte’s depression. Doc- tors were consulted, but were unable to find any cause for her perpetual melan- choly. Her heart and her lungs were | sound and her organism was in perfect condition. She was sent to recruit her} energy in the bracing alr of the Swiss mountains, but returned in the same | melancholy condition. She was sent to | the south of France, but no change in her demeanor became visible. At last ‘the persons of her environment divined the truth, namely, that Duchess Sophie Charlotte was secretly and unhappily in love. The pursuit of this line of investiga- tion soon revealed the fact that the object of her affection was her father's aide de camp, Baron von Plettenberg. Baron von Plettenberg was a young German noble- man, who was as handsome and chival- | rous as he was poor. He was as much in | love with Duchess Sophie Charlotte as she was with bim, and it is probable that at one time he entertained hopes that the objections to their marriage would even- tually be overcome. He was certainly inferior to Duchess Sophie Charlotte in rank and birth, but he was nevertheless a nobleman of good family and ancient descent, so that while a matrimonjal al- liance with him would necessarily have been morganatic there would have been nothing disgraceful about it for the young Duchess. HER DREAM SHATTERED. In course of time Duchess Sophie Char- lotte confided to her father that she en- tertained the hope of being able to marry Baron von Plettenberg. Grand Duke Frederic Augustus was not overjoyed at this communication. He made it clear immediately that he would never consent to the match, and Duchess Sophie Char- lotte, on hearing the reasons which he gave for his decision, bravely accepted ! the inevitable. She made up her mind to overcome her love and to fulfill tae duties. due to her name and rank. Baron von Plettenberg’s conduct was irreproachable. He proceeded to Bos- ton and has resided in America ever since. The fact that Grand Duke Fred- eric Augustus exercised influence on the young nobleman’s behalf is alone sufficient proof that his conduct in con- nection with Duchess Sophie Charlotte was in every respect upright and strict- 1y honorable. If further proof of this were required it was given by Grand Duke Frederic Augustus in the spring of 1904, when he took a trip on his own steam yacht across the Atlantic and landed in New York. During his visit in America he made a point of sesing Baron von Plettenberg, for whom he still entertained a warm re- gard and friendship. PRINCESS SLANDERED. A prominent German newspaper, the “Brunswick Landeszeitung,” edited by Dr. Eugene Sierke, published on Sep- | Government of | ment of the Duchess for . tember 23, 1903, a communication dated from Lubeck in which various Insinu- ations regarding Duchess Sophie Char- tlotte’s moral character were veiled in language the meaning of which was unmistakable, although guarded. The Oldenburg thereupon summoned the Prussian Public Prose- cutor to take action against the Bruns- wick Landeszeitung on a charge of criminal libel against Duchess Sophie Charlotte. The trial took piace on June 20, 1904, at Brunswick. and the editor of the paper, Dr. Sierke, ap- peared in the dock to answer to the criminal charge. Dr. Sierke's lawyer stated that his client had had no in- | tention of slandering the young Duch- ess or of suggesting anything unfavor- able in regard to her personal charac- ter. The publication in the “Landes- zeitung” simply referred to the attach- Baron von Plettenberg, now in Washington. Dr. Sierke's lawyer thereupon requested that Duchess Sophie Charlotte herself and Baron von Plettenberg should be summoned as witnesses and that the proceedings should be adjourned in or- der that their evidence could be taken. The presiding Judge ruled that the Duchess and Baron von Plettenberg should not be summoned as witnesses. In thus ruling the Judge said, “If coun- sel for the defense desires by summon- ing these two witnesses to prove by their own evidence that they were at- tached to one another, I may say at once that his efforts are superfluous. It may be accépted as an acknowledged fact that an attachment existed be- tween the Duchess and Baron von Plet- tenberg.” SLANDERER PUNISHED. After the Public Prosecutor had pleaded for his conviction, Dr. Sierke himself addressed the court and denied that he had had any intention of insult- ing the Duchess. He had offered all possinle compensation to the court of Oldenburg and had applied for an au- dience with the Grand Duke in order personally to apologize for any mis- understanding which might have arisen from his publication. The court, how- ever, regarded Dr. Sierke's defense as inadequate and sentenced him to four months’ imprisonment, while Duchess Sophie Charlotte was given the right of publishing the verdict in all the lead- ing papers in Germany. - These legal proceedings placed beyond all doubt the |- authenticity of the reports of the rela- tions between the Duchess and Baron von Plettenberg, but#at the same time ! proved with absolute finality that those relations were strictly honorable and in no respect whatever discreditable to either person. NOW LOVES EITEL. Duchess Sophie Charlotte has out- lived her youthful attachment for an inferior Iin rank and station and will | make a genuine love match in marry- ing Prince Eitel Frederic. Those who declare that in betrothing herself to the Kaiser's second son she committed a sacrifice and thought with regret of her former admirer are laboring under a misapprehension. Although Duchess Sophie Charlotte obeyed her father and abandoned all idea of contracting a morganatic union she nevertheless did not hesitate to reject all subsequent g in America. DR wooed during the last two or thres years by a succession of German and foreign Princes. The Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who afterward married Princess Caroline of Reuss, was one of her rejected suitors. At fo other royal admirers, all of whom wer vminently desirable husbar in a worldly sense, were rejected by Duch- ess Sophia Charlotte. It may. therefore, be assumed w y that in ae- cepting Prince teric, who in a worlc monial pri sirable matri- previously rejected suitors. has followed the dictates of her own heart. Prince Eitel Frederic is indeed a man likely to win the heart of a woman. He is tall, broad and soldierly in appearance. His face, shaven el in American style, is handsome. He lIs described by ose versed in court affairs as the st talented of the Kaiser's sons and as the one who most sembles his versatile father. He Is also supposed to be the Kaiser's favorite son. He is a simple, unaffected, healthy minded young man, whose character has been entirely unspoiled by the flatteries of courtiers and the temptations of his ex- alted position. The wedding will take place February 26, 1906. —_— WOULD EENDER ENGLISH RURAL LIFE ATTRACTIVE Lady Vermon Is Trying to Relieve Dreary Monotony by Establishing Comfortable Clubs. Nov. —Lady Vernon, for- LONDON PRINCE BITEL, TREDERIC, of PRUSTA RAND DUKE_ %moamo AOGUSTUS: | CLOENBURLF « « s’ @ — GERMAN KAISER'S SECOND 803 AND PRINCESS TO WHOM ENGAGED. merly Miss Lawrence of New York, is at work on a scheme to render rural life in Cheshire, where her country seat is established, more attractive to the work- ers. The Duchess of Westminster and Mrs. Drew, daughter of the late Wil- liam Ewart Gladstone, operating with her. agricultural countles in England, Che- shire has been greatly impoverished by the steadily increasing transference of its young manhood and womanhood to the big cities and towns. Lady Vernonm is convinced that it is the dreary monot- ony of village life that is responsible for much of this migration and the moral and physical deterforation which result from it. It is no use préaching “stick to the land” and “back to the land,” she says, unless agricuitural workers are to be provided with some other interests in life than the mere production of crops. Opportunities for rational recreation and amusements must be provided for them and some form of intellectual atmosphere must be created.for them. Her plan is to establish clubs in com- fortable quarters with libraries, reading rooms, amusement rooms and halls in which lectures and entertalnments can be given. While money would be needed to start them, she believes that they would soon beome self-supporting. And even if they didn’t, she is satisfled that thelr influence In checking rural depop- ulation would pay handsomely. SO B ERS S Pl Y French Judges Unsallant. PARIS, Nov. 25.—In the opinion of Judges of the Civil Tribunal, Depart- ment of the Seine, a likeness in minfa- ture is not to be expected. Mlle. Vin- court, an actress, was sued for recovery of the sum of $70, the price agreed upen by her for @ miniature. She com- plained that the likeness was bad and that she wanted a minia®ure waieh her triends would be abie to recognize. The Judges declared the miniature to be “a royal suitors whose persopalities were | very pretty picture,” and ordered Mue unsympathetic to her. i She has been | Vincourt to pay its cost.