The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 10, 1905, Page 17

| Pages 17 to 2 AMOROUS BARON CAPTI by Man Whose Daughter He Tried to T . L!NI!I‘] ’E | | Ol — ‘ o | —i soned t Pages 17 t028 | SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1905 Kidnap CA OPTRELSIGY BLSKY. — - LTS T . HER WHOM Special Cabie to The Call. ST. PETERSBURG, Dec. 9.—Little by 1 e have come from the remote vince of Kazan the com-| I e one of thé most ex- 1 mas which even this W and has ever yielded Baron Liupianoff, a nobleman and.land- ow kidnap a girl « ughter of{ f med Ivan Ostrel- rde make her his wife. . ibducting the object of his e t ns, the Baron himsef y the gurl's fatner, ‘ and incarcerated in the lar for four years by way stic ¥ iment for his projected i anoff has now " from his imprisonment, inst his -own will, has « to make the story of imprisonment public in . his own rights of prop- eful day Baron Liupianoff, wag then vears old, set eyes o Ostrelsky, who at that time st passed her sixteenth birthday was a girl of striking beauty. She was tall an d dark, with flashing black 'S CASTLE, IN INCR. oF P{CA’Z.II’JH’{E-" —— Baron Liupi- | eyes and jet black hair. noff, woma. s he had been for a jong tim inated by her assiduously to court of persuading her to! He had come into contact | through business trans- actions with her father, who still car- ried on busir as a dealer In furs. van Ostrelsky's business establish- ment was situated in the city of Kazan, but the merchant resided in the vicin- ity of Kasanbazh, some thirty miles | from the capital of the province. His wife had died soon after his daughter's and bega. Lop: glirl birth and Olga was committed to the care of an English governess, Miss King. The nobleman made a formal proposal of marriage, but was rejected. CAUGHT IN HIS OWN TRAP. Henceforth Baron Liupianoff plotted and planned and schemed to kidnap the it’s beautiful daughter. Fin- n opportunity presented itself on occasion of the midnight service the cathedral 'at Kazan on Sunday. The Baron, by means of his spies, ascertained that Miss Os- treisky and her governess intended to drive from the villa to Kazan on the Sunday evening and to meet Ivan Ostreisky at the hedral. The two women would accordingly be alone and almost unprotected during the long drive of thirty miles and the Baron perceived that this would be an ex- ent opportunity of carrying out his 1 of kidnaping the girl. Notwithstanding the lawlessness pre- vailing in Russia and the license which aristocratic magnates enjoy the project was a dangerous one and the Baron intrusted the secret only to two accom- plices, his own groom and his own per- sonal valet, both sturdy muscular fel- lows. On the evening of Easter ?undny the Baron and his two retainefs left the castle mounted on powerful steeds and armed with revolvers and daggers, and provided with manacles, gags and | other appliances for the projected out- | rage. At the castle a priest of the | Orthodox Greek Church was waiting in | readiness to perform the wedding cere- mony between the Baron and the girl as soon as he brought her to his home. After arriving at the wayside of the| road leading from Kasanbazh to Kazan, | warmed in winter and well ventilated : the Baron and his two retainers dis-| mounted and awaited the arrival of the ' panions were reduced to passive obedi- ¢ Liupianoff carriage containing Miss Ostrelsky and her governess. In spite, however, of the secrecy with which Baron Liupianoff had planned his coup, Ivan Ostrelsky had received information regarding the projected seizure of his daughter. Baron Liup- lanoff's personal valet was a married man and in an incautious moment he had confided the secret of the scheme to his wife. This woman, having no particular love for her husband and seeing an opportunity for a liberal re- ward, betrayed the secret to Ivan Os- trelsky and received $2000 for her in- formation. 8o, instead of allowing his daughter and her governess to drive at night to the cathedral, the merchant placed two of his own strongest retainers in the carriage and two others on the box by the side of the cohchman. The car- riage was thus manned by five faithful servants of the merchant, all of whom were well armed and all fully prepared for an attack. ‘When the Baron and the two retain- ers held the carriage up, they met with a reception for which they were entirely unprepared. Ostrelsky's five servants overpowered them after a short sharp struggle, bound them hand and foot, pitched them into the car- riage and drove them back to the mer- | they arrived atl chant's villa, where midnight. The merchant himself was waiting to receive them and when the Baron was brought before him he addressed hlml as follows: “You are a dangerous character. You are worse than an outlaw, for your rank and position give you undesirable I see my daughter will not be safe from your persecutions until she is married, so I intend to keep you prisoner until she has the protection of a husband. Your men must share your imprisonment. My cellars have been prepared for your reception. Adien.” $ IMPRISONED IN THE CELLAR. This speech ended the Baron and h two companions were dragged down into the cellar to begin their long period of incarceration. During this they were well fed, ‘well clothed and well attended. The cellar was well in summer. The Baron and his com- VE IN CELLAR|MRS. ADAR T0 UNDERGO | 2se OPERATION Society Woman Has | Trouble With | Her Eyes. i Mrs, Arthur Paget in a Very Serious State in London. e Mrs. Potter Palmer Plans to Secure a Permanent Home Abroad. Special Cable to The Call. LONDON, Dec. 9.—Mrs. Adair is one of those kind and generous American women whe make friends in all directions, and thiere is genuine regret that she should find herself compelled to undergo an oper- ation for cataract. For a long time her sight has been giving her a great deal of trouble and she was constantly saying to her friends, “Now be sure you speak to me; for I shan’t know you a bit except by your voice. Voices I never forget.” Princess Henry of Battenberg is greatly concerned about Mrs. Adair's operation, and so is Princess Ena, who has been say- ing she never enjoys any dances so thor- oughly as those which are given by Mrs. Adair. She is about the only hostess who would dare to give a dance in ‘November in London and expect it to be a success. The idea was unheard of before. Yet there was never a joltler festivity than here of ten days ago, and she actually succeeded in getting royaity to appear at it, Princess Beatrice and Princess Ena both being present. MRS. PAGET VERY LOW. Mrs. Arthur Paget’s siX operations have weakened her so dreadfuily that not- withstanding her pluck she is now so prostrate that the doctors are, beginning to shake their heads. It is the Vienna treatment which is supposed to have éx- hausted her se much. She_.was beggéd by the best authorities ta*London, nota~ bly ‘Sir Frederick Treves, who, owing to her determunation ta ignore his advice, refused to perform the last operation, not to go to Vienna, but she would have her way and she has paid the price. Her case is peculiarly tragic, for there was never any one who made such stupendous ef- forts to regain her heaith and strength as she did, and notwithstanding all the failures she has kept up her spirits until now, but a complete collapse has fol- lowed her last operation. NEW HOME FOR MRS. PALMER. Mrs. Potter Palmer, erstwhile of Chicago, will probably soon acquire a permanent residence in London. When twelve months ago she rented Hamp- den House in Green street, Mayfair, from the Duke of Abercorn on a yearly tenancy she had no idea that the Duke had any intention of disposing of a mansion that had been for thirty years in the possession of th2 Abercorn fam- ily. The Duke has now taken a new house in Grosvenor Square and has given Mrs. Potter FPaimer the op- tion of buying the remaining terms of the lease of Hampden House, which is twenty years. The ground rent is $1000 a year, which is exceedingly cheap considering the enormous prices which the Duke of Westminster can command for land in this quarter. The Duke of Abercorn’s price for the goodwill of his lease is $75,000, which will bring Mrs. Potter Palmer’'s annual outlay in rent alone up to $5000. This is not considered ex-. cessive as rents in Mayfair go, because every year the price @f property here goes up by leaps and bounds. Externally Hampden House is one of the plainest of the great mansions to be found in all London. Indeed, looked at from the outside, several of the workhouses: recently erected in the metropolis presentia far more attrac- tive appearance. But inside Hampden House is a very attractive place and its size makes it well adapted to enter- taining on the big scale In which American hostesses in London with plenty of money delight. If the Duke disposes of Hampden House to Mrs., Potter Palmer It will be the second of 'hla residences which he has sold to American women. For Chesterfleld House he found a purchaser Bradley Martin. — ence by chains attached to their ankles with leather straps which prevented them from violent movements without seriously in Mrs. otherwise | them. Every night they were permitted to leave the cellar and take one or two , hours’ exercise in the : park. tied together and closely guarded by three or four of the merchant's most ) faithful servants. In the earlier 1 months of their captivity they attempt- ed to break loose and to attract the attention of the merchant’s household by noisy demonstrations. These out- | breaks, however, were promptly sup- inconveniencing 1 | | | | ! | | i IMPROUEMENTS ON BIG SCALE PLANNED AT ALUM ROCK PARK of Garden City to Vote on Bonds During the Week to Add to the Attractiveness of the Beautiful Spat. Sheaiiis Special Dispatch to The Call. SAN JOSE, Dec. 9.—San Jose, the Gar- den City of California, is about to as- sume a foremost place among the pro- gressive citles of the Pacific slope through the resolution of her eity fathers to sub- mit to popular vote the proposition to expend $350,000 in various municipal im- provements, such as the building of new schoolhouses, the construction of sew- ers, the provisjon of fire houses, engines and apparatus, and chiefly in the im- provement of beautiful “Alum Rock Park.” To this.latter purpose of $100,000 is to be devoted in the event of the proposition meeting with public as- sent in the bond election to be held on December 12, and of this there can be little doubt in view of the practically unanimous expression of popusar feeling in favor of the bond issue. The improvement of Alum Rock Park has been a long felt need among the peo- ple not only of San Jose. but of the en- tire central portion of California. There is no other spot within a hundréd miles of San Francisco so accessible and so re- plete with various attractions as is this romantic Penitencia Canyon in which lies Alum Rock Park. VISITED BY THE PADRES. Long before the Angio-Saxon invaded the West in the old mission days, the sfream and canyon of the Penitencia took its name from the fact that it was made the scene and destination of the penitential piigrimages of the old padres and their disciples of the Santa Clara Mission. When San Jose ceased to b a Spanish pueblo and became an Ameri- can town, among the earliest acts of its officers was to set aside 400 acres in the heart of this canyon as a city reserva- tion for the public use. As early as 1862 the State Legisiature, by speclal act, made provision for the construction of a public road into the park and created a park commission with a view to its im- provement. The survey which followed revealed to the people of San Jose that their fore- thought in making the canyon a public reservation had:not been misapplied. A large number of the most varied and valuable mineral’ and chemical springs were located and developed and many other beautiful and attractive -features made known. The resuit has been that the fame of “Alum Rock Park” as & health resort and as an ideal spot to spend a day, & week or a month of va- cation has grown steadily as the years have gone by. The people of San Jose have endeavored by a limited appropria- tion to keep the work of park improve- ment apace with its growing fame, but this has been found impossible and the time has:come when aliberal outlay of money ‘ is needed to put the park in the condition which its great popularity and even greater possibilities require. Hence the resolution of the progressive people of San Jose to expend $100,000 in the im- provement of their beautiful park. BEAUTY' OF CANYON TRIP. To the people of San Francisco the project of improving this near-by and already popular resort will come with es- pecial favor. Alum Rock Park is only fifty-six miles by rail from the metropo- lis. A two hours’ ride will bring the seeker after health and pleasure from the heart of the city to the heart of the reservation. From San Jose an electric railway runs eastward through the gar- dened = valley; here passing beautiful homes; there winding its. way among the great trees of an extensive olive orchard; surrounding ! gron’ enteting the canyon and following On these occasions they were | the course of the sparkling and chatter- ing stream; passing the “meteor.” itself a wonderful sight, being an immense sphere of manganese half buried in the earth and surely a heavenly visitor if ever such a one has reached this earth; agaln, hurrying by the base of “Eagle Rock,” a grand escarpment ‘about mid- way up the canyon; then supping past » pressed by applications of the knout|(pe base of ‘“Alum Rock” ltself, which and in time the Baron and his two ser- vants became accustomed to captivity rizes a gigantic monolith of evidently vodlcmlc origin above the roadway and | and found it more advisable to submit | ¢rom which the park derives its name. | passively than to increase the severity ! ot their punishment by resistance, Three years and six months passed ‘by before Miss Ostrelsky married, and ! Baron Liupianoft’s captivity continued | aeeraot the curlous, and a litle On the day;on the springs and baths enlist ‘the tn- | throughout this’ period. of the departure of the merchant’s { ! daughter on her honeymoon journey, | the Baron and his two retainers were ; liberated and let loose in a country to which they had become practically for- | eigners. The Baron made his way to his home and found that he and his | companions had been formally and legally adjudged dead persons, The present possessor of the Liupi- anoff estates refuses to acknowledge the identity of the man who has re- appeared after three and a half years’ absence as that of the rightful Baron Presently the cultivated portions of the reservation appear and there wide lawns, Jovely flowers and shaded walks delight | the eye, while deer paddocks and aviaries farther est of those who desire to drink of ::re‘lr refreshing fountains or bathe in their healing waters. Stili farther up the canyon is the “Ploneers’ Paradise” and there daily hundreds and often thousands of happy people may be seen enjoying life near to nature’s heart. ELABORATE BATHS PLANNED. the sum | ! i | — { The improvements in th 1 the board of park comm! | view in the event of a successful issue of the bond ¢ tion have been planned upon a very practical basis with a view to making Alum Rock Park eventually one of the most famous watering places 1in the country, but with the immediate object of rendering it self-supporting. Fifty thousand dollars of the propesed | appropriation is to be expended upon an | ornate and.commodious bathhouse, built !of the beautiful gray sandstone with [ which the park abounds and with am- | ple aceommediations in the way of plunge and private baths for both sexes. The eommissioners also propose to extermin- | ate polsontoak and all other noxious | growths from -the accessible’ areas of e park which oners has in {the park, and to plant nut-bearing and | ornamentai trees along the driveways and up the slopes of the encircling hilis. | The board also intends to develop all of | the existing mineral springs, bringing | their - waters down into an attractive | kiosk near the center of the park. The | present deer paddocks are to be re- | moved and enlarged so that the inmates | may have the comparative freedom their native wilds, and yet be always within view of visitors. The boulevard | into the reservation is to be widened so as | to insure absolute comfort and safety for all sorts of vehicles, while other drives and byways are to be lald out in accord- | ance with the designs of some landscape { artist of established reputation. The city | recently acquired a number of valuable fresh water springs adjacent to the reser- vation. These are also to be developed and their abundant waters piped to all | parts of the park. WILL ATTRACT TOURISTS. In these and dimilar improvements the | sum_ of $100,000 Is to be expended and it is the claim of those who are urging the outlay’ that every. dollar of this expendi- ture, both principal and Interest,” will be repaid to the.city of San Jose by .the | increase in popularity and in earning.ca- pacity , which will at once result, .and they -g0 even farther and declare that | the widening fame of Alum Rock Park which will follow hard upon the heels of its adequate Improvement will attract constantly increasing streams of desir- able tourists and health and home seek- ers into the Santa Clara Valley, thereby largely increasing its population and add- ing annually to its material wealth a sum greatly in excess of the amount asked -for the improvement of the park. To the people of San Francisco _the development of this accessible and beau- tiful resort. will be hailed with pleasure. Already ‘the trip to the “Ro~k" by cars or automobiles is one of the features of an. out'of town excursion. Very few peo- ple visit the Garden City for a day of rest and pleasure who do not take in the park, and who do not return filled with enthusiasm over the beauty of its scen- ery and the health-giving properties of its springs. The proposed improvement in scenic beauty and in bathing facilities will largely increase its present popular- ity and will make of “Alum Rock Park™ one of the most famous resorts in the country if not in tue world. The wide- awake people of San Jose say there is lit- tle doubt that the vote in favor of the im- provement will be practically unanimous. ——————— WINTER OPERA SEASON A SUCCESS IN LONDON Artints Appear for Five Consecutive Months in the English . Metropolls. LONDON, Dec. 9.—Notwithstanding the wretched weather, ety has been en- | Many crowded Covent Garden for the final performances of “Mme. Butterfly,” which have been successful, and of Melba in “raust and “La Boheme.” The winter opera season has been not only a great success, but the managers can congratulate themselves upon having established a record, inasmuch as London has had this year five continuous months of grand opera. In other respects, too, the grand opera syndicate has reason to feel proud. The first winter opera sea- son, inaugurated last year, was not wholly a financial success. This did not discourage the manage- ment, for it was prepared to face sev- | eral lean years while it built up the pop- | ularity of-the winter series of operas. It The existing electric railway service therefore is.a] the more satisfactory that into the park is about to be replaced by a thoroughly up to date double track ‘broad gauge system, making the trip in less than half its.present time and with l more than double the. present frequency. the present se\son, though it has not made a fortune for the syndicate, is likely to show a balance on the right side. This is mainly ascribed to the popularizing of the prices and the substituticy of ‘what in of | | joying itsel pretty well during the week. | | | I | 1 | ! i j - —p SCENE IN ALUM ROCK PARK. FROM PHOTOGRAPH BY AN- DREW HILL. { -t is called the grand circle for the pit tier of bexes. i Though special prices have been made | the artists engaged have been the best that could be obtained and the produe- tions have been on the same scale as during the ordinary season. Melba has sung ten times, beginning the season with “La Boheme™ and concluding it with the same masterpiece. One of the most popular singers has | been Signor Battistini, who, before this | winter, had not sung in Covent Garden | for nineteen years. | _Another great treat has been Signor Zanatello, a tenor, who, according to |'some critics, ranks with Caruso, though | his volce has not the same power. This | was Zanatello’s first visit to England, and he will come again. As. far as the public Is comcerned, the winter season might have been a longer one, but It was impossible to extend it | beyond the allotted two months because | the San Carlo Opera Company is due back | at its headquarters at the Seama Thea~ ter in Naples, —_—— Many Lost in Alps. GENEVA, Dec. 9.—During the first ten months of this year 172 climbers lost their lives in the Alps. But one- fourth of the accidents occurred in the highest and most dangerous mountains. The loss of life was greatest among the Swiss themselves, who are followed in’ order by the’ Germans, French, Aus- trians, Italians and English. Five BEn- glishmen and one English woman wers { killed in:the Swiss Alps this year. It | is estimated that at-least 150,000 make | ascents .in the Alps every season, and | putting the total accidents at 130, this | would give a low percentage of acci- dents. The number of mishaps due to unavoidable causes, such as falling stones, is only 10-per cent, and the re- ‘mainder to foolhardiness or want of experience. ———— GRAND DUKES OF RUSSIA X FLOCK TO THE RIVIERA Sunny Weather Follows . a Violent Storm in the Popular Regiom in Europe. NICE, Dec. %.—Express trains arriving on the Riviera now are crowded with people anxious to escape the cold weather n the north. Indeed, the rush at pres- ent is so great that trains are being Tun in two sections. The whole length of the littoral be- tween Cannes and San Remo recently has been visited by violent storms of wind and rain, and conditions were anything but pleasant, but visitors now are enjoy ing the real sunny south weather, with cloudless skies and warm sunshi Con- sequently all the world is out of doors. The season as a matter of fact has been | slow In commencing this year. Prac jcally no entertaining has been done s | far beyond a few small dinner parties, | followed by bridge. Cannes is more advanced than the other | resorts. The Grand Duke Nicholas Mik- | haklovich arrived there on Tuesday for | the season. Other distinguished members | of the Russian colony, including the { Grand Duke .and Duchess Cyril V) ! miravich, the Grand Duke Michael ) | 1asevich, and the Grand Duchess Anasta- sia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, also have arrived, There Is always a crowd to be seen at Monte Carlo, either of people making the place their headquarters or these who have run over from other re- sorts for a little flutter at the tables Mentone is filling up rapidly. The ar- rivals include a large number of Ameri- cans, including Mrs, Dumlop Paine and her daughter, a belle of two seasons age