ASSASSINATED

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 June 1914, Page 5

ASSASSINATED

AUSTRIA'S HEIR APPARENT. FALLS TO A SOCIALIST BULLET. "IN LIFE, IN DEATH" TOGETHER. [BY ELECTEIC TELEGRAPH—COPyBIUHT., (Received this day at 8.55 a.m.) LONDON, June 28. Reuter's Vienna correspondent statesthat Prince Francis Ferdinand, heiipresumptive to the Austrian throne, and his wife have been assassinated at Serajevo. While driving through the streets, a student fired a revolver at the Prince and his wife, who both died within r. few minutes.

The assassin, aged 18 years, is r. Servian student who had been banished from Bosnia. He first threw a bomb without result.

An unexploded bomb was found a few yards from the scene of the assassination, indicating that a third attempt was prepared in the event, ol ;he others being unsuccessful. DETAILS OF THE DEED, i THREE ATTEMPTS MADE. fPKIt PBISB ASSJCIATION—^OPTHIOHT.] (Received this day at 1.5 n.rn.) VIENNA, June 28. As Inspector General of the Monarchy's land and sea forces, Prince Francis Ferdinand voyaged aboard tin Dreadnought Viribusinitis from Tries', to Metvovic. He was welcomed ai Mostar where, in deference to local susceptibilities in responding to the nayoral address, he'spoke partly ir. German but chiefly in Serbocrorn. PL proceeded to the army, headquarters near Serajevo, with a view to attend; ing manoeuvres in the mountains to die south-west of Serajevo. Two attempts were made at assassination; the first took place during the drive to the reception at Serajevo Town. Hall. A compositor threw what s called a bottle bomb, with nails and lead filings. It did nos explode until the car had passed. The explosion was very violent, fragments piercing the iron shutters of many shops in the vicinity. Twenty persons. ncluding members of the suite and several women and children, were slightly injured. THE SILENT PRINCE. WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN THE STORMY PETREL OF EUROPE. CAREER OF THE ASSASSINATE! PRINCE.

The assassination of Prince Francis Ferdinand adds still another to the long list of domestic .tragedies which have been enacted during the long reign of the, Emperor Francis Joseph. During the recent Balkan war, the following reference to the dead Prince was published : "Francis Ferdinand, who is quite as enthusiastic a soldier as the Emperor William of Germany, and whe lias during the last few years shown extraordinary capacity for military organisation, is a very silent and reserved man, whose public utterances are few and far between, whose intimate friends are small in number, and renowned for their discretion, and who nas always avoided the limelight. Although nearly fifty years old, the most extraordinary ignorance, prevails not only abroad but even in 1 Austria and in Hungary concerning him. In fact, it is difficult to recall any Prince or, the eve of accession to a throne in mature manhood about whose personal character, political views, taste,, and even environment so very little is known. He is very much of an enigma, and about the only thing that was known positively was the romance of iiis morganatic marriage to Countess Sophie Chotek. It is not that he is secretive or that he has pursued the methods of the late King Louis of Bavaria.

"It. is merely that, in Austria a very great gulf exists between the Reigning ilouse and the remainder of mankind. Not that the Hnpsburgs are arrogant. On the contrary, they are most kindly and unaffected with even the lowest classes. They are, however, somewhat Olympian in their relations to the aristocracy'and to the bourgeoises, and. there is but little of that close, and intimate friendship which unites the patriciate to" the members of the iloigning Houses in other monarchical countries. WORTHY OF TRUST. "Francis Ferdinand has found it difficult to secure . nobles willing to accord to a Woman of their own birth the homage which he insisted is due to his consort, and thus his household is made up of people worthy of trust rather than of , the highest circles of, Society. "This, of course, has contributed to the privacy with which he has managed to envelope his home life- Of course, when people know nothing, they invent, and few Princes of the Blood have been subjected to a greater amount of malignant gossip and slander than Francis Ferdinand. Many of the most glaring moral shortcomings of his exceedingly wild'-'hrother, tne late Archduke Otto, have been falsely ascribed to him; but the Archduke has never taken the trouble to defend himself against any of these attacks/ deeming them unworthy of notice, and justly considering that the best proof of -their mendacious character lay in his mode of existence, and in the nature of his'pursuits and tastes. HIS PROFESSION. "like most of his countrymen, he is devoted to music. He is an engineer by profession, and enjoys nothing so much as driving the locomotive of an express train. He is an expert in machinery, and is of an inventive turn of mind. He is recognised as one of the best sporting shots in the AustroHungarian Empire, the walls of his castle at Konopischt, in Bohemia, being adorned with the antlers of some 2,000 stags and chamois, as well as with the heads of tigers killed in India, the tusks of elephants slain in Ceylon, a.id the pelts of bears stalked in the Rockies. He is an adept in the sciences of zoology and natural history, a wonderfully gifted artist with the brush, and, above all, a most successful land u '-ape gardener. "Travel always broadens the mind and extends the range of intellectual vision. It is, therefore, cf particular benefit to those men who, by reason of their birth, are called upon to play a dominant role in the control and direction of their fellow creatures.- The voyage round the world taken by Francis Ferdinand was so undertaken because lie felt that it would contribute to his equipment for the office of monarch, and that he encircled the globe not as a frivolous tourist, but as a thoughtful observer and student, is shown by the very clever and withal modest record of his voyage which he printed tor private chdilation eom<s time after his return. It is in the form of a diary, and while entirely free from aHpriggishness and pretentious affectation, contains on almost ev?ry page shrewd comments of appreciation, as well as observations which display a far greater breadth of mind and liboral mentality than those with which he has generally been credited. This diary is by no means Francis Ferdin-

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and's only venture into literature, and he has to his record several graceful monographs, notably one on the celebrated Field Marshal Radetzlcy, remakable by reason of the high-souled patriotism apparent in every line of the essay, and two volumes of extremely pretty Alpine poetry. "Deeply religious, he is an exemplary son, a most affectionate brother. -. kindly father, and a devoted husband indeed, so devoted-is he that his. Mile grievance in life is that he cannot raise his wife to his own position and make her his consort in fact as well as in name when he comes to the throne ol the dual monarchy. WT POPULAR BUT RESPECTED. "That he enjoys to any great extent the- popularity of his uncie, Emperor Francis" Joseph, it would be idle to assert. He does not appeal to the crowd, )T to its affection. But his countrymen respect him, and have grown within the last two or three years to enter tain a profound admiration for his ;uiblic and private character."