A WOMAN WHO HAS MADE HISTORY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2373, 24 August 1899, Page 55

A WOMAN WHO HAS MADE HISTORY.

THE HEROINE OF THREE GREAT WARS.- •

Few women can boast such a romantic and adventurous career as the Princess Salm-Salm. Strange as her name may sound to the average reader, she was a famous woman in the sixties, the toast of many a club and mess-room. She was born about 58 years ago, her father being a Canadian farmer and her name simply Eliza Joy, a strange contrast with her subsequent euphonious title. As a girl she showed a bent for horseriding, and after some training on her father's farm she became a circus rider, taking the name of Agnes Le Clerq. A dis-pute with the owner of the circus resulted in her throwing up her engagement a.% an equestrienne and becoming a tightrope dancer. Her beauty and daring combined to make her a celebrity in Washington, where she was then performing. She attracted the notice of a young Austrian nobleman, Prince Salm-Salm, and the two were married after a courtship of only a week. That was the commencement of the more notable portion of her career. The Prince, although a young man, had served in the war between Austria and Denmark with great distinction, and his new-made wife showed -a consuming desire that he should gain fresh honours on the battle-field. The great American Civil War had just begun, and the Princess threw herself zealously into the work of assisting the cause of the North, for she was a passionate admirer of President Lincoln. Her first step was, 'with the concurrence of Lincoln, to raise a German regiment to serve in the war. Of this regiment the Prince was made colonel, and his wife — who, had herself received a commission in the Federal army— accompanied him to the front. Of her dash and courage at ' this time many stories were told. Here is one. Learning, while in Baltimore, that her husband's regiment with the army of the Potomac was hemmed in by the rebel forces, she announced her intention of penetrating the enemy's lines in order to join the Prince. Heedless of entreaties, she proceeded to bribe on enginedriver to take her through on a " wild engine." The latter, was willing, and soon the locomotive was tearing along at a furious speed through the rebel lines, with the Princess calmly riding on the " cowcatcher " in front ! It was a characteristic exploit, and it is said that the only persons who were not astonished at the sight when the engine dashed into the Northern camp Were her husband and the soldiers. At the close of the war, during which the Princess wore the uniform of a Federal officer and nursed the sick and wounded, the Prince was gazetted a brigadier-gene-ral. Seeing that there was no more fighting to be done in the States this adventurous couple went to Mexico. Here they took service with the Emperor Maximilian in the war, and the Princess, donning a Belgian uniform, worked as before in ministering to the sick and wounded. In this war she was twice wounded, on the first occasion being fired upon by a sentry who mistook her for a spy, and on thp second occasion falling into an ambush while At the head of a reconnoitring party. She would undoubtedly have lost her life in this instance but for her circus training, for after several of her troop were killed, she managed to escape by her superb horsemanship. After many adventures and escapes, and finding the Emperor Maximilian's cause was hopeless, the Princess visited Austria with her husband, where she was awarded a* State pension. Their next campaign was the FrancoPrussian war, and here came the tragedy that turned the gaiety of the " laughing Princess," as she was called, to mourning. Her husband fell at Gravelotte. For long afterwards the Princess dwelt in seclusion in her castle on the "Rhine. Of late years she has recovered much of her old vivacity and alertness. But she is now Princess Salm-Salm only by courtesy, for she has married again. Her military ambitic/us are over, and her husband is a plain German citizen.