A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7066, 19 January 1891, Page 3

A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.

c John Orth, the Ex- Archduk( ■i * A Strange Story. d j [FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT. I if J ■! London, Nov. 28. The mysterious disappearance of th( ,• Austrian ex-Archduke, John Orth, whi •, left BuenOß Ayres several months back ir i. a email barque, which has not since beer c heard of, is a general topic just now on tht - Continent. He had plenty of money with l him, and likewise a lady, intimacy with - whom had cost him much, so that it c • just possible he has taken up quarters on 3 some Pacific Isle. The more general f theory, however, is that the vessel I foundered off Cape Horn in June or July. ' A Vienna correspondent writes : — 5 In the halls of Castle Orth, on an island • in the Lake of Qemiiuden, an aged mot n r ' ia weeping over the only too probable loss of a favourite son. The widowed Grand ' Duchess of Tuscany, when in the summer ! she caw one of her grandsons wedded to | the Emperor's youngest daughter, began " to hope that her darJing, her eon Jo'hu, ■ would be again received into the Imperial family, and reinstated in lm titles and • honours. Fate willed it otherwise, and it must be painful indeed to the House of Hapsburg that this once promising scion J should have perished at the age of thirty eight in the fulfilment of self-imposed 1 duties, in a foreign sea. Por it must be remembered that about fifteen years ago the Archduke John, then the intimate friend of the Crown Prince Rudolph, was the one above all others who represented talent and free thought in Court circles. The two coudna were then enthusiasts. They dreamed together of successes in literature and art, and together rebelled against many an antiquated notion and old institution, deemed invulnerable by those who had an interest in maintaining them. Two young apostles of enlightenment, they sought to dispel darkness and ignorance. It was in this spirit they conceived the plan of exposing the spiritualist Bastit n, although they knew well that they would thereby offend many a highborn believer in the occult art. The exposure took place in the Archduke John's palace in the Wallzeile, where a trap had been prepared by two folding door 6 which moved on slides, and could be closed by merely pulling a string. It was the Archduke who gained the spiritualist's confidence by posing as a believer; the Crown Prince had declined to be even so far deceitful. When Bastien had escaped bareheaded and without his boots the two young archdukes sat down to write an account ot the whole successful scene for the papers. It is to be imagined that this kind of thing was not much approved of in Court circles, which had been tolerant as long ai the Archduke John came before the public only as a composer. Three of his valses published under the name of " John Orth " were danced to during a whole carnival, and a ballet of his composition, " Die Assussinen," was performed at the Imperial Opera House. But suddenly he turned his attention to more serious subjects. He objected to the military system in Austria, delivered lectures to the officers which in the ears of Field-Marshal the Archduke Albrecht were high treason, and published his observations and ideas in an essay called " Drill or Education," which brought him into much ill odour. Still the Emperor forgave him, and he was appointed commander of the division at Linz. A violent quarrel with the Crown Prince put an end to their friendship, and death anticipated a reconciliation. The Archduke was leading a reckless life, and his debts rose beyond his indulging mother's power to pay them, for the Toscanas are poor. The Emperor, who is like a father to every member of his house, anxious to free him of his embarrassments, summoned him and asked him whether he would begin life afresh if his debts were paid. When promises had been given, the Emperor asked the amount of what he owed. The Archduke saw nothing but kindness in the Emperor's face, and the Emperor gave him a cheque. He paid his debts and put the rest by as a nest egg. Shortly afterwards he left his post for England without leave, and when deprived of his command cried out against what he called injustice. The reasons for depriving him of his honours and titles, with which he lost hi 6 income of 30,000 florins a year and tbe right of calling himself an archduke (a fact which was believed to bo an impossibility until it appeared in tho Court calendars), have not been given, but the Emperor would not hastily have resorted to such severe measures. Since his only son's death the monarch's character has acquired a mildness and forgivingness which makes him grieve whenever he has to do anything but give and forgive. Even he found himself under the necessity of degrading a member of his own family he did it in the gentlest form possible. He allowed Archduke John to renounce his rights of his own free will. John Orth's financial embarrassments did not end with his descent from his high social position. Before he embarked he mortgnge'd his only property, the Ca3tle of Orth. in which his mother is residing.