THE LANGRAVE OF HESSE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2025, 31 December 1888, Page 2

THE LANGRAVE OF HESSE

A reoent cable message reported the> d«atb of the Landgrave of fies«Q t who, visited Now Zealand incognita » fa* months ago. The "Overland Oeyloa Observer " oontalnti the following pertiea* Imb of the ocoarrenoe:— "li.R.Hr. who had been for a long time travelling In the troplos, had In tbe ooarae of hii watul«ringa reiohed Java, While In Batavla ha had Buffered very muoh from the interne. beat that has lately prevailed there, On this aooonnt It was thought beat that ho shonld leave Batavls, and It was proposed to go to Singapore, and thence either to Slam, m continuation of the plan of hie trave a, or, should ha not feel better, on dlreot to Europo. However, about the llthor Jflth of Ootobor, H.R.H. felt much better while itlU at Batavl*. Still Baton von Hugo advised otmsultlng a dootor, bat H.R. H thought It quite unnecessary at he felt bo great Improvement fn his health. It was then determined that the Landgrave and aulte ahonld prooeed to Singapore, and aeoordlngly they left n 4he SIM. a... Volga upon the 13th Instant, H.R.H. and hla party being the only passengers on board, After dinner that evening H.R.H. was ptrtloalarly bright and lively. He went on deok with. hlB frlaoda and engaged In oheeifnl^eiitiversation with them, and also with ths • ffloera of the ehlp, At 9 p.m. na aaldl •Good night,' remarking 'I shall afoep well* Thia referred to tha disturbed nights he had previously had whan not so well, and his belief that ho would that night be able to make np his lost seep. A cool and airy qabin had been selected for him. A on that side of the vessel that would receive the refreshing- breeze of the norths east monsoon. H. 8.H. . accordingly retired, after haviog given bis servant diree* tions to waken him at 6 a.m. Punotuallj at that hour the servant came and foutd the Landgrave still aafeep. The aervani returned at a quarter to seven, but H.R.H. merely ma.de. a lign that he did not waftt to be disturbed. Thi» was reported to Baron von Hugo, who said that sleep would do him good, At § a,a. tha steward heard him cough, and later (at a quarter to olevoo) thy servant who wab always on guard at the door of the cabin heard H . K. H. again coughing, Baron von Hugo direoUd the servant to atay there till tils Kuyal Hl«hnesa called him. At half past one o'clock Baron von Hugo ssked the servant if H.B.H. was still asleep The latter replied thajt he did not know, but H.R H. had uot yet called him. The Baron then directed him to enter the cabin quietly, and nee if H.R.H. waa Btill asleep It was not singular that he should »lecp bo long, as he often- did that especially at sea. When the tat. vant entered the eabln he Immediately < exclaimed * The bed la empty ¥ Baron von Hugo at onoe entered and found that this was true. Although t^e servant had not left his post, a searoh waa at once instituted throqghout the ahlp, but with- ■ out fiodlng the least trace of the Land* grave, The only possible oonoluaton which could be come to was that, overcome by some tucldon mental distorbaioe. H.R.H, had quite unoonsaloos of what he was doing gone through the port of hts ; oabln, and had dropped Into the sea. He oould not merely have fellea through, as the window was co narrow that a psraoQ could only pass tbtcugh by dint of tome exertion. The Idea of premeditated safolde is entirely without foundation. All H.RH.'a plans of travel were laid and he talked of these In pleasant anticipation. He was looking forward to vlsltinu Slam, and mrkingthe acquaintance of the king, and seeing as ranch of the oounlryaa possible. Next it was proposed to prooeed to Mexico and South America, that being the only portion of the world H.R.H. had not seen. There was no personal or private reason which would admit < f any likelihood of H.K.H. putting an end to his own life. He was quite happy and free from otre, and waa one of tbe wealthiest men m Germany. Phyalo* ally, hotievor, he was not strong, and the heat of the tropics had beat) to him T«y QppresilTe, ■-. ~