A COTTNTE3S AS A CIRCUS. PERFORMEE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 177, 27 July 1881, Page 4

A COTTNTE3S AS A CIRCUS. PERFORMEE.

One of the prettiest of the lady riders at the Paris Hippodrome has met with a tragic end. Her name was on the bills as Mdme. Fanny Gyika. Some said that the coronet of countess embroidered on her saddle and trappings really belonged to her, while others declared that they had been; assumed with the same readiness as that which transformed the commonplace Sally Scroggins into Ada de Montmorency, for stage purposes. Death has torn aside the veil, and it has now become known that the unfortunate lady who has j ast : died Was not only a real countess, but the wife of a very wealthy gentleman holding an important appointment at Bucharest. He wafc present at the funeral/ and took greatly to heart the death of the lady, who wa"g only 24, and at the very zenith of her beauty, when she met with tbe accident. Hers *?as one of those' wild and roving dispositions more suited to the gipsy camp than to domestic duties. She left her husband, wandered from circus to circuß, refusing every offer to return home. At last she arrived in Pari?, and mad& an engage raentwith M. Zidler, of the Hippodrome. On bet last appearance, aa she was riding her; favorite charger Sultan, and after putting him through his paces, Bhe galloped round the arena to receive the applause of the audience. Somehow the horse backed or shied at a handkerchief and unseated tbe rider, whose foot got fast in the stirrup. She was dragged for some distance, and when taken up had to be conveyed to tbe hospital with a compound fracture of the ankle. She was told that she must lose her leg, but she refused to undergo the operation, preferring death, which supervened, through mortification of the injured limb, within a few daye.