Austrian Royalties Assassinated.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 57, 29 June 1914, Page 5

Austrian Royalties Assassinated.

Archduke Francis Ferdinand and the Ouchess. Both Died in a Few Minutes from Revolver Shots. (Extraordinary Press Association.) (Received 8.55 a.m.) London, June 28. . Reuter’s Vienna correspondent states that the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austrian Throne, and his wife have been assassinated at Sarajevo (or Bosna Serajo).

SHOT BY A STUDENT. WHILE DRIVING IN THE STREET <j A BOMB AND THEN REVOLVER. (Received 9.25 a.m.) Vienna, June 28. The Archduke and Duchess were driving in the streets when they were shot by', a student with a revlover. Both died in a few minutes. The assassin, who is eighteen years of age, is a Servian student who had been banished from Bosnia. The assassin first threw a bomb, but it did not effect its purpose. A SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERY. i CRIME DETERMINEDLY PLANNED. (Received 12.35 p.m.) Vienna, June 28. An unexplodecT "bomb was found four yards from the scene of the assassination indicating that a third attempt was prepared in the event of the others being unsuccessful. tTHE ARCHDUKE'S LAST OFFICIAL ACT.

ceiving the welcome which is accorded to princes upon whom is falling the shadow of coming kingship. More than once he has stayed incognito in London, of which city he was particularly fond. In honor of the Austrian Emperor’s eighty-third birthday, the Archduke was appointed on August 18, 1913, to be General Inspector'of the Armed Forces of the Dual Kingdom. This was a post which the Archduke Albrecht used to hold. WHERE FERDINAND FELL. Sarajevo, the scene of the assassination, is a city of nearly 52,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of Bos-rpa-Herzegoyina, which, since the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, had been administered by Austria-Hungary until the year 1908, when it was definitely and formally annexed to the Austrian Empire. Prior to the Treaty of Berlin above referred to, the Province was an administrative division in the north-west part of Turkey-in-Europe. The people are a- mixthTo of races, consisting of Turks, Croats, Marlacks, Montenegiait?, Dalmatians, and Germans, about a quarter of the population being Turkish. In the middle ages the country was sometimes tributary to Hungary, and sometimes to Servia, but in 1463 it became tributary to Turkey, and in 1522 wag united to that. Empire. The Bosnians have frequently risen against their’ rulers in v the olden days, ,• ? r

OTHER ASSASSINATIONS. ( 's■ i\ 'ii - 'H' In ?: KINGS AND PRESIDENTS. ■’ ■ liK J» • (rJdjrl' - i’.M * ,’*’ v 1 Assassinations pf'] crowned heads and .high officers of State shock the civilised world at ‘intervals. i In Russia the Tsar Alexander IE was killed by a. bomb thrown by a Nihilist on Marcii 13,-1881.

THE FIRST MURDEROUS ATTEMPT. ' EFFECT OF THE BOMB EXPLOSION. (Received 1.45 p.m.) Vienna, June 26. As Inspector-General of the Monarchy’s land and sea forces, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand voyaged aboard the Dreadnought Viribusinitis from Trieste to Metcovic. He f was welcomed at Mostar, where, in deference to local susceptibilities, in responding to the mayoral address, he spoke partly in German but chiefly in Serbo-Croatian. He proceeded to the army headquarters, near Sarajevo, with a -view to attending manoeuvres ! in the mountains to the south-east of Serajevo. Two attempts at assassination were made.

WUS limit*! uy a. ouiuw uuiunu uy Nihilist on March 13,-1881. On July 29, 1900, king Humbert of Italy was shot by !an anarchist named Bresci. As an outcome of a widespread coni spiracy/u'Kkig' Alexandra oiid'-Queen Draga of Servia were killed by a party of officers oh July Hy '1903, in the Royal Palace at Belgrade. King Carlos of Portugal, and his son Prince Luiz Phillippe (the Duke of Braganza), were assassinated on February 1, 1908. , Amongst other ' assassinations in Europe have been that of President Carnot of France in 1894; of M. Stolyl pin (Premier of Russia) in September, 1911; and more recently, of 1 Senor Ganalejas (Premier of Spain).

The first was during the drive to the reception at Serajeyo Town Hall. A compositor threw what is called a “bottle bomlv' itllecl with nails and lead filings. It did not explode until the car had passed. The explosion was very violent, and fragments pierced the iron shutters of many shops in the vicinity. I Twenty, including many members of the suite, and several women and children were slightly injured.

Three of the 28 Presidents who have held office in the United States have died by an assassin’s hand. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President, was shot at Washington on /April 14, 1865. He died the following day. James Abram Garfield, the 20th President, was shot on July 2, 1881. Ho lingered for seven weeks, his death occurring on September 19, 1881. President M’Kinley, the 25th holder of the office, was shot at Buffalo on September 7, 1901, by an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz, a native of Detroit, but of Polish nationality. Mr M’Kinley lingered for eight days, his death taking place on September 15th, 1901. In October last Mr Theodore Roosevelt, ex-President, was wounded by a madman, but was not seriously injured.

HISTORY OF THE DECEASED.

A COMPLICATED SUCCESSION.

The murdered Archduke Francis Ferdinand is a son of the late Archduke Karl Ludwig, brother of the Austrian Emperor. His mother was the Princess Annunciata, daughter of that interesting monarch King Ferdinando 11. of Naples. Ho was fifty years old on,December 18, 1913. Little was known of his personality, even after the tragic death of the Emperor’s son ami heir, the Crown Prince Rudolf, had caused the heirship to the dual throne to fall to him. He was a keen soldier, and is now credited with having also been a diligent student of Contintental politics and history. He came into prominent notice in July, 1900, when ho married morganatically the Countess Chotek of Chotkowa and Wognin. The wedding took place at Reichstadt, after much discussion among the statesmen and lawyers of the monarchy as to its effect. The Countess was five years younger than her husband, and a very charming woman. But as she was not of Royal rank, the Archduke bad to renounce solemnly the right of any children by the marriage to Succeed to the thrones of Austria and Hungary. This adds a further complication in the succession. The Emperor softened the asperities of the situation by conferring the title of Duchess of Hohenberg upon the bride. Later on she was given the distinction of “Highness.” There are three children—the eldest, Princess Sophie, aged 12; Prince Maximilien Charles, aged 11; and Prince Ernest, ■ aged 9. The Archduke had been in recent years associated closely with [the Emperor in the direction of the lErapiro’s affairs. During, the anxious time of the annexation of Bosnia, he [wag credited with taking a leading part in the assertion of Austria’s 1 claims. In the Balkan War he was perpetually watching the changing fortunes of the Allies. Ha visited several of the Courts of Europe, re-