THE TRUE STORY OF PRINCE RUDOLPH'S DEATH.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1895, 23 May 1889, Page 4

THE TRUE STORY OF PRINCE RUDOLPH'S DEATH.

The real truth is very sad. On the morning of the 29fch January, Prince Budolph drove out to his shootingbox at Meierling to attend one of his famous orgies, concerning which the least said the better. Several members of the Vienna demi-monde were in the habit of figuring at these reunions, and this was not, by many the first revelry of the kind held at Meierling, for the simple reason that Meierling, in its rural isolation, is out of earshot of the Kaiaeratadt. When the Crown Prince reached his destination his convivial friends were already assembled. The Crown Prince dismissed his coachman, Bratfisch, who at once came back to town. As .Bratfisch was driving by the Kohlmarkt, one of the busiest thoroughfares of Vienna, lined with the smartest shops, he saw the young Baroness Vecera standing at the door of a shop, waiting for a friend who was within making Borne purchases. Bratfisch, driving along close to the pavement, bowed. That fatal bow the young lady returned. " Good morning, Bratfisch," said she ; " from where do you come?" ;"I como from Meierling.. There's rare fun going on there to-day." " Drive me there," said the Baroness suddenly. The man hesitated, "You must. I command." The next moment this girl of seventeen eummdrs was seated in the carriage, the horses' head were turned, and out to Meierling they drove, leaving her friend stiil in the shop. On reaching Meierling the young lady, who had the reputation of being headstrong, nighty, and passionate, asked to see the Prince. She would take no refusal, and forced her way into the presence of the party seated at table. The Prince, alarmed and annoyed at this untoward intrusion, entreated the Baroness to return home. " No." said she defiantly, " now that I am here I shall stay." * She stayed. There j was nothing for it but to offer her a aeat at the table. Her social posi- j tion entitled her to that to the right j of her host, which she then occupied. The feast ; was at its highest, the company became more drunk than sober, when the Prince made some flattering observation to one of the women present The remark roused the Baroness's jealousy. Her blood was up. She expressed her indignation in no complimentary terms. Her host's reply exasperated her beyond measure. In her madness and intoxication she seized a long, sharp-pointed knife from the table, and plunged it into •the Prince's stomach. The confusion ■nto which the company was thrown was indescribable, ihe Prince, with the yell of a wild beast, sprang to his feet and threw the girl on to the floor. He caught'hold of her by the throat and strangled her. Before anyone could"interfere she was dead. ihe Prince continued to shriek with pain. His agonising cries rang through the air, and were heard by the inmates of the adjacent cottages. His friends sent off to the neighboring town of Bad3n for medical aid. i hey carried him into his bed-chamber, but scarcely had they placed him on his bed than he drew a revolver, which he was in the habit of carrying, and, discharging the contents iato his head at his right temple, expired instantaneously. A council was held as to the manner in which the awful intelligence should be conveyed to the Emperor, Ihe spectators of the terrible scene were abjured to silence. It was deemed expedient to bury the of the Baroness without delay, and before dawn the remains had been borne to the neighboring village of Heiligeu Blut," where they were interred in the churchyard. The details of what followed—of how the body of the Crown Prince was brought to Vienna, & c i_ia universally known. The official report of the Prince having died by suicide on the morning of the 30th January is not. therefore, founded on fact. The consternation of the witnesses was; so great that many hoijrs elapsed after all was over before they could come to any decision as to who was to bear the awful tidings to Vienna, and to how they should he revealed at Court. ; 'he Emperor, when he had learnt the worst, took every precaution to keep the details of t the tragedy secret. The guests and servants at Meierling at the time were ordered, on the pain of incurring His Majesty's displeasure, to observe strict silence, j