Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1896 — AUSTRIA’S NEXT KING. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AUSTRIA’S NEXT KING.

la Said to Be the Wickedeat Prince on Earth. The people of Austria are by no means pleased with Emperor Francis Joseph for having officially proclaimed as his heir to the throne his nephew, Archduke Otto. When Otto’s elder brother, Francis Ferdinand, was stricken with consumption it was hoped that

Otto's claims to the throne would be set aside in favor either of one of Francis Joseph's grand-nephews or of the son of his youngest daughter, the Archduchess Valeria. Otto’s claim to the throne, however. Is not to be disputed. He is the second son of the late Archduke Charles Louis, second brother of the Emperor, who, after the tragic death of Crown Prince Rudolph, became heir to the throne. Otto is called the “wickedest prince in the world.” He is extremely unpopular in Austria, while in Hungary he is held in the greatest hatred. He is the black sheep of the imperial family. Not only is fie a libertine but a drunkard as well, and he is frequently seen intoxicated in public. His behavior to his wife, the Archduchess Marie Josepha, a daughter of Prince George fit Saxony, has been of so disgraceful a character that on two occasions she has been compelled to leave him and return to her family. One of the stories told of Archduke Otto is that on one occasion he stopped, a peasant’s funeral that he mightamuse himself by leaping his horse back and forth across the corpse. The Emperor has no love for him. Indeed,, he detests him and it is related that on one occasion he struck him in the

face because of piece of blackguardism that the young prince had perpetrated. It was but a short time ago that several tales of his misdeeds were related in one of the leading newspapers of Budapest. Otto appealed to the Emperor to punish the editor, but Franks Joseph refused to do so, telling him his only course would be to sue him for libel, as would the meanest subject. The suit was brought, but the jury who tried the case rendered a verdict in favor of the editor.' The verdict was sustained by the court and by the Court of Appeals, and thus Otto stands convicted as a reprobate! of the deepest dye.

ARCHDUCHESS MARIA JOSEPHA.

PRINCE OTTO.