Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 October 1899 — MYSTERY OF JOHANN ORTH. [ARTICLE]

MYSTERY OF JOHANN ORTH.

lite Mother tiled Believing Her Fen te am Alive. £ Tb# saddest episode Is that known aa itbe mystery of Johann Orth, one 0t the moat remarkable romances in thedyßauds fcstorjr of Europe hi this century, says th# Strand Magazine. The Archduke John Salvator of Tuscany, a nephew of the Emperor Francis Joseph, had fallen In love with an actress and singer, Ludmilla Hubei, whom he married in spite of all family opposition, renouncing at the same time all his rights, privileges and rank and assuming the name of Orth, after one of his castles.—The romantic marriage wan celebrated secretly, taut in a perfectly legal manner, by the registrar of Islington, and was witnessed by tbe consul general of Austria in London. Johann Orth next bought in 1891 a fine ship In Liverpool, which he renamed Santa Margarita; and so anxious was he, to_gnard against the vessel being recognized that be stipulated that all drawings and photographs of it should be handed ever, to him, and these he burned with his own hands. Moreover, be caused all portraits and negatives of himself and his wife to be bought up at any price, and these were likewise destroyed. We are giving here only absolute facts. Shortly afterward the ex-archduke and his wife set soil for South America, and the vessel was duly reported to have*arrived at Montevideo and departed for a destination unknown. But from that moment every trace was lost of the ship and all on board, no news as to her fate having ever been heard, althouglrmany a search has b?en made along the coast by order of the Emperor of Austria and his government. Adventures and treasure-seekers have been at work, as It was well known that Johann Orth had on board over a quarter of a million pounda in specie: it is believed that he intended to have bought an estate in Chile with the money, and to have settled there, but that the vessel foundered off Cape Horn during a terrific storm, which raged on the coast shortly after the ship bad left From time to time since then the most starting rumors have been set afloat about the missing prince having turned upr one being that he had been one of the leaders of the Chil an rebellion, having divided his, treasure among his crew, burned his ship, landed on a lonely coast, etc. His own mother, who died only a few months ago at the Castle Orth, believed her son alive to her very last hour, and expected his return. The Swiss government is of a very different opinion, and assumed the death of the archduke, and paid over to Frau Orth’s next of kin a large amount of money, which Johann Orth deposited, as a settlement for his wife, with the Swiss authorities before bis departure, and there is little doubt that the Santa Margarita lies at the bottom of the sea, and that all on board perished.