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Sarajevo
SPECIAL CABLE TO THE NEW YORK TIMES.
Sarajevo, Bosnia, June 28,- Archduke Francis Ferdinand successor to
the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife, the
Duchess of Hohenberg,
were shot and killed
by a Bosnian student here today. The fatal shooting
was the second attempt upon the lives of the couple during the
day, and is
believed to have been the
result of a political conspiracy.
This
morning, as Archduke Francis Ferdinand and the Duchess were
driving to a reception at the Town Hall a bomb was
thrown at their motor
car. The Archduke
pushed it off with his arm.
The
bomb did not explode until after the Archduke's car had passed
on, and the occupants of the next car, Count von
Boos-Waldeck and Col.
Morland, the
Archduke's aide de camp, were slightly injured. Among the
spectators, six persons were more or less seriously
hurt.
The
author of the attempt at assassination was a compositor named
Gabrinovics, who comes from
Trebinje.
After
the attempt upon his life the Archduke ordered his car to halt,
and after he found out what had happened he drove to
the Town Hall, where
the Town councilors,
with the Mayor at their head, awaited him. The Mayor
was about to begin his address of welcome, when the Archduke
interrupted
him angrily,
saying:
" Herr
Burgermeister, it is perfectly outrageous! We have come to
Sarajevo on a visit and have had a bomb thrown at
us."
The Archduke paused a moment, and then said: " Now you may go on."
Thereupon the Mayor delivered his address and the Archduke made a
suitable reply.
The
public by this time had heard of the bomb attempt, and burst
into the hall with loud cries of "Zivio!" the Slav
word for " hurrah."
After
going around the Town hall, which took half an hour, the
Archduke started for the Garrison Hospital to visit Col. Morissi,
who had
been taken there after the
outrage.
As
the Archduke reached the corner of Rudolf Street two pistol
shots were fired in quick succession by an individual
who called himself
Gavrilo Princip. The
first shot struck the Duchess in the abdomen, while
the second hit the Archduke in the neck and pierced his jugular
vein. The
Duchess became unconscious
immediately and fell across the knees of her
husband. The Archduke also lost consciousness in a few
seconds.
The
motor car in which they were seated drove straight to the
Cognacs, where an army Surgeon rendered first aid,
but in vain. Neither the
Archduke nor the
Duchess gave any sign of life, and the head of the
hospital could only certify they were both dead.
The
author of both attacks upon the Archduke are born Bosnians.
Gabrinovics is a compositor, and worked for a few
weeks in the
Government printing works at
Belgrade. He returned to Sarajevo (as a)
Serbian chauvinist, and made no concealment of his sympathies with
the
King of Serbia. Both he and the actual
murderer of the Archduke and the
Duchess
expressed themselves to the police in the most cynical fashion
about their crimes.
ARCHDUKE HONORED WARNING.
Vienna, June 28.- When the news of the assassination of the
Archduke Francis Ferdinand and the Duchess was broken
to the aged
Emperor Francis Joseph he
said: " Horrible, horrible! No sorrow is spared
me."
The
Emperor, who yesterday left here for Ischl, his favorite
Summer resort, and amid acclamations of the people, will return to
Vienna
at once in spite of the hardships
of the journey in the terrible heat.
The Archduke, who was created head of the army, went to Bosnia
to represent the Emperor at the grand manoeuvres
there. This was the
first time the
Archduke had paid an official visit to Bosnia. The Emperor
visited the provinces immediately after their
annexation, in 1908, and the
manner in
which he mixed freely with the people was much criticized at
the time, as those in the party were always afraid
lest some Slav or
Mohammedan fanatic might
attempt the monarch's life. The Emperor's
popularity, however saved him from all danger of this
kind.
Before the Archduke went to Bosnia last Wednesday the Serbian,
Minister here expressed doubt as to the wisdom of a
journey, saying the
country was in a very
turbulent condition and the Serbian part of the
population might organize a demonstration against the Archduke.
The
Minister said if the Archduke went
himself he most certainly ought to
leave
his wife at home, because Bosnia was no place for a woman in its
present disturbed state.
The Minister's word proved correct. The people of Sarajevo
welcomed the Archduke with a display of Serbian
flags, and the
authorities had some
difficulty in removing them before the Archduke
made his state entry into the city yesterday, after the conclusion
of the
manoeuvres. In these manoeuvres
were the famous Fifteenth and Sixteenth
Army Corps, which were stationed on the frontier throughout the
recent
Balkan war, and they carried out
the evolutions before the Archduke.
Greeted with Cheers
The details of the tragedy, as received in Vienna, were as follows:
"The Archduke was driving in a motor car toward the
Town Hall in
Sarajevo, with the Duchess of
Hohenberg by his side. A large crowd
assembled to watch them go by. The Archduke raised his hand to
his
military cap, acknowledged the cheers,
while the Duchess was smiling and
bowing,
her pretty face framed by her blonde hair.
Suddenly the Archduke's sharp eye caught sight of a bomb hurling
through the air. His first thought was for his wife,
and he threw up his
arm in time to
catch the bomb, which thus was turned aside from its
course and fell on the pavement and exploded. The Archduke's motor
car
hastened on its way, its occupants
unharmed, but the two Adjutants who
were
seated in the next motor car were injured by splinters from the
bomb. Several persons on the pavement were very
seriously hurt by the
explosion of the
bomb, which was thrown by a young man named
Tabrinovitch ( Gabrinovics) who is a typist from Trebenja, in
Herzevogina,
and is of Serbian
nationality. He was arrested some twenty minutes later.
The Archduke and his wife left the Town Hall, intending to visit
those who had been injured by the bomb, when a
schoolboy 19 years old,
named Princip, who
came from Grahovo, fired a shot at the Archduke's
head. The boy fired from the shelter of a projected
house.
Wore Bullet-Proof Coat
The boy must have been carefully instructed in
his part, for it was a
well- guarded
secret that the Archduke always wore a coat of silk strands
which were woven obliquely, so that no weapon or
bullet could pierce it. I
once saw a strip
of this fabric used for a motor-car tire, and it was
puncture-proof. This new invention enabled the Archduke to
brave
attempts on his life, but his head
naturally was uncovered.
The Duchess was shot in the body. The boy fired several times,
but only two shots took effect. The Archduke and his
wife were carried to
the Cognacs, or
palace,in a dying condition.
Later details show that the assassin darted forth from his
hiding place behind a house and actually got on the
motor car in which the
Archduke and his
wife were sitting. He took close aim first at the
archduke, and then at the Duchess. The fact that no one stopped
him, and
that he was allowed to perpetrate
the dastardly act indicate that the
conspiracy was carefully planned and that the Archduke fell a
victim to a
political plot. The aspiration
of the Serbian population in Bosnia to join
with Serbia and form a great Serbian kingdom is well known. No
doubt
today's assassination was regarded
as a means of forwarding this plan.
Break News to Children
The Archduke's children are at Giumex, in Bohemia, and
relatives already have left Vienna to break the news to them. The
Duke of
Cumberland motored to Ischl
immediately upon receipt of the news and
was received by the Emperor, who will arrive in Vienna at 6
o'clock
tomorrow. The bodies of Archduke
and his wife will not be brought to
Vienna
until tomorrow a week.
The Archduke Charles Francis Joseph, the new heir to the
throne, is at Reichenau, near Vienna, with his wife Princess
Zita of
Parma, and their little son and
daughter. He is expected in Vienna tonight.
When the first news of the assassination became known in
Vienna, early this afternoon, crowds collected in solemn silence
and
discussed the report, which was not
credited at first. Everyone connected
with
the press was stormed by crowds asking whether confirmation had
been received, and on hearing the truth they said, "
How awful!" and then
dispersed to go about
their ordinary business or pleasure. The newspapers
are getting out extra editions, and the whole city talks of
nothing else.
New Heir Popular
The Archduke Charles Francis Joseph, who is now
heir to the throne,
always had enjoyed
great popularity. He was trained for the throne from
the first, although he was kept somewhat in the background, being
sent to
country garrisons. He was not
allowed to undertake to act as the
representative Duchy of Vienna to as great an extent as Viennese
would
have wished. This, however, did not
detract from his popularity,while the
Princess Zita, his wife, won all hearts before she married the
heir to the
throne, and the birth of a son
two years ago completed her popularity.
General opinion here connects the assassins with the Serbian
faction, and it is feared it will lead to serious
complications with that
unruly kingdom,
and may have far-reaching results. The future of the
empire is the center of general discussion. It is felt that the
Serbians have
been treated too leniently,
and some hard words are being said about
present foreign policy.
All the public buildings are draped in long black streamers and
the flags are all at half-mast.