A Cantonal court in St. Gall, Switzerland, has ordered the Bank of St. Gall "to hand over to the relatives of the wife of the long-missing Archduke Johann Salvator of Austria 1,000,000 francs," which the archduke had deposited into an account at the bank "prior to his departure for South America."
In 1889, Archduke Johann, youngest son of Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany, "renounced his rank and all his Austrian military titles owing to an
irreconcilable quarrel with the late Field Marshal Archduke Albert." He adopted the name Johann Orth and set sail for South America, "since which time he has completely disappeared from public knowledge."
During the recent Sino-Japanese war, there were extraordinary rumors that Field Marshal Yamagatta was "none other than the long-missing Archduke Johann. This rumor proved to be false, but many in Vienna believed that Orth was still alive and "was hiding in some remote island from which he would one day reappear among his old friends."
After marrying opera dancer Milly Stubel in London, he purchased a ship, the Santa Margarita, and he and his wife sailed for South America. Orth and his wife disappeared in February 1890, after he set off from Uruguay, and was bound for Chile. His ship may have disappeared off Cape Horn.
Milly's mother, who will be one of the recipients of the funds, said with confidence. "John and my daughter are alive, and now that Archduke Albert is now more they will soon come back."
The decision of the Cantonal Court, however, "looks like an abandonment of hope," according to the former Archduke's friends.
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