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KENTUCKY PRINCESS' HERE AS STOWAWAY TO
AMERICAN BIR TH AND REGAIN SON AND FOR TUNE
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Wife of Prince Tchernitchew Says He
' Was Crucified by Belsheviki, and She
Tramped Over Europe With Diplo
matic Secrets te Ask Protection of
Uncle Sam
STIRS FEDERAL OFFICIALS
BY TALE OF ROMANTIC LIFE
FILLED B YRO YAL INTRIGUES
Asks Repatriation in Order te Have
Backing of Old Glory in Battle With
Soviets te Restore Her Estates and
Child Net Seen in Four Years
TT IS given te some persons te lead lives of tranquillity. An unseen
destiny directs their paths beside still waters. Serenity and calm are
theirs. Tin moil and strife arc alien terms. Theirs a life of repose of
quiet content.
But life has many phases.
As the mountain torrent rears and foams en its plunge te the sea,
broken and buffeted en the rocks, but net for a moment halted, se ether
lives are lived. They are lived in a world of action. Remance, great joys,
great sorrows, plettings, intrigue, murder, shipwreck, revolutions, prisons!
Of such stuff is life also made.
Which life, think ycu, would a Princess be likely te lead ?
As a child if you were a normal child you read of the golden-haired
"""Princess who had but te wave her fairy wand te have her slightest wish
gratified. Her cuils were long, her eyes were blue, and her lips forever
smiled. And finally came the Prince tall, straight, handsome. And they
were married and lived happily ever after! Who can't recall their fate!
Such was the story book Princess, and such her joy of life.
Read here a different story. It is
the life narrative of a real Princess;
one who exists in the flesh. Her
name is Elizabeth Tchernitchew.
Her husband was Prince Ivan
Tchernitchew. Beth were related
by bleed te the Romaneffs, the
ruling family of the Czarist regime.
Seated en a divan in one of the
world's famous hotel lobbies in '
Washington she laughed as she
sketched her life. Stained-glas3 win- (
dews cast a soft glow en the scene.
Luxury was all about. And remem
berthe Princess laughed laughed
as she told this tale:
!
Says She Is American, i
But Cannet Prove It
,"Of course I am an American. But ,
f can't prove it. That is why I am
here. Everybody is awfully kind. It '
Is most amazing hew kind people
are. Secretary of Laber Davis I i
saw him yesterday is helping me '
all he can. I hope te see Secretary i
Hoever. I'm told he knows all about j nt the reynl tnb,Pi the flr;t Ume in my
Eussia. And I want te get some mother's presence.
advice. Seme day I shall want te I "And from that time en I fought for
cre hack. But first I must prove I'm ' my pcrenal rights with my mother.
; -i t rn.,A never ee back a3 "UPr ' n' husband. New 1
American' I could neca go duck, us i flght fef mj states.
a Russian. te get :h'c I must fight fur my
"Yeu see, mv father, Frederick (zenshlp!"
Schlich, was a naturalized American
a German by birth. My mother
was a Russian, of high Russian no-
Kentucky Princess Leves
Diplomacy and Intrigue
(t DIPLOMACY intrigue .
they are wonderful," says
Princess Tchernitchew.
"I want my son te be a busi
ness man? a professional man?
Ne! A diplomat I It's dan
gereus, but it's wonderful."
And this from an American
born girl who sat at table with
her mother for the first time at
the age of fifteen, and then only
by command of the King of Bel
gium. A woman wie trudged across
Europe with secret Russian
papers te avoid Bolshevist spies.
A ii'ife whose husband was
crucified and shot by the same
Bolshevists who tieic held her es
tates and possibly her son.
must
Ami
cm-
Toe Frail te Fight?
I Net This Princess
-. r urrc iiir iiurniuvp nniinri. j rnnn
bllity. Before I can return te kus- tpr frnm lftfer f wns lfte(, (fem ,tfi
sa before I can de anything I chronological order and tot down as an
must reacquire my American citi-, ,n,.(al-caCfl .frell llttlc nom.
xenship, te which I am entitled, new nn Frail! I'm mere tough than any
that my husband is dead, because I man living I"
lI"' ' ' T et atnwih it lhlB ca-1" for nn explanation. It
was born here. I must estamisn ii cnmP promptly with n laugh:
n T ran fieht for my rights. And "I came as a stowaway from Ant-
that I will de. I have been fighting
I had
wej-e watching me. Thej had orders thing I wanted.
11 mv life. It would seem
pn eouiDeed bv life training and I te prevent me from reaching the United,
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Writing her appeal te Department "gf "SBr9 "K- lBLP!ir "- MMMHHHHHBHBEyHP9'!9HHV MMHHHHHHHVHI
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U' "i-iHP -5 ' "XUV" j Jt Princess Tchernitchew in usual garb and as a stowaway, pipe and all
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HI Mr cl lK! ' - EI - i
wasn t a soul around. 1 walked around
the whole ship through the officers'
quarters, the cabin, the saloon ever
the whole thing. And I never taw a
soul. It's easy te be a ttewauay!"
She smiled and went buck te her
story.
, "u wn, fnty w'in I met my future
Imtband. e were married in the Hup
si.in Embasey and the Russian Church
In Ilerlln en May .'. 1001'. The Rus
sian law require the two ceremonies
te make it legal. It was a very strange
mairlage. I never was nked or eon
suited about It until two weeks before
hand. Then I un merely told I was
te marry him. He was a Russian
Prince. I offered no objedien. If 1
hnd they would hae married me auv
way.
"I learned en my wedding night that
my husband had intended te marry my ,
mumer. ne nan reiuccd mm feverai
tliiKM. He w.t. twenty years elder than
I was. I was his nei-end choice. I
was a f-ub&tltute. I left him the next
day. refusing te lhe with him.
"That reall frightened my mother.
All her life she had been living under
n curse. The Russians are n super
stitious people. She was a Russian.
ueiere she was born her parents hn
mistreated a peasant. The peasant hnd !
eurcd her mother. She died when my
mother was born, and four years after'
word her father died killed, probably
by the peasants. Then my mother mar
ried, and her husband' disappeared. '
Then I n fused te live with my husband.
That uns thp rllmnr. Shn sntd If i.ni'
werp. I had te be tough te stand it! i the curs'C. She was scared out of her
I had te leave. Bolshevik agents wits. After thnt slip ler hip hnm nnr.
L-v.
experience for this fight
lng new and for ethers te come.
Fighting is my forte!"
And this slender ulmest slight
woman, with blend hair, snapping b'.ue
eyes, Teutonic accent and square chin
and jaw, laughed She Interpelated:
"It in unlike a Russian te fight. It
Is contrary te Russian nature. The
Russian says with a shrug, when mis
fortune overtakes him. 'It iR fate It
l Kismet, wmuj. i -. - "n ; K'rPp-
1 am an rtiueni. ..r -
rights!"
Kentucky Birth Recerd
Is Crux of Her Fight
"l was born In Louisville. Rut
we were only there a few days. My
tmrrnts were en a trip They did net
Came Frem Her Mether
before he died, had Intrusted eertaln
diplomatic papers te me. I did net
have them with me I never carrie'l I ' In I believe In curses? Ne, sir'
them except when I took them well ' I don't hplieve I have a bit of Russian
te a certain part of Russ. nut thej bleed In me! My only inheritancp from
sought me te get the papers and te my mother was n fierce temper and
prevent me from coming te this cenn- that I have learned te curb. Russians
try. They knew of my American birth generallv cannot curb It."
Se I had te leave as a stowaway , i tj,"lH description of the effect of
Five dnys and fivp nights without Ku-Mnn superstition and discipline and
feed or water In the bunker-. I hnd , f family tragedies one after another
te be tough . she laughed. ' , prncess ,ild net smile. Her face
rive 'In. "''t I crawled out of wns nllnest sterni Then she went back
...... ... ...... ...... -.,,.. ,.. uuu-r ill In hnr ttnrr
I hed stewed away en the mh-u. i iff ,...v,.i ...
i:n.nin in .,,1,1. ,.,.,,,, i .i i.i,. . ."""' "li1 i"i uiiruiiini . mme
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On her way te bee Secretary Davis
. nn Thnt wns fnrtv fnr","'l"",) l"""- u"a. 'Old nun w no
i deub'if (here Un record n"- r r(,a"' "UK-"f "" J '""' net told I
of mv birth It .senh- rough ' the ethers And he authorized the cap- ,
and lends IU can lope u I " ! "fe.m' .Hi0"" ,0-lJ!1. J'n,t1
m
avrippt me se seen. 1 ney were re
turning te New Yerk, their home, when
I was born. As seen us thev ceulu
thy went en
age. I
where
relatives
etablish the facts. That I am trying
te de."
Bhe again took up her story :
'When I was two ycais old my father
went west te bu nn 'stnte, takln" n
large amount of money with him. We
never heard of him again. What hap
pened? We never knew. He never
came back. Net a word did we ever re
celve. Frem that time en my mother
took out her grief and sense of less in
ipy father's disappearance In hatred of
,tbe United State and en me.
"I never nan any playmates, i nave
V j never Known wnat it is te ne n ennu,
-- r9 a hnvp nthpr children tn nlnv ullh
Die. My only contacts in mv childhood
were with my mother and with my
gOTfrness. I am really having my youth
mw and I'm almost an old wnrmtn."
;nAV And she laughed a little nt that.
iSnfcP''1 feuht for m' isnt,, w,t m'
wgirkhts wer ; never nsketl what I wanted
ffeler. What she wanted she commanded
VtHM te de. There was no apnea . That
all there was te it. She was su
e. I was nothing.
C.T.',AY U'Ma fiffnpil pmih nl.l hnfn, T i.n
p;--" rtttMiitttd te eat a meal with her ei
ler presence. And that" she
si "wan In Belgium. King Lee
'Itulsted en my presence at the
fI nbouldnet have been as
of n raging storm, they transfprred mp
te the Texnrkann, supposed te he bound
for Antwerp. Hut instead It put In at
Bremen I refused te go ashore.
" 'Yeu can't put me ashore In an
enemy country,' I told them "Yeu cm
put me ashore in Antwerp, but net in
! Bremen.' And I stuck te it and re-
fused te leave the ship
"Then thp superintendent of the I
company came aboard. I told him who
Yerk, and did net return
te Lurepe for seven jears. In 1000
mother decided te 20 back te Russia,
believing slip was going te die. She
wnnted te die at home. Slip and I
met my husband In Londen in that
year, and we were reunited. Mether
wanted me te live with him. I think
that wns really why she wanted te go
abroad. Se we all went te Russia te
live
I "uur neme was in ornscne Cnstle,
near tne .Mjni -Novgerod 'runt was our
estate. There my mother died In 1010.
Stntes. and te give me nimhim 1 And there my husband was killed
wanted. The purser wns ordered te huvr,:,,dfi'1 l,-v (he Bolshevists in 1018,
me clothes, nnd te supply me with anv 5ftfr 'ne revolution. es, he was cruel
special feed I might desire. I had "e!j.. And ihen t"c-v Ml0t lllln-"
stewed away in men's attlie. nnd whpn There wns a moment s silence. Then
1 they found me I was slek. But after ' ,1"' narrative resumed:
I the superintendent came aboard nt 1 ",t QH treachery that did it. It
Bremen things were different. And rmm Ilnt have been anything else
that is new 1 came ever.
s
imi
jftar-
Don't you knew" nnd she smiled
"the Lord nlwnjs leeks after you?
Always when jeu're In n tight place
It may leek very dark, but nlwajs
there's a little light. And seen there's
mere light !"
Stewed Away en Ship
Dressed as a Sailor
"But hew did you get aboard as a
stowaway?"
"It's easy! Any one can de it. I
dressed In sailor's clothes. One dny
I walked down te the decks. The watch
man was there, of course. I put my
pipe eh, cs. I have a pipe! It comes
In very hnndllj I put my pipe In my
mouth. When the watchman came near
me I staggered a little and purposely
stumbled against him. 'de te hell !' I
told him. In German. One has te de It
sometimes! There are tricks in every
trade. He thought I was n drunken
safer.
"After that It was eatltr still. I
limply walked ea beirjl ship, There
"When the revolution occurred we
stajecl en at our palace. We knew none
of our own peasants would attack us. It
Is net in the Russian nature te fight,
nnd thp peasant) felt friendly toward us.
Then we were se nut of the way that
It wasn't worth while for the Red sol
diers te come and attack us. Se we
staed en there two years.
"Then one nlsht they came. One
night about 10 o'clock We hadn't the
slightest idea they were In the vicinity.
They came In and took possession. It
inn-1 have been some one of our own
pei ' who told them we were there.
' husband and I were together.
The hilled him that very night. Cruci
fied him crucified him against his own
front deer. And then they shot him
and killed him.
Beating by Husband
Saved Life of Wife
"Thev didn't knew I was the Prin
cess. When the soldiers came, mv
husband began nulling my lmlr and
beating me, 10 they would think I was
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&!&& " ifcr y
HuBband beat her te make Bolshevists think she was a servant
and her life was spared
a servant being punished by my mas- we were in Germany the Countess
ter. They saw him doing this, nnd Dusterlehe and her boy, and man
did net molest me. Then, while they servant and mvself. Her husband and
two children had been killed.
"I left them there In Germany
Cruff "go te hell" and pipe tooted suspicious sailor
were crucifying my husband, as my
maid and my husband's manservant
watched, I slipped out te a waiting
sledge. The maid nnd manservnnt
Ijelned me, and In that way we made
our escnpe.
"It was bitterly cold nnd we were
poorly dressed. They took me nil the
way across Russia, te the cnstle of
Count nnd Countess Dusterlehe, who
were distantly related te my mother.
Their castle was in Riga. Most of the
aristocracy had fled te Siberia, but we
took our chances there. We were all
taken for servants as we made our way
along. We left our own castle the
18th of November, and it was the 20th
of February before we reached Riga.
The Ceuat nnd Countess gave us sonc senc
tuary unfit January, 1021, when again
we were forced te flee.
"On that flight te Riga we trav
eled by day and night, whenever we
thought we could. We ate what we
could. Once in n while we get
a chance, ou knew. The Russian
peasant isn't se bad as he's painted.
And you knew you can live en very
little when you've get te. A piece of
bread sometimes helps you te go two
or three days. Raw potatoes tate
sometimes mighty geed! Fish was a
delicacy my gracious ! Meat we had
hardly any. Milk net any at all."
And again the Princess smiled.
"And what about your ken?"
"When the revolution broke out we
sent him te the estate of Prince Del
derukl near Petrograd for safe keep
lug. I am confident that they have
protected him. But new I must find
him. He was twelve years old last
month. Net for four years have I seen
or heard of him. Never a word have
I had. I de net knew where he is."
Is the Czarina Dead?
Who Can Answer Mystery?
There was another momentary halt
In the narrative. Then:
"They say the Czarina Is dead," the
Princess observed,
"Isn't she?" was the natural ques
tion. "I de net knew who does?" wa
the enigmatic reply.
She resumed the thread of her talc:
"I left Russia Riga In January,
1021. The most interesting fact is that
I did net knew I was leaving. I hnd
IVDheld ftYtr and wu unpnnHnlniic uihen
1 they carted me out. Vfhen I woke up
Re-
Ant-wa
lore sailing ns a stowaway from
werp I walked almost all the
across Europe."
"Why could you net take passage
tide travel by train?" she wns asked.
Her replj, with a ready laugh:
"In that la my only safety. I had
te walk. They were watching for me
everywhere. I dared net ride,"
"Are you happy new you ere here?
re your troubles temporarily ever?"
The Princess smiled as she said :
Over? Te a ceitain extent, surely.
.I'.1 1Jmht keel' en Hunting. My
citizenship, m son, my estates, mv
nvuiui i CnillOt Subsist en hnr fv
like till' l.'nlteil StntnuVi
here
''" ou like the United States?'
i 4i fp ,bS'.,t,;r herc ,nnn eyw
in the world," enme the quick ans
?uick answer,
have always
'It ntwnjb has been, niwl
iwunu it se, even though my mother
tried te teach ine te hate the United
jstateb. l think I huve a greater love
u Dii'uuse or mat. it Is the
"i m-iiuji ami reaction. She
lerce me te hate it.
it the mere."
And the Princess
law
tripil tn
I learned te love
MllA AIA Ma..1
btewuway, farm band while wnlktnr
ncress Lurepe seamstress, servant
princess of royal line. '
Tragedy, mystery, murder, stermtj.
hunger, vast wealth, revolution separa
tion from family her let.
Fer two months she was held at New
Urleans, where the ship that brought
her (,,?ckeLSh" clalmd American eft.
zenship. There Is another dark chap er
in these two months, of which she
Piefers net te talk. But finally she
was released unconditionally and ner
milted te cn'-r her native' land, wd
here is a certain immigration official
who paled and trembled nt some things
she told him before she left bis cus
Finds Alabama Cousin
te Help Her in Fight
Since arrival In the United States the
Princess has discovered a first cousin in
Carl Bchllch, of Feley. Ala! who w 11
assist her In establishing pre0f et he"
American birth. Mr. and Mrs T II
Shepherd, of New Orleans, whose guest
she was in the Seuth, also will aid her
Mr. Hhephard end Mr. Scl.li c are re
lated by niarrlag, ,B
Americau women who merry
lese their American citizenship and as
sume the citizenship of their husbands.
Upen the death or divorce from their
husbands they are automatically re
stored te their status as Americans.
This Is the Princess' case. But first
she must prove she was born la the
United States, of a father who wu I
naturalized American.
Eventually she hopes te re-establish
her home iu New Yerk. But that will
be long hence, perhaps, after she has
feuud her son, nnd, as an Amerlcin
citizen, made a fight for her property tn
Russia.
"What will you make of your seal"
the Princess was asked.
She smiled as she replied :
"A fine American citizen!"
"But what de you want him te be?"
Anether smile but no Immediate
answer.
"A business man professiensl
man ?"
"Ne."
Then after a breath of a pause
"1 want him te be a diplomat!"
The Princess' blue eyes sparkled.
"Diplomacy Intrigue they are
wonderful!" she exclaimed. "Hew I
love them. If I were a man I should
want te be a diplomat. Dnngereiw,
sometimes but Interesting!
Intrigue of Diplomacy
Has Fascination for Her
"My husband always told me I was
a born diplomat. He never made an
Important move or took an lmnerunt
i step that be did net consult me. And
he genera ly took my advice. He
In close touch with the government, of
course, though net In any eilicial ca
paclty. He knew what was gelnj
en.
"What de I think of Russia new?
I would rather net say. The Russian
people ere a strange people. They are
mystic, superstitious, fatalistic, unen
lightened. They are always slew te act.
But once let them get an iden In their
heads and it is there te stay. "
never get it out. , , .,
"There has been much that is net
true told of the Czarist regime and et
Russian rule then. The peasants MJ
net unhappy. They were well loea
after. Russian hospitality was a W
word. Any one peasant or etherwis
could travel across Russia en the hos
pitality of her people. Travelers ej
ways were sure of a meal In the eye
nlng, a bed te sleep In if there W
one and if there were net, they mi
one and breakfast the next morning.
Then he could travel until nisphtlall ana
find unether place te step. Ne one w
turned away. , . ,..
"I remember once a fleck of mers
than one hundred peasants steppea
our estate. My husband housed an"
fed them. ,A,
They htayed with us three wW.
Instead of n single night. When I told
my husband I thought they should w
told te move en, he ald: 'What! Ten
would violate the law of Russian nes
pltallty. Let them stay os long
they wish!" , . . .w
Princess Tchernitchew arrived In tn
United States penniless, almost frliw
less, with but a alngle objectte re
establish her American cltlaeWblp nn
obtain a passport permitting ber te
back te Europe and press her aearce
and her claims in Russia as an Amer
lean. . , . ii.
"Did you net notice," she arte. J
dispatch saying; between twenty an
thirty Rurslan princes and prln""
had committed suicide In JPia iatwt
the laat few menthi? They're starvini
te death. They're starving throughew
Europe. Hew many were there,
told? Oh two or three hundred, W
.haps. And many of these were kljiw.
'The aristocracy." she adq. fx ,
resented the best Intellect of u?21?
Why de you net feed tnem w
i ' i
f& 3
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