Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-06-06
AN ECCENTRIC KING.
THE PERSONAL PECULlARITIES OF
KING LOUIS OF BAVARIA.

The Monarch's Rebukc to a Prima Donna
In Love with the Empress Eugenie-
Seized with "A Suicidal Mania Com
plants of Creditors.
The first time | saw the sovereign Of Ia
vnria was at Munich in l~N! He is
blonde, tall and slender. ahuut the only
personal defect not Crahle being the size
Of his ears. and this size is still further rN
aggcratrd by the way he wears his hair
When a young man he was cruel, almost
savage, had he lived in another ago, and
had chance placed him on throne. he
. would have been a second Nero For the
first performance of Tristan and NSeult
, Wagner had by the advice of List, secured
the service Of a talented tenor named
SChnurr and 10y reason Of prudery quite
common in Germany the passionate role
Of lseult was given 10 Nine. Schnurr, :"
that the hugginE uf the hero and heroine
might seem less shocking to the public
Nine SChnOrr was a very bcHutiiu.
woman, and she produced Il deep iupr"s
sion on the king.
TALE OF FAIR wOMEN.
| 1t seems that he also produced an anal
agUus effect upon the prima donna. who.
forgetting her husband, fell dead over
ears in love with his majesty The cveuiu-
OF the first performance Louis invited
Mime. SChnOrr to accompany him, in his
boat Elsa, on the lake. and of course the
lady accepted. During the eNcursOn, ID
/ doubt under the influence of the moon AMI
the poetry of the situation, Louis T.
qUested his companion to sing certain
/ passages of the opera, and she did 50 in q
I way that brought tears into the eyes Of her
/ listener. PerCciving the emotion OF the
king, the CantatriCe lost her senses AMI
threw her arms around his neck. where
upon he pitched her out Of the boat and
rowed ashore. When he got back 10 the
palace he said to a servant: There Is "a
woman out yunder in the lake She may
get drowned. Go and pull her ont if yuu
think it worth while" As Mime. SChuorr
knew how to swim, and the lake w's
neither large nor deep, she managed {"
get ashore alone.
When he came TO Paris in 1861 to the eX
position he fell in love with the empress
at first sight. He remained here until the
exposition closed, spending most Of his
time at the Tuileries, wOrshiping the OBJ
ject of his idulatry with all the more ardur
because he knew his passion was hopeless.
Even Napoleon smiled AT the innocent
comedy. When tho time came for him to
return to Bavaria the empress accompl-
MED him to the railroad station, where the
disconsOlate lover kissed her several times,
rushed off sObbing with emotion and not
looking once behind him. Many other
women have endsavOred to capture his
affections, but none have ever succeeded.
For quite lone time he kept up a love
L l. i.
Max, but when the day for his betruthM
came the king failed to put in appearance.
All these eccentricffes were not unbrcum-
ing as long as he was young, but now that
he is bordering on - years Of age and be
ginning 70 grow stout. his caprices are not
only ruinous, but grOtesque and ridic-
ulOus
MANIAS OF kMAD MONARCH.
Louis is not the only member of his fam
lily who has screH loose somewhere in
his upper works One of his uncles has
mania for wearing archiepiscOpal robes,
while another is never 50 happy as when
dressed in Hungarian costume, and, whip
in hand, he is driving horse round and
round a circus ring. He has taught his
wife the exercises Of the ring and delights
in seeing her, in gauze skirts, standing ON
the back of horse or jumping through
paper covered hoops as the animal gallOps
round and round. BESIDES being musician,
sentimental and cruel, King Louis Is also
a dreamer. There are days when he is
seized with the suicidal mania Once at
one of those passion plays which are 50
popular in Bavaria the notion entered his
head to represent the Saviour, but he
wanted TO be really crucitied, and To lie
finished off with a real spear thrust, and
it was with no little difficulty that he WAS
induced to abandon the mad project. OF
late he believes himself to be Louis XIV,
and has the plays OF COrEeille, Racine and
MOiiere played before him If an actor is
missing he assumes the role himself In
character the mad king is mixture of
contradictions and curious contrasts. He
is devout Catholic, yet has always Op-
posed ultramOntane eXcesses. His one
great fault is that of having no idea Of the
value of money. 1t is this which is the
cause Of all his troubles.
The king does not bother himself about
the matter, and few if any of his creditors
complaints ever reach his ear. 1t has been
many years since any of his ministers
have set foot inside his private office. To
communicate with the rest OF the world
the king makes use Of the services of his
private secretary, who also is manager, OF
superintendent of the civil list. Although
he is the only person admitted To the
sOvereign's presence, this secretary eNer-
cises no influence over the mind or will Of
the king lie is a sort of mouthpieCc, "A
speaking-trumpet or telephone, but
nothing more. II. Haynie's Paris
Letter.