The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1886-06-18


LoxDoN. June -; The attempt %
throw Z veil Of romance over the crazy
anllcs Of King Ludwig Of Bavaria, q
regarded - amusing By those who have
known Of HE mad brulslIties for the
past ten years. He WA no devoted stu.
dent OF art, with hls mind fully over.
thrown BY excess Of HE devotion, but
was simply : man OF commonplace
mind. whose god was hlmself. IL was
merely the case Of the man who. ID ad-
dilion 70 HE absolute egotism. had wealth
aud power enough 70 carry out every
sel6sh fancy OF HE mind. The papers
ara lull Of stories Of HE rascally expl0iss,
but the papers are al under the pres.
sure OF the monArchies. In which they
are published. and tho hidcous and sell
fish character OF the incidents Il glosseu
over. One story that has never been IN
print e a. follows: The king sent for .
new soprano. who had made Z wonder
ful success q Munich, to entertain him
with singing II his castle q uohen-
schwangen. When the singer arrived
the king told her he wanted 70 hear her
sing on the water just q midnight.
They proceeded 70 Exshallon lake. with
= model some hat between . canoe and
|a gondofa. He seated the singer IN
the bow Of the boat, and placed him.
self on . luxurious pile Of cushions In
the stern. The little craft Was welded
nv the king. There he kept the poor ar
tist singing for fully three hours. Al
last she begged to Do allowed 10 stop.
saying that she had already contracted
= severe cold and was unable 70
control her voice. The king stern
~ ordered her to proceed, but she
could not. Then the king said be was
going home and he supposed she knew
the way ashore. He stepped over the
side OF the boat into the water, which
Was not more than three feet deep and
calmly waded ashore and walked up to
his castle. The artistic remained In the
boat filed with despair. For the first
hour she thought the king would surely
send some one TO her rescue, but no one
came, aud after two hours Of waiting,
she too waded 10 the shore. She went
to the castle, but nobody there knew
anything about her, and she was turned
away as 40 impostor. She started 70
walk 10 Munich, Notwithstanding her
clothes we're soaked with water and be-
draegled with mud. Fortunately she
soon met . hackney coach which took
her to her apartments. She Immediately
summoned doctor, but the fatal mis-.
chief had been done, and she died within
q week Of pneumonia. The king sent IN
extravagant sum To pay for her funeral.
All these facts wero known to theatrical
people and society, q the time, but the
ave or the king caG3ed the. story 70 be
suppressed beyond those circles.
Another series OF his madcap brutali-
ties was the riding at midnight over the
snow and mountai6s IN : luxurious
sleigh. drawn by four Of the finest horses
in Europe. He Vas snugly ensconsed In
. multitude Of furs, and the sleigh was|
brilliantly lighted By electricity. He
always commanded bis driver to drive
at breakneck speed. aand BIO took mo-
notice Of the su6eri0gs Of the cavalry
guard. which Ws5z Always ii attendance,
IN their efforts to keep up, although their
ho ses were no match for those Of the
king, and the poor, Unfortunate guards
were shabby contrast to the king's toss.
Most every night some horse was foun-
|dered and some guafdsman killed. but
the king cared not for d: this 90 long o
|his craving for selfish enjoyme was
gratifled. In the same way every act Of
the king described In the papers here.
although spoken Of as royal pranks'
kingIy eccentricities, will be found TO be
caused BY bis majesty's unbounded sell
fishness and br:stling with acts Of bru'
tality.