The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-11-30
In Fer Youth She was One of the
Most Beautiful Women in Europe.

| THE GMPhESS OF AUSTRIA
In Fer Youth She was One of the
Most Beautiful Women in Europe.
Paris Letter to The st. Louis Post Dispatch.
| do not think that the present generation
of young royal ladies can present as exquis-
lite types of loneliness as did that now pass
ing away. Twenty-Five years ago the
Empress of Austria, for instance, was
simply dazzling. She would have been
noted for her beauty had she been bar
maid or ballet girl. The slender, grace
| full figure, the finely nodded features, the
large, brilliant dark eyes, the beautifully
formed had, crowned with wealth of
black silken tresses, all went to make up
an ensemble Of physical perfection.
l saw her once at that period,
when was staying at the
| Archduke Charles hotel at Vienna. The
radiant Elizabeth came there with her i'm
psrial husband to call upon the Countess of
| Flanders, the sister-in-law of the King Of
the Belgians. She passed in front of large
window opening upon balcony, and on
| that balcony was stationed party of Ameri-
cans. one of which was myself, all eager to
catch glimpse of the famous royal beauty.
With true queenly courtesy she paused Tor
a moment on beholding the group, and stood
| there for brief but appreciable space of
here / ami" Then, with a stately inclina-
ton of her beautiful head, she turned away
| and rejoined her husband, leaving every
| one of the spectators in raptures with
| her loneliness. She was attlred in a
costume of transparent muslin and Valen-
cienueS lace, with a broad sash in violet
silk, thickly embroidered with steel
spangles. From beneath her compact little
| turban hat there fell at the back of her
head a mass of black, glossy, braided
treSses, coiled round and round, and con-
fined in net Of purple sick. A simple
dress enough for an empress to wear, while
| paying a call on princess, but its very
simplicity only served to enhance the splen-
dor of its wearer's beauty. Of late years
the empress will never consent to sit for
her photograph, and dislikes extremely
to be gazed at in public, sure tokens of
the waning of her once Respondent
charms. She was the one beauty of
her family, none of her three sisters, the
Queen of Naples, the Princess of Thurm and
Taxis, and the Duchess d'Alencou. being in
any way remarkable for their good looks.
Indeed, the last named princess was posi-
lively plain. A good deal of regret has
been felt in Austrian society that the en-
peror had not selected Princess Helen, noW
Princess of Thurm and Taxis, as she is n
very brilliant conversationalist and is fond
of music and society; whereas the empress
dslikes even TO show herself at the opera,
and really cares for nothing except riding
and hunting. She is growing rather old tc
indulge in this last amusement, being
over 81. But she preserves many of her
charms and especially the shapeliness of her
figure and the luxuriance of her long, thick
tresses. At the court concert, given at
Vienna in honor of the Emperor of Ger
many. she created a profound sensation by
her couture. She wore her hair falling I'M
confined at the back in long masses over
her shoulders and studded with stars of
diamonds held in place by slender concealed
| wires This "Bernice coiffure,n as it was
called, was greatly admired, no less than its
stately wearer. The empress is said to be
the queenliest royal lady in Europe to be-
| hold. 1t is a sight to see her at a court
presentation, passing down the line CT ladies
who are to be introduced, and turning at
the end with grand sweep of her regal
train, whose folds are never dsarranged by
the action, so adroitly is it executed.
In the days of her youth the imperial
Elizabeth was a very winning and sympa-
thetic parsonage. The professor engaged to
teach her the Hungarian language hos left
| on record the impression made upon him by
| his royal pupil; her gentleness, her gracious
ways, her ardor and conscientiousness in
her studies, and also the devoted affection
then subsisting between herself and her
| DuSDduu. IOU0 WOulu buTOW dSlue INSTANTLY
| her books and exercises and hurry from the
room whenever the emperor was heard
calling her by her pet name of Elise. This
| pleasant state of matters conjugal was
brought to a sudden termination several
years ago. The empress detected her
spouse in a liaison of peculiar turpi-
tude and bad taste This was more
than the naughty Elizabeth, then conscious
of being one of the loveliest women in
| could oafipnf1xy ondIfra Sha hos
never forgiven her husband though, unlike
the Queen of Servia, she was too wise to
| bring matters TO an open rupture. From
that period dates her partial withdrawal
from court life and her devotion to riding
and hunting. Under the name of the
Countess of Hohenembs she has shown a
great prediction for fox hunting in Ire
land, but that form of enjoyment has been
in late years debarred to her by the Irish
disturbances.
In the early days of her youth an 4
triumphant loveliness she was the uncon-
scious cause of a very pathetic little
romance. A young American gentleman,
whose sister had been educated in Europe,
CHANGED to see in her photo 2raph album on
her return portrait of the beautiful Eliza
beth. He was greatly struck by it, and on
first beholding it declared that he would
WOO and win the original at all hazards, if
she we're still unmarried. When told that
the portrait was that of the Empress Of
Austria, he said nothing more, but few
weeks later he announced his intention Of
going to Europe AS his health was very
delicate, his parents encouraged him
in his project, hoping the change
of air and scene might prove benef-
cial to him. He went straight to Vienna
and remained there for nearly year, fire.
quenting assiduously the opera, the drive on
fashionable days on the prater aud other
places where he might have chance of be-
holding the imperial beauty whose image
had so captivated him. Late in the winter
he contracted severe cold, which developed
into rapid consumption, and he only re-
turned home TO die. Among his papers was
found by his surviving family very beau
tful miniature of the empress, which he
had caused to be painted from photograph,
and also a few fragments of impassioned
verse telling Of love as deep and sincere
as it had been hopeless and unavowed.
THE BOOK FOR BOOKKEEPERS.