San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-11-29
"EcCENTRICS" IN HIGH LIFE.

Some Peculiarities of few of Eu-
ropes Oldest franks"
From the Pail all Gazett'.
To the Odyssey of Prince Joseph
Sulkoffski who was imprisoned in a
lunatic asylum at Vienna, escaped to
Switzerland, and once again inpris-
oned in an asylum AZ Brum. has now
been added another chapter. A board
of medical men W no have been sit
ting Onn the eccentric Austrian mil
liomaire have declared that he is per-
fectly sane, and that what in his
case has been pronounced insanity
was nothing but originality and &C.
centricity. and consequently his High
ness the Prince is once again at liber-
ity and able to pursue the uneven
tenor of his ways.
Apropos of Prince Sulkaffskis re
lease, the Paris Figaro publishes an
account OF a number of othereccentric
persOr"ges in European high life;
among th"m King Lewis IL Oh ba,-
aria, M turaily takes Inc first place.
Duke Theodore of Bavaria, who has
recently performed his thousandth
successful operation as an oculist is
mentioned as the one member of the
Bavarian house whose eccentricity is
of useful and laudahle kind. His
august sisters, the Empress of Aus
tria and the Queen of Naples, have
also many traits in their character
which mark them at once as belong
ing to the eccentric Bavarian race.
In the HoheDZollern this ''particu-
larism" has, ever since Frederick
William 1. and friedrich the Great
shown itselfin a brutal and cynical
trait. An exception to this rule is
Prince Frederick, the owner of the
charming Castle of Rhenstein, on
the banks of the Rhine, who often
shows visitors over his beautiful resi-
dence and explains the treasures of
his museum of antiquities.
But the best and most frequent spe-
cimens of an eccentric nation hail
from the land of John Bull Among
them is mentioned Mr.. Cecil S. (the
Figaro warlly suppresses the sur
name), who, for many years, made
Paris ring with stories of his wild do
ings. Finally govt attacked him, and
he was doomed to perpetual cOnfine-
ment at home. The ballet having al
ways been specially patronized by
him, Mr.. :. started ballet in his
own four walls, where he kept an en-
tire stage with all the belongs to 1t,
including costumes Of every possible
variety. Five or six spectators were
invited to the photographic specta-
cles, the artists in which were paid
with more than princely liberality.
Although Mr.. S. could never set q
foot outside his house, he always re-
tanned his ten horses and four carri-
ages, which were regularly driven
about in the Bots and on the bOule-
wards, somewhat like the empty car
riages seen behind hearse.
Russia, too, has always had her
eccentric representatives at Paris,
but has now accepted the social law
of France, according to which, among
the inhabitants of the most revolu-
tionary country in Europe, it is con-
sidered extremely ill-bred to show
any eccentricity. The first Russian
of the old school who made Paris the
scene of his exploits was M. Dimitri
D., whose fame was chiefly acquired
by his m,.l Vicious capacity for drink
ing champagne. In gratitude to the
bottles out of which had come the
chief enjoyment of his life, he collect
ed the l"ad papers with which the
cOTks nj champagne bottles are COW
cred, and out OF those which he and
his friends had consumed lead coffin
was made in which the Russian was
carried 20 his grave.