New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-22
THEIR MANNERISMS.
QUEER TRICKS OF GREAT PERSONAGES

| Of ST. Petersburg will be called upon to record
another demise in the Imperial family OF Russia.
| The Grand Duke Constantine Nicoaiewtch.
| brother of the late Emperor. is now lying at the
| point of death Every vestige of that remarkable
| intellect which in days gone by won for him the
reputation of being the most clever and enlightened
Prince in Christendom has disappeared. and today
the wreck of both mind and body is so complete
| that only the feebIest spark Of life remains It's
| final extinction is merely matter Of few weeks
at the utmost.
| Like every other human creature. be he prince
| or peasant the Grand Duke had little tricks OF
| manner-what the French term, I'm tc'-that
were peculiarly his own. The most unique OF
| them all was certainly his method of jumping
his monocl. into his eye. lie used to wear the
glass dangling at the end Of an exceedingly thin.
elastic cord. and whenever he fell into the hands
of one Of those prosy old borcs who constitute
the bugbcar of imperial and royal personagcs. he
| would give the elastic an imperceptibe twitcb
| which would send the glass shooting upward. right
into il, very place in his eye He merely elevated
his eyebrow in TIE very slightest manner TO re-
ceive il. leaving every other muscle OF the race
end body unmoved This peculiar little manoeu-
vrc which ] have practised by any
one else. invariably had the result of causing
the person speaking to the Grand Duke TO sto2
short in the middle OF his sentence, and to lose
entirely the thread of the discourse. Not having
noticed the little twitch given to the cord. the
man was unable TO account for the singular way
in which the glass shot up right into the Grand
Dukes eye, and the cool and unconcerned manner
in which His Imperial Highness received it had
ordinarily the effect of completing the upset
OF his interlocutOr's cquanmity.
Still more disconcertlng was the habit of the
fo,o Dir anp6 plon"-
yawtning about thrice in the space of every five
minutes, no matter who the person that was
talking to him at the time. Although great
observer Of the ordinary conventionalities and
amenities of life in other respects. the Prince
made q point Of always covering his mouth with
his hand when he yawned. But the result
the same. For the yawns of the Prince had the
almost invariable effect Of setting the person
speaking 10 him off yawnng as we'll and as at
last every yawn Of the Prince became followed by
a responsive yawn on the part of his interlocutor
the conversation grew somewhat dsioned and
the sight Of the two men yawning in each others
faces every two minutes extremely funny.
EXasperating is the only word that be APP
piled to the trick of the late Crown Prince Ru-
dolph of Austria. Of biting his nails down to the
very quick, while listening to any remarks that
were being addressed to him. lie did it uncon-
sciously, and often have observed him putting
up his right hand 10 his mouth ever
he had finished speaking what he had to say. AS
in the of Prince Napoleon with his yawns
lie was unable TO refrain from biting his nails, even
OH the most solemn and stately occasions and no
matter who it was that happened TO be talking TO
him.
To strangers. at any rate, the " tic" Of the Prince
Of Wales is somewhat discOncer;ing. About once
in every minute and half the lid of the right
eye drops completely over the ball. The eye re-
mains closed for the space Of about a second. and
then suddenly opens again to its fullest extent.
10 other feature OF the face having moved mean
while. People who see the Prince for the first
time tempted to believe that he is deliberately
winking at them, an impression which is strength
ened by the Princes reputation of gcniality toward
men and gaantry toward women OF course.
however, there is 10 such intention the part of
the Prince, aud the wink is altogether involuntary.
the result Of a tic neryeux." IL, however. some
times has the effect of causing the persons who
are either talking to him or listening to his
vcrsation to start of blinking i'm response,
pecially when they happen to be people of nervous
temperament and the spectacle of the two gravcy
winking at one another every minute or two is
not without it's humorous features.
Archdukc Louis Victor the younger brother of
the Emperor of Austria, has the most irritating
trick Of continually swapping the fingers of his
right hand while he is talking to q person, cs
pecially if he is any way animated. | suppose
that it is due to more than TO anything
else; but when one sees him thus swapping his
fingers with his extended at an angle of about
forty-fve degrees from his body one is ant to
become sufficiently exasperated to long to give
him good shaking | may add that there is a
well-known and phlanthropic newspaper proprie-
tar cit wi urs' lista fr,p
New-York who has a trick of manner that is some
what similar TO that Of the Archduke Only in
stead of swapping his fingers he dev0tes his SUPER
fiuOus energy to catching imaginary flies No
matter what his topic Of conversation.
or how bitterly cold the weather he will
sweep his right hand through the air. and
suddenly close il as if the fly was caught lie
will then carefully open il, of course without
finding even the ghost of any insect No disap-
pointment however is discernible on his benignant
features; and a minute later he is as actively
engaged in his peculiar chase as ever This
strange taste for fy-hunting appears to have been
shared by the father of the present King OF
Bavaria, and it is related at Munich that one
day, when two Of his Cabinet Ministers called
upon him with the draft Of new law for which
they required his approval and signat Ire they
found him seated in his armchair with an open
book on his knees. After reading the statute to
His Majesty. the Ministers stood for long time
silently waiting for an answer At length, when
their patience was nearly exhausted the King
suddenly closed his book with bang, and ex.
claimed, with look of unutterable triumph
II have got him l have got him. He had
caught and crushed fly.
Reference to this story may serve as an excuse
for abiding to the queer fad of the present mon
arch of Bavaria, the mad King Otto. His in
sanity appears TO have taken the form of an
illusion that he is stofk In one of the magniH-
cent apartments devoted TO his use at the palace
OF Furstenried he has laborionsly constructed
gigantic nest, every stick and straw OF which he