The St. Johns herald., 1892-08-25
ORIGIN OF A DYNASTY.
The Royal Family of Servia Sprang from
 a Swine Breeder.


 Swine Breeder.
 Recent cable dispatches stated that ex-Queen Natalie of Servia was about to begin lawsuit in the Paris courts against ex-King Milan, her husband, to recover from him 2, 300, 900 francs of her own money which he has squandered
 Unfortunately, Milan is now an inpe- cunious fellow, not possessed Of the saving qualities of his ancestors who founded the Obrenovitch dynasty, still represented on the Servian throne by the young King Alexander. That dynasty in the time of Milosch and Michel was considered the wealthiest in the Balkan peninsula, says the New York Tribune. The old Milosch, sam pie swine breeder, after being chosen as the ruler of Servia and winning his country's independence On the battle field of Talzovo, did not give up his az ricultural pursuits. He continued while on the throne to breed and sell swine, which is still the predominant branch of Servian commerce. He merely con sented not to act personally as a mer- chant; but he became the silent part ner of large swine-breeding firms. Tie business was exceedingly prosperous, and tradition has kept the remembrance of the enormous quantities of gold'' which were received from abroad ana consigned to the prince. Moreover, under Milosch's reign no distinction ex- isted between the private revenues of the prince and those of the state. The taxation was sufficient to pay for the tribute still due to Turkey and for the general expenses of the government. The domains of the state. the forests and the fishing grounds on the Danube were exploited exclusively for the benc- fit of Milosch, who left his son Michel a fortune of more than $f,O0O,G0O.
 Prince Michel did not follow the ex- ample of his father, and gave himself up entirely to governmental cares. Still, he kept his own fortune un- touched, though he displayed great luxury at his court, and do7otaa large amounts of money to the material and intellectual development of Servia When he was asSassinated i2 1868, ir the Topchedere park, he left no ehil- dren, and his heirs were his eldest sis ter and two nephews from another sis ter. Young Milan, then 6 student in Paris lyceum, succeeded Michel. He possessed au estate in Rod-u2nia worth about $101. O00, and the regents obtained from the heirs of the late Prince Michel an agreement that they should surrender a1arge portion Of their inheritance to the new prince. Indemnity was given them, under the form of pensions, to be paid by the state. For instance, there is still living in Vienna, Austria, Fl. Velimir Todorovitch, natural son of Prince Michel, who received at that time grant of S0,O03 ducats, together with the estate of Ncgo, in Roumanil. On his accession to the throne, Milan found himself at the head of private fortune of about $1,O0O,001, besides a civil list which reached $240,000 year an enormous sum for such a small 1 country. But in 1877, at the beginning of the Russian-TurkiSh war. Milan sold his real estate and promptly sa;lan- dered the proceeds; and, in fact, the Obrenovitch dynasty is now the poorest of all in Europe, for it has no private fortune.