The Portland daily press., 1893-09-04
The Sense of Mine and Thine.

Sometimes the ruling passion has been
known to confuse the collectors sense of
"mine and thine,n and to lead him astray
from the paths of virtue. Many curious
instances of moral deterioration were
afforded during the prevalence of the
tulip collecting mania that ragged in the
low countries two centuries ago and
broke out afresh in France soon after the
bourbon restoration. One of Alexandra
Dumas's romances, The Black Tulip"
describes the ubiquitous attempts of a
tulip fanciers to rob his successful rival
of the glories incident to the production
of a new variety of ssthe once paramount
ly fashionable flower.
Alphonse Karr, too, in his Voyage
Autour de mon Jardin" illustrates the
moral perversion and extravagancies of
conduct generated by the tulip mono
mania. According to Karr flowers inspire
the worst passions in the competitive COL
lector, and of all varieties of the mono
maniac the florist is the most ferocious
"a fact that is, perhaps. verified by the
zeal and reckless expenditure of the en-
thusiast in orchids.
Admitting that intellectual culture, a
generous Golfer and abundance of time
are essential to the collector, it is natural
enough that those born in the purple
should display special aptitude for this
occupation. Frederick the Great was a
famous collector of snuff boxes and al
though thrifty in regard to household
expenditures he never grudged any outlay
to crafty this taste. He was also great
dog fancier, resem bling Henry Ill. of
France, who was SO fond of spaniels that
he spent thousands of francs in obtaining
choice breeds and frequently carried
litter in basket that was suspended
i L l., - II i
was also noted for his fondness for span
iels, his favorite breed being one famous
today. Richelieu collected cats; the
poet Cowper tame hares; Alf1eri, horses;
the Marquis de Montespan, white mice.
bought from Siberia to roam his apart
ments in Versailles, and the painter
Razzi had Noah's ark in number and
variety of pets-Esquirreis, apes, Angora
cats. goats, ponies, dwarf asses, besides
an enormous raven, who always said
"Come in" when any one Knocked and
who had the air of owning the menag-
erie.
The Princess of Wales is about to re-
ceive present from a Danish land owner
of a couple of every breed of dogs of her
her in care of veterinary surgeon, and
each dog will wear silver collar bear
ing the arms of it's royal mistress The
collection of pets at Sandringham is
already a large one.
Some Royal Collectors.
Some of the most eager and successful
collectors of the present day are occupants
of thrones or members of royal families
Among these Prince Luitpold, the regent
of Bavaria, has the most complete and
expensive collection of beetles, and is
also skilled entomologist, deeply versed
in the habits of ants, bees, moths flies,
carvings, wasps and everything that
flies, crawls or wiggles. Don Pedro, the
late Emperor of Brazil, captured and ar
ranged wonderful museum OF butter
flies, perhaps the most complete in the
world Alexander Alexandreivich, Gar
of all the Russias, has a splendid collec-
ton OF birds eggs and postage stamps,
both of which he began during his early
youth. The King of Roumania is an
| indefatigable collector of autographs.
King Oscar of Sweden and Norway, a
| writer of verses himself, collects books
| of poems enriched with the authors sigma
| lures, and King Humbert of Italy has a
| fad for horses, keeping 1900 in his stables
which he has constructed according to his
original plans The Duke of Edin burgh
collects stamps The Princess Maud of
Wales has a curious hobby for collecting
| ivory. At Marlborough house she has
preserved the tusks of elephants shot by
| her father and uncles, the ivoriesn of
walruses, seals, lions and alligators and
by the Emperor of Russia to enrich her
museum. The speciality of Queen