The Colored citizen., 1894-09-10
8EdaRgy
A PRINCESS SENT TO covENTpv@
IL Was All Because She Would Rid. . r.,
on Public Ways.

1t Was All Because She Would Ride . r.,
on Public Ways.
BICYCLES caused no end of bad Ill.,,
in more senses than one, it is 10 -
feared - before finally obtaining ~
right of citizenship among orthodo. -
hicles of the road, and, universal tboroL
they have now become among oriina,~
morta,s, they have still deal of nm hi,
work to accomplish before acquiring |.
status among the surroundings of row
atty. OF course prince or king msv
bestride q wheel" and do anytbir.
but break a record or his neck hns
were princess so far to forget wha,
she owed to her house, her dignity and
her long line of ancestors as to patroni,a
this democratic means of locomotion ths
whole civilized world would be expec,
ed to stand sghast at the desecration q,
royalty implied by the act And this i
the horrible deed that has just been an.
nounced by the telegraph and ba,
thrown Italian court circles into cere-
monial CONVERSIONS.
The catastrophe occurred in Turin
and the heroine and viotim-the lady 4
both-is the pretty, accomplished young
widow, the Duchess of Aosta, who i
staying at the Castle Of Stupinigi. Prin.
cess Maria Loetizia is sister-in law Of
the present king of Italy. she having
married in 1888 his brother, Princs
Amadeo, duke of Aosta, who died in
1890. This lady, who is a Bonaparte
is not merely accomplished and pretty
but is brimful of life and fun and takes
o positive delight in tramping upon the
rigid court ceremonial Of past ages. The
last of her frolics was executed ON bi.
cycle made for one.
She set out a few days ago ON one Of
these tabooed vehicles, accompanied by
maid of honor and two court cavaliers
and after long ride the party were
flying up one Of the shady avenues lead.
ing to the palace Of the dukes Of Aota
when q company of soldiers commanded
by a major met them half way, glanced
at them furtively and perhaps a tribe
too furiously or critically and marched
on without making sign. The duchess,
rendered more sensitive than usual BY
the consciousness that she was trans
crossing the bounds Of court etiquette,
felt hurt at not being saluted in the ap.
proved fashion by the major and his
soldiers.
This was perhaps human nature, and
- suoh excusable. But the lively lady
went much further-she actually com.
planned Of the conduct of the major
who had, she affirmed, oulpably neg.
lected to salute her. The commandant Of
Turin, General d'Oncian de Ia Batin, at
once summoned the officer to appear be.
fore him and explain his conduct The
major said he was guiltless of any Of
fense, as he did not recognize the high
born lady, oddly dressed and seated b.
tween two wheels, and would never hs
permitted himself to think of her hiH
ness as mere bicyelist Had he KNOW
or suspected it was she, Of course b
would have, etc. General de 10 Batin,
uncertain what course to take, appealed
to the Solomonio wisdom Of the war
minister, to whom he forwarded de.
tailed report Of the whole occurrence
asking for instructions as to the punish.
ment to be meted out to the major
whom he meanwhile kept in arrest. The
minister Of war, If not precisely Solo
mon, was at least quite shrewd enough
to see that the ground he was treading
was courtly, il not holy, and instead Of
taking the responsibility upon himself
demanded an audience of the king, be-
fore whom he laid the report of the
oommandant
The monarch cut the gordian knot In
twinkling. He sent o telegraphic order
to Turin releasing the major from ar.
rest and entirely exonerating him in
the matter. This, however, was the So
luton of only one-half Of the question
The remaining moiety concerned the
lively young widow, and the king sent
his bicycle loving sister-ir-law an order
forbidding her to attire herself in red
court costume for the space Of two cal
endar months, prohibition which II
equivalent to strict domestic arrest fol-
that period. The princess is, therefore,
absolutely invisible to the good citizens
Of Turin, who were wont to watch and
salute her two or three times daily a
abe rode or drove or walked about the
streets Of the historic old city.
The inhabitants console themselves
BY gazing for hours through the win.
dows of the photographers shops,
where series of 10 magnificent por-
traits In various positions and costumes
attract hundreds Of loyal sympathiserA
now learn that sentence has also been
pronounced on one of the court cava'
liers who accompanied the duchess on
her bicycling expedition. The Marquis
OF Moncrivello has been summarily dis
missed from his post by order of the
king, who is said to be extremely an
noyed at the evident determination Of
his sister-in-law to put all traditional
notions Of court etiquette at naught ant
to have announced his intention to pun
ish much more severely all future trans
pessions. Rome Cor. London Tele
graph.