The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-02-06
oIrrrp spRIGs OF GENTILITy

o1rEER sPRIGs OF GENTILITY.
0ueen Christina of Spain is very sa.
On cious and so modern in her ideas that
| # is difficult to realize that she has Haps-
burg blood in her veins and that she Oc-
cnnies Bourbon throne in capital that
was the home and the last stronghold
W m" The inuusition. She gave striking
nroof of her shrewdness the other day
pwben having heard that the Press club
of Madrid was about to organize an en-
tartoinment at the Grand opera in be-
half If the charitable institutions found
cd and maintained by the club, she
caused the president and the managing
committee to be summoned to the palace.
There she received them with the ut
most and most willing cordially, ex-
dressed her warm appreciation of the
great services rendered by the newspa-
pers in educating and influencing public
opinion in the right direction and in
onred with every manifestation of sym
pathy, after the charities of these profess
SIGNALS. whom she described as hard
working, underpaid and eminently de-
serving.
She intimated to them that she would
nav out of her privy purse for the fOunda-
ton and maintenance of six additional
beds for the children and orphans of
newspaper men in the children's hospital
and asylums at Madrid and likewise an
| nounced that she and her mother, the
Archduchess Elizabeth of Austria, and
her own children, including the little
king, would attend the performance Or
ganized by the club at the Grand opera
! This. of course entailed the presence of
the entire court, of the diplomatic corps
and of the principal members of the aris-
tocratic and official world, the result be-
| ing that an immense sum, surprising all
anticipation was realized by the enter
| tainment.
Queen Victoria lost her hat the other
day while driving up Castle mill at Wind.
| sor. A gale was blowing and just as the
royal c0rtege swept up the hill from the
| Home park on the return from her males
| tvs daily drive, the wind tore the hat
| from her august head and carried it off
along the street. A boy ran after it and
| finally caught it by putting his foot into
| it. Another boy, who had witnessed the
pursuit. but who had no idea as to the
ownership of the hat, snatched it from
| the first boy and damned it down on his
own head. At the same moment he re-
ceived a ringing box on the ear from a
| laborer, who, having recognized his SOW
ereign. was indignant at the disrespect of
boy number two. The result of the cuff
was to precipitatc the unfortunate hat
into an exceedingly dirty gutter, and it
was dripping wet, undiscovered and bat
tered out of shape when it was handed
back to the aged queen by the labOrer.
Naturally, the good old lady did not put
| it on, but drawing shawl over her
white hair, continued her drive home,
| laughing very heartily.
The poor old count of Aumont died in
relatively Strengthened circumstances be-
| fore the French courts had given any de-
cisiOn in the lawsuit which he brought
against an adventurer for the purpose of
| upsetting the extraordinary will of his
cousin. the last duke of AumOnt. who
died about three years ago. The count,
who had reached the age of 80, had been,
like the duke, a page of honor in his boy
hood to both King Louis XVIII. and
King Charles Y. He had distinguished
himself so greatly as a cavalry officer
during the Algerian campaign, in the
reign of King Louis Philippe, that he
was decorated with the cross of COM
mander of the Legion of Honor. The
fact that he should have remained in the
| army and placed his sword at the disposal
of King Louis Philippe after the latter's
| usurpation of his crown was a source of
| bitter quarrel between the two cousins
"a quarrel which neither time nor the
gradual disappearance of all the other
members of their ancient and illustrious
house tended to modify.
| The Duke of AumOnt was most &C.
centric character and after the revolu-
ton which resulted in the overthrow of
his friend and master, King Charles n,
and the elevation to the throne of the
bourgeois king, Louis Philippe, he left
| France, making a solemn vow never to
return to his country until the senior
branch of the Bourbons regained their
| blood-stained crown.
| Proceeding to Cairo he took up his resi-
dence in the island of Phoda in the Nile.
lying within a stones throw of the old
portion of the city of Cairo. 1t was there
| that on several occasions he entertained
us during our winter sojourn under the
shadow of the Pyramids The palace in
which he lived had been built for a pasha
IN the halcyon days when money was no
object to the Turkish oppressors of
Egypt and when inquisitive English Of
hcials had not appeared upon the scene
to put stop to extorting money from the
merchants and the fellaheen.
Inc gardens were of the most extensive
character, famous for their magnificent
roses. 1t was there that the duke lived
from 1880 until three years ago. During
the last 20 years he did not once set foot
outside of his palace grounds. The
palace was furnished with the greatest
luxury: The wealth of gold and silver
plate that figured on the dining table and
on the Bullets was something prodigious
and the Gordon bleu received a salary all
most equal to that which the khediye
pays to his cabinet minister's
| The duke, though very stout, retained
all the courtly grace of the old regime.
| ana was to the very tips of his fingers a
grand seigneur. Curiously enough he
seemed to take no interest in horses
| Whlch was all the more astonishing in
| view OF the fact that he had been one of
the most noted whips in Paris during
the reign OF King Charles X. Indeed, he
set the fashion in riding and driving, and
| TO this day the method of Harvesting n
| 1our-ln- hand for use to royal personages
| on state occasions is known as "attpIose
| Ia dAumont." 'ei"se
when the duke died unmarried his
vast fortune passed into the hands of ~
man OF the name of Aristide Cavillot, a
peasant by birth, who from the position
OF iootman had worked his way nm tn
that OF steward, secretary and factotun,
ana TO add insult to injury, he had tha
uu9aclty TO masquerade through Eurone
ulluer the name of the Dulo Of Au,,-..