Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-09-23


THE PRINCE AND HIS WINK
them the cnt-ce into the charmed circles |
of the old world, it is only right and prop |
er To- warn them that his friendship is by |
no means an unmixed blessing.
The fact Is that Queen Nictoria's eldest |
son has the reputation of being a "jetta-
tore" or possessed of the evil eye 1t must
Dr. confessed that there is much to lend
color 10 the assertion, ridiculous US the he |
lief ia the "jpttatura'' may appear to
strong minded persons. Misfortune has
oycrtakcn all those who have been most |
conspicuous in the encourage Of the prince,
until matters have reached such point |
that intimate association with England's
future king is regarded as the inevitable |
precursor of ruin and unhappincss. This
being true, the people in London are spec
ulating rs to what particular form the i'll
luck will take in the case of Mr. William
Waldorf Astor, the vastness Of whose for
tune seems to preclude him from any dan
ger of financial disaster.
1t is bankruptcy that has overtaken the
Countess of Warwick, better known per-
haps to the general public by the name of
Lady Brooke, and 30 celebrated not only
for her beauty, but also for her close friend
ship with the Prince of Wales. The ruin
o. the Warwicks is so complete that the
countess has been compelled to part with
Eastnn Lodge and with all the Essex estates
which she inherited from her father and
which have been in the possession of his
family, the Maynards, for three centuries.
The WarwicLs are about the latcs. add
ton to the long list of those who have paid
the penalty Of the princes friendship with
ruin ard misfortune Thus the Muriettas.
who are Us well known in New York rs
they are in London, and who figure in
English society under their Spanish title
Of Marquis and Marquisc de Santurcc, have
lost almost every penny that they possess
ed, graduating through the bankruptcy
court and not only being forced to sell
their hospitabic mansion in Carlton House
terrace to Mr.. William Waldorf Astor, but
also dragging down in their fall another
one of the princes cronics. Lord Sudcley,
who ut the request of his future king had
come to their financial assistance and had
| endcavored to stay their ruin.
Mr.. Reuben Sassoon, too, who ever since
the death If the last Sir James Mackenzie
surnaincd "thc benefactor," has been the
principal purveyor of the princes pleas
urcs. is known to have been hard hit by
| financial rcvcrscs during the last year-re-
verses sufficiently serious to compel him to
place upon the market that hc00 in town
which has been the scene Of so many enter
| tainments given to the prince. There are
| few Americans who have visited Homburg
who do not know Mr.. Reuben Sassoon, the
| Anglo-lndian who presented to the prince
those wonderful baccarat counters that fig
urcd SO conspicuously in the trial of Sir
| William Gordon Cumming = few years ago,
| for mt the popular German watering place
| Reuben constitutes the shadow OF his fu-
| ture king and spends his time In organic
ing picnics and parties de plaisir for his
royal highness.
The Earl Of Seton, a great crony of the
| prince the ground landlord Of n consider
able portion of Liverpool and the peer
who executed" the late Viscount Dup
pin, brothcr-in-law of the Duke of Fife,
for playing cards for high stakes when he
had not money to pay his differences, has
recently been forced to place his eldest son,
Lord Molyneux, in an asylum for the in
sane, and it is doubtful whether the unfor
tunatc young Eobleman will ever recover
his reason.
The Duke Of Fife himself Is afflicted
with spinal trouble to such a degree as to
convert him into u confirmed hypochondri-
D. and rs to seriously alarm his royal rela.
tives. The sun has likewise ceased to shine
upon the harmless, inoffensive and hospi.
table Christopher sykes, formerly the fidus
Ach;'tcs OF the prince and the ''tame cat
Iar excellence of Marlborough House.
Long, indeed. Is the list of those Of the
princes associates who have fallen by the
whyside-Sir William Gordon Cumming.
6corgc Russell and the Hon Walter Har-
hord were all overtakon 10y fate worse than
death in being branded US card cheats; the
late Earl joey" Aylesford. who. after
losing his wife by elopernent and his for.
tune by extravaganza. was forced to ex
patriatc himself and died mysteriouslv in
Texas; Sir George Chetwynd, compromised
in what i known as the Gimcrack club
scandal: the late Duke of Sutherland. who
died practically disgraced and ostracized
after having bcen one of the most intimate
] friends Of the prince; Count Jaraciwski.
n who committed saicide on the revelation
TO London society of his queer antecederts:
Colonel Oliver Montague, who, after hay.
: ing had an eye shot out while staying a,
Sandringham, died SO suddenly at Cairo
3 ard Others too numerous To mention here
The Prince of Wales eye that is regarded
rs evil is his right optic, and it cannot bs
denied that ii presents a peculiar and
= somewhat uncanny appearance, one, in
deed, calculated to strengthen the supersti
Il ton with which il is regarded. The ey,
seems to bulge more than its mate. About
once in every minute and hall or SO thu
Lid drops completely over the eyeball Tn,