The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-04
EUROPEAN MONARCHs WHO HAVE
TAKEN TO THE INTOXICATING
CUP.
RuMoR AS TO KING OSCAR.
CHARITABLE CONSTRUCTION PUT
UPON HIS ExTRAvAGANT Ut
TERANCEs.
WALES
81 SHINING EXAMPLE,
Cause of Prince RudoIph,s Sensa-
tfonal Fate-Louis of Ba-
varfa.

Special Correspondents of the Globe.
| LONDON, Oct. las even the Nor
wegian papers do not hesitate to
ascribe to inebriety the extraordinary
conduct Of their monarch In marching
up to peasant at Trondhjem and
roughly pitching into the mud the hat
which the man through ignorance and
boorishness had omitted to doff. as
well as in angrily fiinging back the
bouquets OF flowers that had been
j thrown into his carriage by loyal citi-
zens, there seems to be some fouda-
ton for the persistent reports current
Tor some time past to the effect that
King Oscar had taken to drink. And
this impression Is further confirmed nv
the fnconceivable extravagance of his
utterances against his own Swedish
and Norwegian subjects in an inter-
view which he accorded to a. number
OF foreign newspaper correspondents
VINO had come to Norway for the pur-
pose OF witnessing the return home OF
the explorer hansen. Until a couple
OF years ago Oscar was regarded as
the most sagacious, benevolent. and.
aoove all, the most accomplished mon
arch that had ever reigned over Scan
o1navia. But Of late he has entirely
changed, and many of his actions have
oeen characterized by so much eccen-
tr1clty as to give rise to the belief
that often he is not altogether account
able for what he does or saws.
Ii 1t be really true that this irrespon-
s1b1l1ty Is ascribable to an abuse of
stimuiants. there will be much sorrow
among the members of his family. for
his favorite son. that Prince Oscar who
surrendered his rights of succession to
the throne to wed the lowly born maid
en- whom he loved, Is the active presi-
dent OF the temperance society of Scan
dinavia. while the queen herself has in
sisted upon placing her name upon the
roster of the association. The latter
has very uphill work in Norway and
Sweden, where heavy drinking is well
nigh universal, and huge rotations Of
arrack punch are indispensable fea-
lures Of every entertainment and con-
vivial gathering.
AS a general rule the anointed Of the
Lord are an abstemious lot of men,
one Of the most notable In this respect
being, contrary to general belief. the
Prince Of Wales, to whose influence Is
attributable the fact that hard drinking
| has gone out Of fashion among gentle
men and is no longer considered good
form. But there are some very con-
spicuous exceptions. Thus the late
Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria to
all intents and purposes crazed himself
by means Of heavy drinking prior to
the tragedy at Meyerling. His favorite
| tfpple was a mixture of cognac and
champagne. And I have known the
| Prince of Wales on the last occasion
when he visited Vienna prior to the
archduke's death to demonstrate with
him upon the subject in most kindly
and affectionate manner and as his
| best friend. But it was Of no avail.
and it is doubtful that if Rudolph had
any correct notion of what he was do
| ing on the memorable night when he
| first Of all shot the Baroness Marie
Vetzera and then killed himself.
His cousin, the Archduke Otto, who
has now been definitely designated by
Emperor Francis Joseph as heir appar-
ent to the Austro-H Hungarian throne,
| is renowned for his love of stimulants,
| most of the disgraceful actions which