Evening star., 1897-11-03
THE WORLDS RICHEST WOMAN.
The Queen Of Great Britain and Em.
press Of India Has Tint Distfnction.

press Of India Has That Distfnction.
w. i. Curtis in the Chicago Record.
queen Victoria would undoubtedly be tho
richest woman In the world even IL she
should lose her throne and all her official
revenues. She was born In poverty. Her
rather was compelled to borrow money
ifom an alderman of the city OF London.
whom he was fortunate enough TO meet in
faris, In order to pay his expenses from
tbat city TO London few weeks before her
oit'n' ana untii MS death was a pensioaer.
nor OF parliament, but upon the bounty of
the king
victoria herself occupied that mortifyinx
relation until she became Queen OF Eng
Shd ana when she was called 10 the throna
she did not have a dollars worth OF prop-
erty IN her own right. Nevertheless her
~Meaith ~ is now estimated b1 the hudreds OF
nniions or dollars. Like the Duke of F.lin-
ourgh, she never spends a cent of her nor
scnai income, but allows Il to ac<,un,ulate.
ana has II Invested in the most remunera.
tive kind OF property.
She has twelve palaces Tw, ~ ,ho,.,
baimoraI. IN Scotland and Osborne. on the
Isle OF Wight-are her personal pronerty
anu sne occupies them more than any OF the
oiai paiaces. Buckingham palace in
Lcndon. is always kept really for her use
anu anu she goes there to preside at official
IIhctions, but has prejudice against the
piace, and has not spent a night under lis
osi! stdTs sne lives AT Windsor
Lament. VI P'i
mere are seven or eight other paiaces
,iiaiIi IA, aimed at public expense and occupiad
y! her sons. daughters and other relatives
ana pensioners. At Hannton cour, -
largest and most beautiful of all tho Rri,-
lsh palaces. which was built Inv ,~.,qt,a,
Noo'sey' occupied by Henry VIII. and Tho
scene OF the gayest events In ;he lives of
Sharies ! and Charles ii. there .re fo-,,,-
nNe families living on the royal tountv
mostly retired clergymen and military ,.s,
erahs ere ana the widows and orphans of SINH
iar punhc servants. The palaces at Ken
sinSton, Kew and Richmond are also nlla,
with pensioners, and il COSTS slslNp a
year to maintain them
Her majesty has a train of railway cars
Wlch Is never used by any one else. and II
costs the government several hundred dol
lars every time she travels between Mind
sor ana London, distance of twenty-fuur
nia. ,iliIes, lhers are four royal yachts-the
victoria ard Albert. 2.is0 tons; the Os-
Lnrhe, l,s5o tons; the Alberta $40 tons. and
,he Finn, l9S tons-which she seldom uses
out II cost $4,000 last year TO maintain
them. ''
riages and Do horses and ponies kent for
the use OF her majesty and her house hold
WIN large number and great variety OF
road carriages and other vehicles The
queen uses an ordinary basket phaeton
drawn by couple of gentle ponies when
she rides for air and exercise in the parks
trat surround her castles at Windsor in
Scotland, and on the Isle of Wight Some
times she uses a victoria. When she goes
70 London she invariably drives I'm a plain
landau, painted dark brown. with red lines.
In her stable are ten matchless cream-cOl-
ored stations and ten splendid blacks,
which are reserved for ceremonial occa-
sions. and never haul anybody less than a
king or a queen.
Thus It will be seen that although n wo-
man Of economical habits. her majesty is
very expensive luxury for her taxpayers,
but not more so than some OF the other
rulers of Europe. The president of the
United States receives less pay in compare
son with the importance of his Office than
any other man in the world. The presi-
Gent of France receives a salary of GD0.op0
francs, which is equivalent to si25 oOo. and
a similar amount for expenses Of his house.
hold. The Emperor of Austria has al
lowance of SS,SI5.oo; the King of Sweden
and Norway. s515.e0; King Leopold of
Belgium, s66o.e0; the King of Holland.
s3Go,G09; the Kirg of Greece. s2en.o0; the
King of Italy, s2.s5s.oo0. The Emperor of
Russia, being an autocrat, can do what
he pleases with the revenues of the en-
pire, but the expenses Of the court are
about 100000 year.