New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-10
MUNICIPALITIES"
.,,ors AND ECCENTRIC PEOPLE IN
UGH LIFE. FAR REMOVED FROM
ryrrMDRUM ARISTOCRACY.

H1yMDRCM ARlS1O>RhNA'
., writers have been bewailing the fact
,here are no longer any "ndividualities I:
all are planed TO a pattern and fashioned
swre. IN one word that there are none VINO vent
% manifest eccentricities that would distin-
tt, them from the ordinary humdrum. COM
.,n,ace everyday individual. There are. tney
...,.re no more great ladies. such as those VINO
-,sned in the early part of the century.
:, tho stamp for instance. or Princess fauiihe
~.os. who had toilette des pieds.' to
~,,cb she invited her friends. on when occa-
nov lovely feet were placed on a red velvet
,,on wiped with a perfumcd sponge ana
.,ad with powder: or like Lady Ruthven who
a'' 90 ,a,k 10 herself in low murmur all
U.s. U.s., dinner-time: or like Lady Treveyan.
.,radcting everybody sitting on the hearth
and talking about her extraordinary
ss',sr or else like the famous Mrs. Bowes.
rec,,ned in bath Of cold, black mud,
lifting I'D 10 her neck. while the guests stay
:, nor country house were marched in pro-
no o.,or every morning through her bathroom
their respects to her before proceeding
20 breakfast.
r-rs the great ladies of the present day 90
49,, 90 70 quite the length of taking their mud
s.,hs in public. But still there are many VINO
- NOW living or who have recently died so Tar
-.uoved from the commonplace. so odd ana
,~,.a, IN their conduct that they may GER
,u,v no classed as 'individualities," though
80 IN America the name that would rise most
.suv 10 the lips in describing some of them
,o,,d be that OF crank
r,us there is the Princess Isabeau de Beau
..,,.Craon. whose family formerly exercised
..o.a,s, rights over a portion Of Anjou. tracing
,.s ancestry in an unbroken line back to the
ELEVENTH century and enjoying princely rank.
o,lv in France but also in Germany as
Iii ne "Grandessa" Of the first class In Spain.
Ssa "a 90 original In her mode of life that her
.o,..ives on several occasions have endeavored
- secure her incarceration as lunatic. She is
-ossessed OF enormous wealth, part OF which she
;rnsr,,ed from her grandmother, the Comtesse
A. cavIa. the favorite Of King Louis XVIII. Her
es,ates comprise the entire seaboarc OF TWO
hols DEPARTMENTS, the salt marshes alone OF
,,ch are worth 81, 900 an acre. She lavishes
al her attention and affection as we'll as a
considerable portion OF her money. upon her
numerous pet dogs. In her youth she had many
su,,ors among them couple Of well-known
americans namely, the Sprituast Home. the
CORNER chum Of Lord Dunraven. and the
nrophet Dr. Harris the friend OF Laurence
O,iphant. She became. however. so much dis
gusted with the preference which her various
admirers displayed for her fortune rather than
for her excruciatingly homely face and hgure.
that she turned her attention altogether to dogs.
taking the closest interest in their education, and
through patience and perseverance converting
them into prodges. They have their own equip
ages. servants and suites of apartments. and Will
doubtless at the death of the now elderly maiden
lady inherit portion Of her wealth. in the shape
OF annuities in their favor although the larger
part Of the property. being entailed. VIII pass
along with the beautiful Chateau of st. Ouen at
the Clichy gate Of the metropolis. standing IN
magnificent park, on the banks of the Seine to
her cousin, with whom she Is at daggers Drawn
A MASCULINE PRINCESS.
strikingly original character was that
Austrian. Princess Monteart, who was muir
dered near Cracow only little while ago. she
presented a striking resemblance 10 the ia'e
Miss Mildly Morgan, for many years the hVe
,,ocr renorter and expert on several Of the
daily papers of New-York or the most
masculine appearance. she used to wear top
MOI. short black skirt. clearing her ankles.
and mans overcoat and SLOUGH hat. She
evoked cigars all day long, and rode not in
side saddle. but astride of her horses. To the
,a,,sr sha was devoted; indeed, her whole in
..-,s. a,d hanniness centred in her stud farm.
and she thought and spoke Of nothing else pat
horse breeding her language on such occasion
be,ng Of the most unvarnished plainness. IN
Narrsn, contrast with that for which one IS
accustomed To look in maiden ladies. She went
nowhere. and although possessed OF the Dluest
blood OF vast wealth and immense estates IN
Guiding a magnificent castle near Cracow, she
lived all the year round on her stud farm. ana
never maintained any social relations win her
aristocratic neighbors. who only visited her FOR
the purpose Of inspecting or purchasing her
horses Otherwise her only associates We're
stablemen. farmhands and ignorant peasants
by one Of whom. a man who has since escaped
- America she was mysteriously murdered.
A RUSSIAN COUNTESS AvARICE.
The Russian counterpart Of these two ladies'
In eccentrcity that Countess Victoria
Tcharnitska. who died last fall and whose will is
now giving rise 10 a complicated and sensational
suit at Moscow In her youth she had been
maid OF honor 10 the late Czarna. But after the
death OF her only brother. when she inherited
his immense wealth in addition to her own large
fortune she developed the most EXTRAORDINARY
ana eccentric avarica. She contented herself
with one meal day. brought from neighDor-
ing restaurant of the humbest description. the
cost OF which did not exceed sixteen cents; her
garments were Of the commonest and TO avoid
the expense Of purchasing newspaper she was
wont 20 spend an hour every day az the house
o. neighbor for the purpose or reading the
"Novosti" there This friend. however she lost
a short time before her death through accusing
her OF having stolen pocket-handkerchief.
Her one dread was Of dying in the poorhouse
and. under the circumstances 1t may he de-
scribed as an irony Of fate that, owing to the
absence Of any near relatives or friends. and to
the fact that all her property was tied up in
stocks. bonds and real estate, this arch-miiion-
airess was buried last year as a pauper at public
expense. the undertakers having no hope Of re-
compense by her heirs in the event Of their going
70 the cost of interring her as beftted her rank
and station.
Princess Pauline Metternich. the Countess de
Castglione who still lives at Paris and who dis