New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-10
PRINCES IN NETWORK.
SAD RoMANcEs OF EXILE AND POVERTY.
MEN WITH TITLES WHO ARE TRYING UNoB-
TRusIvELY TO EARN AN HONEST LIVING
IN THIS CoUNTRY-TITI.ED RES
TAJRANT WATERS.

IN THIS COUNTRY-TITLED RES
TAURANT WATERS
In addition to those foreign aristocrats who
visit this country with the avowed intention OF
bartering an ancient name and title for the dol
lars Of some American heiress. there are others.
more manly and honorable, who take up their
residence in the United States for the purpose
Of repairing by means OF hard work fortunes
that have been shattered either through mis-
fortune or extravaganza. and sometimes repu-
tations that have been temporarily, but not ir
remediably. suied by indiscretions. Men who
have been overtaken by financial difficulties.
who had the misfortune to kill their adversaries
In duels, who have incurred the wrath of great
personages whose powers OF persecution extend
beyond the borders OF their own country; men
who. destined to inherit vast wealth. find 1t i'm
possible to go the pace Of society In Europe
while waiting for dead mems subsequently, all
turn their eyes In the direction OF the New
World. And they migrate hither. convinced that
inasmuch as In America all men equal and
are supposed to be Judged and appreciated. not
by their names or antecedents but by what they
can accomplish they will stand better chance
here than anywhere else OF either recovering
their fortunes OF tiding their evil days.
They arrive In shoals. some Of them travelling
under their own names. while in the case OF
others the identity is concealed beneath some
commonplace patronymic. and they nearly al
ways begin by pitching their tents here in New
York. Many are provided with letters OF intro
ductiOn TO prominent people Of this city. For no
matter how dark the cloud under which the
FLOODED emigrant leaves Europe, there are
few Of his relatives, friends even acquaint-
ances who would have the heart to refuse him a
note OF recommendation. which, after all, Is held
to give the wanderer chance, to entail
financial or moral responsibility to the writer
and which Is the cheapest method by which an
obligation can be conferred But these letters
seldom lead to anything except a dinner two
for which reason they described soup
tickets" while at the best they serve in the
hands OF INSCRIPTIONS bearers to extract more
or less willing loans and advances Of money
from the persons to whom they are addressed.
Some Of the foreigners thus arriving in this
country begin by endeavoring to put their title
and their arstocratic connections to profitable
account by means Of holding them out
bait at which they expect American Eeiresses to
nibble These are the least deserving of the
foreigners but unfortunately the men who
owing to their impudence and utter absence of
delcacy are able to command by far the
largest share OF attention. But the majority
lay aside on landing their pretensons to rank.
drop temporarily whatever titles they may pos
sess as unsuited to the condition OF a country
where such things are supposed to be at dis
count, do not even make any attempt to use the
letters Of introduction which they may have
brought with them, and determine to rely
tirey upon their own hard work to make their
way in a place where they imagine that all men
start with the same chance Of success in life.
DESERVING BUT NEGLECTED.
These, by far the most praiseworthy. chival-
rous and in every way high minded Of the
mobiles who visit the United States, pre-
cisely those who receive least attention from
society who are neglected, and who are left to
work their way unaided and unheeded. And
thus It Is that one finds Muscovite noble. with
a criminal record in three countries. whose
passage to New-York has been in more senses
than one a "ticket-of-leave" being entertained
here with the utmost hospitality. put up at the
leading clubs and asked TO the most exclusive
balls. while Austrian and German princes OF
much higher rank. OF honorable antecedents.
whose sole cause Of expatriatOn is a financial
'cropper" or death inflicted in the defence Of
the honor OF a sister Of wife. are left to
vegetate unheeded and unaded clerks. medi-
cal students conductors railroads. car
drivers and hotel walters.
No more striking illustration Of this condition
Of affairs can be cited than the Of Prince
Michael Hkoff. Fifteen or twenty years ago.
having sauandered his own fortune and that Of
his wife while officer of the Chevaliers
Gardes in ST. Petersburg he came to this cOun-
try with the Princess, with the object Of repair
ing his fortunes, and likewise in order to await
the death Of relatives who had life interest In
property to which he entitled on their
demise. Notwithstanding the antiquity Of the
name of the Prince and Princess. the loftiness
OF their rank and the brillancy of their career
at St Petersburg. no one here lent them n
helping hand. They were invited to no Patri-
arch balls or Demonico dinners. and were
left severely alone by society. The Prince
tbereupon secured a berth first as brakeman
and then fireman on the New-fork Central
Railroad. while the Princess. in spite Of her
dainty rearing and former elegance. took in
washing to keep the wolf from the door The
prnce's subsequent career, and how he re-
turned 10 Europe to use the practical knowledge
of railroading which he had obtained in this
country AS brakeman, fireman and engineer
have been recently related in these columns on
| tho occasion OF his visit to the United States
in his present capacity of Minister of Roads
and Communications in the Cars Cabinet
A PRINCE IN DISGUISE.
At the present moment there Is In one OF the
medical schools OF Greater New-fork-t would
no unkind and ungenerous TO specify more close
10 tho institution-a young prince or grander
,or,o NJ more illustrious lineage and OF nigher
ronk than any who have visited this country
.,.o ,hose NJ the blood royal He has dropped
,,o handle 10 his name with the object OF avoid
,ro attention. has assumed In its stead the demo-
cratic prefix Of Mr." and is working day and
NIGH, to qualify himself as physician ne
mvss IN the most unobtrusive fashion Is geniai
and unaffected with every one. and Is univer-
-, ..,.or,te among his fellow-students. who are
,,,,orort ~ his identity and OF the fact that
,here are but two lives between himself ana the
possession Of immense family estates and hered-
,,ary dignities at court. as well as no less 'han
IL. htu