Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-01-25

CROWNED HEADS.
The Fat Little Red Book That Tells All
About Them.

About Them.
There is fat little red book that
comes into every considerable reference
library at about this time every year
with bursting load of information re-
garding the nations of the earth and
their rulers. This book is the Alma
mach de Gotha'' in the diplomatic Ian
guage of the world and g Der Gothaische
Genealogische Hofkalender'' in the Ian
guage of it's native land. Itcontains any
amount of information that may be
found in equally available form else
where. It contains also several hundred
pages Of facts that never are collected
elsewhere in such trustworthy and con-
yenient forn-facts relating to the
crowned heads of all monarchies, great
and small, their families, their ancestors
and children and childrens children
and their collateral relatives far and
near.
Every year the editors of the CAL
manach de Gotha' send to the castles
and palaces of royalty, wherever access
sible, the proof sheets of the pages con-
corning the ruling families, and none of
these pages is published without having
been corrected by some princely hand.
Consequently man may usually rely
on what he finds in the ''Almanach"
about the crowned heads and their kind,
although not always, for crowned heads
err occasionally, as do uncrowned heads,
in matters o. family history. On the
whole, however. the "Almanach" is
about as trustworthy as any book of
1880 pages could be.
The last 'Almanach, received few
days ago from Europe, shows that the
Oldest reigning prince next to the pope,
who is sc, is the grand duke of little
Luxembourg, who is so. Denmark's king
is rs; the grand duke of Sake Weimar,
rs; Queen Victoria and the grand duke
OF Mecklenburg- Strelitz, ~. Three rul-
ing princes have passed 20 in the last
year-the Duke of SAKE Mei2ingen, the
Duke of SAKE Altenburg and the grand
duke of Baden. Nine sovcreigns are be-
tween sc and 70, seven of them being
over Go. Eight sovereigns are in their
fifties, six in their forties, three in their
thirties and three III their twenties.
AS for several years, Wilhelmina of
the Netherlands and Alfonso of Spain
are the youngest sovereigns According
the list with almost 60 years. She is
followed by Emperor Francis Joseph of
Austria, with 48 years, and the Grand
Duke of Baden, also with 48 years. The
Grand Duke of SAKE Weimar, the Duke
of SAKE Altenburg and the Grand Duke
of Oldenburg have reigned since 1858.
Seventeen of the 40 European sovereigns
have reigned more than % years and Is
less than 10 years. In 1894 there was
but one change i'll a throne; i'll 1895,
one; in 1896, none. OF SO reigning
houses in Europe, but % have heirs in
the direct line of succession. Of the
heirs to thrones, the Prince of Wales,
with his so years, is the eldest. Then
come the crown prince of Denmark, 80
years old; the hereditary grand duke
of Mecklenburg -Strelitz, 4S; the hered-
itary prince of Meiningen, 40; the hered-
itary grand dukes of Luxembourg and
Oldenburg, "A. OF the whole number of
heirs, only 10 are married. Six of these
have grandchildren.
A curious addition has been made to
the diplomatic and statistical part of |
the little red book 1t relates to the ma
tional holidays of the countries of the
globe. In only few German states is
there any holiday at the anniversary of |
the emperor's birth. In honor of the
shah's birthday, however, the Persians
celebrate Ii holidays, and in one prin-
cipality of India the birthday festivities
last two weeks -New York Sun
For Stamp Collector.