New-York tribune., 1897-08-22

ing as master OF the entire establishment with
all It's army Of royal servants and retainers IL
the Belgian newspapers are to be believed
Ieopold Is interested in several Of the gambling
establishments at Ostend, Spa and elsewhere
and it is certain that he has gone out Of his way
TO visit his dspleasure upon those judicial ana
nagisterial officials who have distinguished
themselves by their too strict enforcement OK
the laws against gambling at Ostend; and, al
though married to an Austrian Archduchess'
with two Of his daughters settled at Vienna, yet
ne Is in the worst Of odor in the metropolis OK the
duaI emnire in consequence Of the firm belief
WEIGH prevails in court circles there to the effect
that he has squandered in speculation, notably
in his Congo company, the whole OF the I'M
mense fortune Of his only sister, the ex-Empress
Charlotte Of Mexico Of whose estate he IS the
trustee and who if popular rumor is to be be-
lieved is completely cured OF her deinentia'
and merely kept under restraint because her
brother is unable to give a proper account OK
her property.
STORIES TOLD OF THE BELGIAN klNT.
In conclusion, two little incidents, trivial in
themselves and yet characteristic may De given
here as Indicating the nature Of the man whom
| japan wishes to name as arbitrator In her con-
troversy with the United States. 1t is customary
at the various courts on yonder side of the At
| lantic for each foreign diplomat to receive from
the sovereign a parting gift presenting his
| letters Of recall, which mostly takes the form
Of q icwocd cigar case or snuffDOX. -Four years
ago a foreign diplomat, while attending fare
we'll BANQUET at the palace, received from King
! Leopold q superb gold cigar case studded Win
! costly jewe's memoir of his sojourn at the
! Court Of Belgium. on the day following a ho'e
arrived from the ade-de- camp-in- waiting beg
eing that the case might be returned for some
inscription to be added to the interior Or
course. the dir ID mat consented. After waiting
not merely for several days but actually several
weeks in order to get it back, and writing re-
pcateGly to the palace, he was finally torced 10
leave BRUSSELS without it, and has never seen
II 70 this dav. Recently. however, he met his
successor. Who, in his turn, had just left Brus-
sells. The latter was fun Of enthusiasm about
the King "Leopod." he exclaimed, lis capi-
tai chap: presented me with a splendid gold
cigar case. heavily incrusted with magnificent
gems when | took my leave of him. would
like to have showed it 70 you. only they asked
TO have il back for bit, 10 make an altera-
! tion of some sort" The smile that developed on
| the features of the other diplomat became both
! broad and eventually loud, and further lnVesti-
| CATION brought to light the fact that yet other
diplomats had been treated in the same man.
ner; that is to say, presumably the identlcai
gold cigar had done duty for them all.
on another occasion Leopold about to
present an English gentleman with a gold
cigarette case as recognition for some services
rendered The man, however, was profuse in
the expression Of his gratitude at the honor
conferred by the King in receiving him that
| Leopold came to the conclusion that the cigar
cite case would be superluous He accordingly
did not present it, but actually retained 1t IN
closed in the third and fourth digts of his right
hand while he extended the first and second
Of his fingers in an effusive farewell to the
worthy Brton The King made no secret az
terward of what he had done, declaring that
it would have been too stupid to waste so pretty
a piece of jewelry man already so we'll
satisfied. EN-ATTACHE.