The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-04
A MAD KINGS FREAKS.
Some of Ludwig lis Ways of ANUS
Ing himself

From Pearson's Magazine
If Ludwig II, the young King of Bava-
ria, was mad, it was from excess of maj
esty The monarch of one of the smallest
Kingdoms of the world his opinion Of him.
self was magnificent beyond all grandeur.
Ordinary people were not sufficiently ex-
allied to be his companions; ordinary
occupations afforded him no qualification;
all the chateaus and palaces which he in
herited when he came to the throne were
squalid for one so great. Architecture and
building were his ruling hobbies, and he
was thus able TO crafty the one delusion
by building magnificent edilces, the Sec
ond by occupying his time in the most ex-
traordiuery fashions and the third by
stunning society and escaping the inspec-
ton of ordinary eyes, either i'm his gor-
geous retreats or by retiring to one of
the more humble dwellings he erected on
various mountain SUBMITS, where a few
attendants awaited his unexpected visits.
Ludwig's mania for solitude took the most
unexpected twists. He enjoyed his own
company best on those occasions when
people whose minds are less phenomenally
balanced consider companionship most es-
sential 1t was his fancy to have dra-
matte and musical performances for him
self alone. Unfortunate theatrical man
ayers and indignant musical directors, not
udIlnS 10 resist the royal Wnlm, were
driven to waste their talent by providing
entertainments. The theater was darken-
ed, the orchestra, the chorus and the full
dramatic company were grudgingiy pro-
vided, one and all detesting the work OF
putting forth their best efforts for the
amusement of an empty house, save for
the solitary figure sitting silent and mo-
tionless in the shadow of the royal box
Music Ludwig loved, and many of his
widest exUravagances and maddest acts
of prodigality were due 90 the influence of
Wagner. his one friend and adviser. 1t
was Wagner who prompted his most
trauscendant folly. the erection of a huge
theater at Bayreuth for that composers
glOrifcaton. One performance alone en-
tailed an expenditure of 10000 of which
fl5,000 was paid by the king, the rest be-
ing barely covered by the sale of tickets.
Reared from his childhood amid the
most enchanting scenery, Ludwig dearly
loved the lonely mountains and the silent
forests in which his possession were so
rich Delightng to turn night into day
he would order his horses after dark; and
the Jingle of his sleighbells and the big
crack Of the Positions whips would bring
the peasantry to their bedroom easements
to see brilliant equpage fash by. a phan-
tom that vanished in a whjrl Of snowdust,
dream OF red and god and blue and sill
yer, and above the head of the silent occu-
light. 1t was only the simple inhabitants
of the Bavauan Alps who ever caught a
glimpse of these fairylike vehicles. The
front of one was formed by a gigantic
shell borne by Tritons with little cupids
seated on its edge, whose tiny arms car
ried back wreaths to the royal occupant.
The ornamentation of another was so pro-
fuse that but three small spaces were left
on the panels, and these were occupied by
delicate NEUROLOGICAL scenes painted by
the hand of a famous Munich artist The
kings sleighs were never drawn by fewer
than four horses. He appears to have
been fond of these animals, whom he call
ed his dumb courters." But, like ev-
erything else about him, they were com
PEELED to suffer in order to crafty their
masters fancies. During the winter of
1874 instructions were sent to the royal
stables that the thirty best horses they
contained were for several days to be fed
on nothing but oats. The grooms mag
med they were to be entered for a race.
Though a binding snowstorm was raging.
Ludwig commanded some workmen to at
once set about erecting a wooden tower in
the forest adjoining his palace. and around
this tower a gallery was to run. Finally
when his plans were matured he stationed
an orchestra of wind Instruments near