The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-02

! Savannah. Ca Allan Ia. Ga.
! Starnberg lake The people even declare
/ that he was drowned by order of the re-
| gent, who wished to secure the succession
/ to his own son. He is also said 10 be very
| avaricious which is The objectionable sin
/ in hospitable Munich. The worship of
Ludwig is incompre hensibe when his aw-
full extravgance. his want of moral sense
and his evident lunacy are considered
Through an officer of rank at court we OBJ
/ tanned permission to visit the three palaces
erected by the crazy king. Such lavish
and unnecessary waste Of money absolutely
appalled, as. The millions that those castles
alone must have cost are incalculable.
on the roof of the old castle i'm Munich
he had a small lake made, and used chem
/ icals to make the water blue; these ran
down and destroyed the ceilings of the
rooms below and caused endless expense
and trouble, 1t is said that Wagner en-
cOuraged him in his vagaries and led him
into many extravagances, such as paying
immense sums FOR representations Of mis-
operas for himself alone, the opera house
heated and lighted as If for
an audience. There was a
Wagner festival going on while
We were in Munich We had Wagner for
breakfast, dinner, and tea. We lived so
near the opera house that we could hear
almost as well as if we had been inside,
and it was much cooler We had the
same experience in Venice, where we rowed
around the opera house and listened 10 The
music under the full moon, a most delight
full and novel way to "deadhead."
In one>of the museums is a room dedi-
Gated to Ludwig. They have brought
there all the furniture of his room and his
belongings, even some of the things ne
wore wher an infant. This is q shrine at
which all Bavarans worship. The furni-
ture and hangings are of richest blue vel
vet, embroidered and fringed with solid
gold. Ludwig seems to have had a cult
for himself also, as he never considered
anything too expensive for his own pleas
ure.
When his extravaganza passed all
bounds and he showed undoubted signs of
oraziness he was taken to Starnberg,
about two hours from Munich. When we
saw the little schloss we did not wonder
that he killed himself, for drearier little
place, contrasted with the grandeur of his
other palaces, can hardly be imagined.
The house is very small, more like a farm
house, very shabby ana tawdry inside and
utterly unhomelike. He must have felt
that "the game was up" and that death
would be preferable TO a life in such a
place. The grounds are very beautiful,
and so is the lake. but the house is dread
ful 1t is awful to think of the despair
that must have filed his soul when he
found himself practically q prisoner here.
away from all that he cared for in Munich.
1t is this view of him that makes the
WaTm-hearted Bavarians make a martyr
of him. They showed us the room where
he received Populations from Munich who
went through the form of consulting him.
Behind curtain in one corner was a trap
door. down which he would disappear IL
he did not wish to see people. He was
what the Germans call menschenscheu.
-l,rs ef Il; folI
see or speak to any one unless cornered,
and so he invented these trap-doors by
which he could fly
Walking through the courtyard of the old
Schloss in Munich, l saw engraved on a
glass door, Estate of Koenig Otto" He
is the real king, poor Otto, a hopeless lu-
matte for many years, romping on all tours
and imagining himself an animal and try
ing to eat grass. The unlucky Wittels-
bachs how much greatness they have in
their family! The Empress of Austria is
eccentric to the point of greatness almost.
She and Ludwig looked very much alike
until he grew so immensely fat
On the steamer coming down the lake
of Thun to Munich the Princess Theresa
of Bayern was on board. She is delightful
to look at, and is said to be very clever
She writes a great deal under the name
OF TIL, Bayer. She was very simply and
prettily dressed and attended only by a
lduy IN waiting ana HOFFMAN. We sent
our cards to her by the footman and
asked it, as Americans, we might talk to
her little She assented, most gracious
ly and begged us to be seated, and in the
most perfect English talked to us for quite
an hour. She was so pretty and so sweet
/ was dying to know why she had never
married. Perhaps the fearful curse of in
sanity in her family and the fear of trans
hitting il had made her sacrifice herself
She looks about 40, and the expression of
her face is almost angelic. She is a daugh-
ter of the regent and a cousin of the two
crazy kings. We remarked that among all
the many nationalities emigrating to our
country there were seldom any Bavarians.
NO" she said "our people seldom emil
CRATE Why should they? They are per-
fectly happy and comfortable, are not am
bilious to gain money or power and
above ali. the love of country is so strong
in them that they would certainly die in
exile. Our people Is q home loving and
loyal people" Her sweet face lighted up
with enthusiasm as she spoke, and we
wondered how any one could abuse the
regent when he had such a lovely daugh-
ter. When we thought we had intruded
as long as we dared and we got up to
go, she held out her hand and wished us a
happy journey and pleasant visit in Mum
ich, and the last we saw of dear Theresa
Bayer was glimpse of her pale, serious
face at the carriage window as she drove
away from the pier. ''