The San Francisco call., 1897-05-30
Ex-Attache on the Prevalence
Of Mourning in Europe.

society which are more or less intimately
connected with the court. No entertain
ment can ever be organized, no festivity
planned. without the everlasting dread OF
some royal death taking place to render
necessary postponement or an abandon
ment OF the entire affair. Annoying for
the men, it is still more so for the women,
since they never know until the very last
minute whether they can wear colors or
whether they are condemned to garments
of sable hue. For even when tho relation.
ship of the dead Prince or Princess
Of the Flood Is so remote as to rem
der unnecessary the postponement OF
social and official functions and en-
tertainments. court mourning is, new
ertheless, de rigueur for period
ranging all the way from ten days to three
months, during which time every woman
with pretensions to social standing is ex-
pected to array herself in black and to
relegate her diamonds, her rubies, her
sapphires and her emeraIds, as we'll as her
tnrquoises, to her casket, and to wear
nothing in the shape of jewelry but pearls,
which are the sym boil of tears, while the
mon are expected to add . mourning band
to their hat, to restrict themselves to
black ties for day wear, and if entitled to
wear uniform to adorn the sleeves
thereof with an arm band of crepe. Royal
personages and court officials are great
sticklers about such matters as these, and
while any lady who ventures during q
period of court mourning to attend q
dawihg-room or court function in colored
attire exposes herself to very ungracious
reception on the part of the royal person
ages present, there have even been nu-
merors occasions where women have
actually been prevented by the officials of
the Lord Chamberlain's Department from
entering the presence OF royalty at all, in
consequence of their being dressed other
wise than in the prescribed black toilettes.
Just at the present moment all the
courts of Europe are in mourning for the
deaths of the Duchess OF Alencon in the
great fire in Paris and of her uncle, the
old Due d'Aumale, at Zucco, his place in
Sicily. True the mourning is only for a
fortnight. But royal relationships nova
days are SO extensive that what with one
thing and another two thirds of the year
may be said to be spent IN court mourn
ing. Under the circumstances the reign
ing families of Europe are naturally re-
luctant to saddle themselves with addi-
tional burdens in this respect and it is
to this consideration in part that must be
ascribed their failure, with one notable
exception, to decree court mourning
for the Empress mother OF Ja-
pan, q neglect which has Fiven
no end Of offenss to the Mikado. There
was but one sovereign in Europe who went
to the length of putting his court into
mourning during the space OF fortnight
for this great lady Of the Orient, and that
was King Leopold of Belgium, who was
prompted thereto by motives which must
be described as of an economic character,
rather than by reasons Of sympathy and
sorrow. For he is largely, interested in
the fortnightly line of steamships between
Antwerp and Yokohama. which has
recently been inaugurated, and which is
heavily subventioned by the japanese
Government. while he is doing his utmost
to promote the trade and commerce
between his kingdom and the Land of the
Rising Sun, where he hopes to find new