The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-22
THE MURDERED EMPRESS
ANECDOTES OF ELIZABETH OF AUS
TRIA's PRIVATE LIFE.
Her Simplicity and AmiabiIity of
Character Her MOuntain-Climb-
ing and Horse-Riding Feats.
Vienna Letter in New York Times.

The Empress Elizabeth far surpassed in
education, intellectual refinement and inde-
pendence of thought and judgment the la
dies of high rank who frequented her court.
Some of them felt this as personal hui
initiation; others never scared high enough
to understand her. From these causes
sprang the stories of her excessive eccen>
tricity and the insnuation that she had lost
her mental balance She was a woman of
warm sympathies, and made personal
friends of many far below her in station.
One of the favored ones, for whom she
manifested great affection, was her reader,
Ida Won Ferenczy, and in their private in
tercourse the familiar Du was always used.
Among her royal and imperial acquaint-
ances the Empress was most drawn toward
those who had been most sorely tried Her
correspondence and intercourse with the
Queen of England, the Empress Frederick
and the unfortunate French Empress Euge-
ME prove this. Her dearest friend, however,
was Margherita of Savoy Their friendship
dated from the stay of King Humbert at
Vienna. There could scarcely have been a
greater contrast than that tpreSented by
these two women-the Empress Elizabeth,
with her dark. ideal beauty. and Queen
Margherita, with the golden reddish blonde
tints of the Renaissance. They had this In
common, however: both we're devoted to
art poetry and nature.
A young lady at Bad Neuheim who as
sisted in the medical treatment of the En-
press there, speaks with enthusiasm of the
distinguished patients simplicity and ami
ability. ut is impossible for me adequately
to describe the kindness and friendliness of
the Empress" she says. "She had such
lare goodness of heart that she even listen
ed to reports on the progress of the sick
persons around her. For other persons she
showed the greatest consideration, and
when engaging apartments always stipu-
lated that no one should be turned out to
make way for her. Her punctuality was as
tonishing. She arrived to the moment at
rendezvous.
She did not like to be photographed. In
earf t TO 1beafn an accuTSoe dea OF her
preston with the Roentgen rays. When he
wished to take a. second photograph, how
Majesty it is very important. protested, the
professor. To you. perhaps she replied,
'or for my brother at Tegernsee, but not to
me- (The, Duke Theodore of Bavaria, her
Majesty's brother. is a wel-known physi-
cian.) The Empress observed to me later:
DO you know, L cannot bear to be photo
graphed. After every photograph some mis-
fortune has befallen me- Her forebodings
were realized; it was the heart that was
pierced by the ruthless murderer.
1.-THE Empress kept up an active CORE
sponderce with the Emperor and her two
daughters. Sne was a. mistress IN the art
of entertaining her friends. Her remarks
were often clever aphorsms, though i'm
I bued with pessimism- On the day of her
brooch, with an e in hrilliants. have
had this brooch made expressly for you, my
as pearls mean tears. Wear it for the first
time on your wedding day, and may you be
happy All this she said to me so kindly
of it,
HER ALPINE EXCURSIONS.
The mistress of the remote Alpine hos
tery where the Empress was accustomed TO
stay during her excursions in the mountains
says that her imperial guest always had
kind word for everybody. Her wants were
very few. A good piece of meat generally
chosen by herself roasted for breakfast and
later eaten cold, was the simple fare she
preferred. Alone and unaccompanied she
would climb the mountains UP giddy paths,
to find fresh points Of view. Which path
she had taken when she lost her watch in
the heights near Tschl was long unknown.
A woodman found it the next spring hang
ing on a branch high up over steep ravine.
The Emperor was Mortified when he heard
of the height at which the watch had been
found.
She did not. however. know what fear
was. In the SOS, when Francis Joseph
went to Trieste, to open the exhibition it
was learned that an attempt upon his life
was to be made with bomb. The Empress.
IL
Trieste, and. notwithstanding all the efforts
of the police to prevent her, she entered
the exhibition with her husband.
Professor RhOusSoDulOs her first Greek
teacher, who accompanied her on her trav-
els for many years relates many charac-
teristic traits of his former mistress. When
they heard in 1889 that the Empress had
begun to study Greek, they regarded it as
a passing caprice But they were mistaken.
The natural scenery of Greece and the EN-
rress frequent visits to classical spots had
implanted in her an ardent love of the lam
guage
"She learned with marvellous rapidity,"
says the professor. 1.-THE regular Greek in
struction lasted an hour daily and was con-
tinued with great punctuality on the excur-.
sions to Tunis and Malta The poems of
Christopelos and Balaurides We're especially
admired by the Empress. She read the
Odyssey diligently in the New Greek tran
cription and all those poems of Heine trans
lated into the Greek language. In three
years she became so proficient that she was
able to translate into Greek. without any
assistance, Hamlet. Lear and The Tenn
pest
I prefer seeing it in profile BY this she
meant that she saw it with more pleasure
at a distance, on board ship, in the open
sea- In Paris learned how much she adj
mired Napoleon /. She said to me: What a
great man he was! What pity that he
wished to become Emperor
"She regarded the East as beautiful
poem. Once she remarked to me: Many
people dislike travelling in the East, as the
like the East. and precisely in its present
picturesque form My eyes overlook the
dirt and the dust. | only see the people
and they always afford me pleasure On
our Oriental journey the Empress came into
personal contact with the people She re-
qnired no interpreter as most OF the people
understood Greek. This gave her endless
pleasure and for this reason she preferred
the travelling in Tunis Algiers, Alexandria
and Cairo.
"She had no fear of the sea. Both in
good and bad weather she was constantly
on deck. and while her suite were pros
trate with seasickness she sat smiling IN
her chair during the most violent storms.
She liked to see the rolling waves and the
turbulence of the storm.
HAD NO FEAR OF DEATH.
Death had no terrors for her. AS we
were leaving Lisbon for ALEXANDRIA news
came of the outbreak of cholera there, so
the departure countermanded. Her
Majesty then observed. For myself 1 do
not fear death, but l am responsible for
the lives. of my suite When death was
spoken of she said once, L am ready to
die, but l hope l shall not have to suffer
long before / am called
'Rafaello Carita. the architect of the
lovely Achilles Palace at Corfu, spoke once
of the manner of life adopted by the EN-
press. Especially at Corfu, her mode of
existence was simplicity itself. will live
like student she said once with a smile
And so she lived, but like very dilgent
student. She rose at 5, took a bath, and
then went out for walk, generally with a
a cold breakfast, with a glass of cold milk.
She always ate cold food and ALWAYS dra nix