The times., 1898-11-20
FIVE ROYAL LIMPERS.
Fntc seems to BE Against the Fam
lily of Queen Victoria.
From the Philadelphia Record.) }

If there should chance to be a reunion
| of the royal family OF England during
the next week orlf so such a spectacle
would be presented as has probably new
er been noted in the history of the ruling
| DYNASTY. The last contribution to the
| chapter of accidents occurred last week
when the Dowager Empress of Germany
was thrown from her horse and fractur-
| ed her ankle This makes five members
| of the family who. for the present at
least. are limpipg through life on
| crutches, and the five invalids are the
| five highest in the reigning house. start
| ing from the queen herself. drawing
| room, state ball at buckingham Fdlace'
| or a family gathering at Balmoral, In
Scotland, where her majesty is now stay
| ing, would present AN aspect not unlike
! that of the conValescents' ward in hos
| pital.
Imagine. for instance a scene in the
| old palace in the Highlands. The various
members of the family are gathered, as
usual, in the big library opening on the
terrace They are all waiting for her
majesty suddenly a door is opened and
through il, preceded by her Indian body
servants. wobbles the august old lady.
She moves slowly and unsteadily, and
leans heavily on her cane. 1t needs no
sharp eve to see that the venerable SOW
ereign is very lame. She has been suf-
ferer from rheumatism for years, and
has found increasing difficulty in locomo-
tion from her stiffened joints as she
grows older As the Queen enter every
person rises from his seat and remains
standing until her majesty is seated.
Then the royal children, though many
of them are half a century beyond child
hoods age. as a matter of fact, proceed
one by one TO the Queens chair to
lutte her First in order is the Dowager
Empress of Germany. in widows weeds.
like her mother. As the Oldest child of
the Queen in the family records she is
still the princess royal. Even the Queen
herself is spry compared to the Empress
Frederick whose accident, being Of such
recent occurrence. forces her to limp
painfully When she has tottered to her
mothers side and seated herself there
the Prince of Wales begins his ten-yards'
journey across the room. \ month ago
he could have walked a mile with more
ease, Or have pedaled two miles in as
short a time. But now he ambles along
on crutches, twitching his face in pain as
he approaches his mother.
This made a trio of limpers and it is
quite likely her majesty. who is quick to
note the funny things of life, Uttered
somewhat 49, prince approached
Next in oroef comes the Princess of
wales. she neeuS no CrulCneS or canes
as she walks. but her lameness is percep-
tibe She has been that way for many
years. and the toadying Britishers found
the defect so becoming that many women
throughout the kingdom started the fash
ion of the Alexandra limp"
In the order of precedence the Duke of
York follows the Princess of Wales He,
too, is hors de combat now for he wrench
ed his ankle badly by an accident on the
hunting field about three weeks ago. His
accident is trivial compared to the dislo-
Gated knee joint of his father. or the re-
cent injury to his aunt. but Just at the
present time he is much lamer than his
mother, and almost as lame as his royal
grandmother. o.
1t is a curious coincidence, five limpers
in the royal family. at the same time. and
if some enterprising Snowman could get
kinetoscope pictures of the royal process
sion he would coim barrelful of money
and would secure a historic record that
would be decidedly unique.