The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-09-15
A BROKEN DOWN EMPRESS.
of Her Former Self and Leads
Strange Life.

After more than six months absence
Empress Elizabeth of Austria has re-
turned to Vienna and taken up her res
idence in her lovely villa of LaiAz, built
In the old deer park to let her indulge
in her whimsical love for solitude.
do not think that it will be long be-
fore the world will hear something of
her, writes a correspondent, for she
has come back an aged and broken
woman. Though she is 81 years old,
her hair, to which she has always de-
voted the greatest care, kept until now
its fine chestnut color. Now it is gray,
her nose is long and sharp and her COM
plexion is sallow always and some
times yellowish.
The empress is enthusiastic where
flowers and plants are concerned, but
not always quite reasonable. She
wants her Vienna gardens to be as
luxuriantly grown as those of the
Riviera. Her apartments display an
unequaled wealth of flowers from the
imperial lighthouses. Her bedroom and
toilet rooms, bathing-room and bou-
doir have hundreds and hundreds of
pots, vases and glasses that she buys
indiscriminately in her travels. and all
are filled with fresh flowers every day,
In her bedroom, just opposite her bed,
where she can see il whenever she
wakes, is a most uncanny statue of
Nicbe, yelled and weeping, made of
bronze covered with green patula.
This statue is ensconced in rare plants
and shrubs, behind which green mean
descent lamps give a fairy light.
The servants who meet her majesty
In the house, the garden or the park
are ordered to look away and let her
pass unnoticed. She must not be bowed
or curtsied to. As to seeing her, thar
would be difficult, since she always
holds up an old fan that has served
her fer years when anyone approaches.
She is followed in her walks by her
Greek master, who walks close enough
to her heels to be able to read to her.
For this reason, and because the strain
of holding up gown is too great for
her, she wears skirts that do not touch
the ground. She does not wear a cor
set, but over delicate cambria jacket
skirt with braces, and over this
black silklined jacket, always the
same in shape, but of an endless va
riety in thickness and warmth. Her
hair is plated, and the plaits lie round
her head in the way Tyrolese maidens
do their hair.
Though so delicate, the empress goes
unaccompanied into the deer park of
Lainz, which swarms with deer, mouf-
fons and wild boar. She carries rat
tie, and when an animal approaches
she ratties to brighten it away.
Her health most likely broke down
on account of the unreasonable diet
she keeps. She will not allow her
weight to change, her waist must be
80 centimeters always, even without
corset. She therefore avoids all solid
food and lives almost solely upon milk.
The orange diet she prescribed Tor her
self years ago, when for three months
she ate nothing but red oranges, near
ly killed her. She has acquired fine
taste for milk, and can always tell
what COW the milk she drinks comes
from, and any change in the diet of
a COW makes her object to the milk.
She has an armchair by the side of her
bed which is really weighing ma
chine, and here she registers her
weight every morning and every night.
Just now she has her daughter Marie
Valerie with her at Lainz, but only two
e
were left behind, as their presence
would be too much for the nerves of
the imperial mother.-Chicago
Inter Ocean.