The Saint Paul globe., 1898-09-12

that her son was again baby and en-
tertained other deluSions. The fateful
House Of Hapsburg seemed to have
placed it's bane over her as 1t had fallen
upon her husband. The first Maximil-
ian. riding to the palace of his lady.
claimed her as a bride. and the next
day while they were hawking she fell
from her horse and was killed. From
that time to the present hardly a. SOW
ereign has escaped some strange fate
A second MaXimilian went mad.
third died of the gout, and from a most
rum prepared by quack doctor Rudolf
II. was insane, Ferdinand III died
from the shock of seeing a halberdier
fall with the two months old prince
in rescuing him from a fire, Queen Ell
eanor was religious maniac, Leopold
II. worked at alchemy and chemistry
and died from taking some of his own
pills, Ferdinand /. ab6icated admitting
his weakness of mind; the death or
Prince Rudolf and the assassination of
the empress bring the succession OF
tragic events down to the present.
King Louis cousin of the empress,
was drowned in 1886. and she took tn -
sadly to heart. The shooting of the
emperors brother, Macmillan of Mex
leo, by the insurgents was an event that
the Western continent has not forgot
ten, and the insanity Of his wife Car
lotta, occas.oned by her grief, is a pa
thetic page Of history. These events,
with the death of her son, came within
a comparatively short time, but the
empress, though greatly affected,
seemed to be sustained by natural
buoyancy of nature. Her sister, the
Duchess of Alencon, perished IN the
great fire at Paris in 1897, and another
sister, ex-Queen of Naples, made an
unfortunate marriage, which caused
unhappiness in the family.
POLITICAL AND ROMANTIC FIG
URE.
One Of the ladies of her court, writ
ing about the empress, says Of the
various comments that have been made
upon her nature, the result of remark
able heredity and stranger environ
ment: MANY of her detractors allege
that she is uncharitable, incapable of
human sympathy and too far above
the emotions and needs of mankind.
Even if this were true, it would but
corrObOrate my assertion that she is
the most poetical and romantic figure
among the royalty of Europe. She is
a noble woman in the full sense Of the
word silent, brave and resolute, ex-
tremely generous and perfectly, abso-
lutely truthful in all things, both great
and small"
The empress was one OF the most
noted hunting women of Europe. Fine
horses and dogs were her hobby, and
her private income Of 100000 a year
was spent largely in following these
tastes She used 70 take her suite to Ire
land or to Leicestershire in the hunt
ing season and was looked upon by
the English with great respect and
admiration for her prowess. The ques-
tiOn Of riding habits, of diet for riding
md CNth
in the chase were closely observed by
her and had influence with the pre-
vailing fashion. a. JO
The Empress Elizabeth was entirely
lacking in desire for coquetry or af-
faires de coeur, although she had the
power to inspire deep passions in other
men. The young Count H lost his
heart to her in early years, and such
was his ecstasy In the worship Of his
sovereign that he was led to perpetrate
the maddest follies. One night while
walking with her on the moonlit ter
races at the castle OF Schoenbrunn he
forgot himself and, putting out his
arms to clasp her to his heart, mur-
INJURED words Of passionate love- She
stopped him with a glance so chilling
and contemptuous that he threw him
self at her feet and buried his head
in the folds Of her gown. The empress
seemed to forget the temptation he
had been under and, confding the
matter to the emperor, had him ban
ished In the far south of Hungary,
where he was kept for many years.
Ischl, a place of boundless poetry
and magic in its natural beauties, suit
ed the tastes Of the empress, and here
she loved to spend her time. prac-
ttced hunter, she would climb the
abrupt cliffs of the mountains and Of
ten rowed alone on the blue waters Of
IL
Ing she retired to her apartments and
enjoyed her final smoke before going
to bed. In the course Of a day She
was accustomed to smoke from fifty
to sixty Turkish cigarettes, and in
the evening had several strong cigars.
These became necessary to her as a
sedative to her nervous temperament.
VICTIM OF GOSSIP.
The empress has been subjected to
all the indignities that gossip could
bring to g. woman. Her defiant spirit
was aroused by knowledge Of what
people were saying, and she became
the more independent of formalities.
She took into her service at the close
of the Vienna exhibition Of 1873 little
Berberine boy named Mahmoud, whom
she nursed through an illness of pneu-
monia. He worshiped her and was
NAAAhAi5 ~ AOIIOW otIlQ serve n6f ike
dog and with the same jealousy. He
became the playmate of the Arch
duchess Valerie, and the aristocracy
was Mortified. In answer to this in
dignation the empress had them pho
tographed arm in arm. Her detract-
ors increased, and 1T became hinted
that she was insane. The fact that
she rode in her private riding school
with Elisa, professional equestrienne,
started the rumor that her majesty
was learning the acrobatic perform
ances Of Renz's coryphees, In whose
circus Elisa was the star This was a
distortion of fact although the en-
press occasionally did attempt the
fahrschule," the feat of riding one
horse and driving several others.
1t was the strange combination of
her nature that she liked to do these
deeds daringly in the face of public
opinion, but in her charity and errands
Of mercy was entirely secret. Austrian
society did not recognize the fact that
she often arose in the early hours of
the morning to go alone with her maid
to some Of the most remote and mis-
cradle quarters Of the city carrying
relief and comfort to the more wretch
ed Of her subjects. Her work in the
slums made her loved Of the humblest
people.
The EmperOr's Thanks.
WASHINGTON. Sept 1.-THE president
has received the following reply to his tele-
gram OF coincidence sent yesterday to En-
peror Francis Joseph:
Sont ohoI -,