Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1898-10-09
Copyright, 1881

empress Is hlilSu, III dHolneT place an
unknown boy falls by the colors that he
was SO proud to protect; then way off
in some lonely corner a bitter, cynical
man bids goodby to the world, for he
has found nothing sweet in it, while
among party of gay companions a
handsome woman surprises them all
by the shot of a pistol because there
have been too much life, too much love
and too much so called happiness in
her career
Did you ever sit down and think out
the terrible life Of the Hapsburgs?
What a doomed family they seem!
From the days of Marie Antoinette,
who walked so proudly to the guillo-
tine, there seems to have been Moth
ing but unhappiness and sorrow. The
fair haired Marie Antoinette saw her
son and heir beaten, starved and i'll
treated by rough jailer till the tears
NO longer flowed down her face. she
could no longer weep, and when tears
are taken from woman surely her
hast refuge is gone.
The dark haired Elizabeth, she also
of the house of the Hapsburgs, saw a
very young son kill himself simply be
cause the morbid line of heredity was
stronger than he could bear. And yet
he was only 13 years Old! Justly he
feared the future. Then a girl Of ~
was murdered, a pretty, dainty, rose
bud to whom even life was .knvied.
Afterward there was that most awful
death, the death of the son, and heir,
the death OF the gay and joyous Ru-
1Clph, who seeming, like his brother,
' look iatoGae fIliIsa> murdered him
was az The supper table, the
i've board where each was
drinking the health of the other and
from which some one had to carry the
news to that lonely mother She had
grown lonely by this time. Gradually
her children had been taken from her
by the dagger or the pistol, and she
wandered over the face of the earth,
finding no place to rest. Always the
word murder" seemed to hang, like
the sword of Damocles, over her head.
Last year the greedy flames found
her beautiful sister, the Duchesse
d'Alencon, enc who was eager to help
the poor, and beautiful in her desire to
offer bread to those who lacked it. She
was caught by the whirling, pitiless
wind of fire that in taking away her
sweet breath was even brutal enough
in death to render her body unbeauti-
ful.
So they all went and Nine. la Du
cheese, as the empress preferred to be
der that name, sought refuge in Eng
land and Ireland. She was followed
here, there and everywhere by the
friends who loved her best and who
spoke words of consolation, as well as
those dumb friends that, when she was
told that she must no longer ride, since
some bitter bastard might take her
life from her, would come to her and
eat Jumps of sugar from the dainty
hand that never hurt, but always did
good. One who saw it said that there
was never a more beautiful picture than
that of the Empress of Austria, sur
rounded by her favorite pets, each
gently pushing the other in its eager
ness to get nearer to her or to gain
from her the bits of sugar that were
held out ana She, like child, expect
ing the loving hooks as thanks in re-
turn.
End now she has gone away. The
l.reat cathedral bells toll the masses for
the dead, and those to whom she has
been a friend raise their hats and
honor her by that great silence only
given to the dead. Here she lies, mag
nificent in death, and yet in death she
and you and 1 are all equal. To her,
W sOu anu " lllC tiiSlS Ne>AA OAAiS bN
said eau revoir' because of that GER
tainty that we will meet again.
Think of the going home! Think of
the empress, and then think of the SOL
der boy! There is no great differ
ence.
Do you remember going home after
pleasant party? The day over, you
reach the time to say a laughing Good
bye
Do you remember the time when
pleasant group, after studying the mag
nificent colors used by the great Mas
ter to achieve the wonders Of the
world, uttered the somewhat awed
"Good-bye?"
And yet there come into everyday
life situations that are quite as wonder
ful. and they all lead to the going
home. Just to-day there is young
and pretty girl in one of the rough,
everyday cars that fly over the great
mountains carrying home hundreds OF