Arizona republican., 1899-06-10
PERSONAL GOSSIP
 FROM EUROPE

! this country E4ve been set at rest bE | the official announcement that the trip
 cn which he is about to start on board
 his yacht will take him, not across the Atlantic, but along the Spanish
 and Portuguese coasts to the C1naries,
 and to the western coast of Morocco.
 If he has time he may extend his voy-
 age to the Congo, but this is doubtful. 1 At any rate. his contemplated trip to | the United States is abandoned for the present. and there is no prospc-t ol seeing him, either at Newport CT any
 where else this summer. His yacht
 which has been entirely fitted cut for a tropical journey, is lying at anchor
 at Antwerp with an English crew on l board, and the king may start at any moment.
 Great anxiety is felt with regard to the health of the crown princess of Roumania, by far the prettiest and
 most charming Of all the descendants of her grandmCther Queen Victoria
 It seems that her heart is seriously af- fected, and that especially since the
 suicide of her only brother, to whom
 she was deeply devoted. she has been suffering from frequent fainting fits. the recovery from each successive one becoming more difficult A3prehen- siCns are entertained in Eng.and lest the princess may be Oyertaken by some UntOward event before her sadly broken parents have had time to re- cover from the shock caused by the
 tragic death of their only son. The crown princess of Roumania is not
 only the most elegant and chic, but
 likewise the worst fiirt and the most
 
 of the blood in the old world. She has been the heroine cf a number of entertaining episodes, none of them, however, of q scandalOus character. The worst thing that has ever been laid to her charge was that in mo- ment of mischief she snapped her ko
 dak at her nearly equally beautiful sister, the grand duchess of Hesse, at Q moment when the latter had just emerged frcm the mud baths at SchWalbach, and was clothed in noth- ing but the very thinnest coating of mud. It would have been all very well if this portrait had remained in the possession of either Of the two sisters. But the crown princess was 30 delight cd with it that she sent copies Of it to various relatives, and unfortunate ly some copies of the picture eyentr- ally found their way into other and more prOfane hands. This has sadly impaired the close intimacy which formerly existed between the two sis ters, who at present are scarcely on speaking terms with each other.
 The new minister of war in France, native of the Voses, has not the f2ciie tongue Of his countrymel. He speaks very slowly and deliberately, ! 2 mn utters, a peculiarity which has earned i for him among his colleagues in the chamber of deputies the nickname of ''Fiacre fHeure" (Cab by the hour.) 1
 Miss Blair, daughter of the dowager | duchess of Sutherland, and who has lately joined the dramatic profession as 2 super in one Of Wilson BarretLs companies, was some years ago tho he | roine of rather sensational episode 1 ih the Chapel Royal, St. James There i IS pew, or rather series of pews, re- i served for duchesses, much in the | same way that special benches are as- | signed to ladies of this particular rank | of the peerage at the court balls at | Buckingham palace The dowager l duchess of Sutherland, prior to her 1 present marriage with Sir Albert Ro1- | lit, was in the habit Of frequently oc- i cupylng one of these ducal pews at the | Chapel Royal, this being one of the | only places where she could exercise | her ducal DrerOgatiyes, since the doors i of the queens court were, and are still, tightly closed against her. She | made the mistake, however, of taking | her daughter, Miss Blair, with her. and l as the other duchesses, who deeply re- sented the presence of the elder of the | two women, had no means of exclud- | ing her, they revenged themselves by | insisting on the exclusion Of the | daughter, who was requested to leave | the pew in full sight of the entire con i gregatiOn one Sunday morning shortly | after divine service had begun The | duchess protested, but the officials in | sisted, and Miss Blair, her face scarlet | with indignation and mcrtification, | was obliged to leave. It is great | mistake to imagine that financial con Sidel@tions have anything whatsoever to do with Miss Blair's going onto the | stage Indeed, it may be doubted whether there has ever been a young woman who has joined the dramatic profession under such exceptionally pleasant financial circumstances, the late duke of Sutherland having be- qdeathed to her Ut his death an annu- lty in her own right of no less than $60,000 a year. This bequest, of course, served to give confirmation to the very widespread belief which prevails to the effect that Miss Blair was really the daughter of the late duke, who, at any rate, treated her with far mOle paternal affection than he accorded to HAs children by his first wife.
 The names Of Miss Blairs mother and those of the late duke were as sOciated with each other for many years prior to the duke being rendered by the death of his first wife free tc marry Mrs. Blair. whose husband, Captain Rlair had bzen accidentally shot by the duke himself Miss Blair is a handsome, distinguished looking girl with q Inaoni nificent fonrn and