Iron County register., 1899-09-07
CONTRAST I'm ROYALTY.
The Physical Difference BetweeH
the HohenzOIIernS and
RomanOffs.

The Romanoffs of Russia are about
as much German in blood as the Hohea-
| zollerns of Prussia. Many marriage
| with German princesses have made the
former royal houses more German than
anything else. The mother of the pres
ent czar was Dane, but the mother
of the kaiser was English by birth,
though almost wholly German in
blood.
These facts make the sharp contrast
in vitality and temperament between
the Romanoffs and Hohenzollerns all
the more remarkable. The Russian
family are short-lived. Few of its men
live beyond 60, and hardly any have
reached 65. Many die young. Even
when, as in the case of the late En-
peror Alexander III. and the Gar Mich
olas L, they are very large and power
full, they only illustrate the difference
between muscular strength and the
tenacity of the vital forces which gives
old age. The German Hohenzollerns
are very different.
Many of the princes of the family
which reigns in the German empire
have been long-lived. Most of them
have shown great energy and capacity
for eXertion. Some have been both big
and strong. The royal house is marked
by resolHte and rather sanguine tenn
permanent. Its head is usually Wig
orous, practical, healthy man of the
type well able to make headway in the
world anywhere, no matter under what
conditions he might have been born and
reared. There has been very little Of
the morbidness, inertia and inclination
toward abstract speculation and de-
spondency which have been noted in
most of the Romanoffs.
Now the ruler of the German empire
has large family of boys. There are
six sons to only one daughter, and all
of the children are believed to be sturdy
and promising. Some of the oldest boys
are already more than match in vigor
and endurance, it is probab BILE, for the
Russian czar, who is young enough to
be in the very prime of his strength.
There is not the least danger of any
lack of a virile and hardy heir to the
German throne for a long time. The
present kaiser, in spite of all the
stories told of his ear and his arm, to
say nothing of his mind and temper,
gives abundant proof that he has i'm
mense energy and fairly tingles with
life and vitality.
The contrast is great in St. Peters
burg. The czar is neither large nor
powerful. His vitality is believed to be
low and his temperament has a good
deal of the Romanoff tendency towards
gloom, or at least a keen consciousness
of the dark side of life. He is nine years
younger than the kaiser, but the latter
seems the more youthful man, except,
perhaps, in the Russian emperor's dis
position to indulge in fancies and hopes
which would have been too idealistic
for the kaiser of any age. The czar
has three daughters, but no son. The
heir to the throne, therefore, under the
Russian law, is his youngest brother,
Grand Duke Michael.
The prince is strong enough, but
Grand Duke George, VINO was three
years younger than the head of the
family and but seven years older than
Grand Duke Michael, has just sue
cumbed to consumption after a long
fight for life. He was only % years old.
Grand Duke Michael, who now stands
next to the throne, is not quite p. He
may not live even to the age Of his
brother who has died.
These family conditions cannot fail
to have a depressing effect upon the
czar. His never buoyant disposition
will be less sanguine than ever, and in
Russia any man who has a sensitive
nature and is in a position of power
and responsibility has plenty of rea-
sons for sadness and doubt. 1t is easy
to be oppressed by the dark facts OF
life in a land so vast, SO poor, so sadly
in need of many great and difficult
changes.
Of course, it is true that Russia has
great resources and unmeasured prom
ises for the distant future. The coun-
try is believed by excellent authorities
to be entering an epoch of wonderful
development and gains in many direc-
tions. With better times for the Rus
sian people, and happier conditions OF
existence, the world may brighten, also,
for the Romanoffs, and the family may
shake off its tendency for premature
weakness, dependency and death. For
the present the outlook is not hopeful.
Cleveland Leader.