Evening star., 1900-08-18

example Of muniicence in dealing with the
consequent distress has always been set by
the king. His name has never been asSO-
ciated vi personal extravaganza. His life
has been transformations. His personal
habits and tastes" says AN accpun; OF him
written in 1896. ARE simple and regular.
He is an early riser, ana is generally astir
about { am. After light breakfast with
the queen he often takes a walk In the
beautiful gardens of the Quirnal when in
Rome, after which he betakes himself to his
study, where he works until the luncheon or
late breakfast hour The meal is succeeded
by an hour or two's work with his secre-
taries. or he will receive ministers and give
audiences. after which he often goes for
drive, handling the ribbons himself in right
good style. Dinner is often followed by
visit to the opera reception but even
then the king seldom goes to bed without
an hour or more spent on his correspon-
dence and papers"
In Rome. as elsewhere in Italy, the king
went about with very little ceremony. Hun
dreds OF English visitors must often have
seen him taking his drive the Pincian
with victoria and pair Of horses. To every
such visitor who took off his hat or made
her bow the king returned the salutation
in one of Mr.. Ruskin's books ('.Christ's Folk
in the Appennines') of King Hurnbert's
pleasant accessibility:
A contadino had come down to Lucca
from somewhere in the mountains with
petition which he wished to present to the
king. but when he saw him. with his se-
quito. he did not know who be was. prob
ably the poor mans only idea of king was
gathered from some picture Of the adora-
ton Of the wise mem. So he looked at all
of them. and rather thought the king was
not there. but perhaps one Of those gentle
men would convey the paper to him And
being taken with the kings pleasant face,
he went to him, In preference to any Of the
others. and put the paper into his hands
saving, Il will leave it with you. sir; I
rather think l havs given II into good
hands" At which the king smiled and
said. Yes, you have
OF two stories illustrating King Hum
bert's hurnor and his common sense. one is
told at the expense OF his late physician,
the other at the expense of his queen con-
sort The one at the expense Of his physi-
clan is as follows:
Sometimes the king from HIS hunting
lodge of Castel Fusano went to the sea. and
amused himself by shoveling sand into a
cart Take care, your majesty" said Sag
lione one day. mot to persD!re too much
"Ah. my dear signor doctor" answered the
king resting his chin on his two hands that
grasped the handle of his spade This mus
tSla Gnlar ,,r exercise does me much more good
must abuse nothing. But tell you that 7
feel very well, and You are afraid You see
In this poor shovel competitor" And
his cart.
However. by exposing himself in every
way without exercising any care, the king
contracted bronchitis which took a chronic
cough. This cough was a source of anx-
iety to the faithful doctor as he could not
convince his patient of the necessity for
taking medicine. Occasionally the doctor
was even sent away abruptly by the king
who would say. "I have not called YOU
Why did you come? You may go. ] thank
You very muchi''
One evening. however the doctor thought
he had gained his point, and he prepared
for the king in his bed room the powders
he was to take during the night. The next
nnv N Ifr1
being very anxious to know the effect of his
medicine. He was received in the bed room.
and at once asked. We'll. how does your
majesty feel this morning?"
Much better-I may say quite we'll" was
the response.
'Ah,' observed the doctor. rubbing his
hands with satisfaction. you see the re-
suits OF listening to reason
What do you mean?" asked the kine
The powders"
Bravo shouted Humbert: ''go into the
next room and see what you can find"
The powders were in the waste paper bas-
lsst-
The story at the expense of the queen is
this:
should follow the example Of his father and
the fashion common among elderly Ped
montese officers. and dye his hair. Her
pleadingS were in vain. Cmberto's is an
honest nature that does not love these SUBJ
terfuges- Seeing entreaty was in vain the
queen had recourse to stratagem. She
caused quantity of fine hair dye to be
sent from Paris and put in the kings dress
ing room, together with directions for its
use. making, however. no allusion to the
subject. The king, too. said nothing though
he could not fail to see the pigments Now,
the queen had a large white poodle OF
which she was very fond. What was her
horror few days later to see her pet come
running into her room with his snowy locks
all turned to Jet black. King Cmberto
had expended the dyes upon changing the
color Of the poodle's hairi From that day
forth the subject Of hair dye was dropped
between the royal couple.