St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-11-14
WILHELMINA OF HOLLAND.
AS Seen by an American Journalist

you St e our little Queen? You did ? Isn't
she pooty?" That reminded me of that
neglected lttrarv jewel, 1.-The Rose and
the Ring" by Thackeray, in which the
heroine is called the 'pooty Princess
But W,lhelmna. head OF House of Orange
and Queen of the Low Countries, is a
great deal more than pretty. Indeed,
the candid historian must say that to-
day she is not merely pretty, as she was
when her mother held the throne. She
is not so pretty, but a great deal better
looking; for, though she is iull grown
and good sized woman, there is that in
her face which is to be valued hundred
times above beauty. One sees there the
dignity and sense of power which become
a girl who never more will own a master
or superior within her realm One reads
in her clear bright face every whit of the
courage of her fearless mother and of
that father and grandfather who knew
so little of fear that If it had come before
them labelled with it's name and they had
been asked to single it out of crowd
they could not have read the placard.
One reads in Willie mina's vet girlish face
keen intelligence, the perfect repose OF
self-possession, and the balance OF well
ordered mind However, it is only the
truth that the willowy, grlish figure and
the uncommonv winsome juvenile beau
~ which marked her when she was the
Child Queen have now given place to ma
turer charms OF face and form. Wilhelm
ina, as | saw her the other day, all white
except tor the rose blush upon her cheeks,
is now grown woman, with the girth
and figure of an adult. She has changed
from a merely pretty child into robust,
wholesome, ruddy, solid woman, and she
is larger than her mother but taller, so
that her beauty lines are not lost. And
she is still. decidedly, a beautiful woman.
Were she of a lighter and gayer nature,
her situation must excite commlseratiOn,
| for she has no one OF roval blood TO be
the companion and conhdante Of her
young womanhood. She never had a
child comrade, and today she has no
companion except her mother. Her
royal house has so few members that she
and her mother are the only ones left in
Holland. And out Of Holland there re
mains no one but the Princess Won WED,
who lives upon the banks of the Rhine
with her husband, the President OF the
Prussan House of Lords. These two
visit The Hague once year for week
or two, give one grand reception or ball,
and then fit away again to their duties
in the social and political life OF Ger
many. The Queen Mother, who is but
iorty.tw years of age, has a younger
brother, the Prince OF Waldeck- Pyrmont,
who comes to Holland less frequently.
He and his wife, while too old to be true
companions to a girl, are nevertheless
the nearest to that intimate place of any
persons that she has entertained.
1t is said OF Queen Wilhelmna that the
only really joyous hours she has enjoyed
in recent years were spent during a Court
ball, when this young uncle visited the
Court two years ago. Then, instead Of
merely walking through one OF the quad
rifles to which she had been obliged to
contine her dancing, she waltzed with the
spirited young Prince, and waited so
gayly, that-she either did or did not
waltz her crown off That is a mooted
question in Holland. Though there need
to have been no doubt as to the truth
the incident made a great sensation.
The thousands who believe that she did
throw herself into the waltz with such
vigor as to unfasten and drop her crown
have criticised her severely for her lack
Of dignity-she who boasts so much of
dignity, and of the truest sort. The
thousands who deny that any such un-
seemly event took place have had busy
time in calming the excitement of the
rest. The facts are that the Queen
Waited heartily. as young girl may
and should, especially when her partner
is her uncle. And her diamond tiara
back through the looseniug of hairpin.
At the same time tress of the short
back hair of her brown head was also
unfastened. A lady OF the Court stepped
up to her, and in second restored the
beautiful head to the order which ETH
quette demanded. Had she been anyone
but queen the thing would have es
capped attention, so wholly trif1ng was
it. The greater and only true disorder
was that which would have escaped at
tention, so wholly trihing was it. The
greater and only true disorder was that
which followed throughout the kingdom,
wherein were found men and women suf-
fciently light-minded to discuss it and to
imagine that the episode could have been
due to any other cause than unavoida
Bile accident. | tell the story because Of
it's pathetic side, because there rings
through it a fearful note which is not
lost upon the reader who perceives be-
hind it the touching picture of healthy,
buxom girl with only the rarest outlet
Tor her spirits. To the people of Holland
/ the moral is even more serious, for they
realize that in her isolation is their king.
dom's danger. OF that we shall speak a
little further on. To keep to the topic
/ in hand, Queen Wilhelmina's life, with
! only her mother for her companion. has
7 quickly ripened and strengthened the Sc
] rious side of her nature, so that it is said
"she never plays. but always works
S Long before she was Queen she had put
| away in little private museum OF hel
e own all the toys and playthings of hel
] still earlier childhood And so method
. cal and practical was she even then thai
every doll in this museum is ticketed will
its name, the name OF its donor and tn,
: date when the little Princess received it
n The prettiest story of Queen that wa
i ever told is that which credits the SOY
d ereign OF England with listening to tn
0 formal announcement oil her Queenhood
:. and then replying simply, II will be good.
r But the quaintest and most patheti
: story of Queen concerns itself wit
, WilhaI,1o, nod hoe dolls T. 20 +La 3D. =.