The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-08-09
HELENA OF MONTENEGRO.
The Land and People OF Ttaiy's New
Queen.
(Frwa tie chicago Tinas-Herald-)


The ne's Queen OF Italy comes OF a race
Of mighty u,ouGtaineers. renowned for their
physical beauts. their purity Of character,
and their love OF country, which is illus
trated BY an answer given to a traveller
who aske,. q Montenegril now many SOL
Giers were in service TO the Government
we are all soldiers when our country
has need f0r US
10 more remarkable country exists on
the face of the earth. The towering
Black Mountains which surround and
Dominate that region are smiled upon and
illuminated by sky Of TeudeTest blue,
which is 0ptIescent with the harmonies of
purple sUnsc-s and the changing hues of
The limestone hills. And no words can
paint the atmosphere effervescing with the
| wine draughts OF the AdTiatiC.
When the people Of Italy heard that their
| future King. the young Prince Of Naples,
had proposed marriage TO the princess OF
country with only 200, Coo inhabitants less
than half the number Of population Of their
own city OF Rome. they were at first dis
pleased, but the attitude taken by their
beloved King HumberE soon reC0nciIed
them TO the marriage, when they swung
the pendulum OF feeling so far TO the other
extreme that they assembled to the num-
Der of 800, 000 to do the Princess Helena
honor on the day Of her marriage They
had heard how well the King was pleased
with his sons choice of a wife. The posi-
tive news of the engagement had reached
| him when he was dining with his suite at
one Of his mountain palaces in Savoy, in
the shape of d telegram direct from Prince
Victor He read it aloud 10 his officers,
and his eyes were suffused with tears.
Then, following the motions Of the King
all rose. clinked glasses, and shared in
their sovereign's emotions as he said:
Il drink to the happiness of Italy and my
dear SON."
The tide of favor overwhelmed the bride
at the door of the Quirinal. when the osten-
tations and splendid street pageant nearly
turned the head of the simple princess from
Montenegro and made her hystericaI. The
King himself rode in attendance upon the
young couple, and the military display WAS
a superb concession to the social and pc
litical union of the two countries. The
Italian papers even went so far as to CON-
ment upon the physical attractions Of The
bride to the disadvantage of the young
prince. The translation of the wedding de-
scription read:
She is a large. fine woman; he a trim
little chap
King Humbert often spoke of her in
those tender diminuJives that all Italians
love rs 'giovenetta belhssima' "a most
beautiful young lady.
Queen Helena is tall and finely formed,
with much black hair of that blua-black
lustre which indicates superb health and
dark eyes full of tender feeling. She fiH-
ished her education at St. Peter sburg,
where she was sent al eighteen. Prince
Victor first saw her at the art exposition
at Venice and fell desperately in love with
her. Again he met her under the most
favorable circumstances at the coronation
of he Gar.
Montenegro can scarcely offer pasturage
for goat, yet has produced generations OF
heroes who for five centuries have been
distinguished for courage, stature, beauty,
and fine sense of inbred morality, the
smallest among peoples in numbers, the
most active and courageous OF all the peo-
pies of Europe, whose traditions, to
quote Gladstone "eXceed in glory those
of Marathon and Thermopylee and all the
war traditions OF the world Surely the
infusion of such blood into the veins of
future line of Italian royalty must count
for much.
Among the tribes and people of the Del
matian Mountains some are at enmity, but
let the prince call for aid every man
makes common cause against the enemy
Once a man eighty years old presented
himself before Prince Nikolas
My friend" said the prince kindly,
you are tee old to fight
Then let me die at thy feet as a Sc, d. er
should, and, drawing his sword, he broke
1t n halves, and fell dead with the effort.
One tribe of the Montenegrin peasantry
is noted for the singular contrast of fiaxen
hair with coal black =lashes and brows. and
for the virtue OF their Tnaidens This rem
nant of a race never intermarries with tie