The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-01-22
PATHETIC SIDE OF THE CASE.
Victoria Is Said to Have Been Mem
tai Wreck for Months

PATHETIC SIDE OF The CAsE.
Victoria Is Said to Have Been n Men
tai Wreck for Months
NEW YORK. Jan. 21.-A dispatch to the
World from London says: Your corre-
spondent has obtained from a source with
in court circles the first comprehensive
and actual account of the Queens illness
that has been given out. The facts given
place the illness of the Queen in a start
ling and pathetic light. They show that
her mind has been falling for many
months. even before her visit to Ireland.
She had been a mental wreck for months
Whenever it was officially announced that
she made felicitous responses to speeches
at public functions, IL is a matter of cold
fact that the Queen was Yin such daze
that all she could say TO her companions
was: Where am I?' Several times when
she has appeared in public during the past
six or eight months she has fallen asleep.
Had ii been any one else but the Queen
OF England. it would have been plain long
ago that the malady was senile decay. And
that truthfully Is what affiicts Victoria
Eut for her physical breaking up OF the
rast week, an attack of paralysis in the
left side, it would have been possible for
the court and royal household to have
kept from the British people knowledge of
her mental decay for an indefinite period.
For the Queen had apses of intellectual
vigor, but these were more distressing to
her than her periods of mental density.
When her bra,.l was clear she Immediately
reverted to the horrors of the war in South
Africa. Again and again she harped upon
the war. The war, which she strove with
all her power to avert, made the last
hours of England's Queen, who reigned
happily longer than most men live. most
wretched and miserable. In her lucid inter-
walls 1t haunted her incessantly
The Queens strong constitution man.
ifested the first symptoms of seri-
ous decay during the stay of
the court at Windsor, in November and
December of 1899. when evil tidings of the
South African war, which began the previ-
Gus October, began to arrive in rapid sue
cession. The Queen did not look for any
serious disaster to her army. She expected
nothing but series of quick, easy VIC
te-ies Instead, disaster followed disaster
every few days. General Butler, before
leaving England for the South African
campaign, assured the Queen that the war
would be difficult but not dangerous In
consequence the news of the many re-
verses came TO her with added severity
She felt that she had been deceived and
never forgave Butler When his name was
submitted to her for visit TO Windsor
after his return from South Africa, she
stroked it through with her pen. 1t was
at this time that the Queen had the fits
Of crying in an aggravated form, which
Immediately preceded her present critical
illness.
THE assassination of the King of Italy
last July shocked her deeply. The news
of the illness of her eldest child Empress
Frederick, added greatly to her distress
and the fact that she was physically unable
to visit the Empress and see her before
either died made her nervous and excitable
Later came the death of her second son,
the Duke of Saxe-Coburg- -Gotha (Edin-
burgh), which in a few weeks was fol-
lowed by the death of her grandson, Prince
Christian Victor, son of her daughter
Helena, wife of Prince Christian of SchIes-
wig-Holstein.
tion of the war was a trial under which
her health again began to sink in Novem-
ber last. Her spirit remained undaunted
and when 1t was reported that President
Kruger had said the war would claim her
as one of its victims the Queen declared:
L may die, but Mr. Kruger won't kill me-
In December her feebleness rapidly in
creased. Sleepless nights were passed in
prayer and tears, causing the most pro-
found anxiety to her encourage The
Queen lost her appetite and began to
shrivel, presenting all the characteristics
of senile decay The excitement incidental
to her visit to Ireland, which, despite
everything stated to the contrary, was her
own idea, seemed to revive her. but be-
fore the visit ended a reaction had set in.
The public. however, was hoodwinked by
the accounts of her Majesty's doings and
utterances given to the newspapers by her
household. Unusual care was taken to
have her alleged replies to addresses and
other evidences of mental activity set be-
fore the public. In reality the Queen lived
in a dream. For instance, she was
ported to have made an animated reply to
an address presented to her at the Mount
AWHILE convent in Dublin. whereas all she
said was the dazed inquiry, Where am To-
This happened not once, but several times
When she went to Balmoral. her highland
home. her spirits revived under the infiu-
ence of General Roberts's brilliant achieve
ments in the South African war, but the
improvement was short
yICTORIA's ELDEST DAUGHTER