New-York tribune., 1903-06-14

a., ,a p6mona Rostand, who met yesterday
evening at the dinner table or common iiie''1
The following conversation ensred 9aiooU'
addressing the author OF "Cyrano," said: why
~ Won or had dared put d scene on the stage as
bloodthirsty as that which has just taken place
at Belgrade all the dramatic critics Oh huioP
and America would have pitched into US and
ca1lad ms blood and thunder braggadocios-'
Edmond Rostand replied: But my dear Sar-
do,, YOU yourself have already put the SerVlah
drama in one of your plays. Why, just oruSh
M YOUR memory in regard to 'Theouoia'
Colonel Naumovitch, the officer who lea 'he COL
spirators into King Alexander's sieePihs iOo,"'
is simply your Marcellus, the Centurion OF Tue
Guard and Draga, the royal faVorlte pecoliie
Queen and arousing the indignation OF the popu-
lace against herself and her husband Is iio'ii"e
else than Theodore"
VERY true" replied Sardou, but with TINS
difference: my play is terrible enough ou' iai
less ferocious than the real tragedy at Del
grade In all NV five acts I killed off only the
Centurion the Empress and her lover Wi'le d.
Belgrade there is an anti-clmax OF carnage' iil
orgie of cruelty-even a young girl OF elsh'eeh
being slaughtered like kitten. And yet some
Of the critics call me a playwright intoxicated
with blood Remember, also, that the action Oh
my play is at Byzance, in the sixth cehlulS-
Rostand smiling. replied: unfortunately for
humanity the slice of life that you nave given
ms in eThaodora' is contemporaneous and even
ultra modern"
Official assurances of such positive char
sc,ar have been received here from Vienna
and Ct Petersburg that the conviction now
rrevails botb in diplomatic and financial
circles that the tragic extinction of the Opre-
novitch dynasty will not lead to any lnterna-
tional complications in the Balkan fehliiSuiai'
where the danger to-day, as hitherto hes Ia
T2r1gari. NOT in Servia. Information from the
,,ost authentic source shows that the under
standing between the Emperor OF Austria ana
the C,zor is so strong that Emperor Franz
Josef notwithstanding the well known Preul-
lef;fions Of Prince Pierre Karageorgevitch Tor
1+a1x and for Russia. and his family connections
with tho reigning houses of those countries, has
,so1,.a4 IN regard the work of the Belgrade
repicides as "a purely local readjustment OF the
internal affairs of Servia,'' with which Austria
has no concern.
The opinion prevails that the powers Will rec
oenize as the King of Servia whichever prince
Of the Karageorgevitch dynasty the SefNiah
Parliament may constitutionally select AL
though personal sympathy is expressed here for
Queen Natalie mother Of the murdered hihs'
who is passing fortnight at Versailles with
her sister Princess Ghika. the general trend OF
feeling in France is strongly in favor OF the
Barageorgevitch family. which enjoys marked
popularity in Paris. Prince Pierre was ecu
Gated at Saint Cyr the French West Point;
fought with the French army during the Franco
German War as aide-de-camp to General Blllot'
and his most intimate friends are Frenchmen.
The attitude of the French Government is purely
passive simply watching events. The prevail
ing opinion throughout France is that the
Obrenovitch King Milan, well as his son,
King Alexander. were "a bad lot and the ad-
vent cf the Black Georges will be wholesome
change for Servia, although the bloodthlrsty
way in which the military revolt was carIieu
out is deprecated as a barbarous meoleVal
anacbronisrn springing up in the twentleth CEN
turv in an up-to-date city of telephones tele-
graphs luxurious hotels. electric lights shower
baths and automobiles. Each day the sympathy
in Paris becomes stronger for the karageorge-
witches and against the unfortunate young muir
dered king who was regarded as weak puplel
in the hands of an intriguing adventures
c. I. B.