Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-25

fonso to shoot rabbits with him in the fields
of Rambouillet. They might have heard
approaching the melancholy notes OF the
horn and the musical baying of the hounds
Then there would have dashed past them
a hunt gay in red and blue. with gold and
silver braid-a vision of the old regime.
And had Alfonso asked: What, on your
presidential grounds?" NJ Loubet would
have been constrained to answer: Yes.
the right to chase deer is leased to the
duchess"
Ancient Rights of the Duchess.
1t is the Dowager Duchess Dues, and
her rights go back to the time OF Louis
Philippe. After the revolution Of 1S4S the
crown forests-of which Louis Philippe ac-
knowledged himself only the Life tenant
returned to the state and were put up in
Adjudication as measure OF republican
simplicity.
The first lessees of the crown forests con-
sidered themselves lucky. for prices in those
unsettled days were low 1neir joy was
short-lived, however. for after Louis Napo-
Icons coup detat in 1851 there seemed moth
ing left but to kill as much game as pos
sible before the inevitable condscations
should fall upon them. AS a fact those
who had not been courtiers enough to
''cede" their rights to the emperor were de-
spoiled in the calmest manner and the les
sees of Rambouillet, among whom were
the Due Dues, the Due de Luynes, the
Due de Noailles. made one great final hunt
March 10, 1872, when remains celebrated
in the annals of French venery.
The confiscation profited Napoleon III but
little After the proclamation of the en-
pire, the Prince de Wagram. on account of
his aptitudes. was named grand veneur OF
France but he was shortly after replaced
by Marshal Magnan, who knew little of the
subject while the emperor soon lost all IN
terest. 1t thus came to pass that In 1865
the Due de Luynes and the DUO q Z yes We're
hunting again at Rambouillet. firmly estab-
lished in the new leases. On the death OF
the Due de Luynes. killed at Patay in 1870,
the duchess, his widow. no longer cared to
keep I'D her end of the pack. The Due
Dues took il over, and when the Duchess
dues became a widow. in her turn. she
continued to maintain ii alone, her passion
for the chase. like that of the late Empress
of Austria, never failins-even In these days
OF automobilism, when she holds the first
''watman's" certificate issued to woman
by the French authorities.
The noble Dowager of UZes. of Crussol, of
Boursault. OF Bonnelles and other places,
called THE First Huntress of France.
made no move to help the president out OF
his difficulty, nor could she. indeed, given
the political situation. The president re-
tainS the right to shoot rabbits and part
ridges at Rambouillet. but should he wish
TO chase the deer the duchess must invite
him from her nearby chateau Of Bonnelles.
Does Not Invite President Often.
She does not invite him often. In return.
perhaps. he has forbidden the military uni
form to appear at the meets OF the Ouch
ess-a thing all the more annoying TO her.
as the burden OF 1t falls. not on the great
lady, but on the asristocratic but not al
ways well-to-do young officers of the neigh
boring garrison. thereby forced to go to
the considerable expense of keeping up
sllghtly modified eighteenth century hunt
costumes.
1t is. perhaps. the most aristocratic hunt
in France. yet President Loubet as ii
dashes past him. can reflect that IL its mid
die-ciass blood and money OF even recent
times were taken from It, the purely aris-
tocratic residue would be very much less
brilliant and numerous.
The leading spirit is that valiant lady the
dowager duchess. whose portrait in hunt
costume as painted years ago by Jacquet
remains so typicaliy elegant. sporty and
/ Trench. Besides her hunting record and her
chauffeurs" certificate. she has to her
credit In heaven the 3.000.o00 francs which