The Ely miner., 1907-11-15


The critical illness of Emperor
Francis Joseph of Austria-Hungary
from which he is but just recovering
has interested the world in the man
who will upon the death of the aged
ruler ascend the throne 1t is appar'
ent that new lease of life has been
given to the venerable king, but
broken by age ard sorrow, it is Ger.
tain that the sands of life are almost
run for him, and that ere long the cry
will ring through the streets of Vienna
and the empire, 1.-The king is dead
Long live the king!"
And this man who will take his
place is Francis Ferdinand of Haps
burg, nephew of Emperor Joseph,
and although the former is 45 years
old the most extraordinary ignorance
seems to prevail not only abroad, but
even in Austria and Hungary them.
selves, concerning him. In fact, it is
difficult to recall any prince who has
come to the throne in mature man.
hood about whose personality, char
acter, political views, tastes and even
environment so little is known. In
deed, he is much of an enigma, not
only to his countrymen, but also to
foreign nations, and the political out
look of Europe would appear clearer
TO the puzzled statesmen in the vari.
Gus capitals of the old world if they
possessed more information concern
ing Francis Ferdinand and had some
data on which to base their specula-
tions as to the probable course of the
policy which he will institute as
ruler of the dual empire.
Francis Ferdinand, like King Ed
ward of Great Britain and King Oscar
of Sweden, enjoys the educational ad-
vantages of personal acquaintance
with the United States, which he Wis
tied at the time of the Columbian ex-
hibition at Chicago, in the course of
his voyage around the world. Travel
always broadens the mind and ex.
tends the range OF intellectual vision,
especially here in America, where
everything, even nature, is on so vast
a scale, and where the horizon is so
wide. 1t is therefore of particular
benefit to those men who by reason of
their birth are called upon to play a
dominant role in the control and di-
rection of the destinies of their fel-
low creatures. The voyage was on
Francis Ferdinand's own initiative, un.
dertaken because he himself felt that
it would contribute to his equipment
for the office of monarch, and that he
encircled the globe not as a mere
observer and student, is shown by
the clever and yet modest record of
his voyage which he published for
private circulation some time after his
return.
This is by no means Francis Ferdi-
nands only venture into literature,
and he has to his record several grace
full monographs, notably one on the
celebrated Field Marshal Radetzky,
remarkable by reason of the high
souled patriotism apparent in every
line of the essay, and two volumes
of extremely pretty Alpine poetry.
Like most of his countrymen, he is de-
voted to music, and is something of a
composer, having put on paper for the
first time several of those old Syrian
melodies which until then had never
been written, but merely handed down
from father to son throughout the
ages. The archduke is also an en-
gineer by profession; is, so far as has
been learned, the only prince of the
blood who has secured his diploma as
such, and enjoys nothing so much as
driving the locomotive of an express
train. He is an expert in machinery,
and of an inventive turn of mind; suf-
ficiently so, indeed, to have earned for
himself a handsome competence, If
not a fortune, had he not been in his
own right one of the wealthiest princes
of the old world.
He is recognized as one of the best
sporting shots in the eAustro-Hungarian
empire, the walls of his home at Ko-
nopischt, in Bohemia, being adorned
with the antlers Of some 1000 stays
and chamois. as well as with the
heads of tigers killed in India, the
tusks of elephants slain in Ceylon and
the pelts of bear shot in the Rockies.
He is an adept in the science of zool-
ogy and natural history and is won
derfully gifted artist with the brush
and as landscape gardener. And.