The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1908-04-29
MAD MONARCH'S
Goth BIRTHDAY
SUBJECTS OF KING OTTO OF
BAVARIA CELEBRATED
YESTERDAY.
PRONOUNCED INCURADLE
by All Medical Experts Who Have
Examined Him--6ismarck's
Opinion of Hin--His Story
Most pitifuI One.

| Berlin, April 2S,-king Otto Ct Ba-
birthday, and Munich, With other Ba-
ivarian cities displayed bunting Il
honor of the occasion, sang Te Deums
had a review of the troops aud drang
to the health of the king, who RI
lmains shut up In the celebrated c1a.
| tie Of Furstenreid as mad Az tha
proyerbIal March hare. Many and
varied have been the reports circn
| lated for years in regard 10 the con-
dition OF the unfortunate monarch.
Stories Of his good physical health
and improved mental condition have
followed close Oh the heels of hair
raising accounts Low IN his violent
spells he ~ slain his keepers. Acsa,
coidin~ to the best Information TIL q.
lcaa obtained here King Ottof NJ,
mains in practically the same n, anaa-
state in which he has been e, int ~.
| forty years. At times he i,ra a. sha
to violence but for the mosS, S,n,ha,nfbs
spends his days in idle dreanu, shat II
| In smoking strong cigars. Alraa l, .o..s, sv.
| medical experts who have Ell al. ,1,s
| him have pronounced him ms. ~t..s..
| His physical health howey 4 s.t,e,s
mains such that he may live foe
years TO come. ! aoa finn
ritiuf elo'y' .e 10 nib
The story of King otto is .,na "a
the most pitifnl In modern i ana Il,
III ~ the story OF monarch poured
never wore his crown and nev, nsa !
on MS throne whose nlasn' inches
mountain palaces near Muhtn er and
been his own madhouses since tn Afta,
lof 2S. The king was born just Anl ths
years ago today his iathef ''eiils 4 Wits
lmiIian IT,. and his mother a Priaa end
Marie OF PRUSSIA. ~ y ifohi,ldma
fathers side of the house that hel ,ntn
inherited that taint OF insanity waiusd
has made the ancient house of asi
telsbach one of the most decadAa -
dynasties in Europe 1t has been said
that Hamlet was leyel-headed youth
compared with some of the later Wit
telsbachs. especially Ludwig H., who,
as youth Of 10, succeeded his father.
Macmillan H. in 1864.
Military Ambitions.
| Three years younger than his
brother. Otto, who was then Crown
Prince. was in many respects a more
lamiable character. But his dissipatel
habits tended to complete the col
Ilapse of what little intellect he was
ever endowed with. Leaving his
brother the king to revel in poetic
fairyland, to build himself fairy-like
Ipalaces, and set mp theatres for Rich
ard Wagner. Otto became possess u
with the illusion that he was destined
to be a great soldier. The Franco
German war broke out when he was
%. and he felt his chance had come
lRy some means he secured a position
lon the staff of the Prussian Crown
Prince. who had command of the
South German troops. But his
dreams of military glory We're soon
cut short, and he was recalled to
Munich.
Bsmarck's Opinion OF Him.
How little Otto grasped the spirit
of the times. and how restricted his
outlook on affairs. is shown by the
fact that at a grand banquet held In
I Munich IN 1871 to celebrate the
lprocamation of the German Empire
when Bavaria was aDsorbed-he alone
refused 10 honor the toast OF Kaiser
wilhelm. Little wonder that the
lplain-spoken Bismarck speaking OF
Ludwig II-who. I'm the name OF the
confederated soverigns Of Germany.
lhad invited Kaiser Wilhelm 10 as
sumo the imperial title-remarked
'Yes. II he were to die he would be
succeeded by little otto. whom We
= have had here A poor creature with