Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-06-17
KING oTTo, OF BAVARIA.
Sixty Years Old and Closely Confined
for Thirty y-Seyen.
washington post.)

Su, ia ltS SuSlODldTy. nauHeT---GnaC
Is to say, with display of flags, mil
itary honors, and gun firing, and
with festivities of less official and
more popular order-the birthday of
that crazy king upon whom his peo-
pie have never set eyes since he sue
ceeded to the throne just twenty
two years ago.
since his ascension is in existence,
the only bona fide pictures of him
dating from 1858 and 1869-that is
to say, forty years ago. Consequent
ly none of his subjects has the
slightest conception Jf what he looks
like, and he might, IL he recovered
his senses, which Is out of the Ques-
tiop, travel from one end of his d0-
minions to the other without ever
being recognized. All that his lieges
know Of him is that he Is very tall,
that he has become quite stout, and
that he has long beard.
ihe anniversary which he cele-
brated the other day was his six
tieth birthday, and he has been un-
der restraint as lunatic, and In
seclusion, ever since his sensatinal
arrest in the Chateau of Versailles
ed part of that cortege of petty SOW
ereigns of Germany, and of princes
of the blood, who assembled at Ver-
sailles to follow the operations of the
siege of Paris, and to take part in
the birth of the present German en-
pire and in the proclamation Of old
King William of Prussia as Kaiser.
Wnen His Mind Collapsed.
Prince Otto, of Bavaria, as he was
then, was present at Versailles as
representative Of his brother, King
Louis, and had been attached to the
headquarters staff. But whether it
was the excitement Of the military
operations that were taking place,
or the unaccustomed restrictions Of
a military character, to which he,
like every other member of the staff
was subjected, as In q hostile coun-
try, he completely lost his mental
balance.
He insisted upon pressing his opin-
ions with regard to the conduct Of
the war upon the old Emperor and
upon Moltke, and his political views
upon Prince Bismarck, issued with
out warrant military orders right
and left, which were the cause of
considerable confusion, and finally
tive correspondence with the enemy,
sending letters of the most amazing
character to French military COM
manders and statesmen. This proved
the final straw and he was placed
under strict arrest.
or course there were some at Ver-
saflles who. Oh learning of his in
trigueS with the enemy. insisted that
ne should be dealt with in the most
rigorous manner, and as traitor.
But the German crown prince (af-
terward Emperor Frederick, who
had been watching him carefully
since his arrival at Versailles, and
who had been subjected to no end
OF annoyance by him, urged that the
man was insane and altogether ire
sponsible for his actions, and should
be treated as such.
People Reconciled to His Fate.
This view commended itself also
to Prince Bismarck, who realized
that 1t was the only polite way to
deal with the affair, SO as to avoid
alternating the Bavarian court and
the Bavarian people from the cause
of German unity. The consequence
was that the physicians pronounced
him mentally unbalanced, and he was
oner, but as lunatic under restraint
and has been confined as such ever
since.
For several years he was impris-
oped in the Chateau of NympSem-
burg, in the suburbs Of Munich;
then he was transferred to the Chat
eau Of Schleisheim, and In 1878 was
interned in the Palace of Fursten"
reid, not far from Munich, and at
Furstenreid he has been ever since,
that is to say, for thirty years, never
going beyond the lofty walls by
which 1t is entirely surrounded.
Each year he Is visited by COM
mission of specialists, appointed by
the legislature, to report to Parlia-
ment on his condition.. and upon the
manner in which yhe is cared for, and
each year, too, the cabinet makes a
report of its own to the legislature,
SO that people are thoroughly con-
vinced that there Is no injus tice be-
ing done, and that there Is no truth
In the foolish stories circulted at the
time of his accession that he was
a victim Of Prince Bismarck's policy.
and of Prussian intrigue, and that
he was in reality perfectly sane.
So general was this belief twenty
years ago, that several peasant ris-
ings took place, with the object Of
releasing Otto from his captivity,
while the Kings uncle, the present
regent, was denounced as a usurer,
subjected to all sorts of demonstra-
tions Of unpopularity, his portraits
being treated with indignity, and
his statues and busts smashed. To-
day, however, a revulsion Of public
sentiment has taken place, and at the
present moment the old regent is