The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1908-08-07

When the scion of a royal family OF
Europe sets his bark adrift on the sea
of love and seeks to win as precious
cargo one of Americas fair daughters,
he has begun voyage which is not
all smooth sailing. He is sure to en-
counter shoals of difficulty and hidden
rocks of opposition which are intend
ed to terminate his voyage and rescue
him from an alliance which at best is
not considered just the proper thing
according to the code which is sup
posed to govern the blue-blooded stock
of the kingly line. 1t is bold thing
for a member of the inner circle of
the royal family of any country of Eu-
rope to lose his heart to one below his
station in life, and it is a still holder
thing for him to persist in his attach
ment and to strive to overcome all op-
position and at last win his bride.
The duke of the Abruzzi some months
ago embarked on the romantic voyage
which involves the daughter of a
prominent American statesman, and it
remains to be seen whether he is 60
ing to be able to sail his bark over
the shoals and to avoid the rocks
which would puncture his craft of
love and send it to the bottom, for
that the royal family of Italy, headed
by the king himself, is carrying out a
carefully arranged plan to break off
the projected match with Miss Rather
inc Elkins is an open secret.
hn Mo &c Sc ha
idea that the duke is tickle in charac-
ter, and the king believes that if the
lover is kept from seeing Miss Elkins
for considerable time, and encoun-
tiers no open opposition to arouse that
determination and obstinacy which in
the past has helped him scale noun
tains and cover unknown lands, there
will be no American marriage to re-
cord in the annals of the house of
Savoy. aa--- .....
But if the king and the count of
Turin, and the dukes brother, the
duke of Aosta, and the queen mother
Margherita, are leagued in a concerted
opposition, at least one friend, it is
thought, remains to the duke, and it is
no other than Queen Helena herself,
so that this interesting game of love
may be played to a successful con-
clusion and the duke at last come in a
winner. If he does and he takes Miss
Elkins as his bride to Italy, she will
become a member of that court which
is at once the most democratic and
the most aristocratic in Europe. She
will be one of the ancient house of
Savoy, than which none in Europe is
older and few weather.. She will have
to adapt herself to thousand-year-old
traditions and to learn how to thread
all the mazes of Italian nobility, but
she will find her new relatives people
who among themselves and their
friends are as unassuming and simple
in their tastes as the most democratic
American girl could wish.
Of all the women at the Italian court
*he young queen is the most likely to
become frankly and unaffectedly her
friend. For Helena of Montenegro
will sympathize with her in her diff
culties, having occupied similar po-
SlIlOu uSTStll Wucu SuO q
bride to Rome Queen Helena is a
daughter of the prince of Montenegro,
an Independent sovereign, it is true,
but little more than the chieftain of a
wild mountain tribe. Her home,
though dignified by the name of pal
ace, was merely big, rambling cot
tage, and the life of her girlhood was
passed in almost Spartan simplicity.
She had no dowry but her beauty, and
she would have been dependent for pin
money upon the generosity of her
husband had not the car of Russia
given her personally a wedding pres
ent of several hundred thousand dol
lars. She had spent much time in ST.
Petersburg as a guest of her sisters,
Militia, wife of Grand Duke Peter,
and Stana, duchess of Leuchtenberg,
so when she went to Rome the splen-