The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-11-15

I not wish to inuude upon the kindness of | the American ambassador in having the l list augmented for her sake. The Comte de Turin modestly suggested l that he might arrange it.
 "Oh. I should be so enchanted said
 the lovely Miss Greene with enthusiasm. And later in discussing with her hostess
 the probability of such pleasure she inquired:
 DO you suppose this gentleman can
 arrange it? What influence has he Is 1 royal circles?"
 | To her great amazement her hostess in- i formed her of the comtes position and 1 told her that he was at that time the | guest of the King. his cousin, at the | Quirinal
 The comte was devoted in his attentions | to the beautiful Miss Greene and gos- ! sip was rife regarding their betrothal
 but alasl the denouement of the pretty
 romance was to be a disappointment to , the many friends of the eomte and the ! fair Ameriean-for she returned to her
 native heath and married one of her own countrymen and the comte--is still a bachelor.
 But to return to the story of the Duke D'Abruzzi's misfortune in regard to his fingers. He is not in the least sensitive on the subject. as those of us know who were fortunate enough to attend the beautiful reception on board his flag ship, the "Veresi," in Norfolk last sum mer during the Jamestown exposition. On the contrary the duke is proud to own that the loss of the first joint of his middle finger and the loss of part of one of his fourth fingers was epoch making period in history for when the expedition set out from Rome to reach the North Pole under the splendid lead- ership of the Duke D'Abruzzi. Italy made a step forward, which placed her in line with the great efforts of this country in regard to exploration and navigation.
 To the little village Of Courmayeur nestling beneath the towering height of Mont Blanc on the Italian side and which is considered the Chamounx of Italy, the duke went fin 1899 to find his guides for his famous trip on the Stellar Polare which was to result in the intense suffer- ing he underwent in the loss of his fin
 gers This village is noted for furnish ing the most splendid guides in Italy and Petigax. Fenoillet, Savoie and Lollier, composed the number chosen by the duke. Of these Loilier was perhaps the best known and after his death in 1895 the duke returned to Courmayeur to unveil monument erected to his memory. 
 It would appear that the duke defied
 superstition in regard to his expedition for the number he chose to accompany
 him was B, and on May ', 1899. His
 Majesty, King Humbert. bade them "god 1 speed" The Stellar Polare travelled well
 and fast through rough and fair wealth ! CT and the faithful crew stood nobly by
 their leader, finally reaching the fear ! full regions of snow and ice. And every i where the duke was a favorte with the 1 lades-from his own sunny cline in | Italy to the rigid regions of the north. One day-the fatal day when the duke was to be deprived of the use of his fin gers-several of the men had set out from the ice cliff to the glacier. Upon their return it was so frightfully cold that the snow driven by the wind froze
 on their eyelashes and the ungloved hand had to be used to open them.
 The dukes own account of this ter rible experience is to this effect
 q was congratulating myself that our excursion had ended so happily when, to my amazement. I took off my glove only to discover that my fingers were frozen. Doctor Molinelli at once was summoned and from his expression I saw that he feared the worst"
 The doctor, while apprehensive of
 what was to follow. worked faithfully with the royal fingers but with no avail
 A few days later the Duke was told that his fingers must be amputated and he displayed the same bravery that , is characteristic of his royal highness
 in every phase of life-even to the
 wooing and winning of the beautiful
 American girl for his bride, in the
 face of almost insurmountable ob-
 stacles.
 So this is the story in a nutshell of how the Duke of the Abruzzi lost his fingers. And wouldn't you imagine that Miss Elkins would love him just 10
 times as much when she realized that they were sacrificed for the love of
 research and travel and the ambition | that prompted it?