The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-17
LEOPOLD'S CAREER
 WAS REMARKABLE Death of Belgian King Recalls
 His Reckless Life DESERTED BY HIS FAMILY Dauqhters Refused to Live With the Man Who So MIstreated the Mother and Who Cared Not
 For Family Ties.
DESERTED BY HIS FAMILY

For Family Ties.
 New York, December 16.-(Special.)-Th Heath of King Leopold II of Belgium marks the close of ono of the most pie turesuue carees in the history of Eu- ropean royalty. In this eccentric mon- arch the cruel traits, the love of sensual pleasures and insane extravagances of the rulers of ancient Rome were com- bined with the shrewd business tactics of the modern fnancier.
 For more than score of years the world has Uttered at his amours which have shocked the court circles of Europe and disgraced his family. while his bar barous and inhuman treatment of the natives of the Congo Free State. in order to satisfy his mad lust for gold, has proved a blot on civilization.
 Leopold was the son of King Leopold I and Princess Louise. and grandson of Louis Philippe, citizen King of the French.
 He was born in 1895 and at the age of Il was created Duke of Brabant. In 1853, when he was but Is years of age. he married Maria Henrietta of Austria, daughter of Emperor Joseph. But the match was an unhappy one. His wife was of q religious turn of mind, while the young prince was very fond of the pleas ures of life. The indignities which he heaped upon this woman. following his accession to the throne in 1865, broke her heart, and indirectly caused her death in September, 1902.
 Son Dies In Youth.
 The royal couple had one son, Leopold, who died at the age of 10, and three daughters, Princess stephanie. Princess Louise and Princess Clementine
 The first two mentioned of the daugh- ters inherited something of their fathers nature. and their escapades have been matters of public knowledge for de- cade.<
 Princess Stephanie, who married Count Lonyay following the tragic death of her first husband, Grown Prince Rudolph of Austria, was disowned by her father and driven from the palace.
 Louise. his second daughter, who had been shamefully' treated by her husband. Prince Philip of saxe-Coburg. ran away with a Hungarian officer, and was later incarcerated in a lunatic asylum. She is now eking out a miserable existence in Paris.
 Princess Clementine, the youngest, was her fathers favorite. She Is an extreme ly pious girl. and was her mothers con- stant companion. When Leopold, after Queen Marie's death married the Bar oness de Vaughan, his morganatic wife, and established her in magnificent res- idence opposite the royal palace. 1t proved too much for the princess. She left home and went to live with friends at Spa.
 Neglect of Wife.
 Leopold's earlier days. however, were comparatively tame. but his cold-blooded selfishness and neglect of his wife so dis gusted his father, Leopold I. that on his death in 1885 he divided the greater part of his vast estate between his younger son, Philip. Count of Flanders. and his daughter, Charlotte, Empress of Mexico, and wife of the ill-fated Maximilian.
 The accession to the throne of Leopold II was the signal for the realization of his avaricious ambitions and sensual pleasures.
 His political sagacity and recognized business ability soon placed Belgium far ahead of any other nation of its size. financially. But the question of state did not by any means monopolize his at- tention. and his frequent escapades in Paris and London soon won for him the title of Europe's merriest monarch. He was the acknowledged friend of black legs and gamblers, and his female com panions. of whom there were many, were well-known figures in the Parisian cafes. Several of them attained worldwide no! toriety, owing to their association with this pleasure-loving monarch, who lav- ished money upon them and covered them with expensive jewels.
 Many Love Affairs.
 One of the first of these was Clara Ward, then Princess Chimay and an American girl. Leopold became smitten with her in Paris and invited her to his palace. But Queen Marie was at that time vigorous enough to protest, and she drove the Kings fair companion from the door.
 But one of Leopold's favorite axioms was. ''variety is the spice of life." and he was soon madly in love with Cleo ds Merode, a famous danseuse. He even went 90 far as to present her with 8 string of the queens pearls, which caused her maj esty to grieve 50 deeply that she attempted suicide. A servant, who chanced to enter the royal apartment at an unexpected moment took the halter from the queens hands and prevented her from hanging herself.
 But after that episode, the queen was never herself. Her spirit was broken and she became melancholy.
 The kings prolonged pleasure trips were 1t times the cause of grave concern among the government officials. In ono instance, when his majesty had been ab- sent for some time, and the Brussels cab- inet was beginning to despair of ever see inx him again, dispatch appeared in a newspaper to the effect that King Leo noid and his three daughters'' had arr1v- sd In . Mediterranean port aboard the roval yacht, where they were received by the authorities with all the honor due their rank.
 The real daughters, however. happened to be at the Palace Laeken at the time, ana thev were forced to remain indoors until the return of their father. The women masquerading aboard the yacht as fhe king's daughters were three Partisan ballet girls
 Death of tho Queen.