Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1909-12-17

the girls.
extremely p;ous girl and was her
mothers constant companion. When
Leopold. after Queen Marias death
married the Baroness dc Vaughan.
his mOrganatic wife. and established
her in n magnificent residence oppo-
site the royal palace. /, proved 100
much Tor the Princes. She left
home and went TO live with nds
at Spa.
Leopold's earlier days. however.
were comparatively tame. but his
cold-blooded selnshness and IA elect
OF his wife so disguised his father
Leopold |, that ON ais death in 1865.
he divided the greater part OF his
vast estate between his younger son
Pihlip. Count OF Flanders. and his
daughter Charlotte. Empress OF Mex
leo and wife OF the ill-fated Maxi
milan
The accession to the throne OF
Leopold II was rh- signal for the
realization OF hiS avaricious ambi-
tions and sensual pleasures.
His political sagacity and Tecog-
nized business ability soon placed
Belgium far anead OF any other ma
tion Of its size. financially. But the
question OF state did not by any
means monopolize his attention, and
his frequent escapades i'm Paris and
London soon won for him the title
OF Europe's merriest monarch. lie
was the acknowledged friend OF
blacklegs and gamblers, and his fe-
male companions, OF whom there were
many, We're weGl-known figures in
the Parsian cafes. Several of the
attained worldwide notoriety owing to
their association with this pleasure
loving monarch, woo layished money
upon them and covered Them with
expensive Jewels.
One of the first Of these was CLARA
Ward, then Princess Chimay and an
American girl. Leopold became sm;.
! ten 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 king
! fair companion from tne door.
But one OF Leopold's favorte axi-
ONES was variety Is the space OF
/ life" and he was soon madly in love
. with Oleo de Merode, a famous dan
seusc lie even went so far as to
/ present her with "A string Of the
queens pearls, which caused Her
Majesty 10 grieve so deeply that she
attempted suicide servant, who
chanced TO enter the royal apart
ment at an unexpected moyemeT
took the halter from the queens
aands and prevented her from hang
ing herself.
But after that episode. the queen
was never herself Her spirit was
broken and she became melancholy.
The kings prolonged pleasure trips
were at times the cause OF grave
! concern among 1he government Off
cials In one instance. when His
Majesty had been absent for some
time. and the Brussels Cabinet wa
beginning to despair Of ever seeing
him again. a dispatch appeared in a
newspaper to the effect that kin
Leopold and mis- three daughters" had
arrived i'm Mediterranean port
aboard the royal yacht, whore they
were received by the authoritic-
with all the honor due their rank.
The real daughters. however hap
pened TO be at the Palace Leskenc
at the time. and they were forced
TO remain indoors until the return
OF their father. The women magdue-
/ rating aboard the yacht as the king
daughters. wore three Parsian ballet
girls
These scandalous escapades were
The cause Of constant sorrow ON tho
part Of the pious queen. and resulted
in lnumerous enstrangSnents. She
finally died on September 10. 1902.
following an attack of syncopo At
the time OF ncr death King Leopold
was iu France and had 10 DO SCR
for
Althoguh getting ON iu years tho
monarch sjn retained his love for
pleasure and this was no doubt due
to his regular habits. Ho was vcr.
fond OF outdoor exercise and DRAM
very little
Thus perished Europcs "merr.ost
monarch And nothing remains M
mark his reign except the gaasuy
monument ~ skeletons and ma.mod
human beings in the ongo Free stat