New-York tribune., 1909-11-07
Colossal Statue TO IfoIY'.s K ing

ln the year 1911 the Itauans arc going
20 celebrate their hftiosh birthday. and as
q memorial of the occasion they are now
erecting in Rome gigantic statue OF their
first king. Victor Emmanuel II viii Re
she largest statue ever cast. for the Amer
ioan Statue Of Liberty WAS not cast. but
uss bult mp by attaching thin sheets Of
nrass 90 al iron framework The head
alone. wiki its 9lumed helmet IS higher
fhar the tsllest man. The sabre IN the
kings hand is moro than twice the height
- Z man, enc the horse reminds MS q the
fsmsys sseed ia which tho warriors who
taek Troy concealed themselves, for thirty
persons have b7eakfasted comfortably IN
side 81. one hundred and seventy cannon
were melted down TO provide material for
ihis tremendous monument. and. Of course
Il had 10 ne cast iu pieces. These pieces
were al ;akcn 90 Rome in September and
arc now icing mounted on a suitable ped
csts!. Af;er this : done the whole statue
VII nc giloed, and by l21 il is expected
faat Il viii be ready Tor unveiing
Italy seems a rather old country 70 Doe
having aftieth hirthday. but Italy. as We
know Il to-day. Ia just half = century old.
Before ISI il was only a collection OF
Icity states. and many @ these weren't
even allowed 70 rule themselves. For cen
turies tie peninsula had not been free
from foreign dominion IL Was the battle
ground ~ tho nations. Napoleon carved &;
rp into kingdoms fov MS relatives. and
sstcr tie French came the Austrsans.
whom the Italians Gctested more than all
lhc.r other fore!gn masters
VheE Victor Emmanuel Vas L0rn. on
49,
more unlikely than that he would ever be
King % a united Italy and II wasn't AT
a certain that he would ever be King
o.. anything. His father. Charles Albert
- Savoy. was cousin OF the King of Sar-
oinie, and Il the King had ever had any
children, Charles Albert would never have
worn tho crown. IS il vas, he came
very near losing L. The TWO cousins
were very Tar .ron being good friends.
Charles Albert had some modern ideas
about tho duties of kings. and the King
Charles Felix didn't feel that the honor %
70 House 81 savoy would he safe IN his
hands lie would have been very glad n
10 could have found another he.g, and y
htlc Victor Emmanuel hadn't come into
The world jusi when he did Charles Albert
In eht have been excluded from The success
zion. But Charles Felix was an honest man
IN his wav. and he was unwilling 10 sacri-
nee the baby prince because Of his fathers
sins. Victor Em-nanuel was born under a
lucky star. Charles Albert always did the
wrong thing Victor Emmanuel always did
The right ono. He even contrived 20 be
born al exactly the right time.
AFTER Charles Albert was Acknowledged
IS the heir presumptive 10 The throne OF
sardinia hes went 10 live ar the court OF
Turin. and there Victor Emmanuel ana his
lrothe- the Duke cf Genoa, grew up. The
court seems 30 have been q very duu and
dissgreesble place, and little American boys
have no reason q envy these little princes.
They lived verv simply, studied hard, rose
at dsybreak and were trained % arms from
rho time they were in short dresses. Victor
didn't care much for books. Ny little
Victor" his mother wrote, is very docile.
hut he is hard 10 teach. for ne always
wants 10 run snd 5ump." But ne took TO
soldering naturally. which was perhaps the
best Thing he could have done under the
circumstances. for he had 10 do lot OF
dEhuing before DC became King Of united
ITALY.
All this tine things had been gong from
rad 70 worse in Italy. and the succession
- Charles Albert did not make them any
better. He had the misfortune 10 make
every one 6istrust Lin. The conservatives
thought him a dangerous radical. the rsdi-
Gals considered him Z hopeless conservative.
He VAS so unWise rs 70 refuse the services
~ the Italian patriots Gsribaldi and MAJ
zinL mus turning them into rebels Al last.
with an Austrian army al his gates. he ab
dicated IN favor of his son. thinking that
new sovereign might be more fortunate than
himself. Calling his generals together. he
ssid
i sbdioate in favor OF my son. He may