Daily Kennebec journal., 1911-04-24
BIRTH OF NAPoLEoN'S SON.
A Ballonist Literally Scattered the
News Over France.

on March % that most unhappy of
princes, Napoleon's son, successfully
known as king of Rome. prince Of
Parma and duke of ReIchstadt. was
born. His birth was everywhere
hailed as an event of the first order of
Importance. 1t was believed by 80
commentators out of 100 to be the
NEST effectual guarantee of the Bona
parte dynasty. The clouds that hung
over its future We're thought to be
dissipated by this new smile of good
fortune. \ baby's hand had strength
ened that mighty hand which had so
long held the rod of empire; so poets
said. and so diplomatists thought.
Now few relics of his childhood and
youth, kept in the imperial treasure
house at Vienna, and shown to the
curious, are the only souvenirs of Ma
poleen's son.
On March 20, 1911. the visions were
all splendid To the Parisians, who
counted the discharges OF cannon that
announced the birth of an imperial
child. 1t had been announced that if
Napoleon held a daughter in his arms
y guns would be fired. When the 2lst
report was followed by the 22nd the
thousands in the streets went wild
With joy, for they knew that a son had
been born to the sovereign The can
non ceased firing only at the hundred
and first round. There was no electric
telegraph to flash the tidings in a sec
ond to the uttermost parts of the en-
pire, but the semaphone was working
and the news was at once transmitted
To strashurg, where 4 special courier
with relays of horses held ready in ad-
vance was waiting to start for Vienna.
Major Robelau, noted as a horseman
and hustler, had been chosen for
this service and it was related at the
time, as showing how rapidly distance
could be covered when expedition was
organized. that though the king of
Rome was born at 10 A. NJ. March 20,
Major Robelau delivered his message
at the French embassy in Vienna at
1915 y. NJ, March %. That message
set Vienna wild with joy. for the peo-
pie hailed it as presaging a long pc
riod of peace in the maintenance of
which both the imperial families OF
France and Austria would be inter
ested.
While Major Robeiau was urging
hoi SoitSl ~ IT'S ulIlpSt SDttQ ana en-
duranee, Nine. Blanchard, the aero
na'.t, was careering through Frencn
skies in a balloon from which she scat
tered handbills announcing the birth
of ,. son and heir OF the emperor
Mary peasant or laborer looking up
at the balloon ran to catch q nutter-
ing paper and learned from it that
there was a new inhabitant of the
earth destined to be Napoleon H. II
all went well. All did not go well. and
there is no sadder chapter in history
OF The vanity OF human wisdom than
that which tells the captive life and
early death of the duke of Reichstadt
Called at his birth. on a prophetic hint
from Metternich himself. the king of
Rome the title lad become empty.
ever ridiculous when he was four
years old. Once when walking with
his grandfather, the emperor OF Aus
tria, the boy said he recalled people
hailing him King of Rome" and
asked what it meant The grand
father dryiy answered that it meant
Just as much as when he was called
king of Jerusalem that being among
the many titles associated with the
Hapsburg monarch.-Boston Evening
Transcript.