The Washington herald., 1911-06-21

master. you shall jump through the
hoops and the old woman shall take
care Of the TILL The old woman was
the Empress mother. the wife OF Maxi
milan. Duke OF Bavaria IA younger
branch of the reigning house,, and was
noted for her parsimonious ways"
An excellent story about the Empress
OF Austria is added by Mrs. Frazer. Ac-
cording to the narrator, Empress Eliza
beth had two stock questions which she
invariably put to every woman. They
were do you rider and Have you
any children?"
This calls to mind the story about the
bishop who went out TO convert the
heather. He was clean shaven, but he
took with him a butler who sported a
magnificent beard. An Oriental potentate
who paid the bishop a visit mistook the
butler for the bishop. There was nothing
strange in that. as in all Eastern coun-
tries the beard is the universal mark
Of masculinity. The Sultan bowed low
before the butler and uttered these dread
full words: Your wife is very beautiful
Has she many children?" The terrified
proceeded to grow a patriarchal beard.
Mrs. Frazer also gives a tantalizing
glimpse OF Swlnburne's youthful pecca-
dilloes It appears that during her
schooldays at Bonchurch, Isle OF Wight,
there were all kinds OF rumors about
Lady Jane Swinburnes naughty son. 1t
was whispered that he had red hair,
which he wore much too long. that he
kept late hours and was away from home
a good deal. Some day the story of
Swinburne's youth will be told, and an
amazing tale 1t will be, for never did
strict and pious parents find themselves
confronted with a more bewildering prob
lem. The pathetic inability of these good
beings to understand the little volcano
which by some caprice Of circumstance
had been sent to them in the shape of
son-well. there has been nothing like IL
in the annals of literature. Perhaps the
only faint parallel is to be found in By
ron's marriage to the pious Miss Mil
banke. That surely, was the most gro
tesque mixed marriage" ever entered
into by foolish mortals.
In lighter vein are a couple Of stories
about Americans. One concerns genial
Yankee. who, on being presented to Pope
Leo XIII, exclaimed, as he seized the
pontiff's hand, shaking 1t heartily: 'Sir.
I am glad to meet you I knew your
father, the late Pope ."
And then there was the American
muItimillionaIre who visited Oxford and
paused to admire the fine. smooth grass
turf on one of the college green's. That's
fine." he remarked to a gardener. How
do you manage to get it?' "Oh. that
is quite simple" was the reply. you've
only to roll It for 800 years"
: There is a story Of Bismarck and Molt-
ke which illustrates the character OF the
latter in a very striking manner. 1t was
in 1854. when the Prussians invaded
Juetland, a Danish province, and pro-
ceeded to capture Frederika during the
war against Denmark to retake from
that little island kingdom the German
provinces of Schleswig and Holstein (the
present German Empress is a princess
of Schleswig), which, II was claimed,
had belonged to the German Duke Of
sburg-Augustenburg, a scion of
the Oldenburg house. the oldest of Ger
man dynasties, and who, by Inheritance
and treaty. was the rightful ruler OF the
two duchies." Austria and Prussia be-
ing the leading monarchies Of the then
Germ an empire, thereupon invaded Den
mark, and by superior force defeated the
Danes in the famous battle at the spiked
redoubts of Dueppel. Moltke had
strongly disapproved OF that war, for
which in reality there was not a shadow
Of pretense other than that German was
the official language in those duchies
and that Schleswig possessed the finest
harbors, which Prussia coveted. (KeI,
the leading German navy yard and ship
building yard, is in Schleswig)
1t is known that Moltke was q native
Of Denmark, and the captured city of
Frederika was where his boyhood days
had ben spent. Therefore, IT easily may
be imagined that the man who was der
tined to become the worlds leading stra-
tegician greatly disliked the idea OF en-
tering that town as a "conquering hero"
OF course. he knew every street and
house in 1t, while Bismarck entered the
place for the first time. That is a fine
house, said Bismarck, pointing to a
large, imposing building which cast all the
others into shade. IT will take up my
quarters there" Very appropriate" re-
piled Moltke, dryly. that structure Is the
state prison" FJANEUR.
(Copyright. 1911. by OOurt Gossip syndicteI