The Washington herald., 1912-02-02
THE STATUE OF
AUSTRIA'S EMPEROR

when the German sojourners at the
famous Karlsbad springs in Bohemia; a
kingdom now extinct and belonging to
the crown Of Austria, raised the funds
for a statue 70 the aged Emperor Franz
Josef, prompted thereto by the unceas-
ing efforts OF the Royal Prussian Privy
Court Councillor Karl Rene, they little
foresaw the hornets nest they would
| step into, prepared for them by the
sculptor of the monument, Prof. Bor-
mel. And thereby hangs quite an inter-
esting tale, and a moral Here It is:
After the shaft had been dedicated
recently, Councillor Rene got a foundry
to cast for him a number OF very neat
and very delicately modelled small repll-
cas- OF the statue Of the venerable and
beloved wearer of the dual Hapsburg
crown. This done, he journeyed toward
Ischl, in the Bavarian Alps. where Franz
Josef, as usual, spent the summer
months, and, of course, received an
Invitation to dinner from the Emperor
This the highly fattered Prussian court
councillor attended : such invitations"
as is well understood, are commands
and he sprung a surprise upon the dis
| tinguished assemblage by presenting
every participant at the imperial spread,
the venerable host not excepted. with
one of the statuettes.
But such munifcence with his creation
little suited the sculptor. He entered
suit in the Bohemian Supreme Court
against the generous priyy councillor
obtaining a verdict in his favor on ac-
count OF illegal imitation OF the plain
tins handiwork, which Judgment COM
pels every one Of the recipients to re-
turn the gift. including the aged Empe-
ror Franz Josef.
Yet this is not all. and the end is not
yet. To begin with. there was a rumpus
when the honorary chairman OF the mon
ument committee, former Austrian Min,
lister OF Education Won Studt. was given
\ to understand by the Kaiser's chief court
marshal, Count zu Eulenburg, that under
4 no circumstances would the petition of
/ the committee be granted to permit a
Prussian prince to attend the dedication
ceremonies. But when this refusal TO
clothe the affair with an Official status
was followed by Councillor Rene with the
presentation of a long list containing the
names OF the contributors to the monu-
ment fund. with annotations outlining
the kind OF decoration these German
citizens ought TO get from the Austrian
government in return for their admira-
ton OF foreign ruler, Chairman Won
Studt at once resigned.
and duly dedicated, though the Viennese
government has repudiated the list and
its hints for the reward mentioned. But
what are the donors TO do? They cannot
demolish the statue, decoration or no
decoration.
At last the Crystal Palace at London
has been secured for the public. The
Earl OF Plymouth has paid down a SUBJ
eta Al
shall have subscribed something like
100000 more the great glass house on
the slope OF Sydenham Hill is to be
theirs, at any rate for so long as they
continue to supply other substantial sums
annually for its maintenance. All the
men and women of 'Merrie Old Eng
land now have to do is TO send in their
cash; that is, plenty of 1t. In other and
palmer words. the Crystal Palace. being
a purely local AFFAIR OF the Londoners, is
10 be secured for their benefit and amuse-
ment by the citizens OF all other English
towns
Everybody knows that the Crystal
Palace had its origin as 1T place in
Hyde Park in which to hold the great eX-
position. When the mammoth glass house
later on was removed to SydenAam. II
lost Its general interest, mainly being
used for school treats and such like
festivals. But even so, II has partly
outgrown its usefulness with the expan-
sion OF London. i really Is no longer
in London proper, and can be OF per
manent advantage only to the dwellers of
the near nsighborhood: that is, providing
II Is being run on the lines OF the past.
There are many old friends of the
place who would have sighed had the
hammer OF the auctioneer smashed the
crystal OF the palace. Shall the cock
ney lose this the last OF his truly
rural pleasaunces. and are those terraces
no more to echo and re-echo the long
drawn ''ahsr' that go up when the
fireworks do? Is the builder or the
garden city crank to lay his irreverent
hands on all that sylvan beauty, TO turn
II into rows Of red and white houses
and fats and maisonettes and little villas
with three yards of garden in front and
six at the back?
All this will happen unless the Palace
Is made a paying concern, for Il is too
costly to be carried on at a loss. even
by the purse of the public. There are
scores OF ways in which this most de-
sirable property could be made to pay, |
and 1t is too expensive a toy for the |
purse OF the public unless II is made 10 |
pay. The most generous-minded men |
would at length tire Of paying tons OF
money in to keep the builder out.
Nine. Albani. Queen Victorias favorite |
singer, in her memoirs has a great deal |
TO say about that Queens love of music |
and that especially Scottish songs ap-
pealed to her very strongly. She never |
grew tired Of THE Bluebells of Scot |
land" which she called the "Hieland !
Laddie Song" She was also very fond |
OF Annie Laurie and within Mile |
Of Edinburgh Toon."
Nine Albani sang at many state con- |
certs during Queen Vlctorla's reign, and |
confesses that the most disturbing fea- |
ture of these occasions for the artistes is |
the silence and. the absence OF applause. |
And she tells a story of how on one oc-
casion, when she was singing at Buck |
ingham Palace. the concert room was
disturbed all at once by a very unusual |
and not particularly pleasant sound The |
Chinese Ambassador, perhaps not being |
used TO European music, had fallen !
asleep. He had awakened suddenly, Civ |
ing vent to loud snore, half snort, half |
groan, greatly to the amusement OF
everybody.
There is a piquant story. too, concern |
ing an incident which Nine. Patti related |
to Nine. Albani. "One morning" Nine
Patti said, "she was walking with her
husband in Regent street. and as. she