The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-08-10
HONORS ARE PAID
BULGARIAN RULER
Ferdinand I. Has Ruled the
Little Balkan Country
Twenty-Five Years.
(National News Association

(National News Association)
VIENNA, Aug. 10.-Tomorrow Fer
dinand l., will round out a quarter of
a century as ruler of Bulgaria. The an
niversary recalls much that is of in
terest. 1t also serves to show that po-
litical prophecies often go wide of the
mark
Twenty-Five years ago last month
there came to Vienna Bulgarian
statesman, NJ. Stoiloff. envoy of SIAM
bouloff, the dictator. Stoiloff was
searching for a prince who would
deign to accept the Bulgarian crown.
The offer was not very tempting. The
fate that befell the unhappy Alexan-
der of Battenberg, the first prince Of
Bulgaria, made 1t hard to find his sue
cessor.
After several princes had been ap-
preached without success, Stambou-
loft and Stoiloff thought of the
Ooburgs, who had already furnished
several kings. So Stoiloff journeyed to
Ebenthal, near Vienna, and appealed
to the youngest, cleverest, and most
attractive of the Coburgs, Prince Fer
dinand. His mother, Princess Clemen-
tine, was daughter of Louis Philippe.
Ferdinand was a nephew of the king
of the Belgians and related to the
queens of England and Portugal.
Prince Ferdinand was then twenty
six. He was we'll aware of the dangers
his acceptance would involve. But he
saw in young Bulgaria an enormous
force, which, if he could direct and
control it, might work miracles. He
had faith in the people and faith in
himself. He accepted, and on August
II, 1887, he assumed the reins of gov
eminent
The young Prince had an uphill
fight. The confirmative of his selec-
by the Bulgarian national assembly
was only secured from the Porte after
the most humiliating restrictions had
been placed upon him. 1t was the I'M
derstanding that he was to remain
permanently in the Principally and
that the state of his country-religion,
education, finance, defense, industry
and commerce-must be periodically
scrutinized by the Ministry at the
Yildiz Kiosk.
Nominally a vassal of Turkey, in
reality Bulgaria was dominated by
Russia, while Austria and the other
Powers watched with a jealous eye
cfn RI or frN,,hIa Of
any moment. The foreign relations of
the struggling Principally were bad
enough, but the condition of affairs at
home was even worse. Rival factions
disputed the Government, the army
was torn with discussions, and moth
ing but the iron rule of Stambouloff
prevented the country's ruin.
Such was Bulgaria in 1887, when
Ferdinand arrived. And what marvel
Gus changes twenty-five years under
his rulership have brought about. At
the start, unrecognized by any of the
Powers of Europe, treated as usur-
per, laughed at and hated, he achieved
the recognition of all the Powers, and
with it their respect. Today Ferdinand
is recognized everywhere, received
with royal honors in all the capitals
of Europe; his realm has become the
most prosperous and most powerful
of the Balkan States; it has proudly
broken the last ties that bound it to
Turkey; 1t has civilized, modernized
and improved it's system of govern
ment; the country is covered with
roads and railways; 1t has thrifty,
industrious population and a brilliant
capital; everywhere are to be seen
magnificent military buildings, for the
backbone of Bulgaria is her army,
which is the best disciplined in the
Balkans.
Car Ferdinand, as he has been
known since Bulgaria achieved her
complete independence five years ago,
is in person handsome, soldierly
man, bearded and always we'll groom
ed. He is not only an earnest student,
with special leaning toward botany
and ornithology, but also a man of
highly cultivated taste. He has made
a complete study of the difficult lam
guage and the history of his people
and is a great stickler for the cere-
monies of his court.
Five years after ne accepted the
Bulgarian crown Ferdinand married
Marie Louise of the Bourbon family
of Parma, woman of noble character,
who died six years later, endeared in
the hearts of the people, leaving four
children, two princes and two princess
es, the first royal children born on
Bulgarian soil in 400 years. Prince
Bemis, the heir to the throne, is in his
nineteenth year. He has received an
excellent education and is said to DOS
SIS many of the strong qualities that
have helped his father to success. In
1908, about ten years after the loss
of his first wife, Ferdinand was mar
ried to Princess Eleanore of Reuss,
-