The Washington herald., 1912-10-06

The death OF the Duo Decaxes. the third
of that title In ninety-nine years, makes
| gap In the intimate circle Of the Due
d'orieans, who sent Comte de Beauvoir
to represent him. at the funeral service
at Chantilly. The Due de Luynes cut
short his stay at Dinard to act az rep
resentative at the more solemn obse-
quies at Grave. in the Gironde. the wine
estate OF the Decazes' fors twp genera
tons. The late duke and the Orieanist
pretender were enough of an age to have
played together in youth. The elder
initiated young Orleans. his Junior by
five years, in sports and pastimes. and
strengthened in him tastes which inter-
fered rather with his studies, at the
Lycee OF Eu. and often landed him on
the stool Of repentance.
Young Decazes seemed an impetuous,
almost foolhardy lad, but he had really
an amazing lot OF shrewdness in getting
out of scrapes after getting into them.
In after life this quality seemed to
gather strength. 1t took him barely
three years to run through the best part
Of what his father left him.. and then.
marrying not for birth but for money
and personal advantages, he chose one
Of the two daughters of Singer. the
Austro-American millionaire. the origi-
nal patentee Of the sewing machine and
founder of those Singer companies that
are scattered all over the globe.
On her death the duke had q large slice
of her heritage. but not enough to pre-
vent each Of the three children coming
into a very considerable fortune. They
are all well brought up. and in the regi-
ment now stationed at Verdun. where
the two sons are serving. their officers
report well Of them. The eldest, now
the duke, Is a staid young man, with a
money making turn, a great lover of
horses, and worthy OF praise for the care
and consideration with which he treats
his mount.
1t was at one time believed that the
late duke might propose marriage to
Nine. du Cast, the"famous sportswoman
Her passion for motoring by land and
water and the part she took in the Tou-
lon-Algiers race. threw them together
a good deal. When she came close to
drowning in the Mediterranean he picked
her up from her motor-boat and put her
on board his yacht, the Quandmeme, In
which he weathered a storm.
Gossip afterwards busted itself with
the widow of an American railway king.
till the attack OF apoplexy which pros
trated the duke six months ago. He
so far pulled through as to arrange for
some of his horses to race at Chantilly,
but another attack proved fatal. and his
colors were not seen on the turf. In
sports he was "a leader and an enthu-
siast; he got UP prize fights at his own
expense, matches in swimming, run
ming. and fencing, and was prime mover
in the Dieppe match between the French
pugilist Carpenter and the American
Klaus.
The psychic makeup of this remark
able nobleman accorded with his robust,
full-blooded physique. The Gascon and
the Jewish types were blended in him,
his mother being nee Loewenthal, OF
Vienna, and his grandfather on the
paternal side a Gironde lawyer. the IA
vorite successfully OF Queen Hortense
and Louise XVIII. The first duke, on
being asked whether the impeachment
were true, answered, they say 1t is Ton
lie diO. The manners OF the second duke
were so good that one did not notice
their perfection, one only felt Il.
Among the up-to-date. things are the
cinematic photographer and the snap
shooting journalist. Both made. their on
slaughts on the German Emperor. and
he stood them, like the good actor he is.
at the Zurich terminus and other places
In Switzerland, with an almost republi-
can simplicity and democratic bluffness
OF manner. He once did so for five min
utes, by the testimony of the operators
watches. He arrived pale. and by most
accounts almost haggard, but warmed
up on finding himself confronted by
Switzers armed with kodaks and cinema
films, INDUCED in guardroom POPULARITY
and laughter that went home to the
public collected from twenty-five can
tons to see this Kaiser and "Kriegherr,'
and played his part to perfection. Man
ners in Switzerland are homely The
militiamen engaged in these maneuvers
declare that he gave himself fewer airs
than their own officers. even of the
standing of lieutenants and captains.
King Alfonso recently showed himself
a less good actor, and has been snarled
at by Republican and Carlist papers in
He went at San Sebastian
to the memorial services for the 1919
fishermen drowned in the tempest at
Bermes. When he emerged with his
suite from the church. the latter had
composed their faces to the expression
of melancholy demanded by the circum-
stances. They were walking behind AL
fonso and could only see his back. but
the camera catches him full-face, and
shows him advancing with an easy ges-
ture and rollcking smile. which con-
trasts queerly with the detected mien of
his encourage.
The old chateau OF Malison-Lafitte
which was built in 1912 by Rene de
Longeuil, after many vicissitudes, has
been opened as a museum to the public.
Longeuil. after his disgrace, sold his
castle, where Louis XIV and Louis XIV