The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-05-19
Believed to Be Imprudent in
Allying Herself With
Prince Arsene
Prince Arsene.


by LA MhRoUlSE DE EONrESoy.
n hrs HuGER PRATT, formerly of
lNJ New York, and now of LA Champs
Elysecs. in Paris is tempting
fate by bestowlng her hand In mar
riago upon Prince Arscne. OF Servia.
brother OF King Peter, this being her
hird matrimonial venture. her first
husband having boon q New Yorker,
of tho name of w. J. Wright. By whom
she became tho mother of Countess"
Alexander AGercati
True, tho rcigning house of Servin
is tho only ono that has been accus.
toned to wed on footing OF equality
with nonroyal persons. and even mem.
bers OF tho bourgeoisic. Thus most
or King Petor's sisters became tho
wivos of men without any title or
blue blood. The consort OF king Aler
ander was plain DraEa Maschin. of oh.
scure birth. and the widow OF n civil
engineer Queen Natalie was prior tn
her marriage Mile. Kechke. daughter
of an officer OF the cornmissariat de-
partment of the Russian army King
Milans mother was Mile. Catargi.
of Bucharest while the FIRST wife OF
Mrs. HuSer Pratt's Prince Arseno was
plain Aurora Dcmidoff ot the lower
Russian mobility.
According, however. to the family
statutes decreed b. King Peter some
four years ago, and enacted by the
National Assembly at Belgrade as part
and parcel OF tho law of the land. no
member OF the royal house of Servia
can contract legal marriage without
the consent OF the sovereign and of
his government. Consequently, IL Ar
sene fails to obtain this two fold sane
ton from Belgrade. his union to Mrs
Huger Pratt will be invalid, not alono
IN tr,
court of Europe, and she will not be
permitted TO bear the title of princess
nor will she be officially recognized
anywhere such.
But even were King Peter and his
government to give their approval TO
the alliance, which is doubtful, since n
marriage of this kind could only tend
to still further hamper the efforts OF
the Servian dynasty to secure accept
ance by foreign courts as one of the
full-fedged royal houses Of Europe,
Mrs. Huger Pratt would stu DO ex-
tremely imprudent in nliying herself
matrimonially to Prince Arsene. His
record is unsavory to the last degree.
and his first wife, the late Aurora
Domidof, who possessed n largo for
tune. was compelled. by his misconduct
and by his extravaganza. to divorce
him, in 1896. after four years OF mar
riage, the only Offspring Of the union
Prince Paul, now twenty years OF axe
and an undergraduate at oxford Uni
versity, being awarded to her care
Divorce liz very rare in Russia. and
most difficult to obtain. 1t may in
deed be said that 1t is only granted in
exceptional cases. That Aurora Dem-
dof should have been able 10 obtain
IT against Arsene. speaks volumes for
his character. Indeed. the charges
proved against him were such that he
found II prudent TO leave Russia and
to take up his residence in Parts, with
no alimony. There he led n hand-to-
mouth and most precarious existence
for the seven years which interviewed
between his divorce and the accession
OF his elder brother Peter to the
throne.
In 1901 Arsenc was one Of the part
proprietors of perhaps the best known
of those somewhat disreputahle all
night restaurants in Paris. which are
misnamed American bars" This
dramshop was managed by very
handsome woman, whose real name
was Isabel Voisin. hut who had been
known in tho half-world and indeed
in I'll Paris. as "Ziz." She was the
ideal managercss OF such a place. For
what she did not know OF the gay and
seamy side OF metropolitan life in the
French capital was not worth know
ing, added to which she yas always
good tempered, level-headed. kind