The Washington herald., 1914-03-01
Car Ferdinand, Modern Apostle of Bulgaria.
Coming to u. S. Looking for American Ideas

OF the Bulgarian leaders. Bismarck sue
cinCtly remarked to him:
Take il. young man, Il will always
be a pleasant "reminiscences"
But Il was twenty-seyen years ago
when Ferdinand first began to rule the
Bulgarians and the experience isn't a
reminiscence yet Every year there are
rumors that Ferdinand is going to abdi-
cate. Ferdinand is going to be assassi-
mated. Ferdinand is tired Of bis job, and
some power or other is going to give
Ferdinand the experience of his prede-
cessor. who was practically kidnapped
by the Russians.
Always ON the Job.
But every January / Ferdinand is there
on hand as usual. working full office
hours. drilling his troops, scheming with
his captains of industry. planning new
railroads and ports. intriguing in regal
fashion. and altogether doing business at
the old stand.
Ferdinand ought to prove intensely
interesting to America for one thing,
il for no other. He is the world $
champion trust maker and magnate
creator Ferdinand came in 1887 to
rule over what was sometimes called
the Peasant State. II was a coun-
try of rough. capable, self-reliant
farmers There was no middle class
Cmerchants) and no upper class (aris-
tocracy). Ferdinand has created these
two classes. He has caused Bulgarian
life to be largely patterned on the rest
of Europe. But his methods are origi-
nal He believes i'm rich men. He
thinks the Rockefellers. the Carnegies,
the weyerhausers. and the Morgans
are what make a country great. To
deyeIop his crude nation he deliberate
" set out to favor certain individuals.
Grasping methods he encouraged. And
these industrial empires he made the
framework of his own political empire.
Success In Balkan war..
What his success has been was seen
in the recent Balkan wars. In the nrst
war the Bulgsrians swept almost TO
the gates of Ccnstantinople. carrying
everything before them or course,
Ferdinand, or somebody, made grave
mistake in starting the second war,
when Bulgaria tackled Servia and
Greece and lost almost all she had
gained in the first conflict. But this
setback in the face of great odds did
not unset the argument that Ferdinand
had done wonders in his quarter or a
century at the head OF the Bulgarian
people.
In person. Ferdinand is large, he mas
maenificent heavy beard. and a presence
which commands respect among one Oh
the roughest and most headstrong peoples
,n tho world He Is a man Of the strang-
est contrasts. Suspected of having the
man who put him on the throne, STAN
bouIoff. the great Bulgarian patriot. put
TO death with hideous tortures, he Is YET
in his calmer moments devoted to the
simplest Of hobbies. the collection OF but
terfiies and wild flowers. II Is sald ne
spent the last moments before going forth
10 war with the Turks among his beloved
cabinets and albums.
Yet he is a man of the most redoubt-
able courage. Of the utmost herceness on
occasion. and il his enemies are TO De
credited only a little, of an INSCRIPTIONS
ness seldom met In these modern days.
He was accused Of being behind the cap
ture of Miss Stone, the American mission
airy. who was held by bandits for many
weeks.
Can Also Talk Niddish.
:. He is a hard worker and a thorough
student. Among other things. he has the
distinction of being the only monarch VINO
can talk Yiddish. Bulgaria has been free
of the curse OF anti-semitism. which has
thrown its dark shadow over Roumania
and Russia.
Ferdinand was the first royal parsonage
to go aloft in a flying machine. On July
5. 1870 his majesty went for flight with
Delaminne, a Belgium aviator. Prince
Boris. the heir-apparent to the throne.
and Princess Cyrille. the Kings second
son. also few that day.
Besides these two sons. Ferdinand has
two daughters All four arc children OF
his hrst wife, who died in 1893. His sec
ond wife was before her marriage Prin-
cess Eleanora of Reuss. She was forty