The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-06
ROYAL PATHFINDER, |45 TODAY, DENOUNCED
 AS A WIFE HEATER.

Avowed royaIists in France could
 now almost be counted on the fingers and toes of a survivor. of New York, Near Heaven & Hades railway acci- dent. There are many reason for this.
 but the principal one is Prince Louis Philippe Robert. Due d'Orleans, who
 would be King of France. if that coun-
 try should restore the OrIeanfst re- gime- Immensely rich, the French pretender has been a spendthrift and a lady-killer. and the number Of his loves are beyond counting. There was a time when French royalists, then fairly numerous, excused his es- capades on the ground of youthful wild oats. but that time is past. The Duke will be forty-five years old to- rake.
 The Duke was born in England on Feb. G. 1869. and was educated at tsandhurst, 9afterward serving two years in India with crack British regiment. He then studied in Swiss army school, and on Feb 6. 1880. his
 twentyfirst birthday he returned to
 France, and, under an assumed name. enlisted as a private in the French army. He believed that F,renchmen
 would be aroused to enthusiasm by
 his patriotism, 2. but when discovery
 came and he was sent to prison for violating the law which forbids heads of former ruling dynasties from en- tering France. the public only laugh
 ed. and gave him the nickname of 'tTin ncan,s' after the utensils in which common soldiers get their rations when in the neld.
 The Duke was soon released from
 France, and He'd the country with howls of derision ringing in his ears. Ever since he has been a joke in the land of which he claims to be the ruler. Lately he has been given a new and more sinister nickname l sTh4 Wlfebeater.s '
 The Pretender married tn 1896 the IArchduchess Maria Dorothea Amelia of Austria. The cruelty and fickle- ness of the Duke soon led to a sepa-
 suit for a legal separation, aIimony. and the restitution of large sums she had advanced to her. husband. Iasi year. at about the time the suit was
 filed, the Duke sailed for a tour of South America, not alone. With him was a woman who had spent some time at the Duke's retreat on Lake Como, and who described herself as a i"countess.''
 Last month the suit brought by the Duchess was withdrawn. as the French royaIists feared the effects of the scandal, and the questions invoIv- 1 ing property rights and alimony were lsubn5tted to arbitrato Whether
 the charge of .swife-beater', is well
 founded cannot. be known now that the do1nestic tfoubIss of fne pair have been hushed up, but it has found general belief in France
 The Duke has offered his military services to Italy, Spain and Russia, but has always been refused. During the Boer war he showed his fngrati- tude by bitterly attacking Queen Vic toria, although his family had been given a refuge in England after hav- ing been forced to flee from France 1 in 1348. Since then the Duke has never been welcome in England. and on one occasion, it is said, a party of young Englishmen waylaid him and administered a thorough spanking on that part of the royal person where it would prove most effective. The Dukes only brother, Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Moutpensier. is the heir to the pretendership, as the
 Duke is childIess. He is young man
 of charming manners, strict morals, and as an explorer in China has ably served the French government. He was among those prominently men l toned for the throne of Albania.