Iditarod pioneer., 1914-08-08
"The Austrian Emperor

"The Austrian Emperor
 May heaven and hell blast his happiness! May his family be extcrminated! My he be smitten ill the persons of those ht loves May his life be wrecked, and may his chil- dren be brought to ruinH
 Such was the curse that Countess karolyI, whose son had been one of the victims of the repression, showered over Francis Joseph in scathing words winch seem to sum up all the possibilities of human bate. A memorable curse, truly, and one which one might, if one chose take for the text of his biography, showing how time has brought the fui&llnent of it, drawing the punishment cut slowly relentcSsiy, unceas- ingly The tragedy of the Square of Quere- tar0, where Francis Joseph's brother faced firing party of republican eXecutioners; the tragedy of the Vatican, where his sister in law lost her reason the tragedy of Meyer ling where his only son pershed in his shame; the tragedy of Geneva, where his wife was struck down by the dagger of the assassin-all these things, and many others also, might be represented as so many stages in the untirng and undertaking march of Nemesis fulfllments of the curse.
 The venerable emperor oi Austria, dean of rulers, and who is reported seriously Ill, has sat upon the throne of the Hapsburgs and ruled with something of what Is euphelnisticaly termed sagacious feasibility - fer length of time almost as long as the whole three score years and ten that are taken to be mans allotted span from the cradle to the grave. The very length of that rule would of itself make the story of his life of interest Politically it has to be remembered that when Francis Joseph came in strange fashion to the throne of his Coun- try as lad of IS, it was in that year of revolution, 184S, and that the problems whicl faced him and his advisers fer q long period were many and difficult. Again and again it seemed aS though the anal gam named Austria there is no Austrian naticn only medley of races which 9etest each other in the mclting-pot, but agan and again q combination of ruthless strength and sagacious ileXiblEty preserved it. Now it was the sacrifice of 'scaDe- goat" as of Bencdez after Sadowa; now it was the grudging concession to the ce- mands of the HUngaEisns; now 1t was tie timely giving up of the Italian provinces, and now the turning the back on an ally at the eleventh hour-jhat saved Austria from any fnal disaster and kept the flaps burg throne to outward seeming secure.
 Austria has been called "the Sick Woman of Europe;" but the Sick Woman has had wonderfully elastic constitution, and has been wonderfully favored by the chapter of accidents Again and again in her his tory we have vision of disjecta meMDra reattaching themselves as it were, to the disabled trunk 90 that it cullI once more set vp and walk.
 There is so much of tragedy surround ing the latter half of the reign of Francis Jo.cnh that even his bltterest enemy must zee the pathos Of the lonely, aged figure of :rhonhrunn Blow after blow has been struck at the smuaror through those around lin; tragedy after tragedy has cast its shadow upon him in a fashion that must haze made the head of the Hapsbur5s feel something cf a mockcry in his position. something of the litlLene@s of family pride Us "arm0r against iaJc' l. js 2s though one of those who suffered during the early part of his reign had been gifted with awful prophecy
 In the above mentioned brief summary only the more tragic events have been enumerated There have been many other blows romantic, stinging and mysterious aimed at the ncarnate pride of the taos- burgs. There have been members of the family who turned their backs upon it ard became "ccmmcnerS, who have thrown their orders in the face of their emperor, have elyped &rI otherwise created sean dal. so that if Francis Joseph has had q difficult rglo as head of the state, he has also lived to a great age only 10 sec the awful curse of sixty years ago fulfilled ln a terribly literal way.
 It was in the early morning ot December ? 1S4S that the Emperor Ferdinand sud denly abGicatad, his brother, the Archduke Francis Charles, renounced his right of sue cessicn. and that brothers son, Francis Joseph, was placed on the throne; chosen for his august and exalted post as the sanest and healthiest Hapsburg available. Thus was Francis Joseph launched upon his stormy political career launched upon it as the rising hope of decadent family youth of energy and promise, with no sign of decadence about him. supple but strong, exempt. as far as could be judged, from the family taints of physique and character ard designed to restore the threatened dlg nity of the Austrian empire, by confronting the new era in a new spirit.
 It is characteristic of all the HapsburgS that they cannot cross the road without striking an attitude which shows us exactly where they stand and what they think of things. It is easy enough to accept the present, emperor as typical of the Hapsburgs at their best He comes before us, frank and brave, adaptable and atfable, but at the same time, proud as Luclfer; infinitely gracious to those who do not presume readily regarded by such as a gallant soldier who has grown into genial old gentle man, anxious to make things pleasant for cverybody-yet seeming at some crises Of his fate to mistake himself for God and the archdukes for the archangels, not be cause they behave as such, but because they are Hapsburgs.
 The long reign of the Emperor Francis Joseph affords most varied materials, his torical and personal. It is a spectacle of an empire continually threatened with disso- lution under the control of an historic family continually displaying all the symp- toms of decadence