Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-06-09

,5r5$ MONG the visitors Ito the hospitals
%%~I " in which the English wounded are
s |-.E I assigned is bent and palld old
~ woman OF eightyeight. Painfully she
~ 4 hobbies from cot to cot. giving a
MA flower here, pat and q word Of en-.
+ enlargement there. In appearance
+ Eer>I she issno different from any old lady
ka1DA--J Of Lightweight unless the keen OBJ
server may see that she has suffered great and
enduring sorrow. &4:%f!,..5 81
The aged woman is Eugene de Monti1o. for
seventeen years, % 1853-1870, empress Of the
French, wife Of the Emperor Napoleon III and
mother Of the Inflated prince imperial who was
killed IN the English war against the Zulus IN
3 1879. Il $5 MI $$ III $5 3$s
The old woman OF SORROWS has been an en-.
press OF romance as well as OF France. Il Grand
daughter Of an Irishman named Kirkpatrick and
a Spanish lady with her mother and sister she
roved the cities of Europe for seven years. look
ing for q great marriage. Scarce Of noble birth
though her father was known as the count of
Teba il Spain, petty title at best, her chances
for grand union seemed vague indeed. At the
age OF twenty-five; she achieved a notable II not
Z q grand marriage No doubt 1t Is q very great
/ thing to be empress OF the French and reputed
Y one OF the most beautiful and charming women
in the world and to set the fashions Of the uni
/ verse, For 1t was to Eugene that the world
/. dreadful chignon Of the sixties Previous to the
birth of the prince imperial, Eugenie, very vain
9 Of her figure, assumed the hoopskirt. The world
OF women followed suit to the great amusement
and derision of their daughters and granddaugh.}
tiers. Yet Napoleon III was far from being q
grand man, though; he was emperor of the
French. In the early ffties the countess Of Teba
and her two daughters the elder a dark Spaniard
the other a type Of northern beauty, chestnut
hair, violet eyes, perfect complexion and lovely
oval features appeared at various European
4 capitals. The mother lived q semibohemian life
at hotels, something which was not approved iof
those days, when grand ladies believed that a
lady should live at home and visit only at the
houses of her friends. The girls were OF an age
when they should have been in q convent. So,
attractive as they were. and popular, It was
noted that many more men than women called
upon the, Spanish countess and her daughters.
Women Viewed the attractive spaniards with
lifted eyebrows of question and suspican. The
daughters Of the countess Of Teba were beautiful.
rarely so. 81 They were not Of great accomplish
nnents and 1t cannot be said that they were re-
spected In the fullest sense Of the word, They
were interesting, they were lovely but in the
early fftes 1t was held that ladies Of rank should
not live at hotels or be seen at public dining
rooms VI u 4$S% sg$&&
However, both girls made brilliant marriages
4 The elder married the duke OF Alva, owner of
historic title This marriage was regarded
triumph for the managing mother. "A wit said
4 that the duke was unfortunate in that she did
4 not choose to marry both daughters to him by
oapal dispensaton, the implication being that not
even the pope could Withstand the Establishments
#of the countess. No one. however. imagined
4 that the lady would be successful beyond her
widest dreams and see her younger daughter
an empress, received with honor by the courts
Of Europe, especially BY the intensely proper Vic
q toria Of England. a:@& 81 E$I {ft st$ ~. ~
Eugene had been, it was said. . good deal Of a
\ femme gallante or very forward lady In love
affairs. She had thrown herself at the heads Of
two young noblemen. At one time she had
violent fancy for the Spanish count di Galya
B and tried to commit suicide BY swallowing shoe
backing when he made 1t plain that he did not
desire her Women gagged her as a wild and I'M
disciplined girl, sort OF Lydia Languish, Becky
Sharp and Lady Teazle combined, a girl calcu-
lated to I'LL the mind of even ardent suitors with
misgivings as to her conduct as wife. She
was always Spanish and never understood the
French "a She had great personal courage and
feared nothing She was meddlesome match
maker and In after years earned the unenviable
distinction Of having married the famous song
stress, Adelina Patti, to the marquis of Caux, a
marriage which turned out most unhappily She
was superstitious, dealt with mediums, would
f1irt audaciously yet always cold and emo
tioness within.
4 This was the young lady Of twenty-five, who
appeared in Paris in 1851, just after Louis Napo-
leon, president Of the republic, had accomplished
the bloody coup d etat In which nj; troops shot
down hundreds of innocent persons along the
boulevards Of Paris. But Napoleon caused him.
self to be reelected president for term of ten
years. and later, in 1851, had himself declared
emperor of the French. s..-:s
The previous life of the new emperor had been
rather a discredtable one. He had been a con-
stable in London, a penniless exile in Hoboken,
N j., he had made several futile and ridiculous
attempts to restore the empire, his reputation
was that of silly, impracticable dreamer. He
had had many disreputable love affairs and it
was known that an English woman who
enamored Of him had financed his successful
effort in that direction. Soon afterward he
caused her to be deported by the police.
Though he bore the magical name of Bona
parte, it was doubtful that he had drop Of Ma