The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-18

When Sultan was riding In tri-
umph over the field of his victory on
the Plain of Kossovo in 1889 Il wound
ed Serbian sDrang up from among the
queror of his country. After the lapse
of 500 years the swineherd liberator
of the land met the same fate at the
hands of jealous faction among the
The abettor of that crime. also a
peasant. became the founder of a SOW
ereiGn house and reiGned as Prince
Nilosh. In time he was driven from
the throne. as also was his son who
follow him. The turbulent princi-
pality then chose the son OF the as
deposed and Milosh was recalled. At
ter him. his son again climbed upon
the unsteady throne, but his reign
was cut short by assassination.
The only surviving member of the
family succeeded him and this King
Milan reigned for twenty-one years.
when his turbulent subjects in 1889
induced him to pass the crown on to
his son. Alexander. After a reign of
fourteen years Alexander and his wife
were murdered in their palace at Bel
Draga was cast ANONYMOUSLY into
the street. and knife and pistol did
not rest in their terrible work until
the brother of the Queen. two mem
of his partisans had been slain.
The royal family having been ex-
terminated. a descendant of the
throne. Lately this Peter wearied Of
it and vanished from the country. a
few months ago. however, he sudden
ly reappeared before the army and stir
red the retreating. soldiers to turn
upon the Austrian invaders, who had
come to avenge the death of Crown
Prince Ferdinand. the victim of a
climax. in the most awful war of all
time, the long. dark history of Ser
bian assassination.
Balkan Royalty Today.
Uneasy, indeed, lie the heads that
wear the Balkan crowns. Not only
does Peter OF Serbia owe his crown
to assassins. but that of Constantine
OF Greece is stained with the blood
of his father. King George. who, in
1913. was shot down in the street,
while Ferdinand of Bulgaria wears a
crown that was snatched from the
brow of predecessor.
For all the risks of the trade of
ruling down there. the Balkans have
found sovereigns who measure up to
the general average of royalty. The
only natives among them are Nicholas
The rest are Germans. but none the
less patriotic.
He is a dull King who does not
know on which side his bread is but
tered. Besides. when a man Is invest
ed with sovereignty. he does not like
to belong to another King and gem
orally therefore he vigorously denies
allegiance to the country of his or
igin. The Teutonic blood of the Kings
of Greece. Roumana and Bulgaria
probably will not affect for n moment
the attitude of those countries in the
present war.
The Queen of Greece is a sister of
the German Kaiser. French jealousy
was aroused when King Constantine,
while on a visit to Berlin, donned a
Prussian uniform and fraternized
with his brother-in-law's court at
Potsdam. Nevertheless. Constantine is
Il good Greek first of all. II his father
was a German by way of Denmark,
his mother was Russian princess,
and nephew and niece are married
into the Romanoff family. Moreover,
he is nephew of the Dowager Queen
Alexandra and therefore first cousin to
King George of England
King Ferdinand of Roumania is
called Hohenzollern. but he comes
from the Roman Catholic line of that
family and is rather remotely related
to the Prussian house. Nevertheless.
the Hohcnzo.lerns of Berlin showed a
kindly interest in their poor relations
when they proposed Leopold of this
Sigmaringer branch for the vacant
Spanish throne, an incident that
brought on the Franco-Prussian war
of 1901. The Roumanian monarch
is nephew of that prince who so
narrowly missed the crown OF Spain.
To the world at large the reigning
house of Roumania and Roumania