The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-11-22
Had Been on Throne Of Austria
More Than Ha|f a Century
CARL FRANCIS JOSEPH SUCCEEDS
New Ruler is Twenty-Five Years Old
and is Popular with the Working
Glasses.

peror Francis Joseph died last night
at 8 o'clock at Schoenbrunn Castle. ac-
cording to Reuter- dispatch from
Vienna, by way of Amsterdam.
He had been suffering for some
time from lung trouble. which a few
days ago became acute.
The Emperor retained his extraordi
mary vigor to the end and his disin-
clination to obey the orders of his
| physician caused them the greatest
anxiety He insisted on giving audi
ences daily and on Sunday conferred
with Premier Won Koerher for an
hour, according to Vienna advices
He was out OF bed all day Monday, it
| is stated, and in the evening received
| several visitors.
| The Emperor Francis Joseph as
cended the throne OF Austria-Hungary
| in 184S. The sixty-eight years of his
| reign have seen the remaking of Eur
| ope, while at the present time almost
| the entire continent is at war.
Other nations have seen greater
1 anu lliOlC Nhoh6So bioA
Austria in the twothirds OF century
covered by Francis Joseph's reign, but
in no other of the greater powers have
| there been so many vicissitudes as
| those through which the aged ruler
| lived. He was born on Aug. is in the
revolutionary year OF $780, and ascend
ed the throne in the other reyolu
| tonary year lS4S.
! Liberalism and Nationalism were
beginning TO show their full force
| when the boy of eighteen came to the
| throne from which his uncle had
| withdrawn in dismay at the problems
| confronting him. Francis Joseph be-
gan as the despot of heterogeneous
collection of races held together by
military power.
Through all these vicissitudes the
| Emperor, whose task it was during
most of his reign to keep together an
| Empire that, most observers predict
| ed must sooner or later break up,
managed to make himself much loved
in his own dominions and universally
| respected abroad. And he did this in
spite of perhaps he most appalling
| series Of domestic calamities that has
ever befallen king.
Moreover in 1867, still further to
win the allegiance of his Hungarian
subjects he was crowned their king.
From this dates the surprising
| popularity of Francis Joseph with the
Hungarians. Since that day again
| and again have Austrian and Hungar-
| ian stood at daggers drawn. Again
has it seemed certain that the Dual
at every crisis the personal popularity
| of the aged Emperor somehow pre-
vented an open split.
The new Emperor. Charles Francis
| Joseph. is only twenty-nine years old
He has as yet had little opportunity
to make himself known.
Nevertheless, the new Emperor is
very popular personally, as he en-
bodies many of the traits generally
considered typical of the Niennese
| charactet.
| He is the granddaughter of Francis
Joseph, and the eldest son of the Arch
duke Otto, younger brother OF the
murdered Francis Ferdinand. The
mother of the new Kaiser, who is still
| living. was the Princess Maria
| Josepha of Saxony.
Charles Frances Joseph was born
| at Persenbeug on Aug. II, 1887. He
attended the public schools of Vienna,
| this being a great shock to sticklers
| for etiquette about the court; but
much of his popularity dates from this
| aa ri accnpfa tfpn with the n
| workingmen. He is a Major in the
| Thirty-ninth Austrian Infantry, and
| holds honorary commissions in var
| ious Prussian, Saxon, and Bavarian
regiments.
He has been widely known as
sportsman, though not so much so as
the late Francis Ferdinand. He is an
| excellent shot and an enthusiastic
motorist, and was an admirable dane
er until skating accident few years
ago put an end to his ballroom activi-
ties. He speaks English, French,
| German, Hungarian and some Slavic
languages, and is said to have made
close study of the various national
problems of the Slavic races of the
empire.
The new Empress was Princess
zita Of the Bourbon house of Parma.
This Duchy was made a part of the
! Kingdom Of Italy after 1859. She was
married on Oct. 81, 1911 Her father,
Duke Robert of Parma, who died in
I 1907, was married first to Princess
( Maria Pia Of the Two Sicilies, and
secondly to Princess Maria Antonia
of Schwarzau. Duke Henry, the pres