The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-22

at Sarajevo in June, 1914.
 But it is doubtful if any or all of
 these reverses weighed more heavily
 upon the Emperor's heart than the
 tragedy at Geneva, when the Empress
 Elizabeth, who had been called the
 most beautiful woman in Europe, was stabbed to death by a mad Italian
 anarchist, in 1S98- True, she long
 had been estranged from the Emperor,
 but he had never ceased to respect
 and adore her. When courier
 brought him the news of the crime
 he exclaimed: Alas, nothing can be
 spared me, nothing"
 After each blow he renewed his de-
 votion to the state, his only solace being in harder work. He labored prodigiously. He was beloved for his kindliness, his modesty. and recitude, and his high moral courage made it possible for him to hold in leash the Czechs, the Poles, the Serbs, the Ruthenians and the Bulgars, who made up the mosaic of nationalities in his dual empire.
 Gossip dealt plentffully with his pri- vate life, filled with romance and misfortune. It is related that his mother intended him to marry Prin- cess Helena, eldest daughter of Duke
 Max of Bavaria. With passive indif- ference the young Emperor agreed to
 his mothers wishes, and set out to pay court to his intended bride. He got no further than the park sur rounding the Dukes castle, where he spied little girl whose extraordinary beauty attracted him.
 He learned that she was Princess Elizabeth, younger sister of his in- k0x, ITA T., ', should be his bride and 80 she be- came in 1854
 In addition to her beauty Elizabeth was highly endowed with talents, but she found no welcome at court The Emperor's mother would hardly coun- tenance the match, and all of the Viennese aristocracy held aloof froen her. Elizabeth returned scorn for scorn. Her enemies bore her every tale that could wound her pride and
 estrange her love. At last they suc- l ceeded. Tn burst of pique she fled to her native Bavaria. She came back, but the Viennese never forgave her. They charged her with loving fox-hunting in Ireland better than her duty and preferred to remember her
 always as the absent wife The arrangement widened The Emperor was fond of pretty women and Vienna did not lack them. The Empress grew more and more to con- sider herself "a dutiful sovereign lady" and less and less a wife The tragic death of her only son drew her
 nearer to her husband for a while, but there came a succeeding period of stronger repulsfon,~ and thereafter she almost disappeared from the Hofburg. Then rAH Koft ovfn Coh formerly of the imperial theatre. By
 her tact and wit she succeeded in cre- ating for herself a place below but beside the throne, never accorded be- fore her, time so openly and so pre-
 manently to any woman. Speculation as to her relations with the Emperor was wide and malicious. Of course 1t found it's way to the Empress, and there followed an incident which testi-
 fies to her uncommon delicacy and courage.
 Nettled by the continual humilia- ton of such distasteful scandal mon- gering, she devised a way to end it. One day she took her youngest daugh- ter by the hand, and, to the immeas- urable astonishment of her guests, set out to pay long call on Frau Schratt at her country palace in Ischl, where nii lHc WOT1u Knew the EmpSrOr spent hours daily. That ended it effectu- ally. It was impossible to gossip be- fore the Empress about condition which she herself had socially lega-
 lized by her presence
 Whatever the truth about Kathar-
 ina Schratt and the Emperor, she had the good sense never to attempt to in
 fluence him politically. Those of her
 predecessors who had dared more
 boldly paid the penalty of sudden and noiseless removal from his sur
 roundings. When upon the assas-
 sination of the Empress, the court
 went into mourning, Frau Schratt was
 seen but little. Shortly, the old. in-
 timacy was openly resumed, but it
 was impossible to continue malignant
 about friendship that heightened
 into old age, and the sting of criti-
 cism gradually died out. At Shon-
 brunn Castle, Frau Schratt appeared
 nearly every afternoon to keep the
 Emperor company for an hour or two.
 In turn, he delighted to call on her
 at her town house as private gen.
 tleman, where he could meet a few
 friends of his own choosing, and not
 guests imposed on him by etiquette
 or reasons of state. Politics was
 never discussed. Frau Schratt had
 her own town house and her country
 house. together with a goodly al-