Evening star., 1924-02-01
Young Aristocrats of Spain
Come to Get American Training

eral, who, having once tasted the
sweets OF absolute power, shows n
marked unwillingness 20 relinquish
II, or to follow the example OF his
fellow dictator. Mussolini. in Italy in
restoring parliamentary government
and working with the latters consti
tutional cooperation and support.
i; * x
Danzigers are not alone In regard
ing the appearance of certain birds
as portending evil and are shaking
their heads dolefulIy over the arrival
on the scene of the silk tailed winter
thrush known In all that part of Eu-
rope as '.the bird of disaster" 1t is
only occasionally that it makes its
apparition. which is always followed
by war, pestilence, famine or inun-
dation. 1t has not been seen since
, the early summer Of, 1914 and there
are records OF the dismay caused by
! its appearance in 1872, when the first
Napoleon sustained the crushing defeat
OF his Grande 'Ar1nee, and thus ended
for the time being the Polish hopes
for recovery Of their national inde-
fpendence.
What the silk tailed thrush is 70
the people of the ancient city OF
Danzig, the raven is to the house of
! Hapsburg. Shakespeare repeatedly re-
fers to this somber-hued bird as for
, boding misfortune, and Ii has always
been a bird OF particularly i'll omen
to the former reigning house OF the
dual empire. Two days before tho
Empress Elizabeth was murdered in
Geneva in 1898, raven had, while
flying, passed her, touched her hair
with one of its wings as she was
walking with her Greek reader, n
young Anglo-Greek of the name Of
Berkey. in the gardens of the hotel at
Montreux at the other end of the
Lake Leman, where she spent the
last few weeks of her life.
The incident made deep impress
sion upon her and upon her attend
ants For they knew the popular
superstitions connecting the raven.
and were aware that the empress
made the role Of the raven in the his
! tory OF the dynasty the theme OF g.
singularly tragic and beautiful poem.
that her own assassination would be
foretold to her forty-eight hours be-
! fore il actually took place by one OF
| the coal black birds.
. 4 y y u
| On the last occasion that Emperor
/ Maximilian visited his favorite pals
ace of Miramar near Trieste before
| sailing for Mexico, where he was 10
| lose his life on the plain of Queretaro,
he as we'll as his consort, the now
demented and octogenarian ex-Em-
| press Charlotte Of Mexico, were per-
| sistently followed in their final walk
! through the garden by raven which
they endeavored In vain to drive
away. Crown Prince Rudolph was
To ho nran10nltfCn
! his fate, when on the day before his
! trip to the shooting lodge at Meyerr
! ling, where he met his shocking death
huge raven persisted In perching
| on the windowsill of his bedroom or
the Hofburg, defying all attempts 10
drive 1t away
FIocks Of ravens made their apt
pearance over the gloomy fortress pt
Emperor Ferdinand solemly abdicateP
his throne to his nephew, the entire
dual empire being then i'll state "
sanguinary insurrection. During the
| last week of Emperor Francis
lJoseph's fatal Illness at the end OF
I1916, big flights of ravens seemed 70
foregather from all parts of Ger
many in the trees Of the park Of the
! suburban palace at schoen6runn.
memory had they been seen In such
immense numbers, and their cries
iexercised q most depressing influence
tupon the mor1bund ruler ana upon
lhfs entourage. Again they made
/ their appearance at Schoenbrunn
when his nephew and successor. En-
Iperor Charles, lay dying in exile and
lin the most straitened circumstances
lat Madeira in 1920.
! The association of the raven for
jthe Hapsburg is said TO date from the
time of Count Rudolph of Hapsburg,
founder f-the dynasty, who. having
lost his way in a storm in the noun
ltains while hunting the chamois, was
ifuriated ravens on narrow ledge Of
trock, from which tkey seemed to be
determined to precipitate him down
into the depths of the valley thou
sands of feet below. They are said
ito have especially assailed his head
land his face in their efforts to force
ihim to shield himself with his hands
and thus relinquish his hold upon the
Irook to which he was clinginE to
pressry0 htmSsf from falling. :.