The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 4, 1906, Page 21

Pages 2] | Pagcs_Zl to 28 A————— SAN % FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 1906. MPLE LIFE THE LATEST N LONDON Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough, Sets Pace. Adopts Plain Diet and Decides to Shun Frivolity. Other Grand Dames Follow and the Fashion Becomes Widespread. e to The Call on for resent even ch woman, to know light opera; d that per- goes without »usly omitted che sim the sort of elope with 1d do fc R INTRODUCTIONS. ar for the enterp ed me: The she 1s on the s 10 prese co to Society with a big s a really definite posi can command prices hat run into four fig- Prince or Princess from $10,- and 18 known to be porsessed rge fortune higher prices are nd received. For an introduc- > & Duke or Duchess the sum va- ries from $2500 to $5000. I Ir Countess re- Lady Mayoress for a to the young Duchess of ough. As a matter of fact, the ess, who has 2 sense ' of humor, tly what wés happening and y ive to the lady from actually asked her big Primrose League v doing a further kind- impecunious Countess, so ayoress, a most impossible excellent value for her married women with small dress allowances do a hanésome thing ring the season by the paying guest derstanding, of coursg, est is Introduced. ielors, of small neans 1 D€ to pay for introduc- They reside with the family and y for board sums varying from $25 56, or perbaps $75, a week, accord- ng 10 the Status of their hostess, These are the men who develo ame cats and fetch and carry Iorpl;xnett: respective hostesses and not Infre- ently end the chapter in the divorce rt. It muet be understood such waee ostensibly visiting the ladies in whose houses they live. Were it sug- gested that these ladies kept boarding- bouses on a small scale they would never get over the disgrace. —_——— Circus Princess Banished. CONSTANTINOPLE, March 3.—Prin. cess Fehim has been banished from Tur- key by the Bultan’s order. She came here ms circus rider, an American girl, the dashing Margaret Morgan. Prince Fehim saw her giving her bareback rid- ing performance,. married her and fn- stalled her in his harem as his favorite wife. The Sultan learned of it, banish- ed the Prince to a remote part of Arabia m for a presentation | ut when the client is an | 00 from an ambi- | MRS. : | | Katherine Cecil Thurston, querader,” has been engaged in literary work for. only five years. She makes “system” her watchword. THURSTON ACHIEVES QUICK LITERARY FAME. the author of “‘The Mas- — Author of The Masquerader Tells of Her Work and Method She Pursues. ISIXTS THURSTON Special Cable to The Call. ' LONDON, March 3.—T think the author | of “The Masquerader” ought to be an American, for system is a watchword of | Katherine Cecil Thurston’s work, one might even say of her life. Hers is not the sudden literary inspiration, which| seizes authors unawares and drives them breathlessly through reams of paper until | the end of their tale is reached. Rather is the method of this young writer to be skillful architect, t conceives his plan, then %ays he foun ng for each part of the structure the ex: proportion which | will make it most useful to the whole, rally building on this careful foun- and framework an exterior that| s to the eye | When I saw her the other day in her home in Kensington she had just finished a morning’s hard work, and while per- aps a bit tired, her brow was unruffied, | mind clear. She was looking forward | ly to the afternocon and evening's engagements. | It seems to me that caréful fore- thought and preparation should be taken | with books just ag much as with paint-| sald Mrs. Thurston. “An artist | ds weeks and even months in making | preliminary sketches and acquiring the | information necessary to paint a success® | | ful picture. I think it is due to the public that the author should be just as pains- taking in preparing his books.” | “Would you care to let me tell your American reauers just how you set tol work to bufld the superstructure of your | books?” I asked. “For instance, what was the book architecture of ‘The Mas- queraders? ORIGIN OF THE MASQUERADER. “It is not easy to describe how the plan took shape. You have perhaps seen some- thing of our London fogs. It was one gf them that suggested to me the thought | of how easy it would be to mistake the | | personality of a man In such a surround- | ing. ““When once the primary idea, the dra- matic center you might say, of the story has occurred to me, it often les in my | | mind for weeks and months before a word is written. It grows and develops, char-| acters and Incidents are added and the balance of things is adjusted. Everything is carefully worked out before the paper is touched.” | “I infer that you bulld your foundation | | | as an architect does before he begins the actual work on the superstructure?” “That {s Just it,” said Mrs. Thurston; | he framework is all complete and the| | whole story is in my mind almost to the | | smallest detail before I start to write at | {"all. | ““You see,” she added, “I have so many | | soctal and other engagements that unless | 1 worked systematically I would never | get anywhere at all, but having it all in | mind before I begin, I am ready to go on with the story whenever the opportunity offers, without causing eny break in its continuity.” It is not to be thought from Mrs. Thurs- ton's business-like way of doing things | that she is in the slightest unfeminine. | Rather, the system that she makes use of | enables her to preserve her home life | almost intact. “I do not belleve in letting the work in- terfere with the duties which every wo- man owes to her home,” said she. “I start early every morning and keep at my work until noon, and that finishes t writing for the day. The rest of the time belongs to my husband and friends.” Mrs. Thurston is now engaged in writ- ing & new novel. She is not prepared yet to say just what its character is to be, although she has already practically thought out the book in detall. “But I will tell you something. about it: I am trying to work out in it the charac- ter of a man, as I attempted to delineats’|. and then complete your framework, just |’ | other course. | F, TEMPLL THURSTGN, . | “Ho$E . NEW NOUBL "TRAFFIC 1S ABOUT 70 BE PUBLISXED & o b E NOVELIST WHO HAS O FAME AND HUS- ALSO WRITES, 5 o London, and it will not be a soclety novel.” “When do you expect to have it fin- ished?” “I can hardly say. I am just starting to write it out now, and it will probably be a year or moré before I am satisfied to give it to the public.” WRITING ONLY FIVE YEARS, “The wide sales of ‘The Masquerager’ and ‘The Gembler’ must have brought you interesting experiences, have they not?” ““Yes. One of the most interesting has been the oddly dlverse criticisms of 'The Masquerader’ that appeared in the United States and in England. I have received a great many letters asking me why the book ended as it did. The English critfes have even taken me a good deal to tisk for allowing Loder to take advantage of the situation in which he finally found himself. But the American critics said that it would have dohe no good to any one, and@ would only have' caused much suffering - for him to have followed any I must say that my sym- pathy is with America in this respect.” It is possible that Mrs. Thurston may be added to that list of distinguished au- thors who find the fascination of play- writing not to be resisted. In snswer to my question whether she had ever thought of doing dramatic work she replied quickly, “Yes, indeed! Long before the idea ever appealed to me of writing books. When I was a small girl of ten years I used to compose little plays of my own, and act them out with my cousins. I have never had the courage to attempt any serious work’ of this kind, since It seems to me to be something that re- quires much thought and not a little study and experience.” “Do you think there is any possibility of Gramatizing any of your own books?"” I asked. “I would scarcely like to do this. I am consclous that they would need a great deal of cutting and trimming, and while I would not have any objection to another doing it, I do not feel that I could do it successfully m: f. How- ever, I may yet try something of that kind, but not .until I have completed and had the American Princess take her-|in ‘The Gambler’ the character of a|the work that I am engaged upon. You self out of the Ottoman empire. woman; the scene of the story will be in see, I do not believe in trylng to do $2 4 SHART SET NOW COES 10 SARARA Desert Excursions Are the Fad in “ England. Sun Baths Taken as a Cure for Rheumatism and the Gout, Special Costumes for Women Who Make the Odd Journey. Spectal Cable to The Call. LONDON, March 3.—The latest craze of society here s making up parties to go into the desert, preferably the Sahara, for a few weeks. Lord and Lady Mon- son, who have taken a brief lease of a town house, are among those who are going, and the Duke and Duchess of Rox- burghe had also intended to take a party, but their trip has been postponed in- definitely. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley Martin and the Earl and Countess of Craven are among those who ’also speak of going when the time comes for starting for Egypt. One of our fashionable society doctors has been sounding the praises of sun baths as the perfect cure for gout, rheu- matism, nerves and what not, and to ob- tain these baths to perfection there is, it is declared, no better place than the desert. To take this ‘‘cure” the.patient 1s clothed lightly, though the garment selected may be as dainty and expensive as possible. Enterprising costumers have now on view ‘‘sun bath robes to be worn in the Sahara.” The most effective are of crepe de chine in cream, pale blue and pink exquisitely embroidered with jewels and flowers. ) : An especially interesting one had empire wreaths of roses and forget-me-nots and was further th {rnumer- able choux of ‘Iathe two colors. Turkish sHoes™ or sandals will complete the cestume. Nearly all such ‘robes are made after the empire style, a perfod for which there is extraordinary favor in dress at /the moment. The modistes here are immensely pleased that circumstances have thrown in their way the opportunity for inventing a new gar- ment and they are vying with each other in the beauty of their designs. The latest ‘“‘cure” {s sure to prove a very expensive Juxury, as those who go iIn for it will have to charter several special motor omnibuses, or caravans with sleeping ac- commodation, though tents may be made to serve the latter purpose. LONEYS WILL RETURN. After four years’ residence in.England A. D. Loney and his family have decided to return to New York. They have tried London and two or three places in the country, but the variable British climate seems nowhere to agree with Mrs. Loney, and she is, therefore, preparing to go back to her own country. She rented one of the loveliest mansions on the Earl of Cadogan's estate in London last season in the hope of being able to share in its gayeties, but she could not stand London more than a month and then repaired to ‘Willoughby in Northamptonshire, where the family have been up to the present. Loney spent much money in improve- ments on the Northampton residence, rendering it one of the most comfortable family mansicns in that part of the country. Their departure from the neighborhood will be much regretted by the people of the country, because since they came to live there they have been spending money freely. Lon2y since his residence In England has been an enthusiastic collector of antique furni- ture and articles of bric-a-brac, which will be removed to New York. “BLIMMING,” A NEW ART. “How well he ‘blims!” is now a common remark among society hostesses. They mean by that he Is a person gifted with the ability to talk amiably without saying anything that might set people thinking. It is an art much in cultiva- tion at the present time.' It i{s thought that in “blimming” has been discovered the solution of the conversational diffi- culty. At one time hostesses ran after people whose talk had a reputation for profundity. They have had their day and are now regarded as bores by the unashamedly frivolous. It next became the popular thing to affect sheer ldiocy. | That proved too easy and afforded no no opportunities to achieve distinction. Now it is the good “blims’ who gets invited everywhere. To do it well, with- out appearing ridiculous, is not as easy as one might think. e e BT more than one thing at once. I have stopped writing short stories.” Mrs. Thurston's literary career In many respects has been a remarkable one. Uatll five years ago she had never thought of doing any writing. “You sce,” she said, “in Ireland, where I was living as a girl, it is very different from London. There, it is not usual for women who are interested in soclal matters to do regular work of any kind. It was not till I became ac- quainted with Mr. Thurston, who has always been greatly interested in lit- erature, that the thought first occurred to me. Finally, after coming to Lon- don, about four and a half years ago, T wrote a short story and it was almost immediately accepted for publication. After that I wrote a few more stories, and then I was advised by an editor friend to undertake my first book, ‘The Circle” My second was ‘The Masque- rader, or John Chilcote, M, P.’ and the third ‘The Gambler,’ just now appear- ing.” S In her literary work Mrs. Thurston enjoys tne sympathy of her husband, E. Temple Thurston, himself an author of proved ability. It was he who drama- tized “The Masquerader,” and the suc- cess of his first novel, “The Apple of Eden,” has induced him to undertake a second, now practically completed. It is sald by critics who have read the manuscript to be of unusual power., laway |PALACE OF MYSTERY IN VIENNA MAY BECOME THE AMERICAN EMBASSY el Long Closed as Result of Scandal in the Roya| Family. Former Owner Banished by the Order of the Emperor. Ruler’s Daughter and the Future Monarch Seek Mansion. The magnificent palace of Arch- duke Ludwig Victor in Vienna, regarded as a house of mystery, which has been empty since its owner was banished from the Austrian capital, may soon be occupied. It is variously report- ed that the American Embassador, the daughter of Francis Joseph and Archduke Karl Franz will secure the mansion. Special Cable to The Call. VIENNA, March 3.—Court and diplo- matic circles are discussing with ,much eagerness and curiosity various reports in circulation regarding the future ownership and occupancy of Archduke Ludwlig Victor's magnificent palace on the Schwarzenbergplatz. For a long time the great windows on the princi- pal front of the palace have been shrouded with white blinds, the great entrance doors clpsed, the sentry guards removed, and the beautiful apartments within given over to serv- ants and caretakers. The imperial owner, the only surviv- ing brother of the Emperor Francis Jo- seph, is in the country, banished for- ever from the Austrian court and cap- ital for reasons that have been kept mysterious. It seems quite certain that he will never occupy the palace again, In fact it is doubtful if he is any longer the owner of it. For he had debts many and large and rumor has it that his Emperor brother has paid the debts q— -+ ‘magnificent contents. The Ludwig Victor palace is one of the most striking and beautiful build- ings on the famous Ringstrasse. It oc- cupfes ‘a commanding position at the corner of the Schwarzenbergplatz and Kolowratring, and would make an ideal embassy. If the State Department at ‘Washihgton were prepared to begin acquiring homes for Embassadors and Ministers abroad, it could make a good start in Vienna. For it has been ru- mored more than once that the Ameri- can Embassador, Bellamy Storer, was going to occupy the Ludwig Victor palace. It would certainly make an embassy of which Americans would be proud. ~ INVOLVED IN SCANDAL. It was built forty years ago by Fer- stel, one of Vienna's most renowned architects, who designed the university and also the beautiful Votive Church, erected in commemoration of Em- peror Francis Joseph's escape from assassination in 1852. There is a fine entrance into which carriages can drive, whence an Imposing staircase leads to splendid reception rooms and stato apartments on the first floor. The rooms are filled with beautiful furni- ture, choice plctures and other art ob- Jjects. It was recently reported that these had all been removed, but this is not so; everything is just as it was when the Archduke left. Ludwig Victor is the Emperor's Junlor. Most of his life was spent here, and he was a very familiar figure in the streets and at the opera and thea- ters. The Archduke had, however, an unenviable reputation in Austrian so- ciety. The Viennese have become pret- ty tolerant of scandals in imperial and aristocratic circles, but some of Lud- wig Victor's “affairs” were teo much even for them. The cuiminating event of the Arch- duke's social career in the Austrian capi- tal was an incident about which the Aus- ing, although the facts were pretty well known. It happened at the “‘Centralbad,” the largest and finest bathhouse In the city, where the Archduke frequently went for a Turkish bath. Just what really took place In the beginning is somewhat of & mystery, but subsequent investiga- tion made it clear at any rate that the Archduke was wholly in the wrong. There was a row of some sort, and the Arch- duke was knocdked down by one of the bathers, an athletic young man of the middle classes. . Although there was nothing on his dressing gown to indicate the Archduke's exalted rank, and although it appears to have been the opinion of the spectators that the young man would have been justified in knocking his assailant down even if he had known who he was, yet the Archduke took advantage of his posi- tion to get the youth arrested. The inno- cent victim might have been In jail yet if spectators of the affair not inter- ested themselves in his behal d made representations in high quarters. As a result the police entered upon an investl- gation of the affair, and released the youth after a couple of days' imprison- ment. BANISHED BY EMPEROR. In due course the matter was reported to the Court Chamberlain's department, which referred it to the Emperor. His Majesty was extremely angry and or- dered that his brother should be placed under - “house-arrest.” For the next three weeks Ludwig Victor was not | permitted to leave his palace. At the expiration of this period the Em- peror, after fully acquainting himself with 1 the details of the affair at the “Central- bad,” formally banished his brother from the precinets of the court, and also from the capital. Ludwig Victor was sent into the country, and it is said he will never be permitted to return so long as Francis Joseph is alive. He has been deprived. of most of the in- 'signia of his imperial rank. The of- ficers of his household, his chamber- lain and ‘others, have all been taken and taken over the residence and its youngest brother and twelve years his | trian papers were permitted to say noth- | T [ ARCHDUICE/ LUDWIG— VICTOR.. SR UPPER PICTURE SHOWS THE BANISHED MEMBER OF AUSTRIAN ROYAL FAMILY AND THE LOWER A FUTURE- RULER OF THE EMPIRE, WHO MAY BE GIVEY THE PALACE VACATED BY HIS DISGRACED RELATIVE. -L . o+ aides-de-camp. He was also forced to resign the post of patron to the White | Cross Society, one of the most aristo- | cratic and influential charitable organi- zations in Austria. Virtually ostracized from society, the Emperor's only brother now spends his summers at a castle in Bohemla and his winters in Meran or some other southern resort. ‘For the Archduke the scandal came at a most unfortunate moment, when the Emperor was exceedingly wroth over another outrageous escapade of his nephew, the Archduke Otto. Although | many years younger-than his uncle Lud- wig Victor, Otto has probably flgured in | many more scandals. MAY GO TO DAUGHTER. According to the latest reports the Emperor s going to let his favorite daughter, Marie Valerle, occupy the Lud- | wig Victor palace. . The Archduchess | married one of her Tuscany cousins, Archduke Franz Salvator, and as they have no Vienna residence the palace on | the Schwarzenbergplatz would be a wel- | come gift. Marie Valerie is not popular | among the liberal elements in Austria, | who regard her as a hopeless clerical re- |‘actionary. | Another story has ' it that the next | occupant of the palace is to be-the future | | Emperor-King, the Archduke Karl Franz, elder son of the Archduke Otto. He is pnow in his nineteenth year, and In view of his proximity to the throne it is prob- able that he soon will be provided with an establishnient of his own. Just now the Archduke is in hard luck, laid up with a broken leg, the result of a skating accident. ceedingly delicate, and consequently his cducation so far as sports and athletics are concerned had to be postponed:until he was fourtéen or so. As a result the Archduke never attained any great pro- ficlency in skating. - Some days ago at the Vienna Skating Club's rink he was skat- ing between the instructors, when a small boy essayed to pass between them with disastrous consequences for Karl Franz, who was knocked down. The doctor who ‘was summoned reported that his Jeg was broken and the Archduke had to be car- ried home. The bone was set and he is now on the way to'recovery. Now that the young King of Spain has definitely chosen a consort In the per- son of Princess Ena of Battenberg, the youthful Archduke Karl Franz is quite the greatest matrimonial ‘‘catch” in Europe. Needless to say he:owes his practical certainty of some day mounting the imperial throne entirely to his royal uncle’s act in contracting a morganatic marriage with the Countess Sophle Cho- tek. In making fhis marriage, the present heir apparent, Archduke Franz Ferdin- and, took an oath that no descendants of his by that union should ever lay claim to the dual monarchy, and so Karl Franz, as eldest son of the gallant Otto, is practically sure of succeeding. FUTURE RULER’'S TRAINING. Born at Persenberg in 1387, until his thirteenth year the Archduke was in- structed entirely by private tutors. Then, however, it occurred to his grandfather, the Emperor, that it would be wise to let him see something of public school life, and so during angntire year he attended the so-called Schotten High School for two hours each week and heard lectures on “Heat” and similar sclentific toplcs. The high school, by the way, is carried on in connection with the Schotten Monastery, which was founded in 1155 by the Scottish Benedictine monks, hence the name Schotten. Of course the ldea in sending the Arch- duke to the Schotten High Schopl was to give him a taste of democracy and he really mixed pretty freely with the other As a boy he was ex-| ) boys, and was generally liked by them. | For the last two years practically all | Karl Franz's time has been devoted to military training. Whether the future Emperor or the Archduchess Marie Valerfe will be the next fortunate occupier of the Ludwig Victor palace is at present an open ques- tion, but the odds are believed to be in favor of the lady. ————————— CRUSADE AGAINST ABSINTHE IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND Strong Drink Blamed for the Revolt- ing Crimes of Late Im the Regilon. GENEVA, March 3.—Absinthe drink- ing is the course of French Switzer- land, and crimes by absinthe drunkards have been: so alarmingly frequent of laté that the Swiss press has started a crusade against the sale of the liquor. In the cantons of Vaud and Geneva over 100,000 signatures have already been obtained to a petition urging the Government to. suppress the absinthe distilleries in the canton of Neuchatel and make the sale of the yellow mon- ster an unlawful act. Duriag the past few months a series of diabelical mur- ders and attempts at murder, maim- ing of cattle, deliberate incendiarism in French Switzerland have been traced to persons who are confirmed absinthe drinkers and who committed the crimes while under the influence of the liquor. Most of the absinthe sold in small Pcafes at a penny a large wineglassful is made from chemicals and raw alco- hol, and this'is the stuff drunk by the poor, - for the reason that it is cheaper than wine and beer. Good absinthe is of the same price as good whisky, but very little of this is found in this coun- try, as the greater part is exported to France and Belgium. The canton of Neuchatel depends upon its revenue on the make and sale ot absinthe, and from this quarter there is much opposition to the crusade. Not only the men, but the women, and to a less extent girls and boys, have de- veloped the habit of absinthe drinking, which threatens to sap the manhood of ‘the Swiss in the French cantons. Thers .is every likelthood that in a short time the matter will come up for the con~ | sideration of the French authoritles. —e————— Needy King to Direct Ballet. MARSEILLES, France, March 3.— Sisawortha, King. of Cambodia, Indo- China, will bring 300 dancers to the great exhibition here next April. Al- ready it is announced that the graceful troupe will be composed of “the nob- lest and most virtuous maid of Cam- bodia,” the dancers of the “sacred col- lege.” Cambodian tradition, hapded down since the world was young, has it that the measures the malde tread were danced before Buddha himself. Cambodia is now a French protectorate. Sisawotha Inherited from his father, old Norodom, a throng of some 8000 cour- tiers, whom his royal dignity compels him to maintain. France is not overgenerous to her vassal kings. So, to greatly add to his income, Sisawotha conceived the idea of converting the sacred dancing girls into light-footed caryatides, supporters of his royal treasury. As an additional attraction, the King himself will be impresario and director ot the sacerdotal gyrations of his troupe. After the Marsellles exhibition, the King will show his dancing maidens in all the great capitals of Europe, and confidently hopes to enrich himself so that he can retire to Cambodia, and, de- spite French parsimony, dwell in Orfen~ tal opulence eves