TTIE STJT)AY OTtEGONIAN. PORTLAND. SEPTE3IBER
1908.
who
M0Wi
El
JAblKEE PRINCESSES DUCtt-
SUPPED
UNHAPPINESS
SORROW AMD
DISGFAC&
s - 1
w
, HES she weds the Duke of the
Abruzzt. Miss Katherine Elkins,
daughter of the opulent Senator
from Wut Vlrglna, will Bit nearer to the
throne of a great European monarchy
than arry American girl who baa yet
married a acton of old-world aristocracy.
In the popular slang of the day. she
might. In her probable future status, be
termed a near-queen, tbe Duke being a
member of the royal household of Italy,
the first cousin of the King, the grand
son of a Quten, and a possible heir to the
throne.
Only American Girl Knthroned.
Another American girl, however, once
actually won for herself a eat on one of
the throres of Europe. This was Mlsa
Helnie. daughter of Michael Heinze, a
former banker of New Orleans, who mar
ried Prince Albert, reigning aoverclgn of
Monaco, and from whom she was Judi
cially separated some years ago. She la
the only American woman who ever oc
cupied an old-world throne, . but she
never bore the title of queen, and her
throne waa a email one. her royal hus
band's petty state extending little beyond
the great gambling mecca of Monte
Carlo.
A dosen of our women have become
princesses and 14 have become duchesses
to date, but none of our princesses rank
or ranked aa high as some of our duch
sesi Thus neither Anna Gould, in her
new role of Prince de Eagan. nor any
of the other American women who have
married French princes, are officially
recognised In France as near-queens,
their titles having disappeared after the
French revolution.
Husbands of other American princesses
belong only to the "mediatised." or for
merly reigning houses of Germany, whose
thrones, crowns and scepters were con
fiscated by Napoleon Bonaparte, although
the Congress of Vienna, by way of a
balm, allowed them to retain their empty
rank and titles. Last and least are our
American princesses, whose husbands
bear itle In Slavic countries like Russia,
where the rank of prince Is one of the
least, being about equal to that of count
or baron In other countries, and then In
Italy titles may be purchased, there being
two classes, those belonging to royalty
and the -nobility, and those going with
ancient estates, even when purchased by
foreigners. But In Italy, as well as In
some other continental European coun
tries, one may be a duke and yet of
higher rank than a prince of ancient line
age. Yankee) Princess of Italy.
Thus as the Duchess of the AbruazI,
Miss Elklns would have far above three
other American women who can. or could,
boast of being Italian princesses. For
example, there Is MJss Elizabeth Hlckson
Field, of New York, who married Prince
Salvator Brancaocto. whose title dates
back -to 1391. and who also bears the
Spanish title Duke of Lustra. This prince,
who has been a model husband, was a
prime favorite with King Humbert and
an attache of his court while ttte Ameri
can princess used to be lady-ln-waltlng to
Queen Marghertta- Another American
princess In Italy was Miss Josephine Mary
Curtis, daughter of Joseph Davis Beers
Curtis, of New York, who at Paris, In
MSB. became the third wife of Dam
Emanuel. Prince of Ruspoll and of Pog-glo-Suaea.
an Italian deputy. In 1W8 the
Italian Prince Camporeale. who was also
Duke of Aldmgana, married a New York
divorcee, Mrs. Thomas Klngsland, who
had been Miss Florence Blnney, daughter
of John Binney. of Burlington, N. J., In
which city the American girl became the
Princess Camporeale. This prince's
family as far back aa the Mth century
migrated from Bologna to Cicily, where
they have since been established.
Among the other early American prin
cesses was Miss Evelyn Julia Bryant
Mackay, stepdaughter of John TV.
Mackay. who, at Paris, In 1W6, married
Prince Colonna dl Galatro. a Spanish
scapegrace, whose abuse and brutality
caused her to leave him. and live after
ward with her mother In I-ondon. keep
ing her three children with her. About
this time. Miss Clara, daughter of Col
yA p. Huntington married Prince Hatz
feldt of Germany, and Miss TVlnnaretta
Singer, another American girL married
a Prince de Scey-Montbellard.
Then In 1 Miss Florence Hazard,
daughter of B. C. Hazard, a millionaire
catsup manufacturer of Shrewsbury, N.
J married Prince Francis Auersperg,
w'ho had been a poor physician in New
York, and this International marriage
might, so far as rank is concerned, have
been one of the most brilliant yet made
fry an American girl, since this prince
belonged to one of those mediatized, or
formerly reigning houses of Germany,
rather than to the mere nobility. But
because of his marriage, he was obliged
by his family to resign all of his rights
and prerogatives as a member of a media
tized house, and to descend to the rank
of the ordinary nobility, as In the case
of the mediatized Count Foppenhelm.
whose countess, now divorced, was a
Miss Wheeler, of New York. Princess
Auersperg also left her husband after a
short and stormy married life.
Our Princess Elopes.
The next American Princess entered
upon the page of history was the wealthy
but ill-fated Clara Ward, of Detroit, who
In 1SJ0 married the Prince de Chimay, of
th old Frenoh house of that name, and
who. after living with him five years,
spending $300,000 In repairing his estates
and bearing him two children, ran away
with nigo. a Hungarian gypsy musician,
who has lately been performing in this
country. The Prince, who has been de
scribed In the American prints as of irre
proachable conduct, obtained a divorce In
1897. after which the ex-Princess had the
noble Chimay ; crest tattooed upon her
arm and then distributed photographs of
herself adorned In this manner. The
courts gavs the Prince the custody of her
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children. She was only in her teens when
she married him. Our only other French
Princess is Anna Gould, daughter of Jay
Gould, who some months ago divorced
Count Bonl de Castellane and this Sum
mer married his cousin, Prince Helie de
Sagan, whose mother, the former
Princess, was leader of the Paris smart
set Into which the former Countess de
Castellane was ambitious to enter.
Two American women have become
Russian Princesses, this rank, however,
as explained, being near the bottom of
the list of titled Russians. One of these
is Julia Dent Grant, granddaughter of
President Grant, who married Prince
Michael Cantacuzene, of the Russian Im
perial Guards, and the other Is Amelie
Rives, the Virginia girl who became
famous for writing '"The Quick or the
Dead." She first married John Arm
strong Chanler. who after their divorce
was adjudged Insane in New York State
and who has lately appeared before the
courts and had his name changed to
Chaloner. Twelve years ago she married
the Russian Prince Troubetzkoy. a
painter, who has since maintained a
studio in this country.
Miss Elkins will become the 15th Amer
ican Duchess when she marries the King
Ot Italy's cousin. Of higher rank than
any of the Princesses enumerated above
have been the four American women who
have become Duchesses of Marlborough
and of Manchester. The first American
Duchess of Marlborough was Mrs. Him
mersley. stepmother of the present Duke.
She was reputed to have Inherited $7,000.
000 and to have spent more than $1,000,
000. upon his palace, Blenhelmf. After his
death she married Lord William Beres
ford and endeavor to retain the title
of Duchess, but Queen Victoria Insisted
that she drop it and rest content with
that of "Lady" Beresford. The young
Duke, as we better remember, emulated
his father and married an American
heiress, Constielo Vanderbllt, daughter of
William K. Vanderbilt, the New York
multimillionaire. The younif Duchess'
legal separation from her overbearing
husband Is fresh In the public memory.
Early In her married life It was said to
be her ambition to eventually marry one
of her children to one of King Edward's
grandchildren. The last two Duchesses
of Manchester have also been American
women, the former having been Consuelo
Yznaga, daughter of Antonio Yznaga, of
Ravenswood, La., who had married a
Vanderbilt. And, oddly enough, Oonsuelo
Vanderbilt, who married the Duke of
Marlborough, was named for this kins
woman Consuelo Yznaga. who married
the Duke of Manchester. The latter Duke
was reckoned among the poorest Dukes
of England, but he had an enviable
social position, and his American wife
soon became a favored friend of the pres
ent Queen. The young Duke a few years
back married Mies Helene, daughter of
Eugene Zimmerman, of Cincinnati, who
rose from petty officer to Lieutenant-Commander
In our Navy during the Civil
War, and later to president of the Cincin
nati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad. His
career, by the way, Is similar to that of
Miss Elklns' maternal grandfather, ex
Senator H. G. Davis, who, from brakemun
on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, also
rose to multimillionaire railroad king as
well as to coal baron.
A duke who has married two American
women Is his grace de Dino, who as the
French Marquis de Talleyrand-Perigord
first wedded Miss Bessie Curtis, daughter
of Joseph Davis Beers Curtis, of New
York. This marriage, which occurred at
Nice, was away back In 1867. and was
one of our first international alliances
to stir the fashionable world. Had they
remained wedded she would have become
a duchess, but they were divorce and
not until after the separation did he fall
heir to the title of Due de Dino. Then he
made a duchess of Mrs. Adele Livingston
Sampson, daughter of Joseph Sampson, of
New York, and divorced wife of Frederick
Livingston. His first wife has called her
self the Marquise de Talleyrand-Perigord
and has spent her Winters In New York.
She Is a sister of the above-mentioned
Miss Josephine Curtis, who became the
Italian Princess of Ruspoll and of Poggio
Suasa. Two members of the multimillionaire
Singer family the same which produced
the Princess de Scey-Montbeliard. men
tioned above have become duchesses.
These were Mrs. Isaac Singer, who mar
ried the Duke of Camposelice, and Miss
Isabella Singer, who wedded the Due de
De cares.
Other American duchesses not to be
forgotten are Miss Mathilde Davis, who
married the Duke of Santa Monfeltrio;
Miss Mary E. Forbes, wife of the Duk3
de Cholseul-Praslln. and Miss Lowry.
daughter of Archibald Lowry. of Wssh
ington, who before he had inherited his
title and while he was a young attache
of the Spanish legation in Washington
fell in love with and later married the
Duke of Arcos, who directly following our
war with Spain, served as Spanish min
ister to the United States. This marriage
has been a happy one, like that of Mat
tie Mitchell, daughter of. the Ill-fated
United States Senator 'Mitchell, of Ore
gon, who married the Due de Rochefou
cauld. ' French Titles Hoodooed.
Miss May Goelet's becoming the Duch
ess of Roxburghe Is fresher in the mind
of the American reader, as Is Miss Helen
Morton's (daughter of the ex-Vice-President)
becoming the Duchess de Valencay.
This latter marriage was one of the most
unhappy of those culminating in the grac
ing of a ducal coronet by the fair brow
of an American girl. This Frenchman,
a brother of Prince Helie de Sagan, now
husband of Anna Gould, was Comte
Boson de Perigord when Miss Morton
married him in London in 1901. Soon
after the marriage, it Is said, the Comte
obtained from his father-in-law $543,673
to purchase the Chateau de Valencay, the
possession of which bestowed upon him
the title of due and of his bride as Duch
ess de Valencay. Mr. Morton advanced
the money on condition that the property
should be held In his daughter's name,
and this stipulation Incensed the family
of his titled son-in-law. A separation
followed and the Duchess applied to the
courts for a dissolution of the legal bond.
The last American girl to become a
duchess had also a sad climax to her
marriage. This was Miss Shonts. daugh
ter of Theodore P. Shonts, former chair
man of the Panama Canal Commission.
But a few weeks after her marriage last
Winter to the French Due de Chaulnes,
the latter suddenly dropped dead In Paris.
The curse which has hung over French
titles since the days of Louis the Grand
seems not to spare the American heiress.
It is a question whether they are worth
striving for, considering that many of
them are clouded; that after the guillo
tining of the old nobles many of the lat
ter's servants and other spurious persons
rose to claim them; that since then, in
France, any one has been able to as
sume them whether as comptess or prin
cess without provoking the smallest in
terference of the government.
Could HendrickHudson See It Now
What Would He Tlilok of the River That Bears His Same?
(ft O.METIMES I wonder," said a Riv-ersldu-dri
ve dweller to the New
York Sun, '-what our old frlpml Henry
Hudson would think If he could come
back and see the river that bears his
name as it is now. and especially I'd
like to have him see it at night.
"1 think I'd tak him over to Jersey
City first and let him see the marvel
ous spectacle of Manhattan's tall build
ings lighted. Then I'd bring him up
here to Upper Riverside drive, where
the city is quieter, and set him down
here in the stillness and let him look
at his river at night as he would see
It from our window.
"There he would see the broad river
with th.i tall Palisades beyond. Just
the same as in his own time, but In
every other way how different? Look
ing across the silent water, he sees
moving steadily up the farther bank
in his time at riisht so dark and still
a llKiit: tnd he marvels at that, but he
marvels more when he sees another
light appear at the top. to move stead
ily down, and he marvels most of all
when he sees that light coming down
flash suddenly into a bright light that
shines across the river the headlight
of a trolley car flashing Into momen
tary brightness as the car comes around
a bend. -
"Yes Henry would certainly marvel
at that', at trolley cars climbing and de
scending now the face of the Palisades.
"Ynd as he looked through the dark
ness he would marvel again as he saw
sprlne Into view, crowning an eighth
mile stretch of the farther high bank,
an unbroken line of electric lights
only he wouldn't know what they were
these lights marking, where in his
time the wilderness was quite unbrok
en the site of a present-day amusement
park. And as he looked along that
farther bank he would see other lights
scattered there on the shore and on
the cliffs, and then perhaps he'd close
his eyes, to muse a little on these sights
so extraordinary, and then when he
looked up again, to let his eyes fall
now on the face of the river, he would
see there something more wonderful
yet.
"A red light, moving silently along In
the middle of the broad stream, the port
side light of a towboat. with white
lights scattered for a long distance
as'ern of her, and moving with her.
these marking a string of canalboats
an.l biirges. unseen and moving. silent
ly In the darkness.
"Or perhaps we see a tow coming up.
Its towhoat showing its green starboard
sidelight, with another long line of'
white lights, but green light and the.
white lights behind It moving just as
stl'ntiy. .
"But It Is not all silence here. Per
haps we have from one passing, tow-'
boat a musical boom, the clang of, the j
gong In Its engine-room. And- now j
before us pass other towboats, without ,
tows and moving faster, and if the,
wind is right and the boats are near!
enough our shore we may hear the ,
churning of their propellers, and per-;
haps one of those boats turns here,!
bringing a pretty sight, first her green j
ilght and then her red light Into view.;
"And bigger passenger boats pasa, j
their paddle-wheels smashing the water,
and the boats themselves all aglow;
with light; and now comes one blgi
river passenger steamer with a great;
oblong ot electric lights running - all j
around the upper rail of her hurricane;
deck, while her walking beam is-out-;
lined with lights in like manner, show- j
ing there a great diamond shape' of j
light that plays In the air with- the ;
play of the walking beam: and really.,
what would Hudson, knowing neither,
steam power nor electric light, think
of that? And now far out In the!
river, with Its red port light to us. is I
passing silently a towboat towing
homeward a great excursion barge,
crowded with people and with its decks
one above another all alight, whiles
from this moving Island of light we!
have the music of a band coming to '
us across the water.
"So the river, as he would see it now.
at night looking from our window, see-'
Ing now, where In his time the sole!
traveler abroad might have been some
lone Indian In a canoe, unheard, and lni
the darkness quite Invisible, a sort of!
fairy spectacle, of darkness and still-
ness alternating with lights and muslo
and motion. Pity that Henry couldn't,
come back to see his noble river now,'
and especially to see this marvelous 1
after-nightfall show."
Great Britain imports about IM0.O0o.0."O
worth of timber, wood and manufactures!
thereof yrlv. of which the I'nlted States'
supplies about $i2.0lH,000 worth.