LOOKING BACKWARD.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 113, 26 November 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

LOOKING BACKWARD.

FERDINAND—A FIREBRAND. The lollowiug interesting extracts have been taken iroin copies ot a wellkuowu rmgiish faniuy weekly, "Home *Notes, wuicii ior years past, in common with most such periodicals, has devoteu a good portion ot each issue to chatty personal items, mainly glori»ying vas we should say) the personality 01 Continental royalties, many ot whom have since ranged their arms against ua in the present great European war. Although the statements now reprinted were published in the months ot August and iN'ovember, 19U8, they hare a strikingly significant bearing upon tne Balkan tangle; and the )rominont part which i'erdiuand ot Bulgaria has recently taken was unconsciously heralded by the writers oi these paragraphs. The present change of trout towards Russia is very strikingly shown by the tact of the Tsarina having performed the duties of nurse in the Russo-Japanese War. Prince Ferdinand, who is a big bearded man with pale blue eyes and prominent Jewish nose, was elected ruler of Bulgaria in 1887. Hie great ambition is to become King, but, in spite of his affability, his reign is not popular, and he lives in constant fear of assassination. Day and night, when he is at home, his yacht lies at her moorings with "steam up," ready for instant flight. He is a scholarly and cultured man, b\x\ he has the reputation of being

MORE CHARMING THAN TRUSTWORTHY,

and though he manages always to be out of the way when anything unplea sant happens, his journeys are the occasion ot anxiety in half the foreign offices of the Continent, for it is said that, he would plunge Europe into war without a scruple to extend his frontier by a single mile, or to realise his dream of becoming " King" of Bulgaria, on an equal footing with his neighbours, the rulers of Roumania and Servia. Shortly after he was made ruler of Bulgaria, Prince Ferdinand, as he then was, hinted that he should like to have a crown made for him. His mother promised that the most beautiful jewels she possessed should be used for its adornment. An artist was requisitioned to design it, and an eminent jeweller made it, and the finished article was present in due course to the Prince. But Ferdinand did not seem pleased with the result. "The present trend of public opinion has changed," he said, "and the idea of having a crown has been abandoned- You will be paid as soon as an order for the crown is definitely given."

A MEMORY MARVEL. A wonderful memory is a useful gift, especially for a Royal personage. Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria not only has a splendid memory tor people, but there k hardly any important date in history that he cannot remember, and when in good health he can repeat whole chapten of books after only reading them twice. Indeed, were misfortune to overtake him and leave him penniless, he might well gain a living by public exhibitions of his gift. There is no doubt that ever since Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg was chosen by the Bulgarians as their ruler he has been looking forward to the time when he could make Bulgaria an independent State. Now, just it the moment when Turkey is entering on a new era, Prince Ferdinand ui.d his subjects have seized the opportunity to proclaim their independence of the Porte, and Prince Ferdinand has assumed the ancient Bulgarian title ot Tsar, or King. Whether the Powers will agree to an independent Bulgaria remains to be seen, but on October 12th their self-proclaimed King made a triumphal entry into Sofia, cheered" by thousands of holiday-makers rejoicing in their new independence. AN AWKWARD MONARCH.

One thing alone marred the digntiy of the occasion. The "little Tsar," as the Bulgarians now affectionately term their ruler, is not by any means a brilliant and dashing horseman. Indeed, on the contrary, he is corpulent, and, seated somewhat comically astride hia horse, he had so much difficulty in sticking on that an officer walked on each side of him to assist him in preserving his balance. THE TRAVELLER.

No modern occupant of a throne, not oven the German Emperor, has travelled abroad as much as Prince Ferdinand, who has spent about a quarter of his reign out of Bulgaria. His people have given him the nickname of the "Traveller." A BROKEN PROMISE.

Prince Ferdinand's first wife, who was the eldest of the twenty-one children of the late Duke of Parma, left him two sons and two daughters. She was a devout Roman Catholic, and it is said that Prince Ferdinand broke her heart by breaking his promise to bring up their children in the same faith. To conciliate the Tsar 4 Prince Boris, at a few months old, was "converted" to the Orthodox Greek Church, to which his brother and sisters also belonged. Prince Ferdinand who remained a widower for nine years, was Brought up as a Roman Catholic, and his present wife is a Lutheran.

THE RUSSO-JAP WAR. Prince and Princess Ferdinand of Bulgaria are a decidedly interesting royal pair, and, whatever people may think of him, there seems to be no doubt as to her courage and kindness of heart. The Princess, who is a year her husband's senior, is nearly fortyeight, and though she is a daughter of th« ancient princely family of lie use, she has worked hard as a nurse, and made herself an exceedingly useful member of society. During the RussoJapanese war, Princess Eleonora of Reuse (as she then was) was chief nurse of the sanitary train 6ent out by the Grand Duchess Vladimir. When her work there was done, the Princess returned to Germany, and even after her engagement to the ruler of Bulgaria she was still performing the humble duties of a deacouese at Luebbea. On her arrival at the Deaconesses' Home, she dropped the Princess and became "Sister Eleonora" to the little world of Luebbea. Early last December, when her engagement was announced, she left off the neat habit ot A deaconess, but after the cermony of betrothal was over, she again resumed the sister's dress, and went out that same night to nurse a sick mother. —"Horn* Notes," Aug.-Nov., 1908.