| Show I ji For Woman Readers EMPRESS OF GERMANY Homo Life of a Typical housewife and Uothcr The Emperor Wllinms Early Romance The Programme oi the Empress Em-press Day T Correspondence or Tnn HEKALD BERLIN May 13The young Empress Augusta Victoria of Germanyis absolutely different from her two predecessors beautiful cultured Augusta and the virile highly educated Empress Frederick Freder-ick as a woman could well be Notwithstanding the fierce light that beats upon a throne some court romances I remain profoundly hidden and aro only i known to a fev devoted friends and a more I or less large circle of relatives whose interest in-terest itis to avoid soro subjects Thus it is not generally known that the present pres-ent Emperor of Germany when little more than a boy fell desperately in love with his first cousin the granddukeof Hesses I oldest daughter now grand duchess Serge of Russia As the marriage would have cut right across the policy dear to Prince Bis marcks heart the young man was told f i 4 tl j It ti I V tit t JJ D I 1 J J l1i 7fjf THE EMPRESS OF GERMANY kindly but firmly that he must turn his thoughts elsewhere It is said that when his grandfather the old Emperor William Wil-liam bade him renounce hi cousin and implored him to name some other princess with a view to speedy matrimony Prince Wilhelm exclaimed Choose whom you like it is absolutely the same to me as lone as it is not one of the English lot BISMAItCK CHOSE THE BRIDE Princess Augusta Victoria of Ajrgusten burg was a good looking girl after the blonde and pink type of Teutonic women Healthy and active of a splendid phy Bique cheerful and simple in manner man-ner and trained in the frugal habits of the modest little ducal court of Dolzig she was chosen by the Iron Chancellor as a possible bride for the emperors heir with a view to healing heal-ing the breach between the Holsteiners and the Prussians After a brief and cold wooing the pair Were married in the February of ISSi in the Schloss chapel of Berlin From the first day of her marriage the princess had to play a difficult part between be-tween her English motherinlaw and her impulsive headstrong young husband hus-band Her task was very wearing very trying She was almost completely isolated iso-lated from her own people Both Bismarck Bis-marck and the old emperor who by the way soon became extremely fond of his new granddaughter expected her to play an active part in their schemes and family fam-ily arrangements Those about her during dur-ing those early years greatly admired her gentle dignity and powers of self control Little by little she won every person with whom she was brought in contact She possessed herself of the art of healing up bitter quarrels by a word said in season 4o the right person HER AMBITION TO BE AS OLD STYLE I HATJSFEAU She was already the mother of five sturdy baby boys when her husband became be-came Emperor of Germany giving her a t prominent position among the royalties y of Europe But the Kaiserin as the emperor em-peror best likes to call her has remained the ideal wife and housemother who 4 u t 1 I r muD DUCHESS SERGE OF RUSSIA stays at home and looks after the house and children while her husband Is out and about his business She takes no lead in the social world She seeme to desire to shine as an old Jashioncd hausfrau Every hour of the empress day is care fully allotted She expects each one of her servants from the housekeeper to the I scullion to carry out her or his part of the days programme perfectly THE HOBNING PROGRAMME Sick or well the empress is an early riser and sits down to breakfast with the emperor winter or summer at S oclock At 9 she goes up to the nurseries the are situated in the pleasantest and airiest part of whatever palace the royal couple may happen to be occupying at the time There she watches the last bas toilette and Settles with the nurse what walks or drives arc to be taken and above all what clothes are to be worn by the young princes The Kaiserins one extravagance extrava-gance is those little clothes in which so many mothers delight scarce a week passes but she receives patterns from the leading Lilliputian warehouses of Paris London and Vienna Each small garment is cut out and made with but few excep tions by German needlewomen under her own direction Every stitch In her seven i layettes has been put in by herself or herr her-r SIsters At 10 oclock the empress receives her housekeeper and draws up the lunch and dinner menus always being careful to in ciuac one ox two uiaues specially iiKea oy her husband She looks over the household house-hold expenditure and writes necessary letters At 11 she is ready to go out driving with her husband or walking with a couple of her children Each morning she also spends some minutes in her linen room not a duster or sheet is given out but Under un-der her own personal supervision It Luncheon is at 1 oclock all the children chil-dren with the exception of tho last comer who is generally a baby In arms assist at the meal Guests are seldom invited in-vited to this repast when they are they find themselves treated without ceremony The system on which the four eldest SOUR of the German emperor are brought up has been arranged without reference to theIr mothers wishes or feelings but D ct Iv she carefully sees them carried out and superintends their studies She is always present at the violin lessons taken by the twooldest boys She stays with them when they are practicing and they run to Mutterkin 11 with all their little troubles THE AFTERNOON ROUTINE After lunch the emperor and empress spend about an hour playing and talking with and to the children The present ruler of Germany is the first kaiser to whom SIX sons have been born in an un interrupted line although nearly all the Hohenzollerns have been richly blessed with children From 3 to 5 the empress receives in this period charitable cases are submitted to her v Dinner is at 6 and it is to this repast I that gt otg are most frequently bidden sometimes as many as fifty people sitting down to tabe The Kaiserins taste in dress is not faultless inclined to embonpoint embon-point she delights in vivid colors and glace stuffs The emperor likes to see her covered with jewels and the smallest din nerpariy is therefore the excuse for a State toilette The dinner itself lasts about an hour One servant is told off to wait on every two persons and a number of jagers are I always in attendance to perform the service Besic each plate is laid a menu which is entirely printed in German and contains no oreign dishes also a printed sheet containing con-taining a list of the music about to be played the programme generally comprising com-prising twentyfour pieces the composers compos-ers names which most frequently appear ap-pear are Wagner Sir Arthur Sullivan j Weber and Ddlibes Not a detail of the I service escapes the hostesss vigilant eye and if any hitch occurs the housekeeper f is told of it next morning When there is company the empress has Ft j AAFW c rir i k tVv b1L9 I 411L I Jr7 tt 1 e s l KAISERN AUGUSTA VICTORIA AND PRINCES to remain and play her part but if she can spare five minutes she always runs up to the nursery to give the children a look while they are going to bed After everybody has gone she and the emperor always spend a few moments in seeing that each child is comfortable for I the night and the slightest infantile ailment ail-ment means that the empress sits up all I I night tending the sick child and seeing that the doctors directions are carried outWhen When in the nursery the empress wears a soft white flannel dressing gown and large apron Tlrb story is told that when the emperor visited the emperor of Austria he asked the ArchDuchess i Stephanie to go with him to the leading Viennesse dress maker in order to choose some dresses as a surprise present to his wife A very elegant tea gown boasting of a train some two yards long was shown him He waved it asid Oh that would be no good to the Kaiserin said he she always has four or five boys tumbling round her skirts and they would make short work of a train like this 1 HER LITTLE HABITS AND TASTES Although the empress is familiar with French and English she is a thorough German and does not care for foreign fashions or literature Her education was of the simplest Before her marriage she had never read a novel One early habitand only one she retains re-tains regardless of her imperial lord and master every day she writes a few sentences sen-tences in a locked diary This record no one ever sees not even the emperor himself him-self Every year a new diary iR begun and the old one with its locked golden claspit used to be steel in her girlish daysis put away with tho preceding ones in the iron safe which contains her majesty jewels i The empresss bedroom and sitting i room are furnished simply The hang j ings are light blue in deference to the fairness of the occupants complexion I Although a large allowance is made to her as Queen Consort her personal expenses I ex-penses have not increased since she was Princess Wilhelm Unlike her mother I I inlaw the Empress Frederick who delights de-lights in making beautiful and artistic I I presents to her many friends and relations I rela-tions Augusta Victoria works with her orathands all the birthday gifts which I I she has to perpetually be providing for her own and the emperors vast family I circle She has thus very little time for reading Scarce is one cushion banner I or piece of embroidery put away when I another is begun and her majestys I large useful workbasket given her many years ago by her mother and sis tern is quite a teature of the imperial menage It is but fair to the young emperor to state that he has developed into a devoted and affectionate husband his young I wifes sweetness and submission has won his wayward excitable nature When he I is away on any of his numerous journeys he writes to her every day He is in constant con-stant telegraphic communication with his home Among the empress most treasured possessions is a complete set of the photographs taken of her husband during the various periods of his existence exist-ence She has no female friends the emperor is her only confidant and she never does anything without consulting him It is said with justice that she takes little or no interest in politics On the other hand her husband finds in her a willing echo and can feel sure that whoever who-ever else disapproves of his line of action he will always find blind devotion anu complete sympathy when he turns to the mother of his children ADELE MARROC |
