Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1914)
The t, Omaha Sunday Bee. Magazine Pag II hfjtlll Plj.MI 'p!amsiH ,y, AMI I I .1 II ) a.l I I ITT. B1 -VM Fuerstenstein, the Pless Castle, Where the Princess Is' Reported to Be Virtually a Prisoner. London, Oct 17. I ONSIDERABLE anxiety Is felt In the highest social circles concerning the rate of Princess Henry of Pless, the beautiful and popular Englishwoman, mar ried to a great German nobleman. The Princess's husband Is understood to have gone to the front In the German army, while her brother and brother-in-law and many of her other English rela tives are fighting with the allied forces. The Princess was originally Miss Daisy Cornwallis West, daughter of Colonel and Mrs. Cornwallis West, and member of a family that has been right at the top of fashionable society ever since the late King Edward was at the height of his social fame. He thought Mrs. Cornwallis West the most entertaining person he had ever known, and her daughters are equally ad mired by all English society. All the West women are lively as well as beautiful, and their path through live Is constantly marked with exciting episodes. The Princess's sister Is the Duchess of Westminster, an equally beautiful woman, and wife of the richest nobleman In Eng land. She has had a serious disagree ment with her noble husband, as most people know, but it Is believed that his heroic conduct In the present war has started a reconciliation between them. rhe Duke, who was formerly an officer in the Royal Horse Guards, went to the front with the Ninth Lancers at the be ginning of the war. At Complegne, where the British army was severely pressed by overwhelming numbers of Germans, the Duke rescued Captain F. O. Grenfell, the well-known, polo player, who was severely wounded, and carried him to safety un der heavy fire. The general of the cav alry brigade In which the Duke was serv ing reported him for distinguished brav ery. The same general also made these remarks about his men: "Our men went through the Uhlana like brown paper. "We have established an unquestioned personal ascendency over the enemy. Theii1 cavalry cannot oppose us unless they are two or three times our number." All these little facts have a bearing on the Princess of Pless's position, for her husband is an officer In one of the despised German cavalry regiments. Pictures from England Irritate the Germans. The Duchess of Westminster herself Is working as hard as she can making and collecting garments for the British sol 'diers In the Held, especially warm under wear, which they will greatly need dur ing the coming Winter. She has turned her house near London Glfford House, Roehampton Into a headquarters for this kind of work. She has been repeatedly photographed with her friends and serv ant busily engaged in this patriotic labor. She has been to see various contingents of soldiers off to the front and has en couraged them as only a beautiful and charming woman could do. aThe brother of the Duchess and of the Princess of Pless Is George Cornwallis West He was married some years ago to Lady Randolph Churchill, the dashing American woman, wb,o was then a shade older than his mother. Recently she ob tained a divorce, and he then married Mrs. Tatrlck Campbell, the brilliant actress. Young West has been made the subject of a few pleasantries on account of his penchant for mature wives, but bis bravery and patriotism are beyond sus picion. He served In the Boer war. He was formerly a lieutenant In the Scots Guards. He returned to this regiment at the outbreak of the present war, but was soon promoted to be lieutenant colonel of a battalion of naval reserves organlred for land service because there were more of these men than the navy needed. It Is probable that he was sent to Ostend to strengthen the British force there in the difficult position It occupied after the fall of Antwerp. It was once rumored that be was shot as a spy. Much of the news concerning the pat. rlotic and warlike doings of the West family has filtered through, perhaps ex aggerated and embellished, to the German relatives, frtenas and servants of the Princess of Pless in Germany. No news has been received from tha Prim-ess for many weeks. It is not known certainly where she Is, but it is believed she is at the castle of Furstensteln, an immense country estate In Silesta. That was the last place from which sha wrote to her friends in England. Sha said that her surroundings were terrible, but did not go Into details because all letters are opened by the German Govern ment, and any person or English birth io Germany Is naturally subject to suspicion of being a spy. The Princess said that her husband has had not then gone to the front It is be lieved that he must have done so since then, learlng ber in a very pitiable situv tlon, surrounded by hostile and excited persons and suspected of sending Informa tion to ber British relatives. Friends of tha Prin cess believe that sho Is practically a prisoner In the great Castle of Fuerstenstein. There are over a thousand ser vants, tenants and de pendents of the Prince in the castle and estate surrounding it. All the men tire or hava been soldiers In the German army. They must look on the Princess as an enemy and an English spy. Every step she takes is watched by these excited patriots. Every letter she writes must be intrusted to one of them, and It Is presumed that it is taken, prompt ly to an army officer for examination. Every word she utters Is reported. She never goes out without being followed by these spies and it Is believed that she would not be allowed to go beyond the boundaries of her own estate if aha tried to. An English lady's maid In the employ of the Princess has sent many of the par ticulars concerning their treatment to her sister, who is employed in the West family. Some of the English newspapers show ing members of the Princess' English family taking an herolo part in the war have reached Furtensteia and hava caused the greatest excitement among tha ignorant peasantry. They Imagine that the Princess' brother is taking advantage of his knowledge of Germany to assist the English in various underhand ways and that she is supplying him with informa tion. One of the English newspapers shows the Princess's English brother-in-law, the Duke of Westminster, scattering about a hundred German cavalrymen single-handed. Tkla has naturally aroused great in dignation among the German servants and peasants. The Prince of Pless Is a lieutenant colonel "a la suite" of the Seventeenth Prussian Hussar Regiment This Is an honorary rank. In his youth he had a military training like nearly all German Her German Husband at War with Her English Brothers, She Is Believed to Be a Prisoner in a Gloomy Castle Hemmed in by a Thousand Spies J'' J"!'iA.K m 1 v " X if -S s lw - - - -v vy-v I it V V A 7 ', Ks.y.y I I j . f I j if rj?'' ' : ' '' 'o-V''"' . ' ' y i -J- - J y: Vx ' -osr;-:'- jyi' j " t ' v r u 7 f- It I i 11 3 Princesi Henry of Plesi, the Beautiful Englishwomaxt V7bot Position in Germany, Surrounded by Hoitil People, ' Excites Great Anxiety in England. Three Recent Pictures in English , Newspapers Which Have f Greatly Embarrassed the Princess. 1Her Sister, the Duchess of West minster, Making Clothes for British Soldiers Fighting Germans. 2 Her Brotherln-Lsw, the Duke of Westminster, Who Was Report ed for Distinguished Bravery In Action Against the Germans. t Her Brother, Colonel George Corn wallis West, Now Commanding a British Battalion Against tha Germans. ' K -' 1 AlM zyy:yy 1 ) y ! The Princess's Brother, Colonel G. Cornwallis West, Who Also I Fight Her Husband's Countrymen. noblemen, but soon gave up army life to -take charge of his Immense estates. As all the German reserves have been called but and there Is a great need of officers, it is believed he must hava been called Into active service, although no news has been, received from him. The Prince owns about 50,000 acres and Is one of the richest men In Germany. In addition to the castle mentioned he owns the castle of Pless and about six other castles and country estates. He has a great hunting estate at Promonlty in Up per Silesia and a palace In Berlin. He is an intimate personal friend of the Kaiser, who has confided many secrets tq him. The Kaiser once sent the Prince on a mission to New York. His Majesty has .performed some of his most ' awful slaughters of deer and other game on the Prince's estates. The Prince and Princess have three sons, for one of whom the Kaiser acted as godfather. His Majesty has always expressed the great est admiration for the-Princess. He once said that she was tha most perfect type of English beauty. She has a delicious, well curved figure, a mass of lovely blond hair, large violet eyes shaded by long lashes and a very winnlag expression. Much of ber charm may be attributed to her Irish descant. Her mother was a Miss Flta Patrick and eame of an old Irish family. '. Experience proves that whatever friend ship the Kaiser may have shown for the English Princess In the past,' It aa be ot little service to her now.. Tha cldsest personal relationships between rulers and cltiiens of the warring countries are ut terly . annihilated. The Kaiser is fighting against the country of bis mother. and the country which his grandmother ruled. .Yet according to all accounts be l more bit ter against England than anybody in Ger many. The Princess of Pless is in' the most cruel position of all those whose private relationships have been disrupted by tha war. Members ot royal families placed in a corresponding position are supported by the tradition that requires them to be faithful to the country where they marry or take up their residence. It is essential to their existence that they should stlok to this tradtlon. The Queen of the Bel gians bravely stayed at her place while the German armies, one of them com manded by her brother, the Crown Prince of Bavaria, attacked Belgium, her adopted country. ' With private persons it is different. The Prince of Pless is not a member ot a reigning family, and bis wife is virtually a private person. Technically, a woman becomes a citizen of her husband's coun try, but no one supposes on that account that she will lose all affection for her native country. Americans do not sup pose that the many American women married in England will be indifferent to the fate of their native land. Similarly, the Princess of Pless must feel a filial sympathy for England, and this is regarded as a crime by the waning nation that surrounds her! Real Human Nature in Flies, Ants and Dandelions- kLANTS and animals are a good deal like human beings. . Some are ambitious, some are Indolent. Some attain prosper ity, some remain miserably poor. Some profit by prosperity, others are spoiled by It Some are rankly individualistic, others so strongly socialistic that they weaken themselves and their race. "Nothing Is more successful than the fly," says Professor A. S. Pearce, of the University of Wis consin. "It Is impossible to exterminate him. He adapts himself so remarkably to changing conditions that if he were wiped out, say, in the United States, he would find a breeding spot in some remote part of South America, where even Roosevelt has not penetrated." The bee, too, is a remarkable creature, but likely to be the victim of specialization. The fly can live on anything, but the bee lives only on honey. The bee Is on the road to destruction because it has so limited its food, and If the sup ply of honey should be destroyed it would die. Often when flowers over a large area have been killed by frost or drought, swarms of bees have been found dead. The dandelion Is a progressive. It Is always np to some new wrinkle to preserve Itself. It bas lately developed a faculty for growing with- The Princess's Brother-in-Law, the Duke of Westminster, ou ,e," 'rtied. it is tun of improvements. 4 " JrrL t i ! vj tii i vv" t Tna bamacta Is an example of the Idle rich. Who IS Distlngulanlng mmsell u is always looking for a "snap." It attaches At the Front. itself to something so that It doesn't have to work for a living; all it does is to let the water bring food to it But It has lost a great deal through this characteristic. It has lost sensi tiveness, which Is always the penalty of settling down to live without a struggle. Ducks are remarkably co-operative, and so are pelicans. Often a flock of pelicans will swim far out, form a seinl-clrcle and then swim toward shore, driving the fish before them until they get them Into a convenient cove, where they devour them at will. But the most complete communal life is that of ants. They make other ants serve as slaves. Some ot them have developed Into door-tenders. They have bard heads, with which they plug up entrances. Friendly ants announce their pres ence by stroking the heads in a peculiar way, giving the password, as It were, and then are admitted. These ants even raise a type of mush room on which they live. The "sanguinary ants' 'are what Prof. Wheeler calla the "facultative slave-workers." Here, also, we find gradations in the extent to which evolution has operated to produce greater or less dependence of owners on slaves for the dis charge of the duties of the nest. For Instance, In the case of Formica saw ouinea. typical slave-holder of Europe, we may And the ants living both in Independent slaveless colonies and in neste where the ser vice is slave-discharged. And many ant communities are pestsred bt hoboes. About 1,600 varieties of parasites whlcn prey upon ant communities have been found panhandling ants, which make their living like human "bums" by begging or stealing food from their honest, hard-working brothers. But ants will pay the penalty of this co-operation. Such condition means high specialization, each aoit learning to do only one thing, becoming in truth a piece-worker. Some little change in their environment would force a great many to drop out Their usefulness would be ended. The horse is another example ot too much specialization. It has specialized too highly on speed. The worst thing that an animal can do la to be too successful, because if the conditions under which he Uvea change he suffers extermi nation. Ixok at the sabre-toothed tiger, once the mightiest and perhaps the only mammal of its day. It probably lived on the giant turtle, until it killed off the turtles, and then it bad to die. Man Is the most successful creature so far, because he has kept his balance, but the worst thing about him Is the large size of his brain, for it Indicates that he has let himself grow too much In one direction. Biology teaches us that success Is attained by keeping the power to improve; by gotng out and struggling; by net looking around for a snap, but principally by not permitting oneself to crow into a rut CoBjrrlshL Ilia, b the 8Ut Conaur. Orsat Britain Rlshts Rsssrvsd.