Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, February 06, 1916, EDITORIAL MAGAZINE, Image 23

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
rartdD
r n i
I he Unhappy la
aches? 06
m 11 ft m. r sbv tv"k4SH l'irv t np. v-
If : , "'- ! f II
Y - , , .... r . -k ,
' ;. ; I 1
:"''' V , I
Th Grand Duchet Marie as
Her Last Birthday Her
THE Grand Duchess Maria '
Adelaide of Luxemburg la
one of the moit pathetic
figures In the world.
This pretty young girl barely
twenty-one years old, was adored
by her prosperous little country
before the war broke out. ' To-day
she Is practically a prisoner In her
own palace, unable to go out with-,
out a military escort and forced to
look from her prison windows npon
a people starring, terrified and
forced to lire upon charity.
For over a year the little Grand
Duchess has striven bravely to
assert her rights and that of her
people, In face of the overwhelm
ing power of the German Empire,
but the struggle la naturally a
hopeless one. Luxemburg Is re
ported to be occupied by 800,000
'German soldiers, more than the
entire population of the country.
-To complete her. misery, the
urand Duchess has beea informed
that she must marry a German
prince, the object of course, being
to insure future control of Luxem
burg. Before the war it was pro
posed that she should marry Prince
Henry of Bavaria, nephew of the
King of Bavaria, but she refused to
accept him.
Some of the most eligible young
princes of Europe then sought her
hand 'but she was most exacting.
What an amazin? change In her
position today 1
Surrounded by a vast army of
enemy soldiers, pressed to marry
against her will, this little princess
Is as unhappy as a Carthaginian
Don't Try . to Make Your Cigar Last
ALMOST everybody knows what happens
when a man who has been accustomed
to the excessive use of alcohol is sud
denly deprived of It altogether, but we are less
familiar with the effects of the abrupt ces
sation of the tobacco habit.
There are probably several reasons for this.
One la that neither the public nor the medical
'profession has yet 'earned to regard the use of
tobacco, even in excess, as capable of doing
serious harm to the smoker. Certainly the
habit is not generally looked npon as compar
able to alcoholism In this respect.
Another reason is that it is rare for a devotee
of tobacco to foreswear it entirely, even though
he knows that It is doing him harm. It ts true
that be may cut down his customary allowance
te one-half or one-third, but those are excep
tions where the habit Is suddenly stopped.
Such cases do occur, however, and the most
distressing feature is the mental depression of
the patient This may be so great as to Inter
She Appeared at the Time of
Twenty - first. .
maiden of old chosen to be a vic
tim of Moloch.
According to the last reports the
Grand Duchess has become a phys-
ical wreck from ' the hopeless
struggle and the sight pf the mis
ery around her. She has expressed
her intention of abdicating her
throne and retiring to a convent to
find relief from her Borrows. She
wishes to leave her throne to a
younger sister, who, being more of
a child than herself, has not been
so much affected by the tragedy
that has overtakenLuxemburg.
- This little neutral state, only 998
square miles in area, had the mis
fortune to lie on 'the direct path
from Berlin to Paris when tho war
broke out. Three railway lines
from the principal North German'
centres of population come together
in the little town of Luxemburg,
which, situated in a mountainous
country Itself, commands the flat
"and comparatively unprotected area
of Northern France.
Two hundred thousand German
loI'Jleia were rushed through Lux
emburg a fast as they could be
burled. The young Grand Duchess
bravely stationed herself in the
centre of the main road leading
into Luxemburg and declared that
they had no right to pass. Germaa
officers seized her horses and led
her out of the way.
Considerable mystery has beea
maintained concerning conditions
in Luxemburg, for it is an impor
tant strategic centre and has been
the Kaiser's headquarters for a
time. Some Interesting news of
fere seriously with the dally routine of bis life,
and he may come to the conclusion that it is
better for him to risk the dangers which lurk
in nicotine rather than be a nuisance to his
friends and relatives.
A little Investigation may prevent such a
state of affairs and allow the patient to resume
his habit to some extent without harm. The
physician should find out not only how much
his patient amokes In a day, but also how he
smokes.
It will be found that many men smoke a
cigar or cigarette to the bitter end. The more
fastidious ones use holders, while the less par
ticular impale the butt on a toothpick or the
point of a penknife and stay with It to the last
gasp.
Whether such a custom Is the product of
thriftlness or merely represents an all-consuming
affection for My Lady Nicotine Is not elways
easy to tell, bnt the affect Is the same ta asy
case. The closer the burning tobacco is to the
Only 21 Years Old,
a Prisoner in Her
Own Palace,
Forced to Watch
Her Once Prosperous
People Starve
and Die,
She Wishes to
Abdicate and Bury
Her Sorrows in a Convent
the beleae-vered
Duchy has just been
brought to New Tork
by Joseph Lenoir, a
native of Luxemburg.
"Conditions la Lux
emburg are worse
than la 1 Belgium,"
said Mr. Lenoir. The
Identity of the people
' ttas beea obliterated
and every clause of
the treaty of 18S7 has
been violated' by the
Invaders.
"A few days before.
I left It was announc
ed that Grand Duch
)s Marie was to en
Ur convent and that
she had renounced
her title In favor of
her younger sister.
Announcement of the
Duchess's Intention
was not allowed ' to
be made public la the
press.
"The people are
starving, because the
Germans have requi
sitioned all the food
and materials of all
kinds. Meat and bread
and cannot be bought
gone np E00 per cent
by poor people.
"The dally wage
paid to Luxemburg
people Is about twen
ty cents, a sum too
The Little Grand '
Duchess of Luxemburg
at the Time of Her
Accession to the Throne
small to keep "body (
and soul together.
"Leading editors and politicians
have beea sentenced to death or
secretly Imprisoned In Germany.
M. rburnelle, manager of a rail
road, was sentenced to death on a
charge of giving aid to the French,
but oa the plea of the Grand
Duchess this was commuted to
twenty years' Imprisonment
"Many houses where French
women and children took refuge
were burned down, and women' and
children shot down by the troops.
In Husslgny two German officers
attacked a charming young woman
and her brother shot and killed one
of the officers. The young man was
shot down, his father hanged and
the young woman turned over to
the troops, so that she died within
a few days."
It is not surprising that the sight
and knowledge of such things hap
pening all about her should make
a sensitive young woman desire to
Coarrla-at 1S16.
:7!
leave the world
and go Into 'a
convent ;
A death-like si
.ence, broken only
occasionally, has
'alien over Luxem
burg. It to rarely
that anyone fa
miliar with 'the
place like Mr.
Lenoir Is allowed to reach the out
side world. The Inhabitants are
not permitted to leave the country
except In extraordinary cases.
Most of them, moreover, are with
out means to travel. It is inevitable
tbat there should be many Incon
sistencies in reports comlug from a
country in such a position. Many
reports reaching neutral countries
have represented the Grand Duchesa
as suffering the extremes of Indig
nity and hardships, while some of
the German papers, on the other
Too Long
mouth the more are Its toxic effects enhanced,
says a writer In the Medical Record.
Nicotine (If that la what causes the trouble) ,
Is of course present only In an Infinitesimal
quantity in tobacco smoke, but It seems to be
more poisonous under such circumstances; and
then little or none of it is lost when the dis
tance traversed is so small.
The long pipes which we are wont to as
sociate with phlegmatic Dutchmen are un
doubtedly much less harmful than the com
paratively short pipe favored by the Anglo
Saxons. Some of this latter variety, however,
are made with a well or some other patent at
tachment, and it would seem that these should
be recommended to men who suffer from
smoking.
In the case of cigars and cigarettes phy
sicians urge that they be discarded when about
three-quarters smoked, no matter how much
agony such a course entails to the thrifty or
to the tobacco-loving souL
by th Star Company. Ortat Britain
IT - R ' , - , 1 Mi m A A r
The Picturesque City of
the Grand Duchess
s-.... .-'.:?: ii?F.- wx-K". i"---..
The Grand Duchess Paying Her Last Visit to the Parliament of the Duchy,
Been Suppressed by the Invaders.
hand, have declared that she sym
pathizes with the German cause
and Is grateful for the compen
sation allowed for the injury done
by the German army in Luxemburg.
A former governess of the
Grand Duchess, now In Switzer
land, has described how itie
paid to visit her former pupil.
When the visitor reached the door
way of the grand ducal palace In
Luxemburg she was faced by two
stern sentries, who presented
their bayonets at her. An of
ficer then stepped forward and
told her she could not enter the
palace without explaining her busi
ness. "At this moment," says the vis
itor, "the Orand Duchess herself
rushed out Into the doorway and
threw her arms about me.
"'My dear old teacherl Do not
allow these soldiers to frighten
you."
"Saying this, she took my arm.
and between the two bayonets we
passed on Into the palals, where
in previous years I had the honor
of teaching her little Highness her
first French lessons.
"I had scarcely seated myself be
side her when she began weeping
bitterly"
The former governess then re
lates what the Orand Duchess said
to her:
"Not satisfied with destroying
our beautiful scenery, the Germans
have also stolen our public build
ings, our local government our
post, our educational establish
ments, and they have forcibly
taken charge of our railroad, for
which we have spent more than
15,000,000 francs.
Tbey seized our telegraph sys
tem, and whenever my people pro
Rights
TO-
Luxemburg, with the Palace
Is Held Virtually a Prisoner.
tested too strongly they arrested
them and sent them to remote
Prussian military prisons. More
than two hundred of my leading
citizens have been sent out of their
country to Germany.
"My people, my once happy and
prosperous people, are to-day poor
and at the verge of starvation!
"Even I have to receive a per
mit from a Pruaslan officer before
I can drive my own car on my own
roada In my own land. I must even
get a permit from a Prussian officer
before I can use the telephone,
which was established by our own
funds.
"The people of Belgium have rea
son to be proud of their great
achievements in fighting the arro
gant conqueror, but we feel we were
robbed In the small hours of the
night
"Had wo suspected the treaty
breaking Intentions of the Prus
sians we would have rushed to
arms.
"It we had bad forty-eight hours'
notice we would have put at least
25,000 men on our eastern frontier.
"For all practical purposes my
country la annexed, and the misery
of my people la deeper than that of
the Belgians.
"I sincerely envy the Queen of
the Belgiana in her present posi
tion, for my prexent plight la more
bitter than hers.
"My country, with Its 300.000
population, haa been harboring
hundreds of German spies, and
when the appointed hour came
these men turned out to be officers
In the imperial German armies.
Kven r.y t o (Jfmun drivers were
.'S1 : I
t
If
I
1
Where
disguised officers, and
when that fateful firs.
. of. August .night had
arrived they appeareu
In German uniforms.
"The Germans had
their outposts estab
lished everywhere In
my country, and my
unsuspecting people
had always treated
, these treacherous
spies with, the ut
moat consideration.
They have publish
broadcast that 1
hava recalvnA the
3 Iron Cross from tbe
German Emperor. It
is not true. I have
received a medal from
the Red ( Cross offic
ials, s.
They have also
published-, that the
Imperial GermanTGor
ment has compensat
ed my people for the
damage they hare
done to my beautiful
land. That Is also
incorrect They cen.
not compensate for
the damage the 800,000
Which Ha
soldiers have done to
the scenery of my land with money,
and, even then, they have only paid
the paltry sum of $100,000 for de
atroying hundreds of buildings 'for
military reasons.' They seem to
think thst one can commit every
Imaginable sin and outrage 'for
military reasons They never men
tion the fact that we have spent
more than 1300.000 for our Red
Crosa In taking care of their wound
ed soldiers."
Whatever the rights r wrong
of the Invasion of Luxemburg, It Is
certain that the Grand Duchess ii
the moat unfortunate young prln
cess of Europe.
The Crand Duchesa la the oldest
of six sisters. Her family is a
branch of the House of Orange,
which rules In Holland. When
Wllhelmlna became Queen of Hbi
land she could uoi. succeed to Lux
emburg on account of the Salic law.
A distant cousin of hers then be
came Grand Duke of Luxemburg
He died In 1890, leaving only girl
children, and then the Luxemburg
Parliament passed a new law mak
ing hla daughters eligible to the
throne. Thla was accepted by
Germany because It la supposed
that country waa satisfied to see
Holland and Luxemburg separated,
Luxemburg la a tiny country,
very picturesque and mountainous,
end Its capital, the ancient city of
Luxemburg, la the most picturesque
spot of alL The people speak a
mixture of French and German and
use a good many English words.
The country lies Just between Ger
many, France, Belgium and Hol
land. It had an army of 800 men.
It was one of the smallest Indepen
dent states In the world, but csn
be called Independent no longer.
0