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7 “ I'h, Royal Fat Boy, Prin- ? : W ~ I?< W Kii. i'vz/z ■ • • rk u- "-' J »*■*>'> MBjafimMffi*- KSB&l, ~ <zA cess jane and the Dashing ;■ t ' Rfeafcaffittfe wk American Heiress Are the JBl »t Liveliest Contestants for , , > Z '"■ jg Z ■ *~ > r ■• w mL jFjfc - z ,/jHk ' MbM . •d&Kqwlp i ' amlmp "'! ,5 % k _—_. y. y — —' ! ZZ jSs •.' :■ T 1 Oi. -! /« ■" ' *’ z 7 My l WWWMI---' * A >— r <z/ 7 X x*X f A\ X•’ 2.1\1 • a.« 9 ® z w \- A x ? h \\ •> 'A t / 7 X -■ J- '/MeMOBI I p’ / \ ■ *—r- ■^ TT \A xi X-. V i is.INR&HaESkiSMsI r li >«-• ' \ L- ; wwijrf , .< O'Q. ■1 ': "wR - -W "Z ' ■ iwii ■ v Ip r V i/ \ ™ W '">' \ 41< x\ . ■<■ 'A- ' iBBF \ ' /\ r?v I X >A \ .71 \ - ->■ > VK| Oh What A Funny ts- hfflht ForAThrones | ?® Princess Hazel Singer, of Chicago, b H Princess Liane de Pougy, of the Paris \ ||®w Boulevards, Three Ghikas, and F ■ Europe’s Royal Fat Boy Scramble for f ■'■ |f||ll||., the New Crown of Wild Albania [' ! -■ JU WH w, Prince Gustavus of Denmark, weight 378 Pounds, and Still Growing Paris, December 13. '“T'HE funniest contest for a throne that £ was ever carried on is unquestionably that which is now raging over the newly created state of Albania. To say that it is like a comic opera of The Merry Widow” type is inadequate, for it is really much funnier. Mixed up in the fight are three Ghikas, a great Chicago heiress, a former Parisian ad venturess and the royal fat boy of Europe. Each one has something nasty to say about the other. The Chicago heiress throws her past at the Parisian adventuress. The ad venturess retorts with a sneer about Pork ipolis. All of them ridicule the fat boy, but >e complacently points to the fact that the dohammedans, of whom there are many in Albania, admire fat. The throne of Albania is somewhat nebu lous at present. Albania is a country hither to nominally belonging to Turkey and lying north of Greece, it has been a bone of con tention during the present Balkan war. It Is 8-944 square miles in extent and has about ■200,000 inhabitants, who are very fond of rifle shooting and equally handy with a long curved knife. The Servians and Greeks proposed to di 'ide Albania up between them, but the Al banians, not to mention the Austrians, ob ected. So Albania has been set up as a sep tate state. A provisional government has oeen established with a Mohammedan presi dent and a Christian vice-president. The ’nhabitants of Albania are nearly equally divided between the Mohammedan and Chris ian religions. But a state set up under the guidance of Austria and Russia, cannot be a republic. That would be setting a bad example. Al bania will, therefore, have to pick a king or prince from the ranks of the minor prince lets. Someone who would like the notoriety and doesn’t mind the danger. Prominent among the candidates are Prince Jean Ghika, Prince George Ghika and Prince Alexander Ghika. They are all cou sins and belong to a family which is now domiciled in Rumania, although in ancient times, when Albania was an independent state, the Ghikas lived in that country. Another leading candidate is Prince Gus tavus, of Denmark, the youngest brother of the King of Denmark. He enjoys the peculiar distinction of being the fattest prince in Europe. He has tried every anti-fat remedy known to science without success. He weighs 378 pounds and is still gaining. Prince Gustavus has the advantage of com- ja 4k *L (, Ar* _r L Sjjy 11 /14 &pt xZ —.. * - !Ha h > >l >< s / f/ M ” 'ii’el r > '- # ; -' v' t U tl W <"■ 4’* x I wlwhß w I \ Al 1 IP ' r' 1 y I | ' \HI f T \ /■ 7 \ < *- BB \ JL. k«F/S?lx> P^ft<^ r ' *WvSL ||||y I A Few Entertairung Sketche. of the Balkan War by the Clever Prince.. Liane de Pougy Ghika, Which Have Impelled Her Chance, of r ' sxWsl ing from a country which cannot have any designs of taking territory in Albania. His uncle, George, was chosen King of Greece for a similar reason. He is twenty-six years old and unmarried. Now, as to the Ghikas. Prince Jean Ghika married Miss Hazel Singer, daughter of Charles J. Singer, of Chicago, and a member of the Singer sewing machine family, many of whom have married into the French aris tocracy. The Singers, of course, have many millions. It is understood that the former Miss Singer would enjoy the sensation of being a regular royal queen, and is spending her millions freely for that purpose. Prince Jean has had an interesting career. Before he married Miss Singer he had financed a comic opera company of which Miss Della Rogers, of Denver, was the star. Then there is Ghika No. 2. He is Prince George Ghika Three years ago the Prince, in a thoughtless moment, married Mademoiselle I.iane de Pougy, who had been a familiar figure to the boulevardiers of Faris for many years. Mademoiselle Liane has appeared at the Folies Bergere and done all sorts of things that a princess is not expected to do. Just before her husband was talked of as an occupant of the Albanian throne, the Princess Liaue had made a series of clever sketches representing the Turks, Bulgarians, Albanians and other participants in the present war. A few of these, which are fit for publication, are enclosed herewith. The sketches are not at all flattering to the Albanians. The rival claimants to the throne have bought up a large number of copies of a Paris newspaper that printed them and are distributing them industriously in Albania, with damaging effect upon Liane’s chance of getting a crown. And then there is Ghika No. 3. His full name is Prince Alexander Ghika. He has stolen a march on the others, for he is already at the scene of the Balkan war and is at this moment engaged in stirring up enthusiasm for his cause among the Alban ians. Prince Alexander Ghika married an Irish woman, Miss Margaret Dowling, a cousin of the Marquis of Lansdowne and an heiress of considerable wealth. According to society gossip he spent all her money, and it is cer tain that she opened a fancy store in Paris, where she sold specimens of the needlework of Rumanians and other women of South eastern Europe. Now that her husband is in the race for a throne, however, she is willing to stand by him loyally. Now it is Interesting to remember what sort of people the Albanians are Most of them live in the mountains. Their houses are hard to reach, but very convenient places from which to shoot tne passerby. A favorite occupation of the Albanians is brigandage, but business has not been so good in recent years as it used to be. Albanians who have to work are usually* shepherds. Some make a living by taking care of the property of foreigners who have come to Albania. Perhaps the strongest natural trait of the Albanians is the way they treat their women. Half of them are Mohammedans' and keep ' their wives carefully locked up. The other half are Christians and keep a very careful eye on their wives. Any serious infringe ment of the moral law by a wife is usually punished with death. In case of a slight skittishness on the part of the wife, the Albanian husband, if in a good humor, may content himself with cut ting off her nose and ears. Albania evidently is no place for a woman who values her liberty or wants her rights. How would Liane de Pougy, the former French adventuress of Paris, be received in a community where they entertain such bar barous notions? Not very well, one would think. Perhaps she imagines the benighted Albanians know nothing of the history of Parisian stars. How would Miss Hazel Singer, the Ameri can heiress, accustom herself to the man ners of such a savage land? She comes from a country where women are honored as queens and treated more indulgently than anywhere else in the world. Surely she would find it hard to become used to the Albanian code. But,, of course, a crown would make up for a good many shortcom ings. The task of ruling over the Albanians would be a picturesque if a difficult one. The men are better than circus riders to look at. The national costume of the Albanian con sists of a cotton shirt, a white woollen kilt, which reaches to the knees, a jacket, a sash around the waist, in which pistols and a long curved knife called a "yataghan” are carried, colored leggings, sandals and a red cap, around which they twist a shawl or scarf. The chiefs and wealthy Albanians usualiy wear a jacket and vest of velvet, richly em broidered with gold, and metal greaves over their leggings, which are usually made of fine scarlet cloth. The commentator adds the remark that “they seldom change their clothes.” The dress of the women is fantastic A singular custom prevails among the girls of stringing together the pieces of money which they have collected for their portions, and wearing them upon their heads. Some others have them hanging down in braids to a great length, loaded with this species of or nament. The Albanians have their good qualities. If you are a stranger to them they are likely to shoot or rob you, but when once you have broken bread with them, they will’do any thing for you. If one of the three Ghikas or the fat boy wins,the throne, he can look forward to an exciting life in Albania. * " ~ z IKK itllw i i■ < \ fee O I ' 11 few. If B So - I m if i* Ml fz r R Li la H 4 1 i %saA M -lifii i ? - L': r el ii do Hw® ■■;■>. > - J*'-' X 1 Jot Princess Liane Has Set Up an Oriental Establishment in Training for the New Throne Princess Jean Ghika, Formerly Miss Hazel Singer, the Beautiful Chicago He ress Who Is Using Her Millions to Help Her Husband Capture the Albanian Throne What’s the Shape of a Year? What’s the Color of Hunger? OBSERVATION of the fact that the blind associate color with and give shapes to Ideas, has led Professors Herman Schenk and Ludwig Regner, of Heidel berg, to carry on a series of curious experiment* to determine the dominant conceptions ol sounds and abstract ideas in terms of color and form. The experiments have been made with 100 t blind persons and 5000 persons with sight From the mass of answers to the questions tht extraordinary fact has been ascertained that there is an unexplained unity in the mind* of both seeing and blind. To the question: "What Is the shape of a year?” 300 blind and 600 seeing answered: "A hill.” Some amplified it by saying: “A hill leading up to Summer and down to Winter.” One hundred blind and 50 seeing answered: “A tunnel." Amplification—"Fght at the open • mg, getting darker and darker." Another favorite answer was: "A long strip —brightening in the centre and getting dark at the end." 'To the question: “What color is hunger,” ths dominant answer was "gray.” The second average was: “Black with a dull red core.” To "what shape is Christmas?” three-quarters answered: “Round.” Amplifications were: "Be cause every one sets in a family circle;" “money is round, so are plum puddings;” “be cause most people are contented and content ment is round.” In names, “Horace" suggested a tweedy pepper-and-salt mixture,” "Maude" suggested heliotrope, "George” both pale pink and mouse color.