The health of Queen Draga of Servia, has suddenly become
a matter of acute interest to Eastern Europe. The matter is in this wise. The King and Queen have for some time past expected the birth of an heir, foreign Courts have been officially warned of the expectation, and all Servia has been preparing to celebrate a safe accouchement. Of late, how- ever, doctors have doubted, and it is now certain that the Queen is not pregnant, and doubtful from the state of her health whether she ever will be. This is a real mis- fortune for Servia, as the King has no collaterals, and the enemies• of the dynasty are circulating mon- strous stories about an intention to foist a supposititious child upon the people. That people, being ignorant, believe the stories, and there is danger, evidently believed by the Austrian Chancellor to be serious, of a rising either in favour of some other dynasty or of a Republic. Any such rising would compel Austria and Russia to interfere, and if they interfered on opposite sides the situation would be more than ' grave. At present, however, all is calm, for the King, who was expected to divorce his wife, dines with her in sight of all men, and although the palace is specially guarded, there is no rising. Still, Count Goluchowski has told the Delegations that although there is a compaot between St. Petersburg and Vienna to keep 'peace in the Balkans, that pact would not hold good in the event of certain " surprises."
