The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1891-11-05
saltwater, Minn, Thursday, Nov. 8, 1891

to keep his hands out of this squabble and
do his share toward the maintenance of
peace in the neighborEOOd. Mr.. Russia is
very effusive in his desire to do this. and
while Mother England gladly thanks him
for it, she still continues to keep an eye
upon him because it is the common talk of
the neighbOrhOOd that the Russian father
treats some of his children in a very cruel
manner. and puts them away in far off
corner where it is bleak and cold. and they
are made to suffer many inhuman punish
ments. The neighbors all think that the
Russian father is very much to blame for
the destitute condition of his children, be-
cause he does not exert more fatherly
anxiety to relieve their wants. and is driv-
ing out of his house 50 many Of his adopted
children to starve in the wide world. The
neighbOrs see all this and feel quite sure
that the Russian father is doing what he is
through mercenary motives. but as it is
purely an individual family matter they can
not interfere to prevent it, This fact.
taken with another. that the Russian father
is trying to square up the war debt that the
Turkish family owes him by asking them
to cede little more of their land to neigh
bors Servia and Montenegro. has caused
Mother England to be just little watchful
of her Russian and Turkish neighbOrs. The
wisdom of this precautiOn was soon mani
fest in the action of the Turkish family ION
account of that little debit giving the Rus
sian father permission to sail his ships
through that little waterway. the Bosporus
and the DardaneIles, to his Baltic frontier
and Siberian coast. Mother England steps
in to call ON Mrs. Turk. and tells her she
must not discriminate in her bestOwal of
such favOrs, and makes very definite de.
mand to be accorded the same privilege. A
very wise act that, and Mother England did
not think for a moment that 1t would be
necessary for her to sieze that little island
in the Mediterranean and compel Mrs. Turk
to do justice to all concerned. The Russian
father is getting large amount of praise
for his earnest determination to maintain
peace in the neighbOrhOOd, and while
Mother England is perfectly willing that it
should be so, she is the one who intends to
keep very sharp eye on him. A short time
ago the young German father visited his
Grandma England, and had grand recep-
ton, and neighbors do say that Grandma
England told him he must not shake his
fist at the French boys, but like most neigh
bOrhoOd gossip this must be taken with a
large grain of allowance. What Grandma
England probably did say was, that her
German grandson should not be vexed be.
cause she was going to prepare reception
for Mrs. Frances boys when they visited
her with their little ships. because poor
Mrs. France had been moping so long in her
own house and would not be cOmfOrted be
cause big Father Russia would not help her
fight those hOrrid Germans, that it would
be very neighborly act to welcome the
boys and their ships at Portsmouth, es.
pecially as Mrs. France had said that she
really did not want to fight now, but in
tended to come back into society and enjoy
herself with her family. Father Russia,
you know. received Mrs. Frances boys with
their boats in royal manner because she
told him the same thing, and the neighbors
are all rejoicing over the return to society
by the French family. and they have made
up their minds to make Mrs. France very
welcome even if they do have doubts as to
her sincerity in saying she is anxious for
peace. Why. Mother England treated the
French boys so handsomely that Mrs.
Frances favOrite son, CarnOt, is going to
pay her a visit and then there will be a
grand old time.
Just as every one in the neighborhoOd is
feeling happy over these events, one of
Mrs. Frances boys, M. de Blowitz, who
writes letters from Paris to Mother Eng
lands big newspaper, 1.-The Times" tells
the people to wait until Franz Joseph. the
father of that Hapsburg house over in Aus
tro-Hungary, dies and his good for nothing
nephew Francis Ferdinand attempts to gov
ern those eighteen or twenty divisions in
that household, and they will surely see the
whole neighborhood plunged into terrible
war. Franz Joseph. he says. is sixty. one
years old and is the only one who can govern
them and keep peace, and when he dies the
German family will try to build the fence of
upper Austria around tho domain because
there are five or six millions of German
children there; and the Russian father will
try to get hold of it because the domain is
threatening sentinel on the threshold of
that little water way the Bosporus. which
he is so anxious to use for his little boats.