Omaha daily bee., 1896-02-16
COURT rETEs ARE ONLY DELAYED
Queen Yields to opportunities of
London ShOnISeepcrs,
,yrIght. lsoe. hy ihn Assnclnted press-

Copyright. 1896, by the Associated Press)
| LONDON, Feb. 15.-During the past week
the weather has been remarkably warm and
springlike and the parks are already green
with young grass, in strange contrast tc
| the frost which whitened the parks at the
same period last year.
Socially, the prospects are more cheerful
for 1t is announced that the court ceremonies
which were cancelled on account of the death
| of Prince Henry of Battenberg, are only
| postponed until after the court goes out OF
mourning when the usual number of draw
| ing rooms. evees. balls and concerts will
| be held. The queen has taken this course
owing to the repres entations which have
| been made to her Of the great loss which
the trades people and others would suffer II
| the court ceremonies were abandoned.
1t is stated that her majesty intends to
confer dukedom upon Princess Beatrice
with the succession to her sons. Conse-
quently 1t Is believed that the princess will
probably be created duchess of Kent and her
eldest son will be carl of Sussex.
Princess Beatrice and her children arrived
at Nice yesterday. The princess will visit
ex-Empress Eugenie and will take short
cruise in the Mediterranean on board the
steam yacht Thistle. which the widowed
empress has chartered from the duke CT
Hamilton for the season. 1t is understood that
Princess Beatrice takes this trip to sea
upon the special advice of her physicians.
It transpires that the first lord of .he
treasury. Mr.. A. j. Balfour. the noted con-
servative leader in the House of Commons,
who is a regular wheel rider, had narr0"'
escape the other day while passing through
the main thoroughfare of Whitechapel on
his wheel. The roadway greasy with
black mud and Mr. Balfour's bicycle skdded
| and spilled the first lord of the treasury
into about as rank a gutter as that part
of London could produce. Mr.. Balfo rolled
completely over in the fat-like mud. after
having been thrown heavily OH his side,
but being quite an athlete (his fondnsss for
golf playing Is matter of universal note)
he succeeded in springing to his feet just
in time to avoid. by a little more than a
hairs breadth, rapidly driven butcher S
cart, which. however. drove over and spoiled
the cabinet minister's most cherished wheel.
But Mr.. Balfour was in no way disCon-
certed. He laughingly wiped the mud from
his badly bespattered face. picked up the
wreck Of his Wheel called a f,ur-whaeler,
superintended the placing Of his machine
on the roof of the vehicle and calmly ordt red
the driver to drive to the treasury. where,
not long afterward, spotless as Il shilling
lust issued from the mint. Mr.. Balfour was
attending to business as il nothing ex-
traordinary had happened.
There seems to be a prospect that moior
cars will soon be seen in the streets of
London and in practical use. Hith ar.o. ;he
so-called autocar has been Liable 20 heavy
penalty, according to antiquated laws, I'm
less it was preceded In the streets by 1nan
carrying a danger flag But the prince Of
Wales earnestly interested himself in the
cause Of the autocars, for which he Is known
to have a decided prediction. In fact,
only yesterday. the prince of Wales was seen
at the Imperial institute, engaged IN making
personal trial Of a new and h ghly improved
autocar. The prince drove 1t up and down
steep grades and seemed highly pleas ed
lxt hi ,h tn fI,,,
performance and it raised the stock If the
company way above par.
The Hendersons of Glasgow, builders Of
Valkyrie III, laid the keel of large racing
yacht yesterday. The vessel was designed
by George l.. Watson, designer of VAL
kyrie and will be built secretly, as is usual
with Mr.. Watson, under a closed shed,
guarded strictly by watchmen People who
have watched Mr. Watson's previous atte'pts
to conceal the creations OF his brain simply
smile at his latest exhibition Of fear that mis-
secrets of yacht building may be stolen for
the benefit of designing Yankees from Rhode
Island and elswhere
The name of the owner Of the new racing
craft is not known, but several prominent rae
ing yachtsmen have been mentioned as being
behind Mr. Watson in this venture. But In
spite of the secrecy maintained regarding tie
work the Hendersons engaged on it is
not generally believed that the new yacht
is intended as cup challenger, although
stranger things have happened than tie
issuing Of challenge for the Americas cup,
should Mr.. Watson's latest creation turn
out to be as fast as he expects.
The name of Sir George Newner, pro-
prietor Of the Westminster Gazette and It'd
bits. has been mentioned with many others
as Mr.. Watson's angel, but the report has
been contradicted so frequently that no
credence Is placed in 1t.
Manager Fleming Of the National Sporting
club has arranged match between Dick
Burge and Kid Lavigne for $500 ($2,500)
side and purse Of f7OO presented by the
club. The men VIII box at 1873 pounds during
Derby week.