The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-05-22

remarks TO others Everything posi-
bic had been arranged for the conven-
fence OF the visitors. Lists Of the dele
gates. with their city addresses as far
as could be ascertained, were distrib-
uted and on the tables were copies of
the plan of the Grand Sale des Sc
ances," as the main hall where the
congress is held is called. The posi-
ton of each desk was denoted and the
names OF the delegates who occupy
them printed across the face.
Shortly after II o'clock a line was
formed and the delegates proceeded
TO the grand sale. The scene here was
memorable one. Had the handsome
desks been removed the gathering
would have given one the impression
of an assemblage for social function
of the most distinguished character.
The exquisite decorations and furnish
ings of the apartments, the crimson
hangings of the walls, with the bril-
liant colors of the coats of arms and
the flags of the nations represented in
the congress arranged above them;
the green foliage plants that were
massed in the corners, and the gleam
ing and scintillating jewels of the dec
orations, and the flashing gold of the
uniforms, made picture whose beauty
could be but family conveyed by de-
scription in words.
Postmaster General Gary called the
audience to order, and welcomed them
to the capital of the American Repub
lie, in an address too lengthy to be re-
produced in full. One paragraph, stat
ing how the Postal Union originated,
will be read with interest, by Ameri-
cans especially.
Postmaster General Blair, on Aug
ust 4, 1862, in a communication adj
dressed to Mr.. Seward, then Secretary
Of State proposed an international
conference of postal delegates to rec
ommend measures looking to the re-
vision implication and uniformity OF
it's international postal arrangements;
and the Department of State submit
ted the proposition to the Governments
of Great Britain, France, Prussia, Swe-
den, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy
and Ecuador. Favorable responses
were received from all the Govern
ments named, and at Paris on the sec
ond Monday of the following May, the
first international conference assem-
bled. Out of this idea of an interna-
tional conference grew the larger idea
of permanent Universal Postal Union
and the first congress of this union met
in the hall of the National Senate of
Switzerland in September, 1874. The
treaty creating this union went into
effect on the 1st of July. 1875
Before closing his address, he re-
ferred touchingly to the recent sud
den death of DR.. Won Stephan, the Post
master General of Germany, who had
held office for over so years. The fol-
lowing anecdote is narrated of him,
showing what made him so popular in
that country:
His career was a remarkable one
and he richly deserves the distinction
OF being called the Father of the Uni
versal Postal Union" He was what is
known in this country as "self-made
man." AS an humble, awkward youth,
he entered the postal service of Ger
many in the" lowest grade, and his fu-
ture was, in fact, SO unpromising that
after a short probation his superior
officer advised him to resign, and go
into some other business if he wished
to make a success. But Won Stephan
did not heed this advice, and contin-
ued in the service working his way
gradually upward, round by round,
until he reached the top Of the ladder
as a member of the Emperor's Cabi- |
net and Postmaster General of the Ger
man Empire