Arizona republican., 1898-09-06
LORD BERESFORD'S
 CHINESE VALET.


 trusted with a commercial mission by the Associated Changers of Commerce of Great Britain, expressed previous to his departure the expectation of being welcomed in the celestial empire by his too celebrated ex-valet, who used to be known by the name of Tom Fat, but who is now reported to have de- veloped into a full-fledged Mandarin at Canton and to be one of the citizens of that great metropolis of southern China.
 l Tom Fat came into Lord Charles possession whiles he was serving as 1 lieutenant on the China station by means of a transaction suspiciously | like a sale, since Lord Charles had to pay the sum of $25 to the lads uncle and guardian, by means of which he became the owner of Tom Fat
 1 For several years the latter consti- tuted most ideal servant to Eng lands most popular sailor. He was quiet, quick, intelligent, and sober, and Lord Charles trusted him blindly and held him up to his friends as the ideal 1 of what servant should be.
 After he had been with Lord Charles about nine years it suddenly struck Tom Fat that he had never had reg ular holiday like the other servants so he got q weeks leave. which he spent in London.
 1 AS he did not turn up after ten days Lord Charles was led to suspect that there was something wrong and event. ually ascertained that his bank account was diminished to the tune of some Tn oc who had access to the check book was Tom Fat it gradually dawned upon Lord Charles that the Chinaman must know something about the matter, and accordingly he set the police to work, with the result that Tom Fat was eventually run to earth at the Criter- ion restaurant, dressed in the height tof European fashion and doing the honors of most tsucculent supper to a party of no less than fourteen ladies of the bleached blonde type, he (Tom Fat) being the only member of the masculine persuasion in the party.
 Tom Fat was sentenced to only two years penal servitude, thanks to the
 manner in which Lord Charles ab- stained from pressing the charge, and
 before the expiration of the sentence
 his good-naturedi master secured his release on the condition of his leaving
 the country, paid his fare back to
 China, and gave him sufficient capital
 to set up as bookseller, and eventu-
 ally a general merchant, at Canton.
 Tom Fat, unlike the majority of his
 countrymen seems to have not been
 ungrateful, for he has kept his for
 mer master posted as to his welfare and condition, and it is thus that Lord
 Charles happens to know that Tom ; Fat has developed into a ascapita1ist and
 a mandarin.
 Possibly as such Tom Fat may be
 called upon to play an important role
 in connection with the mission on
 which Admiral Lord Charles is pro-
 ceeding to China.
 The widowed duchess of Asota (nee Princess Bonaparte) rivals some foot light favorites in her craze for notor-
 iety. Like so many of the latter, she has had sensational thefts of her jew. els, she has bicycled in costumes to
 such a degree extravagant that hel , uncle and brother-in-law, King Hum.
 bert, was actually led to order the of.
 f1cers and soldiers of the garrison o1 Turin to ignore her when thus attired and to accord to her none of the usua military honors that are the preroga.
 tives of royalty. She has been tht heroine of supper parties of European fame. She has figured in an elope . ment. and has been the cause of two suicides and one exile. She brides her self on being the most up-to-date roya parsonage in Europe, and now, in or der to maintain her reputation as such . has inaugurated a new form of pas time, which she strongly recommend. as a sport peculiarly suited for roy atty, since it is beyond the reach of an.
 save royal purses. It is ballooning.
 Shortly before her .stepson and frs cousin, the duke of Abruzzi, left fo [ SpitZenberg, hc made several ascent at Turin in the balloon which he hat purchased at Paris for use in his forth coming north pole expedition. On on' l of these occasions the duchess accom- l panied him, and she was so much de t lighted that che immediately resolved l to have balloon of her own.
 This was completed some six week 5 ago and since then the duchess ha'
 been making almost daily ascents a l Turin usually accompanied by one 0 , her ladies in waiting and a profession r al deTOuaul. Su6 UGCldISS ludt tuci is nothing to compare with the sensa f ton of exhiliaration which ballOonin! : produces. and that owing to the ex f pense involved it is a pastime whicl . is certain never to become either com . monplace or vulgar.
 : King Humbert, far from taking an. . exception to the ballooning propensi :. ties of his frisky, as we'll as beautiful
 sister-in-law, is rather disposed to en 4 courage them, possibly in the hop :. that she may break her neck
 For it is idle to deny; that she is . terrible thorn in his side, as we'll as il ', that of the Queen Marguerite The, ,. are always in mortal terror as to wha a she is going to do next, or in wha U scandal she is liable to become in /, volved And the Italian court is 0