Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-05
Gear Talks Peace, But is Quite Ready
for Anything Else.
TIE SHAMROCK md her OWNER
Italian Opera Held its Own With
Wagner Performances.
PETIT TRIANON RESTORED
pec.al Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
LONDON, July %, 1899.
| The serio-comic farce at The Hague is at
| an end. The kaiser regards arbitration as
| derogatory to his right divine. He will
have none of it. France rather resents the
| slight put upon her submarine destroyers
| Hitting below the belt-the belt of armor-
| is an underneath proceeding, but then sub
marine warfare is necessarily an under
meath thing. France is proud of her latest
addition to methods of naval warfare, and
| is rather hurt that her good ally should see
| in it anything Objectionable. Hitherto she
| has Jared badly in battles fought on the
surface of the sea, but she hopes for better
| luck with craft which can, like the sword
fish and the fsh-torpedo, shun the daylight
and strike without being struck in return.
And as for the tsar himself, with his sprays
of olive ard palm branches and his peace
paens, his ways are peculiar He arms
Russia to the teeth, while inviting all ma
tions outside his frontier to dfsarm. He
orders battieships faster than he can build
them, puts out part of the work In France
and part in the United States. and. while
so employed, he pipes soothing lullaby in
honor of peace.
Who shall square his mild words and his
armed menaces, his amiable sentiments
with his tremendous ornaments. his beauti-
ful phrases with his unbeautiful deeds?
His war chest is full. He keeps one hun
dred millions locked up there, although
over large tracts of his vast dominions his
subjects are perishing for lack of bread.
Listen to him, and you would think that
Righteousness and peace had kissed each
other and had then printed their sweet
psalm of life upon his lips; but look at the
painting haste with which he Is making one
Sabastopol at Port Arthur and another at
Vladlvostock, and you cannot but ask your
self what all these violent contrasts and
point-blank contradictions mean.
Or late years the tsar has sent two car
goes of arms-two shiploads, each a free
gift to the fierce Montenegrins, whose
prince is his pensioner; of late he has en-
ployed not only the ships of his volunteer
fleet, but several chartered foreign vessels
IN hurrylng out arms and ammunition to
his forces in China; he has landed army
stores and merchandise on Chinese terri
tory, needless of the Chinese customs laws,
and without paying penny Of duty. And
yet there are people who profess to believe
in Russias pacific intentions, and that
Russia, accounted from head to foot for
aggressive war, is heavens own harbinger
OF peace!
Good Wishes for the Irish Boat
The Shamrock has met with a cordial re-
ception in the Clyde, and her owner may
be assured Of an enthusiastic 'send-off
when the time comes: for her departure to
America. Meanwhile she goes into dock at
Greenock to be prepared for her voyage.
There are many reasons why this opera
tlOH SnOulu De ndStGned as much posi-
bic. 1t is desirable for one thing that the
cup challenger should start early so q to
get the benefit of the good weather usually
experienced in the Atlantic during August.
1t is equally desirable that she should ar
rive on the other side some few weeks be-
fore the date fixed for the great races, so
that she may have ample opportunities of
testing her speed in the vicinity of the
course over which the contest Is to take
place. Some mistakes have been made in
connection with previous attempts to win
| back the America cup. Not merely the
Thistle in 1887, but the Valkyries in 1893
and 1895, made rather belated appearances
in American waters. Sir Thomas Upton
should arrange things better in 1899. Hith-
erto he has acted with great prudence.
His challenge was coUched in admirable
terms, and nearly all the measures he has
since taken have been animated with the one
object of providing a thoroughly sports
lnan}ike struggle btween Shamrock and Co
lumDa. But he is open to criticism in con-
necticn with the trials undergone by his
yacht-or rather with the want of hem
Some of our correspondents have been
handling Sir Thomas rather severely. They
characterize the spins with Britannia IS
playing with racing-"as a fiasco from be-
ginning to end"-and they draw compare
sons of the most unfavorable sort between
what they call these sham trials and the
systematic, scientific and business-like tao
tics adopted on the other side of the At
lantic. There is unfortunately certain
amount of truth in this indictment. Not
Mr., Fife, and his chief commander, Capt
Hosarth must be perfectly conscious of
the fact that no real test of Shamrock's
sailing powers has yet been made. She
may have run away from Britannia the
other day. bat that proves very little I'M
less all the conditions under which the two
yachts competed were known and deter
mined. Was Britannia in full racing cos
tune, so far her sails We're concerned?
And had she her racing crew on board?
Was proper allowance made for the differ
ence in measurement between Shamrock
and Britannia?
These are some of the questions to which
answers are desirable before any true esti-
mate of the challenger's capabilities could
be reached. 1t is evident that no such esti-
mate is now possible in British waters
Sir Thomas Upton has stated that the ex-
detrimental spin the Clyde on Monday
was the last before the yachts departure
and that she is to be dismantled at once of
her racing gear. All the more reason.
therefore, that her Atlantic voyage toilet
should be donned without loss of time. so
that full advantage may be taken of gen.
uine tests in the neighborhood of New
York. Let US hope. also. that the efforts
already commenced on the part of the
United States harbor officials to insure a
clear course on the days of the races NAV
be crowned with success. The New York
Yacht Club has behaved well in consentins
that Shamrock may be lowed by Erin
should a fiat calm set in on the Atlantic.
or anything else arise that might prevent
her getting across in sufficient time to pro-
pare properly for the contest AS it may
be taken for granted that courtesies Of
such a nature will not be all on one side
the prospects of fair though keen strug-
gle are excellent.
Kruger Will Not Resign.
The world, or that part of it which scans
| the hourly kilograms, had a brief sensation
yesterday. In a iaconic message from Pre-
| toria it was announced that President Kru-
ger had resigned because of differences with
| the raad in regard tothe dynamite monop-
oily Specula ton as to the consequences of
| this surprise had scarcely got start when
| the facts came,J and we We're once more
| plunged in commonplace The short-lfved
story is compliment to the figure the old
Boer president cuts in the world Some long
descended monarchs' might lay down their
crowns withoutseausing 1.-THE of the dis
turbance and expectation in the bourses that
would follow the denission of Dom Paurs
| functions. But there is nothing to be feared
Mr.. Kruger is mot the stuff of which re-
signing statesmen are made. For one thing
Boer criticism us nat particularly active
and even if it were die is not abnormally
sensitive. AS for the Uitlander talk, If is
more than matched by the Boer ph,egm,
Mr.. Kruger hasqhis party too well in hand
! to permit the unique sensation If a