Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-01-12
sionate words reveal this with absolute

ana the ponucians or London after the first
disaster in the Soudan. During the whole
| fifteen years of PREPARATION for revenge
opinion was never Expressed in such terms
| Victory was organized in that case with
1 calmness and assurance.
1.-The Beers possess that which gives in-
vincible moral strength-namely, tradition.
| The British soldier. however. entertains the
| conviction that wherever his enemy casts
| mis- eye he puts bullet. Such a state OF
| mind contributes very little toward vic
tory. If Great Britain were to dispatch to
| South Africa in one body military con-
| tingent three times superior to the forces
| of the Transvaal and the Orange Free
| State she would secure the absolute GER
\ tainty of the issue of the campaign which
! her politicians and her newspapers pro-
| claim. The organization of new army corps.
! possible that the war may deyour them as
! soon as they set foot on African SOIL"
The impartial reflects the opinion of most
of the Spanish press.
Gloomy Festival.
London has spent gloomy Christmas
One did not see nearly as much of the old
fashioned cheer as usual The churches
We're not decorated extensively as we
generally see them; services were not as
brilliant, and many sermons bore such ref
erences to the war as to dampen the spirits
of those who heard them. These condi-
tons, coupled with the fact that al tho,s-
| ands of tables husbands, fathers, brothers
and cousins were missing. some never to
return. made in many British households a
lack of cheer and Christmas enthusiasm
The day itself was wonderfully pleasant
for London in winter. The sun greeted us
in the morning and remained with us all
day and did all that was possible to bright
en- the festival.
Boxing Day.
In England there are always two holi-
days at Christmas, the day itself and
s'Rayipp ha
ing Day is an old established institution
and as probably Well known in America
all the Christmas pantomimes open on this
day. 1t is the peoples real festival What
may not be well known at home how
ever is the meaning of the name and the
time-honored custom 1t ushers in with it.
The day receives its name from the fact
that the hundred and one people who serve
you in any capacity through the year call
at your door on Boxing Day to receive
their present or boxes" presents of all
kinds intended for interiors at Christmas
are called here. All day long yenr door
bell rings and your servant comes to say
please. sir, the dustman is here for his
Boa. The ''dustHan Is the garbage man.
who is paid by the county council to remove
Your ashes and garbage It is wise to sur
render to his demand for his box claimed
as a right. he will easily find means to
worry non-giver. Perhaps the butchers
boy comes next quickly followed by the
man who delivers the milk; then In rapid
succession all day long the laundryman
the newspaper vendors boy. the bakers
and grocer's lads or men, the case may
be; the letter carriers, the telegraph bows
II the case warrants this imposition also
Add to these and others too numerous to
mention. the porters at ones fiat and Of
nee, the man who runs the lift elevator
ana the charWoman who cleans your of
fice. and you have a fairly long list to pro-
vide for.
Always Money
The box is always money and in most
of the cases mentioned the sum need not
be large. The largest is probably to the
porter Of your fiat Starting him at 81 his
assistant drops quickly to half that sum.
and so on down the scale till the newsboy
is satisfied with a quarter The only sur
prise we have had was in the shape of the
man who comes regularly to take the read
ing of the electric light meters at our fiat.
We could not conceive that We owed him
anything, but he turned up bright and early
in shining top hat for his box" NV
wife. rising to the humor of the occasion
Ton our side. at leaSD. deposited in his out
stretched palm six large English pennies,
winch, greatly to her surprise. the electric
light man SravelY pocketed with thanks
and departed. top hat and all. One expects
this sort of thing, and while it is a nui-
sance. and. ] should think, TO any seif-re-
speeding working man a humiliation to beg
al Christmas. Yet is a custom sanctioned
by the knowledge that British pay is so
small thet Christmas doleS are a lpeceSsar y
addition To the WORKER wages. Thus the
public assist to pay the men who work for
the butcher, the baker and the candestick
maker.
National Humiliation.
What, however, strikes as really a
national humiliation is the persistent ap-
pr al that is now being made in ali parts of
the country for the wives, the children and
the widows of the British soldier who is
fphtiupr or bp ic 1yipo
RIGA. His pay is shamefully small that
his dear ones suffer, and red tape cruelty
keeps from the widow even the scanty and
most Inadequate provision niggardy gov
eminent offers pension. kipling's pay
pay, pay might readily be paroded by
beg. beg, beg, for at the present time the
most piteous appeals are being made for
the public TO take care of and keep from
starvation the ''absent-minded beggar's''
wife and children. The government seems
to think it no part of its duty to make suit
able provision for them in the shape of pay
to the fighting men. 1t is marvellous that
an army can be raised In this country when
one remembers how scanty is the pay, with
what contempt the common soldier is treat
ed on all sides when he IS in the army and
by employers of labor when he is dis
charged. and finally. what exceedingly
shabby and inadequate arrangements
made for him when he is wounded or in
yalided home, and how his wife and chill
dren are compelled to live on charity.
Deserved His Popularity.
A variety of carses. in addition to his
generosity, tended TO make the late Duke
OF Westminster one of the most popular of
noblemen. His magnificent house in Upper
GrCsvenor street is better known to the
average Londoaer than any other residence.
Its doors have ever been open TO charitable
meetings, and no deserving cause has ever
been refused Its use. Honorary colonel of
the Queens Own Westminster Volunteers,
honorary colonel of the Chester Yeomanry
Cavalry and aid-de-camp to the queen, he
took no merely perfunctery interest in the
auxiliary forces of this country. He was,
indeed, very active in carrying out the
duties of his position. and quite recently ne
contributed most generously to the Red
Cross Society. In other directions his lib
eral gifts were frequent. The present house
Of the Royal Agricultural Society in Han
over Square was presented by him. and the
llberality he displayed in support of the
distressed Armenlans year or two ago
vas European wonder. Perhaps the only
persons in London who did not speak in
praise of the duke were the cabmen. who
! declared that he often walked from Euston
to Grosvenor House carrying his own bag
| rather than spend shilling on a hanson.
IL was rarely ne was seen i'll the park in
his carriage, and IN the street his scrupu-