The Washington times., 1901-10-27
EOREIGN[70PICS.

| 1t is well-lsnown- fact that British
steamship lines in, the Orient are suffering
| greatly from the rivalry of French and
German lines, particularly the North Ger
man Lloyd and the Messageries Mari
| times. The success OF the latter compa-
| mes Is not at all unaccountable when one
] reads OF the conservative policies Of such
lnes as the famous p. and o. Recently
| the London Times published a letter
! from correspondent in Hongkong who
related some things which are seemingly
! unlmportant in themselves. yet are sig
nilicant of the archaic rules that govern
traffic on the British ships and drive it to
the Frenchmen and the Germans. For ex-
ample, the correspondent says that he
! travels almost entirely in quest of sport.
| but he never uses the British lines be-
cause he is forbidden to carry metallic
cartridges on their ships Nor are dogs
| allowed. and he cites the case of gov
! ernor of British colony who had to go
| home in a foreign ship because the p.
| and o. refused to carry his dog. He COM
| plains that one cannot get laundry done
| on the British ships while on the Ger
man 1t is as well done as in London. if
| not better; and on the British ships pas
sengers can get at their baggage but
| once week, while on the French and
| German it is possible to get at it every
| day, If necessary. These sound like petty
| details, but to the traveller they mean
much, ard he is going to take such ships
| that gtye him the greatest degree Of com
| fort. especially when he is travelling in the
| East, where the voyages are long and
conditions very different from what they
are in crossing the Atlantic. Such rules
| as are found on the British ships are
| typical of the way the British are run
/ hai hVNgyi Nn11 tuf
| any numlter of columns of figures why it
is that England is losing trade prestige.
| Years ago, beer, usually sour, was
| served to the British sailors. but as the
amount of rum allowed for a man occu-
| pied less bulk in the storeroom it gradu-
| ally superseded the typical heavy British
drink in the years Immediately preced-
ing Queen Victoria's reign. When first
occasionally served in the middle of the
eighteenth century the II en- had the rum
undiluted. A naval officer, famous in his
day, l50years ago. came to the conclusion
that If the rum-half a pint wine meas
ure to each man at that time. and drunk
half at midday and half at night-were
diluted, probably the men would be rem
dered less sleepy and quarrelsome by
their daily tot which to this day they
call 'mutiny." He instituted the reform
or mixing water with the rum before CIV
ing 1t out. AS the admiral was ntcknamed
odd Grog, from the fact that he wore
a cloak OF grogram-a coarse mixture of
SILK and mohair-in foul weather, this
mixture of rum and water has always
been known in the navy as grog. But
vocabulary with a much wider interpre-
tation, and is applied to almost any
spirituous drink on occasions.
nna ha ha arti oil ytyrft
by the anarchistic poet. Laurent Tailhade.
for the Paris Libertaire,' 1t seems as If
he was lucky to get off with SO light
sentence as a years Imprisonment and a
fine. The first paragraph was as follows:
What Among these soldiers Illegally
detained in order to watch the route along
which imperial cowardice is about to pass,
among these barrier keepers who earn
nine francs month, among the vagrants,
bsggars, trimardeurs and outlaws-those
who die of cold under the bridges in win
ter of sunstroke in summer and of hun
ger all their lives-will there not be found
one to take his gun, to snatch a cudgel
from the forest ash, and, mounting on the
steps of the carriages to strike to death,
to strike in the face, and to strike TO the
heart the triumphant canaille-Czar.
President Ministers officers and fufa-
his distress. bow his neck. and pay him
with empty words Is the Rue de la
Ferronerie. where Henry " was stabbed.
forever barred? Is the seed of heroes for
ever barren2 Have the sublime Louvel
the assassin of the Due de Beri and Ca
SerIo. the assassin of Carnot, no longer
any heirs? Are the king killers dead who
said with Jerome Olgiati at the execution
of Galeazzo Sforza that n painful death
makes eternal renown? No; the human
conscience still lives"
During the recent great fire In Bergen,
Norway, more than 1000 square yards
of the city was devastated by the flames.
Ships in port caught fire and had to leave
their moorings in haste, while lighters
all ablaze were drifting out of the harbor
The red glare was seen by ships eighty
miles distant. The buildings burned
were chiefly shops, offices. and ware
houses. mostly of woe with vast stores
Of merchandise. dry goods, groceries,
combustibies such as petroleum and fish
oil hides, and stock fish. In one place
L, GOJ bags of flour were burned. The
safes in the Offices, almost without eXcep-
ton. proved failures. the contents being
reduced to powder. None OF them was of
American manufacture. most having been
made in Germany, England, and Norway.
Lord Rosebery, speaking at Strandaer
the other day, referred to the proposed
tunnel between Scbtlann ana ITtfdDU.
which will probably start from that town
In commencing the scheme he humor-
ously suggested that the cause of lack
of mutual sympathy between Ireland and
England was the melancholy ocean
that separates the countries. saying: THE
impressions of a seasick Engllshman on
arriving in Ireland are naturally sinister
The Impressions of a seasick Trishman
on arriving in Britain are scarcely Of
more rosy hue, and may we not without
an undue exercise Of the Imagination be
Heve that the two nations have never
wholly been able to understand each
other because they have never seen each
other for the first time in a thoroughly !
sound condition of stomach2"
The new German customs duties con-
tain a clause which Is calculated TO do |
great harm to Galician pisciculture. |
Every hundredweight of live carp import |
ed into Germany will have to pay a duty |
of Is marks (S35n and possibly of % |
marks ts5.95D. should the extreme views |
Of German protectlonists prevail. Now. a
very great quantity of this fish is annual !
ly imported from Galicia into Germany, !
and IL is calculated that even with the |
lower projected tariff It will be impossi- /
BILE for such Importation to continue. |
German officials will. as is their wont. !
detain the fish at the frontier as long !
as they can, that 1t is likely TO arrive |
at its destination In a state unfit for hu-
man focd.
1t looks now as If the contractors who |
are digging the simplon tunnel on the
border of Switzerland and Italy, that
marvellous piece of modern engineering, |
viii secure a large amount of bonus in
addition to the vast sum their contract
calls for. Ii was stipulated that if the
work would be finished before the ap-