The Washington times., 1901-10-31
FOREIGN TOPICS.

one or the Berlin papers contains an
| aftlcle written by a conspicuous military
| officer on the subject of the improvements
IN weapons of warfare, and his remarks
! seem to prove that as perfection in these
| weapons Is gradually approached the
| losses In killed and wounded decrease in
number In two of the most sanguirary
| battles wsged by Frederick the Great, the
casualties amounted to As per cent; at
/ Waterloo they were "a per cent. and ut
Leipsic 2l per cent of the men engaged.
| In the Franco-German struggle of 1870
| IL, the greatest loss was at Mars-la-Tour,
| with l6 per cent. This was reduced to II
per cent at Sedan, and to per cent at
| Glavelotte. In each case these figures
| represent the losses on both sides. 1t is
| too soon to give any figures for the
| Transvaal war. but the writer remarks
| that the Pritish areidisappointed with the
effects obtained by the use of lyddite and
machine guns He also gives carefully
complied figures showing the Losses in
various wars from illness and disease,
and concludes that in the wars of the
future far more men will fall from these
| causes than from wounds.
An American company has received
| franchise to construct street railway
| line in st. Petersburg which involves
| building enormous bridge ever the
River Neva. The whole cost Of the en-
| terprise is estimated at 15O,009.0Oo rubles.
The franchise has already received the
sanction of NJ. Witte. the Minister of
Finance In financial circles II is believed
that this will have a powerful political
| and economical effect on the future OF
| Russia and the United States. NJ. Nitte
| certainly is anxious to develop cohneC,
| ton between the two countries and Will
! have no hesitation in doing so even at
f., the expense of France, though two strings
| to his bow will be better.
Good sportsmen are proverbially gem
erous, and race horse owners the most
generous of all. The late Duke of West
minister was Enquestionably the origina-
| tor of the idea of giving racing prize
| money to charitable Institutions, and the
| practice Immediately found favor, espe-
cially with those owners who wished to
| fight down the somewhat Illogical Objec-
! ton to horse racing.
He gave upward of eS00G0 of his win
nings on the turf to charities. which is
much larger amount than one might
| think. because it represents actual prize
| winnings as the duke never under any
| circumstances betted.
| When Flying Fox won the Eclipse
stakes the duke passed the entire prize
hospital at Rhyl, having previously ar
ranged to do so In the event OF Flying
Fox winning, of which he had little doubt
! Probably no one had so many calls upon
/ his purse from asarity than the noble
duke, and nothing delighted him more as
sportsman and philanthroplst than to
win classic race and pass the prize over
to some needy charity
This soon became so well known that
| he often received half a dozen appeals
| from different quarters for the prize OF 4
| certain race within few days OF ms
horses being entered, and 1t was matter
4 OF no small difficulty to him to decide
| which of the applicant charities TO Dent-
| fit. The whole depth and breadth OF the
dukes fine generosity Will never be
! known, for many of his big gifts TO chat-
! ity were made anonymously, principally
| when he thought that donation of
money won by racing might wound the
susceptibilities of some one 'concerred-
1t is practically an unwritten law nov
! adays that when an Engiishman wins the
! French Derby-the Grand Prix &c Paris,
| il is called-a considerable part, II not tne
| entirety. of the big prize should go to
| one or more of the charitable INSTITUTIONS
| in Paris.
After their conflict with China few
years ago, the japanese erected a monu-
ment to the memory of the horses killed
in battle The Duke of Wellington built
one at strathfieldsaye, where his famous
charger Copenhagen died.
The height of Farley Mount, not far
from Winchester, Is crowned with an obe-
! lisk erected to a horse buried there. The
name of the animal was Beware Chalk
| Pit, this cognomen having been bestowed
on account of the fact that the horse dur
ing hunt jumped into a chalk pit twenty
| feet deep. with its master on its back
fc aFLf
round.
The mention of this horse as q hunter
! recalls the fact that at Sandiway, in
| Cheshire there is a monument TO another
| animal OF the chaSe-a foXhound. Blue
cap was its name. and its exploits We're
the theme of songs wnich are not yet
| forgotten, though l20 years have passed
since the hound died The obelisk was
erected by the late a. H. Smith-Barry.
| During the last century the population
| of the territory which now constitutes
the German Empire was very nearly
trebIed notwithstanding the enormous
! emigration. 1t has increased from 10000,
| 90 to nearly 100000 souls and at the
| present rate Of increase Germany will
have population of 100 001.0o0 before the
| close of this century. The philosophers
ask how this vast multitude is to be fed
not only at the end of the century. but
| even ten years hence. During the last
| hundred years the agricultural products
have been quadrupled by scientific culture
and fertilizing, expensive drainage and
| other intensive methods. which are with
| in the reach of the ordinary farmer in
! thickly settled communities, but at the
same time increase the cost in the same
| ratio as the volume of the crop. During
| the last ten years the increase Of acreage
| has been about 1 per cent; the increased
| production of wheat has been 10 per cent,
rye 10 per cent. barley } per cent, and
| potatoes % per cent.
Combining all these and drawing an av-
erage, the improvement has kept pace
with the natural growth of the popula-
| tion, notwiI hstanding the depletion OF
| farm labor by the large exodus of people
| from the farms to the cities. There has
been. however. a great diversion of these
products to other purposes than food.
| Nearly the entire barley crop is absorbed
by the brewers, large proportion OF the
potato and corn crops goes to the distl-
| leries and the best lands of Germany are
now devoted to raising beet sugar the
greater portion of which is exported so
| that the actual volume Of agricultural
products which goes into the mouths of
the people Is even less than it was ten
and twenty years ago, the deficit being
made up by importations
For example, the entire wheat product
| of the German Empire in 1900 was 3,SH,-
| 10 metric tons. and Of rye Sj50G $50 tons
total of 1881 .S2I tons of grain that
was used for bread. In addition to this
| homegrown supply there was imported
| gIS. .S14 tons of wheat and 72i2 tons of
rye. net import Of SIG G2G tons This
makes the aggregate consumption of the
principal bread-prOducing cereals H. 2O7 $50
tons. an Increase OF p per cent for ten
| years. In 1900 there was an excellent crop.
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