The Washington times., 1901-10-10

/ uSHS"iu'i! characteristic story OF MI
Gladstoae's zealous churchmanship has
been sent to the executive committee by
his son-in-law. the Dean of Lincoln. DR..
/ "ickham states that the last time he
! heard Mr.. Gladstone talk at dinner in his
: old way was at Cannes, in February, 1898,
/ Wheh ne amused us by suddenly eX-
| claiming, / wish somebody would give
/ me milton of money Asked what he
| would do with it, the veteran statesman
! replied, l would spend most of 1t in build
ing a cathedral and founding a chapter
| at Liverpool
| During recent years literature has been
| abundant in the attempt to prove that the
| clover could not have been the ancient
| shamrock Of the IRISH, but that it must
have been the OxaIis Acetosella. The
main argument has been that the clover
was an Introduction from the Continent
4 Of Europe, and could not have been in
Ireland at that time
! y correspondent of the London Gar
deners' Chronicle" w. G. s, goes over
! the whcir literature of the subject. He
shows that il was not until 1880, VIXEN J.
+. Bicheno, Il former Secretary of the
! Llnnaean Society. started a doubt on the
SUBJECT IN a paper read before that so
clety. w. 6. S quotes from publications,
/ with their dates going back hundreds Of
/ years. showing clearly that the shamrock
Z was ClbNeT, ana nOlhlQS else DuI tipNtE
! Indeed, the correspondent shows that, in
/ very early Christian times, long before
( 81. Patrick 5 birth. the clover leaf was
used as an emblem of the Trinity.
France is preparing for another great
strike of coal miners. and unless radical
chahSe takes place in the position as
sumed by the mine owners the greater
part OF the 162, 600 coal miners of that
country will go out on November /. The
specific demands are an eight-hour day a
minimum wage, calculated in accord with
the needs of each region. and a retiring
pension of two francs a day after twenty
1--WE years work in the mines. without the
age of the workman being taken into
consideration. 1t was the purpose of the
leaders of the miners to have a general
strike on May l last in support of the
| Monceau-les-M Mines strikers. but the refer
endum was less decisive than had been
expected. Only sc. 600 voted for an imme-
date strike, IS, 600 voted against it, and the
rest abstained from expressing an opin-
ION. The Lens congress decided to count
the abstentions as favorable to the strike
bnt the executive committee refused to
assume the responsibility of calling out
the men in the face of this indifference.
NOW, however, this body has sent out
notification to all the miners, not asking
them whether they want to strike or not
| but informing them that the mines viii
/.
10 be no doubt that vast majority of the
miners are heartily in favor of the strike
and that France Is about to enter into a
labor struggle of the utmost Importance.
One by one the links which bind Eng
land to ancient days are being snapped.
Old London and the relics of bygore days
In all the large cities are giving way to
modern progress in street improvements
and structural architecture
By order of the city council of Cron-
ton, eight miles from Liverpool the
stocks, that gruesome reminder of ancient
plnishments, are to be removed. They
are actually rotting away. and the people
are not proud of this ancestral legacy.
The woodwork is old and worn, the lower
piece being fixed tight between the sup
porting pillars. leaving the upper portion
to work free in the grooves cut in the
stones; staples. hasps and locks held the
prisoner in durance vile. Directly op-
posite is an inn bearing the date I'LL
A journey of about twelve miles from
Cronton. through Knowsley, over the
canal bridge at Aintree. where the great
est steeplechase of the year takes place.
and Thornton is reached. Standing out
boldly, in full view of four lane ends. is
a sun dial and the stocks.
Unlike the above, these are made en-
tirely of iron, including the seat, which
must have been veritable stool of re-
pentance. Unfortunately. some Yandal
has been at work, one side and the top
being broken.
An inn also faces these stocks The cir
cunstance of the place of punishment be-
ing in both cases so near the house of
temptation would in all probability mill
tate to great extent against overin-
dulgence.
For any ordinary event. such as drunk
enness, the culprit was placed in captivity
< hours -. he II
tunate wretch If he proved unpopular:
jeers, mud and bad eggs were not quite
unknown in those DAYS and were fire.
quently used. If the woTren sympathiZed
with him he became the hero of the hour
One of the oldest inhabitants of Thorn
ton can distinctly remember one poor
fellow having tea and toasted scones
brought to him and spending a regular
good time of it, much to the envy of those
outsiders who looked on.
A series of visits to the chief European
Courts and countries is shortly to be paid
by the young King of Spain. 1t will form
at once his debut to the world and the
finishing touch. so to speak, to his royal
education.
The boy King has now entered his six
teenth year. for it was the 18th of May,
1856. when Senior Sagasta announced to an
anxious nation that the widow of their
dead King had borne a son.
Late in the previous November Alfonso
XII had passed away In the palace of the
Prado, near the capital, martyr TO
sense of duty that had kept him so long in
Madrid. the dry, windy city that sends all
consumptives to their graves. He was
only twenty-eight years old and had
reigned some eleven years, coming direct
from Sandhurst to the throne of Spain.
His tact. savoiT faire and devotion to his
people shown IN the time of the cholera
visitation and the floods in Murcia,
had done much to keep the turbulent ele-
mentS in check. and the country, worn
out by the long struggles of rival factions,
was glad TO be at rest He died and Spain
passed into the hands, first of the Queen
widow and her daughter Mercedes. and.
when Alfonso XIII was born, into the
hands of the Queen alone.
Maria Christina. now no longer called
the Austrian, has accomplished the great
er part of her task In May next she VIII
lay down her regency and her only son
win assume the digL,ites and responsible
ties of kingshtp.
Alfonso XIII is at first sight a delicate
lad-thin pale and of nervous appearance.
Some say he has inherited the cOnstitu-
tioual infirmity of his father. others that
his appearance is something he shares
in common with all the men of the house
of Hapsburg.
baDebel in May the young King remained
seven hours in the SADDLE without eXhib
iting any symptoms of fatigue, and his
personal staff noticed that even pro
ionged canter did nothing to weaken his
voice When the days work was over
he was as animated as at the beginning
This is excellent news for Spain as far
as IL goes. but it does not go far enough.
IL is almost inevitable that the young
King should have the seeds of cOnsump-
tion in his blood. and Madrid is motor
iously the worst city in Europe for peo-
Ig.V.F La II