The Washington times., 1901-07-29


Underneath the town of Norwich. Eng
land, are numbers of brine springs, which
were used for the preparation Of salt even
before the Christian era. Owing to the i'm
mense excavations occasioned by the
pumping up of this brine the main street of
the town is now to be raised about four
feet. AS recently as 1892 1t was raised
five feet and again the thoroughfare is
on a level with the River Weaver, which
runs close by. The property to be lifted
consists of hotels and large shops, under
which hydraulic jacks are placed, and as
the structures are raised wooden wedges
are inserted. So accurately is the work
done that business is carried on as usual
during alterations and but little incon-
venience is experienced by the families.
Villiers-su Marne, France, is being en-
tertained just now by a dispute between
the local authorities ana a maker of auto
mobiles in the place. The latter rides
three-wheeled motorcycle for his bust
ness purposes, and the authorities want
to make him pay the wheel tax Just as
though II were an ordinary vehicle The
man objects. and has pointed out that the
tax was made for wheeled vehicles drawn
by animals, and cannot be legally insisted
upon. However, all his arguments failed,
the only answer being: PAY first and
make your claim afterward'
The motorcyclist then insisted upon his
right to pay the debt ''in kind" instead
of cash, or. In other words, work il off"
The authorities had to agree to this, and
set him the task Of transporting q certain
quantity of stone from a quarry at Noisy
le-Grand TO different roads which are un-
der repair.
The man accepted the task and put in
an appearance at the quarry riding his
He alightcd and began to fill
his pockets with stones, which he was
about to carry off as the first contribution
to his task, but the authorities fail to
see the joke, and object to having the
work extended over several years. The
man is obstinate and claims his right to
do the work in his own way, saying that
1t is not his fault that the authorities
have imposed an impossible task There
is a deadlock and much discussion as to
what Will happen next.
The protest of Prince Lowenstein.
President of the German Catholic Union,
against dueling has been signed by AL
of the German nobility and gem
try, mainly Catholics.
The list includes 1Os princes, counts, and |
other noblemen; IS lawyers, 6s physicians !
and 46 professors. Fresh signatures con-
OF Admiral the Prince of Leiningen. 1t |
remains to be seen whether this move |
Dent against dueling will prove more sue
cessful that the Emperor's repeated and |
strict orders, which hitherto have been |
disobeyed in several cases
Rewards are seldom given for prowess |
On the battlefield in China. but when they |
are the most acceptable of them all, from |
the private soldiers point of view, is a |
sack of rice, valued at three taels (about |
IS shillings). The commanding officer of |
each regiment has power to give as many |
sacks as are deserved. and at the conclu- |
sion of every campaign he sends in for |
nidable bill to the Government for rice |
No enquiries are made. nor are the names |
If the recipients asked for, so in nine |
,ases out OF ten the officer sells the grain |
and puts the money into his own pocket.
while the deserving soldier. to whom the
ice would have meant good deal, has
% go without.
The power of DIR. Lueger and his anti
semitic followers. who for so long have
iad things all their own way in Vienna, |
eems to have been broken permanently.
cor some time there has been a reaction
gainst their tyrannical bigotry, and now
! deadly blow at their influence has been
truck In the election to the Provincial |
Diet of Lower Austria. one of their pecu- |
lar strougholds of Social Democrat of
ewish extraction. His victory is all the |
more striking because he had to contend |
Lgainst all the hostile infiuence>of vio-
entity anti-Semitic administration. which
lad not hesitated TO ''gerrymander" the
district In the most shameless manner In
heir own political interests.