The Washington times., 1901-09-08
FOREIGN TOPICS.


ten sensational article for ''vie Illus
tree" in which ne claims the autumn ma
neuvres have demonstrated that an in
vasion Of England by a. French army is
as simple as Il game of checkers,
| IL is Childish to deny. he says. that the
| purpose of these maneuvres is to show
Britons thatthey are always in danger of
| war with France, and that France never
forgets the Possibility.
! NapoieoHs writes Delauney. was
doomed to failure when he planned an
| invasion because steam had not yet been
invented. The French fleet ia entirely
abie 10 engage the attention Of the en-
| tire British fleet in case of battle in the
| channel. during which nothing would be
| more simple than the Decentralization of
the French troops. Once on British soil.
| the troops could forage for supplies. and
would not be burdened with a commits
| sariat.''
a moonless night is suggested for this
theatrical exploit
| An English engineer proposes to connect
| Alexandria. Egypt with Shanghai. China.
| by means of a railroad. The road. about
| 6.4OO miles long, will have three divisions.
The middle one. of 3.I25 miles. is already
in existence in India. From Alexandria
| the road will run east-southeast over the
Isthmus of Sinai to Akaba, the north end
of the bay of Akaba: from there
| almost due east to Kurveit and Bassorah; +;
! thence through southern Persia to the
| frontier through Baluchistan, and across
| that State. which is under the English
| protectorate, to connect with the Indian
| railroad net From Kunlong, the eastern
| terminus of the Indian railroad system,
| the line would extend via Talifu. Yunnan.
| Hankow, and other points on the Yangtse
f, to Shanghai This would be a southern
line paralleling roughly the Trans-Sibe-
| rian road and competing with 1t. Its po-
| litical character would be likely to attract
| much attention.
The fear of Anarchists is manifested in
the extraordinary uncertainty of the
movements Of the sovereigns who will
meet the Car during his present
| tour. A meeting of Emperor William.
King Edward. and the Car is GER
tain. The Car and the King of Eng
land, it has. been announced. will meet in
! Denmark. but the exact time and place
have been studiously kept secret. The
railway and hotel officials at Homburg
will hear only at the last moment when
the King will leave.
Similar fears are the sole obstacle to the
visit of Nicholas to Paris. although he is
ready to run the risk. The officials re-
sponsible for his safety are making every
1 effort to have his entire tour through Eu-
rope so carefully guarded that it will be
1
There are ugly rumors afioat that the
| Cars visit to France will be made the
| occasion of an attempt to overthrow the
Government This is profoundly regret
| ted by the Kaiser. who does not expect to
| see more peace-lOving administration IN
France for many years. France. on the
! other hand, is in terrible dilemma, since
! the Cars visit to Paris is great feather
| in the present Governments cap, yet also
| a fearful risk. Universal fright in the Of
| fetal world Is the first result of every
new move Of imperial personages nowa-
days. f
London's latest club is the Imperial Ser
vice, which has acquired premises in Pic
cadilly, at the corner of Charges Street
| The clubhouse has. not thrown open its
| doors yet. although the maximum MEM
] bershlp has almost been reached. By the
| autumn, when people get back to town,
| the club will have been made accessible
| Its members are confined to those VINO
have served in the South African cam
paign. and include regulars, yeomanry,
| volunteers. and -colonials. The number is
restricted to 500 and all on the first list
will be exempted from entrance fee.
A royal scapegrace who has proved the
| unrelenting quality of a Russian edict
is the Grand Duke Nicholas Constantine
witch. or rather the prince of the blood
now a prisoner who once had a right to
this lofty title Now and for years past
ne has been an inmate of the prison of
Tashkend in Central ASIA whittier he was
sent by his uncle. Alexander H. This
particular grand duke when he was young
conceived reckless passion for an Ameri-
can woman. through whom his brilliant
prospects vanished. His inamorata was
beautiful and. as il CHANGED. unscrupu-
lous. Grand Duke Nicholas became more
and more enamored-as his means were
limited he robbed his mother of jewels
and the imperial chapel of much gold
plate. When the theft was discovered and
traced the crime was not condoned and
pardoned. as in the case of Torrigiani.
the Florentine noble. On the contrary,
il went very hard with the lovers Fanny
Lear as the womans name was. was
only saved from Siberian prison by CIV
ing up all the booty after she had sought
protection Of the Stars and Stripes of the
United States legation. Her lover was de-
prived Of all his prerogatives and sent to
Tashkend, where he has remained ever
since Repeated requests for his pardon
have only brought denials from his first
cousin. Alexander III. and his second
cousin, the present Car. No small in
fiuence has been Brought to bear upon
the unreienting sovereigns. for his mother,
| the sister of the ex-Queen of Hanover.
never gives over her efforts for his re-
| lease. His sister. the Queen of Greece.
has tried in vain to bend the will of her
sovereign relative. as has also the con-
demned mans brother, the Grand Duke
Constantine.
Among the villagers on the volga in the
province Of Semara a curious sect of
women has made its appearance. 1t was
originated by an elderly peasant woman
in Soznova, called the Blessed Mother
These women have fed from the villages
around into remote district where they
live singly in holes dug out of the face
| of the hill. They lead a life of fasting and
prayer and believe themselves called from
the world, which they think is shortly
about to perish in general confiagration.
The Blessed Mother has ten wise vir-
gins as sort of 5odyguard. and the
sect believes that these eleven women are
possessed of miraculous powers.
Bad water supply has caused much sick
ness In Jerusalem for many years. Thir-
ty years ago Lady Burdett-Coutts offered
to give s250.o00 to bring water from Ain
Arreub, but the Turkish Government
barred the way. At last, however. at the
suggestion of Mohammed Djevad Pasha.
recently installed Governor of Jerusalem.
the Sultan has given permission to carry
out plan submitted by Franghia Effendi.
one of his engineers. ten centimetre
iron pipe will bring water from Ain Salab
(the sealed fountain) along the bed Of the
old aqueduct which Solomon built. On
July was held the opening ceremony, in
the presence tOI representatives ol the
Greek Church. Roman Catholic. Turks.
and other communities. In two months
time, at cost of SIS 900. water will be
available for all the people of Jerusalem.
About sixteen miles south OF Cromer, on
the seacoast OF England Is the little VII
iage OF Eccies, and here. actually upon
the beach amid the sand hills, stood until
four or five years ago the tower of the
old parish church 1t formed sufficient