The Washington times., 1901-11-09
FOREIGN TOPICS.

his endeavor' TO gain the consent of the
country to the construction of the great
midland camel and to the imposition Of
a moderate customs tariff. Nearly every
| agrarian magnate of eastern Prussia hav-
| ing acceptedia q decoration from his Maj
| eSIy- When the monarch was visiting kon-
! lssperg short time ago, the agrarians
| cannot very well continue to oppose the
emperor plans The Official Gazette"
deVotes six wide columns of small print
| to announcing the names of those on
| whom orders were conferred
An int resting incident in the recent
| campaign in Germany has been the or
| ganization of Der Handels-der-Trags-
| Nerein,' a powerful national association
for the purpose of promoting reciprocity
| treaties. Its membership includes all the
foremost merchants. manufacturers, ana
bankers of Germany. They have ap-
| pointed a permanent committee of thir-
| ty members. representing the different
| industrial and commercial interests, to de-
wise measures to defeat certain pro-
visions of the new tariff law, to secure
continuation of the existing commercial
treaties with foreign countries and to re-
sist all propositions that interfere with
them The association is entirely non
| political, but its members represent all
the political groups and parties-men
y
| ognized throughout the Empire, and
whose energy and intelligence have con-
tributed to make Germany what it is to-
| day. Their organization cannot fail to
exercise powerful influence in the con-
| test that has just opened.
a King has many privileges, but the
| oldest of all King Edwards is surely the
right he has by statute to the head of
every whale caught on the coasts of his
I'M H..
Alexandra-the object OF the division be
ing the guarantee that the Queens ward
robe shah be furnished with whalebane.
King Edward is not likely to receive
many whales, however long he may
reign, but there are many perquisites
OF the Crown which are not so
rare as whales in England The
hlhg is entitled for instance to every
sturgeon brought to land in the United
hIhedom. One of them, caught in the
names, was on the table at Queen Vic
toria wedding banquet. The King should
receive, too. every year, from divers per-
IONS a table cloth worth 8 shillings two
wriile doves, two white hares, a catapult.
pound of cumin seed horse and a
halter, pair of scarlet hose. a curry,
coHb, a pair of tonss, a crossbar. a coat
~ III srty fur, a nightCap, n falcon, two
sjil,er d rance worth shillings, and a
curious revelations are often made after
| the departure of an ilustrious guest from
| city, but possibly very few know what
an enormous burden of work and respon-
sibility Is removed from the shoulders of
| those in authority when once the train
bearing the important freight has steamed
safely out of the station Every move
ment of the epersonage" in question must
| be followed without exciting remark, and
what 1t means to keep a watch on huge
crowd which may contain one insignih-
| cant yet fatally dangerous member, can
easily be imagined. The police of every
country have secret ways and means OF
! their own which are jealousy preserved
| from discovery, but now and again a fact
! is allowed to leak out, possibly intention
| ally, which shows the outer word some
| thing of the, system by which a distin-
guished stranger is guarded. A good in
| stance of this was provided by the recent
visit of the German Crown Prince to Hol-
| land The prince, who Travelled incognito
under the name of Graf Won Geldren, was
able to enjoy perfect freedom, no one
| recognizing, him he strolled about the
streets or visited the quaint and delight
| ful towns ana villages OF the Netherlands
| Only, while in Amsterdam, it struck the
| prince as strange that wherever he went
| he was followed by an old woman, poorly
dressed, on whom he more than once be
slowed aims. One morning as he was
| leaving the hotel unusually early his
| glance fell upon the same old dame, who
was leaning on the railings before the
| building, and, feeling curious 10 know the
| reason of her constant presence In his
| neighborhOod the prince caused enquiries
\ TO be made through one Of his suite Much
to his establishment and amusement his
\ imperial highness learned that the old
| woman was in reality a certain smart
| chief inspector of police, who had chosen
| this safe and unsuspected way of Keeping
| his august charge always under his own
eye.
Before returning to Rome from the An
thropological Congress held in Amster-
dam, Holland, recently. Prof Lombroso
paid "a visit to Count Tolstoy at Yasnaia
! Poliana The Italian savant in the ac-
count OF his interview with the Russian
author, says:
| Count Tolstoy looks the picture OF
health. He plays lawn tennis for two
hours every morning with his daughters.
| Then he jumps in the saddle and takes
a ride TO a neighboring lake. l accomp
anied him OIL one Of these trips. Though
it was cool morning, and brisk wind
was blowing ] found to my surprise that
| the count intended To take a dip in the
| lake. He disruoed quickly and invited me
/ to a swimming race As | am proud Of
I my record q swimmer, ! could not
] NltnSldnd the temptation IN q lew mo-
ments / had Joined him in the water the
| icy coldness of which made my teeth
| chatter.
II was conquered in less than quarter
| of an hour Count TOlstoy having beaten
| me by at least 100 yards. ] was glad to
\ offer this as an excuse to get into my
| clothes. but l must confess that / felt
/ greatly invigorated that entire day. The
! count told me that he takes cold baths
| or swims summer and winter every morn
| ing.
| etarian absolutely. No meat of any kind
| is permitted on the table. After dinner
| my host conducted me to an old widow
| woman who had been pronounced an in
| durable consumptive by the local physi-
| clans. But the old lady refused to die.
| One day she threw away all her medicines
/ and determined to follow the example of
! her illus trious neighbor, and keep TO a
| vegetable diet She has fully recovered
| of her u.alady. She is seventy years old,
| and expects to become cCntenarian."
Prof Lombroso is convinced that the
| cure can easily he traced to a sort Of re
| ligious hypnotism but he was careful not
| to offend Tolstoy, who IS some what vain
| of his miracle
| The ravages caused by alcoholism in
| Switzerland are alarming. In some vii
| lages there is a free distribution Of wine
| to voters In the wine growing districts
| near Like Geneva, the number Of deaths
| from alcoholism is excessive. Cases Of
| delirium tremens are common. 1t is now
| proposed to teach temperance in the
| schools and also TO remit all Government
duties on tea. conee, ana other autl-al-
| coholic beverages.
Major Tracy and Captain Cobbold, the
| two British officers who accompanied