The Washington times., 1901-09-25
FOREIGN TOPICS.

oLAL[ 0N O[ I'D.
several Paris papers are reminded of
the exploits of the hero in one of Balzac's
ALMOST forgotten plays, 'Vautrfn, by the
recent achievements of a rogue named
Goirand, for whom all the police of
france are on the lookout. This Col
rand is said to have entrapped a large
number OF servant girls and shop girls
inducing them to steal for him where they
were employed and later having them
secure other positions with the sole pur-
pose Oh stealing. One after another his
victims nave been captured. but he still
remains at large When the last WAS ar
rested Goirand wrote to her. saying:
you can tell the whole story If you like.
am not afraid Of the police They won't
eaten me. They do not know ne" Re
heved Of all duty toward him, on the
strength OF this note, others have told
their story. and although the Paris police
are confident that there is only one man
concerned and not a band, as they had
az hrst supposed. no two descriptions of
him agree
On one occasion, however, Goirand was
trapped with an accompiice and sentenced
10 twenty years, transportation While
Datch OF condemned men including him.
ser, was being escorted to be measured
IN M M, Bertillon's authropometricaI offices.
group and told the In,ffiicipal guards, with
severe look: am noi at all satisfied
Wlth the way you watch your prisoners.
You must exhibit more care and zeal
in the discharge of your duties in the fu-
ture. or | shall have to report YOU" and
walked of. saluted respectfully by the
aidfmed municipal guards, who took him
consequence
His career as FURNISHED by the police
10 10 -, tuii OF adventure and romance. His
,ast victim and accomplice, who has Just
.e.,, oes un 70 serve a five years sentence,
smassed for him property valued at 900
francs, most of which was convert ed into
lronjy anu together they went to live in
, S,e IN suburb of Paris beyond
fassy. They had horses, carriages, and
adttpiiipphes 49, 5, and Goirand made friends
,hatI, III ms arlstocratic neighbors. visited
them, ana shot over their game preserves
once he got himself irnprudently rnixed
up IN brawl and spent the night i'm a
p poiIce station. but was released in the
~, with profuse apologies on the
paIt OF the police on account of the rep
tcsenidtlonS made by his neighbors At
another time he took to the stationhouse
~, - uet1ctiVe whom he accused of insulting
iiit;' out passed out before the astonish-
ed detective, who had meant to arrest him
Oh suspicion, could make an intelligent ex-
p,anatlon Of the affair to his superior. To
JuaSe rom papers like LIE Petit Journal'
and lie Petit Parisien. a comnlets story
volume.
A New York newspaper man. who was
touring in Norway recently. signed his
name IN hotel register and gave his oc-
cupatlon as ink singer and pencil push
er' Inc feeble attempt at Righteousness
Drought the journalist into trouble for
IIie police. unable to make out what this
ii, niea,t, detained the joker several weeks
explained the mystery.
Since the Russian Count Orloff feasted
his friends on steaks cut from the flesh
OF mastodon, which had been found by
some Eskimo hunters embedded in the ice
near the mouth of the Lena River, there
has been no more eccentric banquet
served than that partaken of in Liver
pool recently by couple of welLknown
antiquaries
Practically the dinner was a vegeta-
rlan one, consisting. as it did of apples,
bread, butter and wine. The apples were
at least 1,s0o years old, having been taken
from hermetically sealed jar unearthed
at Pompeli. The bread was made from
wheat looted from a recently opened
Egyptian tomb, the hieroglyphics thereon
showing II to have been grown in the
reign of that Pharaoh who knew not
Joseph and who afterward perished to-
gether with his armies. in the Red Sea
The butter, discovered on a stone shelf in
an ancient and long-disused we'll dated
from the days of Good Queen Bess
while the wine was old when Columbus
was boy, and came from a vault in
Corinth.
An elaborate report showing the devel-
opment of the foreign trade and shipping
of Japan from 1872 to 1900 has Just been
published by the British Foreign Office
which further testifies to the extraordi-
nary advance made by the island Empire
of the Far East. The import trade. which
in 1872 was valued at G., ,5Oo, 900. was last
year valued at e25. 600 eco. From 1872 to
lsSl there was heavy balance of trade
against the country. There had been a
continuous export of specie and the coin
age was replaced by an inccnvertible pa
per currency. This was largely over
issued, and gradually fell from par. until
ii reached a discount of over 81 per c. Mt.
II was not until 1884. when the currency
resumed its par value. that the import
trade began to assume a promising ap-
pearance. Both the import and the total
trade have since continued to advance
steadily
In 1883 more than half the total imports
came from the United Kingdom. in 1899
about one-third, lin 1898 considerably less
than one-fourth, in 1893 little more
than one-fifth, and in 1902 one-fourth /.
Is unmisiakabiy set forth in the British
Foreign Office report that in the Last
mentioned three years the aggregate i'm
port trade Of the whole British EmDire
bears a less favorable ratio to the whole
import trade of Japan than did that of
the United Kingdom alone in 1883 During
the same period the trade of GERMANY, and
of the United States with Japan have in
each case grown more than tenfoid And
not only is this the case at present but
the author of the report declares that the
most strenuous efforts are being mad. i'm
Doth the latter countries to prepare the
way for very considerable extensions in
the future "
While much of the success of Germany
and the United States is said to be ascrib-
I'd to the willingness of the rnanufactur-
ers OF both countries to cater especially
Tor the requirements of the Japanese 10
advertising, and to the vigilance of agents
some OF II, the report continues and not
the least part, is undoubtedly due To ia
clliues or through transport from the seat
OF production In both countries to the des-
unation Of the goods in Japan
a striking feature of the report is the
revelation concerning the DEVELOPMENT of
highly subsidized Japanese tonnage In
1888 entries of Japanese vessels were so
insignificant that they were not consid-
cred worthy of the slightest notice in the
consular reports. In 1909 they amounted
in number TO over 500 vessels of nearly
S,J0OtJJ tons: in 1872 Japan possessed IS
merchant steamers, of an aggregate ton
mage of 1885, tons. They were all, without
exception. vessels which had been con-
demned by their original owners In 1890
her merchant fleet included S56 steamers.
of 52S,32l tons. most of them vessels of the
highest types of modern construction.
No doubt exists that swearing is a
rather common habit, and anything that
will tend to lessen it is to be commended