Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-11-30
Prospect of a Thorough Investigation
BY Parliament
UGLY RIIMnRS- FLOATING AROUND
Serious Charges Made Regarding
the Transport Service.
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP
special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

United states, and the people at large are
not so well informed as among US, yet i
do not see how our cousins will be able to
get through the Boer war without more
or less open scandal. From what We hear
from time to time it seems probable that
| a searching investigation will be held
sooner or later that will disclose more
conduct to be ashamed of than our famous
beef inquiry or the Schley court of in
qriry.
Whether there be friction at the war
office it does undoubtedly exist at the
service clubs. st. James is filled with Off
GERS back from the front with grievances.
There are at the same time officers of
high rank, also back from the front, who
have no grievances of their own, but are
supposed to have caused trouble TO others.
Probably Pail Mall has never since IL came
into existence been as rife in pin pricks as
it is today. Every war naturally leads to
joalousies among officers. 1t is an unfor-
turate condition of the system. Misfortune
overtakes some. Others rise to eminence
upon happy accident; influence does the
rest. 1t Is the system, where nothing sue
ceeds like success. From the men with
grievances the bitterest things are to be
heard both of the campaign at the front
and of the war office at home. Not
third of the allegations are, of course, the
truth, but the public does not know this.
Charges Against Transport Service.
1 met at dinner last night gentleman
who has had a good deal to do with trans
port work during the war. He told me
that half the money debited to the cam
paign has really been spent in England
itself. An enormous part of this half has
been wasted upon contracts and charters,
the waste going either to enrich men al
ready wealthy or to make the fortunes OF
others.
He told this story: In the earlier stages
of the campaign friend of his went to
the admiralty and offered two suitable
ships for transport service. They were de-
clIned without thanks. Leaving the build
ing. the gentleman was met by we'll
known member of parliament, 10 whom
| he mentioned his adventure. Let me see
| what l can do, and We can divide the re-
suit said the member. He went % the
admiralty, saw the right man, and offered
| the two steamers at twice the sum asked
| by their owner ten minutes before. Ife
| offer was accepted and the member OF par
| lament cleared 5000 on the transaction.
| 1t will be proposed to appoint commit
| tee to inquire into the cost of the war and
| the distribution of the charges. This in
uuiry will prove how incompetent have
been the persons intrusted with the vari-
Gus contracts, and how non-eXlstent nave
have been effective checks against cor
ruption. But this will not replace in Jonn
Bulls pocket the millions that have been
muddled away.
Title for Duke of Fife.
For some time it has been rumored that
the Duke of Fife would receive a title
from the king which would place him in
more fitting position at court as the son-in-
| law of his majesty than that which he now
holds. 1t is now reported that at the coro-
| nation the king will add to the duke titles
the semi-royal one of Duke of inverness
In ordinary circumstances the Duchess or
Fife would have ladies in waiting and
other attendants but before her marriage
1 81 iAt,n Of h ir11Ca
and his bride fully defined. and arranged
that in daily life she was to be regarded
simply as the wife of duke and dispense
with lady in waiting. Inc duchess, VINO
is of a very shy and retiring disposition,
gladly accepted this proposal.
The Duchess of Fife has in recent years
greatly improved in physical strength, her
| temperament and delicate constitution UNI
| fitted her for those trying formal cere-
| monies which are the lot of princesses and
queens and before her marriage it was
thought that enforced dlgnltles would IN
| lure her constitution.
| The struggles surrounding the last holder
of the title of the Duchess of Inverness are
as Interesting as they are sad The ro-
nance of the Duke of SusseX's marriage
while yet a boy of twenty travelling in
| Italy, with the beautiful Lady Mary Muir
ray, and the subsequent disavoWal OF the
union by George III. and its dissolution by
the ecclesiastical courts on the ground of
noncompliance with the royal marriages
act is one rarely equaled even in the eX-
traEagant
Duke of Sussex bravely stood by his beau
tiful bride, and resisted all the pressure
brought upon him to desert her. The lady
lived till we'll within recent years and died
as Duchess of Inverness.
Coronation RumOrs.
1t is not at present known whether, like
Queen Alexandra, King Edward will have
a new crown made for the coronation. 1t
is very probable however. since the exist
pf
cially constructed for Queen Victoria. It's
most important jewels would no doubt be
set afresh in any new crown that may be
made for the king. In these circumstances
it is interesting to recall that Queen VIC
toria's crown contains nearly 200 dia-
monds, 27S pearls and IL sapphires, ii en-
eralds and rubies. One of the rubies-a
large heart-shaped stone-constitutes the
principal ornament. This Jewel has re-
markable history. having been presented
to the Black Prince by Don Pedro after
the prince had restored that monarch to
the throne of Spain by his victory near
Nayarrete April g. 1867. In the next CEN
fury it was worn by Henry at the battle
of Aglncourt. The ruby is pierced in the
oriental way, and hence may have be-
longed to the Moorish kings of Spain. 1t
is at this moment the central ornament in
the Maltese cross at the front of Queen
Victoria's crown, the body of the cross be-
ing formed of seventy-fiye brilliant dia-
nonds'' One of the sapphires is very
large one, and is similarly pierced. 1t
found a place in the crown of George ~,
which proved too large for the late queen.
Language of the Channel Islands.
Considerably more than nine centuries
have elapsed since the channel islands
came into the possession of England. and
yet the English language is not officially
recognized there. The language spoken in
ordinary life by the inhabitants is in great
measure the same as old Norman French,
though modern French is used in The
courts; but English is taught in all the
parochial schools, and is familiar to the
bulk of the population, especially in Guern-
sey and Jersey. Why the local legislatures,
which are called the States" prefer to re-
tain French the official language, as
they did yesterday by a majority of four
votes. it is difficult to say. Visitors to the
beautiful islands rarely meet with inhab-
itants who do not speak the language that
Shakespeare spoke" and the only indioa-
ton of any foreign element in the govern
ment of the country is the coinage, which
is also French. Another curious feature
about the channel islands is that for i'm
perial purposes they are not in the united
kingdom, but in the colonies. They are all
but exempt from imperial taxation-and the
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