The Washington times., 1901-10-28
FOREIGN TOPICS.

| the coniingration at his residence. Carl
| ton House Terrace, thereby permitting
America $ renresentative to return to his
| ambassadorial couch the spectators may
have been reminded of certain occas on
/ that dates back as far as July (. 1865,
| when the present King of England in his
shirt sleeves acted the part of a very eff
eient fireman in his own metropolitan
residence
AT that time there were few keener
| amateur firemen than the present mon
/ arch, who. with the Duke of Sutherland
| Lord Richard Grosvenor, and one or two
| other personal friends. repaired night af-
| ter night to the Waiting Street Station
in order to be on hand and to lend hand
should the brigade be called out on busi-
ness. 1t was doubtless the experience
| he gained as a spectator of many a huge
| blaze that stood him in such good stead
when Marlborough house caught fire, for
having removed the princess to place
| OF safety. he placed himself at the head
| of ifty men servants and directing his
was speedily got under, though not before
| he had accidentally put his foot through
a lath and plaster ceiling when exploring
| the roof, and only just escaped from fall
| ing through into the room below.
one hundred and thirtynine years prior
to this experience a previous Prince Of
| w dltS, ne VINO aItBFWaTu became
| ii, helped to eXtinguish the flames when
the original Spring Gardens Chanel was
burned down. Fighting the flames is evi-
IDENTIFY a strong characteristic of those
whose motto is 'Ich diem"
Perhaps one of the funniest experiences
OF hrc that Marlborough house and its
| occupants ever enjoyed (and that his
Majesty thoroughly enjOyed) occurred
ABOUT Two years ago. Suddenly. as though
II had dropped from the clouds, though
Tor no apparent reason, a fire engine ma
teflailZed in front of Marlborough house
and the commander thereof. in a voice
which endeavoreG to be calm, demanded of
the Stolcal policeman on guard which por-
tion of the princes residence was on fire.
Hardly had he got the words uttered
when, like a juvenile tornado, salvage
corps van dashed upon the scene with
further queries of a like nature, but ere
the information could be given another
steamer tore up Pail Mall followed by an
other salvage cart and a few more steam
ers. until the road was almost blocked
with the paraphernalia of the London fire
brigade.
Then the policeman on guard. together
with the guardsman, explained that i'm
mediately before the arrival Of their ener
getic friends with their escapes and en-
gtnes, hanson cab In turning the corner
sharply had with the near wheel knocked
down the fire alarm on the edge of the
pavement, and this overthrow, they fur
ther explained, though by this time those
au fait with the characteristics % the
ment. had doubtless the effect of
creating an entirely false impression at
the station in Old Scotland Yard. No fur
ther explanation OF the incident was con-
sdered necessary and the meeting was
dissolved-into peal after peal of laughter.
The first town in England to do away
with horses at the fire stations is Eccles.
Mayor F. Smith is a progressive execu-
tive. He has supplied the engine houses
with powerful little motors which have
proved successful in every way. The
engine carries five men, four ladders, 800
yards of hose, two standpipes and other
appliances. 1t Is driven by seven-horse
power double cylinder water cooled
engine fitted with variable ignition.
Though Berlin and other large cities OF
Germany have not yet introduced the
horseless tire eXtinguishers, they are
feature now in many small towns, and
in several of the suburbs of the German
capital. Kaiser Wilhelm has ordered one
to be installed in the Potsdam fire engine
houses for the protection of the royal
castle. In Paris the municipal authori-
ties recently decided to use only motors
in future in the fire department.
Recent mail advices from London show
that, in spite os the recent announcement
In the House of Commons, to the effect
that by the end Of the volunteer year the
auxiliary mounted infantry must either
join with the Yeomaury or be disbanded,
that force. which has been the real fight
ing material In South Africa, will not
merely remain intact. but will, during the
next twelve months, be largely aug
mented.
1t was originally intended to disband
the volunteer mounted infantry for the
reason that while the equipment was
practically the same as that Of the new
YeOmanry. the conditions Of service were
vastly differenr, and it would be prac-
ucally impossible to extend the period OF
training or alter the conditions Of service
without bringing about several modilica-
tons In the volunteer act. The War Of
flee is now of the opinion that while the
recruiting for the new Imperial Yeomanry
Is progressing faVOrably, there must be
a very large number Of good horscmen
who are Unable to devote fourteen cOn-
secutive days in the year to the period
Of training required of every yeoman.
The volunteer mounted infantry are com
PEELED TO do considerable number Of
standard Of shooting, but the mounted
drills are carried out for the most part at
Easter, Whitsuntide. and occasional week
ends. so as not to interfere with the occu-
patton Of the men. Lord Roberts who
recently inspected some of the cuntin-
gents In the home district. expressed his
appreciation Of the efficiency attained
The men will be armed with the shortened
rifle. similar TO that with which the Yeo-
manry are now being provided.
"
Recent commercial advices from Bang
kok the Venice of SIAM are being
widely commented on in the Paris and
Berlin press, as the burden of their con-
tents gives another example of the fall
ing off of British commerce in the Far
East. Ten years ago 50 per cent of the
shipping that entered the port OF Bangkok
late as 1898. IS per cent Of the imports was
carried in British bottoms. Last year
this percentage was about divided with
Germany. OF the 40 steamers that clear
ed inward in 1900. a per cent was under
the German flag and 81 per cent British:
IS per cent Of the total value of cargoes
from foreign countries came by German
vessels and 81 per cent by British. The
French flag. with twenty-six steamers,
came third in regard to the number, and
fourth In tonnage and sixth In value of
cargo imported from foreign countries
the Norwegian, Dutch. and Siamese flags
being all considera bly, ahead of it in this
last respect. OF the cargoes carried out
ward to foreign countries, 81 per cent
went in German bottoms and 81 in Brit
ish while Norwegian vessels, including
seven sailers, took as much as per cent
three Russian steamers together over
per cent. Sailing vessels. which a few
years ago always numbered from thirty
TO forty have now been reduced 10 thir-
teen or fourteen year.
But while In the last few years the i'm |
ports of Siam have been increasing, the |
exports have been falling OFF Last year |
this diminutlon was reCkoncd at 1851 500 |
as compared with the preceding year |
while imports showed an inCroase}of S8S.- |
G1D This state Of affairs is not regarded |
with apprehension by those interested in |
the distribution of the products of Siam, |
for it is pointed out that the carrying |
trade is in a natural state of transition