The Washington times., 1901-10-16


in Austria about the practice of the Ger
| man postoffice in boycotting letters ad-
dressed in Polish. A postal card was re-
Gently sent from Cracow with the ad-
dress in Polish, but the name of the town,
Gostyn, has not yet been Germanized. 1t
was returned as unintelligible. The only
word that the German officials did not
understand was the Province of Posen,
written in Polish Poznan With the name
Of the town the same as in German, and
so slight difference between the German
Posen and Polish Poznan. it would seem
that an intelligent official might not ind
the address quite unintelligible. But
such are the means by which Prussia is
trying to destroy Polish nationality 1t
is no wonder if these pin-pricks only ex-
asperate. g,r
Although in London the Dirt nkcn, brutal
husband is usually punished by being
brought before a magistrate. in the north
of England they have much more sum
mary way of dealing with him.
This method is known as riding the
stang" and though a very old practice,
quite recently two cases of its being en-
forced were brought before the public
notice.
The erring husbands were tied astride
long poles and carried in this ridiculous
the streets of their town, and followed by
a jeering crowd of men, women and chill
dren, who did not hesitate do peit them
with refuse according TO the tiIne-honored
usage on these occasions. Thus this old
and somewhat crude method of punish
ment is far from obsolete today.
There are variations of the methods OF
riding the stang. however. that mentioned
above being perhaps the severest form.
In parts of Yorkshire and other northern
counties for instance, riding the stang"
is practiced more as a vicarions punish
ment for any frailty on the part of man
or wife than a direct and personal pun
ishn ent Needless to say, in the cases
in which the ceremony is performed vi
cariously the person who rides the stang
is not subjected to bodily i'll treatment at
the hands of those who perform it, 1t Is
usually some good-natured friend who
is selected for bestriding the stang. He
is carried through the streets in the dusk
of the evening on the shoulders of two
men, preceded by another carrying lam
tern. At every fifty yards or so the pro
cession makes a halt. during which the
accommodating stang rider recites these
verses:
Good neighbors attend while l you harangue,
'Tis neither for your sake, for my sake
That / ride the stang.
But II is for the wife Of John Smith
That / ride the stang
In the fullness of time the procession
finds itself OF tside the house of the guilty
husband where II disperses after 4 few
choruses of boots and jecrs. The vocal
discord. however, is seldom deemed suffi-
ciently soul-stirring, supplementary
pandemonium produced from pots, pans,
and kettles usually being employed
against the offender
A military officer writes in one of the
German papers on the interesting subject
of the improvements in weapons of war
fare. and his remarks seem to prove that
as perfection in these weapons is grad
ually approached the losses in killed and
wounded decrease in number. In two
of the most sanguinary battles waged by
Frederick the Great the casualties
amounted to IS per cent; at Waterloo they
were "a per cent, and at Leipsc 81 per
ceat of the men engaged. In the Franco
German struggle of 1s70-71, the greatest
loss was at Mars-laTour, with IS per
cent this was reduced to Il per cent at
Sedan, and to per cent at Gravelotte. In
each case these figures represent the
losses on both sides. 1t is too soon to
give any figures for the Transvaal war;
but the writer remarks that the British
are disappointed with the effects obtained
by the use OF lyddite and machine guns
He also gives carefully compiled figures
showing the losses In various wars from
Illness and disease, and concludes that in
the wars of the future far more men
will fau from these causes than from
wounds.
John Buchan, who has been appointed
secretary to Lord Milper in South Africa
al the age of twenty-siX, is practically
unknown politically, but despite his youth
he has been weli-known figure in the
literary world for at least six years, hav-
ing published several novels and having
contributed voluminously 10 the monthly
reviews. Mr. Buchan is native Of Glas-
cow at the university of which city he
was distinguished student. Proceeding
TO Brazenose College. oxford, the history
of which he wrote, he had noteworthy
career winning the Newdigate prize and
otherwise proving himself one of the most
brilliant collegians of his year.
few days ago an order was issued to
the effect that the 1900 model of a quick
firing gun had been adopted in the Rus
sian Army, and that ut the maneuvres in
the Warsaw military district "A new kind
of ammunition will be tried. The 1900
model is a gun having a recoiling barrel
of 7.e2 centimetre calibre, the barrel
weighs $50 Kilograms, the total weight of
the gun is !, 72O Kilograms, and thirty-six
rounds of ammunition can be carried on
the giin The gun is fitted with "a fluid
brake IL has a quck-fring screw lock
Ia Tho initial velocity of Its discharge is
sdI metres. It's only project is heavy
Bodenkammer shrapnel charged with 800
,t1sri,, "a mounds For the destruction of
nbiects capable Of offering any resistance
the field mortar will be relied upon. II is
believed that il the general IN command
Of the Russian artillery receives permis-
sion 10 make certain alterations In the
1900 model, the Ministry Of War would
decide eventually in favor Of adopting 1t.