Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1902-07-21
.BALF0UR AND SALISBURY
Stories Of England's New Pre-
mier and His Predecessor.
THE FORMER A DEVOTEE OF GOLF

Once INDUCED His Passion For the
Sport on u Railway Depot Plat
fOrm-IIOw He Became the Victim
of n st. Patrick's Day Joke-When
Incidents OF Lord snIisbury's Menu
DRY.
\ great many folks who are familiar
| with the name o. the Right Hon. Ar
thur James Balfour as one of Eng
lands most illustrious statesmen and
the new prenner OF Great Britain also
know that golf is the game invariably
preferred by that gentleman when
seeking relaxation from parliamentary
duties. So ardent, indeed, is his pas
sion for tina, healthful sport that he
has been seen to practice the move
ments Of the game on the oldest occa-
sions, as the following amusing Incl
dent will serve to show, says the Gold
en- Penny, Som" time ago the diStin.
guished politician was standing on the
departure platform ut Paddington sta
| tiol London waiting for the Windsor
train. In his hand Ii" carried a beau
tiful gold mounted umbrella, on winch
he leaned abstracteu,y BOW and then.
Suddenly his eye clanc, Il to see a
cork on the platform. Looking rounl
to see that no one WAS near, Mr.. Bal
| four measured his distance and made
u splendid drive along the platform.
! The cork Travelled at a great pace
but unfortunately the top of his mag
niticent umbrella followed it, leaving
| just the end in his hand. The waiting
crowd on the platform roared with
laughter as the Conservative leader
dived into first class compartment.
When he was first lord of the treas
| ury, Mr. BalfOur was once made the
victim Of rather effective st. Pat
rick's day Joke. On the occasion al
luded to an oak box about ten inches
long was sent to him at the house of
commons. On this being opened a
| sprig Of shamrock with a card bear
ing the inscription, "From sincere
ndmirer," was disclosed to view. and
| through layer of some compound a
steel spring could be seen, says Cas-,
| sells Magazine. Mr.. Balfour is well
known for his extreme collness and
scorn of seeming danger. but the whole
| thing was so strongly suggestive of an
Internal machine of the worst desclip-
ton that the services of an expert
We're Immediately requisitioned
When the expert arrived, Mr.. Bal
four Joined him in his endeavor to
solve the battling mystery. AT first
both were puzzled. but, the expert
having placed a particle Of the COM
pound on his tongue, discovered that
1t WAS only powdered sugar, favored
with lemon. The box was inverted.
and out tumbled an old corkscrcw, a
spiral spring. a well worn nutmeg
CRATER and Il piece Of paper, on which
was written: BUY the whisky your
self You can then concoct the famous
Lemonade OF Rallyhooly."
During the American civil war and
CO <eput'rt c0ttun famine in LancA-
shire Lady Blaichc Balfour. the moth
,r Vt MI Arthur James and Gerald
Balfour, WAS greatly moved by the
tales Of suffering coming from the af
fecteu districts, says the New York
Evening Post. She subscribed hand
somely to the relief fund and told her
children that If they liked to assist in
the household work the money saved
In that way should go to help the dis
tressed people. The kitchen was hand
nj to oI,
under the supervision Of the house
keeper, and they did the family cook
ing at Wittinghame House. Her son
Arthur, now England's premier, and
Gerald had a portion Of Homework al
lotted to them, such as cleaning the
boots and knives. The help sent to the
Lancashire relief fund was increased
by the amount thus saved in the house
hold expenses, and If you ask Mr.. Bal
four for an anecdote of his childhood
he refers to his mothers action In
helping the poor in Ireland
An amusing manifestation Of Mr.. |
Balfour's observation-disclosures occurred |
one evening in the house of commons,
says an exchange. He had just fin
ished neat little speech. introducing |
the private procedure bill, and was
about to leave the house when the |
speaker hurriedly whispered to him.
Bring up the bill"
But Mr.. Balfour had forgotten all |
about this part Of his task. Mr.. Bal
four was without his bill.
Take dummy" whispered the
speaker, and the clerk at the table ac-
cordingly handed him a copy of the
orders of the day. That was white
In color and could not be mistaken for
bill by any possibility; so the min
lister shook his head. But happy |
thought occurred to the clerk.
The journals of the house are printed
on blue paper, so he took Il copy up at
random and thrust it into the minis
ters hand, who retired to the bar and
returned with the usual bows. The
clerk scrubbed on the back of the
journal the names Of those who had
brought in the bill, and the forms of
the house were adequately satisfied.