Evening star., 1902-02-25
Ambition of the Vanderbilts.


1t is settled that Mr.. and Mrs. Cornelius
Vanderbilt. jr., will extend to the prince an
invitation for dinner, but whether or not
the invitation will be accepted is known
only to the committee in charge of his pro-
gram. The gossip occasiOned by the strug-
gle for precedence between the Cornelius
and the Alfred Vanderbilts has rebounded,
with the result that both families feel a
loss Of dignity by a public exposure Of their
on the subject. Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt,
jr, was Miss Wilson. and Mrs. Alfred Van
derbilt was Elsie French. Because Of the
opposition to the marriage of Cornelius to
Miss Wilson his father made Alfred the
head of the house, with great heartburn
ings as the result. The men of the family
care little for the questions Of preferment.
but with the wives and mOtherS-in-law 1t
Is quite different. While there has been
amicable recognition of Mrs. Cornelius. jr,
yet Mrs. Vanderbilt, ST., Is jealous Of her
family prerogatives. and is unwilling to
grant any special prominence to the elder
daughter-in-law. AS the Wilson's are
equally tenacious Of their rights. there is
war to the knife whenever an issue arises.
One does not have to stray far from
Herald Square to find reminders Of Prince
Henry's visit to this country. The fakirs
have not yet begun selling pictures of the
others with articles to sell have seized
upon the name in the hope OF attracting
cash their way. Already 1t Is possible to
drink a Prince Henry cocktail, and you
sips If you wish. There are as yet no
Prince Henry puzzles on the market, but
the season Is young and there Is no tell
ing what the brains Of men anxious to
make a little extra money. and incidentally
advertise themselves through the prince.
will produce. Whether Prince Henry's
name will be perpetuated by a garment,
as has been that Of Prince Albert, Is a
matter for the tailors to settle. The prince
has already been ''honored" by having a
travelling bag named for him which is not
unlike the Gladstone" bag.
Chinese Plan Reprisals.
In case the United States government
should enact a more stringent law for the
exclusion Of Chinese immigrants when the
present Geary law expires, in May, the
Chinese merchants Of this country are
planning to petition their home govern
ment to take retaliatory action by exclud-
ing Americans from China under the same
regulations as may be imposed on China
men coming here. They are not opposing
the re-enactment Of the present law, but
they vigorously protest against the Mitchell
Kahn BILL now in committee at Washing
ton which would exclude the merchants
or students equally with coolies. and, they
say, subject even diplomatic representa-
tives to irksome regulations. They take
substantially the same GROUND dS the
chamber of commerce and the Merchants
Association Of this city. They go further
only in their suggestion of method of
reprisal. great petition to the imperial
government at Pekin is being circulated In
all the large cities Of this country. The
petition originated in this city. and was
drafted by Lung Hok Sou, secretary Of the
Jon Wah Kon Show. or Chinese Merchants
Club No effort is being made to obtain
mountain of signatures. but only leading
men, whose names are known. and command
respect in China, are asked to put their
names to it. It Is said that they are prac-
tically unanimous in favoring the course
the petition advises. The document itself
will not be sent to China until Congress
has made its final decision.
New York City's Statistics.
New York is one of the few large cities
in the world that has no uniform system
of collecting and publishing its own sta
tistics. A city officer or citizen seeking
general information about the business of
the city or a record of development must
in many cases search through great masses
of books and records in various depart
ments Most Of the city departments pub
lish annual reports, but they are usually
months behind time and no system Of con-
ed. The bureau Of vital statistics. under
the direction of the board of health, has
for many years kept full and accurate
record Of marriages, births and deaths,
but most Of the records In other depart
ments are in much confusion. There ts
not In existence any condensed regular
record or history. Of the progress OF mu-
nicipal government. II a historian should
attempt to prepare complete history OF
nass MsW tifty aSyA years @ from omciai facoras he
Eo.sld - compelled 10 spend several years
in searching through books and original