The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-10-22
< ow that Bulgaria. according to re- port, is preparing to disband her
 10000 troops on the frontier. and

| N OW that Bulgaria. according 10 re- | 0J1 port is preparing to disband her
 10000 troops on the frontier, and | it Is believed that Turkey will follow suit by withdrawing 10000 of her soldiers. who were only too anxious to fly at Bull gar threats, 1t really begins to look as if threatened clash has been averted. All the excitement and rumors of war have come to naught. The Turk has been per mitted to temporarily satiate his craving for human gore, and will probably remain quescent for perhaps years or perhaps months. The powers raised their hands in holy horror, while the massacres were taking place but did nothing more. Whether it would have been better for Bulgaria to attempt to avenge her wrongs against the sultan's government is a question hard to answer. She would prob ably have been whipped. and in that case would have been in a worse fix than now At present she has faint hope that Flu ropean governments will at least give shadow of protection to Bulgarians when the Turks break forth, but this affords lit- tie satisfaction, and it's potency has been strikingly illustrated during the past few months. Russia has had her turn, the Turk amused himself awhile with human life King Leopold kept the natives inter- ested in the Congo Free State, and as entre acts we had few riots and lynched few of the black brother. The European concert will now begin what looks like f,1 and Manchuria Happy is Uncle Sam! He is not even required to express an opinion in these matters.
 Miss Mary Johnston's new romance, Sir Mortimer" will appear serially in Harpers' magazine beginning with the November issue. The novel has been writ ten under rather trying circumstances. for the young author and her long delayed book Is being awaited with much inter- est by her admirers in Birmingham and elsewhere, who are fond of romantic fic- tion. The book was to have commenced in May, 1902. but after the first install ments had been placed in the hands of MT. F. c. Yohn, the artist, for illustra- ton, Miss Johnston fell i'll and was or dered to Bermuda. After she had recov- cred sufficiently she was permitted to write one hour each day, and with these limitations placed upon her has brought the story to a successful conclusion. Sir Mortimer is similar to Ter earlier sue cesses, ITO Have and To Hold" "Pris- oners of Hope" and Aubrey" The he- roine is a lady-in- waiting upon Queen Bess," and the hero is an officer in her majesty's fleet. Such a period of history affords ample scope for Miss Johnston to display those talents that have made her books so popular. Historical romances are held to be somewhat on the wane now, but if Sir Mortimer contains the fire and dash that characterizes ITO Have and To Hold" 1t will prove a paying investment for the publishers.
 General Funston wants the United States soldier to receive higher salary for fighting his countrys battles. AL though American soldiers are the best paid and equipped in the world the gen eral thinks steps should be taken to amelorate their condition. He thinks that if our soldiers were better paid higher class of men would enlist and the army thus be strengthened but few peo- pie agree with our Filipino fighter. When a man desires to make money the army is last resort and unless the salary were raised to such figure as to drain the national treasury 1t would have lit- tie effect in elevating the class of men who enlist. During wartime a man en- ters the army through patriotism and during times of peace the same feeling should actuate him, but unfortunately seldom does so. More often it is a spirit of adventure. a desire to get away from the world. and frequently a not very commendable longing to get an easy berth for life where work will be com paratively easy and support certainty Of course General Funston does not be- lieve in army extravaganza and the ad- dition of few dollars to the pay of our soldiers would make little difference in