Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-07
MRCURT|SCO
His Innocent Deception in
Epistolary Writing.
BIG TASK UNDERTAKEN
NOT NECESSARILY IN THE PLACE
WHERE HIS LETTER IS DATED.
Delightful Voyage From Naples to
Port Said-Display Of Millinery
and Fashions on Board.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
CAIRO, December 2s, 1908.
It's long leap from the Coliseum to the
Pyramids. Yesterday 1 was writing from
Rome: today 1 am writing from Cairo,
when the actual fact is that at this blessed
moment 1 am afloat on the Red sea, die
tating to a typewriter in cabin 81 Of the
P. and O. steamer Mongolia.
Some people think 1t queer, and some
consider it immoral, for a correspondent to
write letter in one place and date 1t at
another. The other day well-mean1ng
friend in Chicago took the trouble to write
me to inquire how 1t was that could be
in Rome asking the pope to send an ex-
hibit to the St. Louis exposition when the
Record Herald that very morning pub
lished letter from Spain over my sigma
ture. He seemed to suspect that de-
ception was being practiced somewhere.
For his information, and for all whom it
may concern, 1 beg to say that the dates
upon newspaper letters are often merely
arbitrary. like the numbers on the books
in a library, and If a law were passed re-
curing all correspondence to be dated
from Timbuctoo it would not increase or
diminish it's interest or Importance; but 1t
is customary and convenient to use the
name of the place you are writing about.
Vast Job Of Letter Writing.
Ten years ago-it was the Sd Of Decem-
Der, 1881 made vow TO Victor +. Law
son that would write newspaper letter
every day the rest of - life. and 1t has
been conscientiously aept to this hour'
The experience of writing G56 consecutive
letters in 1886 consecutive days has taught
several lessons. One or them Is that II Is
always best to tell the truth and be as ac-
curate as possible, for II you make mis-
take somebody out in Iowa is sure to de-
tect it and write note, which the eoltor
will publish, correcting what you nave
said It has also taught the wisdom OF
never paying any attention to what un-
friendly people say about you, because IL
you have done wrong you know II great
deal better than any one else, ana II you
have done what you think is rlght no
amount of censure or criticism Is OF the
slightest Importance; and II young man
expects to write newspaper letter every
morning he must not allow hlmsedi W ~ D g
caught in the fix of the foolish virgin VINO
didn't have any oil for her lamp.
A well-filled notebook is equally I'M
portant and as the sun rises IN the east
and sets in the west one mas ~ se. lis
siderably ahead of the game as he travels
eastward to have letter in the printer
hands every day. For while 1t ls heces-
sary to write two letters daily, especlany
if you are going eastward, ana the mann is
are infreQuent, but these are only tricks IN
a trade l spent four weeks in Spain
gathering material for letters and In the
meantime was writing from notepooks thaI
had been filled in London and Paris. Wnen
{ left Rome. the 9Th of November, l had
enough material ahead to last me Tor
nearly a month, which was spent in CAIRO
Now, having exhausted the Roman reser-
yoir we going to talk about Egypt
which is one OF the most Fascinating couii-
tries on earth
The HustHng Germans.
We came down from Rome to Naples and
there took the steamer Kiachaou, which was
crowded with passengers for India, emma
and other countries of the far east, where
the Germans have commenced an active
commercial crusade No nation is working
co hard or so systematically to increase its
exports The emperor and his government
and the parliament have Joined with the
commercial and industrial organizations,
and are sending subsidized steamships 10
every port, carrying the products OF 'he
German manufactures. In every town Oh
any Importance from one end of the earth
TO the other you can find German mer-
chant; upon every steamer and every ran
way train a German commercial traVeief,
and the government has PROVIDED the
means for its manufacturers to reach their
customers and deliver the goods.
This is particularly true in the far east,
where the Germans are pushing the Eng
tish out of the trade. Twenty years ago
Englishmen controlled everything. They
had ten establishments to one of any other
nationality. Now the Germans surpass
them in numbers. in capital and in enter
prise, wherever you go; in South Amer
lea, in China or In Africa. The
German steamships to the east are WIN
ming patronage away from the Old con-
sentative English lines by sending frequent
steamers with the best of accommodations
and by their efforts to please. The Eng
iish lines have been running on their repu-
tations for years, but the Germans have
compelled them to build new ships and
modernize the service Half the passengers
on the German ships are Englishmen, who
give good reasons why they prefer them
to their own.
A few years ago a German steamer was
seldom seen in the Suez canal. Last year
they were second in number among all the
nations. The report of the company shows
that 3,70S steamers passed through the
canal in 1902, having a total tonnage of
II ,24S Alb tons. OF these 2.1G0 were English
steamers of 6,172,911 tons. while 4SO were
| German steamers of 707 800 tons. You
| will notice that the German steamers must
| have averaged very much larger than the
| English, because the tonnage is out of pro-
| portion to the numbers, and that illustrates
| the condition of the trade.
| The Kiachaou is named after what we
| may call the German province in China. a
| city in Shan-tung, which the kaiser seized
! because of the murder of two Jesuit mis-
| sionaries who had been expelled from Ger
| many only few months before. They are
working slowly but surely to Germanize the
/ province, so surely that in few years you
! will hear of a repetition of the recent eX-
periences with Manchuria, except that Ger
| many instead of Russia will be filling the
| title role. That is the reason why Germany
! has not taken part in the dispute. She Is
| strictly neutral. but her silence is very sig
nifcant, and her sympathies are on the
| Russian side because the occupation of q
| Chinese province by a European power is
| an important precedent for her. But 1 viii
| tell you more about that when l get to
| China.
| The Voyage to Port Said
| 1t Is a delightful voyage of three days
| from Naples to Port Said, and we passed
/ through the Straits of Sicily, between
| Scyla and Charybdis, but the bluff ole
! Teuton who commands the K1achaou
\ doesn't care for all the sirens in mythology
| The volcano OF Stromboli stands immedi-
| ately In the course and is quite active now
| All of the italian volcanoes have been in q
| state of eruption during the past year. We
| suvius has roared and growled and thrown
| out a good deal of lava. Etna has made
| itself very dsa greeable and has frightened
| the Sicilians badly. Stromboli is an ex-
| elusive volcano, a monopolist, as you might
say, and occupies little island all alone