Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-28

unite ca that the taxpayer has to pay for
the same number of ships, although tney
are much superior. Ihus the ass.es ~ the
comes much greater. In the case OF tne
French ships there is an increase from the
f93 As. of the standard ship OF ls''1 70 the
I112 1Ss. per ton of the Patrle, now pefnS
constructed. In the case OF Russia the ao-
vance has been from Els to practically flOO
for the best of the vessels which have been
put so Enthusiastically hors de combat IN
Port Arthur. The German haVai autnoli
ties are paving $50 per ton instead OF f66 OF
twelve wears ago The United states ex-
meet to pay for the new ships now being
laid down f97 ($4S5) per ton. 1t Will thus
be seen that in nearly all cases tne price
of battle ships has in the period embraced
Increased by from t22 to f2o per ton, or Dy
about 80 per cent to 80 per cent; II VIII
be noted, however, that the British ship OF
today is still of lowest cost.
Cost Of Armored Cruisers.
Dealing now with armored cruisers, it is
necessary to go back to the Australia class
In the British fleet, as between 1856 and the
Greasy Of 1899 no such vessels were Iald
down. The Australias cost EGO per ton,
while the vessels of the Duke of Edinburgh
class OF today, with their great gun power
work out to fs3 los. per ton. The French
commenced the construction OF the modern
armored cruiser at much earlier date tnan
Britain. The Dupuy de LONE, launched IN
1880, cost too per ton, while the Renan OF
today works out at tcO. tSuSSiG pau iiioiC
than f1t0 per ton for her latest armored
cruisers in the far east, as compared with
t;1 for those built twelve years ago and
still in the Baltic fleet. The cost of the
Kaiser's moderate-sZed modern armored
ships of the Deutschland class is t93 Us,
but there were no vessels twelve years ago
with which comparison can be established
The United States is to pay f90 per ton
for it's new Il, 500-ton cruisers. Here again
Britain gets the best value for the money
spent and the increase is greater than in
the case of battle ships roughly between
~ and so per cent The same holds good
practically of every type of craft.
w. Z. Henley's library was sold yester-
day at Sotheby's, and the total of the sale
was just over 1900. That WAS made up not
so much by any specially good prices
by the fact that there was no undressing
lot Even the parcels of the old pamphlets,
true accounts of trials, Georgian 'adven-
lures In London" and so on, fetched their
pound or two apiece, and in many other
cases the presence in the books of Henley's
book plate-a bull done in color for him by
William Nicholson. could alone account for
the prices. The best intrinsic price of the
day was ed for q set of the Henley Stevel-
son plays, Admiral Guinea" Beau Aus
TIM" "Macaire'' and Deacon Brodie." in
the original wrappers, privately printed
An earlier version of Deacon Brodie," with
many manuscript alterations and additions,
sold for IS los. There were twenty lots Of
Henleys own works, first editions many
annotated by him, which made roughly
from IL TO IL caCn.
Good Prices for Books.
The Edinburgh Stevenson, with the spe-
cially printed dedication to Mr.. and Mrs.
Henley went up to flo, and first editions
of Treasure Island" kidnapped and
Underwood were sold together for f. The
set of the Tudor translations fetched f34
los. Presentation copies of modern works
from their authors were innumerable. and
all sold well. Three Of Barrie's novels made
e. and parcels of ten novels by various
authors with inscriptions to Henley made
f2 to e. which, as novels go in the sales
room, Is good First editions of Swinburne
sold at an average of about t. each. Alto
gether the association of the books with
Henley had rather more effect than one had
expected.
We shall be hearing next of the theatre
calization of Sunday. Last Sunday night
there were as many as three stage fixtures.
The chief of these was the performance at
the Court Theater, confined to members
and guests of the Stage Society. Brown
ings Souls Tragedy was played, fol-
Thumb" partly written by Mr.. Frederick
Fem, son of George Manville Fem. With
Mrs Craigie presiding. there was gather
Cecil to consider ..the need and possibility
of repertoire theater. John Oliver
Hobbs is strong national theaterite, and
her hand is visible in the Academy week.
ly in furtherance of her views.
Sunday Theatrical Activity.
The Old PIaygoers' Club also gathered In
force the same night at the Criterion to
discuss the equally vexed question of the
aters and music halls, with lead for the
halls from Mr.. George Fuller Golden. And
more OF these Sunday activities are prom
Used In a new direction, for the Mermaid
Society has been organized by Mr.. Philip