Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1904-10-10
QUEENS
JUBILEE
PRESENTS
Five Million Dollars Worth
at Worlds
Fair

st. Louis, Oct "The poor, dear
old Queen! Five million dollars worth
of presents and not thing she could
use. Not even sofa pillow to lay
her head on; not even pair of com.
Portable earpet-slippers for her tired
feet. "
This was James comment after look.
ing over Queen Victoria's IS jubilee pres.
ents which are displayed in 25 large
glass cases ON the upper floor of the
Hall of Congress She doubtless ex-
Pected to see an array of sugar spoons,
salad forks, clocks, card trays, linen
napkins and other useful things such
as are commonly bestowed upon the
brides of our town. John thought they
''might have given her manicure set
or autograph album just to make her
thing of old times.
But here are over four hundred
presents, mostly from the Queen s sub
jects in her colonies, and not one of
them of any use except a sumptious
carved ivory chair, the gift of the
Maharajah of Travancore. This chair
is valued at $950,OO0, and yet / doubt
if the Queen ever sat in it. The other
presents consist largely Of silver and
sandalwood caskets, richly carved, and
many of them inlaid with ivory. Many
of them are cylindrical in shape, doubt
less containing scrolls Of parchment
upon which the Queen s subjects wrote
their Fluctuations and good wishes. A
particularly costly and beautiful casket
came from the Sardar Edalii Khur-
shedji Motif and the Parsi community
of Surat. One naturally wonders why
the Sardar and the Parsi community
didn't send an automobile coat or a
necklace of pears or something real
swell.
There are caskets galore from Al.
lahabad, the Dewan of Palanpur AS.
sam, the Maharajah of Orcha, the Ra.
iah of Bobbili in vizagapatam, Mad.
ras, and whole lot of Indian Raias
and Princes. There are also royal sad.
dies and elephant tusks. The Indian
Rajas and Princes meant will, but
some one should have passed the word
around not to make any more caskets
or music cases. The two swarthy
British officers who are guarding these
presents are the biggest men l have
seen at the exposition. The Pata.
gonian giants are small beside them.
| asked one of them what the jubilee
presents were valued at. He said that
no one had undertaken to estimate their
value and that they were not insured.
! also learned that the presents shown
are only a tenth part Of what the
Queen received, and that their value
had been estimated by American sill.
versmiths at five million dollars.
Johns step was elastic, and his face
lighted up with pleasant expectancy
as we climbed the hill to the Japa.
nese pavilions and pagodas. John
swears by the little Jap. He wants
to see everything he does and every
thing he makes and ! must admit that
these little yankees of the East -
are by far the most interesting people
at the exposition. II is hard to think
of them shelling Port Arthur and
pounding the Cars army out Of its
boots, so gentle, unobstrusive and
mild-mannered are they. Not content
with occupying large portion Of each
exhibit palace with the products of
their skill and industry they have
thrown in this exhibit on the hill for
good measure. Passing through the
great carved wooden gates we sat dawn
in nearby tea house to rest and TO
drink some Formosa tea served by the
little japanese maidens who, Jane
says, care just too cute for anything" "