Omaha daily bee., 1905-09-02
OTHER LANDS THAN ours.

When Abdul Hamid II dies the. European
powers will again have Turkey on their
hands The sultans health is impaired and
It is predicted that he will not live much
longer. The Turkish courtlers already, in
various agreeable ways, are seeking to
| work themselves into the good graces OF
the heir to the crown, Mohammed Reshad.
| the sultan's brother. The chances are that
| some novel history will be made when he
ascends the throne. He Is more than 90
years old and grossly illiterate, his ac-
complishments in the line Of education
| going scarcely beyond the ability TO read
and write. or the worlds history or that
Of the Turkish empire he knows little or
nothing. Even in a land OF oppression and
| ignorance he Is remarkable for his super
stitiousness His brother, the sultan, fear
| full Of plots, discouraged any earlier ambi-
! tions the heir apparent may have had, and
royal discouragements in Turkey lead 10
gruesome results when not needed. In ad-
dition to all this Mohammed Reshad Is said
to be a confirmed drunkard. one report
| having Il that alcohol is now his only
| solace. The contrast this presents with the
present sultan. whose adroitness has often
baffied the most accomplished dplomatists
! of Europe is very great When the next
| ruler of the Ottoman empire takes the
throne the sick Man of Europe" will re-
quire the attention Of all his doctors.
|
This summer has been unusually prolific
OF attempts by English swimmers to swim
across the channel between Dover and
Calais. Several unsuccessful efforts were
made by various aspirants before Thursday
last, when four started from the English
shore. The day happened to be the thir-
A. A. - N,e.
Captain Webb who still is celebrated as
the only man who ever swan across the
| channel. All those who made the attempt
on Thursday were unable to finish the task
| although one of them at least had pre-
! viously succeeded in approaching within
five miles of the French shore, the distance
across being twenty-five miles. The cause
of these numerous failures is the strong
cross currents and the tides which to-
gether appear to be quite unmanageable by
swimmers. These currents and tides have
been minutely studied in late years in order
that exact knowledge OF them might aid
one in performing the feat, but evidently
the crossing of the channel by any swim
mer must always be largely a matter of
luck in finding ideal conditions for the ef-
fort Captain Webb probably was higher
favored by wind and water when he
achieved his memorable success
|
During the ten years from 1890 to 1900
the German government expended sum OF
SIS 100000 on inland waterways, mainly for
the canalization of rivers. Within the last
few weeks a most extensive program has
been approved by the Prussian government
involving the expenditure Of over $90,0O00O0.
The greater portion of this money will
be devoted to building a canal from the
Rhine to the Weser The waterways from
stettin to Berlin are to be rendered navi-
gable for large vessels at a cost of 81 900, 600
and smaller sums to be spent on the
waterways between the oder and the Wis.,
tula. For future work the plans include
the canalization of the Moselle- -Saar, the
connection OF Leipzig with Briza. the
Elba, and a canal from Schwerin to the
Baltic sea is also contemplated. France
has spent since 1872 no less than $500 900, 900
for canals Four years ago appropriations
Of S1OOO0,00O were voted for further canal
work and the money has been expended
on improving the navigation of the Gar
onne the Orleans and other canals in
tended to link C1mbleux to Orleans and
Cette End Marselles with Rhone. Other
continental governments show no less en-
thusiasm for canals. Austria-Hungary
voted a credit of $50 100000 two years ago
for the construction of canals between the
Danube and the oder and thence to the
Elbe and the Vistula. When this work is
accomplished further schemes are to be
authorized. In Belgium the splendid system
of waterways and canals plays an active
part In the commercial and Industrial en-
terprise of the country; there is one mile
Of waterway in Belgium to every S.3 square
miles of territory. For centuries Holland
has been threaded with canals, yet in the
last forty years nearly $S50O0,OO0 has been
expended on improvements and extensions,
the most important canal being that con-
Meeting Amsterdam with the Rhine. Even
in conservative Russia a survey has re-
Gently been started for the long talked of
canal from the Baltic to the Black sea,
Notwithstanding the summer heat a dill
gent French statistician has been very
busily engaged in computing the amount
OF the poutboires, or tips, given in France
annually to walters, cabmen, box openers
at theaters, concierges, etc. The sums thus
spent amount to nearly 500,000000 francs
or 10000, 900. In Paris alone el2, 900 changes
hands in this way daily. The statistician
says that 1t means a tax of centlmes
on each Partisan every day, taking the big
sum mentioned for the whole population,
including those who have no call to give
tips as well as others who spend a good
deal of their time in cafes. The yearly
, amount OF tips given In Paris is about 100,
} 10000 francs. In the provinces it reaches
3T2,0OOOOO francs. which gives a tax OF 3
centimes daily for each French person liv-
ing in the departments. The statistician
claims TO have got as near 10 the truth
, as possible. The TIP system undeniably
hourishes in France. and there are nc
signs of its approaching abolition, despite
the periodic campaigns organized against It.
The curious and rather puzzling alterna-
tions in the development Of the torpedo
destroyer find a fresh illustration in the
I new contracts entered into for the con
struction of the latest group Of British
) destroyers. In the program of 1S97-lS9s the
highest speed realized on a maximum dis
} placement of $50 tons was thirty-one and a
) half knots, though thirty-two to thirty
three knots was attempted by several build
lers. When the river" class was laid down
the required speed was reduced to twenty
hve and a half knots. and the displace-
[ ment was increased in order to meet the
demands OF fuel capacity But this retro.