Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-06
PROVED BIG SUCCESS
London's New Tube Railway
Opened.
SYSTEM IS APPRECIATED
Gossip About King Edwards Sojourn
at Biarritz.
WEARING OF THE SHAMROCK
Comment on the Sale Of Nelson's
Memorandum to His Fleet
Before Trafalgar
Special Correspondence of The Star.


Special Correspondence of The Star.
LONDON. March 10. 1906.
The new tube railway, which was opened
last Saturday between Baker street and
waterloo station, and which is already nick
named Bakerloo, Is running with con-
spicuous success. 1t exactly supplies q line
which has been for years, and Judging by
the immense numbers of passengers the
trains carry daily, Is appreciated by the
mass of suburbanites living In the many
charming river towns southwest of London.
In general style the new tube is like the
first of its kind, but many novelties and i'm
provements have been introduced, always
with the ultimate aim of increased safety in
travelling. Thus the tunnel is lighted
throughout at intervals of forty feet; there
Is a track made Of cement and granite fll-
ing between the rails; the carriages are
built of steel and minimum of woodland
even taht Is non-inflammable; the electric
current is cut automatically in case Of
accident, and the lighting is independent OF
electricity Tor traction. The stations, too,
have each their individual and distinctive
colorings, worked out in artistic patterns
in brightly glazed tiles. Passengers on Sat-
urday admired all they saw and were CRATE
full for the line, which links up the populous
south with AL the shops and theaters' on
the north side.
Londoners have good cause now to know
that the tube system is really the only sys-
tenn for an underground electric railway;
that is to say if you want to travel rapidly
and certainly you must go by system
which has only two lines working straight
to and fro between two points The odd I'M
foreground, with its circle about London IN
vaded by tangents from eight or ten out
lying places is being found out in it's weak
spots. The effort for rapid transit is being
made and at first every one was glad. But
now one goes to take train on that sys-
", aIa-- n..rfo f,,tNy Jar nf
it is true, you make your journey as you
meant to. and in time. But the complica-
ton of the many feeding lines, the ending
of routes at central stations and the cross
ing points the rails-these things mean
perpetual breakdowns.
The underground may yet have to come
to a rearrangement of Its system. 1t may
have to work on the principle of keeping
It's circle trains flying round and round in
very rapid succession and keeping every
thing else out of the circle by making pas
sengers from outlying places change at the
point where they touch the circle. Inere
would be trouble, of course, but as the
motor buses increase the older forms or
locomotion cannot afford to be unsound. As
il is even the new tube starts In some
anxiety. The motor bus covers at least
pa rt of the route, and does II at less charge
to the passenger 1t starts, however, Win
fine bit of work TO its credit. l am toln
that it carries over 600 passengers DAY.
Yet there is no great crowd visible In the
stations so that this enormous NUMBER OF
neOnle must be swallowed up and carried
away with a skill and precision that DO
credit to the new line. One can rely on
catching trains by It's means at the p1g SUI
tons which 1t approaches One does nor
rely on anything of the kind in the under-
ground
From a letter received this morning from
friend at Biarritz this may be quoted:
Our rooms at this hotel-Hotel du Palals-
lcok down on the kings private entrance,
and we have seen him go off and come
SEX in his car which is beauty. He Is
very lame still, looks in excellent spirltsi
but Is portly and certainly aged for MS
years" On another authority, II may De
mentioned that on the table of the king
sitting room are the following new DOCKS:
Maj Martin Hume's Wives OF Henry
Will" Winston Churchill,s Life of Ran
delphi Churchill" Charles Whlbeys Pitt,
several French novels and one Englsh
one. and Temple Tburston's Trafhc.
Many people may be Interested in ano"lhs
what is selected for the kings holiday.
One extra ordinary incident recently hap
pened at court. During the time that
Lord Acton was going through his first
term as ord-in-waiting it TRANSFERRED that
neither the acting secretary nor any or
those surrounding the king were able 10
write letter in German, and the King ex-
pressed himself much indebted when LORD
Acton volunteered to be his private amaa-
uensis in German. The whole thing was,
of course, temporary accident, but u
proves how the court has changed from
that of the late queen For In Queen VIC
toria's time the conversation was generally
carried on In German when no%strangers
were present, and such an occasion as this
could not possibly have happened.
With reference to the conversion of Prin-
csss Ena. correspondent who ought to ne
IN position TO know writes that imrne-
diately after the death of Prince Henry
Princess Beatrice was herself most anx-
| L. f,,t. pn,,o AM Vn .fz
Church Queen Victoria, however, firmly
forbade IT, telling her that If after three
years she still desired 1t that would be an
other matter At the end of that period
nothing more was said on the subject be-
tween mother and daughter, but 1t has al
ways been considered among her friends
that in her easy-going, tolerant good-na-
tured way, Princess Henry of Battenburg
has at least as favorable views of Roman
Catholicism as of the established church.
4
X
When Queen Victoria ordered her irish
soldiers to wear the shamrock on st. Pat
rick,s day she set fashion that has since
grown year by year. The Irish nationai
emblen used TO be IN exclusive possession
OF the Irish nationalist party. and to
wear 1t was almost to stamp oneself a
traitor to the union Nowadays not only
all Irishmen, but great many Englishmen
have "A shamrock buttonhoie st. Pat
ricks day "A Convent Garden dealer toid
me the other day that he has never be-
fore had so many orders for shamrock, anu
he believed that the supply in London
would not be large enough to meet the de-
mand for today This English interest II.
the shamrock has brought up new irish
industry. small as yet. but containing pos
sibiities- Several shamrock farms have
been started in various parts of Irelapi.
One of these. from which the queen mas
ordered supply, is at Cuileenamore m
County Sligo. and is the property OF Mrs
Aeneas Nuttall. This lady has a large
tract of ground on sunny hillside facing
the Atlantic. given over entirely To sham
rocks Then Lady Limerieks Shamrock
League sends large supplies TO England
the proceeds being devoted to charity Many
shamrock dealers employ peasant women