The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-03-31

colm Clarke. Copyright, l9Of, by W. h
 Hearst)
 n ERLIN, March SO.-Did a member N of the imperial family fight duel 0 the other day? And if so, was he wounded? are the questions which, more than anything else, are agitating the minds of the Berliners.
 This much is known-a bloody encounter did take place in Grunewald forst, just outside the Berlin Qualifications, between two men of high rank, one of whom went under the name of Count von Berken, while the others name is suppressed by the authorities, who, aside rom thls, have taken no steps to punish the duellists.
 It is generally known that the name and title "Count von Berken" are assumed, there being no Count of that name in the Almanac de Gotha, and 1t IS believed to be only a mask for parsonage or much higher rank; but the secret has been well kept, and nothing definite is known' except that this mysterious person fired a shot which went through the body of equally mysterious "Count von Berken, :" who is wrestling with death.
 On the very same day another bloody duel was fought outside Vienna between an army officer, Lieutenant von Szentka- tolna, and an author of considerable re- pute, Fritz Gruenbaum, who had quar- reled over a woman.
 The conditions of this duel, which are very different from the French, were that the duellists were to fight three rounds with cavalry swords, and finish with pistols if there happened to be enough left of both.
 The pistols were never used, for in the second round Gruenbaum was severely wounded in the right arm, just as he cut a deep gash in the lieutenants should CT, the duel ending in the most drammatic manner, the weapons fell from both duellists' hands at the same time.
 In Vienna newspaper the famous con- ductor, pr. Hans Richter, explains his reasons for declining a lucrative appoint ment In America, and at the same time expresses his opinion rather freely on America as a musical nation
 q shall never go to America the doc to says, 'because I can never forgive the American people that they did not protest against the dsgraceful theft of 'Parsfal' which, besides was far too great a work to be cast before a sensation loving crowd, totally unable to appreciate the beauties of this masterpiece.
 That the American public does not care for music, for music's sake, they amply proved by their narrow-minded. bigoted and unjusti1able attitude toward Richard Strauss 'Salome'"
 Fifty million dollars will have to be levied upon the already overburdened Ger man taxpayers for the purpose of widen ing the Kiel Canal. which is only twelve years old. and which connects the Baltic and the North seas.
 At the time of the construction of tho canal naval experts time and again stated that it was so narrow as to be useless within a few years, but the government as usual, smothered all criticism and de- clared that they knew what they were doing, and that the waterway need never be made wider.
 For this shortsightednass the German people are now asked, nay coerced, to pay for the canal as 1t is cannot be used by battleships of the modern size, and it will take ten years to enlarge 1t.
 The canal in its present shape cost S40,- o0O,000, and it's construction took eight years. By the time it has been enlarged it will probably again be anticipated and useless. It is not only in America that the digging of canals are ticklish enter prises.
 German wines may be good enough for the Kaiser. but they are at fault in this that a very large percentage of them are by no means related to grapes, according to revelations just made in the Reichstag and during the trial of a Bavarian wine merchant. accused of selling 'adulter- ated' wine.
 The merchant Kern, was fined S2500 after it had been shown that he had man. ufactured 55,000 gallons of "wine'' in one year from chemicals without one drop of grape juice.
 During a debate in the Reichstag the statement was made by Dr. Roszke that 267 wine merchants were customers of a concern dealing in injurious chemicals for adulterating wine, and during last year fnA nnA -I.f as wine were poured into various German rivers.
 Statues of the Emperor Francis Joseph and the Empress Elizabeth, intended for the new Hungarian Parliament House, have been rejected as too bad to erect as a public memorial.
 Karl Szechey, the Sculptor who designed the statues. did not live to carry them out, and the work was given to an Ital- ian sculptor. The result was lamentable.
 A committee of Hungarian artists ap- pointed to approve the work. or other wise. declared that the statues had been so badly carved that they would be a disgrace to the Parliament House. The president of the chamber of deputies agreed and rejected the work declaring that 1t would be an offense against good taste to erect it.
 A most serious question has been trou- bling the judges In the Berlin courts: .1S a young woman who serves behind the counter in a store allowed to perfume her. self?" The director of a large shop dis missed his head assistant because he said she used perfume to such a great extent that no one could remain in her presence without feeling faint. Every few mo- ments.' he said, "she sprinkles her hand kerchief or her blouse with this perfume She perfumes her face, she perfumes her hands. It is intolerable. Her fellow as- sistants shun her because the perfumed