Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-07
EDWARD GETTING FAT
Must Take to Banting and
Avoid Automobiles.
NEW MORNING CONCERT FAD
London County Council Faced With a
Problem.
DICKENS SHOP TO COME DOWN
st. Petersburg Said to Be the Happy
Hunting Ground of Medium
istic Fakirs.
DICKENS SHOP TO COME DOWN


Special Correspondence of The Star.
LONDON. July 80, 1907.
| King Edward has recently been advised
by his physicians to take a greater amount
| of walking exercise than he has been ir
| the habit of doing. For he has begun tt
| increase his weight again and he looks
| very fat this summer. 1t Is hoped to coun.
teract this by means of a steady walk each
day. During the time he has been staying
at Buckingham Palace the king has, there.
fore. had at least an hours walk around
the grounds every day and has already ex-
perienced great benefit from this change,
When he ts on the continent, of course,
the king takes walking exercises as part
of the cure" but at home he finds in the
ordinary course very little time for this, or.
indeed. almost any other form of exercise.
Some Of the kings increase in weight Ia
due to the large amount Of motoring In
which he INDUCES. and under these cir
cumstances his medical advisers will
probably restrict his motoring in the
future.
New Fashion Adopted.
New fashions spring up every season in
society. This year one Of the most notable
has been the giving Of real morning
concerts-that is to say. a few hostesses
who found the press of engagements too
great to secure free afternoon or even
ing 10 themselves have entertained their
guests with music from noon to O'Clock,
after which luncheon was in some cases
served to all who remained. One of these
hostesses was Mrs. Frederick Eckstein,
Wl1e OF q millionaire partner in the South
African firm of Wernher, Belt & Co. She
occupies the house in Park lane formerly
owned by Whitaker Wright and next door
10 London 1 House Another morning
an American. OF course, there are COM
paratively few men at these entertain
ments. but ladies say that they enjoy
them immensely.
Motors Are Increasing. q
One hardly needs the help Of official fig
ures to know that the number OF motor
cars in and about London Is rapidly in
creasing. AS matter Of fact, in the month
Of June alone 64s cars were registered at
the London registry This brings up the
London total to 1880. In addition there
are 652l motor cycles and 7.4dO heavy
cars. The record shows that since the
beginning Of the county councils admins
tration 3.476 cars have changed hands, and
2,72S motor cycles. The number of licenses
Is now os.O52. Some inroad is being made
on the alphabet for index marks, The limit
number Of four figures has been reached
under the marks "a" and IA c." and as
the available numbers under IL. N" are
becoming exhausted the local government
board Is to be asked to assign to the council
uhe addltlona index mark IL. B." This
sort OF thing Keeps UP ones faith In the
hugeness or London very nicely.
Landmark to Be Demolished.
The little. low-browed shop at the corner
OF Lincoln's Inn Fields. known to all con-
hdins tourists as the genuine "Old Curiosity
Shop Of Dickens. has been a good example
hot
long. 1t has survived many rumors of its
demolition. but 1t is to go at last. It was
only question Of time. for the site has
been gradually rising in value for many
years. The shop. whose windows filled with
Dickens post cards and engravings, are
better known to the tourist than to the
average Londoner. has now its walls
smeared with posters announcing it's end
1t is expected to be in the hands Of the
housebreakers next month, and Office build
ings will rise In Its place The Old Curl
osity Shop has history even apart from its
legendary place In Dickens. There Is a
story that the building, which was origin
ally two tiny shops instead of one, was a
dairy belonging to Louise de Querouaille,
created Duchess Of Portsmouth by Charles
II. More certainly II was for many years
in the hands Of old Tessyman, Thackeray's
bookbinder. one Of the most original fig
ures on the outskirts Of nineteenth century
literature. He was a close friend Of Dick
ems. Thackeray and Cruikshank, the first
OF whom he used to speak Of as Light
ming the second as Sugar and the last
curios. he delighted in giving 6urlesoue
limitations Of the stage favorites Of his
time.
Meeting Of the Rulers.
Though the Journey Of the car and the
Russian imperial family to the hords of
Finland has been postponed. the rumors of
a meeting with the Kaiser still persist,
both tn st. Petersburg and Berlin. The date
fixed is the first fortnight in September
The postponement Of the journey to the
f1ords of Finland Is due to the influence of
the court camarilla. which has invented q
story Of plot against the Cars life IN
order to brighten him into remaining in
Tsarko-Selo as its prisoner. The car is
beginning to show again, under the In
to mysticism, and this. together with the
fear Of attempts on his life. Is made use of
to keep him cut off from the outer world.
At the head OF the court camarilla are
Baron Fredericks. the minister OF the court
Prince Orloff. Count Benckendorf. marshal
of the court and Prince Putjatin. The lat
ter, on the advice OF Grand Duke Peter
Nikolaievitch. brought number of monks
and pilgrims to Peterhof. Chief among
these is the Holy Militia" who has been
specially brought from the Crimea- Militia
Is regarded in Peterhof a kind of higher
being. He has very fine voice. sings Rus
sian ballads. invokes spirits, and, another
Russian characteristic. drinks heavily. In
the villa belonging to the Grand Duke Peter
Nikolaievitch. whittier the car drives nearly
every day in his automobile. other ''masi-
clans" are to be found. Many OF them
have more than doubtful regulations. but
they are attached to the court OF the grand
duke and therefore enjoy complete protec-
ton and immunity.
The Holy Militia" Is not the only
spiritualist who has enjoyed the favor OF
Doc Philippe Of Lyons was all pow
erfui. He was the favorite not only Of the
car. but of the grand dukes. who showered
money and presents on him. But Russian
money and honors did not satisfy him,
and he persuaded the car to make a re-
quest. addressed to the French govern
mont, that he should be really created
doctor by the Universte de France AS he
was only an ex-chemst's assistant, and
known in France to be a charlatan O: the
worst kind. the French government fiatly
refused to do anything Of the kind
When Philippe's star began to wane he
was succeeded by another Frenchman as
court magician This was the notorious
Papus, who made a certain sensation in
spiritualistic circles in Paris by his seances
where by his nominations he called up the
spirits of all kinds of departed heroes He
was finally arrested charge OF trying
to poison rival magician" However
the charge fell through and Papus was re-
laas ed After Papus fell from the imperial