The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-04
Ambassador Reid Living in Royal s pIendor at St. James
FLOWERS ARE EXPENSIVE
Another Floating Palace of the Sea. New Postmaster Began as a Let
 ter Carrier-Sad Fate of
 Helress-Hunting Count.
BY SEWELL HAGGARD.

fAelu, Iofmefly eulIOr or the New l Ork Tribune, and now the ambassador of the United States to the Court of St. James is piling up trouble for future ambassadors. No representative of this country in London has ever made the American embassy so important from social standpoint, which means the spending of an enormous amount of money for entertainings. The popu- lar saying among New York folks, who know the Reids, is that the ambassa- dor's salary would not pay for his flowers.
 Until MT. Reid's appointment Ameri- ca had been represented in England by the plain or garden variety of cit izens who did't care to shine in so- ciety. MT. Reid has changed all that, and there being no international com plications to distract his attention, he has been able to set q pace in lavish h hospitality for two seasons that has never been known before and which
 sets a precedent that only a millionaire ambassador can follow. For distinc- tion of formality one might take Dor chester house for a royal residence. Like the King himself, MT. Reid has
  hold expenditures. The controller is the Hon. William Walsh, Lord Ormath- waits son, who Is a sort of major dome, treasurer and secretary com dinded. There is very little difference between his functions and those of the Kings controller who takes care of the expenditure at Buckingham palace.
 Heretofore American ministers and amb bassadors have been handicapped by the frugal stipend allowed them by their government. MT. Reid Is wealthy man and he cares nothing for the salary that attaches to the office Outside of the salary the government pays nothing but the rent of the gov ernment offices In Westminster.
 Before going to London, Mir. Reid, as minister to France, set a new pace among our diplomats In Paris he paid s20, 900 year for his residence and en- tertained lavishly He first gained noto- riety in London when he went there for the coronation and took Brook house at cost of $5000 a week. In his efforts for court splendor he even resorted to knee brooches which brought down on his head storm of criticism at home.
 MT. Reid receives a salary of s17,500 a year as ambassador and it 1t is said that one year his bills for the floral decorations of Dorchester house | amounted to more than $20,000. For Dorchester house he pays a rental of more than $25000 year. To this may be safely added expenditures amount ing to at least s2o0,00o.
 Will the limit ever be reached In the floating hotels of the sea? Early in Sep tember the new express steamer, the Lusitana of the Cunard line, will make its first trip to this port, when 1t is expected all records for transatlantic speed will be broken. The vessel Is pro- pelled by the greatest marine turbines yet | constructed.
 Not "a" but "the" leviathan of the sea is this great liner, beside which tho 1 largest steamships now in the transatlan- l tic trade seem small. The great size of | the Lusitania may be realized when it | is known that with an ordinary amount of l carg mad passengers the throbbing mass
 of steel and fittings will weigh more than
 45, ,OGO tons. She is 75O feet in length SS | feet in breadth and GO feet on moulded | depth, with a load draught of 3 feet | Inches. The turbine engines which are 10 l drive the four propellers of the liner at ] twenty-one knot gait are to develop 7OoOO l horse power. or nearly 25000 horse power l more than the great quadruple reciprocat- | ing engines of the Kaiser Wilhelm II. or the North German Lloyd line, the highest | type of their kind in the world The carriage and housing of 550 first | class 300 sedpnd-cass and more than 1900 l third-class passengers have been provided | for, and with officers and crew the Lusl- ] tania will have more than 5000 persons on l board This complement is not as large as some of the recent ships of smaller ton l mage, but in the Cunarder more space has been given over to the individual than ever before on a liner.
 As to the comfort of the passengers, the officials of the line say the ruling idea is a floating palace for the first-class pas
 sengers, flrst-rate hotel for those in the second cabin, and a comfortable sea home for the 1900 persons in the steerage. The last named will have berthed cabins which
 few years ago were considered good enough for frst-class voyagers. The in-
 creased room for those in the first cabins
 will be particularly noticeable. Roomi- ness is the watchword of the ship.
 At the dining hour passengers can
 choose between dining la carte in gold and white salon in the empire style, or table dhote in a rich mahogany dining room. where the tables are arranged for parties as small as six persons. Fire places with cheerful burning coals in stormy weather and windows shaped and curtaned as in a private residence re- move the shiplilze look inside.
 This city has a postmaster who has come up in the service-something un- heard of in this country of politics and politicians. Twenty-four years ago Ed ward w Morgan became a letter car Tier in the local postoffce. Step by step, though slowly, he advanced until now he occupies the most important office in the postal service outside of Washing ton
 Morgan never dreamed that he would ge- the place, neither did any one else. What, shove the politicians aside and appoint a man with absolutely no recom- fnendation but his twenty-four years in the service? It was too much to believe. But that Is just what the President did, mich to the disgust of the local republic-