The National tribune., 1907-09-05

aside. and striding with much bahy
dignity to the front of the box. standS
at attention upon his chair, the En-
press fondly arranging his jaunty er-
I'line cap. One after another the Cos
sack companies file by in columns Of
four. their eyes fixed in alteration upon
the little white figure of their Grand
He;man, who prettily returns their sa-
iutes. Then. amid the clash of Gym Dals
ard blare of trumpets, all pass out into
the darkness, and in the great rldlnS
school none are left save the CosSacks,
who standing at attention, still gaze
upon the little chair which n few mo-
ments before had sustained the slight
weight of their beloved little Grand
Hetman.
Miss Gladys Vanderbilt would seem
to be a very enviable young person. She
has only very recently passed her 2lst
birthday. IS unusually attractive and
lovable. and has Just come into posses
sion of The tidy little sum of Sf2.5G9. 000
left her by her father. the late Carne-
lius Vanderbilt who in his will provid-
ed that the final distribution of his
property should not be made till Miss
Gladys. his Youngest child. became of
age. Cornelius Vanderbilt left five chit
dren, three boys and two girls. hut no
mention whatever is made in his Will Of
the son named for him, who. il VIII be
remembered, incurred his fathers seri-
Gus dfspleasure by his marriage with
Miss Wilson. Miss Gladys and her
mother have been in Europe for some
time enjoying themselves. and incident
ally picking up rare old curios for the
Newport home THE Breakers" They
returned to this country on account of
the 21st birthday.
The Vatican is said to be shockingly
out of repair. There are acres of roofs,
and these are full of leaky places. The
pictures from certain galleries in the
palace, the flooring of which has been
so insecure for years that not more
than so people were allowed to enter
them at one time, have been removed TO
safer and more convenient part of the
building. Obviously necessary repairs
and restorationS are made during each
pontificate, but the spirit of economy
has always influenced these, and as Plus
X. is known to be extremely economical.
the makeshift policy of the past will
probably prevail now. Workmen are
busy on the old building at present. but
instead of the enormous sums which it
has been said were to be spent in put
ting the Vatican in proper shape. only
S25O,0OO is to be used for this purpose.
The expense of fitting mp new apart
ments in the palace for the Cardinal
Secretary of State, who has been occu-
pying the Borgia Palace. has been de-
frayed by a wealthy Spanish prelate.
who has also paid for the restoration of
the famous Borgia galleries. The Vati-
can is the largest palace in the world
We are told that nothing in this
world is absolutely useless or without
some pecuniaTy value. and certainly We
are constantly hearing of enterprising
individuals who have discovered hither-
to unsuspected monetary values in this
or that, and of very comfortable livings
being made from the sale of something
considered worthless from a money
point of view. A dead fly would seem
to he about as valueless a commodity on
the market as could be found. yet dead
flies sell in England for 80 cents a
pound. England practically has no flies
which are admirable food for chickens,
Gagged birds. fish in aquariums. etc,
while. on the other hand. the Amazon
River in South America is covered with
them. They swarm in immense num-
bers just above the waters edge, and
the BraZilians float down the stream in
boats and scoop them in by the mil
lions. and when ton has been accumu-
lated they are shipped abroad, princi-
pally to England. A few years ago the
Brazilian Government stopped this ex-
portation, fearing the fish in the rivers
would not get enough 10 eat but the
prohibition is now removed. Formerly
they sold for 10 cents a pound, bu; the
demand has become so great now that
the price has advanced to 80 cents This
world is still full of saleable things ly-
ing away, out Of sight of the ordinary
observer. Those who can think hard
enough can, as if by magic, bring out
into the open something in which, per-
haps, fortune lies buried.
That "all the world loves a lover is
true, yet there are times and occa sions
when the lovers themselves would be
entirely willing 10 dispense with the
manifestations of sympathetic interest
bestowed upon them by their friends
The time-honOred custom of throwing
rice upon the bride and bridegroom is
idiotic. yet no wedding. seems quite com
picte without this roliicking senG-ofr
which frequently degenerates into really
rough treatment of the departing, hap
py pair. To a sensitive young man or
girl the unmistakable announcement by
the tell-tale rice of the fact that they
are fresh from the hands Of the minister
as they step into car OF hotel. is most
unpleasant. Ever: girl breads the rice
throwing which she knows must form,
"a part OF her wedding. yet she smilingly
submits 10 Il. No bride yet has had the
courage TO protest The Rev. Theodore
r. Meycr, pastor of one of the wealth
lest Roman Catholic churches in Ra-
cine, Wis, has, however, taken the
matter into his hands. on the occasion
If a wedding at which he odiciated re-
Gently the merry crowd of young people
stood ready with the rice waiting for
;hc newiy-wcd couple TO depart The
happy pair appeared and tried in vain
TO dodge the shower OF rice winch de-
scended. upon them. the little bride
picking up her skirts and making for
the carriage. The merciless crowd of
loving friends pursued them. when the
priest raised his hand dramatically and
,orbid them TO throw another grain
Father Meyer afterwards issued an or
der condemning the practice absolutely
prohibiting any continuance of il in his
parish.
While It is far from being an uni
versal custorn-alas, how ardent!y wo-
men wish ii were-yet there are many
men who hand over to their wives prac-
tically all their earnings. We are told
that some years ago Count Leo Tolstoi.
finding his wealth an embarrassment in
the preaching of his gospel of the Sim
pie life," was about to divide il I'D
among the peasants whose conditions
he was laboring to ameliorate His good
wife. fortunately more practical than
he, tnterfered, reminding him that ne
was the father of 15 children who had
some claims upon his property. The
Count then saw the matter in differ
ent light. and agreed TO keen his money