The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-04-21

&
as when inspecting and correcting de-
signs for d new building or planning the
laying out Of an estate. To the keenness
of his eye for the beautiful in landscape.
Brussels owes many II hes open spaces,
from which delightful views Of the sur
rounding country can be obtained The
summer palace Of the King IS at fackeu.
suburb OF Brussels. The park and
grounds plainly show the influence Of the
( Kings love for horticulture and horieui-
1 ture. The Conservatives at Lacken ara
counted as the finest private ones in tbs
world. While the many fine qualities Of
/ King Leopold are honOred and acknowl-
edged by his subjects. and his able rule
/ IN his prosperous and densely populated
kingdom are indisputable. yet the peO-
| pie of Belgium consider him cruel and
unnatural father and his harsh treat
meat Of his daughters, particularly bis
conduct toward the ex-Crown Princess
Stephanie Of Austria, at the time Of her
mothers queen LOutse's) death. is not
/ forgotten or forgiven.
The new Central Criminal Court in Lon
| don, or the new "Old Bailey as IT viii
probably be always known. is simply
magnificent. There is marble everywhere.
as I have already stated in this column.
/ The marbles are ciDolinian, from the
! famous quarres at Marmar, and are Of
/ all shades and cOlOrs on the walls, the
| floors. and the staireases; stained glass
windows elaborate frescoes, beautiful
azure mosaic arches studded with glls-
tening stars. Ike precious gems in hand
some settings. are to be seen. From the
main hall. which is lofty and spacious,
/ access 20 the four courts Is obtained The
/ beauty Of the place, however, has a some
what Earring effect on the mind with the
| reflection of how much sorrow and sin
will be brought to light, and how many
/ tears are to be shed within this gorgeous
building. The Old Bailey dark. somber,
and f0rbidding. was more ia keeping with
( the trials and eNecutisns of criminals
than the new building. with its light and
/ almost gay decorations. The courtrOoms
are In remarkable contrast They are OF
] plain oak. hard and uninvirng with
/ whiteWashed walls. The opening cere-
mOny of the sessions was the same as
( obtained in the old court, with the usual
! procession of goTgeously attired officials.
including the lord mayor. sheTiffs, sword
bearer. mace~bearer. and city marshal
The officials seemed ili az ease and lost
/ in the new building. Those who are fa-
miiar with the characteristic gloom and
. Z
feel so in The midst Of so much bright
ness and light. The only reminder Of the
old court was the sword Of justice look
ing ridiculousiy small and trumpery
against some heavy oak carvings. Ii
seemed also TO sadly need d little rubbing
up
To the financial genius Of the late Sir
William Harcourt Great Britain owes the
reorganized death duties, which promise
10 he d continually growing source Of
revenue to the chancellor Of the ex-
chequer. The total receipts from the
death duties for the British financial year.
which ends March 81. were nearly 1s.-
UJ1,e90 sterling, about S95,001g9. This ex-
ceeds the records Of any previous year,
! During the twelve years from 1885 TO 1905
tac payments into the exchequer have ex-
ceeded the budget estimates by more than
eS.510000, and during the same period
1he Death duties have exceeded the
budget by 20l.0d0O9 sterling. which. ac-
eording 10 the current rates of exchange,
means over Sl.0900 .051. No one estate
during the present year has paid even
half as much as that of Chicago" Smith,
who died in 1899. and whose executors
paid IN E90009. the largest sum received
+ 50 far from any estate. Almost the whole
Of Mr.. George Smiths estate was charged
AT the rate of IS per cent-that is. SIS on
, the e1o0-because his property was left 10
persons not of his kin, or only remotely
akin Mr.. James Henry Smith (Sient
Smith, Of New York. who lately died IN
Japan, and who inherited about $lSol0.uol
, from Mr. George Smith, was not his
t nephew, but the son Of a cousin. and the
other residuary Iegatee was not relation
] at al. Direct heirs-children, widows.
2 and nephcWs-do rot have to pay such
an enormous percentage on au inherit
= anCe as the above. Still, the charges on
e "a dead mans estate i'm Great Britain are
D very great. and in some cases are such h
3 hardship that il means poverty for some
heirs. if not ruin.
The prime ministers of France and
England have been taking well-de-
, served Easter holiday. NJ. Clemenceau.
accompanied by NJ SaTraut. his under sec
rotary of state. and Gen. Picquart. left
Paris on Easter eve for a visit 20 Spain
They went first to Madrid and afterward
to- the fair at Seville. winding up their
tour at Algeciras. Sir Henry Campbell
/ Bannerman LEFT on the morning Of Good
Friday for Cannes, in the south Of
t France The British premier was accom-
panied by Mr.. Arthur Ponsonby. his pri-
= vate secretary. They were the guests Of
Lord RendeI while on the Riviera.
The revival of the Gilbert and Sullivan
. operas in London has been d great sue
cess. Queen Alexandra. accompanied by
her sister the Empress Marie Feodorov-
ma. Of Russia. and Princess Victoria.
went to hear THE Gondoliers' in Easter
= week. On Friday. April q, the royal sis
. ters left England together, the Empress
p to return to Russia after short stay in
Paris. strictly inc0gnito. and Queen Alex
? andra TO join the king on the royal yacht,
! in the Bay Of Biscay, 20 go 10 Cartagena
I TO meet the King Of Spain.
Tho japanese public at Osaka are much
exercised over the question of mixed
p dancing in that town. A Japanese news
: paper. the Mainiehi. is waging a deter
mined fight against the European style Of
= dancing IT was introduced in Tokyo
about twenty years ago. and the japanese
people at once rose against IT. Western
= dancing promptly vanished, except as a
e part of a function in which the foreign
E element takes part. Now it Is cropping
, up again. TO the objection of the natives
. NJ. Pichon. French minister for for
. eign affairs. has received an intima-
= ton that the Chinese government has
given its consent to series of trials and
:. contests with Partisan automobiles. 10
take place in the Chinese capital These
5 competitions will occur on June 10 at
Pskin.'
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