The Washington herald., 1907-03-03

the right hand or the hostess az smart 1
luncheon the other day, "and Americans /
ought 70 know more about her. She is 2 |
Southern woman, tall, graceful with the |
manners Of the old school and no longer |
young. since she has ma-%ed sons, but 1
she belongs to that class whose sympa- |
thies are so broad, whose understanding /
Is so comprehensive that they never grow !
Old. For the many years Mr.. Mason was |
the chief Of the consulate in Berlin. Mrs
Mason was an angel 10 all the Americans /
stranded there. This means little to you, /
perhaps, this expression stranded, but
TO any one who has lived in Berlin and
knows of that great colony of students
thousands of them, who go over there
with no knowledge of foreign life, with
false idea of the cost of maintaining
themselves, and without knowing a word
OF the language, it means everything. It
means that large portion of Gen.
Mason S salary was spent IN charity, and
the greater part of Mrs Masons time
was given to aid her unfortunate country
women, for it is the women and not the
men who generally come to grief. Oh. /
could tell you so many instances of the
cruel things that happen over there
heart-oreaking things-but I don't want
10 monopolize the stage"
% could l. broke in her najgbbor.
and though love Europe and am always
refreshed by visit there. after a strenu-
Gus winter In Washington. I don't think
Il IS wise for me TO go, for become such
bad American. I almost hate my coun-
try and my countrymen. Think of the
silly mothers who allow their talented
daughters to go alone across the broad
ocean TO a strange land, among a strange
people, whose standards are entirely diff |
ierent from ours. on a pittance that would
not keep them from starvation in the
smallest town in America Half OF the
girls who go are deluded by the opinion
OF the village oTganst or some other
great authority who pronounced them
genuiSes, ind before they have studied
music Tor six months that there is moth /
ing IN them, that they have 'knack' for
catching tunes, but no real musical talent
10 aptitude for the hard work. the ire
mendOus labor that IL takes 20 make a
musician; and think of government that
makes no provision for these stranded
children. these poor misdirected waffsl
At the foreign Offices Of every other coun-
try IN the world The unfortunates who
come to grief IN a strange land are taken
care Of. Not so with us. The HELM that
IS given TO the mistaken and unfortunate
citizens Of the United States in foreign
cities comes from private contributions. |
On my last visit I gave all the money |
had expected 20 spend for clothes and
other frivOlities in Paris TO help two poor
deluded children, who came from bit of
"a town in Kansas, to help them home
again, and to bury an old woman who
n rvfr TO -ft rTr-l
music, and who, failing utterly to accom- |
plish anything, had lived on her wits and
on charity ever since
Unhappily, this is all true. and the last
century showed no more noble charitable |
work than that of an Englishwoman. |
Ada Leigh, who undertook to help the /
poor stranded girls, American as well as
English, in Paris and London. and the !
founding OF the American Girls Club by /
Mrs. WhiteIaw Reid In Paris when her /
husband was stationed there as Ambassa- /
dor. Mrs. Mason has worked quite as ear
nestly and devotedly as these two women.
Her notebook would tell pitiful tales of
the people she has helped, but not only
was she a friend TO the poor for every
American in Berlin I'm stress or trouble
went TO her with their woes. She settled
love affairs. reunited discordant husbands
and wives, advised as TO wardrObes; was,
III latAs the lOAAllb anu hCNbtNA AtlDAAlAA W
all those who came TO her, and those too
proud TO come she sought out. In Paris
she is leading the same life that made
her wOrshipped in Berlin, never sparing
herself when any charitable work is afOOt,
and at the same time presiding over a
salon that is one OF the most frequented
and interesting in the French capital
The Countess HatzfeIdt-TTachenbe
No recent visitor to Washington has
made a more agreeable impression than
the daughter of the japanese Ambassador,
Count Aoki, the Countess Hatzfeldt-
Trachenberg. who has been visiting her
parents for the past month. She is lit
tie woman with the exquisite figure for
which her fathers countrywomen are
noted. and the earnestness and soul of the
highest German type. There is only one
opinion about her-that she is charming.
She talks piquantly and well, and holds
her own in an argument The Trachen-
berg branch of the Hatzfeldt family
traces its origin back to that of Hermann
Won Hatfield. who inherited the seigneurie
of Werther because of his marriage with
Anna Drost, of Wegenhausen, some time
I'm the sixteenth century The present
head Of this family is Hermann, first Duke
Won Trachenberg, and third Prince Won
HatZfeldt, whose wife was the Countess
Natalie Won Berckendorff, a prominent
figure in Berlin a quarter of a century
ago. the intimate friend Of the Empress
Frederic, and the mistress of her house
hold. Prince hatfield makes his resi-
dence in Breslau.
French Diplomat in Cuba.
Returning Americans from Cuba bring
interesting accounts Of the present