The Washington herald., 1907-06-03
FOREIGN NOTES OF INTEREST.

In Italy, as In the United States, all
money Of lire tabout 81 and over is
made Of paper. There are gold coins of
% and 10 lire, but the paper notes are
more popular and more used because Of
their convenience 10 carry. The Italian
notes, however. possess an advantage
over the American money, inasmuch that
notes Of different value are designated
by size as well as face description. For
example, a 5-lire note Is two inches wide
and three inches long. and the 10-lire
note two and one-half inches wide and
three and One-half inches long. and so
on, increasing IN size with the value. the
maximum size. however being no larger
than the American dollar bill This OK
cellent system Of deciding the value Of a
note at a glance 10y its size is to be fur
ther improved by having each den0miua-
tion Of a different color. The process Of
raising a note. common 10 counterfeit
ers in America, by this method is an inn
possibility.
Il having been decided some months
ago at a meeting held in the Mansion
House. at which the lord mayor presided.
10 erect a statue in the center OF Lon
don to the late Sir George Williams.
founder Of the Young Mems Christian
Association, the executive committee
has secured q site at the junction of
Oxford street. Tottenham Court road and
Charing Cross road 4 more central pO-
sition cannot be imagined. The statue is
TO be erected by voluntary subscription
from all parts of the world.
Signor Gabrielle d'Annunzio has just
given an order to Signor Castel-
lucci, the architect in charge of
The cathedral in Florence. to build
for him a mausoleum destined to
become his final resting place The poet
has prepared the plans himself, and has
decided that the monument shall be
erected at the mouth of the River Pes
cara, the stream which has inspired so
many Of his verses and long novels. The
tomb is 10 be in the Byzantine style, and
of marble from Paros- While this latter
wish of Signor d'Aununzio is difficult 10
fulfill, Signor Castellucci has already set 10
work In the meanwhile the journalists
of Florence. who. right or wrong. are
ridiCuling this new idea of the poet, sent
MIN a dispatch worded in the following
terms. Adorable poet! The mausoleum
Is ready, II awaits you only, Hasten,"
The sensation Of this years pictures at
the Royal Academys exhibition at Bur
lington House, London, is one entitled
Greatest Of These" painted by Slgis-
mund Goetze It is a big canvas. and
people gather around it, betting on what
II means. In the foreground a young
mother. with her hair down. is nursing a
chubby naked baby. Leaning over on the
right is a girl in evening dress. tuning
violin. In front is a frisky girl in a big
straw hat. smoking a cigarette. Kneeling
to the baby is a nun. Behind her is
woman sufragist holding aloft banner
with a strange device on it, At the feet
Of the suffragist is an old woman. caress-
ing a gin bottle. What does it mean2"
cries everybody: and no one vet has
solved the puzzle. The painting is, how
ever, without particular artistic merit.
and would attract little or no attention
were it not for its mysterious meaning
and the riddle il presents, which ali are
anxious 10 solve or have solved Mother
hood is supposed to be the answer, but
no one is sure.
The announcement that King Carlos OF
Portugal has accepted the invitation Of
President Alfonso Penna to visit Rio de
Janeiro next year on the occasion Of the
celebration of the opening of the Bra
lillian ports to commerce, is of twofold
interest. In the first place it Is many
4