The National tribune., 1908-04-23

French or German perfectly, and u
write as easily and fiuentiy in thos.
languages as in their mother tongue
but when it comes to speaking them
they, to make use of the vernaculaE
do not make good" Prof Paul A
Rands of Chicago, who has spent much
time abroad, has noticed this Nationa
linguistic lack, and accounts for it by
the way German and French are taught
in America He says they are taught
too much as Greek and Latin are, ana
that if European methods were EN-
ployed we would be able to speak
French and German as well as we are
already able to read and write it.
It is customary for the wedding sill
yer of an American bride to be marked
with the initial of her family, which
tends to preserve her individuality. and
gives her greater feeling of personal
possession than if the initial of her
husbands name were used. Then, too
the custom tends to promote family
pride and affection, and such silver
when passed on to the next generation
becomes priceless from this fact. All
American girls will sympathize with
Gladys Vanderbilt, who has had all her
beautiful silver sent to the silversmiths
to have the "V" removed and "S'' sub
stituted. 1t is said the Count was very
much surprised and annoyed when
he found this valuable possession of his
brides so marked. and tho it was eX-
planned TO him that it was an American
custom, he replied that it was not the
custom in Hungary, so the silver was
sent off to be remarked with the coat
of arms of the house of Szechenyi.
One can believe almost any folly said
to originate i'll Paris, tho a more practi-
cal people in many ways could not be
found than the French. Now we are
told that there are in gay Paree'
schools for dogs, where the pets of the
great society women are trained in good
manners. These small four-footed dar-
lings are taught to welcome the visitor
by jumping up, wagging the tail and
giving a low bark, and at departure TO
accompany them to the door, wagging
the tail and bowling farewell by bend
ing the head to the floor. The dog is
trained likewise to pick up handker-
chief, glove or fan and return it to its
owner. 1t is possible these dog trainers
could not make an honest living any
other way, so the thing has some good
in 1t when viewed from that point.
How misunderstood is silence. How
superficial the opinion of the world re-
garding the person who talks little.
There is something about the silent
person, mysterious and battling, which
alienates many people. Life is too
short" they say, to try to understand
such a person, and they do not try. To
some people silence is Irritating or bore
some. To them there is nothing restful
in the society of the person who al
laws long pauseS in the conversation.
Even between those most near and dear
there is generally little true communion
of the spirit. that Silent but eloquent
comprehension rendering words unnec-
essary. Many people are silent not be-
cause they wish to be or because they
have nothing to say, but because the
gift of talking has been denied them.
1t may be shyness or it may be an in
heritance, but they cannot seem to re-
sist the tendency to silence. Such peo-
pie frequently are most fresh and orig
inal in their ideas, and if brought out
by patient, sympathetic, appreciative,
friendly mind yield much in the way of
compensation for this trouble. Altho
this habit of mind is q real sorrow to
many people, who envy their voluble
neighbor, yet such people are spared
much unhappiness, resulting from hasty
or carelessly spoken words. The Ger
mans have a proverb which well Illus
tratesa this, Am Baum des Schweigens
hangt seine Fruchte-der Friede,'
which, translated, reads, "On the tree
ofssAeneesh it's fruit-peace."
The young King of Portugal, who
had his blushing .-honors thrust upon
him in such painful way, is finding
out that it is a lot of trouble to be a
King. He is remarkably handsome
manufacturing young fellow, just IS, and
has hitherto given no thought to any
thing but his studies and his boyish
pleasures. Now he is told he must
marry, and the ground is being carefully
gone over to see who among the young
unmarried Princssstss~ Europe would
be most desirable. Kaiser Wilhelm has
a young daughter, the Princess Victoria
Louise, who Is very sweet and pretty
but only Is. still she is spoken of as a
possible Queen Of Portugal. She has
been simply and sensibly reared after
the German fashion, and could this al
lance be arranged 1t would be an ex-
cellent thing for the young King. There
is also an available Spanish Princess
just II years old, who, tho said to be
quite bookish and clever. bears toe
strong a resemblance to her grandmoth.
er Isabella to be quite reassuring. Then
there is an Austrian Princess, a niece OF
the mother of King Alfonso of Spain
She is IS years of age and very de-
vout Catholic. There are a few other.
who might be considered should these
fail, but these three Princesses are sup.
posed TO have first choice.
1t is just a little bit irritating to have
Mr.. Rockefeller tell us there is nothing
in money after all, etc, tho, indeed, nC
one is better qualified than he to speal
on that subject. One cannot help think.
ing that If he were poor man ht
might feel ard talk differently. and his
words af iol pf
making people more contented with
their little or nothing at all, do no
convince. Recently, in addressing {
negro congregation at Hot Springs, Va.
Mr.. Rockefeller told them that richie.
did not consist of gold or silver, but o.
the amount of Gods grace person car
ried in his heart. OF course, this i.
true, and theoretically we all believe 1t
but, somehow, We do not want Mr.
Rockefeller to tell US so. While none!
is certainly the best subject Mr.. Rookie
feller is calculated to talk about, thi
majority of people who gather to hea,
him speak would prefer that he choos'
Some other subject, unless, indeed, h
tells them how he made his great for
tune, and gives practical suggestion
and advice as to the methods which
bring pecuuiary success. But he seem
to feel 1t his duty always to impress
upon people the undesirabiIity o
wealth, the reckless, wicked extraya
gance of the age. etc. One cannot hel,
wondering why this belief did not com
to him before he became the riches
man in the world. If, on the other hand
he did become convinced of this fac
many years ago, when his fortune, tn
large enough, was nothing to be com
pared to its present size, why did h
not rest content with what he had an,