The National tribune., 1908-03-26

1t is rather difficult to decide whether
Miss ElkinS, daughter of Senator Elkins
Of West Virginia, is engaged TO the
Duke of Abruzzi or not, but on the
whole it looks as # she wcfe or soon
would be- A recent rumor was to the
effect that tic Duke had asked for a
dot OF 100000 year, the principal
10 be deposited in Italy. which would
mean cool S2,OG0,000. This PROPOSE
lion, it is said, made papa EllSins so
furious that he declared the affair
bhould proceed no further and Miss
Elkins herself, who is a girl of much
Dpirit, agreed with her father. The
senator does not approve of interna-
tonal marriages any way and was out
pf sympathy with the advances of the
Duke from the first. OF course, to
Americans, the dot idea is not agree
able as 1t does SAVIOR decidedly of the
open market, but to Europeans it Is
part of a system to which they have
been accustomed for centuries, and to
which to them is perfectly all right
As soon as a girl is born abroad her
parents begin saving for her dot"
Ind the larger her dot tt.e more am
bilious her marriage. In exchange for
The dot of the American giI! her noble
"a husband gives her a title AMI the proud
social position which it commands. Ii
that sort of thing happens to be what
her soul is longing for, she should
gracefully conceal her American ideas
/. on the dot question, and try and look
at the matter with European eyes. If
such a girl is lucky enough to get
fairly good man for a husband in ad-
dition to all his title brings to her,
she should consider that she got off
cheap. as the saying goes. In Miss
Elkins's case it is on the contrary. de-
MED that the engagement is off, on
Of Ian a dc of hn m r.
but that he is returning to Rome to
obtain the full consent of the King
of Italy to his marriage. The King,
II is said, approves of this marriage
and advised him not to ask for a dot,
but the financial advisers of the Duke
Insisted upon 1t. The Duke of Abruzzi
belongs to the royal house of Savoy
and is closely related to King Victor
Emmanuel If accounts are to be re-
lied upon he is not the stamp of the
usual nobleman at all, being a man of
action, of learning, wit, and distinction.
Instead of hanging around courts, liv-
Ing a life of Incidence and luxury, he
has been quite an explorer of places
off from the beaten paths, in Africa
and the Arctic regions, and his ex-
periences have added greatly to geo.
graphical knowledge. He has engag-
ing manners and is frank, charming,
and most interesting in conversation,
30 1t is easy to believe that Miss Elkins
is in love with him, and that later on
we shall be informed that everything
has been satisfactorily arranged, and
that another American girl is to leave
us to become possibly, some day, who
can tell. the Queen of Italy.
The Methodist Church has just met
with great loss in the death of
Bishop Fowler, who died in his home
rx. VII To- l.el,<.
Fowler has been in poor health for
two years, but has never ceased his
active labors. He has devoted his
life to the cause of religion and educa-
ton, achieving much in the way of
valuable results. He founded several
colleges in China, and church in st.
Petersburg. Thru his efforts vast sums
were raised for religious purposes,
$225,000 being collected in single
evening at the Cleveland Convention
at which ne presided. The Bishop was
not what is considered an old man in
these days, being only II years old,
but his heart was not strong, and
Dver exertion caused his death. He
vas made Bishop in 1884.
1t seems that Isabella Beecher
Hooker, sister of Henry Ward Beech
sr, the famous preacher, and who was
herself very strong, intellectual
Woman, DeHeVeu IN SplrltudnSm, and
at times felt herself able to communi-
cate with the departed members of her
family. On such occasions she would
take pencil and paper. and under what
she was convinced was their influence,
would write what she firmly believed
TO be messages from them to her.
With real feminine inconsistency, how
ever. when Mrs. Hooker got message
With which she was not in sympathy,
fle didn't believe it was genuine, but
ghen her departed husband or daugter
communicated with her in this way,
Jhe received their words as gospel
ruth. Now her granddaughter comes
forward and says the spirits influenced