Evening star., 1909-06-19

ne psfiouS state or British trade, MIS-
Asa,iit.l has been guilty Of an indiscrc-
tton. She has now sought TO maxi
an a!>. ordering a number Of As,.a,
gowns =" herself and her daughters fro;n
a London firm. and this il paraded in
tie newspapers as an Offset to her Of
tense
Mrs. Asuuith has always been very
much in the public eye az the wives %
all prime ministers are. but she NOR.
I lsn many. owing TO her social promi-
nencr before marriage. and her husbands
assumption of office To her friends Mr.
Asauith Is perpetual pleasure. 10 the
= aiC not personally acquainted with lcr
she mus; Ne a perennial enigma Tht,
IL bound IL pe the case I'm a lady who
Is admittedly a personality. and who a.t-
with a considerable amount OF originality
in eari!e" days il was though win
aatv@te.
Prime Ministers Wives.
Tn" wives Of prime ministers have
not D: late been ladies who made ver,
definite impressions on society Lady
Salisbury and Lady Campbell Banneriuan
Wee chronic invalids. known to compars-
tiTeiy few. Mr.. Balfour is, of cou4<c
ha''he,or-sossip has even ascrihed as
t" TN. indifference OF Mrs Asoui,h-aS
/" tie truth of this those whose name,
ar" mus linked ';,i can alone speak. and the>
arc never likely to open their lips OF the
subject. Mrs. Gladstone was the sub
jeci OF much attention. but only because
stone.
1t used TO be related in the lobb, that
after late sittinss she always gave him
tea when he got home and that she ken,
II warm for him in her hot-water bottle.
another story was the legend that she
told Mrs. Asquith she should be slad
when the home rule bill was through ihe
mouse or commons, because then she
could sleep comfortably. On being press
ed to explain this, she said that In th,.
night whenever Mr.. Gladstone thought oC
IN her nightgow1l-
Some recent references 20 the Kings
cSciing exercise have. imagine. been
hitle more than advertisements for a
his majesty now does very little cycling.
indeed, His tricycle. Is kept ready -
Iand IL the garden door Of Buckinehsm
Palace. and the king occastonally-pe:-
maps once a week while In Lnndon-Niu
q" quarter of an hours riding in ti,,
grounds Usually he prefers walking ex-
ercise, and takes plenty OF 1t, preferai,ly
IN the early morning
may not be generally known that his
rather was not only a tricyclis,. hut an
inventor of a machine. There is still
caretuily preserved at the palace tri-
cycle made specially to the prince con
sorts design II is a little heavy and
OF the fact that 1t was made long before
the day of BAH bearings The dri,ir..
81 ahks are actuated by long foot Siah~
Iio' uhhke those 10 be seen on tho old
fashioned knife-grinder machines
Indeed, tradition had II that the princs
consort took his idea partly from al
humble contrivance and partly f,nm die
ordinary lathe.
Newest Gunnery Invention.
Sr' Percy Scotts newest gunnery in
veSton. which passed all its oal iai
tess OFF Sandown bay with woaslotf-1
success. is to be adopted into thu naval
service at as early a date as possible |,
consists of new type of director: fi,,ed
up In the 'fire-control' top on the fore
mast of battleship or cruiser, and ca
ables the gunnery lieutenant in the ,up
with his own hand to point any number Of
without requiring any aid at all from tie
men below on deck actually at the srus,
the '.gun-layers''
In the recent trial over 50 per cent Of
hits In excess of the hits made under o.
dinary gunnery practice conditions were
made at fast-movinG target towed AT a
nigh speed. The results surpassed and de-
lighted the excellent" gunnery staff eN-
perts. who were supervising the trials.
and who pronounced the new method 10
be big advance In tho art OF rapid fir
ing combined with concentration and ac-
curacy.
1t is interesting to learn that the num-
Der Of naval officers qualified as interpret
ers is gradually increasing. From some
questions In the house as to the number
of German interpreters. It seems that
there Is an opinion prevalent that these
nSi 50 to Mr might be wsed
the admiralty, there are thirty-three quail
thed German interpreters (out of total
number for all languages OF 26D, so that
the proportion is none too large. The ad-
mi thA a..
terpreters when, a year or two ago. il
granted gratuities of E1oO for Japanese.
E1JO for Russian and E7O for German -
officers who should pass in the higher
purposes Of study a residence abroad. on
full pay and extras. OF twelve, nine and
six months, respectively.
Few Qualified Interpreters.
II is a matter for surprise that not one
Of the six officers serving as naval al
taches at the courts of the various mari
time powers is qualified interpret.
while of the twenty -four officers IN III
naval intelligence department only 10
have qualified-two in French, cie
Russian and one In French and Germ,n.
Choosing time when Londonei- $50
WorshiDing the fashions and iinitatnc
some OF the foibles of the directoire -
riod, the Earl Of Lauderdale is disposi,.
of his famed collection of Louis NN ard
Louis XVI snuff boxes. Tiler- an 80.
100 of them. and though the prices ur Ia"
Hawkins sale may NOT be surpass & -..l.
occasion when over e6.HD was pal, ...r
Louis XIV box signed by Hair In
many will probably fetch high price ppn
directOire gold Snuffbox. Wallet-shared. 3
a beautiful rrifie, the lid chased wit
arabesque foliage. Another of Louis M
period is engraved with rosettes and rib
ands, au0 has a miniature of Henry ~
inset i'll the lid. There are others. oval.
obiong and octagonal decorated with
foliage and Classical figures.
Among the old English snuffhoxes are
two circular tortoiseshell specimens e .cl
set witt portrait OF a lady, one n,
Gervasc Spencer. date 17dS, and the
other ty i.ng'eheart 4 portrait or Sir
Theodore TIraaet de Mayern. physician
to Charles |! appears on the I'D OF au
old black. god-lined English box of III"
early nineteenth century, and conpet!
tion Is likely to be keen for snltt'"-
shaped box formed OF portion of Wal
laces oak. and mounted with bust of
Sir William Wallace himself. This beats
the date 1874. But many of the snuff-
boxes we're made much earlier. Not often
within recent years has so fine a coiiec-
tion conc into the sale rooms.
L. H. MOORE.