The Washington herald., 1910-11-21
QUEEN MARY AND
QUEEN ALEXANDRA

simply is marvellous. Technically, she Is
the first lady OF the land. She inherits,
too. her mothers vivaeity Yet she studi-
ously avoided challenging the precedence
Of Queen Alexandra. VINO has been far
more prominently before the public since
King Edwards death than queen Mary
herself
In innumerahle ways the Queens tact
has eased a difficult situation. There was
the dropping of the title of 'queen
mother" the design of a special English
Danish royal standard for Queen Alex
andra's residence. and the long delay
before entering upon Buckingham Pal
ace. All OF this might have been quite
different had it not been for Queen
Mary. The one possible flaw in her de-
cisions concerns her ladies OF the house
bold. Unquestionably. Tories dominate
over those coveted places But it must
not be forgotten that early in Queen Vic
toria's reign the government resigned
control over the bedchamber appoint
ments
Prince Teck was taken off just as his
public career had developed upon lines
Of great usefulness The position held by
Prince Francis offered a very consider
able test Of character, and an ever
widening circle had come 20 realize how
admirable . response he made TO IL with
his energies. For him there was no Sc
duction in the pathways of the idle
rich, and into his connection with the
Middlesex Hospital he poured an of
fering Of the most solid Industry and
perseverance that public spirit and good
citizenship only could have inspired
Prince Francis paternal grandfather,
like the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
chose a Hungarian for his wife. bur
Countess Claudia Rhedy. the morganatlc
bride OF Prince Alexander of Wuertem-
berg, belonged TO a far more dlstin-
guished family than the consort of the
Austrian heir apparent; for Aba. the
founder of the house OF Rhedy, was en-
nobled by stephen, King Of Hungary. in
i02S. for his services in crushing a re-
bellion. and after the death OF the mon
arch was elected 10 the throne His
descendants played prominent part IN
the history OF their country But after
the death of Count Laszlo Rhedy, the
father OF Countess Claudia. the race be-
came extinct Ia the male line.
Danny Maher. who rode so many OF
King Edwards horses first past the win
ming post. really is 10 retire at last-on
/ a fortune. IL is said. OF several hundred
! thousand pounds. II he does so, the loss
will be Englahd's, for the famous Amer
lean jockey is liked in England as no
American jockey ever was before. He
heads the list OF Jockeys with running
mounts and mas the highest percentage
OF any rider on the turf Maher undoubt-
eddy Is the richest jockey in the world
and he owns a fine estate In the vicinity
OF Newmarket.
His one grievance is that he never gets
a chance 10 have good square meal II
he is engaged for a race IN the afternoon.
the only meal he is allowed in the course
OF the morning consists of a sip OF
sherry and small. hard biscuit. and as
he rises at 6 O'Clock. il will be seen that
he undertakes his riding on an empty
stomach. At s p. m. ne has dinner. so
called. He sits at the head of the table
and watches his gsests load up on
dozen different kinds OF choice foods
with appropriate moist embellishments.
while he himself has a small. thin slice
OF roast beef with a single furtive veg
etable
Maher lives the simple life in very
truth, and, although by following II up
he has gained a vast fortune, he prob
ably win not be sorry to relinquish Il
for good and all Danny Maher has not
an atom Of show" lie abhors ostenta-
ton, attends severely TO business. and IS
generally popular both with race horse
owners and the race course people.
Among the many good works under
taken by a certain clique Of great ladies
/ throughout Europe is one that is known
/ as the international Exchange OF Chill
/ dren." This originally was founded by
the Dowager Duchess dues and num-
Der OF other great ladies Of the Faubourg
1 st. German. in Paris The society chiefly
deals with children Of the upper. classes.
and has for IT'S objects the promotion, not
merely the acquaintance OF foreign Ian
guages. but likewise the creation of a
better understanding among foreign ma
/ tons. The exchange provides a three
months residence. or a full year between
children living in families as far apart
as Germany, France, Italy, Austria, and
/ England
| The idea OF the system, which seems TO
work remarkably we'll, is that parents
bear the cost Of the journey Of their
children. but that from the moment Of
the youngsters arrival until the hour
of departure the children are treated alb
solutely as members Of the families with
whom they are living.
Already several thousands OF such ex-
changes have successfully taken place,
and committees Of prominent ladies have
been formed among leaders Of the aris-
/ tocracy OF Germany, SPAIN Belgium, Hol-
/ land. Scandinavia, Russia. Italy. and
Austria, who undertake the details con-
neeted with the practical working OF the
81 oh t-afn 70
tual understanding between foreign ma
tons and does much to destroy racial
preiudices based upon ignorance. Alto
gether Il is a very practical effort 10 con-
| tribute to the maintenance Of the peace
Of the world.
| Perhaps the most notable thing about
| the late King of Siam, besides his being
the father OF ninety children, was his
punctuality at state functions. This por-
tends Of the horoscope guide. the Bang
kok astroiogers fixing precisely a happy
hour for this event or that, and woe
/ betide the nation were he a moment
wrong either way for any fixture Of his
! diary. few years ago the late King
/ had occasion TO sail in his small yacht
/ TO an important festival up the river, and
| the officers in charge Of the ceremonies
| suddenly discovered that unless a squirt
were made the King would not reach the
festive place at the precise time directed
/ by the stars
Now, the river was narrow, and many
were the tiny craft thereon, and a heavy
| backwash and swell caused by the rapid
passage Of fairly large steam vessel
ment serious danger. But the stars could
not be fiouted. and so the engineers got
their orders for full speed ahead" The
result was that many small boats. I'M
prepared for the steamers mad rush,
were overturned. with some considera BILE