The National tribune., 1910-07-07

funny story about Queen Mary's moth
er, the late Duchess of Teck, whom, as
We have recently told in these columns,
was an unusually handsome woman and
the object of considerable jealousy on
the part of her royal cousin, Queen Vic
toria. The Duchess, tho remarkably
good to look upon, had allowed herself
to grow very stout in her later years;
indeed, to make no bones about 1t, she
was a sight" and naturally very SEN
Sitive on account of her massive girth
and excessive embonpoint. DIR. Banting
was at that time the straw to which all
such drowning people clung, and his
methods of reducing the flesh were
largely employed. The Duchess of Teck
sent for him. The celebrated physi-
clan came to Kensington Palace, and
was ushered into her presence. The
Duchess, who had heard stories of the
marvellous change the Doctor had made
in his own figure, and who expected to
see a very slender person, was cruelty
disappointed to behold now a corpulent
man with an Enthusiastically aldermanic
stomach. She called his attention to
this fact, when he politely replied that
the object of his visit was to convince
here to the contrary, and thereupon
began unfastening his coat. From his
coat he went to his waiStcoat, while the
Duchess gazed at him as if hypnotiZed,
but when he began fumbling with his
suspenders she came to her senses and
fed in dismay. The disgusted and dis
appointed Doctor afterward explained
10 the equerry of the Duchess that he
was only going to show the lady the
wicker-work arrangement which he
wore to make appear more wonderful
The result of his treatment on himself
by contrast, and which when removed
showed him a delightfully."- slim and thin
gentleman. But the removing was too
much for the Duchess, who could not
recover from the shock it gave her, and
who could never be persuaded to see
the Doctor again or try his methods
which was unfortunate since they con-
Sisted principally in dieting, while those
rhe did employ unquestionably Short
lned her life.
The Zeppelin airships seem doomed
TO disaster. The last of these and most
highly developed, the Deutchland,
which was used only a short time ago to
lnaugurate the first regular passenger
lirship service in the world came to
grief the other evening when on its
way from Dusseldorf to Dortmund n
distance of 35 miles, with its 33 pas
sengers. high wind and storm seem
to have been responsible for the trou-
BILE, and the Deutchland, having lost
much gas, finally descended, dragging
along the tops of the trees of a dense
forest, a heavy branch breaking thru
the floor of the cabin and throwing two
OF the frightened passengers from their
seats. No one was hurt, however, and
when the airship settled itself the pas
sengers reached terra firma by means
of a rope ladder. The injuries sustained
by the Deutchland are repairable. Her
first voyage was very successful, and
large number of passengers had booked
for subsequent trips. She was built for
the neutrality-suspicious. Steamship
Company and the German Airshfp
Company, and cost $137,500. Things
are moving rapidly in the way of aerial
navigation. Women seem to be losing
the natural fear they had at first of
trusting their lives to the aeroplanist or
balloonist, and one reads every day of
ascensions made by them. party of
well-known society women are contem-
plating trip in Mr.. Clifford Harmons
balloon, whose wife has made a great
many such excursions with her hus-
band, and who, ii is rumored, will soon
have a machine of her own. The sensa-
ton of sailing thru the air is said to be
delightful, much like automobilng
without the noise or jarring. On a
beautiful, clear day this must be so.
But what about the sudden storm that
sometimes comes up without a minutes
warning? 1t wouldn't be SO much fun
to be in an airship then.
Porter Charlton, the boy of 21 who
recently murdered his wife in Italy and
escaped to this country, may thank his
lucky stars that the situation is such
that he will not be returned to that
country for trial. Convicted he would
have to be, since he has himself con-
fessed his crime, and instead of being
quickly dispatched by hanging he would
be condemned to frightful, slow death
by solitary confinement. There is no
capital punishment in Italy, solitary
confinement being substituted for it.
the Italian prisons are said to be terri
Bile. The solitary confinement convict
Is placed in stone cell, without light,
infested with rats and vermin, and fur
nished only with an 1S-inch plank,
which serves as bed and chair. His food
is passed in to him thru a hole at the
top of the door. He cannot see to read
or write, but must sit all day and think
For one hour out of the "a he Is taken
to walk in the narrow court yard of the
prison. but not with the other prison.
ers. He never hears the sound of q
human voice. Three months is about
as long as any prisoner has been able
to stand this life. Most of them either
go crazy or commit suicide. Much as
this seemingly abnormal boy deserves
punishment, no one could willingly
commit him to fate like this.
Like the poor, we have ever with us
the always interesting discussion as to
whether the college girl makes a good
wife or no. The Duchess of Marlbor-
ough, at public meeting lately held in
London, comes out boldly and says she
does, especially the American breed.
Men who have married college grad
yates say that they keep house just as
well and take just as good care of the
children as girl who has only had the
benefits of a public school education.
Why shouldn't they? And when such
girls have sense enough to display their
extra learning judiciously and not in
season and out of season, as a great
many women who, perhaps, somewhat
better informed on some subjects than
their friends are prone TO do, and do
not enter into unseemly arguments with
their life-partners on weighty subjects,
worsting them in the mental conflict,
why, the college education only tends
to make them the most delightful of
companions. The clever woman of
brains is not obtrusive with her supe-
rior knowledge. Like Mercy, she lets IL
drop as the gentle rain from heaven on
the conversation, quietly, modestly. not
In the spirit of the pedant, and leaving
on the ears of the listener only the inn
preston of delight and charm
Students of sociology and those prac-
tically engaged in solving its problems,
tell us that the most discouraging re-
suits follow all efforts made to reclaim
fallen women. Nevertheless such ef-
forts have been made from time imme-
mortal, and will continue to be so long
as good men and women remain upon
the earth Exactly why the work OF
these earnest, weil-meaning philanthro-