El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-24

TXT HEREVER floats the flag of
wv England today will be OBJ
served and celebrated as
festival sacred to the British empire
and to the memory of queen Victoria.
For Ga years, during the long reign OF
the grandmother OF king George v.
and the granddaughter of king George
III, May "a was the chief holiday of
the British year because it was the
queens birthday. When Victoria died
and Edward came to the. throne the
fixative habits of 18th century thought
had made the day a holiday that
could not be done away with merely
in consequence of a queens death and
a kings accession Therefore, with
that sound commonsense for which he
was famous. king Edward decreed that
the birthday of his mother should be
kept as a holiday forever, not as an
English bank holiday or as colonial
festival, but as a great imperial hoH-
day to be observed all over the world
under every British flag.
That Is how Empire day came into
being. and that is why queen Victeria's
birthday is being celebrated today, al
though she has been dead for more
than a decade and her grandson is
now preparing 20 receive her crown.
All <over the west empire the Union
Jack, VIII fly today and tonight the
loyal whelps of the lion in every cline
will drink to the memory of the great
queen No other holiday, not of re-
ligious significance, is so widely cele-
brated as this.
Has Deep Significance.
In London the day has a deeper>sig-
nificance than has ever before at
tached to il. 1t will mark .the high
tide of the great pre-coronation festiv-
tiles and will rank second in interest
only to Coronation day, which comes
on June %.
The better to impress upon England
ers the true meaning of the word
empire" the self governing domin-
ions OF Canada and New Zealand and
the colony of Newfoundland planned
and executed a three months festival
Of empire as part of the coronation
celebrations. That festival was opened
by king George and queen. Mary on
May II and will continue after the
coronation Today,s celebration in
Londop will center around this great
exhibition at the Crystal Palace.
There the Londoner. the Zulu. the
Bengai or any other variety of Briton
may have, a birds eye view of his
empire without leaving the palace
grounds He may stroll about among
the 300 buildings erected to house the
exhibits from 800 different sections of
the empire He may see the reproduc-
tions, two-thirds OF the original size,
of the parliament buildings of Ottawa
Melbourne. Wellington, Cape Town and
St Johns, each symbolic of the fact
that although British colonies are loyal
they are also free.
The "AH Red Route.
He may take train at Pageant sta
ton and be whirled over scenic rail-
way that presents a panorama such as
never before was seen on earth. The
little railroad glories in the name of
The All Red Route" taken from that
| line of British steamers and railways
that carries his majesty's mails around
the globe without ever once entrust-
ing them to the friendly protection of
foreign flag.
First the train halts in Newfound-
land. where one may see the fisheries
of the coast and the sawmiIls Of the
interior busily upbuilding the wealth
of the empire, the pictures giving the
stranger an idea Of the independent
little colony such as he will not for
get.
Next the train plunges into Canada
There the passenger sees the historic
of the country from the French, its
defense against the Americans, and
the development for the empire Close
by historic scenes of a century ago
are set tableaux of the wide wheat
fields. the deep forests and the pros
pering cities of the dominion.
From Canada the magic train trans
ports its human freight to the tropic
luxury Of Jamaica. the garden of the
empire, where the blue of the Carib-
bean sea and the blue of the tropic
sky blend in a wide circle about
modern Eden which. however. is prac-
teal enough to ship bananas and sugar
from its paradise to the lesser favored
parts Of the empire.
Fetching a wide circle half around
the globe the train next hats in an
indian jungle where the haIf-naked
brown and black men fee from the
terror of the tiger. Hard by are the
paddy-fields from whence comes the
great eastern rice crop, and next in a
panorama of Delhi, the capital of the
magnificent mogul emperors whom
George v. succeeds as kaiser-i-hind
Again the train leaps over some
thousands of miles of sea and the pas
senger finds I himself in Australia
There is the cabin of the homesteader.
the nero OF the wool grower, the vast
stretches Of territory that are yet cry
ing out for more white men to come
and possess their acres
Now New Zealand. with its geysers
and it's tatooed Maoris, sets before the
eye the contrast between a native VII
lage and that modern city which claims
it was really time your salary was
raised again.
'Oh. thank you, sir Yes! +"
tRI1t the firm Cart rtand IL uo..1.