The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01
TIE SITUATION
 IS UNCHANGED People of Monaco Are Still Waiting for Constitution IS NOW BEING DRAWN French Lady Gives $2O,O0O for m ln- vention by Which Submarine
 Crews Mny Save Them
 selves in Disasters
IS NOW BEING DRAWN

Paris, DecemDer 3I-tSpeCldl.)-lhe he it-
 mors that a republic had been proclaimed
 at Monaco are without foundation. The situation is unchanged and the people at
 Monaco are waiting for the promulgation of the constitution which has been prom
 ised them by the prince. The constitution French juris-counsils.
 Among the 1900 inhabitants of the
 principality only about 1500 are subjects of Prince Albert. These apparently will furnish about $50 electors. Of the remain ing F, 800 about 700O are French and more than 5000 Italians. These figures, of course, do not include visitors.
 The value of real estate in Monaco, apart from the domain of the prince, is es- timated at $40,0O0,000, two-thirds of which is possessed by Frenchmen, but if the value of the Casino be taken into account then French interests in the country may be said to total ssO, O,OOo,Ooo.
 Apropos of Monte Carlo, the steady downpour of rain during the last three weeks has driven practically every Amer ioan visitor away, leaving only English tourists, who are far less popular, be- cause OL lUtlT tCOllOIllC WdySs Oul du American invasion may be expected with the opening of the opera season, and from the programme, which has just been published, the 1911 season will be in no way behind that of it's predecessors. It will commence on January "A with Me f1stofelo,'' in which Chalfapine has made such a remarkable success. This will be followed by Lee Contes d'Hoffmann,' "Lo Tosca,' and "De Vie de Boheme." In the following months the performances of other new and well known operas will be duly announced.
 Greatly shocked by the disaster to the Pluviose, French lady has presented the ministry of marine with $20000 as prize in a competition, for which all people and French subjects are eligible. The prize is to be awarded to the inventor of such an apparatus as will enable the crews of submarines to extricate themselves, and to reach and maintain themselves on the surface of the water in case of accident. The money will not, of course, be given until the Navu council has made the ex- periments, and reported favorably. The apparatus must be worked by the crew alone, but whether it rescues them to- gether or singly Is a question that is not insisted upon by the generous donor. A very large margin of time is allowed for the competition. It may extend over a period of ten years, but if the conditions are not fulfilled at it's expiration the prize will be withdrawn.
 Frances recent Pyrrhic victory in the Tchad country has awakened public opin-
 ion on the folly of empire building on economical lines. The Wadai territory Is long way off and the eector at home does not care two sous about it. It Is only when party gets cut up in the bush that the man in the cafe remembers vaguely that the tricolor does float some where about there. Poor Moll, who per- ished with half dozen other officers, commissioned and on-commissioned, had asked in vain for endorsements Men cost money, even black men, and the colonial enthusiast who proposes credits for fresh military effectives in the heart of Africa had better be prepared for snubbing from the budget committee, for he is sure to get it. And so 300 Senega- 5ian Tirailleurs faced 5000 Wadai tribes men and repulsed them after they had left nearly their own number dead and wounded on the field.
 The sublime heroism of the black man, harnessed to war, is again shown. It is upon these troops that France in the fu- ture will have to largely depend to fill the gaps caused by an unexpanding popu- laton. Quite recently Lieutenant-Col- onel Magin of the Colonial infantry, has visited the African colonies of France for the purpose of raising troops All that is needed is parliamentary support to the scheme, and the transplanted Central Africa will liberate the Algerian French men and Arab for service in France itself.
 Anxiety about the floods, embarrass- ment with the traffic, and the dread that
 lox rox x,t ont, oil H.~ threatened with shortage of provisions, have had the effect of bringing the ques- ton of its conversion into seaport. to borrow the familiar expression, once more to the fore Paris port de mer' was the theme of a good deal of animated and rather enthusiastic discussion in the sos. The idea of bringing Paris into easy com munication with the channel had original ly fascinated Vauban, and in recent times it was Boquet de la Grye, very dis tinguished engineer, who took the ques- tion up in an extremely earnest fashion. In 1882 he explained his plan for the con- structon of canal without locks from Poissy to Rouen, and when it was criti- cised as being too extravagant he set again to work, and four years later an- other scheme which he had drawn up was submitted to the then minister of public works by Admiral Thomasset, chairman of the Paris Port de Mer' so- ciety. The second plan was based on the almost exclusive utilization of the Seine the sole exceptions being the construction of little canals at Sartrouville and Oissei. in order to avoid interference with the railroad lines at those points. As the winding course of the Seine was thus to be followed almost entirely, the deepen ing of the river was necessary. He aver age depth between Paris and Rouen is not more than 10 feet, and Bouquet de la Grye proposed that this should be brought to about 20 feet. so as to enable the ships of 5000 tons which can get up the Seine as far as Rouen, to make their way to Paris. Such were the two plans drawn up by the enterprising engineer in the SOS but he was enthusiastic over his Paris Port de NMer'' project in the sub seouent years, nearly twelvemonth ago, when he passed away at the advancec age of s2 without seeing the realization of the dream of his life.
 The Matin is now taking the matter up. and 1t has just published noteworthy article in which 1t is argued that, if the Seine was only deepened as far as Rouen. Paris would not only be secure against inundations, but would even become 'The greatest port in western Europe" This may or may not be rash prediction, so far at least as the development of such a port is concerned. But there really does not seem to be any serious objection to the utilization of the Seine for such a purpose Perhaps the only trouble might be reversal of the conditions with which Paris is even now confronted. as the time might come when, instead of there being a considerable excess of wa ter, there would be too little-during the summer season, for example.
 The story of how art saved two rats