El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-27
GERMANY To
PUT 4 TAX
ON CATS
Berlin Needs the Money
Badly and Has Too Many
Felines.
LUTHER LETTER TO
HAVE A PEDESTAL

Berlin, Germany, April q. The
government sees no objection to the
introduction of a tax on cats" is the
serious beginning Of a seriously meant
ministerial decree just addressed to
the municipalities Of Greater Berlin.
which for several years have been anx-
iOusly searching for the new sources
Of revenue to meet the constantly
growing cost of municipal activities.
The minister Of the interior and the
minister of finance gravely continue
UnaU the cost Of cat licenses must be
in proper proportion TO the license tax
now imposed on dogs and that not all
the regulations OF the latter should be
copied in any cat-tax ordinance, the
identification Of licensed cats by col
lar and tag being particularly i'm
practice bic since many cats. owing to
their habits. would inevitably get
hanged by their collars and perish
German to Preserve Luther Letter.
Martin Luther's famous letter of ex-
PLANTATION to Charles V saved to Ger
many by the generosity Of j. Pierpont
Morgan, is to find place in the Luther
hall at Wittenberg upon pedestal pre-
scented by the emperor. The commits
sion TO make this pedestal has just
been given to the sculptor Paul SUck-
off. It is TO be Of light limestone in
late Gothic style.
Mt. Aorgan's representative bought
the letter for q trifle more than S25,-
GOO at Leipzig autograph sale last
NAY. and the financier promptly pre-
scented it to the German emperor. His
reward was the order Of the Red Eagle,
firstclass, one of the highest decora-
lions in the gift of the emperor The
letter which emperor William valued
so. highly was written by Luther on
his return from the diet of Worms in
1921. It describes the proceedings Of
the diet and defends the writer's
course there. Charles Y. never saw
the letter, according to a note written
thereon by that mOnarch's archivist
setting forth that nobody dared show
IL to the emperor.
Tachtsmen Aroused.
The sweeping victory Of the Ameri-
can yachts in the international son
der class races, at the K1el regatta
last year is revOlutiOnizing conditions
In the German sOnder-clasS fleet.
Among the yachtsmen who are hav-
ing new yachts built on the admit
tedly superior lines Of the American
boats, with which the American de-
signers beat the German constructors
in their own waters, the German i'm
perial family is well represented
The crown prince, the most enter
prising sailor of the family, who had
allowed his interest in the sport to
wane for a year or two. is having a
yacht built in Hamburg, which viii
soon be ready for its trial trips. Prince
OF Prussia, brother Of the en-
perOr, is again cO-owner OF this years
'Tuly," whose predecessor was one Of
the German representatives last year,
and prince Eitel Fritz, a younger
brother of the crown prince, is also
having "a yacht built
The Aer0plane Industry.
Five years ago there were no max
ers of aerOplanes in Germany, and
until two years ago none that had
achieved any real success. Today the
great exposition hall in Berlin's Zoo
logical garden is filled with an ex-
hibit Of German flying machines, Ger
man motors and other flying accessOr-
les which is hardly less than astOund-
Ing. The comparison is emphasized by
the presence Of the original biplane
with which Orvile Wright, early in
Septem Der, 1909, made on the Tempel-
hof field, south Of Berlin, the first
successful flights ever made in Ger
many. This biplane, now the property
Of the German museum at Munich,
stands beside a Wright machine just
made for the German army. The COM
parison IS striking. The old machine
has two light prOpellOrs and its equip
ment comprises only the Indispensable
things. The new military machine has
but one propeller and it is equipped
with wireless telegraph apparatus. /
With its $3.50 horsepower motor the
military Wright weighs but 40 pounds I
One of the exhibits that attracts gen
eral attention is the Euler biplane in
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