The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-12-11
GOSSIP ON MATTERS OF
INTEREST ON TWO CONTINENTS

Should a peerage be conferred upon
Mr.. Bryce. the retiring British Ambas-
sador at Washington. and should he &C.
| Cept the honor, which, knowing the de-
mocracy of the man. doubt. he might
| find a title ready made for him in
'Ivlanthe." namely Lord MOuntararat.
Some maintain that Mr.. Bryce's ascent
Of the biblical mountain was the first
since Noah. This is not so. presuming
that the venerable Noah did ascend the
mount. which is greatly to be doubted.
| Mr.. Bryce stood on the peak OF Ararat
in 1876. but he had been preceded al
most fifty years before by the German,
DIR. Parrot of Dorpat University, in Rus
STA. British ascents also had been made
in lSj6 Still there had been but few TO
show Mr.. Bryce the way. Ararat in
| biblical and anti-Christian days was not
the name Of one peak. as 1t is to-day,
| but Of an entire region. Thu top OF
which now bear that name. according
| to tradition. has had a number of rivals.
including one upon which were exhibited
| actual relics of Noahs ark.
| 1t would appear that King Alfonso OF
Spain has not been fortunate in his
choice of Count Romanones as his prime
minister, to succeed Canalejas recently
assassinRted. The count before being en-
nObled was member of the Figuero fam
! lily of the island of Malaga. Opposition pa
| pers at Madrid accuse the count publicly
| Of having obtained his sinister sway over
| the youthful monarch by having sue
| ceeded in placing him under financial
/ obligations Worse than this. II is COM
| mon gossip in leading Carlist circles. that
l L. m in, TH ,-{.iv 90
I Melilla. in Northern Africa, which cost
Spain many lives and a great deal OF
cash. besides the long lasting trouble
with France. and which has inflicted in
| jury upon the industries of Spain and
| her foreign trade all We're due to the fact
that the syndicate headed by ROmanones
was determined to Secure the fat plum OF
| the great mineral wealth OF Melilla
| 1t Is only fair to King Alfonso TO state
that II he has become involved in fnan-
cial obligations to the ROmanOnes. it has
been due to his love of sport and to his
| charity, but not to those of vice. The
young monarch is without vices his life
! is sinGularly clean. and he has kept clear
OF all those entanElements which have
played sometimes disastrous role in the
careers Of his predecessors. His only
! faults are an almost mania for sport: and
! an inability to appreciate the value OF
money. His generosity IS disproportion-
ate 10 his purse
| The RomanOnes syndicate has long had
concessions on all mineral rights in that
section. but naturally was unable to turn
them to account until Spain had estab-
lished ner sovereignty over that portion
of Morocco. That is understood to have
been tn reason Of the Spanish war upon
the Riff MOOrs. and Of the long crisis be
tween SIlin and France. despite the Al
I geciras agreement regarding the form
er's pretentiOns to territorial rights in
| Morocco.
! A former associate OF Count Roman
ones. now his enemy. Senior VilIanueva
who until his difference with the count
was president OF the latter's Spanish min
ing company in MelilIa- is a former Lib
eral member of the Cortes He has not
hesitated to assert in his speeches and in
the newspapers that the outbreak by tn"
natives which resulted in the death of
four Spanish wOrkmen at MeIilIa. which
furnished Spain with a pretext for her
punitive expedition four years ago, hal
| been organized with this object in view.
Republicans. Carlists. and other foes
of the present Liberal regime in Spain
do not hesitate to proclaim that the lives
that have been sacrificed in Northern
Africa, and business concerns and the in
dustries that have been jeapordized
| through the trouble with France over
Morocco, may be laid at the door of
| Romanones' mining syndicate. which
| through the large sums OF money loaned
| to the King. has been able to induce
| the latter to conform the policy of Spain
| in Morocco and in France to suit the
selfish interests of the combine
These imputations may not be true
but they are widely believed throughout
Spain. Equally incontrovertible is the
fact that Count Romanones and his
financial ring have vast mining interests
in that portion of Northern Morocco
which at last has been recognized by
France as the Spanish sphere. Under
the circumstances. the selection by the
King of Count Romanones as premier
in the place of the late Jose Canalejas
is unfortunate.
Constantinople ranks first among Eu-
ropean capitals in point of beauty. then
Stockholm. Edinburgh. and Lisbon. The
Turkish capital has suffered less from
fires than most Oriental cities; and but
one occurred in 1865, which turned the
name by which the Sultan's government
Is generally known into a misnomer.
Among the buildings generally attacked
was the Serial Palace, where councils
are held and ambassadors are received.
The chief gate of the palace. the Bab-i-
Humayum, of Sublime Porte. was burn
ed down and was never rebuilt
II Constantinople has been named as
the most beautiful capital in Europe,
which is the ugliest? Paris. 1t has no
character. 1t is made straight: it is
idealized after Euclid; it is stiff. weari-
some, and feeble. Lastly 1t has no ex-
preston. The distance. remains always
the same, partly because of the optruslve
geometry and the monotOny, partly be-
cause of the whiteness. and partly be-
cause of the popularity Of the atmos-
pierre For which. Of course, the ParI-
sian Is not responsible, but should have
remembered in building. The color and