Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-09

time this doctor would have been entitled
to pension Of little over e4OO a year
by selling his half share. as already men
toned. for f1o,0nO and drawing e32. JU
on the other half, he netted sum OF
f42 800 for his outlay Of lbs 4d. or the
capital value OF per cent of 81 200 pei
year.
There have been heaps OF romai,ces at
tached to the sweep. captain OF the
British Indian Steamship Company. who
was Just about to retire on a pension OF
$500 a year. won over 100000. while the
| plate-layers and railway servants gener'
ally have always been among the Iortu.
nate ones. A good many of the chief
prizes have gone to officers on both the
| p and o. and the British Indian vessels.
and there is, singularly enough. no RECORD
| of winners squandering fortune so llght'
! Nv earned. The members of the club them
selves never publish the names Of win
ners, simply recording them under the
nom doccason. which competitors have
to adopt.
The Calcutta Turf Club also has a big
sweep on the St. Leger. 1t Is true this
: is not so big as the Derby sweep. put
| II is big enough, for a Londoner won
G4.SOo as a second prize couple OF
years ago. The entrance fee Is the SAME
and also the division of the prize money
as In the case of the Derby sweep. Purists
there are who would like to see BON
sweeps abolished but IL must be remem-
bered how small comparatively speahlns'
is the entrance fee. and how large the
prizes are, and the fact that win means
a fortune for a man. That they have
generally been won by poor men is an
other point In their favor.
Cab Added to Museum.
\ hanson cab has been added to the
London Museum. This is certainly enter
prise, for there are at least 400 hansoms
on the streets. but doubtless it deserves
its place as a specimen or an extinct
London industry, for no one makes nan
SONS now. The last maker of han
SONS closed his doors three years ago. ~
was famous house. whose exquisi.e
hansoms used to be fought for long De-
fore they were finished. In 1905 motor
cabs first appeared in the London statis-
tics, very humbly. under the name Oh
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS power. there Pc
ing nineteen OF them as compared Win
about 1000 hansoms. In 1910 hansoms
had sunk to 2,o8 and the taxicaps nao
risen to 6.397. 1t is impossible TO give
the figures today, but the taxicabs may
soon be about 11.000. and the hansons al
about 400 intermittently employed.
The refusal of the hanson drivers 10
accept the taximeter accelerated theU
end. If they had accepted 1t they may
have made a long fight, as the Paris
fiacres are still doing. Their pass ng Is
really loss to the street. for their tall.
delicately poised carriage, shining black,
with the driver commanding cab ana
horse from his lofty seat and the slender
whip raised h gh above all. was one OF
the most decoratively satisfying things
that London has ever produced.
1t was like an invention from the beau
! tiful attenuated art of Whistler, who, by
| the way. always brought hanson into
| his Autographs when he could. Its
praises have been sung by many cum
ming writer. Without the hanson Steven
| sons New Arabian Nights would lose
half its queer London glamour. Mr.. LIE
Gallienne's couplet too. is rather haunt.
| ing as q poetic young mans conception OF
hansoms at night in the Strand when he
first comes to town.
Like dragon flies the hanson hover,
With jeweled eyes to catch the lover.
1t must be some pleasure to the senti-
mental to think that although the han
som is In the museum II is not yet gone
from US. We can still hall 1t In the
streets before saying farewell.
Still Owns Private Hanson.
Although these are the days Of motor
cars innumerable there is still private
hanson in London. l saw 1t In st.
James street the other day. and glance
of the style and shine Of the vehicle, to
say nothing of the slap-up cabman with
the melton coat and shiny hat, told that
II was no ordinary cab before one noticed
the absence of Its register number. II
was possibly the last survival OF the
noble company of private hansoms which
existed in the eighties. King Edward,
when Prince of Wales. used a private
hanson habitually between 1880 and 1880.
and the vehicle is still, believe. to be
seen in the news at Buckingham Palace.
Lord Rosebery is said to have been the
last man in London to sport cabriolet.
The late Lord Dudley was the last well
known man who drove about in private
hanson. Although Lord Shrewsbury. In
his ambi tious hanson schemes. attempted
Paris, the hanson was almost as much
admired by foreigners as the Pail Mall
clubs. There Is a story of French
fashionable man visiting London In the
nineties who recorded n complete Inn
pressions Of London to a friend in these
words: Il love hanson cabs. and they
are still wing Dorothy" Dorothy
was of course. comic opera of the
period which had an unending run.
To Row in State Barge.
When the king and queen visit the Hen
ley regetta on July they are to be
rowed over the famous racing course in
the old state barge, which has been
taken to Staines to be redecorated. The
barge has only once been used by the
sovereign in recent years on the occasion
of the visit of King Edward and Queen
Alexandra to Elton, eight years ago, but
despite is age-223 years to be precise-it
is thoroughly servceable, though cum
brous and Anticipated. The craft was
built by William III for his consort Mary.
and with its richly gilt canopy and mas
sive ornamental ons presents a striking
contrast to the trim motor boats of the
twentieth century.
In spite of IS antiquity 1t Is still q
watertight boat. some forty feet long,
l -
lecture. and. like all the old state barges,
highly ornamented and canopied On
the stern Is the royal coat Of arms. and
the carven lilies of France quartered with
the lions of England are part of its
decoration. To the public OF this genera
ton the state barge Is Little more than
u tradition.
The eight bargemen who will pull at the
oars will wear their quaint watermen' s
costumes-scarlet coats with founces.
knee breaches, scarlet stockings and
black shoes with buckles-not by any
means an ideal dress for prOpelling a
heavy barge on hot summers day. The
kings bargemaster. popularity and affec-
tionately known on the Thames as "Bilr'
East, and an ex-champion sculler. who
will pilot the vessel, has a particularly
gorgeous uniform of scarlet and gold, and
as q further sign of his rank he wear,
an admirars hat. Originally II was sug-
gested that their majesties should go
from London to the regatta in the barge.
but considerations OF time. not to men,
ton the severe test such pull would i'm
pose upon the bargemen. made the plan
impracticable.