The Washington herald., 1913-06-16

Downright. 1913. By A. d. Jscobson)
In the DAYS of good Queen Bess' few
entertainments were more popular than
Drag" in which the victory went to the
competitor who was adtudged by the
audience to have emulated most success
fully the example of Ananias OF dubious
memory. Ii may be surmised. perhaps
rot unreasonably, that the popularity Of
this form of amusement was due to the
fact that the art of novel-writlng was
unknown in those days.
read in a book published in 1880: "Ly-
ing with us Is SO loved and allowed that
there are many Tymes Gamings and
prizes therefore, purposely to encourage
one to Outlye another. The custom
persisted until more recent times. and
as late as the eighteenth century Liars
Clubs" were a common feature of Lon
don life One of the best known OF these
clubs met for many years at an old hos
tlery. now vanished, known as the Bell
Tavern. Westminster. and the most I'M
portant of the rules OF this copfraternity
Of liars ran as follows:
whoever shall presume to speak
word of truth between the established
hours Of and 10, within this Wnrshipful
society, without first saying BY your
leave. Mr.. President shall for every such
offense forfeit one gallon of such wine
as the chairman shall think fit."
In EIizabethan times lying for the
milestone" was a regular part OF the
amusement at village festivals. why
the milestone should have been select
ed for the somewhat unenviable distinc-
ton of being the prize In these orgies OF
mendacity is not quite clear. but 1t has
been suggested that the explanation was
To be found in the very apocryphal story
Of King Priscus' milestone having been
cut in two with a razor. Another theory
is that the milestone was chosen IS the
most appropriate trophy, because Of the
''whetting' of the wits which was neces-
sary for the telling of lies Of enormity.
Apropos Of this. good story is told
at the expense Of Sir Kenelm Digby. He
had been travelling on the Continent. and
on his return boosted Of having seen the
philosophers stone. Perhaps" said Lord
milestone" No less person than a
bishop once was discounted in an
amusing fashion at one of these lying"
competitions. Porteus, Bishop of Lon
don. was travelling in Essex, and stopped
at the little town of Coggleshall to change
horses. There was a great crowd in the
market place. and the bishop asked what
was the matter. He was told that II
was the day on which the milestone
eously indignant at the prevalence OF
so demoralizing a custom, the prelate
upbraided the crowd with pious fervor,
concluding his discourse with the en-
phatic declaration: II never told a lie in
my life" Whereupon the chief umpire.
after brief consultation with his fellows.
stepped forward. and. proffering the
milestone. said. My lord. we unani-
mously award you the prize" For a
wit
Indignation and offended dignity, but
finally he saw the humor Of the situation,
and he often narrated the story to WISH
tors at Fulham Palace, where. for many
years. that milestone occupied the post
Of honor over his dining-room mantle
piece.
A Hungarian baroness, the niece of the
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador at Ber-
lin. is singing Hungarian songs with her
husband in a Berlin night cafe for six
marks. an evening. She is the Baroness
Melissa Tomary. who comes from noble
Hungarian family. and is thrty-fve
years Of age In former years she played
an important role in Viennese and Buda-
pest society. where she was noted for
her beauty and her wit. She first mar
ried Bella Szentmiklossy. a barytone
singer. and after his death went TO Ber-
lin. where a wealthy Polish count wished
TO marry her. but was prevented by his
family Going to Russia. she married
at Tifiis. her present husband. VI. Moi
zaw, a former college professor. who
left his post and became her instrument
talist. accompanying her on the violin.
A lengthy engagement in Teheran fol-
lowed. and then the pair returned to
Berlin.
The assassination of Essad Pasha. self
proclaimed King of Albania. and former
Turkish commandment at Scutari, was
accomplished in fulfllment of the law
Of the vendetta. which is about the only
law that the fierce Albanian mountain
GERS obey Essad had gone to SCutari to
Join forces with Hassan Ria, that to-
gether they might hold the fortress
against King Nicholas CNikola) of Mon
tenegro Essad was Of the progressive
Young Turkish party: Hassan was re-
dictionary who unwillingly gave outward
! adherence to the new regime. Hassan
! believed that Essad and his Albanians
were looking out for themselves, and