The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-29
Projects of French Provinces In
vited to Submit Names
of Candidates.
nY LA MARaUIsE DE FoNTENoY.

'RANCE, In the torty-three years
II tina, she has been subject to g,
republican form of government,
| has created Il far larger number of
orders OF knighthood than were orig
mated by all Of the Emperors and
Kings put tosether who occupied her
| throne during tho eighteenth ana
nineteenth centuries
In addition to the Legion OF Honor
anu the Medaille Militaire. and the
gold and silver Palms of the Academy.
which existed prior to 1870, there are
| now the Order of Agricultural Merit.
In three classes: ar order to reward
| services in the Treasury Department.:
| an order for services rendered by doc
tors. hospital attendants. etc, in cpl
denies: an order for the reward or
conspicuous feats of bravery, es-
pecially iii the :aving or life. and an
order for the reward OF the officials or
the Forestry Department There are
at least n dozen others. each with its
own particular, ribbon, which is worn
in the buttonhole
And now the government has Great
cd by means of a Legislative act, a
new Order of Distinguished Domestic
Service. 1t is in the form OF a medal.
and suspended to n red. white and
blue ribbon, According to the journal
tutes of the new order, the conditions
for its award are that the recipients
should have served in the same house
or family for q period of thirty years,
and have earned the commentator o:
! masters and nistresses. They may
even obtain II IL they have been in ser
vice for thirty years. in more than
one family, on its being shown that
their change of employers war through
IN, nf
whatsoever is necessary il The SER
wants. male or female, have render ed
exceptional or heroic service to the
family by whom they are employed. or
have given proof OF extraordinary de-
vot!on and fidelity.
Married couples may also obtain IL
If they have brought W four, children
| or more until the age OF sixteen, In
! satisfactory fashion.
The projects that Is, the governors
of the various provincial departments
throughout France, have been invited
to submit the names of candidates for
the decoration to the Minister of
Labor, and the first series of medals
are to be bestowed on the LIST of Octo-
Der next
In prussia, and in several other Ger
man states, medals exist for the re-
ward of servants domestic and other
wise, who have been for thirty and forty
years with the same employers. But
France enjoys the distinction of being
the first nation to recognize by means
of ribbon and decoration, the ser
vice rendered to the state by bringing
into the world four citizens and rails
ing them in a satisfactory manner to
the age OF sixteen
No undue Importance must be at
tached TO the stories extensively
printed in this country to the effect
that all the sympathies of King
+, George and Queen Mary are with the
Duchess of Westminster, and that they
have taken up her cause openly and
vigorously against her husband. Tor
the duke, who is not now living with
the duchess, has just been entertain
ing n large house party at Eaton Hall.
his place in Cheshire. for the grouse
shooting and polo. The honors, in the
absence Of the duchess, were done by
the dukes eldest sister, Lady Shaftes-
bury, who was there with her hus-
band. The earl is the lord chamber
lain of Queen Mary. and his wife is
one of Her MajestY's extra ladies In
waiting. Another sister of the duke,
namely, Lady Beauchamp. who is one
IF .he closest friends of Queen Mary
their intimacy dating from their re-
specttve childhood-waS also there
with her husband. who Is n member
of the Cabinet while still more signr-
ticant was the presence among the
guests of Queen Mary's favorite
brother, the Duke OF Teck, with his
wife. who is an aunt of the Duke of
Westminster. The Viscountess erich
ton. another member of the Grosvenor
family. and whose husband is one OF
the equerrie3 of the King, was also
there.
In fact. the composition OF the
house party Mt Eaton Hall was of a
nature to show that whatever the SEN
timents OF the dukes relatives may
have been at the outset of his troubles
with his wife, they now sympathiZe
with him. and also that the King, and
especially the Queen, do not espouse
the duchess's case against her hus-
band.
Meanwhile. the duchess's only sis
ter, the Princess of Pless. from whom
she was until n year ago inseparable.
has gone for n prolonged trip to South
America, with her father. Colonel
Corvallis West. Indeed, their de-
parture was OF a somewhat sudden
character. and at the very height OF
the London season. Apparently the
princess does not wish to be mixed
up In her sisters squabbles
a strange scene was witnessed the
other day Mt Rome: a scene utterly
without precedent since the Eternal
"a