The Washington herald., 1913-09-04
Court Gossip of Interesting
Epents on Two Continents

! in which he agreed to pay $4,000 to an
actress for breach of promise.
The house was built in 1572, when Eng
lish noblemen Wed with one an other in
| the splendor Of their homes and the vast
ness Of their acres. Its Distinguishing
! feature is the text which forms part OF
| the architecture around the parapet
! Written in Latin. it means Unless the
Lord keep the house. in vain is the labor
! OF him that buildeth IL" The mansion
! contains furniture, panelling and stat:
| cases Of rare beauty.
| Many congratulations are being show
cred upon Lady Desborough, who has
just come into a large fortune under the
will of the Countess COwper. Lady Des-
borough's pleasant fancy for lending her
| delightful residence, Taplow Court, to
! honeymoon couples has earned for the
| house the name of Honeymoon Hall"
| In the visitors book at Taplow Court
are to be found what is perhaps the most
unique collection Of signatures of pres
ent-day notabilities-statesmen, politi-
clans, soldiers, sailros. literateurs. act
Ors, &C.-all are represented. Lady Des-
borough has been a great deal in attend
ance upon Queen Mary recently.
lLt h'tdit bil ltle lidNdl tSAllldltS III
the ReichstaE serves to recall the fact
that centuries before Germany was being
considered a sea power. Switzerland pos
sessed a fleet equipped for warfare.
Eight hundred years ago on all the
larger Swiss lakes armed galleys were
maintained by the rival cantons. Skilled
shipwrights had to he imported from
Italy for the construction of these YES
sells, some of which carried crews of go
men. The largest of the flOtillas was
maintained on the Lake of Geneva, when
the inhabitants of that city were at war
with Savoy. Since the neutrality of
Switzerland has been guaranteed by the
powers there has been no need for the
war vessels on the lakes. The Swiss.
however. possess a mercantile lake
navy. which carries on a considerable
amount of trade over the 342 miles of
naviGable waterways in the little Alpine
republic.
The French Chamber has passed the
bill to extend the term of military serv-
ice from two to three years. This will
enable the French war office to in
crease the size of the army so as to
keep pace with that of Germany. I'm
der the present system France had only
567. .OO0 soldiers available for use in
Europe. The Kaiser succeeded IN nav
ing the Reichstag make provision for
$4,000 men. Such disparity worried the
statesmen Of the Quai d'Orsay, hence
the three years system by which the
army is brought up to a total of $4,000
men.
1t must be a bitter reflection to every
Frenchman that even under the three
year service France will be unable TO
keep up with Germany under only
two-year system. and this means the
adoption of more stringent measures to
have the French army in numbers some
where near that of the national arch
enemy" 1t is certain that a country
with a small and stationary population
cannot keep up with one having much
larger apd a rapidly growing populace
without continually resorting to extra
ordinary means. The cardinal fault in
France is what Col. Roosevelt so en-
phatically warned against her low birth
rate. Unless this is remedied by the CO.
operation of patriotic men and women
by more and more fruitful marriages,
by closer attention to the duties they
owe their "chere patrie," a further eX-
be needed, and such a process repeated
until agriculture, industry, and COM
merce shall have been drained of their
virile, energetic men in order to keep
the barracks well garrisoned. But what
If exhaustion sets a limit? \ few more
such victories of the ministry of war
will spell the undoing to poor France!
FLANEUR.