The Washington herald., 1913-05-05
Court Gossip of Interesting
Epents on THO Continents

high compliment for his alertness, atten-
ton to dtuy, and the steadiness of his
aim, and ended by pinning the medal for
efficient service upon his breast with the
| hand that was not in a sling.
Such courage is in the blood of the
present royal house of Greece. King
Georges second son. Prince George.
| shares the family pluck at the moment
of danger 1t was this prince that saved
the life of the Gear of Russia by prompt
ly intercepting a dagger thrust, which a
Japanese lunatic had aimed at the Rus
sian monarch. AS a souvenir of this
event Prince George possesses particu-
larry stout walking stick, presented to
| him by the Emperor Nicholas. 1t has
mob which takes the form of a
grim bears head, encrusted with dia-
| monds. rubies, and sapphires. And upon
| deep gold band are engraved the
words, ITO Prince George-For Valor.
Pitt, when Chancellor Of the British
Exchequer. was confronted with the
same problem as that which now awaits
| the solution of Mr.. Lloyd George. The
war with France vas imposing as an
almost unbearable strain upon the ma
tional resources, and he didn't know
what next to tax. In sheer despair he
| wrote to Somersetshire friend for sug-
Il
umbrellas, and make the Bishop order
| the prayer for rain to be read in all the
churches until the end of the war" But
| this was advice which the Chancellor de-
| clined to follow.
Mr. Lloyd-George is not likely to re-
vive loves unhappy idea of a match
box stamp. but he might find something
/ less incongenial in one of the proposals
| of Lord Randolph ChurchiIPs budget that
was never produced. This was for a
penny revenue stamp to be pasted over
| the shot end of every sporting cartridge.
As 10000 0o0 of these were used in sea-
son, the tax, with allowance made for
all possible causes of reduction, would
have brought in 81. 400, 900. THE sports
man." comments Mr.. Churchill, whose
! unerring aim never required second
| barrel, except for another bird, would in
poetic justice enjoy a comparative i'm
munity But while his unskiled COM
panion blazed away he might remember
that at each discharge the stamp blown
| to pieces by the explosion would carry
its tribute to the public treasury
The great boom in drapery may sug-
gest a new field of taxation to the Brit
ish Chancellor. Taxes on clothes would
be no new thing, of course. In 1867 the
government attempted to raise the wind
| by taxing French straw hats, known as
| as "Wattau." which were then the rage;
and in 1875 Pitt imposed a tax on gloves.
| every person dealing in gloves being re-
ouired to obtain a license, and to affix to
each right-hand glove a Stamp Office
| ticket denoting the duty. In both cases.
however the tax was failure, for peo-
Die abandoned the ''Watteau," and the
gloves gave place to homemade and I'm
| taxed wooden mittens.
| Twickenham Ferry, for the honor of
4 rowing Englismen across which the Earl
! of Dysart is now contending with rival
| in the law courts, once had subterra-
| mean competitor. This took the form OF
a tunnel from the Manor House on the
| Surrey side But history for long time
\ failed to keep record OF its use or size
| Probably no ferry in the world, except
| Charon's across the Styx. has carried
| more illustrious passengers than the ferry
of Twickenham. Pope, Walpole, exiled
| French kings and their glittering train
of guests, made the place in the eight
| zenith century the haunt of fashion
| and the muses."
| When Walpole bought his Twickenham
| house from the toy woman. Mrs. Chew
nix he found il to be the 'prett1est
! bauble you ever saw" One remembers
lis happy description of the small Eu-
1 pirates that rolled by his windows and
the two delightful roads, dusty, but alive
| with coaches and chaises. "Barges as
| solemn as barons of the exchequer move
under the windows. Richmond Hill and
Ham Walks bound my prospects; but
thank Cod the Thames is between me
and the Duchess of Queensberry- Dow
ayers as plenty as founders reside all
around mel" FLANEUk-
/ Copyright. 1918. by A. D. JacotsonJ