The Washington herald., 1913-04-03
copyright. 1913. by Court Gossip syndicstc)

Copyright. 1913 by Court Gossip Syndicstc.)
Lord Merton. who inherits the titles
of the late Earl of Nelson, also steps
into the use of the annual G5,000 PEN
sion granted the House of Nelson for
ever on account of the great naval
hero's victory in the famous sea fight
OF Trafalgar
One of the most valuable relics of
Admiral Nelson in existence is a small
golden cenotaph ordered by Alexander
Dawson, an army contractor, who
made the famous sea fighters acquaint-
ance at Quebec i'm 1882 and who until
his death remained on the closest terms
of intimacy with him. This cenotaph
was cast in the form of a pyramid out
of they eighty-four guineas found after
Nelson's death in his desk on board
the Victory, Nelson's flagship. Later,
when Dawson came to financial grief, il
was sold at public sale, together with
some other Nelson relics, of which the
most interesting was miniature of
Lady Hamilton, with q lock of her hair
at the back, and which had been re-
moved from his neck after he had re-
ceived his mortal wound. AS late as
1913 the whcreab bouts of this cenotaph
was known. A Pail Mall dealer of
curios advertised il for SALE but since
then it has been lost track Of
Another $4,000 pension in perpetuity
which has made itself famous in the
House of Commons was that which
arose out of the Duke of Marlborough
services TO the, British nation. II was
made the basis of continued attacks by
members Of the opposition, and when
these came into power the late duke
did a wise thing by committing the an
nual payment into lump sum on a
liberal scale. But the amount paid out
by the British government to the MARI
boroughs during the life of the pen
sion. to finally get rid of it, was no less
than G6t4 900.
Another pension which was made the
subject of considerable criticism was
that bestowed by King George III upon
the famous literateur. DR. johnson. Ii
was said that a man of DIR. Johnson's
pronounced Jacobite leanings ought to
have declined "A pension granted by the
Hanoverians. The doctor however. took
these attacks good-naturedly, declaring
that the pension had been awarded him
for his merit i'm the field of literature.
The acceptance of the pension, he
maintained, did not change his political
principles in the least
1T is true he adds, Il cannot now
curse the House OF Hanover: nor would
it he decent of me to drink King James
gives me money to pay for. But l think
that the pleasure of cursiEg the House
# Hanover, ana drinking King James
health, are amply overbalanced by $500
a year
Pensions are not tho only things COM
manded and forgotten. An inquisitive
member IF the House of Commons was
struck one day by the presence of a
policeman in one of the Hobbies. He
kf-l,N ir,,la 1nlAl
should always have a guardian strolling
ur and down, and made inquiries. The
records of the House were searched, and
IL was found that fifty years previously,
when the lobby was being decorated, a
policeman had been stationed there to
keep members from soiling their clothes.
The order never having been counter
manded. the constable had kept his beat
for half a century.
Bismarck a connoisscur of beverages,
ranked coffee almost as highly as beer.
but he Insisted Upon having it pure and
unadulterdted. When in 1870 with the
conquering Pressian army in France, he
halted one DAY with his suite at an inn
for rcfreshment .Have you any chicory
in the house," was the question he fired
at the surprised country boniface. On
being answered in the affirma tive he
commanded the innkeeper to bring him
''all he had 1t was brought, Bismarck |
with his OWE hands threw it into the |
mud of the roadway and said: Now, old
man, make me a cup of coffee"
The early popularity of coffee in |
Europe seems to have its InconVenient |
side, if the record of the opening of the |
first coffee house in London is any |
criterion |
4 Mr. Edwards. merchant, dealing |
with the Orient. had a Greek servant |
who used to make coffee for his master |
and his friends. But tire fame of the |
rev drink spread. and Mr.. Edwards |
found the frequent visits of friends old !,
and new We're becoming a nuisance. He |
was growing too popular, and to get
over the difficulty he installed his serv-
ant in a public coffee house in 1852 and |
nc doubt recommended the place TO his
friends.
Although most Of the worlds coffee
now is grown not in Arabia, but in South |
America, there are some States in that
section where il is hardly used at all |
in Argentina for instance. only the for
eigners ask for it. Hence it is classed as
"A luxury and commands Il very high
price. The natives drink mate or
Paraguay tea. Among the lower classes
this beverage is drunk as freely as beer
in Germany or tea in England. After
dinner in Argentina many housekeepers
serve, instead of coffee, basin of soup,
which strangers find some difficulty in
swallowing. Attempts have been made
to introduce mate in Europe, but they
never proved successful.
The Kaiser. of whose lawsuit with one
IF his tenants at Cadinen. Halmuth
Sother, ! spoke the other day in
with a similar proceeding on
the part of his ancestor, the Great i
Frederick of Prussia. had been threatened
last year with lawsuit more serious
than this one decided against him. The
plaintiff in that case claimed to be the
heir TO Field Marshal Won Muennich, and