The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-29
PEER Is DRILLED BY POORHOUSE MASTER Veteran Earl of Meath Un-
 able to Stand Strain IN VOLUNTEER CORPS Falls in Next to His Own Coachman. Is Father of Empire Day'-Saw
 the Franco-Prussian War
 From Both Sides

l London. May S.=tSpecial. )-Todav | has come the announcement that most l of those who know the Earl of Meath have been expecting. This veteran no bleman and stanch patriot, who bor-
 rowed the American idea of flag day.
 and invented empire day" has been
 unable to stand the straing any long
 CT At 76 he has enlisted" that is. he
 has joined the volunteer training corps
 at Chertsey, where one of his many
 seats" is located, and had his first
 drill yesterday. The section command
 CT of this corps happens to be the mas
 ter of the Chertsey poorhouse and he promptly told the wealthy nobleman. | whose ancestor. Jacques le Brabazon. Was one of William the Conqueror $ l retainers, to fall in" Lord Meath
 noticed his own coachman in the ranks to him. Aren't We democratic nova days
 The Earl of Meath. however, is no poser. He has been pounding away at this country in favor of universal trailing and rifle shooting for B years or more. A long talk which | had with him on the subject of the
  league two organizations of which amongst many other beneficent ones he Is the founder, left me convinced that he would shoulder a rifle at moments notice. did his King and country need him.
 No wonder he is taking the keenest possible interest in every detail of the present world convulsion, for he saw both sides of what now seems the mere brawl of 1870 Having begun a diplomatic career as clerk at the foreign office undar Palmerston and Lord John Russell, he was sent to Frankfort in 1866. and served at the Berlin embassy from 1868 to 1870. IT, 1871 he was promoted to Paris. via The Hague, so he got a much better view of the Franco -Prussian war than most statesmen of that time.
 Like Tolstoy. Lord Meath has de voted his life to public service after a decidedly lively youth. His career at Christ church Is described by discreet biographers as Somewhat gay" and later, when he went to Germany to en- large his mind he and his comrades, apparently, made themselves fairly no torious in the little village of Bucke- berg. Schaumburg Lippe. As for young Lord Brabazon, as he then was one Of his erstwhile chums has described hin, as wild as a hawk" Germany was not tic dtnlelic country then that It Is how and the sporting proclivities of the British lads fairly staggered the Schaumberg Lippeans
 one day then ran a paper chase Lord Meath was leading the "hounds' when he came upon some peasants working in field and inquired whether they had seen anyone running with a bag over his shoulder
 Yes" they said. He went this way What has he taken?"
 But the hounds" sped on. Next morning the British party were sur prised by a summons to the Prince or Lippe's palace. when the prince told them he was informed they had been robbed of 500 thalers Ap- parently the peasants had been quite unable to grasp the idea of anyone running across country coatless and bareheaded for pleasure. Accordingly they had taken the "hare" for thief end imagination had placed his booty at 500 thalers.
 Lord Meath who is a Knight of St. Patrick and a privy councillor and whose other titles are Baron of Cha worth and Lord Ardee. owns some 30- 600 acres as well as art treasures of great value. He is tall, spare and has a crop of "face fungus that would be the despair of Frank Richardson and in spite of his zeal for many kinds of social and other reforms, he enjoys Il joke and seldom misses an opportunity. of cracking one
 One story they tell of him concerns an American visitor at kilruddery. the earls place in Ireland. The visitor was crtcizng the Irish railways when Lord Meath said At least we have this advantage. there is one Irish railway where collisions are impossible-you see, the company has only one train"