The Washington herald., 1916-05-07
SEEN AND HEARD =
BY GEORGE MINER
Special Correspondent of The Wash.
ington Herald.
tCopynght LIZ, by the Mcclure Newspaper
6yncncaSz-J

LSist- Inls american was DR.. Edward
North, loyal South Carolinian. who
mas Just returned to this country after
an absence OF seventeen years in Eu-
rope.
Nearly all Englishmen," said DR..
North. feel little sore at the United
states because we are not in the war.
They seem to think that we ought to
get in the game. Mr.. Arnold White
Is Of that opinion and does not hesitate
TO say so. One argument he put forth
in a long article in a London paper
was based on a statement that nearly
every gun trainer in our navy was an
Engnshman and a deserter from the
English navy.
This astounded me. could not be-
lieve it. but before replying to Mr..
White l decided to make sure of the
facts. So I wrote to the Secretary of
our navy, inclosing Mr.. Whites article,
and asked him just what percentage
of men in the American navy were for
eign born. The reply was prompt and
more than satisfactory. Mr.. Daniels
said that less than l per cent of the
men in the American navy were Eng
lish by birth, and that less than Ralf
that number were French or Russian.
Also, that not one single gun trainer
in our navy was an Englishman. So
our good craftsmanship was not due
to English training.
Then 1 politely went for Mr.. White
He was not in the least offended and
took it in the best possible spirit. He
asked me to call on him and we had
a pleasant chat. He told me he had his
information from an English officer
stationed at Vancouver. who had evil
IDENTIFY been fooled. Subsequently he
printed a very long article taking 1t
all back and making full amends"
Opinions in n Nutshell.
DR.. North believes in Lord Kitch-
ener's prophecy that the war will be
OF three years duration; that England
will not have money enough to carry
II on any longer; also, that there is no
question but that the allies will win;
also that the Germans were defeated
long ago when they were stopped on
their drive to Paris; likewise that
England will not need to buy much
more in this country as she Is pretty
well stocked up and that Lloyd George
has done wonders in developing the
resources of the country and is about
the ablest man in public life there to-
day.
Winston Churchill became popular,
he said. because he was half American
and because, being a man of action and
doing things, he naturally did some of
them wrong. II he had sat back and
accomplished nothing he would not
have been criticised. DR.. North was
near one of the Zeppelin bombs when
it exploded in London. 1t threw mat
ter which struck him in the face and
blinded him for a few days.
In connection with news from Eng
land, 1t is interesting to note that
through the death Of his father, a few
days ago, Lord Curzon. whose late
wife was Mary Letter. OF Chicago, be-
comes Baron Scarsdale, without of
course losing his own high and more
familiar titles. His father was one of
the few parson peers of England odd
ly enough, in the matter of titles the
father was heir to the son. Had Lord
Curzon died first. Baron Scarsdale
would have inherited the earldom. Peo-
pie who have made a study of the
English nobility tell me that such a
condition is unprecedented in the his
tory Of the peerage.
The late Lord Scarsdale was rector
OF one of the smallest parishes in Eng
land. 1 think there were less than a
hundred parishioners. His Derbyshire
home, Ksdleston Hall, is one OF the
show places of the country. 1t won
the approval Of DR.. johnson and Bos-
we'll when they visited 1t, though
johnson qualified his praise by saying
that it would make an excellent town
hall and that it displayed more cost
than good Judgment.
Inspired by a House.
The celebrated Robert Adam was the
architect Of Kedleston Hall. which was
built on an estate that has been in
the hands OF the Curzons since the
reign of Edward I. The government
house in Calcutta was built in imita-
tion Of it. I have heard it said in
England many times that it was this
fact which fired Lord Curzon with the
ambition to become viceroy of India
I suspect that his American wife en-
couraged that ambition and the re-
suit was most happy, for never was
there a more gracious or beloved vice.
refine in India than was Mary Letter.
Lord Curzon's Christian name is Ma
thaniel. So was his fathers. It's their
favorite name. Lord Curzon told me
himself once that there had always
been a Nathaniel in their family for
more than 200 years.
Mr.. Samuel Rea, president Of the
Pennsylvania railroad, has been asked
why SzS,ooO,OO has been spent in i'm
provements on the Long Island rail-
road for which there seems to be no
apparent need. Mr.. Rea replies:
I'm spending the $2S,o0O,oO0 the di-
rectors were planning at least fifty
years ahead, as all good railroad di-
rectors ought to do. 1t is general in
affairs to look into the future
and deal with future needs in order
that we may not be found unprepared
when the improvements are really
needed"
How smoothly traffic would work all
over the country II all railroads did
that and what a joyful time business
and travellers would have If transpOr-
tation facilities were all kept fifty
years ahead OF the times. New York
street railways are not kept in that con-
dition, neither subways nor elevated or
surface lines. On the contrary, they
are always about five years behind.
And is the Long Island road really
always in that delightful condition? I
am afraid Mr.. Rea forgets about the
Long Island waiting room in the
station. After the sta
tion was finished they found they had
forgotten to build a big waiting room
for the Long Island road. So they
had to scoop out the earth under the
and build a cellar for the
Long Islanders to wait in. That need