Evening star., 1922-10-29
Tales of Well Known Folk
In Social and Official Life
Coal Shortage Among Diplomats Promptly Over
come by State Department-lnterest
in Upton Diary

OF the 400 persons who are now
comprised in the diplomatic corps or
Washington a large proportion comes
from southern cl!mes. where winter
Is more a figure Of speech than the
painful reality it can be in this city.
/ They have been keenly anxious on
the subject Of fuel. particularly those
with youngsters Of tender years, to
whom ice and snow Will be novelty.
For the lasting credit Of the state
Department. 1t may be recorded that
the needs of such families have been
given precedence over others even IN
the executive circle. and while all
| undoubtedly will eventually be serV
ed with perfect satisfaction. IT was
, with feelings of unutterable reiieI
that many of the Central and south
American diplomats beheld their coal
bins being gradually filled up to re-
pletion. Coal for the diplomats mas
been from the first an outstanding
1 obligation in local as WeH as d
governmental sense and 1t has been
provided with an expedition when ls
1 causing astonishment. 1t makes an
Interesting study to learn of the many
| families in the foreign contingent OF
Washington to whom the subject OF
! coal is as aloof as the stars. The
| good old sun furnishes their neat
year in and year out and their emil
dren will behold fire for the first
time this winter. and no doubt with
! deep wonder. Others come from
climates like southern California,
F, where an open wood fire furnishes
heat enough for comfort, and the logs
are burned many times just for the
| CHEEKY effect. Only in recent years
have the British and Scotch known
the comfort of steam heat. the sea-
coal fire. as they call 1t. being all
| that was furnished even when the
| snow fell.
Royal palaces and their contents
are serving odd needs these days.
Germany has stripped many of the
urban palaces of the numerous Ho-
| henzollerns and has sent the furni-
ture all over the world to equip the
diplomatic and consular establish
ments of the nation. Much of 1t has
come to this country. and there is an
! air of smartness about the consular
| offices unknown before the splendid
Illuminated leather from the Offices
of the kaiser's functionaries arrived.
| Vienna has turned the vast ballroom
! in that dreary imperial pile. the Hof-
\ burg, into a municipal theater, and
! nightly it Is filled with concourse
of people who view communistlc
dramas with lively satisfaction and
prolonged applause. The almost
priceless Gobelin hangings have not
! been disturbed and the rights of the
| people are depicted in the histrionic
against a background Of imperial
| splendor. Sometimes favorite operas
are sandwiched between the produc-
tion of what are becoming the work.
| ing peoples plays. and then the stage
is decked with the treasures which
| the Hapsburgs have been gathering
for many hundred years. Locally this
! ballroom is known as Maria Theresa.
since the intrepid empress used 1t
/ habitually for gala events and had
| contributed all the tapestries and his
toric paintings which now make SO
! glorious a setting for any sort OF
opera or play. Under Franz josef
the ballroom of Maria Theresa was
| rarely opened for actual use, though
| tourists in list slippers over their
street boots shuffled across its SATIN
! wood floors and examined its beau
ties at certain hours daily through
4 out the year
| The turning of an honest penny by
f! writing ones memories has attacked
! the genial Sir Thomas Upton. and
he spends many hours each day Jot-
ting down piQuant details of the
on the Erin. Four princesses form a
part Of the list of the past summer
! and previous seasons were almost as
| rich. Sir Thomas Is to call his book
| MY Guests on the Erin" and he will
go back to the first chapters Of his
| ambition to own the fastest sailing
boat afioat. and he goes along with
a running story which will include
! princes, presidents and kings. every
| degree of titled greatness OF the
! feminine order. and every other kind
Of fame in arts. letters. music and
/ hA Dva~ oil No
| mighty Of the world have at one
| time or; ,her trod the deck Of the
Erin. and. as Sir Thomas possesses a
keen Irish humor and the most phe-
nomenal memory, this book will GER
tainly furnish some notable and true
anecdotes of people in the public eye.
Though there were rumors in early
summer that the owner Of the Erin
was coming to this side Of the ocean.
he failed to do SO. and at last ac-
counts was cruising about tho east
coast Of England and spending quiet
most diligently. The Upton memoirs
are supposed to be ready for print
with the volumes Of autobiography
which will flood the markets for the
holiday season. Tho British premier
is reported to be submerged in a
giving the finishing touches to his
book, and Mr.. Winston Churchill has
gone into strict retirement to COM
plete his literary labors, both being
Of an photographed nature.
Some distinguished visitors to
Washington discover the prosaic and
practical character Of the American
people in the statuary which adorns
the parks and byways. Washingto-
mans are not altogether proud Of this
exhibit and the hope IL freely ex-
pressed that, since tho Fine Arts Com
mission has prohobitive power. things
may improve in this direction: But the
particular criticism leveled against
Washington statuary by a foreign artist
is the absence Of idealism or the imagi-
native spell. Every effort presents po-
litical, utilitarian or martial aspects,
and but two in the whole sixty show re-
wards for literary gifts. Dante and
Longfellow, and but one Of the healing
arts in Hahnemann. London has whole
gamut Of statues of imaginary beings
as the graceful Peter Pan. so daintily
poised, in a small park on the en-
bankment, and the beloved Hans An
dersen with his best known children,
Little Red Ridinghood. Cinderella, and
Hansel and Gretel. which Queen Alex
andra had erected in the park near
her residence in BuckinRham Palace.