Evening star., 1923-11-02
BY THE MARQUIsE DE FoNTESbY

bf IhI. MAIt6tISE DE FCNTENol f.
Collectors. both for public institu-
ticns and for their private galleries,
are missing golden opportunities in
not devoting more Attention to the
all sorts OF strange treasures that are
turning up. literally unearthed from
the vaults and garrets of the imperial
Hofburg: that is to say. the ancient
metropolitan home of all the en-
perors of tho Hapsburg dynasty and
5f the rulers of the Holy Roman En-
pfre and of Germany. who preceded
them The museums, mostly imperial
institutions. which have been 10 exist
ence. for hundreds OF years are like
wise rich in long forgotten treasures
OF art, archaeology and history, which
might have remained literally en-
tombed In Oblivion for ages to come,
had il not been for the revolution of
1918 and for the financial necessities
of the state which have led Il to
endeayor to turn everything of any
value. ancient or modern. to monetary
account.
THUS IN the vast storage rooms OF
the ethnographioal collections of the
imperial palace there has just been
discovered. hidden away since hun
dreds of years in q metal case. an old
Mexican banner, adorned with the en-
blems of -Montezufna. and which, ac-
cording to docuperts contained IN
the case. was nothing less than the
state standard of Emperor Monte
yuma, and was among the trophies
which CorteZ sent to Emperor Charles
V at the time when he oyerthrew
the ancient sovereign dynasty of
Mexico.
The banner has the form of a huge
outspread fan. and. at the same time,
conveys the idea of a great bird with
nlrEtratnheh OOmDOG2n
entirely OF the breast feathers, shining
greer-gOlden. taken from a kind of
humming bird sacred to the Aztecs.
The plume work on this Montezuna
banner represents many thousand
breast skins of the tiny bird in aues-
tion, and is said to De the only ban
ner OF the kind still in existence. Yet
when put up for auction no adequate
purchaser was found and it was w it'll
drawn from the sale for future pri-
advantageous conditions than those
offered.
Lord Hersche1l,, who. with his wife,
a daughter of the late Sir Arthur
Nicholson, is just receiving congratu-
lations on the birth of a son and heir,
after a number of years of childlesS
marriage, is the son of that lord
high chancellor of England who died
ington just twentyfour years ago.
while on special mission from the
British government in connection
with. the Canadian fisheries problem.
1t may be recalled that his remains
were conveyed. back to England on
board an American man-oswar His
son., the present Lord Herscheil, has
long been persona grata at court, and
was for close upon twenty years a
lord-in- waiting, first to Edward VII
and then to the present king, occupy
ing several other offices at court. in
Guiding that of controller Of the
royal household, and also acting as
spokesman for the foreign Office in
the house of lords. when Lord Grey
of ,Falloden and his undersecretary
of state were still. both of them. men,
bers of the house of commons.
The first time Lord Herschell ar
rived in ,this country It was by way
of the Golden Gate as a sailor before
the mast 1t was not long before
the great war. He had been spend
and was anxious to get away from
Peru without delay. AS there was no
passenger line handy, he endeavored
to obtain passage on board the tanker
Prornetheus. Now, the Prometheus
had no license to carry passengers.
per would convey Lnrd HersehelI and
his valet was by enlisting them as
sailors before the mast. Lord Her
scheH willingly accepted this condi-,
tion and signed as a sailor. as did his
valet Frenchman-by the name of
Annette, who, acted as assistant to the
cook on the long voyage up the coast
to San Francisco. On landing there.
Lord Herschell and hts man obtained
their discharge in due form and then
went to the st. Francis Hotel, where
they shed their sailor duds and trans.
formed themselves, once more. into
the sprucest of landsmen. :
- \ X r
Lord HerschelI has travelled extern
sively In Persia and has accumulated
a large collection of valuable curios.
of that country. He makes his principal
home at, Benbridge on the Isle of
Wight He is fairly we'll off, for his
father, the lord high chancellor, left.
at his death, a fortune of S3,000,0 600.
acquired almost exclusively by his
extremely lucrative practice at the
bar Like his father before him, he
has a strong strain OF Jewish blood
In his veins. The late Lord HerschelI,
who was no relative OF the famous