Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-06
BY MARGARET B. DOWNING.

The Secretary of the Navy, Mr..
Charles Francis Adams, profound stu
dent Of maritime law, lore and etiquette.
may eventually be called on to express
an opinion on a subject which is agi-
tating New York, Liverpool, Hamburg,
Bremen and other ports of the world
over flag procedure. AS conditions are
now it would seem that every COM
mander of a ship solved the problem
after his own ideas. Nearly all the
British ships follow the old tradition
Of the sea, and one which the United
States Shipping Board accepted as au-
thoritative. When their vessels de-
part from American harbors, as we'll
as when they enter, the Stars and
Stripes float from the foremost. The
proud ship bearing the prime minister
to these shores honored that tradition,
and indeed most of the comment on
a few weeks previously the Majestic
had sailed from New York decked after
the ime-honored custom, and a few
hours later along came the Republic,
O sister ship, with the flag of France
to the fore and the British to the rear.
The Vandyck of the North German
Lloyd Line emphasized the situation by
flying the nag Of Brazil. According to
the new code, the procedure answered
the question, where is a liner going"
when she leaves New York? The White
Star liner Republic answered to Cher
bourg, her port of call in France: the
Vandyck to Rio de Janeira. In the past,
in leaving harbor, the flags proclaimed
only the nationality of the ship and Of
the harbor from which they sailed.
"Daisy, Princess of Pless." is the title
~ k1AA F1f hyyf "a hoQI-
tiful and fascinating daughter of the
late COL George and Mrs. CORVALLIS
West, and 1t has proved the book of the
hour in fashionable salons and the best
seller of the Summer. The Princess of
Pless, once the idol of the courts of
Wilhelm II and Edward VII. his uncle,
is the sister of the first Duchess of
Westminster and of that Maj. Corn
Wallis-West who married Lady Ran
dolph Churchill and thus became the
stepfather of the statesman, Winston
Churchill. She has lost her fortune,
and because she was suspected of Brit
iSh sympathy during the Great War
Is deprived Of social caste In Germany.
Time has touched her lightly, and she
remains q lovely woman and a rarely
gifted one, and the scenes she recalls
from the land of ghosts remain in the
memory. Her husband. Henry of Pless,
men Of Germany, with the castle of
Furstenstein in Silesia, in the center
OF an estate as large as an English shire,
a magnificent palace in Berlin and an
elegantly appointed chateau on the
Riviera. He and Princess Daisy were
Of the inner circle of the Kaiser's
FRIENDS, and it was in Furstenstein, the
headquarters Of the German Army Of
the East, that the Kaiser often came
to confer with his colleague, the late
Franz Josef Of Austria Hungary, and
with the Kings of Saxony, Bavaria and
Wurtemburg. From the castle of PlesS
the Kaiser and Kaiserine rode in mag
nificent apparel to cross the Polish
border on the collapse of the Russian
Army.
Sir Robert Vansittart, the astute and
1ikeable chief private secretary of the
British prime minister, who has been
several weeks In Washington absorbing
its political lore in advance of the mo-
:: n1entous visit of Mr.. Macdonald to Presi-
dent Hoover, Is held In high repute for
an accomplishment wisely separated
from statecraft. that of writing ro-
mantle verse and lyrics OF a charming
rhythm. In the older worlds of Eu-
rope. and the East it is possible for a
public to cultivate the divine art of
song or poesy or music and still retain
his prestige in the domain of politics
or Of general affairs. But not so in
the busting republic Of the western
world. In the present era. the Speaker
Of the House, who is a vioiinist of con-
spicuous talent and could easily make
o handsome income through that &C
complishment, offers the sole exception
Of uniting q successful career In poll
tics with q continuation of the study
and practice of music.
But Mr.. Longworth Is careful not to
invite attention to his eminence as a
violinist and not to play except in
strictest privacy, never for benefits, or
at such affairs as would invite criticism
ILL 49,