Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-16
Tales of Well Known Folk
In Social and Official Life
Campaien-Queen Mary's New Maid of
Honor-Amercans on the Nile.

|
| ing and newly excavated places en- route,
and when the boat is no longer practi-
cal to make the Journey to the cape
and back to the dahabiyeh by auto.
Nine. BalSan has wished to make
this trip for some time, and before the
motor excursion begins Col. Balsan will
! Join the ladies and there may be some
shooting of big game when the Wild
country OF Midafrica Is reached. This
| is the first Winter since 1919 that Col.
and Nine. BalSan have not spent in
their castle at Cap Ferrat, overlooking
| the Mediterranean near Monte Carlo,
on the French Riviera. They have q
splendid chateau near Fontainebleau,
one Of three historic royal domains
which are invariably included in the
itinerary of the French chateau coun-
try. This is the lovely and ornate villa
called Anet which Henry " built Tor
Vanderbilt and Duchess OF Marlborough
has had the chateau restored after an
cient prints found in the Louvre, and
the suite occupied by Col. BalSan Is the
same in which Henry paced the anxious
hours on the night before the battle OF
Ivry.
Col Harry Burgess, who is the Gov
ernor of the Canal Zone and in whose
hospitable home on Balboa Heights so
many of his country people are well
coined, is naturally much interested in
the increase Of English spoken In Ad-
Jacent Latin countries, just as the au-
thorities of the republics of Colombia
and Panama take pride in the number
OF English residents who can now use
the language of the Hidalgos with ease.
EthnologiStS Stubbornly maintain that
Spanish will eventually be the prevail
ing language of the Western CONT
nents, North America as well as South.
It will be difficult to convince citizens
Of the United States or of the British
possessions north that such will be true.
Canada, because of its rigorous climate,
does not make strides in population
that the countries of milder climate
show, but they do increase materially,
while the United States goes by learS
and bounds because of its climatic yer-
satility. The distinguished French "a.
want, M. Maurice TeSni. has recently, in
q carefully prepared table of languages,
declared Chinese the world tongue,
since almost one-fourth of the worlds
population speaks It. English is second,
Russian third, German fourth and
Spanish fifth. In continental Europe
and the British Isles more speak Ger
man than any other tongue, with Rus
sian second and English third. French
was the language of diplomacy until the
late woodrow Wilson and Lloyd George,
former premier of Britain, insisted that
all texts at the Versailles treaty should
be In English as well as the universal
medium in international treaties. It
ranks NTH in Europe proper and imme-
diately after italian. But in the Canal
Zone, as Col. Burgess notes, English is
picking up rapidly.
x + y
Senhora Lima, widow of the distin-
guishsd Brazilian diplomat and scholar,
Manoel de Oliviera Lima, has recently
assumed the post left vacant by his
death as librarian of the superb Iberc-
American library at the Catholic Uni
Versity. This collection DR.. Limas gift,
contains some OF the rarest volumes in
the world, many being one of the only
TWO or three known to be in existence
and these to be found in the British
Museum, the Bibliotheoue Nationals Of
Paris and the Vatican Library. SEN
bora Lima was the able assistant of her
husband for many years before his
death, tnd she is following the same
lines OF research in order to keep the
library abreast of the times and COM
plete as to later contributions. She is
perfectly at home in three languages
Portuguese, Spanish and Italian-and
she knows English, French and German
IN It's spoken form as we'll as its liter
ature
DR.. Lima served as first secretary If
the Brazilian embassy under JOAQUIN
Nabuco and he was later Minister to
Japan. He resigned from the foreign
service to follow the profession of let
ters and was q visiting professor at
Harvard and lecturer in some of the IA
nous universities Of Europe. After pre-
senting his library Of more than 10000
volumes on Iberian-American subjects,
he and Senhora Lima made their per-
manent home in Washington. The
sennora belongs to an eminent family
was before her marriage Flora Calva-
can't.
When the late Thomas F. Bayard,
Secretary of State In President Cleye-
lands first cabinet, found the need of
a special dispatch agent in New York
CITY, ne selected a young man whom
he knew quite favorably, Irving p.
Roosa, and installed him to attend to
all foreign messages. He had no assist
ant and was in the Federal Building,
Broadway and Park Row. This hap
pened on February %, 1886. and when
CnlS Gay comes Que in 1890, former
Senator Bayard, son Of Mr.. RooSa's
patron. will be among those who will
honor him on what will be his seventy
sixth birthday anniversary, aS well as
the date set for his retirement. Mr.. Roosa
now has extensive and we'll equipped
omces at As Broadway and he is sur
rounded by the autographed photos of
the nine Presidents for whom he has
sent confidential messages across the
sea. His duties have gradually increased
from the mere sending and receiving
OF cablegrams to the shippings made by
requisition to all the diplomats in the
service abroad. Everything sent through
this medium must be manufactured in
this country. In addition to photos and
autographs of Presidents and Secre-
taries of State. the venerable dispatch
agent has splendid picture of the bat
tleship Maine with the signature of
Capt. Charles d. Sigsbee. He sent the
frSt news Of the explosion of the Maine
to President Mckinley. Jules Cambon
sent his photograph after the signing
OF the treaty of Paris, which ended the
Spanish American War.
MNnEPM DnnHc DFTADn