Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-24
By MARGARET B. DOWNING.

By MARGARET Is. DOWN1N0.
The New York-born Duchess of Rox-
burghe, daughter of the late Ogden Goe-
let, has been awarded the title OF being
the best fisherwoman Of salmon north
of the Tweed. Fishing has been called
the sport of ducheSses, and some, at
least, of that rank have achieved rec
ords which make masculine fishers look
to their laurels Until the past two
years the most Skillful fisherwoman
was the Duchess Of Fife, sister OF the
King Early and late during the season
this royal lady flshed for salmon, and
few of her relatives and friends were
omitted when the distribution OF her
trophies went forth by truSty meSSen-
ger, all snugly packed in ice. The
Duchess of Bedford has fished for SAL
mon since her girlhood, and so, too, has
the Duchess of Northumberland. The
Duchess Of Roxburghe often has enter
tanned the Duchess of Fife and other
ducal ladies. and they pitted their rec
ords against each other in true sport
ing spirit. The young son of the duke
and his American lady. the Marques
of Bowmont, born in 1913, when his
parents had been married more than
20 years, frequently accompanies his
mother on the fishing excursions. He
takes his title from the famous Bow
mont Forest, once the pride of the Rox-
burghe estate, but many of the trees
were cut down to furnish masts for
Nelson's ships, and during the World
= War they we're used to furnish oak
needed by the British admiralty.
y x
Hon. r. H. Bennett, new premier OF
Canada, is about to embark on gigan-
tic project of bringing the capital OF
the Dominion up to high standard OF
n.
gram for doing this Is through direct
contribution from the federal govern
ment and not by taxing the citizens.
This was one of the issues between the
Conservatives and the Liberals, the lat
ter suffering defeat under their leader,
Mr.. Mackenzie King. All parties In on
tario were in favor Of mammoth public
T.. improvements, and especially IN OttaMa,
as a palliative for unemployment Tne
= Mackenzie King regime was strongly
committed to raising the funds needed
Z. through special taxes, the public ex-
cheouer having been considerably
. drained in previous enterprises. Making
Ottawa a spacious, beautiful city was a
. dream in which the revered premier Sir
wilfrid Laurier INDUCED, but no deci-
sion as to the scope and general tend
ency has been reached. Ottawa lost Its
splendid group of governmental build
. ings by fire and has been gradually re-
building, the Houses Of Parliament be-
ing first erected. Extension of public
parks and boulevards to the suburbs
have been contemplated, but the major
, problem Is to condemn q vast area IN
the city proper facing the Parliament
. for a parkway and for municipal sports
. and for groups of public ediflces In
= proper surroundings, after the plan in
. which this Government is now engaged
in restoring Pennsylvania avenue after
the LEnfant plan.
When the pen with which President
Hoover signed the naval pact became a
much-sought historic trophy, % other
pens were given to those who had made
, q prior request or were distributed
among friends. For that number OF
treaties have been signed by the Chief
Magistrate since 1880 was uShered In,
and of this formidable number nine
have been signed with Great Britain.
Souvenir pen hunters are a mighty le-
gion, and let there be the barest rumor
Of a new treaty there come requests In
oppressive numbers to become the
owner Of the pen which marks the final
event. AS a rule, such pen goes to
an Ambassador or Minister from the
land with which this Republic makes
the pact Sir Ronald Lindsay has one
Of the pens used in the final chapter
OF the naval pact made in London, and
so, too, has the Ambassador from Japan,
M Debuchi Some recent covenants
signed in the presidential office are
minor affairs dealing with international
vexations, like smuggling, principally in
violation of the eighteenth amendment.
Some are of the solemn promises made
by the nations looking to the renuncia-
ton of war and others of immediate
import, like the slavery convention
signed in Geneva But one OF the de-
tails is to provide a sufficient number
of pens to be sent forth as souvenirs
soon after the document is signed and
sealed. Collections OF pens used on his
toric occasions are beginning to have
q distinct commercial value and have
figured in recent Years in wills and in
court proceedings.
Miss Gertrude Jekyll recently received
the highest award of the Massachusetts,
Horticultural Society, Oldest and most
influential organization devoted to this
subject founded in the country. This
venerable gardener has reached 81 years
and Is still active among her flowers.
Although, under the name of the easily
cultivated Miss Jekyll Phlox," this
grand old lady of the flowers is as well
known as though she were native, she
Is London born. She lives at Waverly
Hall, in Berkshire, and her garden is
the pride Of the countryside. For years
she has been a member Of the Massa-
chusetts society and has sent from time
to time the most valuable notes on floral
culture and on the treatment of that
dread disease, mildew. so prevalent In
30 damp climate as that about Boston
and practically all over England.
But the Robert White medal of honor