TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13375, 17 March 1909, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Until a period The Day approximating with our of the own times, the brideBridegroom, groom was regarded as a somewhat necessnry, though by no moans striking or ornamental, feature of a wedding. Hitherto Angelina's trousseau and wedding apparel have claimed chief attention. Nowadays, however, Edwin is looming up as an ingredient of no little importance, and it is regarded as the correct, thing tc) make special preparations for the part he is to play in tho nuptials. For example, the Bond street shops have been displaying (and in the sure and certain hope of securing early purchasers) dressing cases designed for bridegrooms' use, ranging in prico from £ICO to £2000 apiece.. A description of one of these gauds is instructive. It was lined with white Morocco leather, giving it a particularly bridal appearance. Every fitting was of gold. Tinymonograms set in diamonds adorned each piece, and the whole outfit was valued at £T.jCO. A little reading lamp of solid gold was included, as also were a writing portfolio with gold tittings, as well as a golden penholder with a gold nib. The cut glass bottles destined to contain the bridegroom's perfume and his hair wash had gokl tops; his razors and shaving brushes were mounted with gold, and his shaving pot was to be heated with a spirit lamp of the same precious metal. And then (but this is to be told only in whispers) there was another tiny gold case, containing another spirit lamp to heat Benedick's curling tongs! Nor were the instruments of manicuring overlooked. Dozens of them (mounted in gold with opulent monotony) wero supplied. Many other little luxuries were comprised in the wonderful case, not forgetting even a golden medicine spoon. A suit case appointed with similar prodigality i-i another item of the modern ultra-fashionable bridegroom's armoury. A much larger supply of wearing apparel is also considered necessary nowadays, and no self-respecting bridegroom will enter the marriage state in these luxurious times without a comprehensive supply of silken underwear. Altogether the bill of costs for Edwin's trousseau is overhauling that of Angelina's with a rapidity that is almost startling, and threatens to settle in a very few years the vexed question of impoverished foreign counts marrying American heiresses without the intervention of the United States Legislature. That is, of course, unless papa cheeses to come to the rescue. The Russian Azeff-Lapouk-A hin drama, of which we had T) vib;:* a s-iui-.mary by cable, turns Lift*-. out to be an extraordinarily, complicated and sensational affair. No novelist working with Rus-ian. materials has ever imagined any ' .ut nyiit* .•tart-ling. The chief Paris ac.e.t of the Russian secret police was known to his. super:■•rK a.s M. Raskin. He sent them regular reports resivcting Kit■--::*.n Anarchists settled '.n P:ir: ; . ar: 1 . in all nr-pects teemed t■:> K> a zoa!>',*s servant of ihe State. In Paris, hew-ever, he was known to the Ar.nrchi.sts and Terrorists as Azeff, the -t-reat" Azeff. and looked upon as a lea'ier. He w a.-., in truth, an '"agent provoMte-.ir." a tiaitor in the employ of tin* p-Jic-s but so cleverly -did helive 1 -is c;-.;b ; e life that the Chief of Po!ie-* at St. Petersburg did not know that R.'.-skiu aad Azeff were one and tlie same. Raskin-Azeff Ls accused of

complicity in half a dczen a&snssinutions in Russia, bin alleged victims including the Gr3iid Duke Sergius and M. Plehve. It is said, too, that it was he who "removed"' Father Gapon. nL-o a p-i'ice spy and a traitor. In-cause he was afraid that Gapon would betray him. Tho revelations arose out of the discovery of a journalist name/1 Burtzeff, that Azeff ira-i hading a double life. Burtzeff. who is himself a revolutionary, denounced Azrff before tho Central Terrorist Committee in Parb, but ccalfl produce very little evidcr.oe in support oi" his charges, and so high was the esteem in which the Terrorists held Azofi that Biirtzetf was warned tliat faihire to prove Azeff a traitor might mean tiie 1.-v-s of his own life. In his dilemma. Burtzeff bethought of M. I.apoukhin, formerly Chief of the Secret police, who had been disgraced, by the reactionaries because of his liberal tendencies. .-»:> Burtzeff went to St. Petersburg and begged Lapoukhin to tell him all he knew about his lurnier agent. But, strange to say, LaA po-.ikhin fr.r a time sat Missing quito unmoved by tho reTraitor, cital of Azeff's participation ia a dozen villainous plots, and it was apparent that he knew nothing of Azeff, the great terrorist. But as Burtzeff pleaded his cause more and more warmly, and beared crime on crime, Lapoukhin realised that Azeff and his trusted Raskin were one and the same, and finally save his interviewer tho information ho wanted Azeff learnt of the interview, and at once hurried to St. Petersburg, demanded protection, and denounced Lapoukhin to the reactionaries for having betrayed police secrets. Lapoukhin, on his part, reported tho visit to the Prime Minister, and asked for protection against the police! His apprehensions wero well founded, for ho was soon afterwards arrested and kept iv close confinement. "When he was in office he had an inconvenient way of reporting that the campaigns against tho Jews were arranged by tho police, so the latter do not love him. Then Azeff was summoned before tho Terrorist Committee in Paris. He declared his innocence, and assured his judges that if they allowed a guard to go with him 'he would quickly get documentary proof and return with it. Four men wero told off to keep an eye on him, but neither they nor the suspect wero seen again. They wero accomplices of Azeff. Terrorists are now scouring Europe, searching for the traitor. Azeff found himself in a tight corner when, a fow years ago, he was asked to brine about the death of General Durnovo. His employers at St. Petersburg heard of tho plot, and sont Ra-s----kin instructions to protect tho officer. Durnovo was staying at an hotel in Switzerland, and it is alleged that Azeff got out of the difficulty by pointing out tho wrong man for assassination. At any rate, an innocent tourist was shot —tho affair made a great stir at tho time —and Durnovo escaped. The Constitution does not seem to be doing Russia very much good.