HERE AND THERE.

Evening Star, Issue 12883, 4 August 1906, Page 12

HERE AND THERE.

A dating Roman Catholic priest at Chicago has decided that an unmarried woman is too old at forty. It is not a theoretical deeis'ion. Worse I It takes the practical form of an order that all members of a certain lay association for charitable purposes are to enrol themselves on the bono•ary members' list directly they have poseed the fatal ago. This means that they must retire froni active philanthropy. After forty they will bo included among those who, while sympathetic to the Association, aro pievented by age or other circumstances from laborious participation in the work. The spinster of fortv will probably refuse to be consoled. OtherwKo we ehould be inclined to earn her gratitude by pointing a way of escape from the dilemma. Wc will do so—in the hope that one or two may receive it with thankfulness. Our belief, then, is that the priest does not really mean to insinuate that women'are too old to do good work at forty, hut that at forty their smiles, their encouragement, their approval, their advice, and their wisdom are more profitable than any amount of toil eveh as younger women can undertake. It would bo a pity to waste them in deeds when their words are much more useful, [f tho priest does think all this, ho is not far wrong. Till forty a woman is but' a giri with nothing to recommend her save' a sort of feeblo and ephemeral grace. After forty she develops into a charming creature, a ministering angel, lovely with the beauty which is more than skin deep!—' St. James's Gazette.'

In India the faahionable craze for motoring is bringing out in the native a very typical trait, A friend of mine (says I. writer in the 'Bystander') was motoring into Calcutta, and on the way the car pa«?ed over a native and only just miaied scalping him. As compensation the native was given 10s, with which ho hobbled off quite gaily. Ever since natives in the neighborhood of Calcutta have been wildly throwing themselves in the way of every available motor in the- hope of "similar " luck " ! .

. . Miss Eagar, in her book ' Six Years at the Russian Court,' says that postal ari\.„Beineius in- Kussia are very backward. "On an average,", she says, " I lost about twenty letters in the year." " On one occasion '. I registered a letter to an address in Cornwall; it took me at least a week to get that letter posted, as the officials in Che .country post office were absolutely certain that Cornwall was in America;, and would not take the letter because I "had. written England on it." The censoxjprobibited the sale of postcards in St. though the .pictures on them wee* of scenes' and places, in the capital, because the word ," censor's permit" had been omitted. At title same time u frightfully indecent pictures and cards are openly shown in the.windows and shops." ; •.,...,. ■ ■ *» —__,.: The discovery of radium was made withthe aid of the most primitive apparatus imaginable. The room "in which the experiments were carried on'was low-roofed, "damp, and dark, with an uneven-floor" of asphalt. The chemical laboraibry : consisted of a closed-in shed* rougluj- fitted with

glass windows. A fine for the carrying off of steam and noxious gases was non-exis-tent, and every chemical experiment left the. pitiable enclosure so filled with poisonous fumes that breathing was, for a period, impossible.

It is a "curious circumstance of, the time in this country (says ™ Marmaduke " in the .' Graphic') that three of'every fifteen shops in the [West End of London are owned by ;men or women in ." Society," who either keep, them in assumed names or have a large financial interest in them. That estimate omits, it is said, to account the more important businesses in which the general public-are admitted as shareholders. •; There aire' many dressmakers' establishments which are entirely owned by. ladies, and many " art dealers'" shops, and there fis a fashionable-bootmakers\ shop which is mostly;owned by; a.well-known man.

An American-paper has .printed a letter, said to have been written thirty-three years ago'by John D. Rockefeller, which "is a curiosity in the way of spelling and punctuation. The person to whom it was addressed was the chief engineer of the Lake Shore railroad., It runs as follows: Cleveland June 1-73 Charles Collins Esq Dear Sir The bearer of this is my friend W G Rose Esq a jentleman inVhoom I have ihe greatest confidence both for his integrity and good judgement in Real Estate I have several hundred thousand dollars in past two or three years and I always confer with him and have not made a mistake under his advise I take great pleasure in recommending him

Tours truly Jno C D RockbfelliEb

Miss Bertha Krupp, who is unquestionably the richest woman in the world, has become engaged to Herr Von Bohlen-Hal-bac, Secretary of the Prussian Legation at the Vatican. Herr Von Bohlen-ilalbac is a young member of an ancient family of the German nobility, who occupies a comparatively insignificant diplomatic post. He is almost entirely without private means, and his name has been hitherto absolutely unknown. He will now spring into worldwide fame, through his engagement to Miss Krupp, who, by the will of her father, is almost solo proprietress of the Krupp works at Essen.. Miss Krapp's income is estimated approximately at £1,000,000 per annum. She insisted on marrying the man of her choice, and her mother and other members of the family finally gave their consent to the betrothal.

The 'Standard's' Rome correspondent writes that the Archaeological Society have received an interesting communication informing them that at Santi Petri, near Cadiz, a remarkably fine statue has been found by a diver who was working near the little island there. The statue represents Apollo, and is of the fifth century type. The figure is noticeable for the breadth of the chest, the severity of the anatomical details, the fineness of the knees, and the graceful folds of the drapery on the .shoulder. The hands only are wanting. The statue probably belonged to the famous temple which existed at Cadiz from tlie earliest Phoenician times, and which was much honored by the Komans.

'Black and White' recalls the story nf an incident that happened after a political meeting at which Mr Lloyd-George had been the speaker. When he" stepped down from the platform a rugged old man camo up to him and took his Tiand. Mr LloydGeorge could not remember ever -having set eyes on the man before, but he beard him to the end. "Y'ears ago," said the old man, "I was a doctor in Wales, and one night was called out to go five miles to attend a young child whom I was told was dying of croup. On my wav home I wondered whether it was worth" while to go so far to save a child who would only be bnught up to a life of misery and hunger. However, tne child recovered,, and—well, you were tuat child."

William. Glase, who was in the employ of the Prince of Wrede, has been put on trial for blackmail before the First Criminal Court of Berlin. The Princess of Wrede, who suffers from kleptomania and stole great quantities of silver plate from hotels where' she stayed, is in a, private sanatorium. It was in connection with the thefts that Glase is alleged to have atr tempted to extort money from the Prince as the price of silence. After being dismissed by the Prince, Glase wrote the following letter, which was read in court: "To His Highness the Prince of Wrede. How about £2,500 sterling? Hotel Omy only wants its silver back. Then it will be silent. Hotels Kaiserhof and Westminster, Berlin, and Bayrischer Hof, Munich, do not yet know anythiug, but will learn, tho whole truth if 1 ha.ve no news from you at onco. I shall abo put an article in the newspapers. Think of the young Prince who will be disgraced by the scandal; think of all the members of the Wrede family who will be compromised by your exposure." G-lase denied the intent to blackmail, and said he only desired to annoy the Prince on account of his unjust dismissal.

A proud father ra a Wexford town conveyed the news of his new responsibility tb his brother in this fashion: "A handsome boy has vcomo to my house and claims to be your nephew. We are doing our best to • (rive him the welcome due to such a relation." The brother replied: "Anyone who was not air absolute fool would know enough of his brother's affairs to realise that I have not got a. nephew. The young man is an impudent impostor. I strongly advise you either to kick him out of the house or to give him. in charge."

'Memories of Chnrch Restoration' was the title of a paper by Mr Thomas Hardy which was read recently at the meeting of the Society for tlie Protection of Ancient Buildings. "I remember," the novelist wrote, " once going into the stonemason's shed of a builder's yard, when I was startled to sec tho Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, in gilt letters, staring emphatically from the sides of the shed. 'Oh, yes,' said the builder (a highly respectable man), 'I took 'em as old'materials under my contract when I gutted St. Michael and All Angels', and put 'em here to keep out the weather. They might keep my blackguard. hands serious at the 6ame' time, but tliev don't.'"

Recently the Special Board for Mathe matics, which was appointed to consider tfie questron of the Mathematical "Tripos 'at Cambridge University, submitted a scheme ■which, amongst other things, would have the effect of doing away with the tunehonored institution of the Senior Wranglership. The list of successful students would be arranged in the three classes of wranglers, Senior, pptimes and junior optimes, the names in each class being placed in alphabetical order, thus doing away with the competition for places. In this way any distinction between the wranglers would disappear. The 'Mathematical Tripos was instituted in 1747, and since; that date the senior wranglership has been regarded as the bluo '•iband of the examinations at Cambridge. The senior wrangler has the right of beins: presented singly and before all others for his degree.