The Brussels Post, 1908-10-1, Page 7,NOT1 S ANI) COMMENTS
It would be idle to deny that the
•drinking habit has reached almost
tho proportions of a pastime among
ass. We no lunger drink only when
we aro thirsty, We drink when sur-
rounded by oar fellows to promote
.good foliowel:4e just as we drink
b✓beu Moue to escape from bore-
dom; we drink when we are merry
and we drink when wo aro depress-
ed. In short, we drink much and
often. Each has his favorite tip-
ple. Tea, that mild distillation of
the Oriont, is the beverage of ges-
all• and literature, suggesting pla-
cid rumination and a quiet setting.
Soda, ginger beer and the thou-
sand and one concoctions of the
.00rner soda fountain tempt the ab-
stemious, above all in hot weather,
Wines and more ardent spirits ad-
minister a fillip to the nerves of
those who are addicted to the use
of alcoholic stimulants. Each after
hie fashion indulges in some kind
elf excess.
The secret of this indulgence in
liquid refreshment of various sorts
is to be found largely in the fact
that each season sees a multiplies.
tion of the beverages that are
agreeable to the taste. We drink
not because we arc thirsty but be-
cause the flavor is pleasing to the
;palate; and in doing this sorne phy-
sicians contend we are exceeding
the liquid requirements of the or-
ganism, In considering this mat-
ter editorially The Lancet remarks:
"The thirsty person who cannot
:satisfy his thirst unless the bever-
age contains whet is in reality a
,drug has really acquired an un-
healthy habit, or, to put it plainly,
.a disease. Yet what else is the al-
•cohol of the various alcoholic bev-
•eragos, the caffeine of tea and cof-
fee, the glucoside or quinine of bit-
ters, or even the ginger of ginger
.beer or of ginger ale, the aromatic
oil of the liqueur, the carbonic acid
,gas in soda water, the citric acid
or the lemon and so on but a drug?
All these clearly convey something
into the organism over and above
water itself; they cannot quench
thirst in the sense -that water
does."
The medical journal goes on to
atiscr•ibe the great growth of this ha-
bit of drinking liquids other than
water to the fear that water may
'contain disease entities. is ends
with a warning that persistence in
,the habit frequently manifests its
all effects in a disturbance of func-
4ion which may result in harm to
-the entire organism.
• THE LONDON HOOLIGAN.
rl)etachmenis of Formidable Army
are Pound in Every District.
The apache of Paris has his proto-
type in the London hooligan, but
the latter substitutes for the loezd-
'od firearms of the Frenchman a
heavily weighted • stick and a belt
with a metal clasp. The assault on
Sir W. S. Gilbert as he was coming
from the opera the other night has
oalled attention to this particular
type of scoundrel. Fortunately Sir
'William was able to frighten his
assailants, but there are many who
are .loss fortunate.
So frequent have street abbacies
become that specially trained de-
tectives from Scotland Yard have
been assigned to these cases. It
is, of course, impossible to give the
number of hooligans in London,
but it is estimated that there are
sc-veral thousands and they are in-
creasing daily. Detachments of
this formidable army infest every
district.
The typical London hooligan is e
short, slim youbh with the alert
daring look of a ferret. About his
throat is invariably wound a muf-
fler of varied hues and a cap is well
pulled down over his eyei. Gener-
ally they work in gangs. .
The Silver Hatchet Gang is the
title of the group which hails from
Hoxton. At -Islington they call
themselves the Knuckledusters, ab
Lambeth the Girdle Gang. Then
there aro the Bethnal Green Boys,
the Boys of Bow, the Deptford Ter-
rors, the Hackney Bruisers, the
Beemondsey Tlps'and the Olcl Ford
Does.
VISIBLE MUSIC.
By causing a small tnirror to os-
cillate in accord with the move-
ments of the diaphriugin of a phone -
graph, Mr. Bo}Dion, a nlfnglish in-
ventor, bas contrived the means of
showing to an audience a visible re-;
presentation of a pieee of music to
which they ere listening, A bean]
of light reflected froLim osci
1laL-
mp
lrrr.,t, earl from another mtr-i
roe which rotates uniformly, is
thrown upon e screen, where it ap-t
pears, as a luminous curve, varying
in corresnondoncc with elm sounds, ;
The instrnment is calleden acou-
;stic oscillograph.
UTS OF FAI
Love and Joy and Peace Are Not for Sale
in Any Store.
"The fruit of the spirit is love,
joy, peace, long suffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, meekness,
self-control; against such there is
no law."—Galatians v., 22,
When you have taken stools of all
the fruitage of your life how many
of these things are yours? Though
you have all other possessions,
what are they worth without these l
Frere are the supremely desirable
blessings of any life, those that be-
ing present make the barren board
a feast or, being denied, turn the
sweetest cup to bitterest gall.
These are the elements and attri-
butes that make all the difference
in every life. Yet they aro attain-
able on equal terms to all. The rich
Trion sitting in the splendid restau-
rant will not find them on the menu
card; his money cannot buy them.
The humblest laborer, looking
across plain, homely fare, may fend
them all in face of wife and chil-
dren and in the simple joys of
home.
Men hurry across the seas and
over the continents; they rush from
one amusement and distraction to
another seeking these fruits of the
fairer world. Others spend all
their energies laying up money,
hoping some day to have enough
to purchase such blessings, Yet
how foolish are we all, for these
things aro nob to be found with
much searching nor bought with
much gold;
THEY ARE FREE TO ALL
who will have them,
Love and joy and peace and all
that makes life fair and sweet aro
not for sale on any counter or in
any store; they are not hidden
away in strange places. They ale
fruits of the spirit; they spring up
and ripen in the heart of man; they
are from within and not from with-
out,
How much wo all need to remem-
ber this, that the great things in
any life are the things within it-
self. The infinite has set infinitude
in our hearts. The good things,
the eternal things spring up within.
What you are and what you really
have is dependent not on your cir-
cumstances but on the deep sourc-
es, the secret springs of your life.
We have witaLover wo set first in
our hearts. If the greatest good
in life is gold, you will have gold;
if you set fame as the goal of life,
doubtless you will reach it. And
if the chief things are those that
are nob things at all, the affection
of friends, the good will of neigh-
bor, the common joys of living, the
pleasures of patience, and the pow-
er of a well ordered life, then these
blessings, too, are ours.
No man can make himself, his
true self, rich by sitting in a bank
of money bags. No man can make
himself wise by sitting in a book
store, and the poorest fools of all
are those who seek to find happi-
ness by sunning themselves in the
rays of artificial merriment and
laughter, Environment has its part
to play, but it only plays it in re-
sponse to some spirit within us.
LIFE'S SATISFACTIONS
all spring cut of the soul. If your
heart cannot give you happiness in
a cottage ib will do no more for you
in a palace. Make a man a being
without that inner self, without the
sense of that which is more than
flesh and longer than time, and you.
have made life a dreary, empty
business of bargaining and count-
ing things and no more.
If a man is only dust, then let
him scramble for the dirt; let the
boast become more and all of
beauty and ideals be counted as
folly. But if there bo in him the
spark of the divine, if he has
gleans of an infinite life and love
to which he belongs, if he is the
child of the great spirit, then let
him live more and more for the
higher life toward which his being
aspires.
Deep within us and ever we know
that these fruits of the spirit are
more to be desired than any things
in the world of sense. Yet they
have no place, no jurisdiction, in
our lives except as we are spiritual,
God born beings, while wo have no
possibility of their possession as
long as we set first the fruits of
the dust, the trivial, empty prizes
for which we are now striving.
HENRY F. COPE.
THE S. S. LESSON
INTERNATIONAL LESSON,
OCT. 4.
Lesson I. David Brings the Ark to
Jerusalem. Golden Text,
Psa. 100. 4.
Verse 1, And David again gath-
ered—The "again" refers back to
the preceding successive conflicts of
David with the Philistines (2 Sam.
5. 17-25), in each of which David
had been successful.
2. All the people—The captains
of thousands and of hundreds with
the soldiers under them (1 Chron.
13. 1, 2), and such of the people
who had come together in the gen-
eral assembly called by David.
Basle-jtdeh—As we learn from 1
Chron. 13. 6, this was but another
name for Kiriath-jearim, referred
to under that name in 1 Sam. 6. 21,
as the place to which the Philis-
tines sent the ark after their trou-
blesome experience with it as Ash-
dod. As the name here used indi-
cates, the place was within the
boundaries of the territory of Ju-
dah.
The cherubim—Angelic attend-
ants leaving, according to Old Tes-
tament symbolism, certain sacred
duties in the courts of heaven, Lat-
er this symbolism was represented
in the elaborate golden cover of
the arts of the covenant, Figures
of cherubim with outstreched pro-
tecting wings surmounted this cov-
er of Cho ark which was known ae
the "mercy seat."
3 A new cart—One not as yet
dosoerabed by use for ordinary pur-
poses, The Levitical law as found
in Num, 3. 29-31; 7. 9, provided that
the ark should be carried by Le-
viten.
The house of A.binadab—Whither
the ark had been brought by the
men of Kiriatlijearim after the ca-
tastrophe at Both-shomesh (0010
pare 1 Sam. 3. 19 ; 7.1). While the
ark had remained in this place ib
had been under the immediate care
of Elcazar, son of Abinaclab.
ii'zzeh and Attic, the sons of Ab-
inadeb—The word "sons" is here
Lo be taken in the broader sense of
descendants.
5. Fir wood—Or, "cypress."
Harps , , . psalteries . , timbrels
castanets sistra , , cym-
bals, --Ancient types of musical in-
strnments, of which some in slight-
ly modified form canto down to the
present day. Compare defrinitions
arts! ' pictnr'el illu tr'ations in any
l
goad Bible dictionary.
0. Threehingiloot•--A level, hard -
trodden space of ground on which
grain utas threshed nut by the p:t-
ire; lye method of trending ib out
w e Um feet, 't raa repli iu nee the
lie '.,.. ,..: i baric
L. u f ;'l owe
Stumbled—Or, "were restive '
or, "threw it down," The clause
in the original is not clear.-
7.
lear,7. For his error—Or. "rashness."
The punishment which befell the
unfortunate Uzzeh, and which ne-
cessarily seems to use extremely
excessive, since Ms - motive W 15
clearly that of preventing an acct -
dent to the ark, must bo judged
from the religious standpoint of the
author of the narrative. "For him
and his contemporaries it was not
a question of moral transgress' in
and its punishment, but rather a
question of the sacred character of
the ark, whose 'holiness' was con-
tagious and therefore a source of
danger and even of death to ordin-
ary unsanotified persons" (Ken-
nedy).
8. Broken forth upon—With sud-
den awful punishment.
Perez-uzzah—That is "the breach
of Uzzalr."
10. Obed-edom the Gitbite—A na-
tive of Gath, the Philistine city, but
now a resident in the environs of
Jerusalem, and one who had been
admitted to certain civil and relig-
ious privileges among the Jews.
11. Jehovah blessed Obed-edom--
The nature of the blessing is not
iudicabed, bub probably it took the
form of health, happiness, apd
prosperiby, being vouchsafed to the
family. The good fortune of Obed-
edom in connection with the pres-
ence of the ark in his hone leads
David to make a second and more
cautious attempt to transfer the
se.cond and more cautious attempt
to transfer the sacred shrine to his
new citadel.
13. The ark on this occasion was
reverently carried, nob driven as
before, the 'transfer being accom-
panied by suitable religious sacri-
fices and services,
14. Danced before Jehovah with
all his might—A rather primitive
method of expressingreat joy.
A linen ephod—A sort priestly
garment fastened by a girdle, the
exact character of which is no-
where explained. It is probably a
simpler form of the garment de-
scribed in Exod. 28. 6-81f.
18, Michel, the daughter of Saul
—Otte of the wives Of David, She
was deeply offended at what she
considered to be unsuitable be-
havior for the king.
17. The tent that David had
pitehisd for it—Not the tabernacle
proper which was at Gibeon (1
Chron, 1e. 39), but a temporary
place of safe keeping for the ark,
18. Burnt offerings—Dedicatory
in their nature, the whole of the
sacrifice being consumed as au of-
fering before Jehovah.
Peaceofferings-Eucharistic in
character'and fuenishin the
festi-
val eul for the asenihlod people,
pori ions only of the sacrifice being
offered upon the altar.
!0. A portion—The original text
does not explain whet the portion
consisted of. It may have hien "of
flesh" (meet), as in 001' text, or it
may hove ho„n "of Wine," as toe
rnargrnal reading suggests, or of
sonletbing oleo which alight natur-
ally accompany the bread and cake
and raisins.
26. Had no child --The inference
which the narrator would hove the
reader draw is that Mielialei child-
lessness was a direct punishment
for her disapproval 0f the king's
behavior in dancing ei he had dune
before the people and the ark ui
Jehovah,
NEW CURIA FOR LUNGS.
French Academy Told of Remark,
able Remedy.
Aeronautics is the latest remedy
proposed for maladies of the respir-
atory organs, Its advocate is one
Christian Beck, who has laid a de-
tailed description of his method be-
fore the Academy of Sciences, of
Paris,• France.
"Specialists," he says, "unani-
mously admit that purity of air de=
ponds less upon the altitude than
upon the greater or less number of
persons breathing it. Nothing
could bo more illogical than the
system of grouping in a sanitarium
even on the top of a mountain of a
great number of invalids, doctors,
nurses, relatives and servants. In
such conditions pure air treatment
is impossible."
Mr. Beck concluded from this that
ballooning may bo utilized with bet-
ter results for the purposes of
treatment of invalids whose cases
call for absolutely pure air. Cure
io a balloon he claims to be all the
more efficacious, as patients would
be enabled to breathe an atmos-
phere not only free from all noxi-
ous gases bat also one of perfect
vegetable atoms which are found in
atmospheres of lower strata are en-
tirely absent at a certain elevation.
This treatment might also be
adopted, he 'says, to the varying
needs of patients, as one who feels
perfectly well at an altitude of a
thousand yards might be seriously
affected by an ascension to a height
of two thousand . According to
Mr. Beck, this medical treatment
should be undergone daily, two or
three patients being sent up for a
specified number of hours in a sort
of comfortably equipped cage sus-
pended below a large captive bal-
loon.
What would happen if the retain-
ing rope broke, as one attached to
a captive balloon at the Paris Jar
din d'Aeclimation did some years
ago, Mr. Beck does nob say,
REQUIRED ASSISTANCE.
"I have come to see you, sir, on
e delicate mission," said bhe young
man, as lie sat down on •the edge
of a chair and looked uncomfor-
table, as young men sometimes will.
The old gentleman laid down his
pen and looked curious.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Well, sir, you have two bea.uti-
tul daughters," explained the young
man,
"I have two daughters," admit-
ted the old gentleman.
"I presume that you have noticed
that I have been frequently at your
house?" suggested the young man,
diffidently.
"1 have noticed it."
"Thank you, sir. I have been
paying attentions to—in fact, sir,
frankly, I—I have been makiug
love to one of your daughters."
"I presume so. And you would
like to—"
The old gentleman hesitated,
and the young man eagerly went
On :—
"Yes, sir ; that's it exactly. I
proposed to one of them last night,
and I—I—"
"Which one?" interrupted the
old gentleman. "Both are splendid
girls, and I should hate to lose ei-
titer; bub which one is it?"
"Don't you know?" asked the
young man, aghast.
"Certainly nob, I've seen you
with both."
Tho young man sighed and reach-
ed for his hat,
"I thought you might," he said.
"I've been very attentive, and I
was sometimes in doubt myself, see-
ing they're twins; but I got along
all right until I proposed. And now
—now—hang it all, sir, if you don't
know which one accepted roe, I
don't, and I've got to begin all over
again."
THE MISTLETOE.
Tho mistletoe, which the druids
are said to have cub from oak -trees
wibh bill -hooks of gold, for the plant
was a sacred object in their religi-
ous ceremonies, is seldom found on
oaks at the present day, although
it abounds on many trees, to which
its presence is always eventually
fatal. Sncli, at least, is the state
of affairs in France, in the regions,
such as Touraine, that were once
the special home of the druids,
Nearly 200 tons of mistletoe are an-
nually expelled from France to
England, principally for use ab
weddings,
Referring to modern cynicism
concerning love, e, well-known au-
thor tolls this story: "I remember
once," he said, .�"
""hearin n brick-
layer and a plumber discuss love.
'.l hold,' said the bricklayer, "that
if you are terribly in love; the way
to cure yourself is to run away.'
The plumber shook his head and
sn erod. 'That will cure you,' the
;eid,'provided you inn away with
tee girl.' "
WHO IS SIR JOHN FISHER
MAN W110 RleVOLt'T10NILIAD
THE BRITISH :"NAVY.
Some of the Salient Ch.u'rederisties
of England's Vies( Sea
Lord.
A London correspondent writes an
interesting sketch of the salient
eharaeteristics "of the potent and
original personality, whose untiring
genius has revolutionized British
naval administration,
"His name is in all mouths. A
realistic image of him exists in very
few minds. Sir John fisher is above
all the marc of his age. He is a
ruthless realist in all things, and
what he does not know of human
nature is hardly worth knowing.
He knows very well that in free
countries publicity is a power which
no force can ever again suppress
and that it will be used for the
wrong purposes if it is not used for
the right, Sir Jonn Fisher has be-
lieved all his active life in awaken-
ing national interest in the navy and
in treating England upon matters
affecting the fleet as though this
country consisted of forty millions
who are after all something other
than fools. life has advertised the
navy . It is untrue that he has ad-
vertised himself, If he had he would
be the best known instead of the
least known of all the creative and
prevailing personalities in the ser-
vice of the empire.
"Who is Sir John Fisher? He is
a shadow, a rumor, a name. To this
day the average citizen is unable to
put a face' upon that name when-
ever this extraordinary personality
is mentioned. One thing about him
is indeed obvious, The number of
his enemies is the tribute to his
greatness. Let us be certain of it
that people are never popular when
they wrench persons and systems by
main energy out of
THE ACCUSTOMED GROOVES.
"The heads of the army are al-
ways familiar personages. Yet the
commander in chief of the navy is an
infinitely more important character
than any leader in the land service,
and for the last four years the real
commander in chief of the navy,
under the Secretary of State, has
been Sir John Arbuthnot Fisher. In
that period he has stamped a deeper
personal impression upon the whole
organization of the fleet than had
been left upon it since Trafalgar by
all previous First Sea Lords put to-
gether. Just as elections are won in
the committee rooms—nob in the
ballot boxes—battles are settled be-
fore they are fought, and they are
decided by the efforts which have
created on one side or the other
superior efficiency in time of peace.
Von noon did not command in the
field, but he created the armies with
which Moltke marched to victory.
In the same way Sir John Fisher,
though it is probable that ho will
now never have the chance to show
what he might have done in war at
sea, has reconstructed from top to
botom the whole mighty ma-
chine which will fight our naval
battles in the future. Sooner or lat-
er our destiny will be decided by the
results of the reforming action of
Whitehall during the last half de-
cade.
"Nominally the First Sea Lord is
67, Pr'actical'ly, if vital spirits are
any index to a man's real age, he is
the youngest Admiral in this or any
other service. His great opportun-
ity did not come until he was over
CO. Then carne a day when there
was offered to him the highest prize
of a sailor's ambition in time of
peace -the position of
FIRST SEA LORD.
But even that honor he would only
talo on terms. He carried in his
brain a full scheme of reorganiza-
tion. He believed the training and
distribution of the navy to be peril-
ously out of date. He had watched
the change from wooden walls to
iron citadels packed with tremend-
ous and exquisite machinery. • Yet
there had been no fundamental
change 'since Nelson's time in our
method of training officers for their
profession. There had been a re-
volution in our political relations,
and it was clear that the struggle of
life and death in the future would
be fought in the North Sea and »o
other whore. Yet our fleets were
still organized as though the Medi-
terranean would be, as in the eigh-
teenth century, the chief scene of
crisis. Our ships were stationesi
anywhere but where we would prob-
ably have to fight. Sir John Fisher
clearly stated his inteutions. They
were approved, He cane into the
Admiralty to carry them ons. That
is what he has dime. His activities
have been revolutionary though con-
structive, He liaa boon denounced
for the sheer daring and resolution
of thechanes lie
g has introduced.
But he was commissioned from the
outset to effect them. That is what
lie was there for. '1'o the foreign
mind as has a
been mid, he has
,a -
P
geared like nothing so much as an
incarnated torpedo waiting for its
war head to be fixed on it.
"And what has he done? At Os-
borne he is training the officers of
the future to handle the gnim ma-
chines which have superseded fee,
ever the old vision of masts and
sails. He vast!•- increased efficiency
while reducing expellee. He struck
out of the estimates every penny
which did not yield real lighting
value, Be most mercilessly scrap-
ped scores of weak vessels that could
neither attack nor run, Ho trans-
ferred the men to real fighting ships.
IIe created with the inspiration of
nothing less than genius the system
of nucleus crews, by which every
ship in the reserve can be mobilized
for war in a few hours. Above all,.
he swung the whole fleet, as it were,
clears round to face
THE TASKS OF THE FU iIRE.
He, recognized that in the twenti-
eth century as in the seventeenth,
blue empire will l o saved or lost not
in the Mediterranean but in the
North Sea, Quietly he massed our
strength in the narrow seas until, in
Admiral Mahan's words, "Eighty-
six per cent, of the British battle-
ship strength is concentrated in or
near home waters," That settles it
for the vast majority of Sir John
Fisher's countrymen. They know
that battleships are gunplatforms,
and not only are the vessels now
where we ought to have them but the
gunnery efficiency of our fleet has
risen almost by leaps and bounds
and never has been so formidable
as to -day,
"As for personal characteristics,
it would tax Mr. Sargent to paint
MM. Hie profile, like that of most
born fighters, juts clean out from
forehead to chin, like the bow of a
battleship. There is a certain force
of expression about it which recalls
the "hammer and tongs" Captain
in Merryat's ballad. The eyes are
direct and alive, under brows show-
ing extraordinary powers of con-
centration. Above them the fore-
head is a wonderful network of fine
lines and the mouth is full of humor
and ruthless will. His figure is of
middle size and active and if you
passed him in the street without
knowing him you would be compel-
led to look at him twice, His talk
is full of the unexpected, yet re-
vealing phrases which light up a
subject with flashes of conversa-
tional lightning. He is as irresist-
ible in anecdote as in energy. Once
when asked what was his favorite
text he replied instantly : 'And there
shall be no more sea!' His motto
throughout his career has been that
'the frontiers of England are the
coasts of the enemy,' When the
Viennese courtiers were abusing
Bismarck to the Emperor Francis
Joseph that monarch listened in
silence, and then said: 'I only wish
I had him.' In reply to Sir John
Fisher's assailants the Ifiaser might
say the same."
SENTENCE SERMONS.
Fidelity is the best evidence of
faith.
The hest exposition of truth is its
exhibition.
Sltb111nc victories are first won in
common -place days.
The worst thing about any evil
deed is its fruitfulness.
Conscience is the answer of my
life to the light I have.
The only way to use a great op-
portunity is to serve it.
The life has left any truth when
it needs laws to defend it.
The rule of gold makes the gold-
en rule semi sadly unreal.
The pessimist kills all hope be-
cause happiness irritates him.
Living a double life is killing each
half of life with the other.
The curriculum of character may
often involve painful circumstauc-
es.
He is never worth thinking much
about who thinks most of himself.
The eye single to Cho main chance
always misses the groat opportu-
nity.
The best way to cure the fear of
man is to lose the love of mammon.
There is only one way to the
hearts of ]nen, it is the way of your
own heart.
He who expands his house needs
to have a care nob to contract his
heart.
A resolution to go to heaven will
not help you much if you get on
the wrong train.
it's a difflcuilt thing to lift up the
man who is down while you're try-
ing to win a smile frons the man
who him there.
Manyput a mall who prides himself
on being a law abiding person
would be surprised to see himself
in the light of the law of love.
A DREAM OF A DOG.
"And who, pray, is Gladys I"
was the question that awoke Mr,
Meeks one morning, and enabled
him to confront his better half, sit-
ting up in bed, with an interroga-
tion point in one eye and a note of
exclaiiation in the other.
"•Gladys! Gladys! Glades who?"
"Just what I want to 'know, sir.
You've been repeating that name
all through Cho night.
Oh, ah !--jos, gest 01 comae
It's Jones's new collie dog. She's
r1 perfect beauty. Just the sort of
clog you ought to own.
"Certainly you pltar
eery
fond
o her. You asks l thiscollie f, i C ec line ting
to put her arms round your neck
and kiss you, 'Then you told
Jones's dog that you loved her with
all your heart and, that WhE(fl 7051
came to die, if you could only lay
your• head nn Jones s slag's bosani,
yen enols! hositthe your• last hap-
kpil3' „
N0T1 f1 BN(WIE DJUVERS,
Aristocrats Wile Have a Ifollby of
Running Locomotives.
The Khedive of Egypt has a pri-
vate railway from his palace at
liar -el -Tin in Alexandria to Ins
acttntry place at Montezar, and it
constitutes one of his favorite hob-
bies. It is, of course, only a short
line, ten miles, but it is long
en,iugh to give him the constant de-
light of driving the engine himself,
which he generally does. He is a
eery keen engineer, as was shown
by the interest lie took in the great
Nile dam at Assuan, but he is per -
menially interested in locomotives.
During bis last visit to France he
rode on the cab with the driver of
the express from (Calais to Ainiens,
and took a hand at the levers, says
London Tit -Bits.
The Marchioness of Tweeddale
drove the first locomotive that
crossed the Forth Bridge.
The Marquess of 1)ownshire has
a private railway at Hillsborough,
and keeps a sort of "pet" engine
which cost his lordship 1,000 gui-
neas, The train contains a splen-
did saloon carriage for his guests,
for he himself is generally on the
engine, and a guard's van, in whioh
some of his guests prefer to ride.
Be almost invariably drives the en-
gine with his own hands and his
favorite speed is forty miles an
hour. There is no speed limit on
a private railway line and no police
'traps!
Earl Fitzwilliam is another prac-
tical engineer who delights in the
locomotive engine. He learned the
art of driving when he was quite
young by going whenever he could
with the drivers el the coal trains
en his own estates.
It is well known that one of the
young King of Spain's chief diver-
sions before his marriage was to
ride on the footplate of the Royal
train with the driver and take les-
sons in engine -driving. He has be-
come quite expert and fearless, and
he has frequently driven his mother
and sisters.
Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria is
another Royal engine -driver, He
quite recently drove the express
from Abbeville to Paris, under the
superintendence of the regular
driver,
One of the favorite methods with
American millionaires of dispensing
hospitality is to give train parties,
when a number of invited guests
travel together in luxury for weeks
just when and where they will.
This method of entertainment was
"invented" some years ago by Mrs.
Stuyvesant Fish, who took her
guests in a private train from New
York to Chicago and New Orleans,
and her example bas been copied
by all the railroad kings. They of-
ten ride on the cab and take turas
e,t assisting the engineer.
One of the most magnificent of
these moving guest-houses belongs
Le Dr. Seward Webb and his wife.
It is composed of their own private
car—fitted up at a cost of over
$100,000—three sleeping -cars, com-
partment cars, a buffet, smoking,
car, and baggage -ear. There is al-
so a well -stocked library, and, of
course, telephone connection
throughout. The doctor often takes
a turn on the engine. All the Van-
derbilts travel this way, and so
does Mr. George Gould.
CARD SHARPERS,
Professional Gamblers on Ocean
Palaces.
Few people have any idea of the
amount of gambling for high stakes
that goes on aboard practically all
the crack Transatlantic liners.
Hundreds, and even thousands,
oe dollars are not infrequently lost
be single individuals during a five
or six days' voyage, and nothing is
heard of the incident outside the
smokeroom of the particular "fly-
er" in question.
As a general rule, that is to say 1
Now and again, as happened on
board the Mauretania recently,
some victim will "kink," others
jcin in, and then there is a battle
royal between the "rooks" and the
"pigeons." But such scenes are
entirely exceptional.
There aro several reasons for
this. No one cares to admit that
he has been "plucked," and by e
professional "sharper." Then, too,
these latter "gentry" are so suave,
so .faultlessly dressed, so irre-
proachable in their general behav-
ior, that it requires a good deal of
nerve to openly accuse one of thorn
of being neither more nor less than
a
common swindler.
Besides, if he is driven into a
corner, your typical ocean card-
sharper is an ugly customer to
tackle. As a rule, he is one of a
gang of three, or more, so that he
does not lack for backers when it
carnes to a row. There etre cases
on record of Wren having been
maimed for life, because they have
too forcibly resented being robbed
by these gentlemanly ruffians.
Needless to say, the ordinary
player stands no earthly chance of
winning, when pitted against those
professional ;;ashlers, many of
whom hove attained to such dexter-
;ty in manipulating even a perfect-
le now pack of cards, ors would put
to shame most regular exponents
of the art of legerdemain.
A lot of men strive for fame he -
01080 of the money tlutt g -pro with
it.