WASHINGTON. ■ V Kit since Inst June the white I house lias been all cluttered - "!>• The president and bin L52J] family moved into a hand some old residence on Execu tive avenue, about a quarter of a mile distant from the white house, and there they made their home un til a little over a month ago. 11l the meantime the white house has been in the bauds of busy artisans and artists. For many j*ears the presidents and their families have felt that the [Copyright, 1903, b 7 Oil nodi nst.] MAGNIFICENT VIEW FROM WHITE HOUSE, Showing Grand Esplanade, New Executive Office and State, Navu and Var Building. wliite nouse should be remodeled anil improved, so that it might become the residence of the president, in stead of being' less than one-half resi dence and more than one-half busi ness offices. Because of the fact that the president has been obliged to conduct public business in the execu tive mansion, the statesmen having right of access to the president have taken possession of the public ap proaches of the white house, and the families of the presidents have ha I practically no privacy of a homelike nut ure. The wife of President Hayes exert ed all of her Influence to induce the congress to take up the matter of white house extension, but without success. Mrs. Cleveland was satisfied with the white house during her first terra there, but she frequently ex pressed dissatisfaction with the white house during her second term, be cause it afforded no home for her children. The wife of President Har rison went so far as to have plans ' ' 11'. 111h t 1 ~ : ~'' ' PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S BEDROOM, One of the Choicest Apartments In the Reconstructed White House. drawn for the extension of the white house, aiul she li:id assurances from senators and representatives that her plans should receive congressional consideration. But slit- did not live until the conclusion of her single term in the white house, and the plu.i lapsed. President McKinley exerted a great er personal influence upon the con gress than any president this nation has known for more than a genera tion, Long before he became presi dent hif was familiar with the white house and its requirements, lie de termined to have it improved, and the congress cordially cooperated with him. It was upon his personal recommendation and request that the congress, by act approved June i>, I'JOO made au appropriation of I'i.OHO, "of so mtich thereof as inn.V lie lieees- Murv, for continuing plans for ex tending the executive mansion, for completion of drawings, model and fcpei ifleution, und for each ami every purpose conected therewith." President lioosevelt did not per mit the work to flag. He took up the work where McKinley left it, and continually kept it before the sena tors and representatives, so that the congress ultimately made ample ap propriations for this important work. The sundry civil appropriation bill, approved June 28, 1902, contained a total of $565,641, as follows: "For care, repair and refurnishing of executive mansion, to be expended | as the president may determine, $25,- 000. For a building to accommodate the offices of the president, to be lo cated in the grounds of the execu tive mansion, and for each and every purpose connected herewith, includ ing heating apparatus, light fixtures, furniture, removal of greenhouses, all to he done according to plans which shall be approved by the presi dent, and completed in every respect within the sum hereby appropriated. s<>o,l9o to be immediately available; anil said building shall be construct ed with sufficient foundations and walls suitable for a durable perma nent building, and of sufficient strength for an additional story when needed. For extraordinary re pairs and refurnishing of the execu tive mansion, including all necessary alterations, additions and cabinet work; the decoration of rooms, cov ered ways and approaches, grading, paving, port coehere, gates and elec tric wiring and light fixtures for house and grounds, to be done ac cording with plans which shall be ap proved by the president, $17j,143, to brimmed lately available." As soon as that appropriation had been made and the money was avail able, the president rented the build ing which was known as "the tempor ary white house,"and occupied it during the summer months, when ha was in Washington, but he wisely managed to be absent a goodly por tion of the time, until the condition of his wounded knee required him to come buck to Washington and he quiet. For the first time in hi* life lie was obliged to be quiet and rest ful, but his wound healed rapidly so that he was in the midst of strcnu llllS effort sooner than lii.s surgeons had anticipated. It was from t his "tem porary white house" t hat lie wast akeu in an open carriage and driven along the line of the (irund Army parade, so that all of the old veterans of tie union armies bad au opportunity to see and cheer their pre iileut, al though he ua.? livable to »wuid up CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1902. and give them the reception and grand review which both he and they had anticipated for so many months. Well, the work <>n the president's offices became so far advanced that he was able to take possession there of early in November, although con siderable finishing work remains to be done. The first thing to be no ticed about this innovation is the ab sence of pedestrians and carriages from the white house grounds. The great seml-eiroular driveway, which was formerly always in use by the public, is left for the use of the fam ily of the president. Statesmen and others having business with the pres ident go down Sixteenth street, the thoroughfare between the state, war and navy building, to the white house annex, ascend a dozen stone step 3, anil «nter the new office apartments. There in a large reception hall where there are always watchmen, messen gers and a policeman. The offices of Secretary Cortelyou and his assist ants are first approached from this hall, but the offices of the president are reached only through the corri dor leading towards the white house. Between the white house and the of fice annex there is a handsome terrace, forming a corridor about 150 feet long, and through this corridor the presi dent walks to his office rooms. This is called the west terrace, because it extends from the west side of the white house. After traversing this corridor the president, turns to the left into his business office room, which is on the south side of the new annex. Direct ly opposite, on the north side, is a very large room which has been set apart for the use of the cab inet. Hereafter the cabinet meetings will be held in that room, so that even on cabinet days the white house will continue to be the exclusive home of the president and his family; and, for the first time in the history of the government at Washington, the presi dent can goto his home as any other citizen does, and leave his business cares behind him in his office. Then there is the east terrace, of which but little has hitherto been said. This is approaching completion. Fiftecu-and-a-Ilalf street runs be tween the white house grounds and the treasury department; and this street will hereafter be utilized ns never before, on all state occasions, because the east terrace will be the entrance to the white house for diplo mats and all others on grand otlicial occasions. This east terrace is built in pure Doric stlye, with a splendid colonnade on the south side. A semi circular driveway will enable \isltors to drive under cover here, and give t heir wraps to careful at tendants, who will place them in marked lockerj which are built in the north walls of I the terrace. Alotiff the colonnade there i-- a promenade leading to the wli'te houn lian'int hi cut ranee. \\ here ' a large luxurious elevator will lift visitor" to the main tloor of the build ing. The en t terrace will be com pleted by the close of th s year, ac cording t■» contract, because immedi ately after the \ch 'tear's reception the al function will bei'ln and eontinue .ititil the Lenten iiimiii. BMiTIIO I UT. THIS EARTH OF OURS It Is the Most Desirable Unit of tha Solar System. Its Allll <MM |»II<TIC Condition* and l'n l'n 4* 11111 vn Are Far Su perior to Tlione of Any Other Planet. KgjIVKRYBODY is interested mors ! or less in the earth on which L 53 he lives and the planets which the discerning eye discovers in the heavens. To demonstrate their vari ous revolutions is the pleasant task of the astronomer who, to the average individual, is a person to be envied and honored. Prof. Sch.iapare.lli, the famous Ital ian astronomer, has recently complet ed a protracted study of tho planet Mercury and has succeeded in chart ing its surface. IJo finds that Mercury is the only planet which is heavier than the earth. Taking the density of the earth as 1, that of Mercury is 1.26. \o other member of the solar system, not even the sun itself, can compare with our globe in weight. Jupiter, the largest of all the planets, is 1,400 times as big as the earth, but only 300 times as heavy. Mercury holds the two records for being heavi est, bulk for bulk, of all the planets, and of being nearest to the sun. lint in all other respects the earth beats it. Mercury is only three times as large as the moon, it has little or no atmosphere, and, consequently, equal ly little water. Moreover, it seems fairly certain that it no longer re volves on its axis like our planet, but resembles the moon in turning one face always towards the sun. If you put down the figure (5, and add after it 21 noughts, you have the approximate weight in tons of the world we live and work in. Venus, and not Mars, is the nearest of all the planets to ourselves. It also resembles the earth nearly in size and weight, and during its occasional transits across the sun's disk we can see its atmosphere. Mars is nearly 50,- 000,000 miles farther from the sun than the earth, but it is so much less hid den by clouds that we can tell more about its shape and make than about any other members of the solar sys tem. Out of 1l)() square miles of our earth 72 are water and 28 are land. SOUTH POIE NORTH POLE. j MAP OF THE I'I.ANET MERCURY, i (Made from Photogr.iphs Tiken by l'rof. Schia parelli.) I In Mars water is so scarce that it is probably hoarded with great care; and tin- atmosphere so thin that its inhabitants, if any, in.ust be provided j with oxygen cylinders like those used Iby balloonists. Mars lias two small j moons, and therein it excels Mercury and Venus, which have no such light giving satellites. Jupiter is so covered with ever changing bands of cloud that practi cally nothing is known about its sur face. Its atmosphere must be thou sands of miles deep, so that the in habitants, if any, can never see the sun, which makes it certain that no creature belonging to this earth could live there at ail. Jupiter also is a great sufferer from storms. Wind which blows !K) miles an hour on our planet levels everything before it. On Jupiter a 200-mile breeze is of common occurrence and blows for weeks at a time, as we can see by the move ments of the clouds. Jupiter has four moons, but as they shine only wifli reflected sunlight the four together give only one-sixteenth as much light as our own moon. Saturn is destitute of animal life. It is 745 times as large as this earth, but weighs only '.to times as much. It is, in fact, only three-fifths as heavy as its bulk of water. Anyone moving to Saturn, therefore, from this earth would be uuable to keep afloat, even were he the best of swimmers. Saturn evidently is in a liquid condition, for astronomers watching this planet have noticed that it constantly changes shape. One side of it will bulge out as much as 4(H) or 500 miles. Oii this earth we get just 90 times ( as much heat and light, as Saturn has j from the sun, and all of Saturn's moons, eight in number, cannot make up for the deficiency, for their com bined light is but one-sixteenth that of our satellite. Uranus and Neptune are so far away that our knowledge of them is limited. Uranus must, indeed, be a dreary ! place. Its year is 84 of our years; its i axis slopes much, and its winters, at ' least 42 years long, must be appalling, j At the height of summer the sun looks | about I.UUOth as big as it appears to u>. Neptune is so far from the eenter ill the universe that to it the sun ap peals as a star does to us. All nf which goes to show that till* j earth of ours i-. after all, a most du i kil'ilble place to live oil. *on ml Tee ill %re Henri?#* A Herman dentist at Crofeld exam ined :oo i hool children, and found | ihat only per cent, had »ouu<4 tec ill. Montenegro and Its Place in European Politics ODD COLLECTION OF EVENTS THAT MAY PREVENT THE ASCENSION OF PRINCE MIRKO TO THE THRONE A CURIOUS report comes JfkKti from Austria concerning I'rince Mirko, of Montene gro, whom some Servian politicians have favored as a candidate for the Ser vian throne, to succeed King Al exander, at his death, in event of his leaving no heir. The story is to the effect that the young Prince Mirko, who gets the basis for his possible claim to the Servian throne from his marriage last July to Natalie Constantinovltch, daughter of the grand uncle of the Servian king, had an "affair" with a Servian actress previous to his marriage. Among the numerous letters which he wrote her were many containing slighting refer ences to his neighbors, the Servian people, and some especially hard "raps" fur the German emperor and the Russian czar. Upon his marriage into a Servian family Prince Mirko grew apprehen sive that his letters to the actress might be discovered, and so he dis patched a trusted adjutant to buy them back. The actress willingly sold them; but the adjutant, who was him self a Servian, had no sooner secured the letters, so the report goes, than he turned them over to the Servian government or at least allowed printed copies to be made. For this he re ceived a large sum of money. /■ - - GETTINGNE, THE CAPITAL OF MONTENEGRO. It is believed that in event I'rinee Mirko or his family in his behalf, makes any move at a future time to acquire the Servian throne, the actress' letters will be published bv the party opposing him. Such publication, it is calculated, would alienate Prince Mirko's friends and ruin his prospect*. l'rince Mirko is the second son of Prince Nicholas, ruler of Montenegro —smallest of the Balkan states. He is a young man of unusual talent. Like hi* father, who has written many poems and poetic dramas, mostly in spired by his country's politics, Prince Mirko is a poet, lie is also n musician of distinction; and one of his compo sitions was performed some months ago in Home. He is- 23 years old. Jt is not unlikely that Prince Mirko will lie one of the most important figures in the Balkan state politics at some future time. Since he is a very accomplished young man. there is a good chance that his early indiscre tions will be overlooked by the Ser vians if it comes to the point of choos ing between him. Prince Peter, the Karageogevitch claimant, and some peasant hoy whom King Alexander may adopt. Some Servian politicians are disposed to favor Prince Nicholas, the ruler of Montenegro himself, as successor to the throne. But Prince Nicholas is a man of 60, while King Alexander is not yet 30. 'l'he Servian throne may not lie vacant until long after the death of Nicholas. Prince Nicholas will be succeeded in Montenegro by his first son, Prince Danilo, so that those Servians who favor a union of Servia and Montenegro may turn their eyls upon Prince Danilo as the Servian successor. Hut one great drawback to the hopes of these Servian politicians is found in the fact that Austria-Hun gary would never permit such a union of the two Serb states if she could help it. She would regard it as a seri ous menace to her political equipoise, particularly as the union, forming as it would, a united kingdom of Serbs across her possesions, might attract the Serbs. of Austria and Hungary, and thus become an exceedingly si rong and powerful Serb nation. In spite of Austria, however, the union of Servia and Montenegro will always I"' an imminent possibility un til it is accomplished. They Mere one country of old. and they and many of their subject* long to have them united again. They are ine and the same peoph and there ure close fain il\ lies between the ruling ilina in i.' the two siuies. Kien Prince I'iier Ka I agexi | \ icli who . family the active rival of ihe Oliivin t icli family (of whom King Mexander i> I In-ruling Kfc. -i ■» ac . ;Lv: il .u u »«»• in-law of Prince Nicholas, he havinjj married one of the latter's seven daugh ters, who, however, is now dead. Those seven daughters, by the way, have been the making of Prince Nicho las and also the financial undoing of the nation. Prince Nicholas is a per sonage of importance in Europe. He is strong politically out of all propor tion to the si/oof bin nation or the strength of his army, llis power lies in the fact that his daughters have contracted fortunate marriages in for eign courts. By the marriage of one daughter the king of Italy is numbered among his sons-in-law. Two of his daughters married into the Russian imperial family and one was espoused to l'rince Francis Joseph, of Batten berg, who was one of Queen Victoria'* particular favorites-. Prince Nicholas is therefore regard ed by some who are wise in royal in trigues and policies as a living link between Italy and Kussia. He is even credited with the ambition to break the triple alliance of Germany, Aus tria-Hungary and Italy, by creating a bond between Kussia and Italy. This alliance might favor his own interests against Austria, for little Montene gro would then have two great nation* to support her contentions. What Montenegro desires besides the union with Servia is a greater and more certain base on the Adriatic sea, and Austria is keeping close watch to foil any attempt at expansion of that kind. It is only just to say. however, that there is no proof tliat Prince Nicholas is using' his family connections against Austria, and indeed, he has himself denied all rumors of this kind that have come to his attention. Nevertheless, on account of all this social and political prestige, Prince Nicholas and his country have been under peculiar embarrassment. It costs money to entertain royalty, to go upon visits to other courts, and otherwise to "keep up with the proces sion." And Montenegro is very small, very mountainous, very unproductive, very poor. It is called the Itlack mountain and is little more than a series of limestone hills, snowcapped. Agricultural patches are small and the peoplehaveto be very frugal. The coun try is generally regarded as a barren and rocky waste as one writer says, "a veritable nest for eagles and fal cons." The nation is chiefly strori<» because of its impenetrable position in a geographical way. The history of the sturdy little state is thrilling. Time and again its warriors have been able to repel much superior foes be cause of the effectiveness of their highland barriers. During the Turk ish invasion that swept over Ser\ia that portion of the then united Serb state known as Montenegro alone withstood the attack. It was stub bornly defended and held. A govern ment was established there; and when Servia threw <>IT the Tilrkish yoke Mon tenegro remained a separate state. It might ever have remained inaccessible. But the descendants of its famous Ivan the Itlack have intermarried with aliens, and thus all Europe has free access. Oettingne, a curious little mountain village of 1.500 inhabitants and witli. one long crooked street, is the capital of the principality. There the nobil ity of Kurope are entertained and tl"» i mountaineers are struggling under ! the burden of paving for it. Montene ' gro has recently passed t hrough seri ous Hna ncial st raits, a fid it Is sa id t ha t at one time on the return of Prince j Nicholas from abroad there w:i~ not 1 i.':.'o in the treasury. Small as the na tion is. too, Kuropean countries send salaried ambassador* there, and nt a small portion of t'ettingnc i>. mad* up of the foreign represent a ti*«ai >1 their families. Alt ogit her the peculiarly impciiet ra> lib 1 geographical position ■ 112 the coun try from which Primp Mirk mi * only exceeded by the peculiar!) im pend rable p> si l ion of his fit in i H in 11 « l-ojal -ocial circle* of Ktirop< Until the nation and the royal family nit awvDjj thi ui' -t ur 4 ' 4 vtu th« wurltL 11
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers