12 '' * ' 1 ST A ROM J3 or is/L LA LOBAR, Wfl \\6> THE IY£W SPAtiISH MIWSTERj WfuAtw The vestiges of a city 6,000 years old have been \> found in Babylonia by the French expedition which haa ~—^TU iIK first clay of the year is de ll 1 c^e( *'y tlle busiest day of || B the twelvemonth for the for jj eign diplomats stationed in 0 America. The odd part of it Spyy'.wis that the manifold duties owhich0 which make January Ist " le most crowded interval 011 calendar are almost wholly in the nature of so cial obligations rather than business tasks. Moreover, the responsibilities of this busy day rest equally heavy upon the envoys of the vari ous foreign powers—that is, the ambassadors and ministers —and upon the secretaries, coun selors and attaches who make up the official staffs of these dignitaries. Even the women of the official foreign colony—the wives and daughters of the diplomats of high and low degree—share in the feverish activity of the dawning year. Indeed, their participation begins weeks in advance with frequent visits to the dressmakers, for, one and all, these fair foreigners must have stri king new gowns for the momeutous occasion. The explanation of this display of energy on the part of a class of people who ordinarily lead the most leisurely existence imaginable is found in the fact that New year's day of each year marks the opening of the official social season at Washington. It is a day of receiving and calling and dining (all in the most formal way), for every body in national official circles from the president down to the least impor tant public official, but the social mer ry-go-round, spins at a more lively gait for the diplomats than for any of ihe other participants in Uncle Sam's great annual dress parade. Not only do they have togo more differ ent places in carrying out the day's program, but they have to do more dressing than any of the other celebri ties, not even excepting the high offi cers of the United States army and navy, who don their full dress uni forms for this occasion. Indeed, it is the chore of getting togged out in their gaudiest raiment that compels the diplomats to arise somewhat earlier than usual on New Year morning. Official etiquette pre scribes that each foreign representa tive shall appear in full diplomatic uniform or court dress on this signi ficant occasion. Now be it known, it is no slight undertaking to put ou such garJU. The average diplomat, ac customed as he is to fastidious dress ing. finds it pretty nearly as fortnid- able a lob as the average American workman or farmer regards the donning of a dress suit. The diplomat's viewpoint will be the better ap preciated when it is explained that not a few of these costly broadcloth uniforms are so neavily encrusted with gold lace and other or •naHfents that they are well nigh stiff enough to ftand alone. It is a twentieth century coat of armor, so to speak. In many instances high boots are an item of the court dress and usual ly a heavy helmet or tur turban and a long «'!oak that reaches to the feet are Included in the costume. Finally, the diplomat, of any .standing, covers the entire front of his coat iwith the glittering insignia of royal orders and jeweled decorations —each several times as large an the ordinary badge and ,adding in the rggregate, considerable weight to the trappings of state. ' With the time-consuming prelude of dressing of the way. the diplomats, more gorgeously rarbed than any operatic chorus, are ready for the first formal function of the day. This is the president's reception at the White House. 1 he foro'gners. ail of whom have carriages or automobiles (rented for this busy day, if they do not already possess them), must leave home for the presidential mansion about 10:30 o'clock, for they are to have the honor of be ing the first perrons received by the president after he has greeted his cabinet, and they must Ir> in their duly assigned places in the waiting line ere the presidential party at 11 o'clock sharp. descend# the grand stairway and takes station in the Blue parlor for the reception. Hard and fast rules must be ooserred as to th" order in which the diplomats file past the president. There are two divisions. First the ambassadors, each accompanied by all the members of his staff and their wives, and then the ministers, each similarly attended. Places in each division are assigned in accordance with the length of time each envoy has repre sented hi 3 government at Washington. That is, statesmen who have been here for years take precedence over the newcomers. At the head of the line walks the ambassa dor who by virtue of the most lengthy service in Washington In the dean of the diplomatic corps This post ot prestige is now held by liaton Mayor ties Planches of Italy. The lor eigners are intioduet-d to the president by the secretary o! state, who lias the best of his cab inet colleagues in that he is thus temporarily in the limelight After the White House reception the dlplo- mats return home for a few minutes' rest, and then a lit tle before 12 o'clock they set out for the residence of the secretary of state. Here, at noon, an elaborate repast is served. The average Ameri can citizen would declare it a luncheon, but in social-diplo matic usage it is a breakfast. Considerably more than 200 persons are expected at this breakfast, so that it can be seen that it taxes the house keeping arrangements even in a mansion such as the $150,000 dwelliug of Philan- der Knox. Then, too, the same importance at 1 taehes as at the White House, to who goes first, so that servants have to be carefully drilled and the utmost care exercised lest some lesser diplomat receive more honor than is his due, while some greater luminary is cor respondingly slighted. ~ The entire afternoon of New Year's day the diplomats devote to inaking ceremonial calls. Almost all the prominent hostesses in Wash ington, except the wife of the president, hold receptions on this eventful afternoon. Most of the diplomats go first to the home of the vice president, then "down the line" of cabinet homes in the order of their official standing; after which they pay their respects at the resi dence of the speaker of the house of repre sentatives, and then follows indiscriminate calling upon the wives of senators, represent atives, army and navy officers and other offi cial nostesses who are keeping open house, livery where they meet other diplomats and public officials of all grades, for calling is gen eral at the seat of government on the first day of the year. In accordance with the Yankee idea, only the men ot the American households go calling on New Year's afternoon, but the diplomats are in almost every instance accom panied by the ladies of their households. It is past sundown when this round of calling ia concluded, but that does not end the day for the tired diplomats. Most of them have been invited to the ceremonial dinners that, in great numbers, close the day in Washington, hence they must hurry home and change to evening attire in order to greet yet another hostess be fore S o'clock. A RUSKIN STORY In 1858, when Ruskin was in his fortieth year, he was asked by a friend to give some lessons in drawing to a child named Rose La Touche —whose name indeed was French, but whose family were Irish. There sprang up be tween Ruskin and this young girl a very charm ing friendship, which, of course, at the time could be nothing but a friendship. They wrote each other letters and exchanged drawings and then lor awhile they did not meet. Ten years passed by before they saw each other. Meanwhile the child whom he had re membered as a blue-eyed, saucy, clever little blonde with ripe, red lips and hair like fine spun (told, had become a very lovely young CAMERON COUNTY PRESS. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1909. woman of 19 years. They resumed their old ac quaintance, JjyJ in a very different way. Thoueh Ruskin Touche an c<d.iSj*ation and a passion such as he had never felt'before. On her side she no long er thought of,bim as "very ugly," but, was sin/ gularly drawit to him, despite the difference in their yea^a.. . The two met'-often. They took long strolls together in 4 tjie -pleasant fields of Surrey, and at last Ruskin begged her to make him happy and to be his', wife. Oddly enough, however, she hesitated, not because he was so much old er than herse.uf, but because he had ceased to be what she regarded as "a true believer." Some of the things that he had written shocked her as being almost atheistic. She was her self, underneath all her gayety of manner, a rigid and uncompromising Protestant. She used phrases from the Bible in her ordinary talk and when she spoke of marriage with John Ruskin she said that she could not endure to be "yoked with ah unbeliever." Yet her heart was torn at the thought of sending him away; and so for several years their intimacy continued, he pleading with her and striving hard to make her see that love was everything. She, on the other hand, read over those passages of the Old Testament which seemed to bar all compromise. At last, in 1872, when she was 24 and ho was 53, she gave him her final answer. She would not marry him unless he could believe as she did. His honesty forbade him to de ceive her by a pretended conversion, and so (hey parted, never to see each other again. How deeply she was affected Is shown by the fact that she soon fell ill. She grew worse and worse, until at last it was quite certain that she could not live. Then Ruskin wrote to her and begged that he might see her. She answered with a note in which she feebly traced the words: "You may come If you can tell me that you love God more than you love me." When Ruskin read tils his very soul was racked with agony and he cried out: "No, no—then I cannot come to her; for I love her even more than God!" When she died, as she did soon after, the light of his life went out for Ruskin.—Mun sey's. been at work for several years on the site of the Roman Susa, the Shu shan of the Bible and later the cap ital of the Emperors Darius and Art axerxes. According to details furnished to the Jewish World, a mound marking the site of the city has been exca vated by M.de Morgan and was found to mark the site of the ancient Eiamite acropolis of the city. The excavations have produced most as tonishing results. Here the explor er found superimposed, one above the other, the remains of three cities, the oldest dating back to B. C. 4000, and below these the signs of older settlements of prehistoric ages. The recent discoveries show that far more than a thousand years pri or to B. C. ISOO the city was occu pied by the Babylonians, and that most of the kings of that country set up their monuments in it. When the powerful Semitic dynasty of Baby lonian kings contemporary with tha age of Abraham was overthrown, the Elamites regained their independ ence aud retained it until B. C. 649, when the city was sacked by Assur banipal, king of Assyria, who de stroyed the palaces and temples. Explorations show that the chief feature of the ancient city, as of all those of the ancient east, was the temple of the city god, in this case the god Susinak, which stood upon the acropolis. An explora tion of the foundations revealed the records of Gudea, king of Clialdea, B. C. 2800. Fortunate ly, considerable information as to the nature of' the sacred edifice and its precincts is pre : served by an interesting monument, which was discovered in the ruins. In the center of the model are the figures ol two nude men, one holding a water jar. These, no doubt, are the king and priest performing the ceremonies of lustration, or ceremonial pu rification. which are a great feature of the ori ental temples and frequently mentioned In the religious inscriptions. Primitive Mills in Brazil. Vice-Consul De Young, writing from Santos, calls attention to the small corn grinding ma chines in Brazil: "In the interior of Brazil a primitive method of producing cornmeal by pounding instead of grinding is practiced. The Instrument known as a 'mojollo' works automatically, and consists of a tree trunk balanced on the bank of a stream, one end of the trunk being hollowed out to form a large cup, while the other end Is in the form of a pestle. Water filling the cup depresses that end of the log, whereupon the water runs out and the other end falls back to its original position, the pestle striking the corn. Some modern corn grinders have recent ly been introduced, but there is a good field lor a very small and inexpensive grinder to take the place of the 'mojollo' in the interior, where flour mills are rare and each family grinds its own corn." Onion as Tale-Teller. * ''' There's a divorce. 'Tis a very sad affair. An onion is at the bottom of it. Of yore hubby was fond of onions He ate, and ate. and wifey stood it. Then he fell in love with a festive maiden. No more onions for him, much to his wlfe'» surprise. Ihe more she thought of it, the more she wondered at the change. Not only did he desert the orodous onions—• presently he deserted altogether. » M>J/ WILBUR D. NESB.T. . RY\)O CHANGE JPF~ MIND I 1 used to think it II would lie great To grow up to be RFT VMTU president fl yllfc/i An(l safely hold the S*~"S < helm of state 11/mHS$)i No matter how '.l jSfi the old ship wjg&r*! went VSL M&i would be line Some day to fill > r\\lt. VJ'/|k>J that honored \ JHr chair— 0 I But the digestion e,v)J. y|™/ that is mine I /MB/I Can't do what v\ |i||ff\[ 'twould be called .2 Wh en presidents could broil or 'SS' To vow they never '— could grow S tired Of possum, 'coon and Johnnycake, Oj ( "■ a '"Kator, croco l| of ostrich eggs '| /llM**- AN<l A " TLLE REST > ■4 - * Why, then the job -- " was worth one's while Ar.d for it one might do his best. But nowadays a president Is always cleaning off his plate Which is heaped high to represent The hunger of a certain state. And though the dish they serve to him May be a fine one, I suppose He must reflect with doubting grim That after all nobody knows. I should not care togo somewhere To dine, and through the table chat ' Perplexedly muse if the fare Were eagle, crocodile or rat. I should not like to have them gaze Until I choked it down my throat. Knowing that any doubts I'd raise Would influence the next year's vote. 1 used to think it would be grand To grow up to be president And rule my dear and native land. But that ambition has been spent. 1 could not love my fellow men If every now and then they'd wish Togo catch something in its den And make me eat their fav'rite dish. The Apotheosis of Hank Edem. In glancing over the account of the laying of the corner-stone of tbt* tem ple of peace In Holland, we observe that this Inscription has been carved upon the stone: "Paci Justi tin Fir mandae Hane Aedern Andreae Car negie Decavit." It had been many years since we saw Hank Eden). He was a stone mason then, and a good one, and alter he passed from our daily view we heard from time to time that he had become a contractor and was putting up great buildings and bridges and monuments and things of that sort. But at that he was the same old Hank. We know that he built a good many Carnegie libraries, but we did not know (hat Hank has become so great that he would be called into erect the temple wherein peace like a river is to be damned by all the delegates un til they can decide whether breakfast foods, shoes, dynamite, floor varnish and arsenic are contraband of war, or whether or not it is conductive to the success of hostilities to shoot soft nosed bullets into your enemies' stom achs. Alas! Hank could not stand pros perity. In the old days he was con tent and proud to be known as plain Hank Edem. In those days ht thought a manicure was some sort of a medical school, and he did not know whether or not water was used in a Turkish bath. Here he Is mingling with the effete and the haute monde, and getting boarding schoolish about his name. Now he spells it Hanc Aedem." We are sorry. Rameses is just being Exposed, after four or five thousand years. Hank should have waited. Mr. Carnegie, of course, can spell his name any way he pleases— he advocates that—but when Hank Edem becomes Hanc Aedem" another boyhood idol is busted all to flinders. Hanc illae lackrymae. Unmanageable. "This,"' gasps the first man, "la what the poets call the 'driven snow.'" "Yes," wheezes the second man, en deavoring to pick a handful of it out his ear, while about a peck of it slides down his back. "And it acts as if a woman were driving It." Joyous Vegetarian, What do I care how high the pile* On the Thanksgiving forage? That turkeys linger on the ice For four years in cold storage? My turkey shall be garnered from The gfmlen and the garret— Of raiain. hickory nut and crumb And of the healthful carrot! Hardened. "Pardon me," says the interviewer to the lady who Is being starred as a combination Salome, Lady Godiva and living picture, "but may I ask how you became accustomed to appearing in public in—er —in such a lack of even scanty garb?" "it was easy," she laughs. "Half a dozen trips across the ocean, with the usual customs inspections at New York."
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers