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."