Show EUROPEAN TOPICS at a time when the world seems excited over the centenna centen narles ries of great events and monuments are erected to perpetuate the names of many who will not live in one grateful memory it is pleasing to notice that men are calling to mind the memory of one of the great benefactors of the race just at the time when modern steamships are commencing to cross the atlantic in less than six days occurs not merely the centen nary of french republicanism and american national government but likewise the completion of the hundredth year since steam wag waa first used to propel a pleasure boat on te little scottish lake to ro james watt the author of the modern colern steam engine anti and to geor george fe e Stephe haon who applied d discovery to railway locomotion the world seems never tired of paylag homage but to william symington the mi real discoverer of steam DAVI n gation a well earned debt of agrati tude still remains to be paid at first glance it seems strange that we W of must turn over the musty pages an early volume of the abw magazine or search the re records of 0 that ponderous work the ency dia to find his na name arid and what is stranger still at the tb same time not far distant liv lived 9 Scot scotland lands greatest poet the gew erous banker patrick miller who gave to william symington we the means for adding wings of steam to his pleasure boat was the same nia 1126 it 0 who rented the little barn on vf the other side of the river nith w robert burns and where he cobb cc posed tarn tam 0 and that aba exquisite lyric to mary in heft elesa en 11 I 1 what a halo of romance would woul hang bang around the little lake in da swinton park had burns but writ ten of his neighbor william ayin S yin J ington g 1 when we consider that from vw tile feeble beginnings of steam davig tion in 1789 both on the lake and little later in the forth and clyde canal have sprung the umbria fatt ad 4 aty of new york and 00 s my of paro pa TVs and aalthe all the other greo steamships that sail the gamao oceans of the globe not to mentI men talo the great war natlea of the world it cannot be said that the successful success fi experiment of an obscure scott io r of mechanic in 1789 is unworthy commemoration in 1889 symington seems to have lee 6 one of those unknown ones of ahola t goethe says the greatest and 00 y of the human race are included died in 1831 and was buried in the churchyard of st botolph alaga alag a london no stone or I 1 to now marts marks his resting place and for the purpose of erecting a shuitao j monument to his memory abato 1 j influential committee has v 1700 formed with mr james stephen Stephena ow CE for honorary secretary well might dr johnson c claim I 1 see nations slowly wise and mean ay just to burled buried merit raise the tardy bust at tardy indeed has been the lecog the paid by great britain to 0 modest and humble inventor W T gave her one of the 9 gr 86 sources of her modem opulence 1 power A on the continent the g great t th outside of germany has ha been bee events in paris to many UY 11 cause of the fete at versailles 7 Y day may not be exactly eleax clear c we need only recollect that may mai y 1789 witnessed the first sitti sitting 19 0 the kates states general that grand sod sem blage of nobles churchmen church meo j burgesses burge sees which in ideality an cli CO th the first parliament v if france had ever seen y and the in a ter perceive its significance sr bately the states general few weeks developed into the dional assembly Assem lly the Cono conod 0 1 crowbar bad be been en appu i throne altar and aristocracy arts c a there was a gen general I 1 upa which ended not merely I 1 in the WI heading of poor weak w louisa au and d his unfortunate queen marie antoinette but in a terrible social as 48 well as political revolution the rhe glorification of the events of 17 1789 89 agree with the sentiments of an iI immense mense majority of the french people even those who most earnly estly denounce the cruelties cruel ties of 1792 and the reign of terror respectfully salute the great date of 1789 england and america once their revolutions evolutions accomplished were if ase ise enough to abandon any further attempts in that line france has neither either enjoyed the same good fortune nor displayed the same prudence it would seem that the wrench revolution brought about a political upheaval which has never allowed prance france to recover her equilibrium thus after the lapse or of a century frenchmen are still debating as to the hest best form of gov ery ament and after upsetting a number afir of thrones and using a whole collection of constitutions they are wll still ready to make fresh experiments I 1 in n search of a constitution thattil that will 1 suit them all collectively president carnot in his address at versailles said under the shield of the republic which is institutional constitutional right let jet us seek in a 70 8 cirit arlt 1 of conciliation mutual on 11 and harmony the irresistible strength of a united people will this exhortation be listened to and taken to heart b the parties that we now see prepared to fly at each others throat and tear each other to the great exhibition shows france in the alluring attitude of a great eat industrial and cultivated naon daon when the exhibition is over and the general election takes place will there be another revolution who can tell the revival of nihilism in russia during the last few months has considerably annoyed the russian police as it was not long ago that it was as officially declared that nihilism was completely stamped out the fhe fact is that the of the ta german and polish provinces in western vestern russia which has been pursued actively of late 1 sends hosts of 01 desperate men into the ranks of the ie nihilists nihilisms lists when germany ex belled russian subjects on the ubbo polish frontier russia relied by a counter move against the german subjects residing in the altic province and russian poland when once a government isen in a policy of this kind it semy seems difficult to know where to P it has thus happened that while nihilism was sternly repressed on the one hand it was unconsciously fed on the other by the he selfsame self same agency it is useless to 0 o expect that arency nihilism will ever be completely repressed in rushia it seems to be as much a product of the country as herup hemp or tallow the great question seems to be how to prevent pent its rapid growth tile the greek prime minister M has lately expressed his Ju of commencing a vast scheme echeme of public works and has aro projected ejected four lines of railways for far vav I 1 ile building of which he offers sub sidles males amounting to one hundred multon lon dollars greece though rich 1 I ferae ne is somewhat deficient in ready cash and it is a serious question where the greek government will obtain the funds unless sympathizing capitalists loan the amount indefinitely and receive as payment the glory and satisfaction of havin having ang benefited the land of miltiades and alexander one of the most interesting lectures ever heard in rome borne was recently centy re given before the convention tio n of the italian associated press by madame fanny the well known champion of woman in italy madame is the of the bas regna feminize Femi nile a monthly magazine devoted to the cause she so heroically defends it is only recently she has entered the lecture field and endeavored to obtain a wider hearing for the views she advocates the immediate object of her last lecture was to influence the editorial fraternity in the cause of woman it would be wrong to designate madame as a womans comans rights champion asit is often offensively used she claims for woman the right to be fitted for the battle of life that she may have opened for her the various avenues of employment to which she is by nature fitted and not be thrown on the world as a hel helpless p I 1 e ss waif there was throughout her discourse an earnestness that impressed the large audience that had gathered to hear her at times she rose to the majesty of an excited eloquence and sent forth a torrent of words that must have burned deep into the thoughts of her hearers many of whom realized perhaps for the first time the true secret of womans comans condition in italy she is an original earnest thinker imbued with a high purpose and seems destined to make her mark as one of the truly good and great women of the world her audience embraced many prominent people among them madame cris crispi wife of the prime minister and been queen margaret who is deeply interested in her theme madame will during the summer make a tour to several cities 0 northern italy and france J H WARD WABD EUROPE april 1889 the widening and straightening of streets in all the great capitals of europe is certainly one of the important movements of the time not merely in parts paris but likewise in berlin vienna and turin magnificent avenues bordered with stately edifices have taken the place of crooked narrow lanes and alleys with miserable rookeries rook eries where but lately filth and crime reigned supreme london also has caught the infection and vast improvements are projected in many of the streets and byways by ways of the gibat metropolis the making of new avenues or the straightening and widening of old ones will in many instances necessitate the removal of old landmarks anan some cases the destruction of places hall hallowed owed by tender memories and associations now that the great metropolitan thoroughfare the strand is under consideration it is evident that the church of st mary le strand must be remd removed ved the condition of the strand is at present the one great question in the regulation of traffic in the great city that mighty tide of life which flows daily and far into the night along this great artery of london is becoming more and more perilously congested with every increase of population in the ever growing capital all day long the stream of vehicles passing and re passing in scores of thousands makes but slow and painful way along its choked and glutted channel the passage pae through the straits in which st marys arvis church stands is a work of the utmost delicacy and not of serious risk and needs all the judgment and dexterity of skilful drivers to prevent the constant occurrence of a blockade at night the state of matters is even worse from half past ten to a quarter past ast eleven the eight theatres theartres the atres directly directly facing the strand or closely communicating with it d disgorge gorge their contents into the seething street the pavements are then thronged thron ged with pedestrians and the roadway is a wild chaos of cabs carriages and omnibuses omni buses and it is wonderful indeed that there are not more accidents to life and limb than at present the strand is an epitome of london the most historic the most characteristic and we might add the most picturesque of all the great metropolitan thoroughfares it was on the strand where once stood the mansions of glands En great ones some of whose names will ever live in her history to walk therefore from one end of it to the other is to watch as it were the gradual unfolding of a panorama on which stands depleted depicted the long and majestic history of nearly a thousand years the london county council has now the opportunity port unity of making the strand what it might easily become one of the finest and most imposing of the streets of europe the invention of water gas seems destined to mark an era in the industries dus tries of the world true about fifty years ago a process was patented for producing illuminating gas frommater from water but the practical difficulties attending the different processes patented from time to time have proved effectual barriers to commercial success these failures have mainly arisen from the difficulty experienced in separating the water gas from the other products this difficulty has now been overcome not by one invention but by the combination of the best beat features of several inventions not those of one inventor or of one edu country but embracing those of many nationalities es especially chally those of germany eng england anz america and sweden I 1 the works of the leeds forge company demanded a fuel that would produce a more mere intense heat than that produced produce dby by the ordinary coal gas so after a careful consideration of the question and the examination of the various patents it was decided to combine the best features of each and erect suitable works for producing this water gas gaa the works were commenced on september 1887 and a completed march 1888 and are capable of producing uc ng forty r t thousand ausan cubic feet of gas per r hour at a cost of less than eig eight t cents per r each thousand cu cubic ic feet of gas the gas produced gives every satisfaction not only for melting and welding purposes ur foes but also for lighting as well tre the whole of the works being supplied with it water gas is the chemical reaction which takes place in passing steam through incandescent carbonaceous matter and may be considered as the practical result on a wholesale scale of the ordinary laboratory experiment peri ment of becom decomposing ing water b by passing assing steam th through gh a high highly Y eted heated iron tube the results of this invention are many and various already it has revolutionized the previous methods of working steel producing steam and lighting the premises where it is now enuse in use its economical ad vau vantages being established by the fact that it has saved to the leeds forge more than fifty thou sand dollars during the past year it has been shown for water gas that it possesses all the conveniences bences and more of the inconveniences of coal gas and at the same time has the brilliancy of the electric light while the cost of producing in it is considerably less than ett either er of those illuminants As fuel the favorable opinions pronounced upon it are equally glowing the qualities of adaptability economy cleanliness and facility of production marking it out as the fuel of the future applications have already been received from a large number of manufacturers who are anxious to adopt water gas in the conduct of their business not only as a means of illumination but also for motive power and all other ether purposes to which solid fuel and coal gas have hitherto been applied the samoan conference drags its slow glow length along but nevertheless something some favorable to american thim interests has as been achieved prince bismarck has given way on oil an lm im point the necessity for another native election for king and he has also acquiesced in the proviso that this election shall be perfectly free and untrammeled oboth both english and german jo journals urnald consider that the election of a king either mataafa malletta malietha Malie Malle toa or Tamas Tama eee sese by the natives uninfluenced by foreign warsh warships iDs or consular agents would be a satisfactory adjustment of the troubles in the tee islands the question as to how the interests of the three powers in the samoan islands shall be safely guarded is still to be decided and the discussion on this point may be expected to be somewhat lively the death of father damien as announced by telegram has awakened an interest in europe which shows that reverence for true heroism is not altogether a thing of the past dart joseph damien was born in nil at louvain in belgium he was the son of a deeply religious mother and from her influence he derived that earnest character which marked him even as a youth in early manhood he went as a missionary to the islands of the pacific ocean burning with zeal for his religion and love for mankind his keart heart was especially stirred with pity for the lepers who in the sandwich archipelago as everybody knows have |