Show CURRENT TOPICS IN EUROPE wherever one travels in europe the ft fact la is ever prominent that the age of railways has left its indelible stamp on all the cities that have been reached by the iron horse and fow few indeed are the citie that have not been so reached herein seems to lie the great difference in the architecture of W stern american cities from those of europe lt it is quite amusing to hear bear europeans criticising criticizing critic ising the practical or as they consider inelegant iuele gaut pro portions of american cities while at the same ti time the best portions of old world cies 1 are so very similar to those america that is the portions b t since 1825 in rome borne naples Na piea etc may be seen own the vm embodiment of at least four distinct types of civilization the farist farat including the structures that were erected during the reigns of the chesare can only be now traced in roofless ruins broken arches dismantled co columns luvatis anti anil pedestals 11 yet the indelible mark of that ageos age ot iron irga is still distinctly visible in the tha ruins of the palatine and capitoline hills the second or of medieval age is equally marked not merely by walls wails and bastions moats and turrets but likewise by the quaint style of architecture that is everywhere to be seen in all al the older cities of europe these tell of barbaric age when the rights 0 oi man were ill deft defined tied and the terrible nighton night of strife and bloodshed and political tempest preceded the dawning ofa more peaceful day the edifices erected during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries show indications that commerce was increasing and civilization was advancing the tower of antonio was no longer the residence of the jope i ope the kings of france no longer dwelt in brisou the gritu grim old rower of lon on was no longer considered the only safe residence of the sovereigns of britain to this age belongs all the magnificent and luxuriant palaces that adorn european gands but the buildings erected and the portions ot of the cities laid out during the present century are in striking cou contrast to till all that was done in former tes bipes it would seem that the ides idea of 61 comfort was almost un known to the poorer classes of europe onehundred one hundred years ago itis it is only in the most improved dat dwellings and especially in those portions of the cities built since the advent of railways that more or less approach has been made toward the comforts and of a model american home truth is stranger than fiction it 1 is said it migi might it also be added that that it is nut not half so frequent the rewriting of the worlds history it seems probable will be oue one of the employments of the twentieth century the general research into the records of the past which is now going on OD beyond precedent is plainly proving that much that our fathers believed to be history was only fiction due not to critis ise too harshly to the overheated imagination of the historian for example who has not heard of the destruction of pompeii how eloquently that destruction has been depicted as occurring in the beautiful spring time when nature was clothed in verdure and the spring birds were singing their joyous notes when the roses were in full bloom and fragrance freighted zephyrs floated over the fairest of european landscapes etc all this bounds very fine but recent investigations rather prove that it is not true in excavating recently at pompeii juit jui t outside the gate was fou found rid a relic which does much to settle the matter of date dale A little pine tree was found in an almost complete state of preservation it bu ba lunged longed to that species known as umbrella pine the nuts of whichard which chare are so much esteemed by the natives of southern italy and on it were clusters of nuts perfect and ripe still clinging to the parent branch after the laate lapte of more than eighteen cent centuries pries the buds of the tree were also in t at condition in which they are found late in autumn when the past seasons growth is done and the next has not yet et commenced now it is well cnown known that the nuts of the umbrella pine are never ripe until november or er the first part of december hence we may conclude that this shower of volcanic mud and ashes that hermetically sealed this tree along with the city did not fall in the spring but in the month of november just as the nuts were ripening another item might be mentioned as illustrating the fallacies of historians tor to As everybody knows the ancestors of george washington are said U to have sprung from cheshire england but the little church at Bring tou in Northampton shire contains the graves of many of th the on some of the pews and on the graves are engraved the washington coat of arms which very much resembles the shield on the great beal of the united states and plainly indicates its origin as well as the first idea or outline of the Amer americal America icah ii flag of the stars stare and stripes here too is a plain and authentic record 0 of f t the he washington family running back as far as the year 1583 and in connection with the records of the neighboring village of sulgrave Sol grave is continued back to the 1526 here then we have a succinct account running back no less than years and an outline of American the hal flag years before the declaration of independence independence such are some of the claims that Northampton shire brings forward that it was waa once the stamping ground of the washington family it has been said that machinery run best when they make the least noise dolse 11 this may be one thing is certain the current of european poli politico tiem has not been running very smoothly during the past fortnight scarcely Scar eely had the little episode of the due duc dorleans Orleana iP been laid on the shelf when public attention was drawn toward the french capital by the tall all of the eyraud ministry and while the english and german press were busy holding up impetuous volatile paris to tile the gaze of the world a political storm was gathering in their respective countries countr iee in england the verdict of the so called parnell commission was awaited w with iab anxiety and hen ben at length it was gavvn to the public the politicians seemed to teel feel that the longed for jubilee of speechmaking had bad arrived not only did mr blaustone jHa untone make it the opportunity of delivering one of the great orations ot of his life but a host of others have mounted the rostrum anti am delivered speeches which plainly indicate that however many or few may be the number of the truly great statesmen in britain she is by no means wanting in aspiring politicians tic ians while gladstone labouchere and lord randolph churchill have been making things lively at westminster the strike of three hundred thousand miners has sent the price of coal up with a bound and the proceedings of forty or fifty thousand dock laborers barge men and carters at liverpool demanding higher wages or no cargoes filled the hearts on ship owners with dismay and nearly everybody else with amaze ment that the present crisis will be bridged over that the ship owners and the dockers will yet be able to effect a compromise nearly everybody believes but what about the future will it always be thus easy these strikes are teaching the people the power they may wield by careful combination meanwhile some of the jhb knowing ones are asking if the words of jeremiah may not indeed have a meaning also fur for this generation if thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee then how canet thou contend with horses horem and if in the land of peace wherein thou trusted st they wearied thee then how wilt thou do in the swelling of jordan while these things thing s are transpiring in great britain the political waters are again turbulent on the eastern shore of the germun ocean immediately the result of the elections for the german reichstag were known it became evident that the time of prince Bis marcks rule was drawing to a close the iron chancellor anc angellor ellor is not the one who will try to conciliate a rancorous foe it was not to be expected that the man who had successfully the influence of the jesuits would be willing to work in harmony with willi them now that they have increased in power yet the change brought about by the late election is so great that the royalists Boya lists or imperial party cannot control a clear working majority except by combination with the windhorst rat or catholic party then again the young em geror has a plan of his own for some time passed it has been noticed that the emperor had entered upon a policy antagonistic to Bis marcks wishes what the pi precise ellse relations of the iron chancellor have been towards his royal and ambitious pupil during the last few months is of course unknown but it is quite evident they have not always been of the most friendly character the man whom the german emperor has chosen to succeed prince bismarck is general von caprivi caprisi Ca but what a change from bismarck who for twenty years has molded wielded banded the hearts of millions till they moved as one who for nearly thirty years has guided the destinies of the terland waterland Va and often been to nearly all the continental nations the arbiter of peace aud and war to gen von capri vi whose name has been unknown outside of prussian official circles that caprivi caprisi is a masterful man the newspapers all declare a soldier sailor diplomat and man of culture all rolled into ope one but here we are met with the grave question that agitates continental tin europe from paris to constantinople stantin ople from st petersburg to rome and that is the questioned ability of the young emperor to maintain peace the german empire as is well known is one of the latest formed governments in euro europe e dix with many sectional differences I 1 and jealous subordinate princes the emperor william possesses a vast confidence in himself and the autocratic ideas of frederi Frede Pre deri rii k the great he has a passionate love for the army and military life and seems to believe in the divine right of kings to govern how can he reconcile the increasing socialism of germany with his own ideas of royal prerogative the announcement of bismarck marcks Bis Is resignation produced a sensation sensate on in I 1 every capital of europe in parts paris the news seemed to produce universal regret even the prospects of M de now new ministry were for the moment forgotten and general genera attention was directed to the telegrams from berlin J H WARD EUROPE march 24 1890 |