Show CURRENT TOPICS IN EUROPE the erection of the buildings for the edinburgh international exhibition to is now practically comple completed teJ and the progress made with the other arrangements warrants the belief that the whole will be ready on the opening day the lot of may for several very good reasons the exhibition promises to be preeminently successful it will be without doubt the greatest exhibition of electrical appliances that has baa ever yet been made mr edison will personally attend to some particular branches and other celebrated electricians will be U present E co explain those appliances that strike the average beholder with amazement and awe the time also is opportune the forth bridge is attracting many visitors to edinburgh this year the number dumber of these may be expected to increase as the season advances the site chosen for the exhibition is about two miles from the centre of edinburgh but it has th this advantage that within the exhibition grounds Js is situated one of the at stac eions of the suburban circular railway one of the stations ot of the glasgow and edinburgh line and the terminus of the princess street tramway or street car line the grounds are therefore convenient for the general public as well as for the inhabitants of the city the scope of the exhibition has been very much widened since the project was started it was intended in the first instance to be merely an exhibition of appliances of electrical science it was soon seen however that a sectional exhibit exhibition iun of that kind would appeal to a very limited claw class anti and would hardly form a strong enough nett cleus to attract sufficient numbers to make the display popular and fin financially successful the grounds now extend to nearly ninety acres the recreation ground covers nearly ten acres and here are situated the switchback railway ahemia de fer gl klimant imant a panorama etc the bull buildings dings of the exhibition proper coverI nine acres the machine hall ball alone being over seven hundred feet long by one hundred and fifty broad it will be divided into three sections the middle one of which will contain some twenty dynamos of different patterns and design ln in the western division will be placed the various kinds of electrical machinery such as telegraphs telephones electric clocks phonographs electric motors electric street cars electric lamps electric cameras etc the eastern section will contain the greatest collection of loco locomotives moti veis the world has ever seen from the first crude machines in the days of ste bhenson to those mighty monsters that thunder along the great northern railway at the rated rate of eighty miles an hour another praiseworthy feature of this exhibition will be the great gallery of art in which there will be rw no loaned pictures but every painting and piece of sculpture will be the work of some living IV dg artist in this respect the works of both home and foreign artists will have a better chance even than they had at t the paris exposition just now there is quite a contest going on between the temperance k people and the liquor dealers concerning the admission of spirituous or intoxicating drinks on the exhibition grounds it would seem that the temperance people have what is called the 14 inside circle in the matter and it is likely they will be able to prevent such scenes as were at times seen in the glasgow exhibition of 1888 the european press during the past fortnight has been so engrossed with affairs in germany that but little attention has been ke bestowed stowed on french and russian matters of almost equal importance the news from the neva is to say the least grave the letter of madame to the czar seems to have awakened the latter to the real position be occupies he sees see it would seem that his bin government has been a failure and that a new force has arisen in russian society that he never dreamed of democratic ideas are ad advancing vanci ng in russia with a progress that western nations will scarcely credit Rus russia unwritten alliance with france has haa had an effect in russia bene beneficial fical to her people but prejudicial to the czars azars autocratic views the late outbreaks among the students of many russian universities plainly prove how widely spread are socialistic sentiments last week the czar sent for prince the governor general of moscow and after conferring with him has concluded to redress some of the greatest grievances deportation to siberia will cease for a time possibly a long time and the czar will pursue a policy of conciliation as well as punishment for offenders 11 these are the words of prince one of the most influential fluent ial as well as most liberal statesmen of russia almost simultaneously with the resignation of prince Ble marca comes the change of ministry in prance france when M birard resigned president garnet carnot no doubt wisely called the sagacious statesman M de freycinet to form a new ministry those who have watched the course of french politics will remember that M do de wis was the man who came so near being chosen president of the tee french republic at the last election it is ig pleasing to see nee that president car not has such good will and confidence in his old rival and not noi less pleasing to we see M do de freycinet ao capt a position from the man who defeated him all this augurs wello well for the position of france M de freycinet was born in 1828 and is therefore just sixty two years of age As will be remembered he be came to the front just after the crash of the Napole napoleonic empire at sedan he as prime minister and the lion uon like Garn betta as minister of war worked strenuously to stem the tide of german invasion since then he has worked faithfully to build up the republic on a sold foundation until 1879 he held the position of prime minister and from thet that time till 1886 1885 he hold held the gosp tion of minister of foreign affairs in 1887 he was chosen minister of war in M Flo queta cat cabinet inet and now again in 1890 he has been called to the position of prime minister vive la Frane Aran csiK caim the political storm in germany seems to have spent its first wild force but the political waters are by no means calm the rhe heavy waves of popular feeling still bt beat upon the german shore on the lot let of april bismarck completed the year of an eventful and laborious life having relinquished his tolls toils just in time to e spend nd his birthday amid the less exciting erting scenes and calmer pursuits for which his many mady sided nature has retained a keen wind mid genuine love amid all the engrossing engros alres ot of his official career there could 0 uld be no more beautiful and pathetic scene than that of his departure on saturday the of march from berlin amid the uncontrollable emotion of a great people conscious of their immeasurable obligations one may mal dimly conceive the rush of conflicting emotions and of cheque red memories that must have overwhelmed the veteran statesman state 9 as his countrymen crowded around him in their eagerness to express however humbly and aar im imperfectly their mingled pride and admiration in his mighty work and their sense of the dangers to the waterland Va terland which his unflinching courage and profound r found 1 knowledge will no longer longer C be A at t hand band to anticipate and avert our ordinary speech serves only for the middle range of emotion and passion in supreme moments man is reduced to eloquent silence or to an inarticulate cry that surging crowd straining etrain lug its eyes for a last look at its hero was dumbly struggling to express what each one present knew to be too deep for expression press ioD the real greatness of prince bismarck lies in the fact that his great power was never used to benefit himself his whole life was according to his idea devoted to the welfare of his native country toward the movements that have occupied western europe the at mentton tent lon ton of the world has been directed and the affairs in other parts of europe have only received minor attention the restoration odthe of the pope to temporal power is a theme which seems likely to force itself into notice As is well known austria has been hindered by her entangle ments in the kripli alliance from giving aid to his holiness but the time seems now to have arrived when she can act it is this fact that gives a peculiar significance to the movements movement of dr windthorst Wind and the catholic party in the german empire the italian government would no doubt be very willi willing to see a decrease of papal influence in italy austria seems willing to give hw his holiness the sovereignty of the little province known as the italian tyrol that is the italian speaking portion of the tyrol a province of western austria this principality however small would make of the pope a temporal sovereign and give him the right to place a papal legate iu in every court of europe hitherto germany has 0 objected to this arrangement in this crisis now that bismarck has resigned and the catholics of germany we see a chance to lo gain power in the reichstag can that objection be continued ah ab that is the question who will answer it sir Morrell orrell mackenzie Mackenzi ethe the eminent pi physician h ya I 1 cian who attended the late frederick has lately con til buted an article to the new review in which he deiy plainly shows the evil effects of tobacco he says gays the use of tobacco plays havoc with wilh the voice and has frequently been the ruin of singers and actors it muses causes extreme sensitiveness to cold acts on the nerve centers and affects the action of the heart lind and often blurs the retina of the eye causing partial blindness blind ness by incessant smoking the tongue and throat may be irritated to such an extent that a cancerous condition may be induced in people predisposed to that awful disease nor is it necessary to smoke to be a victim of to bacco fur for a person with a delicate throat exposure to an ere laden with the fumes fu mes of tobacco I 1 is ts even worse than smoking itself this is a terrible indictment coming as it does from so thorough and practical a physician as sir morrell mackenzie these statements ought to have an influence upon society surely smoking should for sanitary rea reasons be banished from public conveyances J H WARD europe april 7 1890 |