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Show I ""ASHINaTON. It is the desire of Sec- Wretary of State Knox as It wns that ot Secretary Itoot, to put tho cansu-mmmmmm cansu-mmmmmm lar service of tho United States, as rwsrgjl nearly as It is posslblo so vo do, upon JsmfMiS?t tho piano of the civil service. All consular appointments to-day aro mado largely upon tho recommendation of senators sena-tors and representatives nnd other men of political politi-cal influence, but tho appointees arc given places of tho lowest rank In tho servlco nnd must depend de-pend upon tho excellcnco of their work to scctiro promotion. Moreover thoy must pass a satisfactory satisfac-tory examination before tho department will assign as-sign them to posts of duty. Tho administration, It Is known, would bo glnd If it woro posslblo to apply civil servlco rules to theso appointments of ministers nnd ambassadors, but as tho holders of theso high diplomatic offices offi-ces aro forced to great expense of living, nnd their salaries are comparatively small, no man can becomo a first placo representative of his country nbroad unless he belongs to tho class of tho millionaires. Tho re- j suit of this is that In ninny cases money I rather than ability fixes tho appointments V of somo of our ministers nnd ambassa- jf dors. jvli In tho post there were many literary t fu men of standing but whoso books did not j bring them In n large' revenue, who J sought places in tho consular service in I I order that they might havo a regular In- l como, comparatively llttlo ofTlco work, 1 i5 and an opportunity nlso to got tho ntmos- phero of Europe or Asia or of somo other j continent to glvo life and color to tho J . books which they Intended to write. Tho literary mnn to-dny has to stand on tho samo ' lovel In seeking nn nnpolntmcnt as a consul as that occupied by tho lawyer or tho merchant. There aro not ns many writers of books nnd essays es-says in tho servlco to-day as there woro in tho past, and in one way tho United States government govern-ment Is tho loser thereby. If somo ono would go for back through tho flics ot tho statn department and read tho consular reports re-ports contained therein, ho doubtless would run across some clever bits of writing put ou paper by men who know tho art nnd who gave Interest and color nnd .life to somo seemingly dry as dust trade subject. It Is very likely that the reports that Francis Bret Hnrto wrote when ho was consul nt Glasgow, Scotland, would mako delightful reading read-ing even though they trrntod on tho subject of wool or, it mny be, of Scotch whisky or Scotch cattle. Thcro havo been other literary men In tho servlco, somo of them better known than I3ret HnrtOf It Is only necessary to glvo tho nnmcs of Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne Haw-thorne to prove tho point. Not long ngo In tho service abroad tho government, had Albion W. Tourgeo, Arthur Shcrburno Hardy, James Jeffrey Jef-frey Hoach, and Oeorgo Horton. Two ot theso men died comparatively recently, but thoy lived long enough to Beo some of their writings appear ap-pear in print as public documents and to know that tho manner In which they treated their scrub oak.and thickets ot white and pur- ffr V. plo gorso, fight- lng stubbornly -for a hold upon tho shifting shift-ing sands, with hero and there somo straggling groups of pine, tho protesting pro-testing rcmntns ot a great forest which wind and sand, and fire, nnd water had spared." This was a description I IT ?mWmWNm j9ox?s rrrfcrwc ins? cm leciros V ffY. CJ subjects wob appreciated by thousands of their American countrymen. Somo of tho other consuls abroad, men who mado no protenso to literary ability, havo turned In from tlmo to tlmo trndo reports that woro plcturcsquo in their nature and written with extromo cleverness. Not long rigo tho government gov-ernment decided to lsauo In a form between n pnmrihlet and a magazine tho Dally Consular Reports. As tho editor of tho publication a votcruu newspaper man, MaJ. John M. Carson, was appointed. With his training ho saw to t that tho best of tho material received from tho, . consuls wns given a placo of prominence, ami. , ho succeeded in making of tiro consular reports . a publication of real Interest. In tho records ot tho department thoro is ono report which from tho first paragraph holds tho close uttontlon of tho reader. It wns read tho other day by ono who did not know until tho lust lino wns reached whoso hand had been at work in its writing, Tho thought was, horo Is something wbrth while, Tho tltlo of tho artlclo was: mply "Ilefor-estatlon "Ilefor-estatlon in Franco," and tho i st fow linos Bhowed llttlo of interest. Then tho oyo reached this: "Ono after another groat waves of sand, moved by fW rostless winds that Bwopt acrosa tho Atlantic, continued tholr unceasing inarch acrosa tho fair plains of southern Franco, burying bury-ing all boforo thorn fields, meadows, vino-yards, vino-yards, houses, churches, oven villagca leaving behind thum only gray billows, to which clung bunches of brocken, a fow Btnrved bushes of 'Hi ... , i ' ' ll MMmMmwmKmMmwmMmmwmmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMmMU hhh ot the Irresistible march of tho gray sand dimes from tho shoro of tho Bay ot Biscay toward to-ward tho heart of tho most productive land in Europe. Tho description was embodied in n consul's report, and it was so utterly different from tho descriptions written by most consuls, or by their clerks, as Is more ofton tho caso, that tho reader's oyo and mind went on won-dorlng, won-dorlng, with curiosity hold In check until tho signature should como nt tho very end. Tho thought was that hero was n consul or a clerk who should bo writing books instond ot commercial com-mercial pamphlots Intended for (ho oyo ot tho ' , fow, Tho story this official communication Vis a story and nothing olso lends to tho final .planting ot tho pines under tho direction of J. Napoleon pines which saved tho flelds of " Franco. "Wherever tho toot of tho Band dune rested, there wns hopeless blight. A llttlo wiry grass grow In tho slmdow of tho hoathor and gorso, on which tho Mhecp browsed under tho eyes ot solemn-fnced Bhophorda perched on stilts and knitting nu they watched. On and on crept tho phalanx of tho torrlblo dunes, slowly but surely blighting all in their path, not only creating a tlcsort but destroying hope. As long as tho winds blow from tho west tho dunes murcheil to tho eaBti tho desort fires ravaged tho intervening inter-vening spaces; flocks grow fewer, tho desolation desola-tion more extreme In tho heart of sunny Franco a desert was established, ovor Increasing Increas-ing In extent and threatening to strotch across its fairest Holds tho arid' - ua Sahara." ( Tho ofllcial document then tells us In tho words of Its contributor how Franco was saved by tho adoption ot tho Idea of Bremontler, ono of tho sons of tho seemingly doomed region. Tho seeds of tho plno, tho "pin mnrltlmo" ot tho French, were gathered nnd sprouted carefully care-fully and tho young trees were planted in places "where tho moving sands did not overwhelm over-whelm them until their tough roots had taken n firm hold, their wiry leaves, which loved tho briny spume, would offor no reslstnnco to tho wind, nnd, falling nbout their roots, would glvo shelter and nutriment until n forest grew which would hold tho Bands In check and savo tho threatened Interior from desolation." It was Nupolcon who seized upon tho Ida of Bremontler. "His vision penetrated tho centuries nnd ho snw tho march of tho deadly dunes arrested and tho desert they had created mado to blossom llko tho rose." Tho consul tells us that after a century has passed tho statuo ot Bremontler looks down ono ot tho great furrows which Ho between the dunes ho showed how to conquer. Today, To-day, ns wo aro told, "tho dark squadrons squad-rons ot the pin maritime aro posted on thousnnds ot sandy slopes, faithful guardians in tho shelter of which thovlneyards and wheat flelds rest securo. Tho gray dunes which wero sweeping over tho land havo becomo serried fortresses which 'shelter civilization and prosperity." pros-perity." ' At least ono real live Item wns contributed not long ago by Q, Illo Havndnl, United States consul at Beirut, Syria, to tho pages of tho consular reports. When this was put Into tho publication It Is probablo that the cdltor-ln-chief was on a vacation. Othorwlso tho Beirut consul's tnlo would havo been put on tho first pngo liiBtcad ot being sandwiched In betweon "Rubber Cultivation" nnd "Commercial Fall-uro Fall-uro in Germany." According to tho consular report Pnsha Ab-' dulnahman at ono tlmo Imported into Damascus Damas-cus n booster steam threshing mnchluo through tho ngency of a gentleman named Michel Ef-fondl Ef-fondl Nasser of Beirut. It is tho hellet of Consul Con-sul Itnvndul that tho Indiana thresher will rout tho Bedouins ot tho desert, and ho leads up to this nllmnx with u plcturesquo recital ot tho facta attending tho arrival ot tho machine and Its subsequent career. His talo ot the thresh- jlM er follows; t "Its triumphal inarch through Damascus stirred tho White City ot tho East from center to circumference. On Its way Into tho country It broko down bridges innumerable, but pullod Itself out of tho creek beds beautifully, and It had tho honor ot being Btnrtcd on its pioneer career in the prosenco ot tho governor-genera) of tho province, tho field marshal in command' t ot the Fifth army carps and many qthor gen-tlcmen gen-tlcmen of high station In Ottoman civil nnd military life. With Its self-feeder, automatio bagger, straw bruiser, etc., it is a marvel of in-genulty, in-genulty, and Its service to this country In blaz-Iiie blaz-Iiie the way for labor-saving mnchlnory, with its accompanying amelioration of Industrial and social conditions In a region east of Mouat Hcrmon, where peoplo 11 vo and work na did tholr forefathers when Abraham crossed tholr pastures with his Chaldean flocks, Is boyond estimation. In tho Haurnn to-day thousnnds of acres aro lying ldlo; thoy aro likely now to be reclaimed, and the predatory Bedouin tribes who infest tho country will havo to retire be-foro be-foro tho now order ot things." Consular positions do not pay large Bums ot money, but tho life Is In many respects an at-tractive at-tractive ono and thero are always many up- tM pllcanta for any vacancies which may exist. It is virtually a necessity that the person who desires a placo In tha consular servlco shall bo ablo to speak at least two modern languages; that Is, ono In addition to English. While tho WM examinations aro not aupposed to bo hard some men who have been through college with credit in their studies havo failed to nnswor properly enough ot tho questions put to them to give them a hold on tho service. At times tho United Stuten consuls have :H dangers to encounter. It waa exceedingly un-j:, un-j:, pleasant in Spain tor somo ot Undo Saiu'a representatives during tho inontha Just prior LL to tho beginning of, actual liostllltica at Manila bay, In Chill and in Turkey within a cumpara- LL lively short tlmo tho consuls lmVo had occnelos LL to put up a bravo front against tho populace LLw nnd to show the Bluff that they wero made of, Fresh in tho memory of ovorybody la the awfol' tlmo which tho beleaguered legations had with- H In tho walls ot "the forbidden city" In Chlon |