The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 49, October 14, 1897

The resignation of the Spanish ministry will of course delay the answer to our letter, as it would be wrong for the Government to press for an answer while affairs are so unsettled in Spain.

Austria has been having her share of excitement during the past week.

On the opening of the parliament in Vienna, a disgraceful scene was made by the members of the lower house.

The session was to be opened by the Premier, Count Badeni. When he entered the hall he was greeted with howls and hisses, and cries of derision.

For certain reasons, which we will explain later, the Premier is at present very unpopular with the parliament, and so the members greeted him in this shameful manner, and finally one of the members, becoming more excited than the others, advanced toward the Premier, and began calling him names.

The result has been a duel between the member, Dr. Wolff, and the Premier, and the occurrence has raised a storm throughout the country, for that a Prime Minister should fight a duel with another member of the Government is an unheard-of thing.

Austria is a very difficult nation to govern, and the position of premier is by no means a bed of roses.

The reason of the difficulty is that Austria is composed of so many different states which have very little in common with each other.

In all, there are three great divisions: the Austrians proper, who are Germans in their leaning and language; the Hungarians, or Magyars, who are a haughty, fierce people, speaking their own tongue, proud of their traditions, and who look down on the more modern Austrians as upstarts. Besides these there are the Bohemians or Czechs (cheks), who speak still another language, and are a wild and quickly irritated people, obstinate, and as a rule slow-witted.

It is but natural that one or other of these people should be constantly offended at the course of the Government, and see in every new law an attempt to rob them of their rights and privileges.

The great trouble at present is the variety of the languages spoken. An attempt has been made by the Government to enforce the speaking of German throughout Austria. A law was passed making German the language in which all official business must be carried on; but to make it perfectly fair for the Hungarians and Bohemians as well as for the Austrians, the law provided that all officers of the Government who were stationed in districts where Czech or Magyar was spoken must be able to speak these tongues as well as German.

This law is intensely unpopular.

The Austrians want one language throughout the country, and are indignant at having to learn the Czech and Magyar, which are both frightfully difficult; some people laughingly declare that Czech is as hard to learn as Chinese. The Bohemians and Hungarians, on the other hand, do not wish their languages to die out, and they think that it would be only right to allow them to use their own tongue for official business throughout Bohemia and Hungary.

They have become so violently opposed to the law, that they have been making a great effort to revive their language, and have established a literature of their own, and are having the Czech language taught in the schools. In Prague and many of the cities of Bohemia, no other language is spoken.

Now Count Badeni, who has the difficult task of handling all these fiery people, has got into disgrace all around.

The Austrians are angry with him because in a certain place, and for a certain occasion, he allowed the Bohemians to use their own language for official business. The Bohemians are angry with him for having forbidden a certain public meeting; and others are again incensed against the Prime Minister for having offended them in various, apparently unimportant ways.

It was on account of his unpopularity and the various quarrels with him that he was so badly treated by the members of the parliament, and was finally so exasperated that he determined to fight a duel.

In Austria it is a criminal offence to fight a duel, and all the persons engaged in an affair of the kind can be imprisoned for from one to five years.

The Prime Minister, however, felt that he had been so terribly insulted that nothing but a duel could satisfy his sense of honor.

He therefore telegraphed to the Emperor, asking his permission to fight.

Duelling used to be a very common practice in Europe, and was considered the only means of avenging an insult. It was, however, carried to such an extent, that men would call one another out, as it was termed, for the most trifling offence. So many good and brave men were killed in this unreasonable manner, that one country after another began to make laws forbidding the practice. These laws have only been in force for a very few years, and in cases where men are terribly provoked, they still turn to duelling as a means of settling their disputes.

The Emperor of Austria, when he learnt of the shameful things that had been said to the Count, felt that, were he in the Premier's place, nothing but a duel could satisfy his honor, and so he gave his permission, and the duel took place.

Count Badeni was shot in the arm, and severely wounded; Dr. Wolff escaped unhurt.

Immediately the duel had taken place the Premier's enemies seized upon it as a means of disgracing him.

They raised a tumult about it, and declared that a man who would break the law by fighting a duel was not fit to manage the affairs of Government, and begged that the Count be dismissed from office, and arrested.

The Premier was, however, well aware of the serious nature of the act he contemplated, and that duelling was not a becoming occupation for a Prime Minister, so, when he asked the Emperor's permission to fight, he also sent in his resignation as Prime Minister.

The Emperor of Austria appears to be a very fair-minded man. Having given his permission for the duel, he was not going to desert the Count.

He refused to accept the Count's resignation, and, as a reply to the enemies of his Prime Minister, issued a decree forbidding the courts from prosecuting the Count for breaking the law.

Such a decree would not do for us in America, where the law is the highest power in the state, and even the President is bound to obey it; but in Austria, where such a thing was possible, it was certainly very considerate of the Emperor to stand so bravely by his minister.

Duelling is also against the laws of the Church, and the Count might have got into fresh trouble with his bishop if kind friends had not helped him in this direction also.

His case was represented to the Pope, who also recognized that he had been terribly tried and provoked, and graciously pardoned him.

Despite the efforts of his enemies, he has been able to make peace with both his emperor and his bishop, and though he will not have a pleasant time of it with such a parliament against him, he ought to be able to overcome his difficulties with two such powerful friends behind him.

There was a delightful celebration the other afternoon in New York at East River and Twenty-fourth Street.

It was the occasion of the opening of a new Recreation Pier, and the children were out in force to take possession of their newly acquired property.

When the present dock commissioners came into office they found an old law on the books of the city which had never been put in force.

It provided that the dock commissioners could build an upper deck to any of the piers which jutted out into the river, and arrange it for the use of the people as a recreation pier, a place where the children could walk and run and romp and play, and the mothers could take the babies for a breath of fresh air on the summer nights, when their work was done.

Finding the law on the books, these kindly men determined to carry it out, and so they built the pier at the foot of Third Street; and, when that was finished, began work on the one at East Twenty-fourth Street, which was opened the other day.

There are to be five of these piers in all—two on the west side, and three on the east.

The pier was opened by the Mayor, amid much merry music and general good feeling.

At the head of the pier a wooden band-stand had been erected. This was gaily decked with flags, and filled with chairs for the city fathers, who were to come and make speeches and give the pier to the people.

Seats had been set aside for the children, and the little ones flocked to them in hundreds, seeming to feel that this pier was for their especial benefit. They crowded every entrance, eagerly waiting for the moment when the city should give the new building to the people.

Presently the Mayor, Colonel O'Brien, and several others walked down the pier. Colonel O'Brien is the chief of the dock commissioners who have worked so faithfully to give the people this pleasure.

As the Mayor came down the aisle the little ones cheered and cheered, and the big people joined them, and waved their handkerchiefs, and it was quite an exciting moment.

Then the party mounted the decorated stand, and in a few pleasant words the Mayor presented the gift of the city to the people.

He was followed by several other speakers, among them Mr. John Proctor Clarke, who said some very nice things to the children.

He began by leaving the benches where the guests were seated, and walking across the stand until he was as near to the children as possible, for he said that what he had to say was intended for them, and not for the grown-ups, and so he wanted them to hear him clearly.

"The Mayor," he said, "has given this pier to you; but do not think he has given it as a charity. He has given it to me as well as to you, he has given it to all the people who are here to-day, and all the people in the city of New York, not as a charity to us, but because now that the city has finished it, it belongs to us by right as citizens of this town.

"The city has given us the use of this pier, and promises to keep it swept and clean, and in good repair for us, but it is ours; we own it, it belongs to us as citizens.

"Now what do we do with the things that belong to us? Do we throw them away, or destroy them? We take care of them so that they may last, don't we?

"Yes. Well, that's all I have to say to you about this pier. It is yours. Take care of it."

The new pier is one of the largest of the five that are to surround the city. It is roofed over, so that those who wish to enjoy it are sheltered from the sun.

It is seven hundred and twenty feet long, and fifty feet wide. Plenty large enough for crowds of people to use it in comfort.

The pier juts farther out into the river than any of the neighboring docks, and at its end there is a fine view up and down the river.

Mayor Strong made a suggestion during the ceremonies that met with great favor.

He said that he thought it would be a very nice thing to put glass sides into the pier, and heat it. He thought it would make a grand hall for the people of the district to use for meetings in winter, as well as promenading in summer.

These five recreation piers are likely to prove a great blessing to the city. The people who know most about such things have learned that to keep boys and girls good they must be made happy. One of the easiest ways to make them happy is to give them plenty of places where they can romp and play in the fresh air and sunshine.

G.H.Rosenfeld.

INVENTION AND DISCOVERY

Storm Front for Vehicles.—For those who live in the country and do much driving in the winter, this storm front is a capital scheme.

It is made on the same plan as the glass front of the new hansom cabs which have been introduced into this country within the last few years.

The front is made in one solid piece. There are two little glass windows in it, to enable the occupants of the buggy to see out. When it is not in use it is pulled up over the heads of the riders, and when the storm comes on a cord lets it down in front of them.

It is so adjusted that the driver can handle the reins under it, and while it might not be safe to drive a skittish horse with it down, still for the ordinary use in the country it will be a great comfort.

Combined Purse, Parcel-Carrier, and Buckle.—This is an ingenious device. Arranged in the form of a buckle for a waist-belt, it answers the several purposes of purse, parcel-carrier, and buckle.

The picture you see represents the back of the buckle; the front being in the form of a pretty butterfly.

From the lower side of the clasp a strong hook is suspended. This hook is a patent hook, opening to catch the strings of parcels, and snapping tightly together again.

A little snap on the under side of one of the wings opens, and the body of the butterfly turns back and reveals a neat little purse, large enough for car fare or railroad tickets.

The buckle is principally intended for the use of bicyclists who need to utilize every scrap of space, but for ordinary wear it is neat and attractive as well as useful.

G.H.R.

FIRST PRIZE CONTEST

It has been difficult to separate carefully the best two lists from among the two hundred and odd received in the First Prize Competition. However, a very careful canvass of them has been made, and it has been found that as many as ten were complete lists. Naturally, those who sent in first receive the prizes, and we are pleased to announce that the first prize goes to Miss Marguerite Metivier, Greenwood Ave., Waltham, Mass., and the second prize to Walter L. Solomon, 344 West 145th Street. If they will write us their choice of the prizes, we will send them immediately.