Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, August 17, 1902, Page 30

Women Wear Uniforms and Lead Regiments DUCHESS MILITA IN HER UNDRESS UNIFORM AS COLONEL. HOM the kalser loves he first makes colonel.” This parody on an anclent saw aptly describes the present policy of the German emperor in dispens- ing royal favors among women. Time was when a post of honor in the imperial house- hold or a jeweled order was the feminine badge of royal favor. Today it is a com- mission in the German army, with its glit- tering accompaniment of full uniform. The command may be honorary only, but it car- ries with it not only the Insignia: of im- perial preference, but certain privileges in which a woman of military ancestry fairly revels. The kalser is no faddist. His most trivial moves In affairs of state, if followed to thelr source, lead eventually to the foun- tain head of his administrative policy—the army first, last and always. So it is not improbable that there is method in his ap- pointment of women to military posts, Since the day of Joan of Arc the sight of a woman a-horseback in the full panoply of war has been sufficient to rouse enthusiasm in the most phlegmatic solidery and to stir the latent loyalty of peaceful citizenship. At the very head of the military women stands the empress herself. No more popu- lar officer, no more dashing soldier is there In all the German army than Augusta Vie- toria, and famillar as is her appearance at the head of the famous Pasewak Curaissiers, she never falls to recelve an ovation at the hands of the loyal Berliners. When she leads her regiment in review before her war lord, the kalser, she wears the showy regimental uniform of white with red fac- ings, the scarf of the Order of Hohen- sollern, and the famous three-cornered hat, with large, drooping heron's plumes. Neither is her majesty satisfied to appear on parade only. She is at heart a real sol- dier, accompanies her regiment to the an- nual parades, watches its drills, frequently visits the men In their barracks and calls upon the officers in the regimental casino, there to discuss affairs, large and small, connected with her command. PRINCESS ADOLPH BURG-LIPPE AS GERMAN LINE. OF SCHAUM- COLONEL OF Until recently the Grand Duchess Vie- toria Milita of Hesse shared military honors and popularity with the empress. Perhaps the most enthusiastic of all the lady colonels, she commanded by title the noted One Hundred and Seventeenth infantry regiment. Nor did she allow the acting colonel to rob her of her duties and privi- leges. She was seen almost daily on the parade ground when her regiment was at work, on which occasions she wore the un- dress uniform of the German army colonel, dark blue coat. red collare and cuffs edged with blue, and a heavy skirt, a peaked cap with red band, sword belt and knotted opaulettes. At parade and reviews she headed her men in all the glory and pomp of full dress uniform, her helmet topped with plumes and strapped under her chin, a tasseled belt, and, among the medals and jeweled decorations which covered her breast, gleamed conspicuously the order of the Red Eagle. It was at the kaiser parade in Hamburg that she reached the pinnacle of her fame, for on that occaeion his majesty sent his personal adjutant to escort her into the im- perial presence, where she was publicly congratulated on the magnificent appear- ance of her command. Then came her divorce from her husband, and in keeping with his policy of distributing military honors the kaiser signified his disapproval of her conduct by depriving her of her regimentals and her monograms and arms were removed from the regiment's epau- lettes. But the withdrawal of royal favor hae not taken away her popularity. She is not only a magnificent rider, but an accom- plished whip, and her appearance at the Frankfort races on Sunday afternoons in- variably causes a demonstrition. Recently she drove out to the course, preceded by a couple of outriders, and handling the reins with consummate skill over a matched team of five grays, two leaders and three at the poles. On the box at her side sat her sie- ter, the crown princess of Roumania. The latter presented a daintily feminine plcture in her summer finery, but the duchess sat CROWN PRINCESS OF ROUMANIA, COLONEL OF DRAGOONS IN ROU- MANIAN ARMY. MAMIE G. MORRIS OF CHATTA- NOOGA, Tenn.—LIEUTENANT COL- ONEL AND AIDE TO GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA. erect in true military pose, which accen- tuated her strong, rather masculine face. Other women of royal blood who have been honored thus by the kalser are the Empress Alexandria of Russia, who is colonel of Germany's Second Regiment of Dragoons; the hereditary princess of Saxe- Meinengen, who commands the Second Grenadiers; the crown princess of Greece, the emperor’'s sister, who has an infantry regiment, and Princess Louise, duchess of Connaught, who has the Dragoon regi- ment, known as “Von Arnim, No. 12.” The queen of Wurtemburg is colonel of the Uhlan regiment, “Konig Wilhelm I;” the Princess Wera of Wurtemburg, who was a Russlan grand duchess, the Uhlans “Konig Karl;" the Princess Charles of Prussia, the Twelfth Regiment of Dragoons; the Princess Albert of Prussia, the Twenty- Great Wealth of Frozen Alaska OMMERCIAL Alaska in 1901" is the title of a monograph just issued by the Treasury bureau of statis- tics. In It are presented some striking figures about this (until recently) little explored and little understood territory of the United States. By reason of the application of modern systems of travel and transportation, Alaska is now as accessible as Arizona. Three days of travel by modern ocean steamers from Seattle among the islands and along the coast which forms the southeastern extension of Alaska lands the traveler at Skagway; twelve hours by rail over the mountains carries him to the headwaters of the Yu- kon, where comfortable and well-equipped river steamers carry him to the gold fleld of central Alaska or down the Yukon river, which is navigable for more than 2,000 miles at this season of the year. From the mouth of the Yukon another comparatively short trip by steamer carries him to Cape Nome—the latest and greatest of the gold flelds of Alaska. Gold, fish and furs are, according to this monograph, the principal industries of Alaska at the present ‘time, and they send to the United States $15,000,000 worth of their products, $8,000,000 of gold, $6,000,000 of fish, chiefly salmon, and the remainder furs. The totali value of the products of Alaska brought to the United States since its purchase is (according to the best esti- mates that the bureau of statistics is able to make) about $150,000,000, of which $50,- 000,000 is preclous metals, $50,000,000 prod- ucts of the fisheries, chiefly salmon, and $5,- 000,000 more furs, chiefly seal furs. Probably $50,000,000 of American capital is invested In Alaskan industries and busi- ness enterpriges, including transportation systems. In the salmon fisheries alone the companies engaged have a capitalization of $22,000,000, and the value of their plants, including vessels, is given at $12,000,000. In the mining industries there are large in- vestments, the great quartz mill at Jupeau being the largest quartz stamp mill in the world, while several other quartz mills rep- resent large investments. With the inflow of capital, the development of transporta- tion systems, and the gold discoveries, has come the bullding up of towns and the de- velopment of citles with modern conveni- ences of life. Agricultural possibilities in Alaska have, until within a recent period, been con- sidered of but slight importance. As the country was explored, however, and its conditions of climate and soil studied, its natural products observed and experiments made with various classes of agricultural productions, it became apparent that the agricultural possibilities of the country, and especially of the south and southeast, where the climate is modified by the Japan current, were of considerable importance in view of the practicability of furnishing at least a part of the food supply of the population which the varied resources of Alaska seem llkely to sustaln and make permanent. These observations und ex- periments lead those who have participated in them to the belief that vegetables in great variety can be produced all along the southern coast and in the valley of the Yukon, and by some the possibility of the successful production of wheat and oats is strongly supported. The grasses for the support of cattle are abundant, and the experiment with live stock thus far justify the belief that this feature of the food requirements of Alaska may be furnished by the development of stock farms In the southern sections. In the north vast areas are covered with a moss similar to that upon which the rein- deer thrives in other parts of the Arctic regions, and in view of this fact the in- troduction of reindeer from Siberia was begun a few years since and has proved extremely successful, about 3,000 now being distributed through northwest Alaska, and the experiment bas advanced sufficiently to justify the confident belief that the rein- deer will within a few years prove an im- portant feature in furnishing both the transportation and food supply of northern and northwestern Alaska. The gross area of Alaska is, according to the 1900 census, 590,804. The governor of Alaska in a recent report states that this is equal to the combined area of the twenty states of Malne, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massichusetts, Rhode Island, Con- necticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgla, Florida, Alabama, Mississippl and Tenneesee. Preacher Who Plays Rev. Martin B. Bird, Yallnr of Hope Con- gregational church, 8t. Louls, both preaches and gives solos to his congregation, playing on the cornet. GRAND DUCHESS OF HESSE, WHO COMMANDS 117TH GERMAN INFAN- TRY REGIMENT. fourth infantry; the queen regent of the Netherlands, the Fifteenth Westphalian in- fantry; the grand duchess of Baden, the Fourth regiment of the Grenadier Guarde, and the dowager queen, Margherite of Italy, a Hesslan Tagen (rifle) regiment. Perhaps of all this list none is destined to more general popularity among the soldiery than the duchess of Connaught. BEducated under the eye of her father, the famous Prince Frederiche Charles, the ‘“Red Prince” of the Franco-German war, she has the military spirit strong within her. From childhood ehe has been a fear- less rider, and now sits her horse with grace and dignity, as one born to the sad- dle. Already one of the most active, ear- nest and prominent of the women colonels, when her husband, the duke of Connaught, becomes commander-in-chief of the British army, he will find in his wife a helpmeet whose sympathies lie entirely and undi- videdly with his work, and Tommy Atkins will have in the wife of his commanding general a true and never-failing friend. ‘While the prince consort of the Nether- lands, the duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 13 merely a lieut:nant in the German infan- try, his royal wife, Queen Wilhelmina, com- mands one of the crack cavalry corps, a present from the kaiser on her 12th birth- day, when she ascended the throne of Hol- land. What with a military husband and a regiment quite her own the young queen takes an intense interest in her army. While at one of her country residences previous to her illness she received word that a regiment was approaching on a prac- tice march. Immediately she called for her horse, mounted and galloped down the road to meet the dusty, travel-stained troops. Saluting the colonel she placed herself at the head of the column and led it past her hushand and Queen Emma, personally giv- ing the word of command for the salute. At another time she reviewed her army when fully 20,000 soldiers of all arms were present, and as their young queen rode on to the field she evcked an almost frenzied enthusiasm among both soldiery and peo- ple. It was at first decided that on this oc- Plucked for Thousands UNDREDS of people living in Chi- cago and the smaller cities of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, who had been drawing wonderful dividends from their investments in the Al Fetzer company, an alleged get- rich-quick concern which operated in horse- racing pools, received circulars the other day announcing that the company had failed and their money was gone. Heavy rains were said to have broken the sure- thing combination by which the company was to win fortunes from bookmakers on race tracks. The amounts lost by the credulous in- vestors in Fetzer's rosy scheme, which, it was declared, “‘could not lose,” reach into the hundreds of thousands, reports the Chi- cago Record-Herald. The towns that suf- fered the worst were Hammond, Ind., and Appleton, Wis. It was reported that the people of the latter town had suffered to the extent of $50,000 and dozens of small cities are believed to have fared almost as bad. Fetzer's operations have been under the surveillance of the postal authorities, but he managed his affairs so shrewdly that the government inspectors have been un- able to prove fraud up to the present time. Formal complaints have been lodged with the postmaster at Hammond since the is- sulng of the final circular and an investi- gation has been begun. Fetzer conducted a large part of his business through the mails. He adver- tised extensively in the newspapers and found many who were willing to “play the game.” Dividends of $5 a week for each GRAND DUCHESS OF SAXE-MEIN- INGEN, COLONEL-IN-CHIEF' SEC- OND GRENADIER GUARDS. casion she should appear in the uniform of a general in the Royal Horse Guards, dark blue with gold facings, epaulettes and the other insignia of rank, but her majesty vetoed the proposition and wore the simpler costume of a white amazon riding habit, with the regulation tall, black hat. The death of Victoria left Wilhelmina the only reigning woman sovereign in command of an army. The present queen consort of England, Alexandra, was at one time a superb horsewoman and displayed a deep interest in military affairs, but of recent years she has oot been seen on horseback, to the great regret of the loyal Tommy At- kinses. Though there are innumerable woman colonels, only two women in the world may wear the three-cornered chapeau and the four stars and stripes of an admiral. These are the Dowager Empress Dagmar of Russia and the Queen Olga of Greece, who owe their honors to the late czar. The Empress Dagmar is an admiral in the Rus- slan navy, while Queen Olga is attached to the Russian Mediterranean squadron. The latter, who is passionately fond of the sea, uses her yacht as often as other women call for their carriages, and she has also passed the neceseary examination to secure a sailing master's certificate. She often commandis the royal Greek yacht, Am- phitrite, and she is certainly better equip- ped for the rank of admiral than many of her sister sovereigns are qualified for their m'litary duties. While it is said that the American women are of all their sex the most pro- gressive and the most exacting in the mat- ter of having their abilities in all direc- tions publicly acknowledged, there is but one woman colonel in the United States, and hers is a sort of courtesy rank. This is Miss Mamie G. Morris, lieutenant colonel and aide to Governor Candler of Georgia. Miss, or rather Lieutenant Colonel Morris hails from Chattanooga, and her appoint- ment dates from a formal visit made to that town by the chief executive of Tennessee's sister state, during which Miss Morris did much to make it pleasant for the governor and his staff. $100 invested were promised and were pald punctually up to the last week. Fetzer said he had a system of playing the races that could not be beaten and the success of the early investors convinced the doubting ones that his system was all right. The information of the “snap” spread rapidly and Fetzer’s business increased accordingly. No one thought that dividends of 260 per cent were improbable when they read of the long shots that won races on the Chi- cago tracks. Fetzer attributes the downfall of his business to the rainy weather and said he had been unsuccessful in picking “‘mud- ders.” His system of betting, which was to make everyone rich by the end of the sum- mer, went to pieces with each succeeding thunder shower, and the circular contained the doleful information that the company had lost its own capital as well as the money intrusted to it. A large number of those who contributed their money are not willing to accept this announcement as cor- rect and they are making efforts to get Fetzer into trouble for violating the postal regulations. The clients of the concern in Appleton Included a number of well known business men and people of all classes. They lost from $25 to $200 each. A poor widow who had put in all her savings is now penniless and was obliged to seek aid from the city authorities. It is said the victime have no means of redress. In Archbishop’s Name Church property in the name of Arch- Mahul; Feehan of Chicago, who recently died, Is valued at $45,000,000. | | )