TREATY OF FRANKFORT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 100, 22 January 1919, Page 4

TREATY OF FRANKFORT

THE SIGNING' DESCRIBED BY SIR

CHARLES DILKE.

'In these days the actual, circumstances of; the signing of the Treaty. of Frankfort, which brought the war of 1870 to a finish, are not without interest. They are related by Sir Charles Diike. Writing from France in 1881 he says: "On the night before I left I; dined with Pouyer-Quertier, who had been Finance Minister of France under Thiers at the time of the Frankfort Treaty. He told me a wonderful story about how, when the negotiations had beenall but broken off, he went to bed in despair. But in tho morning boforo light there was a knock at his door. He got up in his/nightshirt, and there was Bismarck in full uniform, _ who made him get back into bed, saying he would catch cold. » Then, drawing ; a chair to the bedside, Bismarck spread out the treaty on a: night-table 'and. on, till after a while he said that' it was dry' work, and got' up and rang and aekedi for beer. '.'After the beer had been brought by a'sleepy waiter he rang.again and. asked 'for kirsrih, ! arid poured "a quantity of the' liquor into the beer. Then ]he made the poker red-hot-in the : fire/ which he had relighted, stirred up the, mixture, and invited Pouyer-Quertior; to drink. Pouyer-Quertier said: '"I drink it thinking of my country," and Bismarck clapped me on,the back and said that I was such a good fellow that the evacuation should take place at once, and this is'how'the. final'* article was signed; it was signed on the table at my bedside.'" On this Diike to-. marks: "I did not believe the;story, but when I asked Bismarck year's later he said that it was true." . ' ' .

The Bavarians have ;. always been "more democratic in their mode of living than in their form of .government, so it seems natural that they should he the first of the German nations to become republicans. In no ,6ther : : European capital do the classes mingle so freely as in Munich. The public elementary schools are attended by rich and poor alike/ and there are scarcely any- pri-' vate schools.- The spirit of. comradeship thus gained survives in later life." In pre-war .days nothing -used, to "surprise a visitor more on first entering the "Hofbrauhaus" or some similar establishment in Munich than the composite nature of the crowd. ..Cabmen, railway porters, and working men of all kinds would'be found sitting with prosperous business, and professional: men, and chatting"freely' together.' "■ ' King. Ludwig sot a good example .in this direction. He belongs to the "Alloti-ia-Club, whose members are drawn-main-,ly from the artistic colony for which Munich is celebrated, 'and used to go there regularly-. When-in the: v club he insisted on being treated without ceremony, smoking his pip© arid playing cards or billiards.with any of the members present. The Army was the only section of Bavarian society where class distinctions were closely'observed.

Some idea of the restoration work which English aro doing in franco may be gleaned from a recent advertisement'by the Friends' War Victims' Relief Committee, appealing to the British public for funds to "restore Verdun." It says: "We aro moving into the Verdun area our relief industries, hospitals, district nurses, agricultural machinery, stock', and stores of furniture and goods. Wo need £75,01)0 at once to launch the schemt>. The French Government will find the rest. In our reception centres the families of 40 villages are to reunite, meet their: neighbours, Arrange with us plans for their new life, and stay while new houses are built and furniture and clothes prepared for them. Their homes have been wiped off the face of the earth in many cases, but th'ey. are drawn irresistibly, back, and we have -undertaken to help them." 'Out of 800 Ealing school children medically examined during a recent quarter 322 were found to be defective in one or more ways.

. In "St. Martin's-le-Grand" (the English Post Office magazine) a story is told of a postman who left his letter and parcel bags lying against a hedge while ho went to a farm. On his return, he says, the bags Jiad been :tosscd by cows and the letters were strewn over the grass. Later, finding that registered letters were missing, he .concluded .that the cows had eaten them. The" police investigated the matter, and tested the cows by putting some envelopes in a piece of matting which they left in the field. One cow, stated a police sergeant,..knocked the envoi-', opes from the matting and began to eat them.. Two other cows then joined in the moal. .'.■''

IP YOU HAVE A BAD LEG THIS WILL INTEREST YOU. You cannot afford to take chances with a bad leg. If you havo a sore on the leg, whether it be an old one which has been troubling you for many mouths, or, years, or whether it is one of only .recent dnto which refuses to heal, you should give it prompt and careful attention. It is particularly in tho treatment of severe 6or'es of this kind that Eexona has' 1 been used with success. So if you havo a bad leg, try the Eexona treatment, and note the result. First carofully wash tho sore with warm water and Eexona Soap, then apply Eexona gently over the sore, binding with a soft cloth. Eopeat this treatment nigjit and morning. If the sore is an old one, a course of Laxo Tonic Pills takea at the same timo is of the greatest help in producing prompt results. No one with a bad leg can afford not to give tho Eexona treatment a trial. The price of Eexona is Is. Gil., largo pols 35." Eexona Soap is Is. 6d. per tablet,. and - LaxoTonio Pills are sold at Is, and- 2s —Advt,