This is all very well from the point of view of the agents seated in their comfortable offices, but very few of us would be willing to trust our lives on the high seas to inexperienced engineers. We do not care to ride on the cars in times of strikes when green hands are put on to keep them running till the trouble is over, and on the cars we can get out any moment we feel afraid. But on the ocean it is altogether a different matter. There is no stopping the car and getting out at the next block, and it would probably pay the steamship companies better to agree to the engineers' terms than to run their ships empty. * * * * * The Duchess of Marlborough (formerly Miss Consuelo Vanderbilt) is now the happy mother of a baby son who may one day be the Duke of Marlborough. When it came time to christen the infant, the Prince of Wales sent word that he would act as godfather to the noble baby. The child has just been christened, and a grand ceremony was made of the affair in the Chapel Royal, St. James' Palace, which, by the way, is the same church in which Queen Victoria was married. According to the Church of England, three sponsors are necessary to the christening of a baby. If it is a boy there must be two godfathers and one godmother; if a girl, two godmothers and one godfather. It was therefore necessary to have two godfathers for this infant, who, as eldest son of the Duke of Marlborough, is known by the title of Marquis of Blandford. The Prince of Wales was one godfather and the other was Mr. W.K. Vanderbilt, the grandfather of the baby. The christening was a very grand affair, and after it was over the Prince of Wales presented the infant with a golden cup engraved with his own name and coat of arms, and the baby's name, John Albert Edward William, and the family coat of arms. It seems that the young gentleman has good manners even at this early age, for when he was handed to his royal godfather for inspection he never whimpered, but, seeming to realize the honor that was being done to him, behaved with perfect propriety. * * * * * It may interest you to know that the Princess Kaiulani has arrived in this country. The Princess is the daughter of Liliuokalani's sister, who married a Hawaiian gentleman named Cleghorn. Kaiulani, who is known as Miss Victoria Cleghorn, is said to be a very charming girl, highly educated and amiable. She is said to be quite pretty, and to look like a Spaniard or Cuban. She is passing through this country on her way to Honolulu. Because of the fact which we told you a little while ago that Liliuokalani was talking of abdicating in favor of Kaiulani, every one was anxious to find out from the young princess whether her visit to the Sandwich Islands had anything to do with the proposed annexation. The young lady refused to speak on the subject. She said that she was simply going there to visit some old friends.