LONDON CHAT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2362, 1 June 1899, Page 44

LONDON CHAT.

(From T)ttb ' Own Cobkespondent. )

According to the almanao last Monday was Ihe first day of spring. And on that day epring set in with terrible severity ! During the whole of this week we have had intense cold, heavy snow, hard frost, and keen northerly wind. The. " ethereal mildness," which the poet tells us about, is conspicuous by its absence. The influenza, which the doctor tells. about, is conspicuous by its presence. Pneumonia and bronchitis follow in j.ts ti'aiu, and the undertakers, to whom the mild and beautiful winter has been one i>f sore trial and disappointment, have recovered their spirits with the rich harvest of bodies.

But the sufferings of- the inadequately-clad jolass of human beings, usually known as "the poor,'' are- most deplorable. To them cold is the dismalest and deadliest of afflictions. !A decent-looking man was found in a dying )state at Clerkenwell yesterday morning by >t policeman. He had just strength enough Jeft to whisper that he had " dropped " through being overcome by cold, hunger, and Jatigue. He had had nothing to eat for several days, nor had he slept under a roof jail tHat time. He had been walking aboutseeking work until exhaustion overtook him, )md heVclropped. And when he had told this tale he diect A. post mortem examination proved! thai, his death was due to starvation and cold. And this occurred in London ; yesterday. At the same time numbers of •" society " people, were engrossed in preparations ior tho " season,'.'- and in planning how they could best spend their surplus wealth bo as to derive most enjoyment through the outlay. Verily the contrasts of London are jttrange and mysterious and saddening ! As the Queen is still at Nice having a *' good time," with crowds of her family around her, she does not afford material for many observations. The entente cordiale sqow arrived at between England and France ihas been all in her Majesty's favour, and she , has inspired the usual enthusiasm among the sNicenes. ;

Lord Salisbury left yesterday for the Iliviera — another token that times are — and will have audiences of the Sovereign. It is no secret that the Queen is ■heartily thankful for the turn events have taken, and rejoices greatly that war, especially with France, should have been to all appearances entirely averted. Her Majecty is known to have entertained the strongest repugnance to the duty which has more than once seemed so imminent, of according her {Royal sanction to a declaration of war. Indeed, it is probable that but for the Queen's "dnfluence we should have attacked France jdirectly Marchand's presence at Fashoda was .discovered, when, owing to our superior -preparedness and strength, we should infallibly have crumpled up France like a 'Chinese lantern. Another desperate struggle is being anticipated with the liveliest interest. In that 'campaign Australia will be our antagonist, Wid the battles will be fought with bat and fcall. The three test matches between the fchosen team and the Rest of Australia have been followed with the keenest attention, and the Australian visit of the coming summer '.■will be the biggest thing of its kind yet seen, provided the Australians play anything like ,xip to their Australian form. The absence of several old favourites, including Giffen, 'Graham, and Harry Trott, is much regretted, (but the new-comers will have a hearty welScome.

M\isic has been very dull in London dur£"ig the last week or two. I do not quite now why. There has seemed to be little of interest going on. Last night opened a new season of the venerable Philharmonic Society, but nothing very startling happened. That absurdly-named " Ballade in A minor" for orchestra, by Coleridge Taylor, the young Anglo-African composer, once more asserted its beauty and power, and toleaded passionately for >a more suitable .title. Basil Sapelnikoff played Beethoven's " Concerto in G." This Russian is a fine Artist, and no mere " bangster." I do not know any pianist whose reading of that concerto I prefer to his. Even D'Albert — in my judgment the finest living player of — docs not surpass Sapelnikoff in great work, which in their hands is a concerto in which the pianoforte has its due J)laee as one instrument — albeit the principal one — iiv the whole orchestral force. The symphony given was Brahms' s in E minor. Now I confess I do not as a rule care for Sir Alexander Mackenzie as an orchestral conductor. But I do admire his readings of "GBrahms.

There has been an interesting operatic tevival. The Manners-Moody English Opera Company are playing a season at the London Suburb which is known as " Clapham Junc(tion, although it is miles away from Clapiham — indeed, has two or three other places between it and the real Clapham. But that's our funny little way in England. However, Clapham Junction has a capital theatre, and in that theatre has been revived ivincent Wallace's early opera "The Amber tWitch," in which Sims Reeves and Santley itised to appear in days of yore. It contains much pretty and melodious music,

but scarcely equals "Maritana" or " Lurline," although the tenor scena "Lone, oppressed, in prison lying," is equal to anything in either of those pleasant works. I rather fancy that the soprano song, " When the elves at dawn do pass," and the so-prano-tenor duet, "O Lady Moon, on silver clouds reclining." have been heard at concerts in New Zealand. Both are pleasing, the latter especially, although the last movement is weak. The revival of " The Amber Witch " promises to be a success. At the courteous invitation of the Great Central Railway authorities I tried the new route to Lancashire for a Saturday to Monday visit. The travelling was remarkably comfortable. All the trains are corridored and vestibuled throughout, and run very smoothly. It is a great convenience to be able to obtain refreshments en route — even grilled chops and steaks — by any train, while the lunches and dinners in the regular dining car trains are the best of the kind I have yet seen. Nothing wonderful in the way of speed is yet being done, five hours being allowed at present for the London- ! Manchester journey of 205 miles, but there j are to be great accelerations in July, when the new road will have " settled down." The Great Northern, which now runs its own trains to Manchester, has not running powers to the nearest Manchester station, j London road, which was used by the joint 1 trains, so has to go to the Central station, I several miles more distant, besides a circuit j round the city and consequent liability to delay being involved. This makes the distance about 208 miles, I believe, or longer than by the Great Central, and something like 20 miles longer than the Midland and the North-Western routes. It is rumoured, however, that the Great j Northern is incubating a scheme of accelera- : tion, and that if both the Great Northern j and Great Central "cut" the time below I the old 4i hours, the London and NorthWestern will utilise its shorter and easier I road by bringing its time down to 3J or ' Z{ hours, which it could easily do. In fact, l I happen to know that the London and ! North- Western has been prepared at all j points for years to do the journey of 186 » miles between London and Manchester in J three hours each way, without a stop, if j competition shoxild become keen. We had the " Race to Edinburgh " in 1888, the I "Race to Aberdeen" in 1895. A "Race to I Manchester " may possibly be the feature of I 1899. But in that case the London and ! Norlh-Western must inevitably win, ali though the Midland could, if it chose, come in a good second. The Great Northern and i Great Central would be " out of it," owing to longer distance and steeper gradients. A curious new departure in London journalism is pending. The Daily Telegraph has i announced its intention of bringing out a i special Sunday edition, on such a scale as to ; make it a very formidable rival to the numei rous Sunday journals already on the market. This hns routed the Daily Mail, which already claims to have distanced the D.T. in respect of the "largest circulation in the world." So yesterday the Daily Mail came out with the announcement that "on the same day that the Sunday edition of the Daily Telegraph appears there will also be issued the Sunday edition of the Daily Mail — on Sunday next, if necessary " ; — but the curious feature is that each purchaser of the Sunday Daily Mail will receive two copies for his penny ! That does seem a novelty. Apparently the purchaser cannot tender a half-penny and get one pa»or as on weekdays. He must pay his penny, but j then he gets two papers. Rather a funny I idea ! It is also stated that the Sunday Mail j " will be produced by on entirely new staff," ; and "will be in no ways the result of eeven days' work on the part of any man." That, at any rate, is well.