MAIL NEWS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8, 9 January 1908, Page 2

MAIL NEWS.

THE RENOVATION OF BUCKIKGHAM PALACE. LOXDON, November 23. King Edward, like many of his subjects, is ashamed of the clingy, shabby appearance of his London residence, isuckingham Palace, and is anxious to have some exterior improvements effected This will be urgently necessary when the Queen Victoria Memorial, an important and ornate piece of sculpture in front of the palace, is completed. ■ Already the elaborate: arrangements of wrought iron gates, stone oalu-trades, etc., that surround the circular space cleared for the memorial, make the old palace look extremely mean and dirty. Buckingham Palace was built at a time when London houses and public buildings were designed more or less on the barracks plan as regards the exterior. The facade, although not without simple dignity and proportion, has a flat plainness of design, which is very far from the modern style of architecture. It has also been allowed to accumulate a thick coat of London grime, which gives it a sombre and dingy aspect. To effect the necessary improvements, a scheme is afoot to provide the funds by national subscription. The expense would be too heavy for the King's privy purse, and His Majesty is reluctant to ask Parliament to vote the money. The proposed fund will be promoted by some of the King's personal friends who are very influential in raising such funds. 'Khz original scheme for the Queen Victoria Memorial included the addition of a mansard roof to Buckingham Palace, but this was abandoned because of insufficient funds. Apparently the new scheme will include this new roof, and with an addition' to its height and a thorough cleansing of the facade, Buckingham Palace will begin to look worthy of being the chief residence of the King of England. KING ALFONSO ANNOYED BY MISTAKES IN IDENTITY. WIDE PUBLICATION OF PICTURES HAS LITTLE EFFECT IN ENGLAND. LONDON, November 23. Notwithstanding the wide publication of his pictures, King Alfonso has been the victim of a series of inconvenient mistaken identities since his arrival in Englandlie has been prevented from entering Kensington Gardens; he has been held up in his motor; he has been forced back by loyal policemen with the rest of the crowd from the gates of Kensington Palace; he has been jeered at by children on the streets as a bilious and dyspeptic-looking foreigner, and in a Bond-street shop the tradesman was exceedingly chary in taking the young ' man's order, either in fear of hoax or under the impression that the Spanish prisoner swindle was about to be work--3d off on him. NEW TURBINE DEVELOPS FORTY ' HORSE-POWER. Turbine system revolutionized. — A Glasgow engineer has patented a new turbine engine which is claimed as certain to revolutionise the present turbine system. A working model- which has. been viewed by Clyde shipbuilders and engineers has been proved to develop, 1 40 horse-power, although the model weighs only SOlbs., and is little more than one foot in diameter. The new turbine wii] be known as the Corthesy, the name of its Swiss inventor. It can bo ' applied to locomotives, motors, and all descriptions of marine engines. The new j turbine has only two blades, and {an be j reversed in the swiftest manner, which jis a.nother advantage over the. existing | turbine. Engineers profess themselves jto be astounded, and declare the invenI tion a most wonderful application of j steam power. The pew turbine will be j fitted on a Clyde torpedo boat, when, I it is believed, a speed will be developed j hitherto unknown. I