KILTS IN DUBLIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 221, 19 September 1938, Page 5

KILTS IN DUBLIN.

ONCE A RARITY. PEER NEARLY ARRESTED. LONDON. A prominent figure at the Dublin Horse Show recently was Lord Ashbourne. This Erse-speaking, kilt-wear-ing peer was at one time considered a possible candidate for the Presidency of Eire. An Old Harrovian and an ex-president of the Gaelie League, Lord Ashbourne lives at Compiegne and seldom goes to Ireland more than once a year. He wears his green kilt regularly in France, and used at one time to do so in the House of Lords.

Kilte in Dublin are now sufficiently numerous for Lord Ashbourne's attire to have attracted comparatively little attention. Once, however, it nearly earned him arrest.

i This was some 30 years ago, when Irish kilts were a rarity in Dublin. Lord Ashbourne, complete with kilt, was going for a stroll in St. Stephen's Green with Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples, the painter-baronet who until recently —he is now 85—believed in taking a daily stroll in his bare feet.

It was only with some difficulty that a parkkeeper could be restrained from sending for the police on seeing two distinguished Irishmen, one with bare 'knees and the other with bare feet.

BACK TO OLD LOVE. "THE BELISHA BEACON" INN-1 CHURCHILL THE DICTATOR. (By CHARLES MARTIN). LONDON. After seven years of comparative obscurity. Mr. Kmilio Scala, who lias become famous a« the winner of a colossal sweepstake prize, is in the news again. This time he is the rich man returning to his first love —selling ice-cream. He has managed to retain a good deal of the fortune he acquired by chance, and ; though he declares money means nothing I to him now, he is on the way to buildI ing up yet another fortune out of his j ice-cream business. Since the Press announcement of his return he has been almost overwhelmed by customers from : all over London. Next year may 6ee I the realisation of one of his dreams — a chain of ice-cream bars.

Mr. Scala, now busy writing his life story, lias had an adventurous career. One picturesque episode connected him with Buckingham Palace. The man who may live to be called the ice-cream kin;: once deputised for King Edward VIL Painting the King's portrait, Luke Fildes. the artist, engaged Scala. then a needy emigrant, as a model to wear the uniform of an admiral of the fleet. The half a crown an hour that he earned for his work was riches to the Italian. The portrait is hung at Buckingham Palace.

Government Minister Joins the Immortals. Those who are responsible for the naming of inns seem to prefer the oldstyle titles. Few modern houses have really modern names. In the days of stage coaches, names were often derived from some aspect of road transport. The motor car to-day is less inspiring. I have yet to hear of the "Plug and Throttle" or "The Accelerator."

A name that is up-to-date and owes its origin to the motor car, however, is "The Belisha Beacon," recently bestowed on a public house -in Kent. At least one member of the Government is thus assured of immortality. The specially painted inn sign shows a pedestrian road crossing, though the artist has got the beacons the wrong way round. I wonder if the landlord is tired of having the mistake pointed out to him by observant customers. Strange Inn Signs. One thing about "The Belisha Beacon" —the name is not likely to puzzle future antiquarians, even if the motor car, giving way to aerial transport, becomes obsolete. Many inn names are chosen to commemorate some event of current or local significance. Others remain a mystery and yive rise to conflicting and sometimes ingenious explanations as to their origin. There is the l.*>o-year-old '•Cow and Snuffers," for instance, at Llandaff. in Wales. The sign depicts a red cow with a large pair of candle snuffers at her feet. Why this combination? The choice is said to be the result of a bet as to who could think of the queerest sign for the inn. Round the World For a Bet. People vcertainly have done strange things for a bet." The two young men who, according to a recent report, pushed a wheelbarrow from Adelaide to Sydney, a distance of 1000 miles, to win £2000, earned their money easily compared with a Danish engineer who, to win a similar amount, is walking rouiwl the world.

Dr. Charles Xordfort has just arrived I * in London, having tramped nearly ' 10.000 miles and visited 15 European ' countries as a preliminary to completing a. tour of the globe. To win the wager ] he must not only walk-round the world; he must take no money with him i except what he can make Uy selling picture postcards of himself. He can ' accept any free lifts offered him by , shipping companies. If he loses the bet he forfeits £2.">0. Dr. Xordfort has found Londoners . very generous. One even gave him £2 for" a postcard. He started his .travels two years a«o and expects to be walking for another three before he can collect his £2000. What, will he do with the money? He intends to «o round the world again, but this time by car. Preferred Darts to Lunch. "The Belisha Beacon,'' referred to above, takes the place of another inn pulled down to make way for an extension of the nearby barracks. This military connection makes the name all the more appropriate. Mr. Hore-Belisha is popular among the troops because of his lively interest in their condition of service which he has so much improved. The War Minister has just spent a busy fortnight inspecting the annual Territorial training camps. He flew from camp to camp and missed very little, except his lunch on one occasion. In one sergeant's mess Mr. Hore-Belisha started a game of darts, and it proved i so absorbing that he went on playing for two hours, until long past the time for lunch. Those playing with him also put the game before their meal. Authors Who Must Keep Moving. Mr. Winston Churchill, who is experimenting with a novel recording machine, costing £2.30, which enables him, while pacing up and down the room, to dictate his enormous output of articles, speeches and other literary efforts —a microphone is fitted to his coat lapel — •is not the only author who finds inspiration in some form of movement. Mr. John van Druten, the dramatist who wrote "Young Woodley," has worked I out more than one play, even down to | the smallest details, while walking in busy streets. Other writers have found ideas flow more freely when they were in a moving vehicle. Mr. J. B. Priestley has written some of his finest passages in trains and in ships while travelling abroad. Mr. Somerset Maughan dictated most of "East of Suez" on board various junks near Java. Mr. Bernard Shaw has written many of his plays in shorthand while travelling on the tops of buses and trams, though doubtless he is equally inspired wherever he may be. The iate O. R. Sims, when he wanted to concentrate on a new play, would reserve a compartment on the [ Liverpool express from Euston. have himself locked in. and would step out 1 of the train with a complete four-act j drama or comedy. News About Ties. Male passengers on the Queen Mary signalised the ship's record trip by ; sporting the special Queen Mary tie i designed by an eminent artist. The » colours of the tie are white for the ! White Star, red for the Cunard, ami i purple, on a black background. The tie

is sold to passengers. This is just one of a number of novel ties I have noticed recently in London. Club colours, of courseware always to be seen, but manufacturers are now producing ties with representations of golf clubs, cricket bats, tennis racquets and other sporting requisites. Also to be seen, but not very often, is a reproduction of a motor car bonnet on which the wearer's monogram is stamped.