TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11748, 24 November 1903, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

An interesting experiment A prohibition is being carried ottt' t ffl Teetotal by a we]jo__o*n London tern* '$■ Island, perance reformer, Mr CfcaiviS rington. This gentleman aas 1 ' S| formerly a brewer, hut the revision tit JS feeling produced in him one day on seeing M a drunken man wtagger out of a public* ,;*§ house "tied" to hie firm persuaded him from r fm conscientious motives to f._<.n_oe a fortune by relinquishing hi* interest m one Jfi of the chief brewing companies of ths metropolis. Th* inebiute home* and can* > j*| Talescent) institutions -.Inch. ha>e been created by New York temperance organ*. nations on an island in New York harbour,, jj co that, they shall be absolutely free from <$j the influence of drink, and separated from '% its sphere by a streak of blue sta, suggested -. to Mr Chai-j-gton- mind ihe posstbihty of doing the same near London. He searched ''J the map, accordingly, for an island, and % came across one named Osea Island oS the \i Essex Coast. This little island as only , ' < forty miles from tbe Royal Exchange in I the city. It is nearer than Southend, «hd the nearest seaside town hitherto ItH.heca Southend. The island is abbot m talk and a half long and half a mils across. It is approached via Msldoa, whence theie * is a sea passage of five Miles. The island is swept by breeaos ttoia the _lorth (Sea— jjjfffi, somewhat cold at times, It v tiue, hut ~%\ bracing, fresh,' and full of pure oeone. The!.'" vegetation is ample and varied, and marina shrubs and wild flowers an found kt pro*^ ( fusion. Approaching from ths Mainland *, jp, a file of fine old elm trees seams to st-Stoh >S from length to length of tha Mod, tkA "'4 the main street of the new setUement is 'ty to be along this aremie. Osea Ii not S absolutely uninhabited, for there is a farm '%• of aome 350 acres there. Excellent shooting ( <ffl is to he obtained. This Island Mr uuar- 'M rington has bought for the purpose of carry- J| ing out his' experiment. ' To kesp drink )*$ from his territory be will enforce stringent 'fg conditions in all his sales of land, and also "iM in the oove___ta of the teases, whereby jM holdero will be prevented from allowing" M any jut- o! the premises, erected or rented* nj| to be used for the sals of intoxlcstinij \M liquors, and no club will he permitted to ■all liquor. Mr Charrington expects tbsl \jjpi| as a speculation it will pay well. Be him $8* already received ai -Umbsr of enquirise jb_« just specting availihle _it*i. One has rttafcA iji him from Birmingham concerning the ; tion of an inebriate home for residents ta&£,s«| that locality. A celebrated West-End laxly. tj| doctor pro|oses to establish * ladi#»* t tbet* for tne treatment of aerftui and yachting people ere also a__»n»„ secure accommodation Tbe working of ffll the «ip«ua*_t' WiU be **tc_*r wlp M interest. J jjm . ■ ' Rather apropos «Ifr ttlw Scholarship advent of our local fXaml-qfflgj 'Howlers, nation season, occasional "howlsr" I living reams of anxiously 4ttpsoj*b]« &J$M forto-tito in youthful bad comes the latest magazine article M"s|l9 subject so often useful to growntup O. Stanley Ellis, in ''LongmanV hia examptar from in teat-ten for scholarships, pears, muoh Weight is yr^n:'jU». ; of a general intelligence pupil-teso_«», hsviaf no leinui ! belt and Sullivsa'a op*n», I cased for not knowing >«f a Lord Chanoe-orj was of a power strangely Lord Chancellor pays tift <rome-tws emptoyeb by. tfc* tqtik satoy^.''"There- waa Arties of an _rveterkiary surgeon. w An : is to see that wines, etc., cording .to. law," wrote.a mutt hare/ quite ori(rin^;' : sc-emes in mind. Tbsit a, geon "vac-bates suggested at the moment j| : this-is mora intarestiflf "^ Burgeon is » surgeon who hu'^' go to a place where his duty 8o_r» surgeons have 4o W^ : home, as they hare oo right'to' doors." It SB-ins' rather hard; oi»,: "At PeWa thousands al Lsgrttos tilled,- Mta-rk-d • youiif *o_ia-,'«sfce4M to mention* any modem te> this name. the reply, from tho view, wan the «Utsme_V "^«^i«^»t*.* ; Abbey is where the EngliA it|n| held. Thew tlie l-Jncatloo'B-l.WM.re-;:; j ceuUy' passed." Ja Doyle Is noted for the many produced on Scripture;'* cteds the compiler, comes an answer would have saddened the ;b > humouiMt who hated t* wiiftf thing, for a parody has seriousness, and Ihe precedeni' known.. "Lancelot," *«y« » "was a Yankee at the Oouit oi .Arthur, 'by ; -Mark -' TwsiiiiV airt, known usually as "a lunatio which stems aa unworthy Mnf-sk^i'of 'ideas.. - "A .^. ; taore cHtdit, and one >i_nsW frisi' •#*<- >M 'botes «rm an honour wto whfch Iffl not tw-fti for training _m!m«. .. is a as "an important tace.»**Ung shooting," and ths Oral'stands &*||jnj| phaatly defined by not a cricketer, who yet can tell Oval v whero tha Leeds i-ay." ' vg|Pf§f||| centiy , Working Say." ' interartiag ;; ■ *:- : ' . ■';;;.: Mr Chamberlain (spends his pates his speeches. 7, Amid a of and' leafWU and ai«jHg|ia 'articles, h« reassure* his follow-rs?lßffislw air of complete indiflerawe to !«ging-, ar-n_d;_i__ -, 'Vim &&faW3m •4, it.,, worst 'H : aMf^ : dan tfd. y : i 3_r ' Chamberiai^s■ I^«7 ; || rainduua,. is 'eottecnally-: I** *|w nnditting-ished. . Mr 'jM Souse of irnnm** -*^flPa

i fcours. His most einious business is the Management of his correspondence, which «_ow* a tendency to outgrow all manage#ble bounds. He receives as a rule over : j|wo hundred letters a day, and not only ffM-t them all and answers them, but perforce has to answer them with very great die, as they frequently contain riddles «*ked by faithful followers and traps laid for him by political opponents. Two shorthand clerks take notes of the replies, under the supervision of Mr Chamberlain's private secretary. This work takes several hours. Whilst engaged upon it a perpetual stream of telegrams, in cypher and otherwise, reaches him. These often reqniw even greater care in the replies they occasion. Newspaper correspondents beset the house in tlieir endeavour to discover its secret*. Mr Chamberlain has the reputation of treating them all exceedingly well, and never, if he can help it, sends them empty away. Kven on the eve of a great (meech, when his mind is full of what hels going to say, he is not inaccessible. He works far into the night. Of exercise he wants little—an hour's gardening is enough, and his "gardening," one imagine*, •janot arduous. In the preparation of his upseohe* he uses full notes. His facts are worked out with the must extreme care, und for the present controversy he has had the mo»t. elaborate calculations made by expert authorities. Ho rehearses hi* speeches before his secretary in one of hi*, libr*rien, locking hinvelf in and walking np and down, declaiming ha speech and smoking a briar pipe the while. In his political work he receives the assistance of his son, th« ?>«w Chancellor of the Kxchequer, who iuherita his father's eyeglass • and aptitude for .politics, and who lives at Highbury. Mr Chamber!ain's family life . i« happy and contented, and, despite his sixty-seven years, ho seems to grow younger.