HOME NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 733, 4 February 1910, Page 6

HOME NEWS.

INTERESTING ITEMS BY MAIL. London, December 24. Some sensation has- been aroused by a letter to the press from-Sir. H. E. Mulliner, formerly managing. director, of the Coventry Ordnance Works. In it he declares that! he was compelled to resign his' post ill consequence of warnings which he gave to the Admiralty in 1906, and the Government this • year, • with regard to Germany's accelerated building programme, j In .order to get the! best machinery possible 'for- the 'largest-'.sized gun-mountings, Mr. Mulliner '.sent engineers. to Germany, the' United States, and other countries. "To my surprise," he '.writes, 1 "we discovered at the works of each of the German machinery makers exactly the machines' we . wanted being built': in large . numbers/ -'Our quirements were 'not small,' but each of the German machine makers • already had orders at least ten .times greater than ours, which ; were -'.being, executed with all possible speed, and quite: irrespective of cost.. It was not difficult to ascertain that the whole of these orders' were, intended- for- Messrs. Krupp. Calculations showed, that when this plant was. delivered, Messrs. Krupp wouldpossess a capability of output at,.least twice as great as existed in the whole of England, and, what was more,, would- have the means_ of manufacturing the gons. and mountings far quicker , than in > this country. I felt, it my' duty to lay .these' facts before the : Admiralty," " ' -

Big Wills. ' ' Details have, been published of ten wills, dealing with . estates • totalling - about •£4,000,000. The following are .the more important';ainong them The estate:,of Sir Alfred'.Jones,; the great shipowner, is expected to : realise .'£750,000.' ■' It.,is under-; stood that the whole-of the estate, subject : to certain legacies, is given for. charitable purposes.- Sir. Benjamin -'Cohen, toe financier, ! who left" estate v: valued at bequeathed JEIOO to- Mr. Balfour "as a token of regard land respect." Consuelo, Duchess of Manchester (.6324,860), has left' her ruby 1 and• diamond bracelets ,to Queen Alexandra. Mr; Alexander Fleming, the iron and ■ coal. : master, left .£874,952;; and Mr.' A.' Wilson, ■ the shipowner, left , estate, valued at . .v../,-.. Food for Troops. >■■■■-.■■.

Judgment has been given in the King's Bench Division in .the petition of right by the Imperial- Cold Storage Company (Limited) against the Government, claiming a large sum as damages for what they contended >iy,as,-a. breach .; pf '. contract. Their case was that they secured a contract with the Government, to supply the Army with.frozen arid fresh : meat.during the .'.South African' War j"that the' Government gave them the 'optiori of purchasirig such- captured cattle/as,they : desired'/".to keep up their surplus- stock,'and that, instead, of being' allowed to exercise • the option, they were forced to; buy all the cattle at prices which • were not ; in the contract, and'that, the Army authorities, by.: restrictive, measures, at : times - .prevented the , arrival' of' frozen- meat : "to spots near'the fighting line. These allegations were denied by the Government The hearing of the claim occupied'eighteeri days.'' The; petitdon ' was '; dismissed with costs. • ' ■" "-' V' 1

L.C.C. Revenue., ' ; J'-- ; - 'A, 'serious 'decrease'.'.in. the■ revenue- of. the London County Council is shown-in a report .which'has just teen "issued by .the Finance Committee. ''Amounts credited;to the County of on lqcal taxation; license' • duties,- v .death duty'-/, grants, Y'arid beer ; and spint ; surtaxes' used ;fo leave! .ft' large balance to.-' be'-',carried'; to -* the ' general account, after.' deducting \ various "payments' mildo by - the- council. - These -.Ml. arices are growing less each- year, as will be seen from.tho following'table,— -. ; •:ii 1891-2. > ' 459,855 --... '. 1899-1900 255.992 ' : 1901-2 ..,i '. 127,509 .'■.-'■■.'l9o7-8. 30,456 , 1908-9 J,400 ; The ,reasons- given by' .the Financc Committee -forJ the ;decrease'of,the balance include: an increase in the amount paid'for police .purposes, fr0m,;.£457,765 -in'., 1889-90 to 5eG41,955 iiii 1908;?/ and* the;'rise ,: in.,the cost. of . pauper, lunatics ; from '*.£101,068, ;in 1859-90 to in 1908-9.;' Death of a Royal Nun. -.- .Adelaide Duohoss Dowager of, Braganza has; died. in .the Abbey of St. Cecilia, ,at Ryde. She took the veil, twelve years ago. in the Benedictine Convent .'at. Solesmes. : When the -order -,was-expelled, from France she came with .the rest of ..the community to-their, new home at.Ryde. Her husband-was the' Dom Miguel, who was forced' to resign his claim to the throne, of Portugal in 1830;'. and retired' to' Austria. '■ He; married Princess '.Ade-. laide of ■in 1851.. A son, the present Duke of Braganza,-.- and six ; daughters were , born : of, the.' marriage, and;the■ four surviving ■ daughters, ' all of. whom are' married, to men of ' high' rank,; .were . summoned ;to the.'abbey, and before-their ther died. - She ..was buried', privately in, the' burial ground, of the'. abbey. . v :.

Labour Exchanges. ..- , . In consequence of the great increase in. the work of the Commercial, Labour, and Statistical. Department; of the.Boai'd of .Trade, the' President hasdecided. to divide it into-two separate ■ Department. Mr.. G. R.. Askwith,. C.8., K.C. (the present. Comptroller-General),. will bo Comp-troller-General of the Labour Department, and Mr. G. J. Stanley,'-C.M.G. (tie present ; Deputy-Comptroller),- will be assist-ant-secretary to .the .Commercial, Department. -A great part of the work,now laid on the Board of Tradeis connected , with the' new' labour ' Exchanges. -Some •_ 800 officials are'.necessary ;for;the - ..n««r posts, which; apart,.from- merely ;■ assistants, 1 are as.follow:—. • ; Twelve; divisional eupenntendents., . Sal-ary-beginning at .£4OO, and" increasing by £15, annually' to £600. ; ' ' - ; Superintendents.—Class- A., Towns oj--100,000 inhabitants., Salary:;e2so, 'increasing'..byv, £10. increments'; ,to. . - Subsuperintendents, >£100 to >£150 a year. Superihtendentships-rClass-B. Towns between'7s,ooo and 100,000 'inhabitants.- Salary .£2OO to J22SO, by >65' increments: .. ' :Superintendentships.-rClass'.C.Towns, between 50,000 and '75,000 inhabitants.: Sal-< "ary JEISO to >6200,, by increments, ,; ■ The Public Trustee. ... : "The second' year's work of .the Public Trustee has grown: by leaps and-bounds, and his responsibilities -are ■ increasing .'daily;in-a manner which.proves;how useful and necessary the office has become. When the office in' Clemonfs Inn' was opened on January 1, 1908, property , to the value- of some £80,000; was waiting to' be taken 'care of.' By .the-, end, .tf -last ■year .this amount had : risen to «£20,000,000,' and at. present enrrent trusts - amount to >£35,000,000.. The fees for the' year ending December-. 31.' will amount, tcf 313,667,. and, after deducting, expenses (,£13,000) a proht of be shown. The amounts of the estates passing through^this office, are of the average value. ofJJ6OOO.' . . . Mutiny on-a Cruiser. When the cruiser Leviathan arrived at Plymouth, Rear-Admiral Farquhar . reported that' serious disaffection had -broken but. amongst, the: crew.- . When ordered to do. dock- work, at Gibraltar, 'the'men assumed-a threatening, attitude, and neariy the whole of the -,watch, num•bering over sixty men,- were placed under 'arrist. ' Four' of' the ringleaders -were , !.sentenced' by court-martial .to; two • years i imprisonment each with dismissal from I the service, while: sixty-one -other men 'Were award/id punishment, ranging - from three -months' imprisonmnet to; loss.-of badges. The men alleged that tbe cause of the .unrest was excessive overwork.'. .

The New Gateway. A difficulty—at the • ■ present .moment apparently insuperable—has arisen', in connection with the much-desired opening of the thoroughfare-leading from-the Mall into Charing ; Cross..Th<r Board of Works, have nearly completed their share of the undertaking. ..The .triple arches opening the way to the Mall from one of the central arteries of 'London traffic will be ready for opening in Februarv. The neixt stop is with the London County Council, who have undertaken:to continue the thoroughfare into the broad roadway flanking: the' Trafalgar Square, on the south-west. The .'County 'Connoil plead poverty. ' They say' they , have no money. "It is, not likely, however, that this ludicrous , conclusion of a magnificent : enterprise 'will 'be long left; tomock London.—"Standard of Empire." : '