BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1054, 18 February 1911, Page 3

BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

LONDON SUMMARY. 'A BLACK YEAR AT LLOYD'S. London, January 6. The year 1910 will rank as one of the blackest in tho history of Lloyd's, blacker even than tho previous year, which was one of tho'worst sinco the inception of tho great maritime institution. A. close perusal of the list brings out the astonishing fact that tho more prominent losses of the year alone account for no less a sum than three millions sterling. Thominor casualties, however, make uj> in number what they laok in financial importance, with tho result that they swell the total approximately to six millions sterling. This figure, huge as it is, by no means represents the actual loss of the year to the shipping of the world. Many vessels there are which no to sea whose owners have not safeguarded their interests by insurance, and the loss of which, if taken into consideration, would add considerably to tho aggregate. . £6,000,000 LOSSES. The biggest loss of the year was undoubtedly the Aberdeen liner Pericles, which sank .after striking a sunken reef oft' the coast of Australia. The vessel carried a valuable ■ cargo, which* with tho hull, was valued at over £650,000. Next in importance • cames tho ill-fated Lund liner Waratah, tho claims on which, amounting _to about £300,000 were not settled until this 'year. .' Tho ' steamer Kurdistan, which foundered.while bound from Manchester t<>' the 'Persian 'Gulf,' also accounted, for no less; than £300,000. The one redeeming feature of the year, from the underwriters' noint of view, is tho small but appreciable increase, in rates in various directions, of which the full benefit will .not be felt until next year,

. . . NEW LAWS. Thirty-eight Acts of Parliament jjssed into law jluring 1910. Of these, several were in continuance or amendment of previous Acts,,but. there were some that provide new laws to be observed. The most interesting of these cro the Census (Great Britain) and Census. (Ireland) Ac> Under these every person in the country on April 2 of next year is to be'accounted for, with the full family history-- and genealogy, and even, in. the case of Wales and the county, of Monmouth, whether the person English only-or Welsh only or English and Welsh. In social legislation . the two most important measures of the year were tho Mine Accidents (Rescue.-and-Aid) i-Act -and .the Education (Choice of Employment) Act. SOCIAL LEGISLATION. . The first of these provides for the supply of appliances for rescue work end for the training of men for ambulance work in connection with mining. The other enables local education authorities to give boys and girls under seventeen years of age information, and assistance in the choice of employment. The Police (Weekly Rest Day) Act, which comes into force during the next four years all over the country, enacts that ho constable of any county or borough . in England or Wales shall be on duty more' than six days in any week., "Greenwood's Act" is. the popular name for the principal piece of humanitarian legislation of the year—the Act which prohibits tho export of unfit horses.- Licenses for cxpor-' tation or shipment of horses are required by tho Act. - It was introduced by -Mr. G. G. Greenwood, the member for Peterborough. , - -- -

: DECREASE IN BANKRUPTCY.' > Many interesting facts are brought out in the annual review of the bankruptcies of the year which appears as a supplement to "Kemp's Mercantile Gazette." In tho first place, the. total- lnimbet .of failures—that is, actual ■ bankruptcies .and deeds of arrangement, was • 9054, a decrease of 176 0n'1909 and a lower .total than in any year since ISSB. Tho heaviest fall has been in the number of failures in tho grocery and provision trades; which show a decrease as compared with 1909 of 151, while in the drapery,-silk; and woollen trades there has been a total decrease .of'Bi. Another largo decrease'is'" sTiow'n in tho'number of farmers failing, tho total of .258 being 65 below the iota! of 1909. Even builders show a decline in the total number, of. bankruptcies by 30. •

MANOEUVRES OF 1910. >, A memorandum on Army training in 1910 has just been issued by the Army Council. It states that while the training of the Regular Army, shows,improvement in certain points, notably the -use of .ad-; vanced guards, night operations, -march discipline, machine-gun training, and cookery in the field, there.are otier-di-rections in which progress has been disappointing. In particular. the ; memorandum indicates the desirability, of 'a closer association of. .cavalry with. the. other arms during training. In methods of attack and defence too little caution, is shown. The march discinlino of transport columns and the umpiring is also stated to be disappointing. - • • . DRUCE ROMANCE. - The death has just* taken place of Mrs. Agnes Maria Druce, the original claimant in the famous case in connection with the Portland estate; ,' What . the 'public through a succession-of years spoke of as the Druce claim rested in its"essence upon the allegation "Of identity;" bet\reen • the late Thomas Charles Druce, of the Baker Street Baza'4r; and tHe' fifth'"'Duke, of Portland. It- was claimed that the duke had a, dual existence, and that while he spent part of his life at Welbeck'he also devoted a certain amount of time to the Unsiness of the Baker Street Bazaar. The fifth Duke of Portland • admittedly died in 1879. Thomas Charles Druce died on' December 28, ISGi. By the Druce claimants it was asserted that, this "supposed death" of T. C. Druce was merely the means employed by the Duke of - Portland to dispose of his "other self," that tho death was a mock death followed by a mock funeral, and that the coffin interred ' in tho - family.; vault - at Hjghgato Cemetery a::b, contained nothing but lead. Mrs. Druco was. one-of. the most consistent aritators for'the'opening of tho vault, \vhfin;,unsealed December 30, 1907, was found to contain the coffiii of an "aged bearded man." The theory of tho mock funeral was thus effectively disposed of. A. HEALTHY YEAR. . ' The Registrar-General's returns for 1910 show that'the year was the healthiest on record. There were 3500 fewer deaths in London than in 1908, the previous healthiest year, and'nearly .7000 fewer than in 1903, .which- was a notoriously -wet year and yet held the record for the lowest death-rate. The healthy character of 1910 may at least be - attributed to three apparently contributory. causes: the comparatively. small range of temperature," a cool summer, and a mild winter;' an excessive rainfall, washing the impurities from the air; and improved sanitation LONDON OMNIBUS ACCIDENT. . Twenty-one people were, injured in'a remarkable omnibus accident in Goswell Road. The omnibus—horse drawn—was proceeding towards the City carrying' 27 passengers,. including a number of women. An. electric . tramcar . cam© up rapidly from behindhand, before the omnibus could got clear, struck it. The omnibus turned completely round; three wheels broke • into splinters, and the vehicle .'overturned, pinning down the horses, and throwing the passengers on to tire pav«njent. Every, pane of glass,was shattered, : 6ome of tho outside seats wero reduced, to ,matchwood;- andthe conductor's platform was demolish*!. Twenty-one people" received injurletetwo. being seriously hurt., •' MISSING HEIRS. r In a letter .to .".The Standard," Mr; ■Sidney Preston gives- a list of those miss-' ing heirs and kindred whose whereabout? have been-asked in the daily press during 1910. Tho following are'among the many, interesting cases he- cites:—Emily Martin, who rendered Gervicfes to an Australian lady - about ten- years ago, is a missing legatee;' Mary H. Airowsmith, who went to Canada in-1894,' and, has not shoe bs?n heard of, is ml'absent legatee*

the relations' of' Margaret" Hay, who" was bora in South Africa, in 1827;. are all missing; ten persons who emigrated to .ftatal in 1850 are wanted to claim their property there, which has been unoccupied for 4Q years;-James Adams; who left for Australia in 1830, is sought; aud Thomas H. Allen, who went to Melbourne 23 years ago, is entitled to funds in Chancery. Many persons have disd in Cape Colony and Rhodesia leaving money for their unknown heirs. The lists . include the following estates:—: James Bell, '£22,111; - Henry ' J."'. CoUinz,' Philip Gal an,'£7o7; F. W. Having, '£917; John 'C. Jamiesori, £677; George Neale, £1145; Thomas E. Pryce, £897; Emma Williams, £577; . Henry J. Grant,'. £416; r Samuel Wilson, £3812; Elizabeth Reddall, £818; and John Williams, £1702. '

AVIATION DEATH ROLL. x ... - "The latest additions" to the _ aviatora" death roll are the "names.* of' Mr. J. B.' Moisant, a United States citizen of French-Canadian parentage, and Mr. A. Hoxsey, also a citizen of the United * States. This brings the total .for the. year 1910 up to 33. The roll includes the names of such well-known aviators as tho Hon. C. S. Rolls, Delagrange, Le Blon, and Cecil Grace. - Mr. Moisant's < most famous exploit was ay flight' from ' ' Paris to London with a passenger. A FOREST CITY. " • <; England is soon-to liave.its first large- ' town to be started on a'definite" plan. ' The new . town' is to bo' built ; in • "■ parishes of Northwood and Ruislip, m ■■ the county of Middlesex, about .15 miles • from . Charing . Cross. The estate which'is to be first "colonised" belongs to King's College"," Cambridge, and is ono -of the v most charming bits, of country within easy.reach of London. It is soae .-800 ; acres ,in extent. Every foot* epace of : the new town will be utilised with'a view .to preserving- the charm of the landscape and; making every building minister to " thc s general scheme: Tho estate, is set in .- the heart of the most' beautiful "country, and is extremely well wooded. Not a'.single tree more than is .necessary- for ■ < building and laying-out purposes will .be •sacrificed, and within 15 miles of London people'will be ablo.to live in modern houses'in the very heart of sylvan coun- - try. It will, in fact, be a town within' a forest. '. ". .. . : 1 ' OPERA IN ENGLAND. ' ' _ .'Mr. .Thomas Beecham has just brought ■ to a conclusion his third season of opera.-' witnin twelve - months. • Interviewed by a press representative, Mr. Beecham said he was profoundly dissatisfied with the - results ol the year's work. "A year ago," he said, "people cherished the fond delusion that it was only necessary for opera to be given on-a large scale .for everyone .to take it up, especially opera in English. For-years everyone had been grumbling and crying out at. the lack o; opportunity." Now they have had it for a year,-. ■ and they have'never come anywhere [near the- place.". . ■ . - . :■ * THE CHRISTMAS POST.' .' , The ■ General. Post Office ■ are now in a position to furnish accurate statistics ot tho Yuletide traffic, aiid these shpw. that : all records were exceeded: in " the huge 1 1910 Christmas "post bag" dealt : ivith .at ;■ tho new home of-the-Post Office, lung Edward's Building. It is estimated that. v. the year's collections and deliveries during ■ - Christmas week exceeded by 0ver.2,000,000 the average ..weekly -figure. of-.12, ... articles. To the-Oversea States and Dependencies 9900 bags wre despatched, containing 3,217,000 letters .including the following:—Australia, -749,000; India, Ceylon, Hong-Kong,' etc., 862,000; .South:. Africa,... 509,000; Canada, 559,000." *: REAL ESTATE IN 1910. In aL article''in'the ."Times" -on tho subject of real estate, sales fduring 1910 tho totals of the transactions for. the year at the Mart, in.country ; and subur- ; ban salerooms ,and by priva'te tract are given. ' The sales -at the Mar,t ; amounted to, £2,273g27,"" i '. a decrease u'f"" £502,465 compared -wnE -:the oH preceding year; .those • at'country - and "suburban .■ sale-rooms to £2,547,317, an increase .of £316,734. Private - transactions; *totailed . £867,084;. a £464,356. ; The , aggregate -- of -transactions- - VFas~—thus — £5,694,128. or £650,087; less than in 1909.— "Standardi.of Emjire."- ' /