SHANNON ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1261, 17 October 1911, Page 8

SHANNON ITEMS.

Mr. J. G. Barclay presided at a meoliir_: in the Druids' Hall on Saturday night, when Mr. 0. Lcuirenson, M.P., addressed a large audience. Mr. Lnuron.-on replied to thn criticism made by Mr. Jas. Allen. M.P., on the previous Snturday night. Thn audience refused (o take Mr. Lauren son's solution of (lie Dreadnought mystery seriously, and when he asserted that tho Prime Minister had received an nr;;ent cable from tho Old Counl-.-y lo the effect Britain's command of tho so-i was menaced and'thai' a very serious situation had arisen, the meeting was convulsed with derisive laughter. Ac the conclusion of his address, which was on the whole well received, the speaker answered a number of (jiicslions and nn tho motion of Mr. T. Lind, seconded by Councillor F. W. Venn, was accorded a hearty voto of thanks. The new post oflico is in a fair way of becoming a. by-word, and a reproach throughout this electorate. In his recent addresses Mr. Byron Brown had referral to it as a "squat, ugly" building, aud every politician who has addressed local audiences recently has either referred to, or had his attention directed to, its architectural disabilities. Loc-al residents are convinced that (unless the Prime Minister or some other titular personage officiates at tho opening ceremony) this stigma is likely to become a permanent one. The building, which, is not unlike a wool-shed with a stucco front, might then acquire a sentimental valuo in the eyes of the community. And then, again, it might not.