THE ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL AND ST. GEORGE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 148, 23 June 1906, Page 6

THE ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL AND ST. GEORGE.

« NEW CHAPEL AT ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. (rKOII OTO OWN (JOBKESPONDENT.i LONDON, 11th Mny. As the Order of St. Michael and St. ! George has become essentially a colonial one, New Zealand readers will be interested to learn that a chapel of the order is to be opened at St. Paul's CatheI dral on 12th Juno, in the presence of the i King, who "is Sovereign of the order. The chapel, which is to link so fittingly | the great Cathedral of the city with the order of chivalry that is especially associated wit4i colonial service, is_ the one ■which for seven 1 years was chiefly filled by the monument to the Duke of Wellington, and will id fuiurc make St. Paul's to this order what St. George's Chapel, Windsor, is to the Order of the Garter, and Westminster Abbey to the Order of the Bath. A very notable contribution to the stately symbolism of the opening ceremonial will be found in the diplay of the banners of the Knights Grand Cross. To the Decorative Needlework Society, Sloane-street, of which the Queen is patron, has been entrusted the important task of making thircy-foui of the banners that are to be hung over the stalls, and the work ha» involved a degree of technical skill hardly to be realised unless by an expert. In each case the cpat-of-arms has had to be reproduced in colours according to the strictest regulation of heraldry, and to ensure absolute accuracy it has been su,pervised by Mr. St. John Hope, Secretary of Iho Society of Antiquaries. Only British-woveu silk from Braintree ip Essex has been employed, and as the banners have to appear exactly the same on both sides, the difficulties of the task have been enhanced. Generally speaking, the lions, griffins, and such devices have been carefully traced and cut out, and then skilfully applied to the ground material, but here and there, as in the delineation of faces, it has been necessary to execute them in the finest stitch cry. Among the particularly notable banners already prepared are those of the King, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Connaught. Lord Jersey, Lord AlveFstone, Lord Carnngton, Sir "W. Hely-Hutchinson, Lord Stanmore, and Lord Sackville. Noticeable, too, as having special heraldic recognition of their lifers work are those of Lord Strathcona, <vitn the axe and Indian canoe; Sir Johii Kirk, labours in Zanzibar and on the Uganda railway have suggested the figure of an elephant; and Sir Williar* Dcs Voeux, who sums up his varied experiences as administrator and governor by the head of a coloured man. The banners •will all leave the hands of the lady workers complete in every detail, even to the "sleeve," which is the heraldic term for the tube of crimson silk by which chey are fastened to the poles

The American yacht Galilee, which is on a scientific exhibition among the Pacific islands, called at Samoa early last month en route to Fiji. The Galilee is chartered by the Carnegie Institute of Washington, to make a magnetic survey of the Pacific ocean. The vessel will take about three years to complete this work, and has already put in seven months in the North Pacific. After leaving Fiji the Galilee will proceed to Jaluit, in the Marshalls, and from there to Guam, San Louis d'Apria Glom. She will then go to Yokohama and Tokio, thence to Kisha in the Aleutian Islands, from there to Sitka, Alaska, and will endeavour to return to Santiago some time in October. There are four scientists aboard, the head of the expedition being Mr. W. Peters, formerly of the Ziegler polar expedition. The observers are P. Ault, J. Pearson, and D. Martin. The shipment of lobsters for the Portobello Marine Fish Hatchery i? due to reach Port Chalmers by the Turakina on the 23rd inst., reports the Pi-ess. The hatchery is all ready for their reception, and it is hoped the experiment will bo successful in every way. The curator has been obtaining large flounders from Blueskin Bay, but his efforts have been made very difficult by the recent heavy weather. It is intended to stock the ponds with flounders, and rear their fry on a large scale. j Within three days, less thirty-fhroe muiutes, Mr. Harriman, the American railway magnate and financier, crossed tho continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic, a distance of 3306 miles, thereby constituting a record. His special train, which only ran from Oakland, California, to Buffalo, State of New York, where ho took the usual express to that city, made an average, including stops, of forty-six miles an hour, which is considerably bolow gome of the best long-distance runs made in England, but is splendid timo over so broad a continent. Tho greatest speed attained was eighty-tbrea miles an hour, and over one tract of 137 miles an average speed of «ixty-six milos an hour was maintained. Miss Roosevelt's famous run across the Continent on her return from her voyago in tho Orient l»st year, which attracted so much attention from the public, and a peremptory telegram from tho President ordering tho young lady to slow down, ocoujiied two hours longer than Mr. Hamman's. Tho pro-, vious best time for the greater part of the distance from tho Pacific to tho Atlantic was made by picturesque Scotty tho Miner, who went to New York on an odvcrtiiing mission to soil shares in coma Eldorado out West he was alleged to have discovered : but Scotty was a Dad stayer, and did poor]} on the second half of tho journey. . Lord Elgin's_ Bill to give legal effect in the United Kingdom to mainago with a deceased wife's sister, which passed its final stages in the Houso of Lords this week, contains ono reservation of inter etf. To the main proposal that ail suoh marriage's shall be deemed always to havo been legal within the United Kingdom are added tho words, "unless either party to the marriago has subsequently during the life of tho other, but before tho passing if this Act, lawfully married another." In tho Parliamentary disoussions of tho question no oaso has so far boon mentioned which this proviso would appear to be designed to moot. That suoh cases may exist is, of course, possible The Bill also contains tho following provision: — "That nothing in this Act shall affect any right, interest, or estate to or in any property, dignity, or honour, tho title to which, whether vested or contingent, and whether in possession, reversion, or remainder, aocruod boforo tho passing of this Act, nor *ny claim by the Crown for any duty at tho vuaiaa of tbti Aot."-