LONDON GOSSIP,

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 121, 22 May 1908, Page 3

LONDON GOSSIP,

' NEWS AND NOTES. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 10th April. At least two appalling disasters have marked the week since the departure of my last mail-budget — one at sea and one on land. Of both you have 'doubtless had particulars by cable. The first was the loss of the torpedo-boat destroyer, Tiger while taking part in night manoeuvres of the Portsmouth Division of the Home Fleet, off St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight. The Tiger ran across the bows of H.M.S. Berwick, a twin-screwed armoured cruiser of nearly 10,000 tons. The Berwick was steaming at about 10 knots and the Tiger between "20 and 30. The fate of the latter was instant. Her frail sides could offer no resistance to the impact of the cruiser. She was cut clean in two between the second and third funnels ; the two parts fell away on either side of the cruiser's bows. The forepart within a few moments rose upright with nose in the air, and then plunged down. The after part floated for three minutes before sinking. Of the 57 officers and men who were on board, 34 were drowned and one died soon after being picked up. The commander perished with his ship. The night was very dark and stormy and wet, and the manoeuvres were of course taking place with lights extinguished ; the men on the deck of the Tiger were wearing their heavy oilskins, and they had no chance at all of saving themselves while . the bulk of those down below were simply drowned like rats in a trap. An enquiry is being held. The lost destroyer was built at Clydebank in 1900 ; her extreme speed is given as 30 knots, and her usual complement numbered 60 ofcers and men. The young lieutenant — William Edmund Middleton — was a promising young officer, and the event of his death is rendered all the more sad inasmuch as he had only recently married. AN UNEXPECTED COLLAPSE. The second disaster occurred in London itself, in the early hours of Monday morning. It consisted in the unexpected and unexplained collapse of two old houses, just off Oxford-street, which were being used to provide sleeping accommodation for the servants of two of the neighbouring hotels, ' eight in all being killed and a large number injured. The work of extrication was exceedingly difficult and many hours elapsed before all the victims were dis covered. Firemen and members of theSalvage Corps were quickly on the scene. All the killed — save one who was an Englishman — were Austrian, Italian, German or Swiss. The two houses were 100 years old and were about to be pulled down. The rescuers had a trying ordeal, as many as^ seventy uniformed policemen were at work -and these were augmented by men in plain clothes, the rescuers were working' tho whole time in a dense cloud of dust. A police constable on night duty was just in front of the two houses at 1.50 a.m. when he heard a sound as at crashing glass. He looked down into the area and then he hoard a noise above him. Looking up_ he saw that the front wall had split just above him. He called to a colleague to "look out" and they rushed away just as the houses utterly collapsed ; there was no report as of an explosion. At the enquiry yesterday no one was able to threw any solution on the mystery of causation. The architect and surveyor of the estate said that before any start was made with the foundation of the new hotel the house, No. 72, the> last house Jeft standing, was completely shored up, not only to his own satisfaction but also to that of the -district cur veyor ; the houses were a century old ; no shores had been removed, but additional ones had been put in; lie never noticed any cracks in the buildings. When called to the scene of the disas ter at 3 a.m. he found the houses down from top to bottom ; he never saw such a complete collapse in his life. In his judgment the building operations had nothing at all to do with the fall of the houses ; the collapse was inexplicable. The district surveyor of Marylebone was unable to assign any cause for the collapse unless it was an explosion ; the force, whatever it was, in his judgment, came from within; 'he did not think the decay of the materials had anything at all to do with it. The jury found that the deaths were due to accidental causes, adding that there was no evidence to show any reason for the disaster, neither was there any evidence of an explosion having occurred. The two houses which fell were separated from the new Berners Hotel by a mews, through which admission was gained to the premises at the rear, and the arch with the building above was recently taken down, leaving a space between the hotel and the houses. The supposition was that the removal of the support afforded by the building above the arch resulted in the collapse ; the fact that workmen had been engaged in excavating for vaults under the two houses, it was thought, might also have contributed to the accident. But the whole affair is shrouded in mystery so far as any reason for the collapse is concerned. AN EXTENSIVE SOCIETY. During the sixty-four years of the existence of the Young Men's Christian Association, upward of thirteen million, young men have passed through the institution which was started in a very small way by th 6 late Sir George Williams. To-day there are 7500 branches, owning buildings in various parts of the world, valued at £6,000,000, and having a membership of nearly 700,000. With the recent closing of Exeter Hall, in the Strand, which had been the headquarters of the association for twentysix years, it has been decided to put up a large building in Tottenham Courtroad at a cost of £150,000; its total area will be 28,124 ft. Of the sum named. £65,000 has yet to be raised, and an appeal has been issued by a committee having among its members Lord Alverstone and Lord Kinnaird. At tho new premises first-class club accommodation" will be provided. There will be a business college, a large gymnasium and swimming bath, a residential home with 300 bedrooms, and other halls and rooms for the many agencies with the religious department. New headquarters have just Deen secured by the S.P.G., in Westminster, and these were formally dedicated yesterday by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The society, which soon will celebrate its 207 th anniversary, has for many years carried on its extensive work in the old home in Delahay-street, but as that place was required for the new Government offices, a house had to be found elsewhere. Roughly speaking, the new building has involved an expenditure of £38,000, a sum of £14,000 having been spent upon the site alone. About £1000 still remains to be raised. A large number of bishops, clergy and laity were present at the dedication, and the Archbishop delivered an interesting address on the work and history of the S.P.G. TAXIMETER CAB. It is pretty evident that the taximeter cab is going to be a permanent institution in London, whatever fate may b«> in store for the much-malignod— and Ujften.. iuaUv.-mali&oftdr=»Qto^-'huA t jwhJj;b .

is declared to do immense damage to tho roaus, while the odours and noises cause by the cumbersome vehicles do not in any wise show abatement. But the taxi-cab is a success, and every rank which once was composed of hansoms, hardly anything but the taxi-cab is obtainable. The drivers of these cabs aro so much delighted at the results of the first year's workings that some of them have visions of oecoraing their own masters again and of owning their own taxi-cab. The would-be possessors are paying for their vehicles on the instalment system ; the price of each is stated to be £350 with lamps, horn and and tools; the men pay £60 down, and then £5 per week. They have to pay their own garage rent, and for petrol, washing, fitting,' cleaning, lubricating oil arid grease, new tyres, and repairs, as well as £2 for a Scotland Yard license, £1 for registration, 5s for driving license, 5s for a London County Council license, and 15s wheel duty ; then they have to "stump up" £7 a year for rent of the taximeter, and £17 for car insurance. It is reckoned that the takings of a taxi-cab average £2 a day, or £12 for a six-day week. After paying the £5 a week instalment and all other expenses, the men estimate that they will have from 35s to £2 a week for themselves, while they are paying for the cab. The number of thesevehicles on the* London streets is now 800 and it is estimated that -during the first year of their working the takings have averaged £200 per cab. In America, too, the taxi-cau has become so popular that the New York Motor-cab Co., which has 300 of the vehicles in service, has lately ordered 400 more, and orders are being given to one of tie leading manufacturing companies here aa fast as thes can be executed. "THE CAT." Quite a ridiculous outcry has been raised because two very lenient English Judges have considered it their duty, and to be in the interests of humanity, to order certain prisoners to lia-ve a taste of the "cat.". The sufferers have been men who have committed robbery with violence. If they don't wish to be flogged they needn't be, for they are not bound either to rob people or ta accompany that act with violence. The choice is entirely their own, and all rational people justly uphold the carrying out of this form of chastisement, which. Mr. Justice Lawrence was the first to order. He has since been seconded in this method' of procedure by 'Mr. Justice Bray. If anything, both. Judges are erring on the side of leniency. Cardiff Assizes have been the scene of this judicial crusade, and for the fourteenth time during their progress the "oat" was ordered at Cardiff a few days ago, bringing up__ the total number of lashee ordered to date to 171. One man who was convicted of robbery with, violence, and was sentenced to five years' penal servitude and twelve strokes of the "cat," implored Mr. Justice Lawrence to give him a chance : "Look ait your record," replied the Judge ; ''at the number of chances you have been given. They have had no sort of effect upon. you. It has all been equally in vain. You prey upon the public. You don't try to make yourself a better man. You might earn an honest livelihood, but you prefer to commit crimes of this kind. I wish I could give you a chance, but I don't think I should oe doing my duty to the rest of the public if I did." Mr. Justice Bray, in intimating his intention to add whipping to one man sentenced for similar crime, remarked that the cat was "a most wholesome punishment in robbery cases." The revival of this form of punishment is the subject of much discussion among tho criminal Bar. A 'well-known Old Bailey barrister said: "If a prisoner is found to have used' brutality, it is my opinion, and the opinion, I think, of most criminal lawyers, that ho should receive harsh punishment. There is no doubt that the 'cat' does its work. It is generally tho hardened criminal who introduces violence into his crime." Quite so. But there are people who dislike the introduction of what they term "a vicious and useless form of torture." The twelve prisoners dealt with by Mr. Justice Lawrence, at Cardiff, up to late, have had. 1 meted out ! between them 147 lashes,- and the two who have come under the jurisdiction of Mr. Justice Bray have received twelve each. No man, so far, had been ordered more than fifteen lashes, and "one has been let down very lightly with six. The Home Secretary was implored to interfere on behalf of the suffering members of humanity, but he declined, with the intimation that Mr. Justice Lawrence was noted for his leniency. Tho men havo a simple remedy in their own hands !