In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 34, 8 August 1925, Page 24

In the Public Eye

NOTABLE PERSONALITIES IN

THE NEWS

M. Concemove Thomas Cramp, the industrial general secretary of the British Kaihvaymcn's Union, who stated during the week-end at the British Commonwealth Labour Conference- that difficult times were ahead before the problems ol mining, transport, textile, and other industries were solved, and that they would not be solved by way of strikes, was formerly a. passenger guard in the service of one .of the great railway conipnnics oi Kngland. His gentle, smiling urbanity in that capacity must have won him at least the offer—he may nevev have accepted them—of a. huge guerdon of tips from first-class passengers. The coi{iinou impression of Mr. O'arnn represents him as a long-haired, wild, and frantic Bolshevik; lie is, on the contrary, an essential "gentleman" of the most gentle niid well-bred sauvily," and a studious reader. Ho left, gchool when only IS years old to work as a gardener, first at Staplclnirst, and later in London nn<i Hampshire. He entered the railway service at Shipley, Yorkshire, in 1896, when ho was 20 years old. Mr. Cramp- was elected to the executive of the Railwayman's Union in 1911, and in 1918 he became president, two years later taking over the general secretarial duties of the union, lie holds a seat on numerous Labour committees, the most important of which a.re the Consumers' Council, Port and Transit Committee, Reconstruction Committee on Kducation, and the Labour Party Executive.

Mr. A. B. Swales, chairman of the Trades Union Congress in England, who last week condemned Imperialism sis, being the last stage of the development of capitalism in modern civilisation, represents the Amalgamated Engineering Union at the congress. He succeeded "n\ A. A. Purcell. M.P., at the election held at the end of last year's congress. Last s"ear he was appointed as a, fraternal itelcgate to th« American Federation of U-bonr, and to fulfil this engagement he went to the United States in October of last year. At the time of his departure he said that one of his main reasons for visiting America was to enable him to make a study of American representative institutions, and American types. Before returning to England he, together with Mr. T.- Cramp, the other delegate, attended the Mexican Congress of Labour. -Although he has been in the Labour movement in Great Britain for a number of years, it was only last year that he came to the fore as a leader in the engineering trade. He has been prominent this year in leading his particular branch of organised labour in an effort to secure higher wages, a conference of the trade last May deciding to ask for an increase on a flat rate of £1 per week on all wages. He was not successful in gaining his objective, but he has now brought the Amalgamated Engineering Union, with all its affiliated bodies, into line with the great unions of Britain.

Sir Percival Phillips, who is shortly to visit, this Dominion on his way to the Imperial Press Conference, which takes place in Australia towards the end oi j-he month, is well known to readers all over the British Empire. Ho is a prolific writer, and he has undertaken a number of imnortaiit journalistic missions in many parts of the world. On Iho present occasion ho is representing the "Daily Mail" and Associated Newspapers. An American by birth, he began writing an an early age, first of all in a school journal. It was not until he was 19 that he became properly launched as a journalist, but since then he has ha-d' an interesting career. During the GrecoTurco War he went to Athens as a freelance journalist, with promises from several papers, to take mailed articles. Although involved in a decisive defeat of the Greek army, ho wrote articles which kept him for at least three months, and enabled him to see much, active service. In 1901 he joined the London "Daily Express" under the late Sir Arthur Pearson, and he remained with that paper for-21 yecrs. Many important missions fell to his lot during that period. He was present at Apeldoorm during the illness of the Queen of Holland i" 1902, and at Cowes during the convalescence ot the late King Edward after the operation which caused the postponement ot his coronation. Later, he visited Toldo in connection witK the Japanese war against Russia. Ho returned to England and become for a while news editor ot the "Daily Express," later visiting Denmark and Italy. His next venture wag to Jamaica, where he was present during the disastrous earthquake in 1907, and sent the first narrative of the disas-" ter to England. Sir Percival visited many places during periods of crisis, and was successively in Serbia, Spain, France, and Bulgaria. Two days before the Great War started he arrived at Brussels and witnessed the mobilisation of the Belgian army and the landing of the British Expeditionary Force. ■ He remained on the Western front throughout thfc war, only being absent for a short period to visit Ireland. Since then lio has accompanied the Prince »of Wales to Canada, and visited Italy, Egypt, Turkey, and India (again with the Prince ot Wales). On his return to England he joined ths "Daily Mail" staff, and on behalf of that paper has visited m turn Mesopotamia, Italy, the Ruhr, and Jugoslavia. Ho was knighted in 1920, and is not married.

General Sir William Birdwood is a well-known figure to many New Zealanders who saw, service overseas during the Great War. He has had a lengthy and varied military career, and his recent appointment as Commander-in-Chief in India, in succession to the late Lord Rawlinson, is but a tribute to his ability as a soldier and commander. General Birdwood commanded the Austra- < lian and New Zealand Army Corps on Gallipoli, and the Australian Army Corps in France, being promoted to lieu-tenant-general in October, 1915, and to general in November, 1917. General Birdwood entered the army 42 years ago —he is now 60 years of age—and ha 3. seen much service. He was Lord Dundouald's galloper at the relief of Latlysmith. and was one of the first officers to enter the beleaguered town. He was Lord Kitchener's military secretary during the laLer stages of the South African War, and served him devotedly in the same -capacity during the seven years of his tenure of the command in India. Afterwards he was appointed to a brigade in the North-West frontier, but in 1912 became Quartermaster-Gen-eral in India, a post he soon exchanged for the office of Secretary to the Government of India in the Army Department. He has seen considerable frontier fighting, and served through the Tirah war of 1897-98. He was severely wounded in South Africa, and was many times mentioned in dispatches. Until 1920 he was 0.0.C. Australian Imperial Knives, and comma tided the landing at Gslta Tepe (Ga]|ipnli)'and U.ic rviiriiiition wlipn the Peninsula, was left t.o the Tt!;-V:s.- T'totii.l92o until last year-he-was in commwid vi the Northern Army in j ludifc.