TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Star, Issue 12899, 23 August 1906, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

[From Ora Special Correspondent.] LONDON, July 13. "OUR JOE." Mr Chamberlain was seventy years old on Sunday. Say, rather, in Mj- Gladstone's phrase, " seventy years young," for three score years and ten of strenuous iifo have failed to rob the famous statesman of his extraordinary air of youthfuiness. His birthday was the occasion.of unparal-, leled enthusiasm at Birmingham, where the popularity of "Our Joe" is at its zenith. On the Saturday the whole city was given up to holiday-making in honor of Mr Chamberlain. Thousands of orchids —"Joey's buttonholes" they are called—found a ready sale in the "street. Every school child wore a Chamberlain medaL Hawkers sold Chamberlain portraits, buttons, badges, and Chamberlain matches in Chamberlain match-boxes. A wonderful motor-car "recession, headed by Mr Chamberlain and members of his familv. was the feature of the day. It traversed eighteen miles of streets, taking three hours on .the journey, and making six stoppages at public parks for the presentation of addresses. And everywhere thev went the route was black with crowds, all cheering frantically, for " Joe." It was a triumph of affectionate enthusiasm. As Mr Chamberlain said afterwards, he " seemed to be the centre of a great family gathering." Here and there along the route girls showered confetti upon the hero of the day. and mere bouquets were presented than his motor-car ■could hold. Small wonder that Mr Chamberlain almost broke down in his first effort to return thanks for this wonderful spontaneous demonstration of affection. He was evidently deeply touched ■by the warmth of his reception. His 'heart was full of pride and thankfulness, he said, that with the greater part of his life behind him, an open book that all might read and criticise, he had yet been able to retain the affectionate regard of those among whom he lived. Another _ great triumph awaited Mr Chamberlain on the Monday evening, when ten thousand people mustered in ■Bingky Hall for a mass meeting in his honor. "Where's Joe? Where's Joe?" they cried as each new arrival a"'>eared on the platform, and when at length the great man entered with Mrs Chamberlain by his side ten thousand voices burst into a mighty roar of cheering. It was a wonderful persnal tribute to their beloved , "Joe," and there was a tremor in hist Voice, and tears in his wife's eyes, when! at length the storm died away and he rose to speak. But first came ' Auld lang syne' and the presentation of 115 addresses of congratulation, and the whole audience then joined in singing ' Rule Britannia.' And when at last Mr Chamberlain got up they broke into 'For he's a Jolly gcod fellow,' and cheered and cheered him to the echo. Then came a characteristically Chamberlain speech, full of •gratitude for the splendid loyalty of Biriminghajn, aggressive and outspoken in its denunciation of " mere adherence to obsolete formula)," and of " the men professing to bo the representatives of Labor, who >blacken the character of men who are upholding British honor abroad." One little incident showed how completely his per sonalitv dominated the vast concourse, "Never in her historv." said.Mr Cham'berlain, " has Birmingham sympathised with the Little Englander. If Birmingham is a great city, wha.t has made it great?" And without an instant's hesitation the audience shouted back their answer, "Joe!" That was not what he meant, but it showed very plainly what, every man of that great audience meant. After the meeting a great torchlight procession escorted Mr and.Mrs Chambertain home to Highbury, and again the irouto was lined bv cheering multitudes. The whole demonstration was a unique and liistoric tribute of loyalty and affection on the part of a great city to its leader. Mr_ Chamberlain's opponents try t" minimise its significance by talking' of 'Birmingham's political isolation. But what if the ex-Colonial Secretary were to take his long-talked-of trip to Australia and New Zealand. I venture to think that his reception in the Australasian colonies would be a series of ovations such as even' Birmingham could not 6nrpass? A RUNAWAY MOTOR BUS. The full details of the motor bus smash on the Brighton road make very painful reading. In the course of a few fateful moments an appalling trag dy was enacted. A pleasure-party of tliirty-four men, consisting of members of the Orpington Fir© Brigade and small tradesmen from that town, with a fow friends from th? village of St. Mary Cray, had chartered a " Vanguard " motor omnibus to tak • them down to Brighton yesterday. It was a lovely morning, and the party were all in the highest spirits, singing and exchanging greetings with the villagers as thpv passed along the beautiful Kentish and Snssex roads. At twenty minutes to twelve Ha'ndcross Hill was reached, about four miles from Crawley, in Sussex. The hill is more than a mile long, and, beginning with a gentle gradient, dips sharply about two or three hundred yards from the summit.- At the crest of the hill Blake, the driver, put on the pinion brake, and it seemed to hold the wheels securely, and the bus moved on slowly indeed in comparison with the ten to twelve miles an hour which it had maintained for the greater part of the; way from Orpington. Then there was.a sharp explosion, and simultaneously the -brake was released. Two other kinds of brakes were now applied in quick succession," but eiich failed to act-, and by this time the bus had begun to move downwards at a.rate which . speedily became, alarming to , the more nervous of the passengers. It!,was seen, however, that Blake still had hold of the steering wheel, and was endeavoring, without apparent flurrv, to get the brakes back into working ord r. . fore, attempted, to leave the bus uritili in fact, death or mutilation would have jseea the inevitable result of attempting it. ? ., ■ i Realisation of their awful position <came upon; the passengers . when the bus ; was rushing down the hill.at a pace whtefr could not have been less-than an --hour.'' Hoarse shouts rent the were heard by cottagers hundreds of jyards. fmm. tlie scene. Srjorks. now feUI-irian- th>

underbcdy of tho bus, as though something had caught firo or heavy friction had been set up in unaccustomed parts of the machinery, while the dust caught up and distributed by the, furiously-running rubber-tyred wheels stiflingclouds. This was the terrifying,,, spectacle witnessed' by a cyclist who was.proceeding very.cautiously, down the hill, and narrowly escaped being crushed by. the-swaying rufeiWay monster. Tho the bus was due to-'the now, frantic efforts of Driver BlaSs to get somo brake power on to tho wheels, and in doing this-, ho-evidently uhbonsciouslv loosened his hold pf the steering wheel, if he did not entirely let go. Several times the bus missed trees and hedges and ditches by inches, its it seemed. ' Finally came the last death-dealing, stupendous crash, when the bus was travelling downhill at fully forty miles an hour. The ponderous vehicle mado a bound to the right, and struck a large tree in the midst of a hedge broadside on. At the moment of the dreadful impact the top of the bushad its full .complement of passengers; so" that not more than eight or ten men were inside. Those on the outside shouted madly, clinging, with pale, terrified faces, to the backs of the seats. At least two, it could be seen, had thrown themselves prone Along the narrow gangway between the two lines of seats. Neither mea sure of precaution served to save any one of the unfortunates. The tree snapped off Ukc a twig, the hedge was rent and torn,, the bus was an utter wreck, xne passengers were hurled in all directions, as though tho bus had burst and scattered its various parts liko the fragments of a fractured revolving grinding wheel. Bits of machinery were strewn about the roadway for fifty yards or more. The massive chassis of the car, with the wheels attached, lav some distance away from the .coach body, and splinters of all sizes from the seats and other woodwork were everywhere about, i j on roadway was stained bv blood, hero in drops, there in pools. " Of the light-hearted pleasure-party not one man had escaped without injury. Scve; lay dead in the road. One corpse was en tangled in the undergrowth of .„e bodge. Other men, bleeding from shattered limbb or cut heads and faces, lav prone upon tno ground. Several men, with blo.it. streaming from gaping wounds, walked about in a dazed condition, too unnerved to do aught.eke. Ono boy, suffering from comparatively slight cuts.and bruises, wat sobbing and crying out for his father, who although tho boy did not then know it, was already beyond this world. The scene o wreckage and bloodshed and mutilation wa? like that of a railway accident of the firs: magnitude Almost without exception th bodies of the dead were badly smashed and torn. One of the victims had both legs torn off. The very trunk of.tho tree an tho tender green of the hedgerow weiv splashed with blood, and worse. Th' least injured man. of the eritiro party war probably Driver Blake. How he escaped death or mutilation—for ho stood resolutclv to his post right up to the climax—it is impossible to understand. Apart from the shock and mental strain, his hurt did no' go beyond some bruises and cuts, and hj was able to take an active part in the workof succor. T!io wounded were soon re moved to Crawley Cottage Hospital, but two of them oxpired in the course of thr evening, bringing tlte death-roll up to ten A PARLIAMENT OP COMMERCE. The etxth Congress of the Chambers of Commerce of the Empire, which was opened by the Lord Mayor of London this week at Grocers' Hall, E.C., includes a number of New Zealand delegates. The Auckland Chamber of Commerce is represented : by Dr M'Dowell andi.Mr C. C. M'MiEan • the Canterbury Incorporated Chamber of Commerce by Mr George Humphreys and Mr Gilbert Anderson; the Dunedin. Chamber of Commerce by Mr James Milk; the Napier Chamber by Captain R. Todd ; and the Wellington Chamber by Cr J. Fulton Smith (president), Mr Holman Kingdom, M.A. (vice-president), Mr Arthur Bennett, J.P (hoiL secretary), Mr Joseph E. Nathan, and Mr Harold Beauchamp. No fewer than 300 delegates have assembled from all parts of Greater Britain, another 400 from various pariß of the United Kingdom, and about forty from British chambers of commerce in Europe. The very first subject discussed was that of Preferential Trade. The Hon. George Drummond, the principal Canadian delegate, moved a resolution urging the British and colonial Governments to grant preferential treatment in their respective markets on a reciprocal basis each to the other, believing that thereby the bonds of union would be strengthened and tlie British Empire largely freed from dependence on foreign countries for food, and other supplies. The resolution, further urged the Governments of the Empire to treat the matter as of present practical importance, and pledged each organisation represented at the Congress to press their respective Governments to take such action at the Colonial Conference of 1907 as would give effect; to the priuciple of preferential reciprocity. The resolution was seconded by another Canadian, and produced an animated and' interesting discussion. Mr Harold Beanchamp, of Wellington, warmly supported the resolution, and said that on the question of the.desirability of preferential treatment New Zealand was solid to the backbone. They saw great progress being made by Germany and America, and it touched them to the heart that the people of the United Kingdom would not deal with tho question in a more practical form. After a day's dreeimsion the preferential motion was pushed to a division, and when hands were shown it was seen that the motion was carried almost' unanimously. A vote according to chambers of commerce was then called for, with the following result;— 107 chambers voted for the motion, 35 voted against it, and 21 remained neutral. Tho delegates from Melbourne- and Sydney were divided equally in favor of and against the motion, while the Hobart and Launoestou Chambers remained neutral in tho matter. With these exceptions tho wholo of the Australasian chambers of commerce declared unanimously for Preferential Trade. A series of entertainments have been ar ranged for the enjoyment of the delegates, including an official banquet (at which Lord Elgin will preside), an evening reception by tho president of the London Chamber of Commerce and Mrs Blackwell at the Prince's Galleries, a garden party by Lord and Strathoona, and a visit to Earl's Court Exhibition. THROUGH GERMAN SPECTACLES. One of the party of German editors who recently were entertained in London hits contributed to one of the papers hero an interesting column of " impressions" of England. Diffeiences in points of etiquette were naturally among the first things to attract the attention of the visitors. In Germany, for instance, the hotel lift is regarded as being just as much a public place as the hall, where every man wears Ms hat before iadies. In England, on the contrary, it. is customary for a gentleman to remove his hat in the lift if ladies are present, and Dr Brill, the journalist referred to, describes an incident in s which he unwittingly committed a breach of etiquette by retaining his hat until he saw that the other gentlemen- in the lift had removed theirs. " When T noticed this," he says, "I immediately removed by own, but I am certain that during the time it was reposing quietly on my head the other occupants of the lift were stamping me in their minds as not being a gentleman. They did not know that my little breach of etiquette had been brought about by ignorance, and I willingly admit that your habit of showing respect to the presence of ladies is preferable to our own." A similar mistake is likely to happen to ah Englishman in Germany,, where be is expected to raise his hat not only to lady friends, but also to men of his acquaintance. " Therefore a Gorman, noticing what to him is a want of courtesy, will at once jump to the conclusion that Encl : shrren are rude to one another." Dr Bi ill admits that if a London business..man had to lift his hat to every acquaintance and evc.y man he had dealings' with in the City, he would very soon wear out the brim. Dr Brill pays the usual.tribute.of wonder

and Admiration to the way the vast volume of London's street traffic is handled. "Every European visiting London for the first time," r he says, "stands aghast at tie sight of the unique conglomeration of the almost xm-■•^^able;-y^imte_.;^'vixa;Hio, the "like of jWluch is to bo found nowhere elie in the world. .: . . Ivretneriiber when I paid my first visit to.ish© City I.stood ai every street corner, lost in...admiration of the way •the traffic \vus controlled. It fascinated nle to reo the policeman, staading in. theTmiddte of tho road, and with a very sunplemoveroent of the arm directing the stream of traffic- in iiks way it should go." Dr Brffl has also a ,jood word to say for the views to be had of the Thames, notably from = tbe terrace of the Houses of Parliament, from the Tower bridge, and from Greenwich. The sail down the Thames from Windsor to Hampton Court gave hini the impressidn that he was sailing through a TteiuEiful park. " And then it was that I realised ..why it was that Londoners adore their river, and why it is that they look upon it as their summer garden." The German editor's impressions of his English visit would all have been "rosecolored had it not been that he caught a glimpse of the' other side of the picture—: the East End of London. He could not fail then to be deeply struck with the immense, contrast between the wealth and the poverty of the metropolis. " When," he says, "I comparo the fairy-like palace in which the Duchess of Sutherland received us with the dirty courts of the East End, it seems impossible for the contrast to be greater. We have both rich and poor, but our wealth is not so ancient, and our poverty not so intense. Berlin is a large city, not so large as London, but still its population runs into the millions. If has many Iwmcworkers and other poor wretches whose lot n life is not to be envied'; but search .There you will, you will not be able to find even case of such misery as abounds in the East End of London, and, as I have been informed, in other towns, notably Liverpool." Dt Brill does not neglect to point the moral of this terrible contrast. Ejiglishmen are painfully slow in learning the lesson, but our German visitor believes that the cause of all this troubla lies in a ;utshelL '" It is," he says, " the accumuarion of years of ' laisses-faire'; it has been forgotten that altering conditions repine alterations in legislation, and the only remedy.will be a new system." "BACK TO THE LAND." " This' is the first battleground of a novemeat that will go down to history,"says the leader of a band of Manchester unemployed who have camped down on a .acant allotment in the northern city. His portentous utterance means, in plain English, that they have " jumped" somebody jlse's claim—•the. somebody in this c:*e being the Dean and Chapter of Manchester. The band conaets of twelve men, headed by Mr "Jack" Williams, and the land they liave seized is a six-acre field at Levenshuhne, just outside the Manchester city boundary. Their leader explains the situation this:—"We have seized this land, and o are willing to let it on allotment. If it is not suitable for the purpose, we are quite billing and ready to ' pinch' suitable land elsewhere, and if t'hey turn us out we shall y> on seizing land and keep the police and) the army busy. Wo will play D© Wet with .hem. We want work, not charity, and we mean to let the citizens of Manchester see Jthat all the men connected with this new settlement arc willing workere. We want no shirkers here. We are quite prepared if the police interfere, and will fight to the death. None of my men mind gaol if their action touches the hearts of those who could givo them work. It is scandalous that honest British workmen cannot get work because they are over forty-five. We expect to have fifty or sixty tents on the screen within a few days instead of one. Of course, we are partly connected with the women suffragists, and Miss Parikhurst will, if possible, deliver a speech here as •eon as she is freed from gaol. And Mr I Keir Hardie is coming, too." So far the i campers have been left in possession undisturbed by tho rightful owners. " Camping out need not harm the land, and the unemployed are not the first who have dug the soil," says one of the Church authorities. " But it would have been better manners and better business if they had asked me to help tihem before helping themselves." Undeterred by this extremely mild rebuke, the "colonists" have devoted a. whole day to the strenuous work of cutting a boundary line, 50yds long, with the solitary spade possessed by the community. Between whiles Mr jack Williams harangues the pubHc, and his disciples go round with the hat. These amateur farmers intend to grow cabbages mainly, the labor connected with their cultivation not being too arduous. The land has been put to no particular use for several years. In a few days the men hope other settlements will be formed around Manchester. It was quite warm in the tent on Satnrday night, sym•pathisera from all houses near having lent bedclothes to supplement the bare straw on which tho pioneers spent Friday night. Two of the married men, however, have found it more agreeable to spend the nights in their homes and breakfast in comparative comfort. A Cheshire gardener is said to have written offering to send seeds and cuttings free if the men will pay the carriage, and offers of financial aid from London sympathisers are announced. The public of Manchester view the proceedings with mild amusement, but the residents in the streets overlooking the camp are already complaining of the noise and disturbance caused by the new arrivals. The camp boasts a "director of agriculture," a middle-aged man who wears knickerbockers, a. red tic, and a hat on one sad© of his head, and 1 whore principles in the main are a general twohour working day, and the theory that no man can be~reHpious unless he possesses a piece of land. Holding these views, the 'director of agriculture" finds peculiar pleasure in the appropriation of land belonging to the Church of England. The men are supposed to till the soil from 6 a.ni. to 5 p.m., but so far there has been a good deal moro talking than working, and it is said that adonatkin of seed potatoes went forthwith into the pot instead of into the land. Their leader, has charge of the " stores department," so is exempt from digging. He finds talking much easier. Yesterday lie sent the following telegram to the president of the Local Government Board: 'Comrade John Burns. M.P. —Manchester's unemployed have taken your advice of twenty years ago, and gone back to the land for food for wives and bairns. Congratulate uk. —Jack Williams, outlaw." Up to date Mr John Burns's congratulations have not arrived at Levenshubne. "HEATHER MIXTURE."

A very curious "international" cricket match took place at Edinburgh this week The rival teams -were labelled as Scotland and Surrey respectively. So far as the Surrey side was concerned it was a genuine if weak county eleven, but an examination of the credentials of the other eleven discloses the fact that tlio team consisted of two genuine Scots, eight Englishmen, and one Australian. This mixture was not a success, for Surrey won by an inninms and 280 runs, -ecoring "'530 to Scotland's 120 and 130. lu Scotland's first essay the genuine Scots contributed' 4 between them, the Australian (J. T. Andenon) 22, Mr Extras 8, and the Englishmen' the rest. In the second innings the Scots mustered 21. the Australian annexed a duck, Mr Extras'contribution was fifteen, and the rest were made by the southern contingent. Scotland tried seven bowlers, six Englishmen and Anderson, but none of them were particularly successful. The Australian got a couple of wickets at the enormous cost of 13C runs. Included in the Scotch, team was the ex-Essex amateur who wa6 such a big success when he played against the Australians last year. This time he did not come off either with .or ball, his runs numbering 6 and his three wickets costing 93 runs.