LONDON TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 18809, 6 December 1924, Page 12

LONDON TOPICS

STRANGE WAR RUMOR. [Fkom Our English Correspondent.] October 23. There arc strange rumors in the city that Russia is making preparation for war, and is secretly spending largo sums on the purchase of war materials. During this week there have been very large orders placed by admittedly Russian agents for the special land of charcoal—which has no other known commercial purpose —required for gas masks. The quantity purchased, from one source alone would bo sufficient to make gas masks for 800,000 men. Similar reports come from the leather market, where there have been inquiries for largo quantities of tho grade of leather used in the making of Army boots. _ These inquiries have also boon on Russian account. AN ENGLISH FORD. One usually suspects sale statistics at big London shows as part of the artful modern publicity campaign, but there is reliable evidence that the ’‘private view” orders at the Olvmpia Motor Show touched a record figure. One famous firm is said to have booked orders representing almost £8,000,000. This firm is bidding Jair to lake the position in the United Kingdom held- in America, by the world-famous house of Ford. Already its car output exceeds the Ford sales in this count!}, and it is now about to tackle seriously the commercial vehicle, in which lord still has the big pull. The revocation of the M’Kenna duties, which tended to wipe out smaller concents, and mass production on a high standard of workmanship have gi\cn the firm in question its real impetus. HOSTS TO ROYALTY. If tho Duke and Duchess of York carry out their East African tour, which some Court gossips say is partly to test how thev would stau'd tho experience of an Indian Vice-rovaliv, they will visit Lord and Lady Francis Scott. Lord _ Francis, who married the fourth Earl of Minto's eldest daughter, is an Etonian and a Grenadier, devoted to hunting, shooting, polo, cricket, and golf, and a great J-ondon clubman. Yet the Duke of Bnccleuch's younger brother, who served in South Africa and won his D.S.O. in 1915 mi tin; western front, now spends most ot his ] time at Njoro, his delightful Kenya Colony; ranch, with Lady Francis, whoso interests are similarly centred on their sncccssml East African venture. Lord Francis, who is forty-five, retired in 1920 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He can claim the Duchess of York as a kinswoman. A VERSATILE SEAMAN.

For his size and weight, which were those of a steeplechase jockey, Sir Percy .Scott was perhaps the strongest man in the Navy. He performed incredible physical feats in his younger days, and his heart, eventually proved unequal to his relentless energy. Gtinneiy wa.-, It is obsession. But for his cmhtisinsiu and inventive genius, exerted against a deadweight. of naval inertia, the British Fleet's Jutland gunnery would have been slid more disastrously outclassed. He was the first man to devise carriage mountings for heavy gnus, whereby Ladysmith was saved and the. Boeis kept from over-running Natal. Hut the Kurkin sands were where in: fits! exploited this device. His later vents had been devoted to ■•strafing" the battleship and inventing agricultural motors. His motor lawn roller mower wa,-. the old Admiral's cherished babe. THACKERAY'S FIRST COUSIN.

I’"lone! Sir Edward Thackeray, V.C., who eCebraled his eighly-ninth birthday tliC week, and who since the death of Sir Higl’too Prolix n is the Army's senior V.C., is a first cousin of the famous novelist. The colonel is the son of the late Rev. F. Thackeray, younger brother ot U . M. Th.aehe;a;,'s father, and, therefore. uncle of the (feator of Beekv Sharp. He gained his coveted bronze cross for a particularly vabanl feat at Delhi (hirin'-; tb.e .Mutiny, when he extinguished a. lire in the nminnnit ion sited while, the reh"D were sniping him at close, range. The colonel was married from the nove list’s Kensington house, and his wife- was Kir Eyre Crewe's sister. This lady died in India, and the colonel married, four years later, a daughter of Alajnr Pleyde!!. One of his sons commanded the Konlh Africans at Dolviile Wood. The colonel writes military history and paints landscapes. COUNT ZBUROWSKY Count Zbornwsky, killed (luring the week-end on the motor track near Milan, his aivavs been rather the mystery man of motoring. When not actually racing, lu: s pent a great deal of his time, in Loudon, and was a member of a somewhat high-brow clique in Kensington, which patronises art and poetry, and indulges in “salons.” As a sideline the count bred bulldogs. No one knew the count's real (financial status, alt hough he has been credited with a considcrablo fortune tucked away in American real estate. He was certainly a, fearlaim driver, and on more than one occasion “put the wind, tip ” his particularly hardbitten and faithful mechanic. WITH NELSON.

There is a dramatic touch about the suggestion that the old “ Victory” should bn brought to Loudon, and moored in the Thames off the Embankment, withiit glimpso of tlio dome that Nelson sleeps beneath. The famous Trafalgar flagship would have rotted at her moorings in Portsmouth Harbor but for Lord Slurdee’s efforts, which raised funds to retimber her and take Iter ashore on Portsmouth Quay. Some enthusiasts want her completely restored to her original rig and (Condition, and, no question, the “ Victory ” would bo self-supporting for ever if brought -to tlio Thames between Waterloo and Charing Cross Bridges where thousands of visitors would pay their shillings to go over her. The fatal objection is that the water would compel constant renewal of her hull. But why not find a shore site for Iter in some central London spot '! LORD LFVFRH IT.ME'S XFAV HOUSE.

It. should not he assumed ton readily (hat .Lord Leverlinlme does not mean to live in Grnsvenor House, the mansion ho lias just bought from the Duke, of Westminster. I heard some weeks ago that Tid'd Leverhuhne was contemplating a move to (he neighborhood of Park lane, and wanted a house with a handsome ballroom. Tie has recently been wondering if his Hampstead House was not too far out for convenionee. in view of the frequency with which he, combiner business and nleasnre round his dinner table, and his differences with the L.C.C. in connection with Hampstead Heath have hardened his derision to look for a house elsewhere. It may he only a coincidence that he hat? now bought Ornsvcnor House, for which he, perhaps has other plans, i:nt lie certainly has been emitemplating He removal of his household goods into the West End. LANGUAGE OX THE LINKS. A good story is going the rounds about a. certain well'-knnwn bishop whose keenness for golf is by no means dimmed by advancing years. He enneentrates to such an extent on his own play that he pays little attention to the play _of his opponent. On one occasion, after a good drive, he “ duffed ” his iron shot badly, moving Ill's ball only a few yards, and sending a huge slab of turf flying into the- air. Meanwhile Ids opponent had played a perfect shot to within a few yards of the pin. There was a little misunderstanding, therefore, when the bishop asked ms caddie, poignantly : “Where’s the sod gone?” “Him, sir? Oil! he’s on the green,” was the caddie’s sympathetic reply. A -MOVIE TOUCH. There may be something in Hie theory that the kiiioma is turning ns into a race of sloppy .sentimentalists. We are being ‘‘ japanned ” with an American melodramatic veneer. Every schoolgirl knows Nelson’s last words; “ Kiss me. Hardy.” They are far more authentic than most dying sayings of the great, and they fit the drama, of Trafalgar like it glove. The Nelson captains, in (he words of ILL-S., “loved battle like a mistress,” and made

“one equal temper of heroin hearts.” ‘'Kiss nic, Hardy!” shows the Nelson touch, as sublimely as bis immortal battle signal. And now some dear lady propounds the theory that what Nelson really said was “Kismet, Hardy!” Could anything bo more, alien to our English Nelson or more imbued with film-caption ueurotia !