LONDON TOPICS Churchill to Write War Story

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 October 1946, Page 4

LONDON TOPICS Churchill to Write War Story

Preparation for Task Reported [N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent.] (Rec. 9.25 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 14. Mr. Churchill, it is reported by tne Daily Herald, has at last decided to write the inner story of the war. it is stated that he has already begun preparations for the task, which is expected to take at least two years. Mr. Churchill’s holiday m Switzerland greatly improved his health. Since his return he has been mapping out the scope of the which may appear in two or three volumes.

Gift to British Legion. The title deeds of Churchill Court, a mansion near Sevenoaks, Kent, which was given to Mr. and Mrs. Churchill by Mr. Charles Hopkins as a token of gratitude to his war leadership, have been presented, by the former Prime Minister to MajorGeneral Sir Frederick Maurice, national president of the British Legion. The mansion will be used as a rehabilitation centre and convalescent home for men and women of the British Legion who served in the recent war.

Mr. Churchill expressed the hope that the “prince-like gift will long be a centre of happiness for those who have the greatest claim on the gratitude of the nation.”

New Legal Year. The new legal year began to-day when the traditional ceremonies which formerly preceded the opening of the Law Courts in London were revived for the first time since the war started. After a service in Westminster Abbey and Mass in Westminster Cathedral, there was the Lord Chancellor’s breakfast in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords, followed by a procession down the Central Hall of the Law Courts. The judges are faced with a record number of 7416 cases in the High Court—-the highest for any one term in the history of the courts. There are 6624 divorce cases. The Civil Service. The Government is conducting a social survey to see why people are not attracted to the civil service as a career. The replies to the question, “Why don’t you like the Civil Service?” by parents, ex-servicemen, young workers, and school children include: Civil servants bully the public with forms; they are just music hall jokes; they work in dingy offices; they are poorly paid; they lose their freedom and become repressed wage slaves. There is stated to be an acute shortage in the executive grade where youths of 18 start at £205 annually, reaching £615 at 41.

Television Relay. The 8.8. C. made the longest television relay on October 12 when it televised Souverain winning the King George VI Stakes at Ascot. It was the first post-war transmission from a racecourse and the pictures were transmitted by an ultra-short wave link of about 25 miles to Alexandra Palace before being rebroadcast. The reception on the whole was excellent and the camera on the grandstand gave a fine close-up of the finish.

Supply of Hot Water. The Westminster City Council plans a river of hot water running through a tunnel under the Thames. Hot water will be brought from Battersea power station for distribution to flats and houses. It will be pumped to the tops of water towers and provide central heating and constant hot water. The cost will be £53,000 when completed. There will be 30 gallons of hot water per person daily, the charge being about 4/8 per flat weekly.

Bodleian Library. An extension in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, costing £1,000,000, will be opened by the King, accompanied, by the Queen, on October 24. The plans for extending the library were formed in 1925, when it was known that all available storage would be used within 10 years. The extension will house 10,000,000 volumes. Much of the cost was contributed by the Rockefeller Institute. It will be a long day for Their Majesties, who will leave London at 11.10 a.m., returning at 10.33 p.m.