LONDON GOSSIP.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 75, 1 October 1877, Page 2

LONDON GOSSIP.

(Ffcoia. the Press correspondent.)' The obstruction to public business in Parliament occasioned by a, small section of Home- Rule members bas reached such a pitch as to necessitate- tbo adoption of most stringent measures.. For some time the feactics of these gentlemen seem to. hare been to render themselves so ob- ■ struetive as- to force the House into, con- ' ceding Home Eule, as the only means of ■getting rid 1 of them and of getting oa i with the business of the country.. Thi9 : system, reached its culminating point a r, r „:«.]»{». j, r! y vrlirr. *.'■" FTfi^o- was in ■ . : .-.. '■ A -.y. ■ ..iiiuwtes.. For . , iiuirier past sewn in-

tho uioruing, did five Home Rule mem« bers, by ulternately moving that progress be reported and that the Chairman do leave tbe chair, set the whole House at defiance, and kept all business at a complete standstill. One of this devoted little band of heroes, tbe member for Meath, has candidly avowed the intention* of this section. " English members," be remarked, at a public meeting a short time ago, " would be glad to be rid of us. . . • If we had only ton men, we could pot a stop to all their work. If we eaa't meet them in the field, we have yet a weapon left to us. Ireland knows that it wouM be futilo to resort to arms for fcbe restitution of her riglits, and that the live? el her eons would be thrown away. But we rasst use the weapons we have, until England learns sense, by in« fticting inconvenience upon he* ; by paying her back measure for measure ; re* turning insult for insult ; and thus have vengeance upon her." This righteous cause, as thus expounded by tbe member for Mcath, has j,ust gained a redoutable champion in Mr O'Donnell, the vicepresident and honorary secretary of the Irish Borao .Rule Confederation in Great Britain, who has just been elected uaemiber for Dteagarvau. This gentleman pos--1 sesses undoubted talents, combined with 1 an audacity and a disregard of decorum ! which even D? Kcnealy hardly possessed lin his palmiest days. You willi bear move of him, or I shall be much mistaken. Many Irish members of Parliament, in* deed I hope and believe the- mnjoiity — view with extreme disfavor, not to sat disgust — the tactics lately displayed by Messrs O'Donnell and Co. The House of Commons, however, is not to bo trifled with beyond certain bounds. No assembly is more fair in according a patient hearing to all political creeds ; but it will not stand a system of vexations obstruction on the part of a few mensbers who seem completely dead to' a sense of tho fitness of things, and whose object i» avowedly to make- themselves a nuisance to tho House and a stumbling blook io its path. The toilettes at Ascot this year were more than usue% gorgaotas. In fart, most of the ladies seemed to me to b? in ball dresses, of tb# most gisrieg baes. The proper way to do Ascot is to hire a house in the immediate neighborhood for the week, and fill it with your friends. This of courso nqjuiras a bag purse. Houses in the neighborhood of Ascot command during the race week a rent &% the rate of ten guineas a bedroom. The owner of a house with tw«s*y. bedrooms within a quarter of an housfd walk or drive from Ascot Heath is csstski to get his 200 guineas for the week, nf is- chooses to let. Another good way to &> Ascot is to have a drag of your own, be » raerobcr of the Coaching or of the Four-m-Haad Clubs, and drivo down every day frona town, with three changes of horses along the road. The advantage on this occasion of being a member of one of the above club is that you have the entree to tbe enclosures set apart for them, and can get your coach into position without any trouble. The Duke of Beaufort, who is president of the Four-in-Hand, annually hires, at an exorbitant rato as you may suppose, a plot of land immediately ad* joining the winning post, and presents it as an ene'osure for the use of the members of his club. The Coaching Club, which is a junior institution, i.i not so fortunate in tbe possession of a munificent president, and tho cost of the enoloiure is divided between the members. The familiar form of Admiral Itous whs sadly missod at Ascot this year. Jn l»is death the turf has sustained a Ins* which cannot be replaced. No particular member of the Jockey Club seems to hare caught his falling,, mantle, and the business of handicapping, which he conducted for nearly half a century wi»h such exfcro« ordinary ability, will probably now be undertaken by a committee of three. At a meeting «f the Jockey Club held at Newmarket, a committee, including the Prince of Walos, has been formed for the purpose of considering in what form a memorial may best be raised to the late vetesan sportsman. A match for £500 a side- was run to-day at Newmarket, where tbe July meeting is now taking placo, between the Prince of Wales's Arabian Aless and Lord Slrathnairu's Avowal, over tho round course, tho wo)ga§ being 9st. each. It i* a long time since the rac* ing colors of the Prince have heon seen on a> course. They are conspicuous enough — purple, gold braid, scarlet sleeves, black velvet cap and gold fringe.