A LETTER FROM LONDON

Northern Advocate, 22 February 1926, Page 6

A LETTER FROM LONDON

NEWS AND NOTES. (Special to “Northern Advocate.”) LONDON, January 7. LORD INCHCAPE’S DAUGHTER. The Hon. Elsie Mackay, whom the Air League has just elected to their Advisory Committee of Pilots, looks the last woman in the world to be capable of the feats of strength which she has accomplished in connection with flying and her work for her father’s (Lori Inchcape’s) ships. She is of very slight build, with quantities of dark hair and dainty features, and dresses charmingly, no matter what she may be doing. She is a particularly attractive figure in flying kit, generally with a tendril of hair escaping from the side af her helmet, and with her lips nailed in a smile. MERCHANTS AND SHORT WEIGHT. Mincing Lane merchants, especially in the sugar market, are very indignant about the revelations of dishonest trading by retail salesmen, because they maintain that fraudulent trading of this kind, when suspected or discovered, hits the whole trade from the top downwards. The house wife, when she realises that she may be .treated .dishonestly, automatically cuts down her purchases of the commodities concerned. One important firm of sugar importers reckons that allegations of the kind just made may easily mean a loss of £25,000 to the trade. It is to be feared that the public will not extend very niueli sympathy. LE SAGE AND THE FOOTMAN. A link with many of the journalistic giants of the past is snapped for ever by the death of Sir John Le Sage. For it was his fortune or misfortune, as editor of the London “Daily Telegraph,” to be overshadowed in great degree by the brilliant men by whom he was surrounded—Augustus Sala, Bonnet Burleigh, Clement Scott; and others. Le Sage, amongst his other recollections, used to relate that he reported the last speech which Cobda made. When Palmerston was reported to be dead, Le Sage went himself to Brocket Park to verify the news. Nowadays, when leading statesmen of the day do not think it beneath them to seek out newspaper editors in their dens, it- is quaint to recall that Le Sage was refused admission by Lord Palmerston’s footman.

A RUSH FOR SCALES. The official exposure of the scandal of short weight lias had a rather curious sequel. While the butchers and other shop keepers primarily affected are complaining that their turnover has been effected, one trade is enjoying a veritable boom. Housewivs all ovr the country are rushing to buy—scales So keen is the demand that in some areas ironmongers are complaining that they cannot keep pace with it. MADELINE SMITH. It is surprising news that Madeleine Smith, the central figure of the Scottish murder trial of 1857, still lives somewhere in America. In the trial at Edinburgh the letters of this beautiful daughter of well-to-do parents were not read in court. The judge ruled that they were of -such a nature that they could not be read. Nearly seventy yars have passed since then. Few judges would suppress them in court nowadays, nor would newspapers hesitate to print them. Sooner or later these epistles of the woman acquitted of the charge of poisoning' her French lover will probably see the light of day. GERMAN TOYS FOR ANZAC BABIES. ’ Germany’s toy. trade is rapidly dwindling. In every country but throe of those that buy German toys, the import figures for this year show a decline. The toys made by ex-sol-diers in Great Britain, and those made in France, America and Japan, are finding a ready market in those countries, where the people want s mething better than the cheap articles with the familiar trade mark “made in Germany!” Germany’s toy exports for the first six months of this year totalled £1,730,285 —a decline of 19.6 per cent of the figures , for the first half of the previous and 22 per cent less than the quantity exported during the first six months of 1913. While her exports are thus dwindling, the imports of toys into Germany has increased by 219 per cent since the first half of 1921. Great Britain still remains the largest buyer of German toys, having purchased this year 37 per cent of the quantity exported from Germany from January to June alone. The only two countries increasing their purchases of toys from Germany are Australia and New Zealand, the former having bought from Germany this year more than 800 per cent more toys than she did in 1922.

ETHEL LEVEY’S YACHT. Lord Louis Mountbattcn, who already owns a racing motor-boat, is now part-owner with Lady Louis Mountbatten, of the Peter Pan, cruising yacht, which they have bought from Miss Ethel Levey. Lord and Lady Louis Mountbattcn intend doing a great deal of yachting in the coming summer, and the yacht will bo kept in readiness in the Solent. Both are yachting enthusiasts, and Lord Louis has carried his love of the sea within doors. The walls of his bathroom at Brooke House have been painted to represent the bottom of the sea, while his own particular study has been converted into as close a representation as possible of a ship’s cabin. MIND THE STEP! Members of the Devonshire Club in St. James’ Street arc protesting in mock indignation af the iconoclastic tendencies of their committee. The steps leading up to the entrance door, after being worn by countless footsteps for a space of a century, have just been renewed. What is now the dining room of the Devonshire was in old days the gambling saloon of the notorious Crockfords. Many famous beaux and some royalties must have helped to wear away those old steps as they went to stake their money at the tables. Some of the , original chairs used in the old gaming room are still the prized possessions of the Devonshire Club. /