NEWS AND NOTES.

Northern Advocate, 29 September 1926, Page 6

NEWS AND NOTES.

(All Rights Reserved.) (Special to “Northern Advocate.”) AUGUST 26, 1926. STICKING TO STEAM. The interesting news that the White Star Line is contemplating five new ocean liners, one of which at least is to be bigger than the Majestic, should indicate better times in the shipbuilding trade, as well as a bright outlook for shipping. But it is noteworthy that, in the instance of their vessel now under construction in Belfast, the White Star people are still sticking to steam engines. And the inference is that, still doubting the potentialities of tho motor-driven leviathan, the White Star Company intends its later boats to bo steamers also. This is rather a set-back for those Diesel enthusiasts who predict that the steamer's days are numbered, and that the funncllcss motor-boat will become the general ocean-going vessel. But there seems no doubt that the latest double-acting motor j engines, fitted in several big oceangoing boats, have given perfect satisfaction, and Lloyd’s List records year by year a remarkable growth in the proportion of non-steamers afloat. Foreign shipowners appear to have made up their minds in favour of the latter more quickly than our British owners. AIR MINISTRY FINANCE. I gather that of all tho departments, the Air Ministry has come most severely under the harrow of the Es- j timates Committee of the House of Commons this session. That -is an exceedingly august body, over which Mr William Graham, M.P., as former Secretary to the Treasury presides, and it has a formidable officer in the person of the Controller and AuditorGeneral, Sir Malcolm Ramsay. Wh6n it expresses censure the officials concerned have to sit up and take notice. The committee formed the opinion that the expenditure, in proportion to the size of the force and the number of men on the ground, as compared with those who take flie air, was excessive. RICH AMERICA. Over here in Europe we got an impression of America as a land where mfllti-millionaires are thick as autumn leaves in Vallombrosa, but where the rest of.the community is more or less attuned to tho normal financial status of ourselves. From details now available regarding the latest New York experiment in workmen’s flats, this would appear to be an erroneous view. The now flats in America’s business capital are very much on the same model as those recommended for erection by the L.C.C. architect, with slightly over half the total ground space devoted to gardens’ and playing grounds, and three bedrooms to each flat. But the rental that New York will exact, and the American workman will cheerfully pay, would be preposterous in London. Imagine a Cockney working man, even of the highest-paid skilled artisan typo, paying a rent of £lO a month. That is

the American under dog is.a bit of a millionaire, too. But through the American big centres the lowest wage rate is said to be roundabout a dollar an hour. To pay a £l2O rental a working man may need it. CAVALRY AND MOTORS. Judging from the success that attended its use at the cavalry reconnaissance tests on the Blackwater last week, the desired type of motor vehicle to work with a mobile column of cavalry, armoured cars, and tanks, has been selected by the War Office. The lighter carrying capacity motor vehicle of 25 and 30 cwt. has conclusively proved its value over those of heavier tonnage. Both as regards speed climbing qualities, really fine work was accomplished. Most difficult situations were negotiated, the six-wheel base being a considerable factor in the machine’s success. The next point is to encourage the use of (heso vehicles in the commercial world, and therein the War Office will make their possession by merchants worth the trial, so that in case of an immediate demand in an hour of emergency there should be an ample supply obtainable. All military plans for future evolutions are now being made on the principle of mobility. Trench warfare as known in Prance, which was mainly responsible for the length of the war, is to be a thing of the past. NAVAL UNIFORM. If the recommendation of the InterPort Welfare Conference is adopted by the Admiralty, a distinctive feature of the Royal Naval uniform will disappear. That body 'of practical seamen, who must be credited with knowing what they are talking about, condemn the wearing of the lanyard as being no longer of use. As a matter of fact it fulfils only on inspection days its object of carrying a knife, which can now be much more conveniently attached to the new pattern belt. With men working aloft in a sailing ship, the lanyard was, for obvious reasons indispensable, but on

aity will adopt the recommendation in part, and discard this-article of kit during working hours, retaining it only for dress parades and “walkingout. ’ ’ AN OLD VINTAGE. The Earl of Sefton, some of whose tenants are disgruntled over the sale of their holdings, is head of a family that really did come over with the Conqueror. Molyneaux fought gallantly, and won the contemporary D. 5.0., at Agincourt, Blore Heath, Flodden, and Worcester. The Earldom is Irish, and the Earls sit in the House of Lords as Barons Sefton, whoso heirs arc Viscounts Molyneaux. Osbert Cecil Molyneaux, the sixth Earl, was a lieutenant of the Life Guards before ho succeeded his famous steoplechasing brother, and became Captain of Lancashire Yeomanry Hussars. Ho was a handsome blonde sportsman of the type Ouida’s heroines preferred, in his younger days,, and Sargeaut’s portrait of his Countess brought out all the Norman blood. She was a lad/ of superb and dignified beauty! Fine shooting is attached to the Sefton seat near Ormskirk, where the ginger bread comes from, and King George once got a record bag there as Princo of Wales. “POPPY" DAY. The British Legions workshops are hard at work turning out millions of little red emblems that will be on the, streets on Armistice Day. This finds employment all the year round for upwards of 200 disabled ex-service men, who make altogether something like 20,000,000 imitation blossoms. All the proceeds of the sales go to the charitable objects of the Legion. In 1921 the street sales of “poppy” realised £196,000. A steady jump in receipts has been recorded annually, and last November they exceeded £350,000. A big effort will be made this year to top the amount. On more than one occasion the movement has been subject to the competition of unscrupulous persons, who have procured largo supplies of spurious emblems from

the proceeds. The vigilance‘ of the: police effectually stopped these frauds last year. J DESOLATING EDEN. J i France is still encountering anxious] difficulties in Syria, and fighting be-' tween the French troops, chiefly the i superb Foreign Legionaries, and the | insurgent tribes goes on fiercely and] bitterly. Irreparable ruin has already I been done in Damascus to some places! of antique history by the artillery, j and now a real tragedy has over-j whelmed the Ghuta, a blooming and. beautiful oasis, nearly twenty miles] square, the abundant harvests of which used to yield £1,000,000 sterling por annum. Regarding this wonderful oasis it is a firm tradition in all the region roundabout that the Prophet Mohammed refused to enter it, saying that “No man should enter Paradise twice.” Now tho Ghuta looks like being qtterly despoiled because the insurgents have diverted the waters that refreshed its abundance, and the French gunners have barraged it into desolation. When will the gods grant. understanding to the sons of men? j j EASY. | Last summer considerable annoyance j was caused at and about 10 Downing j Street, the most famous private resi- j dence in the., world by a crazp on the ; part of trippers. Downing Street is a| cul-de-sac that exercises an unholy fascination over visitors to London, who crowd the place in their hundreds all through July August, and September. Heaven alone knows why, because they seldom see anything more exciting than the blank front of the rather dingy old mansion, and the quite demure brass knocker on the door. But last summer some maniac, suffering from the “last touch” nerve trouble described by George Borrow so graphically, sot a regular fashion for going right up to the Premier’s front door, and solemnly “touching” the knocker. They queued up for it. Now a worse thing has come. One yo.uthful couple went one better by lifting up the lid of tho letterbox and peeping through into the hall. Surely it should not be beyond the ingenuity of the butler to cure that hab’t —if Number 10 boasts any sort of effective garden syringe. ENGLAND’S CRICKET VICTORY. No sporting event since the War has aroused such popular excitement in | London, or throughout the country, as the England v. Australia cricket Tests have done. Everything conspired to build up interest in the fifth and final match of the series. All the others I were more or less spoiled by the weather, impeded to some extent by the coal trouble, and in conclusive. But the fifth game was to be played to a finish, even though it “ran into November,” and tremendous keenness was shown about it. So much so that ! the attendance at the Oval the first day was amazingly poor for such a historic encounter, the simple explanaation being that tho public was afraid of the crush,- and stayed away. The ( other days more than atoned for this, however, and the match was played, with only one slight shower to interrupt it, before a huge sporting concourse. You have long ago heard all about the great game, and how, after more than one dramatic change, England won by a substantial margin. But it is perhaps worth while emphasising one point. The match was played out in the best possible spirit,! and Australia’s collapse in the last] innings was not due to anything exceptional about the wicket. It was, for once, a case of “nerves”! But the Oval is almost as lucky for English cricket as Twickenham for English rugger. Ten times we have outed j an Australian side there for less than j a hundred runs, and we have won many Test victories there to Australia’s solitary one. WAS HE RIGHT? We have -only just passed, almost unwept, unhonoured, and unsung, the jubilee of Benjamin Disraeli’s last House of Commons speech. Fifty years ago last week the historic statesman rose to address the Commons on a subject that had given him much anxiety for some time. It was the Bulgarian atrocities, which gave occasion for his great rival’s famous “bag and baggage” phrase, and Dizzi’s line was that they were nothing but ‘ ‘ coffee house babble. ’ ’ He described the alleged enormities of the Turk as political exaggerations for party ends. Hardly anyone guessed it was Dizzi’s swan song in the House of Commons, but next morning ) came the news that the former little \ Jewish solicitor’s clerk was a Peer of tho Realm, and Earl of Beaconsfield in “another place.” The intriguing question today, in the light of all we now know, is whether Dizzi’s cynicism | which gave such offence at the time to the now defunct Nonconformist Conscience, was right or wrong in his estimate. Most of our ex-service men still maintain that the Turk is the only gentleman in the Balkans.