OUR LONDON LETTER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 22 July 1907, Page 1

OUR LONDON LETTER.

(From Oiu- Special Correspondent). LONDON, June 7. Mr John Fuller, junior, of the wellis known firm over your side, of John 6 Fuller and Sons, theatre proprietors, is '» now here. He is on a tour round the '" world bo collect information as to the 16 (instruction ot mOtJcrn theatres, whioh c will be utilised in the erection of two !S first-class theatres which the firm will put in place of the older ones. He has 0 spent six weeks on the Continent, and c will be in London about a month, when iS he will visit the principal provincial * towns prior to his departure for New ? Zealand via America, San Francisjo, Ja- '" pan, and China. Mr Fuller is also ars ranging to import " talent direct from f London in the future for their four vo-" r riety theatres. n Mr and Mrs Blundell, of Wellington, 3 are here. While in Paris Mr Blundell '" had the misfortune to injure a leg in a j 3 street accident ; it is, however, not se--1 rious and he is not, now, feeling any ill , effects from it. j I Mr Francis Trask, M.L.C., of Nelson, * and Mrs Trask, came by the "Turakina." After a couple of week in London, ! they will visit Wales and Somerset, Mr ' Trask's birthplace, which he has not ' II seen since 1860, the year he left it. They return via Suez in about two ' ' months. Mr Trask says he has derived, great benefit from the lone sea voyage. I } Mr and Mrs Edwin Silk, of Nelson, 9 are among the callers at the Agent-Gen-r ; eral's office. I ' : A report has been received here from ( Auckland to the effect that a team of ;. Rugby footballers, including several of. the "All Blacks," will visit England | ~ next season in spite of the opposition of j . the English Rugby Uuion. Mr Percy j Coles, the secretary of the English RugT by Union, has been interviewed on the ' subject. Mr Coles remarked that if the statement is true, the position is clear. , They will have nothing to do with them, and none of their clubs' will be permitted to play matches with them. "As soon as we play with any club of tha Northern Union," he says, "they r become professionals, and we, as amaJ teurs, can have nothing to do with 1 them." lam sure the New Zealand ' Union are as strongly opposed to the course of action as we are. We have I in communication with tlhem, but none is necessary, as we shall ignore this , toftin. and they, on their part, can % t u;o what action tliey think fit. It I is regrettable thai such an unfortunate j in. -idi-nt should on-nr, but of course we are not responsible." j According to the report of tJie New p Zealand Trust and Loan Company, s T.imited, the balance of undivided profits for 1906, after payment of all curlent expenses is £22.190. The directors L recommend that £2000 be now appropriated for the payment of a dividend , of 5 per cent., on the fully paid shares, , fire of income tnx. fur the year, and that th? then remaining balance. ! £20.190, bo carried forward. .Sir Penrtise O. Julyan, of Stall. u'oua, [ Torquay, who was Senior Crown , .Aitent for the Colonies, Financial Adviser to the Colonial Office, for many . yfc.irs Financial Adviser to your Go- , vcrnment, left estate valued at £36,619 gross, with net personalty, , £36.432. * The late Mr Jam?s Lloyd Boyd, of . Glendouftlie, Perth, and 39 Moray ■ Place, Edinburgh, a director of the Scottish Vulcanite Company, Ltd., and of the Assets Company,- Ltd., who died on March 11th, left personal estate in the United Kingdom valued at £108,052 in addition to real estate. I His holding in the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, ' Ltd., is valued at £16,070, and in the North British Rubber Company at £9500, and in the Scottish Vulcanite Company ad I £3466. I Deeply pathetic was the sight of the students and graduates performing at the Royal Albert Hall. To tho ordiInary person in full possession of this blessed faculty it is sad to know how much these fellow creatures miss, yet to see their splendid organization and I perfection of movement, it seems impossible to realise that their vision is not as perfect as our own. The Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for I the Blind is situated in the best part of Upper Norwood, a pretty suburb in the South East, and their delegates were sent to stimulate public sympathy, as the instiution is practically supported by pubIlic subscription only, and the high-pric-ed seats of the well-filled hall must nave been a good criterion to the management of the appreciation of their efforts by I the public. The first part of the programme was devoted' to music, and it 4 chief burden, naturally, was borne by the young people whose education and I well -being are in the hands of Dr F. J. Campbell, and those who aid and abet him in the conduct of the institution of which ho has long been the principal. The college choir was in attendance, I and, although it needs a larger body of singers than mustered yesterday to make any impression in so vast a building as the Albert Hall, yet, in a part-song by lEl?ar, a madrigal composed by Orlando Gibbons, and in other things, the voices of the young students were blended with excellent effect. I It was immediately after the singing of the last of the madrigals on the programme that there was a lull in the afternoon's music, during which the formalities attending the arrival of the I Royal party were carried out. In the enI trance hall to receive their Majesties were the Earl of Kilmorey, the Earl of Kilniorey, the Earl of Pembroke, and

-- '■'■■ ■•■":■'■•■ -J-.: '; Air Hilton Carter, the manager oir'the hall, while just outside a considerable crowd had assembled to cheer the King and Queen. Accompanying their Majesties were Princess Victoria and '-"the Prince and Princess of Wales, and._the suite in attendance consisted of Lord Hamilton of Dalzell, Captain Walter i Campbell Colonel the Hon. H. ■ C.: 1 Lcge, Lady Alice Stanley, and the 1 Hon. Charlottfe Knollys. "The Landgraf o£ Hesse vi.-a.& also present, and accompa-^ nied the Royal visitors into! their Majesties' box. At its entrance there wers present to welcome them the Lady' O'Hagan, Miss Mundella -,Mrs Wilberforce, Lord Howard de Walden, Viscount. Selby, th* Hon.- W- F. D. Smith, M.F., Archdeacon Sinclair, and Mr W. Seton Carr; the members of the Reception Committee: Unseen by tho audience, Queen Alexandra accepted from the hands of a little blind pitl, ' Mary j Jameson, a bouquet of. beautiful Malmaisan carnations; while another inmate of the school at Nbrwood^Mabal- Frem--1 mirig, presented a. floral offenng to the Princess of Wales. 1 Upon ths appear- . ano" of the King and Queen, in the 1 Bojyal boxi the -National-Anthem- vas sting, ! and thereafter the- prottamme_ pursued I its appoint^' c6iirs6.- - ■ Mr Stuart Mohcur's singing-of David's , '.'0 Ma, "iraittresse" '.and : the i^ndfj-ing of a humorous glee by theciioir, MffHorace Watlirig and' Mr James Croyley, ' students of fh'S Colleee, who bcthj-hold' I organ appointments, played a p'^riafprts I duet, "Scene- de Bal," ; oompoeed by tho first-named, while another /feature which . served to draw --attentioirvojrce more to 1 the Success with which Itei blind are trained in music's path wa^'-.tha- performance of Mendelsohn's 'now'" rarely ■ heard "Cappriccio -Brillante," in^ which I the 'soloist, Master Wilfred Kersh^w, j who was assisted by an orchestra from I the Guildhall School of Music,, displayed a crisp touch and a neat execution. In any case, it seems to mo, he could take his place among the musical prodigies of the day, but when it is considered that he is blind, the performance was simply marvellous. T0 him went no small part of the afternoon's ' applause. . - .- \ The second portion of the entertainment was given over to calisthenics, and so revealed another aspect of the many : sided training given to those in' whose j interests the work is carried out. And j nothing could have better illustrated { the spirit of pluck and independence ac- j quired by the blind under proper guidance than the exercises gone through yesterday with the aid of" dumb-bells, parallel bars, and vaulting horses, by . squads composed of smart lads from the college. Such an exhibition of skill ' and alertness as that witnessed towards I (he close of the afternoon under Ihe direction of Mr Guy M. Campbell would have. called for the highest praise even had the boys been taking part in it been possessed of sight. As it was, the performance excited in .ill present a feeling of wonder, which found expression repeatedly in the liveliest onthusiasih. j With the singing, as their Majesties a;id the other Royal visitors Uok tlu-ir t'eparture, of "God Save the Kin;;,"- tne piogramme reached an end. I. is interesting to know that ;J'-om j 80 to 90 per cent, of the rnll%Be pijadu- ■. ates are now earning their own living as a result of the training. received, [iintc-ad of drifting into destitution, they rise to independence, and become a va'uahle asset in the national life. . ; Mr Abraham Dixon, of Che.-'tlr/ j Court, Leatherhead, for many years j head of the firm of Mess>s--Rahnns Br.->s snd : Co., of Birminghanv.and-'l.frgely interested in Dixon's Investavnt (\>m- ] pany, which is limited in its operations - •to investments in your colony, has iust : died, leaving an estate at more than £100,000. The testator, bjr.his will, ad- j vises his trustees not to increase hold- j ings in the Investment Company, and states that while he has confidence in the company and its directors, he does not . wish to increase his or his widow's interests in New Zealand, as he fears^ a recurrence of Socialistic legislation which would be inimical to the interests of investors. Mr Dixon was no doubt a prudent man, who did not wish to have al his eggs in one basket, but had he lived to hear Lord Bothschild's reasons why British Consols have been falling so much .in price he, might have preferred to invest -nwre largely in * a country where Socialistic legislation has reached its utmost'', lin^t v rather than seek new investments where .industrial legislation is "only in its initial stage. Socialism is raising .its head in_ every country, and it is difficult 'to gauge for the moment what the effects of it will be in this country. Some'stuaenta ~pt economics are .of opinion that l Government Sooialignv cannot do any>harm 'in .your colony, owing to its small population of less than a million. .Infertility of the soil andth^.other^&alh of its natural resources afls. so grew that Socialism there is harmless. But Socialism on the New Zealand pattern might do much harm in Great Britain. Mr Dixon's fears, at all events, are somewhat exaggerated. If New Zealand were to approach the London market just now with the object of floating a new loan, it would get all iti wanted, subscribed over and over again, at a sufficiently low rate of interest, Socialistic . legislation notwithstanding, j

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