A WELLINGTON LETTER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 29 January 1908, Page 2

A WELLINGTON LETTER.

My Dear Horatio. — I The spirit moveth me, after returning from wandering in far lands, to renew my acquaintance with you and your people, with and among whom I spent some of my happiest days, the days of boyhood and of youth. Not so very long ago, while drifting aimlessly about the South of England in search of coolness and copy ('twas a hot summer) I blew into Portsmouth to write up a notable naval review ab'ou. Ito take place. In the harbour »_;d the roadstead were mass.^ warships as far as the cv. cou .d reach, some close in "snore, some hull down on the horizon, warships of every size and shape, from the great, ugly, bullnosed brute of a 15,000 ton battleship, to the trim little turbine torpedo boats, and the water was literally alive with the boats of the fleet, steam launches, pinnaces, cUtters t steam launches, pinnaces, cutters and gigs, threading their way to and from the lauding stages ; in and out and through and about this marvellous raazo of movement with incredible celerity and precision. . I remember, ns I stood on the beach, tl'inkmg oi the tales we used, to hear ot 1 the decline of Britain's sea power, and yet, within that comparatively small stretch of water there seerAed to be enough British warships to surround a continent and pound it into submission. While waiting for a boat to take me to the c-uiser that was to le my home for a few days, I strolled along the water front, crowded with liberty men from the ships, and presently came to a policeman, and having found that visitors were welcome, I lost no time in setting foot on the deck of the most renowned warship afloat. These relics of bygone limes are, after all, what the average colonial wants to see. One could stand at the quarter deck gangway, where Nelson and his officers must have stood, and look down upoii the same decks that these dead aild gone heroes so often looked upon. No heavily ai'hi lured turrets, no barbettes, no casemates, no gu'rishields in those days ! Opeii ports, open decks, arid good oldfashioned cast-iron, smooth-bore muizle loaders. No lying off at ten or fifteen riiiles range- an'oV exchanging half -ton compliments iil tnose days. No mines or torpedoes. Those stately old barges laid alongside each other, and. gave or • took their lickings mostly , hand to hand. I think we iniist all confess a preference for those old methods, rather than for the more modern system of dirigible torpedoes and submarine mines, of disappearing guns and invisible crews. "Could I see Lord Nelson's cabin?" "Certainly." "The place where Nelson fell? "Yes, that brass plate let into the deck, with the historic inscription, 'Here Nelson fell.'" In the Admiral's cabin below, filled with memories and mementoes of the marvellous mariner, were references to most of his memorable victories, and to his most notable officers ; and to my niind came insensibly the conviction that, far away in the vast Pacific, at the foot of Blind Bay, on the opposite side of this little planet, was a greater monument to the illustrious Admiral than anything England can show. As I stood, with bared head, in the spacious cabin with its great stern windows, and looked at the "ordre dv jour" of the battle of the Nile, or at the lists of ships and commanders engaped at Trafalgar, a haze seemed to gather over my mental vision, and in imagination I stood once more upon the Church HilH Steps, nnd looked down upon Nile-street, Collingwood-street. Trafalgar-street, saw the row of cabs at the foot of the steps, with their drivers gossiping or drowsing in the afternoon sunshine, I saw again the old, familiar faces jogging along re re no ly, felt the same old drowse in the air, found myself wishing I could meet some of the Navals to know when the "Aurora"^ was going out for a cruise — when bang ! ! — went a salute of guns, and, -pouf — "like th' unstable fabric of a dream" — away went my vision of the Antipodes-. Back upon the beach again, I met, surely, all ihe types of sea-fai-ing men that ever saw the water. Here were a warrant officer and an engine room artificer. Surely these be Emanuel Pvcroft and William Salt Hinchcliife ! If so, Kipling can't be far off, and there is a remarkably hectic day before them. Here come a merchant captain and mi engineer, who might easily have hetn the originals of Cutcliffe Hvne's Captain Kettle, and McTodd of the" Arc tic. Yonder, upon the top of a pile, is sitting W. W. Jacobs' story-telling watchman. The sea front fairly seethes with sailors of all ranks' and conditions, from the pompon prototype of Admiral Sir Joseph Porter, X.C.8., tn the humble Ralph Rnckstraw. Did you ever notice how easily man-o'-war's men edge their way t''.rnii:;h a crowd, and hew quiet-Ep.-l.cn il-.ey usually are. That comes, T .'.impose," of their crowded quarters en board ship. Another vivid memory of >>id days came tom e while I was w.:t.-|iing a sixteen-oared cutter come .-.1-.-n-iside and get away PO-ain. It -,v;:s done very smartly indeed, and yet I remember clearly enough, a crew of Nelson boys landing some titled functionary in the old Aurora, with i much better finish <n the days 'jf ypro. The foiv"ri>!_ v"i- r i. s are only en passant, and refer to days gone by. Our best int"r ?t- .Tnd keenest sympathies are, af.'-i- -'I. with the present. The prrvjut ■' j ■■ ir. takes the present eye, and tV'-o )■>■• many matters nf interest in th;- -;» pt <he" present time. There is within these isles, a reverend gentleman who has recently arrived, with the avowed object of — inter alia — "ftirtheciiii- t';" c-nue of international pence, gre'v. ii. *r.d brotherhood, of (TMtnm; n ti-b^nl.hir union among members whi.-h nSnll h" a power for good and comb!'-" i-j health, long life, sympathy, L'-M-d !i-k and success— and ' of assuniin. mi. Ji fi-Hinr. of mind and attitude ..f ?.-iil ns shall strengthen the will. lij-nMi failure, and conquer disease and death." That, taken by and large, i.i a go.-irlsizcd order, and if the reverend tcpntl-maii only gets the keel of the enterprise laid, he will be entitled to tho thanks of all humanity. After all, wise men do not expect to do away with the vicissitudes of life. They only expect to blunt the edges of them. The much discussed subject of America's export trade in heiresses has culminated in a rather curious proposition. Tho American Legislature proposes in all seriousness to put an export tax of 25 per- cent on the dowries of all Ameri- i can girls who marry abroad. The proposal has created consternation in more ways than expected. The market for princes and dukes in Europe has become overstocked lately, and the supply of princesses has not kept equal to the demand, nor are there sufficient European heiresses of the requisite tonnage to go round. Under these circumstances the princely ones are casting longing eyes on some of Uncle Sam's well-gilt daughters. This 25 per cent drawback will give them pause. One foreign potentate who is to marry an enormously wealthy American lady, thinks he will get round Uncle Sam by making his domicile in America, but as the first clause in the Constitution of the U.S.A. declares that all men are bom free and equal, that cat won't fight. The oracle hath spoken. The ukase has gone forth. The mighty Paquin has decreed that the future fashionable female form shall be slim and slender, and rigid. The waist wo have been accustomed to — the waist we have grown , to love and cherish, the sensible, roomy waist, with its natty little belt, and its supple waggle — is to disappear over the edge of the horizon, and in its place we are to see animated hourglasses, with barely visible means of communication between the upper and the lower regions. When those dreaded days arrive, Adolphus will not dare encircle Angelina's waist with his trembling arm, it will seem too much like embracing a gaspipe. Mr J. C. Williamson and Mme. Sara Bernhardt lately concluded arrangements for Madame's Australian tour by wireless telegraphy between two Atlantic steamers, hundreds of miles apart. That looks as though there would be quite a lot of second-hand fencing wire for sale shortly. Also, presently, the peripatetic politician will not have to stir from his office. He will merely ring up, _ay, Inan.ahua, by "wireless." and say: "Let all the electors get their ears to their instruments at 3 to-night, and ho would speak his speech to them from his comfortable armchair." It is a promising subject, and opens up vast possibilites. Yours, RALPH RACK6TRAW. j