"THE MAIL'S" LETTER FROM LONDON

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 11 April 1929, Page 8

"THE MAIL'S" LETTER FROM LONDON

(From Our Own Correspondent) LONDON, 21st February. The repudiation by the Foreign Office of Sir JSsm'e Howard's' intimation that the British. Government is about to open new pourparlers concerning the limitation of naval, armaments is provoking a good deal of harsh comment. Though no one is inclined to blame the Foreign Office for contradicting with all the speed possible a false report, there are a great many people who' feel that it should ho held responsible for the frequency with which erroneous impressions arc .allowed to get abroad. Mistakes may, of course, occur even'in the best regulated ■.Government departments, but they should not become" habitual. For the past 18 months or more British diplomacy, from'the point'of view of the public in general, has revealed itself in a series of bungles, and not.unnaturally everybody is asking who is to blame. In this particular instance the Foreign Office itself is apparently seriously annoyed, and is determined to rind the culprit. It is to be hoped that in fixing thb-blame in this one case it will not overlook the series' of blunders in high quarters which have led up to it. PRINCE HENRY OF PRUSSIA The ex-Kaiser's younger brother. Prince Henry'of Prussia, is dying of cancer, the same fell malady that killed his father. No doubt public opinion will trace hereditary in this, though I believe the best scientific opinion holds that cancer is no more hereditary thah tuberculosis. Those"*" who know something of the ex-Kaiser and Prince Henry do not share the common belief that the character 'is more amiable than the ex-raiser's. He is a very typical Prussian Junker, and was oiie of ybh TirpTtz's ' strongest supporters iii the U-boat campaign of sea frightfulness. Prince Henry commanded "the German naval squadron that visited New York some years before the'war. The New Yorkers were feted on board the' flagship, and carried off much of the cutlery as souvenirs. / '. :.'.'■■•>■'.:-• TWO NOTABLE FLIGHTS Two very, important flights have 'commenced" recently, emphasising- the activities and progress tif the R.A.F. A flying-boat squadron —one' df two authorised in last year's air estimates anct formed at 'the Catte'water,' 1 Plymouth— left for Ba'sr'a in the Persian Gulf,' where it Will he stationed, and act as a patrol, guarding our interests aiicj"assisting,' if required, the 'regular air service's'" between London-Eg'ypt-'Basra and India'. Thus a second' fly-

GOSSIP ON EVENTS OF THE DAY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL NOTES DIPLOMACY UNDER A CLOUD

ing-boat base will bo established in the East, linking' up' Egypt 'with'that at Singapore. The other"flight is from Hcliopolis' to Capetown. This occupies two months, lengthy stops being made at Nairobi and Tabora to allow the King's African Rifles at these places to undergo training in conjunction with aeroplane reconnaissance. On the journey back to Egypt four aeroplanes of fhti South African Air Force will accompany the flight' north. It has been decided to make this flight an annual exercise'of the. R.A.F. stationed in Egypt, and this year plans are already formulated to increase long distance flying by a flight across Africa, oast to' West, from 1 ' the Soudan to Nigeria. MILITARY EXAMPLE It would be a good thing for the civilian community if they were able to take a leaf out of the soldiers' book during this influenza ■epidemic. During any kind of epidemic, the army authorities see to it that every wise precaution is taken to avoid illness among the officers and men, and for some weeks past all regiments in garrison' have had their daily "gargle parades." The result lias been that, so far as' the soldiers are concerned, military hospitals have to care for a minimum liUn'ibe'r of patients: If large and s'i'uall civilian firms could exercise sufficient disciplinary powers With their staffs, whether in offices or in yards, to practise the same parade, we would not have such a casualty list as affected one of the largest tramway depots in south-west London this week, when over 220 men yfera incapacitated from work iii one day. I am' told; too,' that much good would result if civilians'in their offices kept their lavatories as clean as the'military do. REMARKABLE 'FLU' THEORY I met a city man to-day who blamed the L.G.O.C. for part at any rate oS life present serious epidemic of influenza. Though the percentage of fatal cases sW/ws a ! steady increase, this winter's epidemic is not nearly so dendlv .as the memorable' visitation just after the w.aK'But it seems to be even'" more Widespread th'a'ri that biic so far" as London is concerned.' It is. doubtful whether so riiaujf 'people in London have ever before, 'in living memory, been laid U P. at one time. My city friend blames' for this the new covered-top buses. His contention is that, when the buses were open-topped, an' immense number of Londoners did at least get regular fresh air. Nowadays, this sovereign tonic is lacking, and a healthy breather has been turned into a perilous draught. It sounds rather far fetched, but some doctors do not turn it-down. UNDERGROUND PLANS

Directly the cold weather struck London, all the buses becapie half 'empty. But'as the same huge combine owns the tubes, and the same cause that emptied the buses filled the latter. Lord Ashficlcl can afford to smile at fate. The one fear of the : underground is snow and ice on the electrical rails, and against this contingency up-to-date provision' is made. Ready for work at ! any moment' are special cars with sleet brushes and rotating cutters, which Would instantly cle'ar away ; a riy cui'reiit obstruction due to the severe frost. Though' thejr'6 is little fear off this on tlie ' underground 1 sectors, tho underground now lias long stretches of abo'veground lilies, arid these are exposed' to all the usual railway hazards. Here an interesting experiment is now being tried. The electric rails are being sprayed with calcium -chloride. Freezing of automatic signals is obviated by injectors filled with methylated'spirits; '"' A DEAF DUKE It is easy to understand that tho Duke of Montrose had a personal syro-% pathy with' the' members' of the deaf and dumb'gathering lie addressed by hand language the other clay. The duke himself is almost stone deaf, and his trouble tends to becdm'e 'worse. That lias been' a great handicap to him in the public work which otherwise lie is competent to undertake. His friends declare' that the only reason why he , supports Scottish Home Rule is be- | cause he is unable to hear the argil- ' incuts against it. He really looks like a duke, and he has ducal mansions worthy of his rank—in the Island of Arran, and on ■ the shore's of Loch Lomond. But, happily, through' the duchess, whb was the only child 1 of the late Duke of Hamilton, he is interested in the coalfields' of Lanarkshire, WINSTON AT HIS BEST A great journalist was lost to Fleet street' when Mr Churchill exchanged his sabre for a despatch-box instead of an editorial chair. I have read nothing to approach his pen picture of Versailles, and President Wilson's' duel with Mr Hughes, the Australian Labour Premier, over the captured German colonies. "Do you mean, Mr Hughes,' that Australia would place herself in opposition to the opinion of the whole civilised world?" asked the Amevicai 1 ! President. "That's about it, Mr President," was Mr Hughes' dry reply. Winston tells lis how this charmed old Clemcnce.au, Who for the first time, "heard the feelings of his heart expressed with unbridled candour." To the Australian Premier the Tiger remarked: "Mr 'Ughc's, T have 'card that in early life you were a cannibal." To which the sturdy little Australian, who had a fine gift of humour, answered genially: "Believe me, Mr President, that has been greatly exaggerated!"

HANDSOME BACK NUMBER It implies a certain ingenuousness, which is part of his charm, that MajorGeneral J. E. B, Secly is able to hold simultaneously the chairmanship of the National War Savings Committee and of a greyhound racing company. He was one oj the little group of Free j Traders who, a quarter of "si century ago, were ultimately driven from tlie Unionist Party, and within fen years he, had become so prominent a Liberal that he wns War Secretary at the time of the famous Curragh incident. His share in that made his resignation inevitable, and he found consolation i:i active service, during which he added to the laurels lie had won in South Africa. Now his only adventures come to him as an amateur member of a

lifeboat crew in the Isle of Wight. A handsome' presence, a pleasing voice, a confident manner, lengthy Ministerial experience, and a. host of influential connections are great political assets, but at the age of 00 he has joined tho ranks of those whose future is behind them. ELECTION EXPENSE Parliamentary candidates are hoping that, whatever the result of the election, it will be so decisive as to ensure the postponement of another for at least four years. With the enlarged constituencies, the authorised expenditure is about £2OOO, and, although it is unnecessary to incur the whole ot that amount, the knowledge that his rivals niiiy do so tends to make a candidate inv'est heavily in election literature. The number of men who can afford an'average Of £SOO a year for elections alone, to say nothing' of the incidental oirtlays between times, is limited, and tlie choice of candidates is thus severely restricted. Even the Socialist candidates with' the backing of trade unions,"shrink from the prospect of a series of expensive contests. BENEFICENT EARTHQUAKE After the splendid array of golden work from Ur, the new exhibition, at the British Museum, of Maya antiquities from Honduras is a trifle dull. But there is one exhibit which the authorities have, in their gleeful humanity, ticketed with its most reeerit history. It is a limcs'tone mask of great hideousness, which one of the workmen dug up from a grave, and concealed under his bed. That night, says the label on the case, an earthquake occurred, such as p rare in Southern. Honduras, and the thief was so terrified by his shaking up that he rushed round to his employers hotfoot With the stolen mask. I hope that when this mask is placed in the permanent collection, full tribute will be made to the Honduras earthquake as one of the museum's unpaid assistants. A MEDIAEVAL PUNCTURE A good many queer things must have happened, and never been recorded, when London was' crouching, under darkened roof s, "during the German air raids. A Westminster schoolboy told me" to-day of one remarkable and interesting incident that has, so far as I' am aware,' ' not been made public. BUried a safe distance below the\ school football field are two' presumably "live" German bombs. These projectiles fell there during one big attack, and there they are likely to re-' hiain so far as anyone connected with Westminster is concerned. No attempt has been made to dig them out. The reason for this is that they chanced to fall into what was formerly a famous plague pit, where bodies were carted during the Black Terror that swept England centuries ago. It is deemed inadvisable, since the bombs are quite harmless where they lie, f 6 start turning up the earth. SIR JOHN LAVERY Sir John Lavcry is one of the fewliving artists who do hot shrink from the ordeal of trial by auction. OheWf his pictures is being disposed of in this way on behalf of charity. When the Royal Academy : has to elect' a new president, one of the main considerations is how the : Works of the; painters proposed would fare at Chris"-' tie's. It would never do for a' P.R.AYs pictures to slump on the market.- Sir John Lavery's career has been' a romance of hard work, courage and; genius triumphing over youthful set : ' backs. His prospects were so poor that' he was on the point of enlisting in the'; army as a youth; but he obtained a job as touciier-up to a photographer, and thus earned a living while studying hard at the art schools. His studio is°a vast brown room hung witli long curtains of deep peacock blue relieved by some of the most beautiful Japanese screens to be seen in London. EMBRYO DETECTIVES Now that so much point is being made of the opportunities for' studyand promotion which are offered to'th& police 5 recruit a fillip may be given; to the existing tendency of public" school boys to eiilist in the police. This tendency is in part due to the modern craze for crime fictiifln and the knowledge that the C.l.D.—the''ambition of everv romantic police formed almost exclusively from the ''toriformed ' branch. A young man, whose father .was an Admiral, and who was destined for the Navy, entered the police two years ago and says that the work is quite as ; interesting as that of his friends in either'6f' the' 1 senior services. His most .amusing experience was when he was sent' to' control-the; crowds at the fashionable wedding of his own cousin who was marrying a Peer's daughter. . INDIANS AS SPORTSMEN The proposal that games should be made a compulsory part' of Indian edu-, cation recalls 'a story 'I once heard from the head of one of the Oxfbrd colleges. Among the undergraduates was an Indian potentate who was a superb batsman and something 6f a bowler as well, giving every indication of becoming another Ranjitsihjh'i. But he considered it beneath'the dignity'Of a gentleman of his distinction to take | any part in fielding/ and he persisted in that view in'.spite' of the' coaxing of his tutor and the admonitions of the captain of cricket. Accordingly, there could be no question of a cricket "blue" for him, and he returned to his native country convinced'that his exclusion was due 'solely Wo "race prejudice.