LONDON CHAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13745, 9 May 1908, Page 5 (Supplement)

LONDON CHAT.

1 95 til•: . • -.j • • ff..; [FROM OUR own CORRESPONDENT.3 "' > . . London, March 27, • \ J,atit Day, 1908, roust remain a memorable '-'' and even historic date, for.it gave to the ' - knowledge of the 'world; two remarkable '; events which had happened on the previous ■,' day and each of which may ho termed llti? epoch-making. 1 .'. | v : •_ • V ;.•- . • ."i.» . : :■ '• Tn the first place one of England's greatI est' nobles, and— a sense perhaps the .Jii-dicst—greatest statesmen had passed away. The Duke of Devonshire was chiefly ■ known to the world at large through iii's caricaturists who almost invariably repre- '■}'' ■ tented him as. asleep or yawning. There was this much of solid foundation'for their 'ij- jibe that alter preparing, with''an'infinity V, ' of labour and anxiety, his maiden-speech in the Home of Commons/ which he began tinder a semi-paralysis of nervousness, he ; became so weary of his effort before finishin|T that he actually did break into a yawn •.•■V i,t°tho midst of one of his most elaborate {.. ' •periods. It. is said to have been this fact I-:'- that inspired Disraeli,-who was keenly watching the newcomer, with a strong eonS: viction of the public future that must sure- ' "r ly be in store for so very cool a cucumber i,- (Hi this, • ■ v The second . item of news that has made Lady Day, 1908, memorable, was the pub- & lication of the results of the by-election for Peek ham; I fear there has oiteli been ■'' ! some tendency to poke ill-uatur«d tun at that harmless and respectable South b«n- ---' • don suburb. There none so bold to-day y : as to fling a scofi' at Peckham, tor it has inflicted upon the present Government so ,*.'idisastrous a reverse, so tremendous a moral and actual defeat, that only a few yeas ago ill .the days when Gladstone and Dis-1-raeli respectively were so sensitive on the ■ '/score of by-election verdicts, such a result ' as the one under notice would have been the signal for an immediate appeal to tin: country at large. For. many years 1 eclv- " ham had been a fairly safo Conservative . seat, although the- majorities had always been moderate to small. But in the geneI ral election of- two years ago, the Conservative candidate was defeated by the huge ; ; majority of 2339. I have preferred to put ' ; it in this way because unmistakably ulie popular vote was given against the Conservatives rather than for the Liberals. Two vears have passed during which a Liberal Government has been in power, '!&■■■ supported in the House of Commons bv • ; enormously the biggest majority on record, and the Peckham electors were practical • ' • invited to express their opinion of the regulfThev did so by ignomuuously kickp 4 iii" out the Ministerial candidate by a still ? larger majority even than that by winch vft* thev had returned the Liberal member two % vears previously. Mr. Gooch, the Conservative candidate, was elected by a majority ,=•."! of no lew than 2494. This, of course I- ' means in round numbers the difference ot ' 5000 votes between the two. elections, and - a. proportionate gain to the . Opposition rotes. Tlia excitement throughout the whole election, and particularly during the V'- ' polling, was simply tremendous, and is '. declared by those who keep a note of suc.i & things, to have never been previously equalled in any British election. Anyhow, the result naturilly created an immense sensation The Conservatives iii their moil- ■ sanguine hope, the Liberals in their worst fears, rever pictured to themselves the possibility- of such a gigantic turnover— such an unparalleled bouleverscnvent. Naturally Ministers and their supporters are unre- ' strainedly furious -at the beating they hay© sustained, an.l I regret to say that this feeling was manifested by-the majority in ' the House of-Commons- by an outburst ot ill-manners and rudeness that has no precedent in the history of. that usually re- " spectable institution. For, when the new member. Mr. Gooch, entered to _ take t.;e oath and his seat, and was received with cheers of welcome by his own side, the Ministerialists, instead of giving a cour--1 teous if silent, greeting to the newcomer, - actually hooted him with derisive cries The Conservatives, rather irrelevantly cued : "Hear, hear," the Liberals rudely .respond- ' ed "Beer, beer!" it-being the mot- dordre "'•"-i - that the Peckham victory should be alleged to have been gained, purely by the brewing > interest—an absolutely false and unworthy assertion. One regrets that the historic : House should have been disgraced by. such $-*' an exhibition of party hooliganism. " ' To < r ive some faint idea of the extent to which" the "flu" epidemic has paralysed • bath business and.pleasure m London sin t» ■ the new year set m, I may quote the fol- :.. lowing suggestive paragraph from a leadin„ ' London paper:—" great hive been the ravages of the influenza in London latch f that scarcely one of the ' stately houses, ' not even excepting Buckingham 1 alacc, nas been left unvisik-d by the scourge, i n ' King mnwilf had a- touch of the malady previous to going to Brighton, where Hi • Majesty .fortunately abie entirely to h shake <-ff its effects, and although st' ; ! • troubled with a slight cough is now practi- - . sally well again. Such numbers of people / have fallen victims to the fashionable ' disease that many intended entertainments \ have had to be put off and one hostess has - been sending out her invitations with in- • fluenza permitting' writen m the corner ox the card." Happily the virulence ot the visitation seems now to be steadily on the wane, and the influenza deaths have diminished from 150 weekly, to something ' more like the normal rate. But " the number is legion " of ex-victims who still suftei • severely from general weakness and nervous exhaustion. Queen Alexandra, with her sister the Em- . press Marie Fcodorovna of Russia, and 1 1111* • cess Victoria, paid surprise visits this ween, to the Roval Military Hospital and to the ■ ' Royal Army College, at Millbank. At the former, Queen Alexandra, who admired the ■ catering arrangements for the soldiers, apf.\ propriated, a loaf for the Royal table. At the Medical School . the visitors showed ■ great interest in the germs of malarial fever , . and sleeping sickness under culture in the ' laboratory. Both visits had been kept t.- secret up to within about an hour of the arrival of the Royal party, nbbrdy at the institutions concerned knowing,, anything ot ' Their Majesties* intentions, except the chief medical officer and commandant, respective- < ly. The Queen, Empress, and Princess, ■ were received at the main entrance by FieldMarshal Karl Roberts and Sir Frederick v Treves, Sergeant Surgeon to the King ana member of the Army Medical Advisory ; • Board. The Queen had visited the institution on two prior occasions, and did not therefore propose all inspection in detail, her main object being informally to open the new nurses* home which has been completed since the former visits. The Royal ladies, however, specially wished to inspect the ' kitchens, and two or three ,of the wards. ....'• In the kitchens the Queen and Empress displayed keen interest.and appreciation, and .. each expressed warm approval of all the ar- ' ■ rangements. . An extraordinary Bill has been introduced 'v into Parliament by Mr. Robert Pearcc, : namely, . the Calendar Reform Bill; it is backed by Sir William Bull, Mr. J. 1). Hope, and Mr. Corrie Grant. Its object is "stated to be "to regularise the quarters of : the year, adjust the days of the week and of the month, and fix Easter Day and other bank holidays and dates depending upon ' Easter," With this view the first day of .; the year will be, a bank holiday called New ; Year's Day, but it is not to be a day of the week or of the, month or quarter. This leave for the rest, of the year 364 days, " , which divide exactly into four equal quarters of 91 days each, and into 52 weeks of ¥. . seven days each. Each quarter will contain 1 . exactly i 3 weeks divided into two months .irof 30 days each, and one_ of 31 days. The i . v, ordinary quarter days will not be interferf,*. "Ed with, and special provisions, as in the 'v. , .Calendar Act, 1750, will preserve days of < , payment, delivery of goods, expiration of , leases, etc., and coming of age. Starting in f 1912. Easter Sunday and all the movable feasts, fasts, and dates dependent upon it fi Will be fixed so ns to fall in every year on • the same day of the same month, as well ; as oh the same day of the week. April 7 i'will, it is proposed, their and always be " ' Easter Sunday. Christmas Day, December '*- 25, will always be on a. Monday. Each day f■' of the month will always full on the same ! ' 1 day of; the. week. To provide" for Leap < ' Year one other bank holiday, to be called •v.,' l#ea»». Year Day, % will in Leap Year be in* tfffj verted between June 31 and July 1. It will i not he. a'day of the week, month, or quarter. *sfs>.-It-i$ iuatfcstcd that the now calendar should •' V';' .. ' '-..i 'vV

j come into force in the year 1912 in order to ■ 'give time for colonial and international con-.cirl-reiice in the proposals. Mr. Pearcc, the author of this eccentric proposal, holds also j i the paternity of the even more singular Bill which provides for the alteration of clocks ■i and watches so as to enable people generally 0 without changing 'their customary :i:r'range.mont.s,' to enjoy more of the daylight and sunshine than' they can under the existing 15 time system. Mr. Pearce evidently "means s well," but that is about all one .can say of 1 his slightly revolutionary proposals. Recently I mentioned the very sad case . of Dr. Hall Edwards, L.R.C'.P., who. one of the pioneers in the application of X- - rays to the treatment of human- ailments, 1 and who as a result of " dermatitis '' con- ,• tracked during his experiments, was obliged s a few weeks ago, to have his left, fore-arm _ amputated. ulcers had grown on both i hands, and had eaten steadily into the flwsli t . and bone. For some years now he has suf- , fcrcd excruciating "pain, but in spite of this , he nas continued his work at the Birmingj ham General Hospital. He has been so de- . - voted to his work that he has spent his own . earnings on experiments, and his efforts j have been instrumental in curing -many cases , 01 acute suffering. Even now, after' losing . one hand, and with the possibility ot bayr big to sacrifice, the other, he is continuing _ his studies, experiments, and operations in _ the interests of humanity. lam glad to , say that in the House of Commons this week Mr. Asquith made the interesting announcement that a civil list pension has been . granted to Dr.. Hall Edwards for his ; services to science. The statement was - made in answer to a question by Sir Gilbert i Parker, who referred to Dr. Edwards' sufi . ferinsrs in .the cause of science and for the , benefit of humanity. Mr. Awjuith replied : • "The Prime Minister has anticipated this ' question, and on his advice His Majesty i has been pleased to grant a civil list peu- > sion of £1.20." .1 suppose that the poor I victim will deem half a. loaf better than i no bread," but the sum seems a most unworthy and miserable pittance to be. award- • cd by this great country to so distinguished ; «, martyr to the cause of science and of i' suffering humanity. , A book sale of exceptional interest was * . held a few days ago at Sotheby's, compris--1 ing the famous ecclesiastical and general library of the late Bishop Colt, ,of Truro. ' The first afternoon's proceedings afforded a ■ rare opportunity, of securing literary trea- ' sures., The gem ofvtiie sale was a perfect ' copy of Voraigne's " Golden Legend," printed by William Caxton, the first English printer, at " Westmcstre the twenty day of ' Noucmbre the ye re of our Loid, 1.483," the only perfect copy known. The most interesting feature of the volume is the page con- ; taining the Legend of St. Thomas of Canterbury—ordered to be torn out by Henry Vlll.and this appears to be the only copy that has escaped. ■ From a starting point of £500. bidding rose to £1300, at which.price 1 Mr. Quaritch became the purchaser. The record price ever paid at auction for a specimen of Caxton's press is £2225, for the celebrated Royal Book. Another great trea- . sure was the rare Black Book, " Biblia Pauperum," printed in Holland prior to 1450, and containing illustrations attributed to Roger of Bruges, a disciple of Van Eyek. ' By no means in perfect condition, but "still ' wonderfully well preserved for its age, this 1 scarce little volume elicited £100 "to begin with, and at the ' end of a. brisk contest it passed into the possession of Mr. Quaritcli for £1290. Many rare early editions of the Bible were sold, the first edition of ' Coverdale's translation, and- the first to be ' printed in the English language (1535) fetch-* % ing £175. For a unique little volume of the York Breviary, 1-533, measuring only four inches by throe, £355 was given, while a 15th century Italian MS. Breviary on ' vellum went for £195; and the first edition ' of Defoe's " Robinson Crusoe for £145. Much amusement was caused in some of the chief streets of Dublin at the end of last week, by a demonstration of Trinity College students, as a mark of sympathy with one of their number v.'ho had been , rusticated by order of the board. , The trouble arose out. of a St. Patrick's'night celebration. The students, it appears, lighted a. bonfire in the square known as Botany Bay, which was intended, incidentally, to be in honour of the boxer Roche if lie won the world's championship, which was decided that! night. -The. junior dean ■ interfered, and' complaint was made to'ilie board, as a; result of which the ringleader, Elliott, was sent down. At the hour of lis expulsion two students took up their places on horseback near the Grattan statue, and as Elliott and his friends were leaving the building 300 students : rushed out of the grounds, _ commandeered all available cabs and outside cars, and formed a procession. , The horsemen*.led off, followed an outside car, upon w'liich a student simulating death - was stretched at full length under suitable draping. A couple'' of students wearing surplices, followed, ' after which came 30 or 40 vehicles, and a baud playing funeral airs. In this way. the procession" accompanied by police, paraded manv of the principal streets of Dublin. '