OUR LONDON LETTER.

New Zealand Mail, 29 January 1902, Page 45

OUR LONDON LETTER.

GENERAL and personal notes.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON, December 13.

The date fixed for the coronation, 26th June, was the date originally fixed for the coronation of Queen Victoria, but rejected by her as being the annl- j rersary of the death of her uncle fjportre IV. Her coronation did take ulaco° on Thursday, 28th June, 1838, the Vigil of St. Peter and a fast day—a fact which gave offence to many of the High Church party, then just springing into prominence under the influence of the Tractarian movement. Thursday, the day of the week selected by the King for his coronation, was also the coronation day of Stephen, John, Richard 11., Charles 1., James 11., William and Mary, Queen Anne, George IV., William IV. and Victoria. King Edward’s coronation day will also be the anniversary of Cromwell’s installation as Lord Protector in the chair of Scotland, which was brought out of the Abbey for the purpose into Westminster Hall on Friday, 26th June, 1657. The 26th June will be the very centre of what should be the most festive season that London has seen lor a long time. It will be between Ascot and Henley, and a fortnight before that smart society gathering, the Eton and Harrow cricket match: Whether the great procession through the streets will, precede or follow the coronation ceremony is not yet definitely decided. It is quite on the cards that the Fleet street, Ludgate Hill route, which has only journalistic convenience to recommend it, will be given the go-by, and the broad Holborn thoroughfare, by which the Prince and Princess of Wales went to the Guildhall the other day, adopted, also that the 1897 jubilee route on the south side of the river will be followed, so that 'he procession will traverse a distance of about fourteen miles. It is suggested that their Majesties will call at Westminster Hall on their way back to Buckingham Palace for a short ceremonial, probably the raising of the King into his seat in Westminster Hall, the most Teutonic part of the ceremonies connected with the coronation, and the act by which the second estate of the realm elected a King. If this be so, it would surely be a simple and graceful thing to arrange for the return of the procession to Buckingham Palace by way of Victoria street, past the London homes of nearly all the self-governing colonies. A strong attempt will probably be made by the colonial representatives to induce the King in one of his Royal pageants to approach or leave Westminster Abbey by way of Victoria street. The name of the thoroughfare, its breadth, and colonial associations, and the' fact that it leads direct to the main entrace of the Abbey, entitle it to favourable consideraion. It has never yet been honoured by a ceremonial Royal progress, and its selection on so great an occasion would be hailed as a graceful compliment to the Britains beyond the seas.

Mr J.,N. Ritchie (Joli n’s) Ims passed the special examination for the ordinary B.A. degree, Law, Part 1., at Cambridge. Mr A. N. Fell is in good scoring form this season. Last Saturday he secured two tries out of the 16 points to nil scored by Edinburgh against Glasgow. Mr McEvcdy the same afternoon secured the only try for Guy’s, who were heavily defeated by Northampton by 20 to 3. Mr John Mclntosh, of Kirkcaldy, butcher, was entertained a few days ago and presented by his friends with a Gladstone bag on the eve of bis departure for Mew Zealand. Englishmen are very fond of poQlipoohing New Zealand’s “experiments, '* but I notice that when a sound commonsense reform is required, the little Antipodean colony—beg pardon. State—is generally the country from which a precedent is sought. When Mr Rossik. the Surveyor-General under the Boer Government, was giving evidence the other day before tlio Coinmission in the Transvaal, inquiring into the working of the gold law, and expressing his opposition to free prospecting on private lands, the chairman, Sir Richard Solomon, read to him the safeguards provided by New Zealand laws protecting owners against damage by prospectors. Mr Rossik at once admitted that such safeguards • would minimise his objections. Another trick for the “experimenters.” The purchaser of Battle Abbey is Sir ugustus \\ ebster, who married, a few Mars ago, the only daughter of the late t'rossley, of Halifax, an larll° \v w Sa y l!e Crossley, from whom naclj W ebster inherited a large fortune. for,v Al i gUStUS 1S tllirt y-seven, and was Guardsf a Captain in the Grenadier South^t £ r - smx Gie f ro»t. -An officer iii tain ,i frlca recently wrote to a certako llan * general asking for leave to reply he got Yank*? • Blocnif °ntein. In this hl-,n ßOt ,us ow n missive with comment on tV-back! rules) are not »if ,V 0 f rvi . co Wer the forts.” One hof r VOd , ? n,m “ ted eomof “animated l 0a t r( travellers speak mmated discomforts ” but what do

the ladies say to a service which regards them as merely the anti-type of the pulex irritans?

The Home press generally seems disposed to congratulate Queensland on the appointment of Sir Herbert Chermside as Governor. Certainly, he has a host of qualifications to recommend him. He has thirty years and more of military service to liis credit; he has commanded in Egypt and in the present war. It was he who, in conjunction with Admiral Harris, pacified Crete when every other attempt had failed. He has been military consul or attache in half a dozen important posts, including Constantinople, and he represented this country on the Turkish staff during the Turco-Russian war. He is a geographer and an authority on frontier laws, an army organiser, an accomplished linguist, a past-master in military engineering, and in the field of sport he has few all-round equals. Sir Herbert is an old Eton boy, and by birth a Wiltshire man, having entered the world at Wilton, near Salisbury, in 1850.

The announcement that the manager of the National Bank of Australasia has joined the board of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, raises a point in connection with hank management of interest alike to shareholders and the* public. Thereon the “ Globe ” says:—“ So far as can be ascertained, there is no precedent for a hank manager accepting a seat on the board of'any other company; indeed, the duties of a manager in these times are sufficiently exacting to admit his employers demanding that the whole of his time is at their disposal. But it would seem that the board of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency has been previously recruited from the officials of the National Bank of, Australasia, since the name of Air W. W. Oswald, the present manager’s predecessor in office, appears to have a seat on the New Zealand Company’s board.” A few days ago an application was made to Air Justice Wright in re New Zealand Trust and Loan Company, Limited. In this case the company petitioned for the sanction of the Court to a reduction of its capital under the Companies Acts, 1867 and 1877. Mr Justice Wright said that the papers appeared to be in order, but that a very large reduction was proposed. Air Macnaghten, one of the counsel for the petitioners, said that the assets were large. He asked that the order might not be produced to the Registrar until December 28, by which time the money would be in hand which would be required to make the returns to the shareholders involved in the reduction. Mr Justice Wright sanctioned the . reduction, and intimated that the order might be kept back as desired. He also allowed the company to discontinue any further use of the words “ and reduced” as part of its atame.

If it were not impertinent I should like to pat the Government of Queensland hard on the back, for it has recognised in a practical fashion a duty which every Australian Government, through its Minister of Alines, should perform, namely, that of warning the British investor against “ wild-cat ” promotions, which, within its knowledge, are being “readied” for the Home market. On December 4 papers were laid upon the table of the Legislative Assembly referring to an article on the Great Northern Copper and Goldmining Company of Queensland, which had appeared in a paper published in England, called “ British Alining,” of September 18. The Gold Warden and Inspector of Alines at Rockhampton recently visited the field, and reported adversely, upon the prospects of this enterprise, and the Government intimated its intention of publishing, all letters and reports, as it considred that if the people were not warned harm might be done to the Queensland mining industry. This is the. substance of a telegram received by the Agent-General, and Sir Horace Tozer has done his duty by communicating the same to the committee of the Stock Exchange, which has had it posted in the building. At the battle of Vlakfontein, Captain A. R. Finlay, of the Bedfordoßcgiment, was shot clean through the head, the bullet penetrating the forehead, and emerging at the back of the skull. AVlicn picked up on the field he was apparently ripe for the grave, but medical examination proved that life was not extinct, and the captain was taken to hospital. There he lay unconscious for over six weeks, one side of his body being paralysed. Ho was then sent Home and placed under the professional care of the eminent surgeon, Air Victor Horsley, who performed an operation, and removed no loss than twenty-seven pieces of shattered bone from his patient’s head, thus restoring sensation to the captain’s paralysed side. The gallant soldier is now progressing favourably, and his friends confidently anticipate a complete recovery. If that ensues, Captain Finlay will be a living monument to the marvellous progress of surgical science.

With the suicide of the popular actor. Walter Alontgomery, in 1871. two days after his marriage to Aliss Bigelow at St. George’s, Hanover square, is connected an Australian romance, which Mr Clement Scott has just brought to light in the "Free Lance.” When Wal-

ter Montgomery was in Australia, he fell in love with a charming girl who was an heiress. He proposed to her and was accepted, but the marriage was strongly objected to by her father. The actor, apparently heartbroken, sailed from Australia to England. On board ship lie was fascinated by another lady, and married her directly the ship arrived at Home. A few hours after the marriage Montgomery received a letter from the father of the Australian girl, saying that he had relented, that his daughter was dying of a broken heart, and that he was to hurry back to Australia to claim his bride and < her fortune. Remorse, disappointment, despair affected the handsome actor’s brain, and, rushing to his room, he blew out his brains. It is now stated that “Colonel” Arthur Lynch’s case will be decided by the House of Commons in full session, in I accordance with the practice followed in other cases raising similar points. If need be, a motion will be brought forward that.he.be not permitted to take his seat; and, having regard to Air Lynch’s own admissions as to leading the “Second Irish Brigade” when the Boers invaded Natal, it is not difficult to foresee what will be the result of such a motion. Of course Air Lynch may display that discretion which would certainly be the better part of such valour as he may possess and remain in France. Aleanwhile the “patriots” of Galway are evincing a disposition to quarrel with their elect on the score of his “shyness.” They long to see him in all the bravery of his Boer Colonel’s uniform (“made in Alarseillcs”) and to hear from his own lips how he routed the Oppressor’s Army in far-off Natal. But with the true modesty of the brave man, “Colonel” Lynch refuses to cross the Channel to receive their adulations. Perhaps lie’s afraid of being sea-sick. .According to later intelligence received from Barbadoes, Mr A. W. Lawton, the inventor of the fruit preserving process bearing his name, whose death through an explosion on the s.s. Para I chronicled some mails ago, was literally blown to pieces, as also were his two companions, Messrs *Titswop.d and Hamilton. On the evening of the 21st November, Air Lawton and his two friends went to the fruit chamber to take the temperature, and a few seconds after their entry a terrible explosion • occurred. The captain and. mate went ,to the chamber, and found that the three gentlemen were blown to pieces. . The explosion was apparently due to the i ignition of gases which had accumulated ,i» the refrigerator. Considerable damage was done to the ship, and the passengers, and mails had to be transferred to the steamei Esk. The cabin-boy was I badly injured, and others of the crew ' suffered from shock.

When Air Lawton was explaining his Tj°, c - ess the Hatton Garden offices hI , S f"?“Wnny some months ago, a personal friend of a scientific turn of mind . o accompanied me expressed an opinion that under certain circumstances the use of the process might be at--7 Wlth dan e<?r, but lie remarked, the danger is sufficiently remote to be disregarded ” But, as events have sadly proved, his optimism was not justified.

An evening contemporary informed a wondering world that Tom Alarm’s inotivo in going to New Zealand wa s to infuse.life into the labour movement” or the colony. We who know something or the colony’s labour matters simply smiled sadly, but the “Chronicle” took the evening .lia’portli’s statement as a text for a small sermon to Air Alaun, so:—“If that be his object he is about to engage in the unprofitable pursuit of carrying coals to Newcastle. Labour is more effectively organised in Australia and New Zealand than in any other part of the British dominions. Mr Mann, if lie is wise, will assume no airs of supeiority on landing in New Zealand. His correct attitude will be that of student and observer.” The fate of another one-time London labour leader, Air H. 11. Champion, is held up to Tom as a horrible warning. Airs Brown-Potter is to engage upon a curious and rather eerie ceremony at midnight on New Year’s Eve. She has been (according to “Week-End”) invited by the Alayor and .Corporation of Corleston. near Great Yarmouth, to visit that little town, and in the parish church, on the stroke of midnight, recito two poems, one being Tennyson’s “Ring Out, Wild Bells.” The church bells are, as it were; to ring out an accompaniment to that appropriate poem.