LONDON CHAT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13519, 16 February 1906, Page 7

LONDON CHAT.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON". December 29. A record Christmas! It is agreed upon all nands, even that mythical authority "the oldest inhabitant" not dissenting, that Monday in this week, otherwise Christmas Day, 1905, was in respect. of weather tho most magnificent Christmas Day ever known in this part of tho United Kingdom—that is to say, London and its environs. Imagine a beautifully fine and bright and calm and sunny lato spring or early summer day, sufficiently but not unduly warm, and yon have the exact conception of Monday last. The days preceding and following were almost equally beautiful. What foolish people will persist in miscalling a "good old-fashioned Christmas" —i.e., with deep snow and hard frost—is in reality the rarest, possible experience in this part of thy British Isles. I believe that one did actually occur just 45 years ago—i.e., in IB6o,—but I cannot find any authentic record of a recurrence. Certainly thero lias not been 0110 during tho past 13 years; that I can assort from continuous personal experience. Christmas Day is almost always mild, but often cloudy, not to say gloomy, and not seldom wet. This year's afforded a delightful contrast alike to this normal form of Christmas and to the largely imaginary one bearing tho "good old-fashioned" title. Happily, the oilier "good old-fashioned'' phase of Christmas— namely the social celebration of the occasion, at auyrato tho maudlin and swipey kind which Dickens unhappily immortalised as tho ideal method of celebrationhas gono as entirely out of fashion as tlio theoretical old-fashioned out-of-door phase, People 110 longer doom it a point of honour ami good-fellowship to get beastly drunk on. Christmas Kvo or Christmas Day, or 10 gorge themselves to repletion with*indigestible viands. Thero seems ample justification for assorting that temperance in meat as well as in drink—by which I do not of course mean intemperate teetotalism—has now become Iho social rule in England, and amy overt excess the marked exception. Thero were, 110 doubt, a few cases of drunkenness this Christinas. The Police Court reports make that unhappily clear. But I understand 1 that these arc decrcasingly numerous year by year, and certainly I can say this, *1 was a- great deal about various parts of this metropolis during the Christmas just passed, and I did hot como across one single drunken person. I have spoken to many other people who had exactly tlio same tale to tell. So that much is all to tho good. Last week I mentioned with regret thai, a large number of poor people had been deprived of their Christmas dinners, and even of their ordinary meals, and reduced to virtual destitution through the defaulting of several "Slate Clubs,'' as they are rather absurdly termed, those institutions, which consist of 0110 man and a slate. Tho man receives tho contributions of all and sundry for some weeks before Christmas, these contributions being intended to accumulate until a day or two before the festival, when the aggregate would bo handed over to defray the cost of the annual Christmas dinner of tho contributor and his or her family. The man enters on the sla-to until the prearranged total is readied. Thoro is doubtless much to be said in favour of this plan ill theory, because the contributor or eontributress has an inducement to save many small sums which otherwise would be spent 011 drink, but the success of the scheme necessarily presupposes honest administration, which in some cases no doubt is forth, coming. Unfortunately in a lars>o number of instances, this year as in previous years, when the man with the slate has got in hand all tho contributions, lie simply wipes the slate clean, and, folding his tent like the, Ai'ahs, silently steals away—literally " steals" away! _ The robbed ones are left helplessly lamenting. I mentioned two or three of these cases last, week, but quite a number more have since come to light. In on instance, a. father was the ostensible mnn with the slate, hut tho popular urinciplc of "devolution" was employed,"and tho son, upon whom the practical care of the slate devolved, wipikl it clean "011 his own," and promptly decamped with the proceeds, the consequence being that his father spent his Christmas in prison; and thero he still remains, joining his solo lamentation witMn the prison walls to the choral wailings of the robbed oiics' outside. /his sort of thing goes on year aftea* year, increasing yearly 'a frequeitcy as e*iperienco shows with what impunity the fraud can usually be perpetrated, and the victims never seem to iearti wisdom by their experience, but- allow themselves to bo bled time after time, presumably etill liopihg for tho best-.

Another record Which lias just beep set up by this wonderful Dewmbcr ig actually a drought. Imagine tt record drought in December 1 Yet &Uch 15 the case according to the Meteorological statisticians. Of cotirec wo.arc all of us aftare that virtually 110 rain has fallen this month; some of us liavo noted ■ abo lliSt there havo been 18, consecutive days without a drop of rain 'ailing; but the meteorological records go farther, and declare that so long a period of absolute rainlessiiess has not occurred 111 the liionth of Deccmbc-r since met€orological records have existed—at nny rats for more than half a century. Which is- very interesting and also agreeable. At the time I write a slight driiizle is falling but not of sufficient volume to call for an unfurled umbrella. It is emphatically a "green Ylu|<?j" but science find exponents have ioiig sincc demolished the foolish old fancy that "a green Yule makes a fat churchyard." while the other unsupported idea- that a mild Christmas means a cold and late spring has als'j tumbled to plfcrts Under skilled investigation. Certainly n late cold snap blight. bo very disastrous if deferred until, February, for already the spring flowers are. but in nuinbcVs ■ itt tlm sheltered parts of southern and Westeth England—primroses can lie found by tlie dozen or score in Devonshire—and ntiiny trees and shrbbs, not only in Devonshire, Cornwall, and the Islei of Wight,- but even in the London parks nut) gardens are bud. ding tjliile green. If this frostless weather should continue throughout January and then lie followed br a hard February.frost, it would inein virtually no fruit next summer, and other dathag'e as well. At the present tinitf the Motherland is almost wholly given over, toelccfioliccrihg. The gfchcifet election wili take place lirtt mdrith, aiid win be all over. befbFe Mils letter reaches New ZdaiiiHd; tilercfdfi* ittiy speculations as to results would be utterly idle.' Nevertheless, I may remark casually

<13 reproducing Iho "London Chat" of tlio moment thnt tho Conservative-Unionist side has pluokcd up spirit tremendously of lato, iind whilo scarcely anticipating an absolute victory at tlio polls, docs expect to find purlieu wry much more evenly balanced ilmn nt one limo appeared likely. Tho rtwpootivo party cries have- now bccomo definitely accentuated. C-B. and Co. shout "No I'roloction 1" Balfour, Chamberlain, and Co. shout "No liomc Rule!"' Each tlally declines to permit the election to be fought tin tho bat tic-cry of his opponent. Hut nobody attempts to explain how it is possible to prevent this. What has come about very distinctly, however, is the hoped-for olosiiiß up of tho Unionist ranks. Tlioir watchword now is that it is needless tu bother about tariff reform while in Opposition—" tho function of an Opposition is to oppose,"—and what tho Unionists now have lo do is to p;c.t out tlw Government of Home ltulcr.'. Similarly, the various sections of tho Campbell-Banner-manites Imvo in n large degreo closed up on the basis of Frcetrado. But in reality no living soul has tlw faintest idea as to the prolmblo outcome. Blugginess has been tho most prominent, characteristic of the newspapers this Christmastide. In tho absence of other "copy" vast areas liavo boon covored with the Muggiest of details about what is alleged to bo going on in Russia. As n matter of fact, Iho various accounts do not at all hang togethor, but differ so widoly as to suggest some place much nearer home than St.' Petersburg or "Moscow as their fons ct origo. Therefore... as I have 110 personal knowledge of what is passing, excepting to the extent of certainty that nobody else in this country knows much more, it is needless that I should fiil up my spacoivith descriptions of horrors that, may be picturesque, that certainly are blood-curdling, but that, cannot be authenticated as possessin;? objective existence. Of Christmas music there is little to be said this year. No novel departures have occurrcd. but the samo old accustomed round of selections from Handel's " Messiah " is still deemed to satisfy all legitimate musical cravings. It doesn't! But that is neither hero nor there! This year, however., as last, there hns been one laudable exception—namely, at. St. Anne's, Solio, where again Bach's " Christmas Oratorio" has weekly boen beautifully interpreted by an excellent choir and orchestra. The oratorio nominally consists of six "parts," which are in reality separate cantatas, and tho practico at St. Arane's is to givo the first, three of these before Chrfstmas and the, latter three after that festival, and during Epiplianytido. On tho afternoon of Monday next (Now Year's Day) there is to bo a- magnificent orchestral concert at the Queen's Hall under the magic baton of Mr Henry Wood. About this I may have something zaore to sayivhon it. has duly como off. This year's Christmas exodus from Lon. don lias furnished rocord-lmnters with another specimen, for it has utterly transcended anything in previous experience. All the railways that run out of London frankly admit that their traffic lias boon "enormous" and unparalleled. They are usually somewhat, chary of making this admission, bceausc it i 6 apt to inspire share, holders Avith sentiments of undue greediness in tho direction of improved dividends. But on tho present occasion, tho fact was too obvious and tremendous to be susceptible of even partial concealment. And so tho best lias been made of it. . Naturally the Charing Cross disaster has grievously hampered tho hands of tho South-eastern and Chatham line, by which tho bulk of the Anglo-Continental traffic is carried on. It is now admitted that there '3 not the slightest hope of working being resumed to and from the Charing Cross terminus, even under a temporary covering, until March next. Temporary "umbrella" roofs will bo erected over the various platforms—as is now being done at the Victoria station of the Brighton railway—to afford shelter during tho progress of reconstruction. When these shall ho complete, tho remains of the vast curved roof will be carefully pulled down mid a new roof, only about half the height, substituted. It is to bo constructed 011 what is technically known as "the ridge and furrow" principle; in other words, there will be two relatively low gables instead of the vast and lofty, but. dangerous, single arch. Lurid light has iust been thrown, side, ways, as it were, npon the catastrophe by a letter from Mi Russell Aitken, who was 0110 of the engineers employed in association with Sir .John Hawkshaw, in tho construction of the original Charing Cross roof, and who himself subsequently planned and directed the similar roof of Cannon Street Station. 111 preparing his plans for the latter, which was built subsequently to 'the Charing Cross one, Mr Aitken discovered that not nearly enough allowance, had been made in tho abutment walls of Charing Cross for the stress of so vast a Bomi-eiroitlar roof. He acted upon this discovery in tlio caso of Cannon Street, and so greatly strengthened the walls as practically to avert an;, risk of their yielding to t-lio lateral pressure. It was intended to act further upon his discovery by strengthening tho walls of Charing Cross Station; this was found to demand two massive towers at- the southern extremities of the rcsnectivo walls, but only one could be erected owing to tho difficulty of obtaining the land required as a site for the western one. Consquentlv Iho western wall was left confessedly, and as the event has proved, dangerously, weak. The recent fatal catastrophe has been tlio outcome.