LONDON CHAT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13886, 25 April 1907, Page 3

LONDON CHAT.

(From Oue Own CoRHKspo:;nEXT.)

LONDON", -March 8.

TIIE KING,

Kin? Edward has «one to Ufarritz for Ills spring holiday. His journey thither, was uneventful, and his stay at the delightful Basque watering place, with the Kay of 'Biscay in front and the Pyrenees at the' back, will lie as purely private and domestic as ran possibly bo arranged. Strenuous appeals have Ix-cn made to the residents in liiarritz not to mob or follow or start- at, Ins Majesty,, who is to he regarded ii.i visiting the locality in the strictest incognito. Three spceial personal friends of the King have also arrived at Uiarritz— namely, Mr and .Mrs George Kep;;?l and Sir Ernest Cassel.

THE DOWAfiUR. EMPRESS OF

RUSSIA,

Queen Alexandra, ha.s not accompanied her. Imdiand, having remained in England, ho it is stated, to receive and entertain her.younger sisior, the Dowager-Empress of Ilussia, who has come on a visit to England after an absence of no loss than 31 years. The Dowager Empress's previous experience in England had boon the occasion of her sister's marriage, when she was able lo renew the ties of kinship with our royal house, which she already enjoyed through her great-a.unt, the Duches-j of Cambridge, in virtue of which, of course, blkv is the second cousin of ihe present Princess of Wales.

The Empress arrived at the London Victoria Station of the South-eastern and Chatham railway ai midday yesterday, most, extraordinary and extensive precautionary measures having been taken throughout, the whole line of route from her last departure-point, Berlin', in vieiv of 'Nihilistic and Anarchistic possibilities. Croat precautions were taken'to prevent unauthorised persons from approaching the Dowager-Empress both at Dover and in London. ,

"There is nothing to dread from Tlussian or any other desperadoes," said a, member of tho Anarchist-watching group of Scotland Yard detectives to a pron? representative. "There are over 500 Anarchists noiv in London, the majority of whom ha.ve been labelled 'dangerous' and packed over |to London from other countries. We know where each man is to be found and exactly what he is doing. A few of ii'o morn desperate have been placed in safely until the Imperial visitor returns to Hussia: the remainder will bo closely, 'shadowed.' Nothing is left lo chance."

One of the devices employed for ensuring tho safely ~of the Empress was alike ingenious and strikingly simple: it, consisted in secretly arranging lliat her steamer from Calais and her train from Dover should arrive at Dover and London respectively half an hour in advance of the published times. PARLIAMENT. The Parliamentary session drags ils slow length along with stringent attention from any features of either solid or spectacular interest. .The prestige of tho Government continues to go down hill with quite motorial rcckless impetuosity, and it really Wins to look as if a positive debacle wero looming not very far ahead, The utter failure to do anything toward restoring the credit which was so seriously impaired by almost craven submission to the tloutingß administered last .year by the House of Lords has Iwen more than the staunchest supporters of the Government can comfortstomach. Ministers lave taken their kicking "lying down," and seem almost to like it. As a mutter of fact, they have, of -course, no real grievance against the Upper Oliamhcr for. exercising its inherent nnd constitutional prerogative of dealing as it, thought best with measures ecnt up by the Lower House. But after tho fierce, furious, and fearful maimer in which Ministors and their adherents had foamed and flared and fulminated against tho peers, the

"oppressors of the people." it does seem a rather mild reply when the Premier and his colleagues merely say that, at some future time tho.v will do dreadful things; like poor King Lear, they admit that i.hey know not what that shall be, but certainly something very fearsome. Meanwhile tho peers go on their way unperturbed and, like tho man in the song, are "content to wait" 1

LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL ELEC-

Isul. tho eliccf on the public mind of the' Government's flabbiness has been demonstrated moro than onoo of late, with forciblcncss that must, be rather disquieting to the Whole-Liberal party in-the House of Commons. Tile Brigg catastrophe I' mentioned! Jasi- week. But the London municipal cataclysm of last Saturday was even more thorough-going and impressive. It mayor may not be known in New Zealand that tho Radical party in Parliament and the Progressive party in t,ho London County Council are almost interchangeable terms. As a rule so general as to have few exceptions. it may safely be affirmed that a Radical is a Progressive, and vice versa. Now, up to Saturday last, for a period of 18years, in fact ever since the London County Council -was established by tho Salisbury Government, the Progressives have had a- largo majority. Last Friday night the Progressive majority stood at 48 in a council of 118 members. By SnWday night that Progressive majority had been converted into a minority and into a Moderate majority of 36. In the previous election 83 Progressives and only 3t Moderates were returned; on this occasion only. 39 Progressives, but. 77 Moderates were elected. Last time thcro was also one who called himself Independent; so thero is this time, but also ono who is classed as "Labour and Socialist." Apart from the strong reaction setting in against Radical government, which, as I havo a large part in leading to the overwhelming defeat of the Progressives, other chief causes of the rout of tho Progressive forces were:—(l) Tho outcry against the crushing burden of rates, for which, rightly or wrongly, Progressive rule was held responsible; (2) the desire for a ehange, as tho Progressives had always boon in power, and many voters thought ihc other side "should have a chance": and (3) the fear that Progressives would introduco Socialistic reforms."

St. Paul's Cathedral.

Once moro Iho cry has been raised that London's great, cat-iicdrnl is in imminent peril. Tho day before yesterday one. of the most widely-read London papers beaded a social article with—"St. Paul's in Grave Danger." "South-west Tower Found to be. in n Desperate State." "What Can bo Hone?" It. proceeds as follows:- "St. Paul's Cathedral is in veal danger. One of the towers—that on tho south-west—is iu a desperate condition, and it is only too possible that the destruction of this part, of tho great pile may involve the ruin of the cathedral as Si whole. There have been rumours for some months past as to the unsafe condition of Wren's great masterpiece through the shifting of the foundations, but the cathedral authorities liavo invariablv thrown ridicule on all such suggestions. Now it. turns out. unhappily, that those rumours were not ridiculous at all. Tho optimism of the oHicials proves to have been mere selfdeception. The nnlpeasant fad, is that St. Paul's'is in extremely grave danger. Mr Mervyti Macartney, the well-known architect. and editor of tho Architectural Review. was recently appointed to examine the building and to issue an expert report upon it."

Aceonliiui to (lie newspaper from which J am qtioti»fr. Ml' Macartney's report is to :iie ell'ccl that "tlic whole of the southwest tower (the tower on the right hand as you stand facing ilip eatlicdral) is in a desperate condition. The subsidence of Jlto A):. 1 below has thrown it entirely out of fnijwc. _ Tlie authorities tire now m '-inking ivells to see if there is rfny hope of saving tlic towor bv means of under-pinning. Jtut it appears that there is very little hope, ami that thetower is practically doomed. Clear proof of tlio ohiftingi of the tower is afforded by tiio ino.vvio ni the foot, of it, inside St. Paul's. This mosaic has a more or less geometrical pattern, and (ho centre of tno pattern ought lo be t.'no centre, by scientific ineisuremciit., of the tower itself. But according to this tost (ho centre lias been shifted and the solid inneonry stands crookedly from the Iwe. Similarly, up in the first gallery. near the threatened tower, the solid blocks of masonry are beginning to separate." Mr Macartney's opinion is that practically nothing can be done to save Ilia lowei, mul that the Cathedral itself is sjrioiislv threatened. The shifting of the coil is the cause of all the trouble. Is (here any chance of the roil recovering? Mr Macartney thinks uot. lie is decidedly pcisiiniilie altogether. Hut. his report should at lc-ist rou-:o the authorities from their lethargv. What can lie done to save in? of tlie cliicf glories of London should he ;e'. about without dsiay. The cathedral .".ulhorities still persist in maintaining that the danger is remote and that its magnitude hits been exaggerated. Silt AUfiUST MAKXS. , S r Aupsrf Manns bin just, pa.wd away in the ill h f.".".; of y-v.rs and liuyio'.i]-. I need not give 1;,, in doia.il; every irusicai reuckr litmus iluf virUmlJv ever since the (>y,<al aJ S v „V,h*'a SSq ojjvucd in ]Dsj. Ayjugt M&uus'ras .tld

able and successful director of its music. He it was who organised and carried out those world-renowned Saturday concerts which, in the fifties and sixties, were the only things of the kind that Londoners could obtain. Hi' it was who initiated and inaugurated (he slill more famous Handel Festivals,, which have lasted from 1857 to the vrcjent. date, and the latestof which, last sinnmer, was admittedly finer than any of it? predcerssors. Yet, with characteristic self-abnegation. Sir August Mann, although to lly last ho was the life and soul of liic/ic Handel Festivals, was content to do meet of the drudgery o? preparation. leaving I lie external glories of conductorship at ilie public performances to the late Sir Michael Costa, and only accept in;; the official ]'.a=i(io;i of coiklhc."v on the death of the Italian mi.eslio. From that time until the penultimate festival Manns conducted eaeli triennial even'; Imt whop his eightinili year was approaching lie felt no'hinder equal to the formidable task of completing a. band ami e!;orus of 1000 performer.!, with an audience of 20,000 to JO,OOO, in :-o vast a building as the Crystal Palace.' And <;o he handed over the baton to Dr Frederick C'ouen, Who ever since has most worthily v/icldcd it. As a conductor Manns had few equals and still fewer superiors. He was not- a composer of ninrlc, but he was the means of bringing forward at lite Crystal l'ahice many works of talent which otherwise might .never have seen the light. And now at last ho has passed away.