FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18995, 17 October 1923, Page 8

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS. Written for the Otago Daily Times. By Eobekt S. Angus. EDINBURGH, August 30. With the end ot the month there has been a big influx from coast and country to the towns. Except for the few which arc run on the English model., most of the schools resume work next week, and that fact decides the movements of the parents. The habit of postponing holidays till Sep tember is less prevalent with us than it h in the south, and most of those who adopt it spend their vacation in the south Oj abroad. On the other hand the northwaio tide of shooting men to the castles and lodges of the Highlands still continues, although the sport this year has been variable. Practically the whole of' the Royal Family is now in Scotland._ The King, after a few days’ shooting with The Mackintosh, over tbe famous moors of Moy Hall, is now at Balmoral, and we have the annual rather humiliating spectacle of tuft-hunters crowding to the parish church who are not conspicuous for attendance there during the rest of the year. I am told that the line of motors at Crathie Church last Sunday was nearly a mile long. The Queen has been spending a week with Lord and Lady Elphinstone at Carhery, and enjoying herself thoroughly, looking after the re-decoration and partail rc-furnishing of Holyrood Palace, and going through the furniture and antique shops of Edinburgh. The Prince of Wales has been back again at Glamis Castle, where the Duke and Duchess cf York are stay'ng with her parents. The attraction for the Prince is evidently the nearness of Gionoagles golf course, where he has been playing on several days. One' begins to suspect that he prefers the golf course to the grouse moor. HOME RULE AGITATION.

Last Saturday, it' seems, was the 618th anniversary of the death of William Wallace, and the occasion was celebrated by a demonstration in Glasgow under the auspices of the Scottish Home Rule Association- The moat successful feature of the day was the procession from Blythswood Square to Glasgow Green, that traditional centre of agitation. A series of some 30 tableaux had been arranged, representing various incidents in Scottish history and aspects of Scottish life. The streets were crowded to see them, but, thanks largely to a drenching rain, few of the spectators thought it worth while to hear the speeches. To judge by the reports they did not miss much. Although avowedly a “nonparty organisation embracing all shades of political opinion,” the association entrusted its speeches with one exception to Labour members of Parliament, whose tone was what might have been expected. Mr James Maxton and Mr Neil Maclean may have many excellent qualities, but their right to speak on behalf of Scotland is at least questionable. They indulged in loud complaints as to the “domination of England” and Scotland being made “the playground of the rich,” but one would like to hoar the average Englishman on that topic.

HOUSING SLUGGISHNESS. I am surprised to learn that in Edinburgh there has been little response to the corporation’s offer of a subsidy to persons willing to undertake the building of their own houses. It ranges from £25 for a to £XSO for a five-roomed dwelling. Even with this assistance it is alleged that the cost is excessive, largely because of the shortage of labour, a strange complaint at a time when the number of unemployed is increasing every week. The reason assigned is the restrictive policy of the trade unions, which insist that the number of apprentices shall not be more than one to every three journeymen. Many of the latter have emigrated owing to the slackness of trade at home and the high wages offered in Canada and the United States, so that the rate of recruiting is artificially diminished. The only remedy seems to be one such as , Lord Weir has proposed, whereby building materials and methods would be so simplified that they could be employed by some of the unskilled workmen who abound. That would mean a stiff fight with the unions, but the feeling of the community would be strongly behind the scheme.

EDINBURGH’S NEW TRAMWAYS. Times are changed when the manager of the Edinburgh tramways can go to a meeting of his fellows and hold up his system as a model. This is what Mr Pilcher has been doing at Southampton this 'week. He was able to tell the tramway conference there that as the result of the conversion from cable to electricity running costs have been reduced by no less than £112,187 a year. That represents about three farthings on , every car mile run. Mr Pilcher thinks that there is still further economy to be gained by reducing the weight of the cars, and he justifies this by comparison of the older plant taken over from Loitli with the newer vehicles he is now putting on the streets. He points out the fallaciousness of the argument by which for many years—before his arrival—Edinburgh postponed the scrapping of the old system. The plea was that the city could not afford the capital expenditure involved. Experience has shown that the change will pay for itself handsomely within a few years.

BLAIRGOWRIE FRUIT CROP. The fruit harvest which is now closing in the Blairgowrie district has been rather disappointing, and it has been made worse at the last moment by torrential rains. Still, the amount gathered has been about 1000 tons (as compared with over 1300 last year), and as the prices have ranged about £SO a ton, it must have brought into the district a much larger sum than could possibly have been obtained for ordianry agricultural produce. The development of Blairgowrie as a fruit centre has taken place within the last 25 years, and has been a great economic gain, but it would be absurd to proceed from that fact, as so many do, to the conclusion that fruitgrowing can be extended , indefinitely all over the country. The success has been due to a fine qp-il and climate, proximity to a good railway service, and the energy of one or. two exceptional men. FRESH-WATER FISH.

Mr Henry Lamond, who is an amateur, has prepared for the Scottish Fishery Board an interesting report on the powans and lampreys of Loch Lomond. The povvan, locally known as the “fresh-water herring’’ and in England as the grayling, is in fact a near relative of the salmon, but lacks the sporting qualities of that fish, and is consequently no attraction to the angler. Even •when they are caught by the net—and the catch is sometimes as much as 50,000 in a season —they are in no demand, for we Scots, it seems, have no liking for freshwater fish, and (hey have to be sent to the Midlands of England to find a market. Loch Lomond has long been spoiled for the angler by the pollution of the river Leven, but the gradual purification of that stream is already having its effect in the increase of salmon and trout. BURNS’S GRAND-NEPHEW.

The Rev. Dr Bruoe Beveridge Begg, who died at Kirkcaldy this week at the age of 87, was a grand-nephew of Robert Burns. But he had other claims to distinction. For nearly 50 years he was the parish minister of Abbot shall, on the outskirts of Kirkcaldy, and at the time of his retirement he was the senior member of the

local Presbytery. He had something of his famous forbear's contempt for convention, and was the first minister in .Fife to introduce instrumental music in his church. A VETERAN WEITING-MASTEja

Old pupils of Ayr Academy will learn with sorrow of the death of Mr Laurence Anderson, who for more than 40 years was teacher of art and writing. His predecessor in the same post was appointed in 1796, so that between them they covered a period of well over 100 years. To judge by my own observations, the teaching of writing lias been abandoned in the case of boys, while it has reached a much higher standard in the case of girls. At any rate, one never hears of a writing-master nowadays. Mr Anderson, who had attained the age of 90, was almost the last survivor of those who joined the volunteer movement when it was started in 1859. OUR ONE LADY ADVOCATE.

Miss Jiidd, the daughter of the former Under-Secretary for Scotland, and M.P. for . inlithgow, our first woman advocate, had her first brief this week. It was at the Glasgow Circuit Court, where she had to defend a poor woman who had poisoned two of her children by gas. Medical evidence showed that 'she was insane, so that her counsel had a fairly easy task. Her father tells me that already she has a prospect of a fair amount of iVork, and as he is a solicitor he may be able to help. I am 'not sure whether I mentioned at the time of her being called to the bar the graceful act of Lord Strathclyde, who, as Mr Alexander lire, was a political opponent of her father’s. When he read of Miss Kidd’s call he made her a gift of the brief-box. which be used during his own successful career at the bar. "If Miss Kidd keeps it half as well frilled as its original owner did. she will do well. GOLF TOURNAMENTS.

To the great delight of Carnoustie, Mr Alexander Mann, a local player, won the 'telegraph golf cup. defeating in the final round Mr Cook, of the Kingsnowe Club, Edinburgh, who was a strong favourite. Mr Mann is an old hand at the game. Which he learned on the adjoining links of Monifieth. Business took him to India for 16 years, and there he three times won the Indian championship. He is now a stockbroker in Dundee and plays mostly at Barry and Carnoustie, where he is recognised as one of the foremost in that stronghold of fine players. Mr Cook, who is 27, or 17 years younger than his opponent, is bound to be heard of again, especially when he has more experience of playing in presence of. a large gallery. At Dunbar the schoolboys’ championship is in progress. I remember expressing at the time of its start some doubt as to the wisdom of subjecting lads to tile nervous strain of such an event. I must admit that the youngsters seemed none the worse for it, and some of them played with a coolness which many a professional champion, would give much to be able to command. In an international match the Scottish boys had easily the best ot it, as was perhaps to be expected on their native heath. A WINDFALL FOR DUNDEE.

Mr Patrick Gardiner, a successful London Scottish merchant, who left over £64,000, has bequeathed practically the whole of it to l charity, mostly in Dundee, and the residue, which seems likely to amount to about £50,000, goes in the proportion of twofifths each to the Orphan Institution and the Working Boys’ Home, and one fifth to the “Mars” training ship, all of them excellent institutions.