FROM NORTH OF WEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21994, 1 July 1933, Page 14

FROM NORTH OF WEED

LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS Written for the Otago Daily Time* B.y Robert S. Angus. EDINBURGH, April 19. Except in so far as it happens to coincide with some of the local spring holidays, Easter still finds comparatively little observance in Scotland. The Roman and Episcopalian Churches, of course, have; the services proper to the occasion, and an increasing, if still small, number of Presbyterian churches follow their example. We have had week-end visits from friends in England on holiday, but otherwise work has gone on as usual. This year the fanners are unusually well ahead, thanks to the long spell of fine weather, but if rain does not come soon they will lose more than they have gained. In the industrial world there is little change, and, on the whole, it is for the better. Some of the closed collieries have reopened, and the coal trade looks for still further improvement, in view of the announcement that the agreements with Scandinavia and Germany will mean an increase of four million tons in exports to these countries, in other words steady work for about 16,000 miners, most of them in Scotland and the North of England, to say nothing of the additional traffic for railways and pingA LARGE WINDFALL.

Under the will of Lady Seaforth of Brahan a sum of over three-quarters of a million is distributed among charitable objects, and about £175,000 falls to Scottish institutions. The largest beneficiary is the Seaforth Sanatorium at Brahan, which receives £60,000, and the amount would have been still larger but for Lady Seaforth’s belief that the national insurance scheme had rendered a larger endowment unnecessary. The remainder goes to mainly to infirmaries in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Highlands, Dingwall and Stornoway, for instance, getting £IO,OOO each. Her ladyship’s interest in the Crofters’ Agency its value is not staged—is to be used partly for assisting women and girls in the Harris and Lewis to find work in their own homes and partly for the benefit of disabled soldiers in Ross and Cromarty, while the ultimate residue is to be divided by her trustees among charitable objects. In every ease the legacy is to he used as endowment aiid not for building purposes. The estate of Brahan, I believe, goes to a nephew—the son of Lord Midlcton. It is appropriate that ft good proportion of the ‘money should some to Scotland, for Lady Seaforth’s father, Mr Steinkopf, laid the foundations of his fortune in Glasgow, where, as a young German clerk, he was employed by a firm of exporters. FORENSIC MEDICINE.

In the days when universities are founding new chairs every year, it is a little surprising that Aberdeen, of all places, should he proposing to abolish its chair of forensic medicine and replace it by a lectureship. Dr Matthew Hay lent distinction to the post for many years, and in his case the smallness of the salary was of minor importance since he was at the same time medical officer of health for the city. The chair was founded 70 years ago by an endowment of £IOOO from Dr Alexander Farquharson Henderson, and seven families of his descendants, scattered over 1' ranee, Germany, and Austria have joined in a. protest." The General Council of the University, which represents - the graduates, is also hostile, but. the court, on the pica that if the chair

is continued some other more necessary purposes must suffer, has decided to adhere to its policy.

LICENSING RESTRICTIONS,

As a result of the. Burgh licensing courts, there has been a slight reduction in the number of licenses —by three in Edinburgh and by 19 in Glasgow, while Dundee has agreed and Aberdeen has refused a half-hour extension during the winter months. The drawbacks of the restrictive policy were illustrated by the attention again drawn to the drinking of “ red Biddy,” a mixture of cheap red wine and methylated spirits, which must he a vile decoction to taste, and is certainly highly injurious to mind and body. The Glasgow magistrates appealed to the trade to discourage the practice. It seems a little hard that the appeal should be made to them, for they have always argued—and the facts seem to support them —that the lack of facilities they are anxious to provide for getting less noxious beverages is the main cause of the evil. Mr Shillitoe, the Chief Constable of Glasgow, with his English experience to guide him, is evidently against mere restriction, and he points out that on the occasion of the recent international football match the city was remarkably ’ free from disorder originating in drunkenness. The average person who desires alcoholic refreshment with his meals on a Saturday, he told the magistrate, does not wish to make a beast of himself. GLASGOW SUBWAY.

Glasgow Corporation has decided to spend £94,000 in converting the subway to electric traction. ■ It is calculated that, as compared with the present electric haulage, the saving will be £28,000 a year, so that on paper the investment looks sound. One member described the scheme as “ rewhitewashing a white elephant,” but, as the alternatives suggested were the closing of the line, or its extension at a cost of over a million, the corporation seems to be taking the wise course. Remembering the history of the enterprise since it was opened with high hopes some 30 years ago I am not optimistic. GLASGOW INQUIRY.

With the appointment of Mr J. M; Hunter, K.C., Sheriff of Roxburgh, Selkirk and Berwick as its third member, the tribunal to inquire into Glasgow municipal administration is now complete. The Scottish Secretary hoped to obtain the assistance of a judge of colonial experience, but was disappointed. The proceedings will begin as soon as Lord Anderson, the chairman, returns from abroad. It is not encouraging for the prospects of the inquiry to learn that some of the witnesses in the recent prosecution of a member of the corporation are being subjected to a boycott. Unless the proceedings have the support of local public opinion, they will he useless. The best iiope is that sonic of the guilty persons will be tempted to earn the immunity offered them by telling the whole story. FLORA MACDONALD. I cannot avoid a certain malicious satisfaction that Mr Compton Mackenzie has got into trouble over his Jacobite play, “ The Lost Cause,” which ho wrote for broadcasting. He is accused of representing Flora Macdonald ns “ living in a bothy in South Uist tending her brother’s cattle as a sort of herd girl, and speaking with the accent of an Edinburgh housemaid,” whereas she was connected with some of the oldest Highland families, and probably had as high a standard of education as south country girls of the same period. Dr Johnson, who visited the Hebrides a generation later, it will he remembered, was impressed by the culture of many of the young ladies there. I have not hoard Mr Mackenzie’s play, but, if the charge against him is justified, those of us who

have been merely born and brought up in Scotland and lay no claim to being super-patriots can afford to smile. SIR JAMES MURRAY. For its possession -of one of the finest art galleries in the country Aberdeen is indebted mainly to Sir James ‘Murray, who died at his London home this week. He was chairman of the Gallery Committee for over 30 years, and during that time he was responsible for the erection of its fine new building and for the enrichment of its contents. His business was that of a skin and hide merchant, but from his early days he was interested in painting and sculpture, and he used his ample fortune to form more than one collection, which brought him much pleasure, if little profit. Like many others in the same sphere he had to pay for his experience. As a politician he did not take himself seriously. He valued his four years in the House of Commons chiefly for the opportunity it gave him of knowing public men, and he made it his boast that, while at Westminster, he entertained everyone of his colleagues at least once at dinner. Though he delighted in hospitality, he was most abstemious himself, and he attributed his long life and good health to the fact that he had not touched tobacco or alcohol for 20 years. Sir James was a man of masterful character, but much was forgiven him for the sake of his disinterested motives. HOSTEL MOVEMENT. Nothing ' has been more encouraging than the progress of the Scottish Youths Hostels Association. In less than two years it has increased the number of its establishments from 9 to 19, in addition to,one in Edinburgh, which has over 50 beds. The hostels are divided into five groups—the Borders, the Loch LomondTrossnchs, Central Perthshire, the Cairngorms, and the North-west Highlands. Thus, at a cost of a shilling a night for sleeping accommodation, young people can see much of what is host worth seeing in Scotland, and, as they do their own cooking, the cost of a walking holiday is within the reach of the million. Those who contemplate a trip of the kind should communicate first with the Hostels Association at 8 Colinton road. Edinburgh, which will supply terms of membership and a list of the hostels. In particular, it is important that no walker should set out without studying the class of country to bo traversed; the distances measured in miles are often deceptive as to the real character of the journey.