FROM NORTH OF TWEED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22053, 8 September 1933, Page 16

FROM NORTH OF TWEED

A LETTER TO OVERSEAS SCOTS Written for the Otago Daily Times. By Robebt S. AKGUB. EDINBURGH, July 5. Judging by the space occupied in our newspapers—and lam far from saying that the editors are wrong—the most important event of this week has been the closing of the university and school year. One of our dalies had a full page describing university graduation ceremonies, and giving lists of passes and prize-winners, whilo all the local weeklies, which happily still flourish in spite of urban competition from a distance, publish the corresponding lists for the schools in their respective At Edinburgh the graduates in arts included two blind girls, one of whom. Miss Elizabeth W. Whitehead, obtained first-class honours in English, won the James Elliott prize, and just misled a Vans Dunlop scholarship—a reninrkahlc achievement. Another notable graduate was Mr Robert C. Thomson, who became a Bachelor of Law. Ho is chief clerk in the Edinburgh Police Force, with the rank of superintendent at the age of 32. Ho was dux at Stenton and Dunbar Schools, but, his father having joined the army, at the outbreak of the war, :ie had to begin work at the age of 13. He has taken his law degree well under the normal time of three years, and it is safe to predict for him a distinguished career. Two years ago when the King and Queen we're in Edinburgh he was their attendant and pilot. At St. Andrews Principal Sir James Irvine had the pleasant duty of " capping" one of his own daughters. Out of about 40 medical graduates there were no fewer than 25 from the United States, a remarkable illustration of the popularity our oldest university enjoys on the other side of the Atlantic, from which, through the generosity of Mr Harkness it has received so much financial support in recent years. Our four universities have sent over 1000 graduates into the world this month, a fact which could be regarded with greater equanimity if one could feel that some career is assured for all of them.

Among the school ceremonies the most outstanding was the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York to Merchiston Castle, which has been moved from Morningside to fine new premises at Colinton on the western outskirts of Edinburgh. The Duchess planted a sycamore tree in \ the grounds, to be a successor to the pear tree, traditionally associated with the name of Mary Queen of Scots, which stood in front of the old school. As the sycamore lives for from 500 to 700 years it is likely to last longer than the buildings. The transfer Of the school has been made possible by the generosity of its former pupils, one whose behalf Lord Davies. the well-known Welsh landowner, and Sir Hugh Turnbull, Commissioner of the Citv of London police, took part in the day's ceremonies. Another school of ancient lineage is Ayr Academy, which celebrated the attainment of its seventh centenary by producing a pageant illustrative of various periods and incidents in its history. It was founded by papal decree in 1233, and, unless I am mistaken, surpasses in age most, if not all, of the great English public schools. STATE OF INDUSTRY. A committee of the Scottish National Development Council has just issued a report suggesting that in view of the depression in the heavy industries, manufacturers should turn their attention to the production of lighter articles, particularly those which are in daily domestic use and thus in steady demand. The proposals will.no doubt receive careful study, but I. suspect that the present makers of the goods in question, with all their experience to guide them and their plant in operation will successfully resist what they will regard as. an intrusion into their market. The prespeets for trade development on normal lines continue tq improve, steadily if slightly. The Dundee, Perth and London Shipping Company, a century old but prosperous concern, lias placed an order for a new steamer, the hull to be made in Dundee and the engines on the Clyde. On the other hand,' the Kinneil Cannel and Coking Company which employs about 400 hands at its colliery near Boness has decided to go into liquidation after 40 years. The effect on the little town and its harbour will be disastrous. STATE OF THE CHILDREN. Dr John Guy, the medical officer of health for Edinburgh, has issued a report "on the effects of prolonged subsistence on public assistance scales." He finds as regards the children no evidence of.any malnutrition attributable to insufficient means, and while 25 out of 61 mothers examined were below standard, a definite medical explanation of their condition was present in every case except one. Dr Guy's experienced assistants selected a hundred cases for examination, but only 77 presented themselves, and a close analysis of the facta suggested that poor conditions where they existed were due as much to bad management as to lack of means. Indeed, a comparision of incomes showed that in most cases the families are almost as well off financially when dependent on public assistance as when the breadwinner was regularly employed —a fact on which the political economists will have their comments to make. FRUIT CANNING. A report by the Empire Marketing Board shows the remarkable development which has taken place in Scotland in the canning of fruit and vegetables. Last year nearly four and a-half million cans were produced, by far the largest part being of raspberries. The steady market which the factories provide should give confidence to local growers. The present drawback is that the trade is so seasonal, but that will be to some extent adjusted by the plans now in hand for the canning of vegetables and fish. The latter is a particularly desirable development in view of the depression in the fishing industry. FISHING DECLINE. How serious the situation has become is shown bv the annual report of the Scottish Fishery Board. During the last 10 years the number of vessels employed has fallen from 7277 to 6080, and although the new craft.arc larger and employ more hands, it is evident that the number of men engaged must have declined. The value of the catch has naturally fluctuated from year to year, and in 1932, at £3,800,000, it was almost a million less than in the best years. The resumption of trade with Russia should improve the outlook for the curing branch of the herring trade, and it is hoped that Major Elliot's Bill forbidding the landing of undersized fish will help. BROADCASTING DIRECTOR.

After an interval of nearly three months since Mr Cleghorn Thomson resigned his position of Scottish regional director for the 8.8. C., his successor has been appointed in the person of the Rev. Melville Dinwiddie, minister of St. Machar Cathedral, Aberdeen. Mr Dinwiddie. who is the son of the minister of Ruthwell, Dumfries, graduated just before the outbreak of the war, nud promptly enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders. He was mentioned six times in despatches, awarded the D.S.O. and the 0.8. E., and retired in 1924—having served for five years at the War Office after the Armistice —with the rank of major. In the following year he took his B.D. degree, and after a few months as an assistant at South Leith was called to Aberdeen. His career suggests that he will not let his clerical antecedents affect him unduly in the discharge of his new duties. MR E. A. HORNEL. Scottish art has lost one of its foremost figures by the death of Mr E. A.

Rornel, R.S.A., nn original member of the famous " Glasgow School." He was a native of Australia, but came as a boy to Kirkcudbright, the home of his grandparents, and there, except'for his travels in the course of his art training, he spent the whole of his life, keenly interested in local affairs but avoiding con' tact with the outside world. He early developed a style and a choice of subject peculiarly his own. and though he was much influenced by a trip he made to Japan in company with his friend Mr George Henry, ( he continued to produce variations of the same charming theme —a group of tawny-skinned girls in a tangle of thorn bushes. Perhaps he might have attained higher rank if he had played less on one string, but he was content to work in his own way and cared little for the frequent changes in artistic fashions and tastes. FLAG CONTROVERSY. How excited we can become over matters of sentimental but no practical importance is shown by the fierce controversy still raging in regard to the national flag. The Lyon King of Arms, the supreme authority on such matters, has declared that the national flag of Scotland is the St. Andrew's Crosswhite on an azure ground—and that the Lion Rampant is the personal flag of the sovereign which none of his subjects can legally display. But the zealots, misled, I suppose, by Scott's famous line, insist that they have a right to fly thp Lion, and it looks as if the question may have to be tested in the law courts.