IN THE CITY OF LONDON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23687, 20 December 1938, Page 22

IN THE CITY OF LONDON

THE LORD MAYOR AND OTHERS GUILDHALL CEREMONIAL £12,500 DIAMOND RING (From Our Own Correspondent) (By Air Mail) , . LONDON, Nov. 14. An incoming Lord Mayor of London has to make a statuary declara•lL ° n his adm ission, accompanied with time-honoured ceremonial, at the Guildhall. Before attending Guildhall, the incoming Lord Mayor is the guest of the outgoing Lord Mayor at the Mansion House. After the luncheon the outgoing Lord Mayor drives in state to the Guildhall, leaving the Mansion House by the front door, and his successor follows by the side door. The chief figures in the 1938 ceremony were respectively Sir H. Twyford and Sir Frank Bowater. At Guildhall Sir Harry Twyford took his leave of the Court of Aldermen,, and a procession was.formed to the hustings in the great hall, where the new Lord Mayor signed the admission declaration and took over the chair from his predecessor. The ceremonial included the presentation of the City's crystal sceptre carried at Coronations, the seal of office, the purse, sword and mace, the indenture for the City plate, and an agreement for the payment to the Lord Mayor of £12,500 "in lieu of all fees, etc." In addition,to the usual ceremonial was the presentation to Sir Frank Bowater of a diamond ring. Colonel Samuel Wilson, Alderman of Castle Baynard Ward, who served as Lord Mayor, bequeathed a sum of money in 1853 for the purchase of a ring for each Alderman of that ward who became Lord Mayor. Sir Frank's is the third ring, the second having been handed to his brother, the late Sir Vansittart Bowater. THE TWYFORD FANS When Sir Harry Twyford left the Bench at the Mansion House, he said: " Good-bye, everybody. I hope to see you again, but I shall not then be Lord Mayor." Sir Harry thanked the court staff ahd others whom he had met almost daily during his year of office, and addeq that he was under a debt of obligation to the city police for the easy manner in which they had so frequently- cleared the way for his coach when he had to pay State visits. Mr Wallace Thoday, the chief clerk, said Sir Harry had been in a practical sense a " Keep fit Lord Mayor." He had cared for the health of the staff of the justice room by mastering the difficult problem of ventilation of the court. " When we are asked how we manage to keep the place so comfortable, we point to what we call the Twyford fans." PREPARING THE GUILDHALL The Lord Mayor's banquet is always a notable function, where usually the Prime Minister makes some important announcement of policy. It may surprise many people to know that the time needed to carry out the preparations for this banquet for 1000 guests is more than a month. It requires a lot of organisation, for the transport section has to deal with 10,000 pieces of china, 8000 pieces of glass, as well as the wine and the food. The chief steward at the Guildhall is Mr James Smeed, whose service dates back to 1895. His chief assistant is a man aged 76, Mr George Clarke. The Lord Mayor's florist is Mr Robert Felton—his family has been responsible for the flowers for 25 years, and has had royal-warrants for a century. Mr A. L. Haynes, superintendent of works,' has to fit out the great hall for the occasion. "It would be awful," he said to an interviewer, "if a guest found himself without a chair!" DISHES NEVER VARY Very important, too, is the part played by Mr Dixon Taylor, the City Corporation official who, for 60 years, has been one of the organising figures behind the show, and this also includes the banquet. "We make one or two alterations every year," he told a reporter, "but the main items-turtle soup, the barron of beef, and the cold chicken —do not vary." Asked why the phrase " potatoes baked in skins " is used instead of " baked in jackets," he laughed and said it was the language of Ling and Brymer, the firm who have been caterers to the City since 1690. The wine list is formidable. This year there were 300 waiters, 40 cooks, 40 kitchen porters, and 50 wine waiters, as well as 25 supervisors. Mr Taylor has attended 55 Lord Mayors' banquets. His first was the last Guildhall banquet, at which Disraeli was present as Prime Minister. He has not missed a Premier since. MANSION HOUSE DOORKEEPER For 32 years Mr William Smith, tall, jovial and very popular, has opened the front door of the Mansion House to kings, queens, princes, statesmen, and persons of every kind of distinction. He is now retiring. The job he has liked least has been walking in the Lord Mayor's Show. " How would you like to walk all that way wearing thin pumps and silk stockings, in all weathers? " he asked. "And remember, the road is scattered with gravel and little bits of granite, for the sake of the horses." Mr Smith, born at Cookham, Berkshire, came to London at the age of 17 as footman at a house in Savile row. Then he was first footman for three years to Earl Spencer—the "Red Earl." QUEEN MARY AND THE CHILD Mr Smith told a story illustrating Queen Mary's love of children. " Her Majesty had arrived for some function," he said, "and as she was about to enter she noticed among the privileged spectators just outside the door a tiny little girl. The Queen turned and shook hands with her, and asked the Lord Mayor if the child could not have some cakes. So we sent to the kitchen for some cakes and presented them to the child as the Queen's gift."