‘ALIEN’S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3512, 5 July 1921, Page 49

‘ALIEN’S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

(Specially Written for the Ladies’ Page.) MAY. “Mail! all had the merry month of May!” May without the merriness; but, thank goodness, the sunshine in here, alth-ciujui; the east winds remain. On the fliet warm day—that is, a day of sunshine without the wind—the newspapers, as is their fashton, went into ecstasies. “Two seasons in one. Primroses and roses together.” The roses on south walls came out ; the tulips opened. The commons were golden and rich w ith scent, and the happy birds, indifferent to the shortage of coal, carolled all the day till the gun went down in rose and gold. A normal May is Nature’s wondermonth in England. The lilac is in full bloom; later will be the red and white may. The fields are bright with cowslips and bluebells a feast of colour after hmg grey months. By meadow and copse is peace and joy. The cuckoos call, the swallows flash by on gleaming wing, and on a rare night the nightingale is heard. But the full enjoyment of the 1 sweet o’ the year” is taken away by the sordid, anxious care of how to keep the body warmed am! fed, and how to “keep going” in face of all the Double the strike has brought upon the whole con wiry. The minors have refused the. settlement proposed by the Government. Coal which arrived at Ipswich from Belgium -coal to keep the bakers going, and bought by Die corporation—-the Dockers’ Union icfused to handle. Coal in,g difficulties aro growing so rapidly that steel and iron, engineering, shinbuilding, textile trades, and every factory that depends upon coal I’m its workins is crippled. At the docks and n.,rts shins already due to sail on mail and passenger service are delayed. In ronee-

llousewivea ray that the longer they v:,o “No Rubbing” Laundry Help for washing clothes the better they like it,. One shilling packet does seven weekly ■vashiiips perfectly. —North Otago .Farmer’s Co.. Agents for “No Rubbing.'”

qlienee of the shipping “slump” and the impossibility of getting bunker coal, the I*. and O. Line have decided to lay up a number of their intermediate steamers. One of their steamers, due to leave at the week-end with passengers and mails for Bombay and Australasia, did not sail, and so letter communication will be delayed and interrupted. The Hull docks are crowded with shipping ; Clydeshire ndustries are suffering severely; North Yorkshire is practicely at a standstill; Lancashire industries likewise. In Manchester at one engineering works alone.— Trafford’s—so,ooo men are on half-time. Think what if means if at one works 50,0-00 men are hard up. Add the women and children sufferers; multiply the industries by tens and hundreds and thousands and by hundreds of thousands, even by millions; count to every workless man one woman (a wife, a mother, or a sister) dependent upon him, and the children, and think what that means! Many an enterprise built by toilsome, courageous years swept away; many an employer, just to his employees all his life long, “closed down” at the end. And the “hand to mouth” men and women, the large class of intellectual workers, who have no trade unions, whose heads in the Church are the bishops, and m journalism the newspaper magnates—all those countless men and women, who grudge no time nor effort to earn their wage ; those artistic and spiritual benefactors of society, whose struggle is silent, and without strike: these are counting the last lumps of coal in the scuttle, where indeed it is not already empty. Among many pathetic appeals for stranded workers is one from the secretary of the Industries Committee. Barclay Workshop for Blind Women Weavers, who have been “hit” in the trade depression. Some of the workshops have already dismissed their workers through lack of orders. It takes years of training to teach the blind to weave, and it is the only means of livelihood that many have. The cotton, linen, and wooden materials which these blind women produce are unique in design. No man or woman who works for their living but must contend to the uttermost for a prize of life, but the disabled and the afflicted must, trebly contend—first against, their disability, secondly! o obtain the knowledge of their craft, and thii’dly to hold it against the strong. For human nature is unlovely when it is a fight for food. The announcement that the first Court of t.he season, which was to be held at Buckingham Palace on the evening of the first Wednesday in May, is ‘postponed” was a great disappointment to many besides the debutantes, including the dressmakers who had “evolved"—or is it “created”?—some lovely gowns ’or some of the most beautiful girls and women in England. Behind the announcement of the postponement are unannounced reasons. It is quite a social tragedy, which includes many more than those actually prepare ! for the Court presentation. It is not as though an ordinary big society party had been put off ; but the abandonment or postponement of the first Court disorganises all the arrangements of the earlier weeks of the London season. Hundreds of society functions are dependent upon the debutantes and others first having been presented at Court, and it is a big blow to trade, as well as a bitter disappointment to those whose social clock it sets back. Trade in the West End has been anticipating the London season to make up in great measure for the bad year that has been, and so closely is the social fabric interwoven that one portion of the economic pattern cannot be damaged without spoiling the whole design, and the coal miners pu’king at. the pit heads affects the ■wellfeeing of millions. Among the functions abandoned beside the Court and society is the annual dinner of the Iron and Steel Institute and the anniversary dinner of the Royal Caledonjan Schools. But, to-night there is a great, gathering—the meeting of the staffs of the Dai!-.- Mail 'London and Manchester), the Continental Daily Mail, tac Evening ho ws, the Weekly Despatch, and other publication-, of the Northuiff pre s. This monster prose celebration takes place at the great West Kensington ’-nikting, the Olvmpia, and the chi-.f trades union leaders and great advertisers and advertising agent.-: are also present. The proceedings' opened at 11 o'clock, and Viscountess Ncvthcliff and Lord Northcliff, and Lord NorthciifTs mother, Mrs TTarmswoith. were present at the luncheon. Lord Northcliff travel ling back from the South of France for the occasion, which is the twenty-filth birthday of the Daily Mail. There is a mile of tables. The staff of the Daily Mail alone numbers 2000, including many women. Tin’s has been a. week of picturegazing. The dav before the private view the King and Queen and Princess Mary visited the Royal Academy. The International Society attracted a great crowd to the t.rafton. Gal 1 l ies, where the Princess Beatrice attended, and saw the fine painting of her son, the Marquis of Onrrlsbrook, painted by R. G. Eves. The private view at the Royal Academy on the eve of the public opening js one of the first smart society gathei mgs of the early season, and this year the pictures were more than usually eclipsed by the tickets. The hats especially outdaezied the pictures on the wad. One of bright red with a bunch of cornflowers made the canvases look faded. By midafternoon the rooms were packed. There was an absence of political men ; the Allied Council meeting and industrial crisis was said to account for that. Theatrical people were in force, among them be...g Lady Alexandra, Lady Tree. Lady Wyndham. and Dame Nellie Melba. Miss Marie Loin- wore a red cloak that drew much attention. Edith Craig, Ellen Terry’s daughter, war. also present. Gape leaks were worn by the majority of the best-dressed women, and a vivid I splash of colour marked most, of the

toilettes. In some eases it was the hat, in others the hood of a cape or a. waistband or other accessory to the costume, but the vivid touch was introduced in some form or another—red, rose, pink, green, blue, yellow—very eft’ec+ivd and flower like after the dark months of winter, but one would tire of it, if con tinualiv met. In the black satin cloaks the colour touch was usually in the linings—green with black, or black with blue. Artists were there in numbers, but not noticeable by eccentricity in dress. Silk liats and the ordinary well-dressed j morning suits were worn by the men. j On all sides there was interest- in the i big sea- picture by Sir Arthur S. Cope, i “Some Sea Officers of the War,” which, j has been presented to the National Poi - ; trait .Gallery by Sir Abe Bailey. Earl | Beattv went to have a look at himself lin the. naval group. Everyone was in- | nuiring for the picture of the year, “The j Prince of Wales.” upon which Mr J. A. : Munnings Is still engaged, for it was not | finished in time for the opening of the ! Academy. The numerous grey days in ! London so interfered with the work that i at last the artist took it down to Essex, but too late for the completion of the work. This is the more regretted, because the art critics agree this will be a. memorable Academy. “There is an entirely new, and most refreshing, atmosphere at. Burlington House. The past has at last almost- been broken with. For one thing the old overcrowding hanging has finally gone. A slaughter of the innocents was necessary for thi-s” (says the Weekly Despatch!. “Many, many artists who h,a\ri exhibited tor countless years were rejected. But they are martyrs to a good cause. The exiiibition, compared with previous ones, is a I joy. to the eye. The proof of this lies in the fact that it is possible to go round tlie walls and not be exhausted in the effort,” ■There is no “problem” picture this vea-r. The Hon. John Collier is not exhibiting at all. But there are a number of new men with fresh vision. Among the older exhibitors there are still Joseph Fa.-uuliai’son. Mr Peter Graham, and Mi B. W. Leader. The new spirit is il lustra ted by tire number of water-colours exhibited in the water-colour room. Many by quite unknown artists, who the get their fist chance. One is by an untaught man—a labourer. It is crude, but “speaks.” In gallery No. 2is a big picture of national interest that all the Empire would like to see: “The be--ial of the unknown warrior.” bv Frank O. Salisbury. The or-pen portraits are described as “diabolical in their chvernoss,” and Mr Arthur Nowell’s portrait, of the King as conventional, but marked by a really strong handling of the head.

The water-colour drawings and prints are for the most part consistently good on y I one here and there standing out markedly I original, Mr It. G. Peter’s “Dawn being placed among these. Among the sculpLi'.re a squalling baby’s head, by Mr Romeo Catto, is specially noted. Karri In the season as it still is there is a noticeable difference in the crowds. Many visitors from overseas have already arrived, and many society people have returned from abroad to be in the swim.” always supposing the coal .strike does not interfere with the London season. Balls have been arranged for almost every night now on almost till the middle of July. But if the strike is prolonged further measures to save coal will be necessary. Among the suggestions before the. Cabinet are (1) the Curiew—all lights out at a given time; (2) daylight saving extended still another hour ! earlier to begin the dav. giving a further i hour of evening natural light: (3) drastic ! cultim* of the tramwav service, which is already so much cut that hundreds, of people' who took advantage of the delicious Saturday afternoon- the warmest of the ; soring—to visit the riverside resoits of i hew and Hampton Court • evel among the flowers and forgetful ‘ the evening trams were “oft” got ~it behind. Among tl’.e anxieties of tin shopkeepers and policy not only in London, but surrounding districts, is the senseless, spiteful damage done to thousands of plate glass windows by a gang of ruffians whom the police are satisfied are Sinn Feiners. Between one and two thousand windows in the Metropolis and in Pulley, . Penge, Hampstead, and many other outlying disj ti'-ct* thronghtont the country and coastal j towns, I aye been damaged. These win- | dow slashers are prowlers, who. with a cut lof a. diamond ring or diamond glm ’tor. i quickly concealed, make detectic