" ALIEN’S ” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3618, 17 July 1923, Page 56

" ALIEN’S ” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Written for the Ladies' Page.) EMPIRE WEEK iND THE WEEK AFTER. May 25. It was a. stay-at-home Whitsuntide for the great majority. To fhe disappointment of millions, we experienced rain and hail and even snow. We have the light mornings and long evenings, with the gorgeous green and blossom of the sweet, of the year, wi tV overcoats and furs and umbrellas; and odd days of sunshine. Londoners contented themselves with local outings for the most oart, the Crystal Palace and Alexandra .Palace, the museums and picture galleries, theatres, and all places of amusement under cover were thronged. Margate, Ramsgate, Brighton, Herne Bay, and the other nearer popular holiday resorts were well patronised. The King and Queen, accompanied by Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles. following their usual custom, spent Whitsuntide at Aldershot. An imposing review of the troops took place on Laffan’s Plain on the first day after their Majesties’ arrival; under the grey sky moving masses of khaki-clad soldiers with forests of silver bayonets marched past, with guns, ambulances, armoured cars, and tanks, making an impressive sight extending over a mile and a-half. Before the march past the King, accompanied by Princess Mary, mounted, and the Duke of Connaught rode along the. lines of the troops, and then returned to the saluting base. In the afternoon the Queen and Princess Mary inspected the Aldershot Command Girl Guides in the beautiful grounds of the Royal Pavilion (built for Queen Victoria), where the Royal party stayed. The manoeuvres during the week were on a large scale, and one day the King, in the uniform of a field marshal, at the head of many famous soldiers and many who bore the marks of the war, engaged in a mimic “battle” between artillery and cavalry from a point near Jubilee Hill, the Queen and Princess Mary looking on -sheltered from a deluge of rain only by their umbrellas and coats. Apart from the manoeuvres, the Queen and Princess Mary paid visits to the soldiers’ quarters and hospitals, the creche for soldiers’ babies, etc. V The army was quite glad to have the King’s daughter among them again. Princess Mary was. always a favourite with the soldiers. Wife now of one of his Majesty’s officers who took his part in the mimic warfare as he did in the real—she had an added dignity in the soldiers’ eyes. She has lost something of her radiant girlhood, and gained the softness of motherhood, and the soldiers on whom she pinned medals and the soldiers’ wives on whom she smiled were happily proud of her interest in them. On Whit Sunday a multitude of 10,000 people assembled round the Cenotaph in Whitehall, where, after a deeply impressive service, the Prince of Wales laid a wonderful wreath—a tribute to the nation’s heroes bv the British Legion. These memorial services lose nothing of their impressiveness with time, for they express the nation's gratitude to “The /Glorious Dead.” The Dean of Westminster, in scarlet robe, black stole, white apron, and white lawn sleeves, took the service (which preceded the laying of the wreath before the Cenotaph). The band of the Irish Guards played the hymns. The wreath which the Prince reverently laid at the base of the Cenotaph was of laurel leaves and Flanders poppies. Princess Alice, Countess Athlone, dressed in black, laid the woman’s tribute near the Prince’s. M. Bertrand, on behalf of the French ex-service men, left a wreath, and all the representatives in turn placed a wreath at the base of the monument. The Prince of Wales attended (he opening session of the annual conference of the British Legion at Queen’s Hall. Earl

Haig, tlie president, urged the delegates to “hold fast to the great principles of the Legion”—loyalty to King and country, which implies unwavering opposition to the Bolsheviks, who are out to get us out, root and ‘branch, and destroy our homes; and loyalty to one another, the other great principle of the Legion, which means looking after our old comrades who have fallen on evil days and who are in less fortunate circumstances than we are. At a dinner in connection with the Legion Earl Haig said that he knew admirals, generals, and other officers almost starving, ready to take any kind of job. Yet we are paying millions a year —some of the monev very hardly earned —to provide doles for thousands of idle among the deserving who do not want to work, neither men nor women. The inquiry into the causes of the objections to domestic service reveals that' one of the chief is that it is “monotonous.” Monotonous! Is not all work for a living monotonous —factory or shop or office? And what of the job of the housewife and mother? People who really love work, if they are tit, can always create an individual interest in it. The lack of freedom is, I suspect, the real objection to domestic service. One way out of the difficulty would be lor agencies to supplv servants in shifts. British Empire Shopping Week has been a great success and added a new interest to the streets. (Not only have great crowds stood outside the shop windows admiring the exhibits of the Empire, but thousands have loyally made themselves intimately acquainted with tlie produce of the dominions in their own homes and in the food served in the restaurants. Harrods gave up four of their best windows in Brompton road to Empire Week. One was filled entirely with Australian produce, another with Canadian, a third with African, and the fourth window was shared by New Zealand and Tasmania, and two big counters were given up to the sale of produce. It was the most comprehensive display ever made of dominion table fruits, and few people had any idea so many jams and fruits in bottles and tins were obtainable from the dominions. Cape pineapple, gooseberry, and fig jam was bought, and “passion fruit” in bottles from Australia. Grocers and provision dealers labelled the British goods with the names of the dominions and colonies from which they came, which added to the pleasure and instruction of patriotic customers. At Wembley Sir Joseph Cook, the Australian High Commissioner, on the occasion of Lady Cook turning the first sod of the six-and-a-half-acre site of the British Empire Exhibition, said Australia was out for big things, and he made an unqualified assertion that the Empire is able to produce all the foodstuffs that this country requires. The Empire could have done it had it not been for the ingrained habit £ the people who ask for foreign instead of Empire produce. Australian butter, Sir Joseph claimed, was the best butter in the world, and he would not stop until it took the place of Danish. Sir George Fuller, Premier of New South Wales, said that in London the best Australian butter is labelled best Danish, as he proved on a previous visit to London, when he accompanied the manager of his hotel to the store where he purchased his “Best Danish,” and found that it came out of a cask of butter made on his own place in New South Wales. Years ago Aka-roa cheese was sold to me at one of the leading London stores as cheddar, and even yet “Prime Canterbury Lamb” is supposed by thousands to be English. At the leading hotels and restaurants during the Empire Week dinners, lunches, and suppers were given, at which both food and drink and smokes were entirely of Empire production. At the annual meeting of the Fellows of the Royal Institute Sir Godfrey Lagden, chairman of the council, said it would be deplorable if at the coming Empire Conference means were not devised to keep the business of Great Britain and the dominions within the British family of nations. An Empire ball was given on Empire Day at the Crystal Palace by Miss Belle Harding, dancing teacher, to prove that British music can be played throughout a modern dance. Empire Day was celebrated all over Britain with a good deal of .ceremony. The message from the King and Queen to the school children of the Empire was followed by many processions and much pageantry by young England. It was a big dav for dominion visitors in town, and in' the vicinity of Australia House friends met all day. It was Veterans’ Flag Day, and everywhere the British flag was' on sale. A picturesque seller was “The Prince of the Pearlies,” the little son of the coster “King of the Pearlies,” who wore a suit of velvet wonderfully embroidered in an elaborate design in' pearl buttons. During the morning a procession left Downing street, headed by Lord Inverforth (president of the Veterans’ Association), the Duchess of Norfolk, and Mrs Stanley Baldwin (wife of the new Prime Minister). At the foot of the Cenotaph they placed a magnificent laurel wreath, presented by Princess Beatrice, a patron of the association. ,A thousand children attended celebrations at the Guildhall, where Sir Charles Wakefield unfurled the Ltnion Jack, and Sir James Allen (High Commissioner for New Zealand) addressed the children. The opening of the Royal Tournament at Olympia saw a great crow d, with every prospect of a successful season and heavy bookings ahead. The Royal box was occupied by the Duke of Connaught with Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, and Lady Patricia Ramsay. Princess Alice was" in black and Lady May Cambridge in pink. Competitions and displays pro-” vided many thrills, and the pageant “Scotland in Arms” brought down the house, or, rather, brought it to its feet to cheer. It is a panorama of Scottish history and military display, with fighting and dancing to the music of the massed pipe bands, with a grand finale tableau.

At the evening performance a thrill was provided by the destruction of a “Zeppelin” on a “raid night” l>v the Ist Air Defence. The exhibitions demonstrate the ordinary training exercises of the Navy, Army, and Air Force, properly staged to create the atmosphere, and provide a wonderful exhibition of skill. -The Royal Navy inter-port field-gun competition is first favourite with the general public. To see “Jack” race up impossible places with his 12-pounder gun a.nd shell the enemy, rig and derrick and swing gun and men across, rouses the audience—especially its youth—to a passion of enthusiasm, which proves the love of the British for its navy. One “scene” in the air display is the rescue in the heart of the desert of the crew of H.M.S. lara after their ship had been sunk by a German submarine and they were taken by Arabs. The service charities as a result of the tournaments since their first opening in 1896 have benefited to the extent of £117,000. Lord Derby. Minister of War, replying to his toast at the dress rehearsal the day before the opening, said some people had talked of universal peace, but he would believe it when he saw it; meanwhile every possible means in the way of economy must be observed; nothing' should he left undone to guard the safety of the Empire whether bv sea, land, or air. Demonstrations of physical training bv students undergoing instruction at the’Army School of Physical Training, Aldershot, are new feat ures in the programme.