OLD COUNTRY GOSSIP.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LI, Issue 16869, 26 October 1925, Page 4

OLD COUNTRY GOSSIP.

DISFIGURING BILLBOARDS , BANNED IN BRITAIN. LONDON, Sept. 10. Almost unnoticed a useful little measure was added to- the statute law by receiving the royal ..assuut, at the end of the last session of Parliament. •For eighteen- years the,Advertisements Regulation Act) -Which was dcnigucd to -protect landscapes from th o encroaching advertiser, has ' hnen in force, - blit ! in practice it proved inadequate; and ' did not- meet the need of saving from disfigurement ‘tlio roadsidas and railway sides in all rural places. There was" a loophole, but it lias been stopped by the new amending act, undta: which by-laws may bo made for the whole or any part of a district-. There the exhibition of advertisements, may lid forbidden when they disfigure “(lie view of rural scenery from a hi'gln way or railway, or from any public-place or,"wafer,” oi' injuriously affect the amenities; of villages ,in rural districts, or of historic buildings, monuments; flbp.;' .'On conviction for breach <of by-laws the Court can order the removal to Pinystructures intended only for -advertiser; numb purposes-, which'will moot a difficulty which . arose;not': long ago in theBrighton Downs easel. • ; . : •>-. The new Act is a useful ok-, but it will’ be applied only to stupid • advertisers’,' who are not numerous. For the gretit majority of advertisers have long recognised that what offends the public tas.te cannot be cffcctve publicity. SUMMER- AND THE THEATRE. Motoring in England is a really' dev lightful experience- just now. - It ,hasbeen 'a glorious summer, and the r-oads are in wonderful condition; The countryside is like one huge park,. The beauty of an- English summer scene, has to be seen to bn appreciated. Although thisrig-the “silly season” in the “Big Smoke*;” the theatres arc-full and there is a. reasonable ;amount \of concert. work on band for Dominion artists. The wireless- affords a welcome engagement for many. dn thelast three days' - Daisy Kennedy has given a wireless recital, Roy Agncw has broadcast some piano solos, and Beatrice Miranda has sung to us. There is also going to be an itchl by another “Aussie.” Lucille Bedstead, who. has; boon in America- for some-time now. HOBBS AND CRICKET. Talking of broadcasting, Jack Hobbs spoke to millions of interested 'listeners about- next year’s cricket season. He -warned everyone that - the Victory over Australia that everyone-in ■England seems to take as a. foregone conclusion will not perhaps be- as easy as they imagina. He summed it up by saving that “if the weather was-wet, the oddswould be on England; whereas, if there was another dry season like the one we’ve just had, the chances, would- -be even.” He also added something aboutour character as a nation. which every press report of his speech I have, seen conveniently forgot to- print- ' He said :' “I have the greatest admiration for the sportsmanship of the Australians. They play hard all the time, but they do not make excuses when they sire beaten.,” As a. mattier of fact,.it is somewhat, amazing v.-hat' interest is already being shown in tlip coming tests. In one provincial paper - to-day a number ' of correpondents were hard at work picking England’s team. It being a Yorkshire journal, one gentleman had patriotically picked just, the bare eight Yorkshire! players to start off!

LA MARGUERITE WILL BE BROKEN UP. LONDON Eng., Sept., 19.-Oversea visitors who are familiar with Liverpool and with the North Wales coast resorts will hear with regret that the famous plleasure stcamor, La Marguerite, is to bo broken up * For twenty years past, save during the war years, La Marguerite in the summer months has carried daily hundreds -of excursionists from Liverpool to-Llandudno. then up the Menai Straits and back to Liverpool. The trip is one of the • most - popular with dwellers in Lancashire, Cheshire-and Yorkshire, and even further-afiold. •Before she went- to .Liverpool La Marguerite ran for ten seasons- between Loudon and tlio Channel ports. I" the war she was a trobjjsliip between England -and Franco, carrying close upon half a million soldiers without .a .singli mishap. .

- AERIAL CHAR-A-BANCS. Familial- though the aeroplane halt become those days, it. is cafe to say that not one person in a- million featises the marrellout, developments are near qt great factories m England. and at the leading producing centres on the Continent experts are continually experimenting with two great ends in view—the elimination of-risk and the cheapening of production; and the measure of success attained may be judged from the fact that flying is now just about 36 safo as motoring, and that the.aerial runabout is almost at pur doors. Not by sensational discoveries, but quietly and little by little, the manufacturers havo evolved a machine ‘ which is iuinfmitcly' m6rc reliable than the motor car of 15 years ago and just about as sale as a French train to-day. Every day mails and passengers are carried by air between the capitals of Europe, and the number of mishaps since the services began has been so infinitesifha! that the journey has long since ceased to be regarded as,aniadventiiye. | TO AUSTRALIAWFOUR 'DATiSt..-

■! “In ten—or at the. most aeroplanes will" be' as cheap as. Fords, aijtlf bank.clcrke .and mechanics will, fly off’ with their families ' for week : endsy' a, 'famous pilot- told me. • “People; will be able to lunch : in London, dine ; in. : Paris, spend the night in Switzerland. From. Melbourne to, Sydney or Adelaide will be. bttt three* or four hours" flying, and: tlio six, -vyeek's’. journey,, 'from A'* 8 ' fralia.-*.to rEngland ‘•'will be - done. as",h, matter .of . course- in four, d(iy,s.' • - rite Far East .will be, reached;dir the- same time, and (: it r npll;,be/-possible within a, week to penetrato to the uttermost- ends of the earth.” . ' ■ ■ • •

>fr Oliver Simmons, a, leading engineer, told 1 the British Association to.day ’nuicli the same thing. The neat future, lie said, would see'giant flying boats, capable of carrying 100 passengers at ICO knots, yerbssihg the Atlantic in 36 hours, with, only one stop— at the Azores. Other experts ptophesy that New York will soon be brought; jvithin 24 hours of-London, and that 'it;VilH)6 possible to lcafe ‘here on .Friday, 1 fipefid Saturday night .at the 1 Ziegfcld Foilic's, arid get back '’in, time to'start 1 work on Monday morriing. . , Ii wijp be d very different World that the next generation will *qie\ To bogfn with, it will. bp (judged! by time/Othfc test that mattm-s most) only a tenth' sis big; its wondtrs will be opened; up, to millions to whom travelling is now only

a dream; and the mingling of strange peoples will influence international com(nerce and relations as yet unguessed. Tlie coming, of the air. bus and the air Ford wilt be, too; the most potent of all factors .in cementing, the, bonds of-Em-pire, promoting settlement, removing the sense of isolation/ which, is the greatest harrier, to migration, aiiflT strengthening the weak links in the military chain. ■ AVQMEN 1X: 130S1NEBS. -There will lie firm names in 1 the juturc—and in the near future at tliSit i—which will read: “ John- Brown and Daughters,” where they 1 now read ‘•John Brown andSons.’” AV-omen are he longer in business just for experience or “for the fun of the thing. ” They arc in business these days and and coming days to “stay put” as our neighbors to the south would say. .As they make good they will acquire partnerships. And why not? Perhaps ( ady Aster; first, woman member of the House of Commons, was right, blie once said:—

, 1 ‘ Mon afo the' most creatures' in creation. Why, -of course.they ate, and they all know-it. That- is why wo love -fheiii.- A' woman only loves the thing- Slie can help; Men- am {ill wrong. They think we want to be their masters. Not at all; Wei want to help them. We’have helped them in their homes, and now we arc going to help them in their .workshops. If we can bring tlib»q spiritual qualities into public life, then we have not entered public iife in vain.” .

AX INTERESTING REVIVAL. The Carl Ilosa Opera Company has scored a deserved success in staging an old and all-but-forgoUeii opera by Haydn. The way of opera- in English is hard, above all for new wtirk. -But there is a feeling for musical tradition among our people, They know a good tune when they hear, ii> but, because they are not yet sure of their judgment they like it t-o be the- oldTashioned in form and orchestration. On this sort of material Sir lleury .Wood began towork a generation ago. This season’s Promenades show what can be made of it. • THE RIDDLE €>F THE HIGHLANDS. A large area of the Outer Hebrides is advertised for sale. This is where the late Lord Levorhulme, like others, before him, endeavored to carry out a bold economic and social policy ; with but mediocre success. The attractions placed in the foreground are f hbse of sport, which, as matters stand, is the mainstay of local fintmte and communal existence throughout a large portion of jthe Highlands. ' It is inadequate, however, to sustain a stable population. A line racial' stock, must be gradually dispersed unless some new and effective policy can bei devised. There are plenty of brains and, energy .in Scotland j but the Highland fiddle.does not seem to enlist them.

' CRITICS" OF SOCIALISM. Lord Astor s prize of £2OO for an essay on “The. Fallacies of Socialism” has been won by a (Scottish minister of over 70 years of age and nearly half-a-century’s standing in the Church. It may be recalled that at an earlier time social .problems as'they then stood found no wiser exponent than Dr. Chalmers, a leader of the same communion. The publication of the best essays in the competition should fill a gap (if some importance in popular instruction. The criticism of Socialist theories is too often deficient jrt strength, candor, or clarity. ■ FLEET STREET BARON’S AMBITION. LONDON, Sept. 12.—Lord Beaverbrook’s new role.as an owner of racehorses is presenting Fleet street with the making of a 'comedy. His own papers say very-little about the matter, but • others, and notably they Morning Post, suggest that the sudden interest in the turf Ims arisen out of his friendship with the.lnto Sir' Edward, Hulton. Lord Bcaverbrook himself is,very serious about his- new venture, and fold an intimate friend a few days ago that he hud an ambition to bo enrolled among the small and select company of'winners of the Derby; : A. } V .'. : '■ ■ ; y LONDON'S TRAFFIC PROBLEM. Sir Henry Mnybury, dircctor-'genernl of roads in Great Britain and .chairman of the London Traffic Commission, who is in this country to study the.methods of handling, traffic, said that London, chub] profitably copy , Neiy York’s school for traffic policemen as well as the systfm lof. ; one-way streets,, a few i,ii the banking centre of London being already so designated. He finds that vehicles cgn get along the principal streets of New York at an average rate of fifteen' miles an hour cbmpared with ton miles an hour iu London., He admits that London has iuuteli to learn from New York on the subject. . : : . 1 1 The chief difficulty confronting ,thc London Traffic Copimissipn is the nupiber of buses, he, skid.. • There are about 6000 : taxicabs,' 300.000 private motors and 100,000 lorries. > London does not require the buses to' run on franchise, and until recently, when tlie Government, took steps to regulate conditions, any man could own and run a Inis' if he passed the safety test. Another result of the number of buses was tlie'. falling % off in subway, ruiitQy pf’'soj)ieiui..liiife Ktniry'. said., 1 To c.6mpe<e wjtli the surface i caivs 'ivini buses at: alb it was necessary if or subways to .cliarge .less/ .with the. result;tliaL.tliAy;>yere rapidly becoming unable to meet -Die cost o| operating.