OLD COUNTRY GOSSIP

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16801, 14 November 1928, Page 10

OLD COUNTRY GOSSIP

THE IMPORTANCE OF LONDON

It is no use denying the i'n\:t that practically all the entrepot trade for which London used to be famous has now passed across to the Continent, whine lho ports contrive to get things done very much more cheaply and to prosper in spite of cut-throat competition between themselves. But the old reproach of being the last of the really lirst-class ports to be without proper passenger' accommodation will soon be swept away. for work is proceeding on the Tilbury landing stage with remarkable rapidity. When finished, it will be well over l(J',,'J feel, long, supported un over sixty big steel tanks, and will give passenger faci dies not only to emu liners, hul also to the passenger steamers which are using the Thames in increasing numbers, and to the busy little ferries which* run 'backwards and forwards across the river to Gravesend. A FAMOUS SHIP AT WORK AGAIN. Preparations are being made to relit the famous Polar exploration ship Discovery, whose name will .always live in the annals of .British gallantry, for another cruise to Antarctic waters to ex amine the habits of whales. Whaling methods have changed tremendously since the. war, and during the 'last few years the slaughter has been colossal. The question is whether Ibis will not exterminate, the species altogether, hut it is felt that before any definite opinions aan be formed, it is necessary to know more about their breeding a.ud feeding habits, which is the job of the old Discopery. UP AND' DOING. We have had a glorious summer. Wo are having a marvellous September. The harvest has been the best for many years, Unemployment is showing signs of getting less. Trade is moving upwards. Even the heavy industries feel that they have weathered the worst. A. had spirit between employers and employed might mar the best of prospects, hut Ihe present, spirit is one of informed and harmonious co-operation. With peace, at home and abroad, and the nation made healthy, rejuvenated and reinvigoratedv by three months of perfect weather, what room is left for the grumbler and the pessimist? None whatever. The. autumn and the return to work are this year clarion calls to a mighty effort that will set Great Britain clear of the doldrums, and send her speeding to prosperity before a favoring wind.—Daily Express. BALLOONING SPORT REVIVED IN BRITAIN. CORDON BI'NNRTT CUP AIMED AT IN* RESURRECTING- PRE-WAR PASTIME. LONDON. September 29. ' Racing motor-ears, speed boats, and airplanes are to be thrown into the discard as a means of supplying thrills to the jaded sportsmen, according to a group of Londoners who have now turned to balloons as the sporting fad of Ihe moment.

The new spoil is being introduced by the Airship Club and the Royal Aero Club, the latter originally organised for ballooning, and an appeal has gone out for members to assist in reviving the ihrilliug sport. "Ballooning in Great Britain, formerly a popular and inexpensive pastime, with little scientific interest and a spice of adventure, safe and having a useful connection wjth airship work, is now in almost complete eclipse," declare the enthusiasts, "Airplanes have absoibed efforts at one time spent on ballooning, and the increased cost of labor and material since the war has been a deterrent."

Attention is called to the faci thai in tlie United States, France, Belgium, Italy and Germany ballooning is still at widely-enjoyed sport, as shown by such famous competitions as the Gordon Bennett balloon race.

The Airship Club has already acquired three balloons of 80,000, 60,000 and 40,000 cubic feet capacity, which are to he placed at the disposal of ballooning enthusiasts who were balloonists before the war or completed courses of training during the war. That the revival of the sport will meet,with a hearty response throughout the country has already been indicated, and it is believed that Britain's prospects for the next Gordon Bennclfc contest are already vastly improved. v , , RELICS OF OLD LONDON. >■ In .the course of the excavations under Piccadilly Circus many relics of old London have been found. Quite recently, ill constructing the booking-hall, workmen eamo across tlie remains of cellars •in which wine and coal were stored in the days of the Regency, when the present Piccadilly Circus was built over. Jars with; traces of wine in them were discovered. . The unearthing, of a fossilised nautilus showed that Piccadilly was once submerged. The bones of oxen and other animals have also been found.

EXHIBITIONS OF EMPIRE PRODUCE

Following the success of its Empire Shopping Weeks during the . .summer months, the Empire Marketing Board hits decided to take part in a large number of exhibitions, in London and the big provincial towns, dining the autumn and winter. The London exhibitions ate the Grocers', which opens at the end of nest week, and the Food and Cookery in December. During the Christmas holidays the hoard, for ,tho first time, will I alio part in the Schoolboys' Exhibition in the new Horticultural Hall, London. As before, the Empire Marketing Board will be prominently represented at the British Industries Fair, at the White City, and the Ideal Home Exhibition, at Olympia, next year. The board's display al these, exhibitions will lie more representative than before, for Canada will be there for the first time.

NEW PICCADILLY STATION

'the tww Piccadilly Circus station on the Underground railway will he capable of dealing with 50,000 passengers an hour, as compared with 24,000 at the old station. There will be no more wandering through tv maze of subways. The poifcy of the Underground authorities is to got passengers to and from the station as quickly as is humanly possible. The new station will be ova! in shape. Some 15ft. below the surface will he the large circular booking-ball, comprising an .area of 25,000 square feet. In the bookinghall there will be 50 automatic ticket machines and four passimeter booking booths. A special corridor will be providid for telephone call-boxes, and a scheme for illuminated show-cases has be,eu agreed on. No fewer than seven shorter subways will lead down, to the booking-hall—from. Lower Regent street, Regent street. Glasshouse street, bury a.venue. Coventry street* and two irom Piccadilly, Kleveu escalators—a record for any underground station—will run. Five, of these, three in one tininel and two in another, having a combined "rush" hour capacity" of 40.000 passengers, will run irom the booking-ball to- the common landing, 57ft. below. Of these five escalators, four will operate upwards during the morning rush traffic, and in the reverse direction in the evening, . From .the

common landing, six more ■ escalators, three in each tunnel, will feed the platforms of the Bakerloo and Piccadilly lines. From this landing, the Bakerloo is 85ft. and the Piccadilly line 102 ft. below the street level. All the escalators will be of the new "comb" type, and will be capable of quick reversing, 'The total'cost of the work is estimated at £500,000.