CIGARETTE PAPERS.

Southland Times, Issue 21717, 1 June 1932, Page 6

CIGARETTE PAPERS.

THE GLORIOUS FIRST. When the Terror was • reigning in France, Europe trembled before disorder. Britain’s army was poorly organized and badly led; but the Navy was in all its glory. In April of 1794 Lord Howe, in command of the Channel Fleet, was sent to look after a powerful French fleet and a rich convoy on its way from America and the Wes, Indies. Baffled by fog, Howe sailed up and down, but toward the close of May the enemy was sighted. The French commander, Admiral Villaret Joyeuse, aware that the British fleet regarded the approaching convoy as a prize worth fighting for, knew he’ could not avoid a battle. In numbers the antagonists were about equally matched, but the French had the advantage m weight of metal, in the number of guns and the number of men. He accepted the challenge on June 1 and Howe won a brilliant victory, the consequence of which were important. The material damage inflicted on the French was serious, but of far greater moment was the moral effect caused by tbe victory. News of the fight and its result did not reach London until June 10. On the evening of that day the Earl of Chatham made known the news at the opera, and the audience roused to excitement oalled for “God Save the King,” and “Rule Britannia," which were sung by Morichelli, Morelli and Rovedicco, the stars of the opera then being performed. Signora Banti, a greater star than any of these three, was seen in a box, and she was compelled to go to the stage and join in a second performance of the songs. Other playhouses were thrown into a high pitch of excitement by the news. London indulged in what would now be called a “mafeking" and the mob expressed its feelings in some costly ways. The Earl of Stanhope, who still saw something to admire in the new-born but misused liberty, on June 13 inserted an advertisement in the papers seeking information to identify an “aristocrat” who had paid and egged on a mob to set fire to the Earl’s house several times during the night. It was a wild night, the wildness of which revealed London’s relief at Howe’s victory. —CRITICUS.