OUR LONDON LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 2 January 1926, Page 9

OUR LONDON LETTER

NEWS FROM HOMELAND. HAGGARD NEWS BILLS.

(AU Rights Reserved.) London, Nov. 19. All !thc country shares the sorrow of those who have lost relatives in the illfated Ail. And the first news of her being missing caused a genuine gloom of anxiety amongst the Ijondon crowds when the news-boys came along the Strand and Piccadilly. But only the'e who have witnessed it can cpti-to realise what newspaper bills, with 'tidings of a naval disaster, mean amongst the folk of a big naval port. The u.-aivst thing to it is the tragedy of a reverberating explosion, like a mulllcd peal, in some North Country mining town. The North knows the one horror; the/South knows the other. .It Las ‘been claimed that, relatively to the number of vessels employed and the amount of cruising, under, all conditions and in a'il weathers, the element of danger is little greater, if any. in our submarines than in ordinary surface craft. Yet since the war •the ratio of risk certainly appears to have risen. Ivs, in January, 1921, was •supposed to have dived 100 deeply and to have been crushed to pieces, but as there was no survivor the cans? remains a conjecture. H 42, in March, 1!;22, was rammed by a dos-troycr in tF.c Gibraltar Straits; and L 24 in January. 1924, met a similar fate at the hands of the battleship Resolution In neither case did. anyone surviveCITY MOURNS ML

The Stock Exchange, I hear, takes a personal interest in the unhappy loss of the submarine Ail, because her commander, Lieutenant Commander Carrie, ■ was the -son of one of the best known brokers in the Exchange. Air. George Carrie often brought his sailor -son to lunch in the city, and everyone knew how proud he was of the progress he had made, at so young an age, in the service. A well-known marine engineer tells me that the secret of the German diving kit used in examining the wrecks consists of maintaining the air inside the outfit at atmospheric pressure. The pressure- is so great under water that a diver cannot work*safely below about 120 feet, and even at that depth he cannot make a hurried return to ‘the surface or his heart will slop. VFith the German outfit the pressure is maintained at a 'uniform level, and the diver can rise like a cork from the bottom without feeling evil effects. LLOYD’S AND SUBMARINES The plea made by Lloyd’s for the abolition of submarines will carry more weight abroad than any by the British Admiralty. Lloyd’s underwriters occupy a unique position—which changing ! post-war conditions have done little to j alter —not only in connection with insurances' of British ships but of .ships of all nationalities. Only to-day an American hull, valued at L 900.000, was insured at Lloyd’s 'because American in- | surers -could not- take more than 20 per cent, of the risk. Au .appeal, therefore, from Lloyd’s cannot be dismissed as sentimental or scare-mongering, because underwriters live in a world of risks, are afraid of nothing, and exaggerate nothing. At the same time, it is no secret in the city that this declaration was deliberately made with the approval of the Admiralty with a view tosounding foreign opinion afresh. TV IL ANGLING OVER RUBBER. The sudden rise in the price of raw rubber, and the corresponding increase in the value of all classes of rubber shares’, is being followed just now by a record volume of litigation in connection • with disputes over the spoils. All kinds of men. who have never before had any connection with rubber, have rushed in, bought up estates of doubtful value, and arc now hawking them round the city in an attempt to resell them. So great is the demand tor any sort of share, with a sound of -rubber about it, that hardly an estate is unsaleable, and there is usually a profit on the re-sale. But these amateurs in rubber finance promise commission to all -and sundry while negotiating the deals, and, when the final -settlement comes, -often find they have [promised all their profits several times over. Then 'the litigation star La. ENTER TROTSKY. Alany months -ago I mentioned the probability, according to well-informed Russians, of Trotsky returning not only to formal office, but actual supremacy in Aloscow. His eclipse and banishment were part of the aftermath .of Lenin’s demise, which left the Red oligarchy much at loggerheads, and split up into jealous rival factions. It is now -stated, in equally well-informed quarters, that recent diplomatic changes, including Al. Krassin’s return .to London as the Soviet representative, mark the fitting fulfilment of this prediction. Zinovieff’s policy has not had the hoped-for results, but has badly embarrassed Russian business development abroad, and, a notoriou-. Communist firebrand having passed away by the death of Michael Frnnse, IToLsky’s star is in the ascendant again, and a regime of more moderate politics may dawn. MARGOT’S BROTHER. It seems incredible, that the dapperlooking Mr. Harold Tennant was 60 this week, yet so it was. It was in the nature of things, I suppose, that the career of Al-argot’s brother should bo intertwined with that of Margot’s husband. Anyway, Air. Tennant became private secretary to his brother-in-law when the latter was Home Secretary, and. in that capacity met .the lady who is now his wife, she being an inspector of factories in that department. He -sat for Berwickshire fur nearly a quarter of a century, ami filled various minor positions —notably the l/nder-Secretaryship for War. Thu position he held during the first two years of the war, and only relinquished it because a fine, old-fash-ioned family loyalty made him disinclined to hold it under the Welsh wizard. Mr. Lloyd George. At the House of Commons Mr. T'cnn-ant contrived to maintain a Savile Row appearance whifet sporting “poacher” pockets to his coats—pockets from which he would furtively produce a. brace of partridges <>r a brace <»f grouse for presentation to his friends. GOA I-S TO NEWCAST L.E. Tfir Queen of Spain’s jolly London holiday has furnished the gossip writ-

ers with endless ‘Qopy.” That Queen Ena has thoroughly enjoyed every minute- of her visit is ‘tolerably apparent. She has “done*’ all the West End shows, from highbrow drama to low neck revue, not omitting the more fashionable cabarets. She has -shopped, and gossiped, and danced to her heart’s content. And she has been -specially interested, perhaps with a maternal thought to her young invalid son, in the hospitals’ ul-tra-violet ray equipments. But how King Alfonso will smile at the London newspaper story that Her Afajesty ia taking back one of these ‘‘sunlight” lamps to Aladrid for his benefit*! Sun light to Madrid —-coals to Newcastle! CITY CLUBS. 'l’liere is an extraordinary .growth just now of city lunching clubs. This activity may have been stimulated by the terrible congestion in city restaurants, and cafes of all sorts during the “rush” hours, and it has certainly been encouraged by the success of the finst venture, a luncheon club for shipping people par- I ticularly. Another ha.s now been opened in an ancient church crypt, formerly a wine store, and is more especially a bankers’ rendezvous. Others on. similar lines are projected now for insurance men, Stock Exchange men, and different city groups. Well furnished, with tape machines and telephones, and good food and provision for relaxation as well as amusement, the city Club looks like becoming a flourishing institution, and is, I fancy, being exploited by an enterprising syndicate. REAL CHINA. J have observed that most old bachelors drink China tea, and arc quite , faddy about the quality and making thereof. Yesterday afternoon I was one of a party at a St. James’ bachelor flat, where the host, with the air of something between a high priest and a maiden aunt, made us a cup of Dr. Johnson’s favourite brew. He modestly hinted that it was the best China tea procurable, and cost him over a sovereign. a pound. It was certainly quite a desirable beverage, but one of the party, a bronzed old adjuiant, while commending our host’s brew', declared that he had been spoilt for all other teas but one. On leaving Canton after a term of service in the Far East, a Chinese merchant gave him a parcel of tea, the very finest obtainable in the province, of which he still treasured a little. To make tea yob simply dipped one leaf in cups of boiling water. And there was your palest amber nectar—delicately fragrant, gently soothing, -subtly invigorating! And now our St. James' host ks a disgruntled man! LUNGER SKIRTS COMING. The very -smartest of the autumn dress shows in Baris (writes a woman correspondent) indicate a change in the whole character of women's dress that is quite revolutionary. The simply cut, untrimmed, '•garconnc” dresses are giving way to elaborately cut styles with long flowing lines. The trimming is often detailed, and almost extravagant, a favourite ornamentation being of velvet, matching exactly or toning closely with the material it trims. It is used on all kindrs of materials—rep, taffeta, lace, and chiffon—especially in the-shape of velvet shoulder-straps and belts. The double be it, narrowing into a single belt- -at the -back, is seen on nearly all j the smartest autumn models. A PARODIST, TOO! ’Air. J. C. -Squire, the editor of the London Aler.cury, not only dances enthusiastically, explores old churches, presides over the Architecture Club, and still occasionally plays football and cricket, but golfs quite well. He has “got into the news’' now by adopting a new unit —that of the dandy toothbrush moustache and slight -side whiskers. For some time, now—ever since the war, 1 fancy—some of our jeunesse doree have tried to po'pulari.se in London the continental vogue of “side-board” whiskers. Air. Squire is a late conversion, and, as he is recognised, as a great parodist, it may be merely a temporary satirical gesture at the Bright Young Things.

FORLORN HOPE. Talking about male “sideboards” reminds me tt-hat, ever since the war, too, desperate efforts have been made to revive crinolines and bustles. The sideI whisker is the masculine counterpart of I the feminine crinoline in its Victorian I quality. So far, the side-whisker vogue ! has -struggled in vain against the prel judice created by the late Frank Rich- ’ ardson’s comic crusade against “face 1 fungus.” The bustle and crinoline j vogue is up against even a more I’ori midable barrier. \\ oman are the keenest motorists of all. And how do bustles or crinolines fit in with the modern ■two-seaters, the latest models of which are -so tiny that, on inspecting one at Olympia, a cynic asked the salesman: “What do 1 wear on the other foot?” AN OLD-TIxMER’S VIEW. A famous Rugger International of the nineties has given me -his view about recent troubles. II frankly blames the popularising of the game from the spectatorial point of view for all unplcasanfness. Ho says that in the old days, when you strolled on to the field at | Richmond a few minutes before the I kick-off in an England v. Scotland I match, there were a few thousand old ’ players present, and room for hundreds I more. Now the last seat at Twicken--I‘ham is sold out, probably by some proi fitcering middlemen, six weeks before ’ the day. Even at club matches there : arc crowds nowadays. And their inex- ! pert partisan temper -upsets the players I sometimes. The game is exciting enough i without the music of a violently partisan crowd sounding in the players’ ears. THE WRONG -SPIRIT. The veteran pointed oui how one LonI don club, in a laudable effort to democratize Rugger, reserved seats for cheap season-ticket- holders. It draws the proletariat all right, but to sit in that section of the enclosure, to any real Rugger expert, is a torture. The at-Li-tude of the crowd and its shouts were utterly at variance with the -real Rugger .spirit. The game is so fiercely thrilling and pcrzanul in its conflict,

that noii-expcrls are swept off their balance, anti thier uproar may do the same for actual players. Short of an impossible ukase against all applause, like that at the National Sporting Club during glove fights, the only remedy, said my old-timer, lies in very strong refereeing. OLD STKEATHAM. There seenw not to bo much of 4 lie old village of Streatham left, though that well-to-do London suburb, so closely associated with Dr. Johnson, has been pageanting a revival of old times. The object of the pageant was to raise funds for St. Leonard’s Church, wherein the doctor often worshipped on his Sunday visits to his friends the Tlirales, wealthy London brewers of those days. His last visit was in the autumn of 1782, when the widowed Airs. Thrale was breaking up her old home, including the “mahogany” under which the doctor stretched his legs with so much zest. The Thrale pew in St. Leonard’s remained -till 1832, but Streatham Place, their fine home, came down over half a century earlier. Readers of Boswell will recall how the one drawback to Johnson’s Streatham excursions were the Kennington Common footpads. A PEER’S SHOP. The Earl of La thorn, who is one of our most generous patrons of the drama, has at last opened his Mayfair shop. It ia in the precincts of Berkeley (Square. The premises are small the contents the last expression of modernity in fnrnis-hingis of every description. The Earl’s sister, who usually acts as hostess for him, has been giving practical help in serving customers and showing them the many beautiful tapestries and other things that are on show. Lord Lad bom. whose health is much improved of late, has a delightful flat in Afount Street, which he bought from the Marchcss and Alar■chesa Afala-crida. “PETER PAN.” “Peter Pan,” the Buy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. will “come of age” this Christmas, and Alio;. Dorothy Dickson,

the new ‘Peter,” is also twenty-one. For its original production the play was rehearsed for two months —the author attending most of the rehearsals —smoking a big pipe. In its original form -on the first night it did not include the Tree Tops scene, which had to' be- omitted owing to lack of tlnie, and the play ended with ithe return home of the lost children. The scenery originally used is still in use though changed from time to time, and not a few of the children acting in tho piece to-day see the same “sets” that their fathers and mothers saw twenty-one years ago. SIR ARTHUR PINERO'S NEW PLAY. Not quite so much stir is caused by the announcement of a new play by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, but as he is a fine craftsman, with wit, fancy and invention, and is sensible enough to keep the plot of liis play a secret, the production of “Dr. Harmer’s. Holiday” will bo awaited with more ithan ordinary interest. It deals with a man’s “double” personality. Sir Arthur tells gleefully of a “mistake” that got him his first London engagement as an actor. Ho played a small part in Wilkie Collins's "Woman in White” at Liverpool, and the author was so struck, Sir Arthur says, with* the acting of tho leading man, that he recommended him for an ngagement in another of his plays to >c produced in London. Only Wilkie dollins, in marking the programme, put t by mistake against the name of “A L ,V. Pinero.”