OUR LONDON LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 4 September 1926, Page 9

OUR LONDON LETTER

NEWS FROM THE HOMELAND. WINSTON AN D LABOUR. (All Rights Reserved.) London, July 15. Mr. Churchill, though he hits the Socialists hardest, is at tKe present moment the most popular Minister with them in the House fo Commons. They admire him as a debater, and take his knocks with a certain relish which is absent when most of his colleagues deliver them. For a vigorous, rollicking speech at the end of a debate the Chancellor of the Exchequer has no equal, and the fact that he obviously enjoys the performance himself does not diminish the enjoyment of his hearers. His defence of the British Gazette was one of his be*t efforts, and the House has seldom give vent to such a hurricane of laughter as was evoked by his closing anti-climax, beautifully worked up to, threatening that another general strike would mean the letting loose of another British Gazette. }lr. Churchill was not at all concerned about the charge that he showed partiality in his editorial direction of the paper, bluntly observing that he “refused to be impartial between the fire brigade and the fire.” “GALLOPER SMITH.” It is difficult to realise that the youthful Earl of Birkenhead, who is generally to be discovered behind a tremendous cigar, was 54 this week, but calendars are inexorable. ‘‘F.E.’s” career has been a remarkable one. It seems but yesterday that he delivered the most scintillating “maiden” speech of modern times; but that was over 2J years ago. But from that pinnacle he has never looked back. During the Ulster crisis in 1913, he became galloper to Sir Edward Garson, and he still enjoys a mount. In the law there are no worlds for him to conquer, for he has occupied the Woolsack with distinction. Ho has now abandoned the law for politics—financially, a risky step. As a postprandial orator he occupies the position onoe filled by Lord Rosebery, and no speech of his ever seems long. A particularly happy effort was the one proposing Lord Readings health at the recent Pilgrim’s Dinner. But MF.E.” is at his best on these occasions if there is to be no report. His gift for racy anecdotes then has full play. M.P/S FOR “DOWN UNDER.” Early in August the British delegation to the Empire Inter-Parliamentary Association will leave for Australia, and it will be absent till about Christmas. The Unionist contingent, 25 strong, will be headed by Lord Salisbury, aud there are nine Socialists and two or three Liberals, making in. all a party of about 40. The number of applications was considerably larger, aud the selection had to Ba made by a committee consisting of the Speaker, ! Mr. Amery, Mr. Snowden, Sir Godfrey Collins, and Lord Burnham. It will be remembered that the Australian Government showed as much dislike to letting the wives of politicians in as it did to letting the wives of cricketers out. Mr. James Stewart, the Socialist member of St. Rollox. has the distinction of being the first to set out on the journey. He left London on Saturday in order that he may have a month’s holiday with relatives and friends in Canada before joining the main party on its way across the Dominion. THE PIERROTS ARRIVE. Mr. Macquistcn. following the example of Colonel Appliu. appeared in the House of Commons lobby this week wearing a pale yellow suit of tussore silk. “Dr. Livingstone, I presume/’ said Mr. Tom Johnston with a geniality which he seldom shows when he speaks in the House. Mr. Snowden hobbled painfully up to the member for Argyll, and, having surveyed him from top to toe, remarked, “I thought the pierrots had arrived/’ The jegt had its point, for Mr. Macquisten is one of the unfailing laughter-makers of the House. The white duck trousers which the late Mr.- Gibson Bowles and Lord Novar (when he was Mr. Munro-Ferguson) used to affect seem to have gone out of fashion, but the more timid ones are grateful for the example in sensible clothing, and one day may have the courage to follow it. The House of Commons, in spite of all its ventilation gadgets, is one of the stuffiest places in London on a hot day. But then the Terrace is one of the coolest. FRANC UNSTABLE YET. A friend who has been in Paris, and had talks with prominent bankers, has returned to London convinced that no real attempt to stabilise the franc is to be made yet, in spite of the 50-page rtport of the financial experts. The truth is that every Frenchman wants to see tlie franc stabilised, but only a very small proportion realise the price that will have to be paid. The a verage Frenchman thinks that stabilisation will call for some small additional taxation, but docs not realise that it must also kill the present artificial prosperity <»f France. This prosperity is due solely to the fact that- the franc falls faster than wages and prices rise, with the result that everyone makes a profit, and there is no unemployment. Directly the frahc is stabilised, prices will adjust themselves to the world level, and there will be unemployment. IM. Caillaux and the other experts fftow this quite well, and they realise that the man who puts through* the necessary reforms may save France, but will go down himself in a storm of unpopularity. CURTAINING THE FLAT. Prices in Pays are becoming as illogical as ever they were in Germany. The *»ort of things which-foreigners want to buy are very little cheaper than in Eng’and. but*many of the things which the Frenchman alone requires arc priced at ridiculous figures in international currency. A young friend of mine wanted some curtain material for his flat ami tsaw what he wanted in Guidon | prices at 4s (id a yard. He went to | Paris a few days ago, and at one of the ; biggest shops in Paris bought precisely : the same materia’—a French design— ■ for ju*t under l<ld a yard. He came ! back with 50 yards of this material, but forgot to buy in Paris any lining j material. He is paying in London ex- I actly twice as much for tin- lining I fie »aid for the curtains’

ELUDING PORT WATCHERS. There is a man, now in Europe, who, whenever he travels, does so without a passport. He is a man who gained some notoriety at the beginning of the war by his “discovery” of a list of those in Europe who for personal reasons could be readily blackmailed and could therefore be used by the enemy. This “list” affected his popularity, with the result that he cannot now get a passport to travel from the United States, where he lives. But his wife is in Europe, and occasionally he wants to visit her. On three occasions, therefore, he has been a “stowaway” on a liner. He pretends to have been seeing friends off, and to have forgotten to go ashore—and thus crosses the Atlantic, of course, paying •his first-class fare. Then, when the ship is about to enter its European port, usually in France but once in England, he jumps overboard and swims ashore. He has actually managed to <lo this on three separate occasions. COLUMBUS A BACK NUMBER. History is slowly fixing the blame for the discovery of America. Middleaged people used to learn in their school primers that it was Christopher Columbus in 1492. Other authorities, including all good Bristolians, assert the superior claims of John Sebastian, the first seaman to double the Cape of Good Hope. But now Professor Olaf Opajon’s discoveries show that, as was long ago suspected, the Vikings were centuries before either. They were the first navigators to adventure into open seas, instead of hugging the coast like the Phoenicians. They not only discovered America and set the Saturday-night tub habit, but invented the post-war flapper, because, when the Irish recaptured Limerick from them in 9fiB, the captives taken, and highly appreciated by the Irish, included many “blooming silkclad young women.” EIGHTH-CENTURY SWANK. Professor Opajon’s deciphering of Runic inscriptions, hitherto regarded as Red Indian, shows that Vikings adventured into the interior of what is now the State of Washington. So now some American millionaire will want to buy the Bayeux Tapestry, which gives the best impression extant, even including the famous Gokstad ship, of the Norsemen’s galleys. The sails of these finelyshaped vessels were parti-coloured and exceedingly beautiful. Moreover, the Vikings had the artistic sense to be vain about them. Sigurd, the Jerusa-lem-farer, homeward bound to Constantinople from the East, actually lay a fortnight off Cape Malea, waiting for a side wind, so that the sails might be set longways, and better seen by spectators ashore as he approached the Golden Horn. Another interesting fact is that, in the eleventh century, Hard Hard-rada-'-who fell hi the battle where our King Harold defeated him before marching south to. his own doom at Hastings —embarked on the first North Polar expedition. PIGS NOT HORSES. It is said to be a great disappointment to the King of Spain, who always plays polo whenever he gets the chance, that his son, the 'Prince of the Asturias, takes so little interest in horses. The Prince hardly ever plays polo and takes very little interest in racing. He is really a farmer by tastes and inclination, and must tbe the only Royal manufacturer of sausages in Europe. He started a ‘large pedigree pig farm, producing prize pigs for scientific conversion into bacon and sausages. A great deal of the machinery was boi’ght in England. FAMILY ESTATES FOR SALE. It looks as though before long there will not be a single “stately home” left in England, so frequently does one hear of some family mansion being sold because of taxation or some other reason. The Marchioness Curzon, for instance, is parting with Montacute, in Somersetshire. a house with records going back to Norman times, and has a wonderful garden. Lord Donington is another seller, parting as he is with his Galloway property, Glen Lee, which used to have one of the best authenticated ghosts in the country. Now there is Lord Rosebery, who is applying to disentail “Dalmeny,” the estate which lies just outside Edinburgh. Is it natural to assume that he means to sell the estate or part of it? TOP HATS IN FASHION. The top hats, which some prophets at the end of the war said was becoming extinct as a form of fashionable headgear, has triumphed over all its opponents. During the present season the top hat has been in daily use, and even at tea parties in the afternoon the majority of men callers wear formal dress rather than a lounge suit. On Sunday mornings - at the fashionable cocktail parties, which seem to have taken the place of the pre-lunch amble in Hyde Park, almost everyone wears top hat and morning coat. The newer top hat is an architectural achievement, having a distinct “waist” in the middle of the crown after the fashion of a reel of cotton. The tapered top hat narrower at the top than at the base of the crown is “not worn.” A HORTICULTURAL THRILL. The editor of what is, I believe, the oldest daily newspaper, himself a veteran of Fleet Street, is an enthusiastic gardener. And lie tells me that he and his wife, who shares his hobby, have recently experienced a genuine horticultural thrill. His wife discovered some weeks ago, in an old discarded handbag, a packet of seeds. There was no mark on the packet, but they were brought back to London from Shalford, in Surrey. exactly 27 years ago. As an experiment they were duly planted in the editorial garden at Stoke Newington •this spring, and developments, if any, were awaited with intense curiosity. I Sure enough, after some weeks, green shoots began to appear, but the thrilling mystery deepened. What would these twenty-seven-year-old seeds prove to be? Now at last the ptizzle is I solved. The editor rejoices in a magnii iieent crop of pre-South African War i wallflowers. There are about a hundred I strong plants, all flourishing, and will : h? ready fur planting out in October. A MISSED CHANCE. • Wlir.i the buildings which blocked the '■ entrance to Victoria station were in course of demolition, 1 rejoiced in the

I'opc that the gateway to and from the Continent was at last to have a frontage worthy of it, and would give our visitors a better first impression of London. The Southern Railway, in alliance with the bus companies, have arranged otherwise, and What might have been a spacious and dignified forecourt has been converted into a glorified garage for motor buses. It will be convenient, no doubt, but correspondingly unsightly. It is curious that with the exception of Euston, St. Pancras, and perhaps Charing Cross our station approaches in London should be so unworthy. Any average Continental or provincial town would be ashamed of them. The clearance at Victoria must have cost a substantial sum, aud the opportunity to do a big thing has been missed. THE BEST WIRELESS VOICES. !i is not surprising to hear that the wireless authorities single out the Prince of Wales, Sir Harry Lauder and Mr. George Bernard Shaw as their best "voices’’ fpr broadcasting, though most listeuers-in would add Sir Henry Walford Davies to the list for his talks on Music and tbe Ordinary Man. What

always impresses hearers of the Prince is the intense vitality which is conveyed through space, by his clear speaking tones; and of Sit" Harry Lauder it need only be said that for effortless .production he has long’ been upheld as a model for young singers, and by no less authority than Mr. 11. Plunket Greene. “G'b.S.” has broadcast only once—not only a play of his own, but his inimitable personality. He is blest with a distinct diction, but this he can vary so as to present different characters with a wit that easily accounts for his vast vogue. He should be induced to amuse the millions again.. BATHOS. The L.C.C. has been discussing its town-planning committee's suggestions for ‘’a lovelier London.” There is any amount of scope for such enterprise in the metropolis, especially along the southern front of the London Thames. In any other European city that dismal facade of dingy warehouse backs and rotting quays, however ‘’picturesque” from tire painter’s point of bird’s-eye view, would long ago have blossomed into a splendid esplanade, with trees ami statuary, handstands and cafes, but

in workaday old London it still presents a picture that recalls the murkier chapters of Dickens’ "Bleak House.” But what is the use of talking about townplanning, when he have the present Home Secretary inciting the unwilling City Fathers of Kensington in the interest of scorching motorists to lop off one of the most’ beautiful bits of oldworld Kensington Gardens? A long experience of Home Secretary and First Commissioner mentality convinces me that, in reality, those departments loath the Parks, and will never .be happy till all the grass lawns are superbly asphalted, and all the ancient trees replaced by the latest abomination in cast iron railings.