OUR LONDON LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 31 December 1926, Page 8

OUR LONDON LETTER

NEWS FROM THE HOMELAND. NEW UNIONIST PARTY CHIEF. > London, Nov. 11. Much significance is read into Mr. J. C. C. Davidson’s appointment as head of the Conservative Party organisation. There was talk of making a dual appointment, and dividing the considerable powers vested in the post between a peer and a commoner. Either this has been abandoned on Lord Linlithgow declining the position, or other considerations have prevailed, but Mr. Davidson's succession to Col. F. S. Jackson in this critical position is taken to imply a strengthening at headquarters of Mr. Stanley Baldw’ins personal influence. Mr. Davidson has been the Prime Minister’s Fidus Achates in party affairs, and it was generally believed that he advised the much-discussed general election before last that temporarily installed the Labour Party in office. His accession to the Conservative Party’s chief executive role will not only give scope to his undoubted organising gifts, but will ensure an atmosphere, inimical to leadership intrigues. MR. BALDWIN'S POSITION. Because, though Mr. Baldwin has unquestionably much strengthened his personal popularity among the rank and file of his party in the country, recent events have not failed to arouse differences among influential members of it at Westminster. Nobody denies Mr. Baldwin's personal charm, but there have been, and still are, some who question his genius as a leader. At one time this feeling went so far that, in certain quarters, an anxious consideration was given to succession possibilities. For different reasons neither Lord Birkenhead nor Mr. Churchill, though conspicuous personalities in any such emergency, was regarded as eligible. And it should be added that neither had any part in the movement that Undoubtedly existed for replacing the present Premier. The same remark applies to the able lawyer on whom, when things were looking pretty gloomy, the choice inclined. This was Sir Douglas Hogg, beyond doubt the most capable recruit the Conservative Cabinet has enlisted since the war. LORD MAYOR'S SHOW. London has pronounced judgment on one more Lord Mayor’s Show, and the verdict of exceptionally big crowds was that Sir Rowland Blades had this week one of the most interesting and lively pageants within recollection. More than that it w’as instructive without being foresome. There were enough soldiers and bands to give it pomp and ceremony, there was, of course, the Lord Mayor himself in his perfectly gorgeous coach, from one window of which the head of a massive golden mace protruded, and must have turned green with envy those countless London pickpockets who work overtime on Lord Mayor's Day. But the piece de resistence wae the transport parade, illustrating at a glance how in a comparatively few centuries we have swept from the piquant pillion girl of the old horse days to the still more piquant 1926 girl who drives her motorbike with her sweetheart in the side-car. OLD FRIENDS Naturally the London crowds had a Warm welcome for some of its old favourites. I doubt whether the ovation that greeted Sir Rowland Blades hnuself had quite the same fizz as that accorded the genuine old-time London busman driving his genuine old-time London knife-board bus. Of course the fire brigade contributed a romantic section to the transport tableau. Here we had, passing once more through the modernised streets of old London, these quaint old fire extinguishers used by our ancestors appropriately about the time of the Great Fire. These weird mechanisms looked wonderfully antique alongside the up-to-date motor fireengine, and the contrast was emphasised by the costumes and equipment of the firemen. The Tudor and Stuart fireman was no doubt a stout fellow, and he wore a dress that might well grace a fancy dress ball at the Albert Hall. But he lacked the elan of his modern comrade, the very utilitarianism of whose uniform imparts a touch of drama, while hie glittering Grecian helmet makes one think of the thrills of the amphitheatre, or perhaps of Ajax defying the lightning. HOUSING FINANCE. I hear that financial authorities in this country arc becoming a little uneasy as to the amount they have advanced for the building of houses and that they arc disposed to pursue a more cautious policy in the immediate future. The are convinced that a sharp fall in the value of these new ! buildings is certain especially as some of them are of a rather flimsy type, and twenty years hence will cost a" lot for upkeep. The tightening of the purse strings will necessarily • tend to diminish tire supply of houses and thereby keep up prices. Practically the whole of the present building apart from the municipal schemes, is being done on the instalment plan through building societies, and thus for a good many years to come a considerable section of the community will have to save compulsorily. With the tendency of building prices to fall, the inevitable result will bo that by the time the purchases are complete, especially in tho ease of leasehohls, the investment will represent a good deal less than was paid for it. But when the housc-hmiter of the present day calculates what he would have to pay in rent, buying by instalments is generally found to be cheaper. NOT A MUG! It was like Mr. Stanley Baldwin’s sympathetic good humour, and his keen I practical interest in the welfare of ex- I Bcrvice-men, that ho so promptly con- ' eented to allow his well-known homely features, and his inevitable pipe, to be modelled on a Toby jug. The Primo Minister even went the length of autographing the first jug, which has been

purchased by Queen Mary, and a special first edition of one thousand autographed conies is being issued. The jug is the clever handiwork of disabled warriors of the Great War, who should reap a good harvest by its sale. We have had Disraeli clocks, and Gladstone collars, but never before a Prime Minister immortalised in a Toby jug. Of course Mr. Baldwin’s political friends are firmly insisting that, though he may be on a Toby jug, the P. M. is emphatically no “mug’l

A FIGHT WITH COAL.

If the confidence of Sir Hugh Trenchard and Sir Sefton Brancker is justified, and the Eastern link of the projected Australasian air service is duly inaugurated early next year, it will be a real triumph of mind over matter, because circumstances have added greatly to the inherent difficulties to be overcome. But the great steel hangars, of nearly a hundred-foot span, with doors than can be closed in an instant, have been turned out, despite the trouble with the miners, by a North country firm employing foreign fuel. These are requisite for stops in Egypt, Syria and Irak, and have already been dispatched by sea, some even being now in position. Tho complete scheme of course, is a direct service by air from London to the Antipodes over Sir Alan Cobham’s famous route. The airships will carry a complement of IflO passengers quite comfortably. But this cannot start before at earliest the end of 1927.

rebuilding the baby. It is typical of the rapid developments in modern flying that the Croydon aerodrome is already being’ rebuilt. Of all our London transport termini this is the merest baby, but it is now easting its swaddling clothes. Ihe evisting buildings and equipment, amazing though they are compared with the few hangars and wooden sheets of only seven years ago, are now inadequate, even to present requirements of an air service that grows by leaps and bounds. Not only has more land been acquired for enlargement and the making of an up-to-date motor road, but all the buildings are being reconstructed, and many new ones added. A little more than six months hence Croydon should be one of the finest air stations in the world, equal even to the famous Berlin one that plays so important a part in the night life of Germany’s capital. NOVEL POSSIBILITIES. The new Croydon aerodrome will consist of ferro concrete buildings which, specially designed for air purposes, will nevertheless . attain real architectural pretentions. Everything about the air is ultra-modern, and London’s great aerodrome will express the last note in modern building. An imposing suite of offices will house the stall's of all the companies concerned, with specially designed roofs to enable spectators to view big air demonstrations in the best possible manner. There will be a huge control tower, commodious up-to-date hangars, a great lighthouse, and so forth. The scheme will cost about a quarter of a million sterling, and will, it is hoped, include a first-class hotel. The case of Berlin suggests that, apart from its great convenience to air passengers, such an hotel might attract the general public. What could be more intriguing, on a clear night, than to sip one’s coffee after dinner, while watching the arrival and departure of the celestial liners ? THE OLD GUARD. There was a rather tragic little gathering at the Hotel Victoria the other evening to bid farewell to one of the last of the old coaching guards. Arthur Bullock has had 40 years on the road, and he finished up his long career this summer on the old coach Berkeley, which ran from London to Brighton. Since he started blowing his tantivy on the “Star” coach in 1880, when it ran from Hatchett’s coffee-house in Piccadilly to Bentley Priory, in Middlesex, Bullock has become a familiar figure in all the villages round London through which the old coaches ran. Twenty years ago he went to New York at the request of Mr. Alfred Vanderbilt, who was a very keen coaching enthusiast. Bullock acted as guard on Mr. Vanderbilt’s coach, which ran from New York to Ardsley, a distance of 26 miles. Then he returned to England with Mr. Vanderbilt, and acted as guard on his coach from London to Brighton up to the beginning of the war.

FAMOUS COACHING MEN.

Bullock's place was taken by Sidney Scarlet, and Bullock went as guard on Lord Leeonfield’e famous coach, “Old Times,” which ran to Brighton in competition with Mr. Vanderbilt’s coach. There were some historic figures at the ceremony the other night, when Bullock was presented with a testimonial and a cheque from the last of the old coaching enthusiasts. There was Mr. Frank Ward, the last of the coaching tutors, whose father drove the Norwich-Ipswich mail in 1827. There was also Mr. Dick Hunt, the proprietor of the Telegraph coach, and the King's coachman, and Mr. Hamilton Hughes, the owner of the Tantivy coach. Mr. Lynwood Palmer, the wellknown painter of horses, was one of the prime movers in the ceremony. Dressed in their horsey clothes, with grey bowlers, enormous ties, and tiepins representing coaches, horseshoes, and whips, they looked like a group out of one of Frith’s paintings. A MORLEY BIOGRAPHY. Tn spite of the stringent prohibition Lord Morley imposed on the writing of any biography of himself, I learn that a work dealing with his early life is in preparation. It is an open question whether a man who was himself a distinguished biographer was entitled to place a ban on posterity's interest in one who, to use a phrase of his own, played a far-shining part in public affairs. Readers of his fascinating '•Reminiscences” felt that his early years were dismissed too sketchily, in spite of the brilliant miniature portraits of some of his contemporaries. Though he stood for Parliament eo

long ago as 1874 it was not until after 1889 that he took to politics seriously. He once confessed that he was never in polities without wishing himself back in literature, and that when at his desk the desire to return to the political arena become almost irresistible. LORD BEATTY'S TENURE. Probably no admiral in modern times has created more records than Lord Beatty. His latest is to have held office as First Sea Lord beyond the seven years’ maxim laid down in the regulations. An official statement shows that he expressed a wish to retire from office on completing seven years at the Admiralty on November 1, but the First Lord, no doubt acting with the aproval of the Cabinet, has requested him to stay on for the present. The general expectation is that lie will remain until the end of the Imperial Conference. Nearly another ten years will elapse, however, before ho is. placed on the retired list, as he is now only 55 and the age limit is 65. Nor is lie keeping any junior officer oil' the active list, as his promotion to Admiral of the Fleet in 1919 was supernumerary to establishment, and made in recognition of his distinguished service in the war. It is expected that Admiral Oliver, who is in his third year as Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, will come to the Admiralty in Lord Beatty’s place, or, failing him, Sir Roger Keyes. But. Sir Roger is only half-way through his tenure of the command in the Mediterranean and has not so great an Admiralty experience as Admiral Oliver, who has been both Chief of Staff and Second Sea Lord. AUTOGRAPH TELEGRAMS. The French postal authorities have made an innovation which may become general in due time and give to telegrams an authenticity they have hitherto lacked. All business people 1 are familiar with the old formula—- " Letter follows”—in any telegram settling a commerical deal. And this has so far been an indispensable sequel to the utter anonymity, so far as legal proof goes, of a telegram. But now the French telegraph department is, at no great charge, sending out autograph telegrams. This is the first really practical application of the comparatively recent developments in transmitting pictures by telegraph. The original message is first photographed, securing the actual autograph of the sender, and then the photograph is wired to its destination. There are no great difficulties in the way of an extension of the novel system, and its manifest uses seem to justify it. A SPORTING TRAGEDY. It was exactly forty years ago this week since Ered Archer closed his brilliant career on the turf by committing suicide at Newmarket. The greatest jockey of his generation—possibly of all time—he won all the classic races, many of them several times, and left a reputation for consummate horsemanship which is almost as fresh today as it was in his life-time. His record has been approached by only two of his successors, Danny Maher add Steve Donoghue. The bugbear of most jockeys is keeping down their weight; and it was in the effort to do this that. Archer ruined his health, and the result was his final tragic breakdown. It is enough to make the immortal Fred turn in his grave to think of bookmakers joining hands with the miners and going on strike.