OUR LONDON LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 10 May 1930, Page 18 (Supplement)

OUR LONDON LETTER

NEWS FROM THE HOMELAND.

EXIT THE GREAT EARL.

(Special to News.)

London, March 20.

Earl Balfours death does more than close a brilliant career. It ends a great epoch. In him we did in simple truth behold “the last of the Victorian*.” His slender tall figure, beautifully sensitive hands, eager intelligent head, and charming smile were the last living link with people and events that make our post-war times look mean and put-at-eTbow. Earl Balfour not only played a big role during the Great War, tvlnelt hiaybe marks “ the historical apogee of England, but his personality stroiigly influenced his Pountry’d life at a time when Parliament grappled problems of statecraft, not mere quandaries of finance. Politics in his hey- ■ day was not a sordid jostle of proletarian economics, but a clash of sovereign principles in an era before personality was swamped by sheer material circumstance. VETERAN PETER PAN. The amazing thing about Arthur Balfour, as we called him to the last, was his unquenchable youth. He was a Peter Pan at 80. His eager zest in all that was intellectually worth while was, in fact, keener than, when, at 20, to please his uncle, Lord Salisbury, he first entered the House of Commons. During these closing months, while his life slowly ebbed away at his brother's Woking house, though he sometimes sighed for . his Scottish home, A.'J.B. was alert to all that happened, not merely politically, but in art,.literature, and even sport. .The speeding years I 'never marooned that subtle intellect. So | delicate as a young man that,.his career >vas near being wrecked ~ by doctors’ orders to winter abroad, he was a formidable golfer in later middle-age, and a strenuous tennis partner in his seventies. ! OUR BRITISH NESTOR. 1 As a platform orator Earl Balfour ! lacked democratic passion. As a Parliamentary debater he had perhaps too much finesse. But as a courageous counsellor, despite his bad break when he bitterly opposed Campbell-Banner-man’s beau geste of self-government to the: Bpers, his sagacity was incomparable. His nimble, mind and unrivalled practical . experience explored every facet of the most baffling problem, and his sound perception illumined even the darkest perspectives. At GO he was the first. distinguished passenger to test the novelty of ■ going up in an ; aeroplane. At 70 he raced the U-boat-infested Atlantic- in a. recordbreaking .warship to consolidate America’s will to, fight'. •; I ,ho,ld. Arthur Bal: j four supremely happy in. that he did , pot outlive a jpiddle-aged renown, but encountered, hi* apotheosis of. service as a silvered, veteran. "He was hot too old ■' at 80.

BRITAIN’S ECONOMIC HANDICAP.

Startling views about our post-war depression were given to me to-day by ah impartial foreign . expert, a civil engineer thoroughly conversant with industrial conditions in Europe, America and this country. He agreed that extortionate taxation hampered our recovery, but’ said the real trouble was antiquated methods and equipment. He instanced especially our iron, steel, and coal industries as urgently needing reorganisation and refurnishing. He pointed out that our staple trades were the. heavy ones, and these were now competing . with up-to-date foreign rivals, who had seized the opportunity to recondition during or after the war. “So long as your people stick to the bow-and-arrow stage,” he emphasised, “they will be hopelessly handicapped in the ecoiipmie struggle.” ARMY’S NEW EQUIPMENT. There is little likelihood that- the army will receive certain new equipment that it was led to expect in the ,ngar. .future... ..Spme., greatly - improved .cojp.pgrgiivejy s>mgll-calibre :guns have ' been designed-.-for;: the • artillery, and a carriage ,for.,,the 18-poundcr fiel<| gun .to•; withstand . the ; enormouo ■ vibration caused by .mechanisation. But it is bgyond-hope that money will now: be: spent on the.;©.: contrivances. > Then there is the , Thompson self-loading rifle, about which so much was heard a year or go ago. This weapon won a War Office prize in- open competition, and xvas understood to . have been brought to a fair pitch of perfection as the result of exhaustive trials at the /Birmingham Small Arm Factory. This rifle is supposed to give short bursts of fire at the rate of 30 to 40 rounds a minute, which is about the limit, considering the physical strain on the man and barrel-beating. Nothing has been heard about it lately, and. as in the case of the guns, the army will have to whistle for its improved equipment. FREIGHT TUBES. Lord Elibank ■is understood to bo associated with a remarkable scheme for revolutionising goods traffic. The proposal is to construct a regular system. pf ■f l ’cigi l t tubes in conjunction, with the existing passenger tubes. The scheme includes 75 miles of these tubes, with over. 50. stations in the London area, all linked up with the principal railway termini, goods., yards, docks, wharves, public markets, and even big stores. The cost is estimated at £40,000,000, but is regarded as sound economy in view of the promised efficiency in handling goods traffic through- ( out the metropolis. About £50,000.000 a year is a conservative estimate of the cost of London’s etrect congestion.

NAVAL FEELINGS AROUSED.

There are some black looks to be /-eon

these days at the Admiralty in Whitehall. Naval personnel during 1930 is to be cut by nearly 6000 officers and men, and officers’ pay is to be further reduced on and after July 1 next, but there, is an extra allowance of -£‘21,000 to be paid-for salaries and .bonuses to clerks t'-.and draughtsmen at- the Admiral,y. - A distinguished naval officer put the case in a nutshell when he said: "The civil servants go on forever, and get more expensive each year they go on.’’ It is felt by many naval men that behiq<]_ tliis..increase; of. pay fq.' tae civil' element in* the y\dm-i’ra.lty ,ri#

strong political and trade union pressure. Many sailors hope that- when the navy estimates come up for discussion there will be a very thorough invests gation into the various votes. i MIDDLE TEMPLE TREASURE. Mr. E. V. Lucas has been challenged over his statement that, when *Sir Francis Drake’s ship. Golden Hind, was broken up, only one authentic relic of her stout oak was preserved, and may be seen to-day in the shape of an armchair, in the Bodleian Library. Middle Temple experts contend that in its hall, below, the central dais, is a serving table fropi the timbers of the Golden Hind, in which ship Drake achieved his faipp.us circumnavigation of the globe. Drake and. Raleigh.were entertained at a banquet in the hall in 1586. and Drake’s' portrait is hanging in a neighbouring corridor. The hall also boasts; the : first performance of “Twelfth Night.” Mr. Lucas’ “Wanderer in; London” curiously enough mentions the table, but merely as one on which Queen Elizabeth signed an historic document. ENGLAND'S HARD LUCK.

It was really hard luck, especially for Sam Tucker and hi* magnificent pack, that England failed to win at Twickenham against Scotland, and thus gain not only the odd victory in the Calcutta Cup series but probably the international championship as well. The Duke of York and the Prime Minister were amongst the 60,000 who witnessed a game devoid of spectacular back play, but full of thrilling forward work for the initiated. After half-an-hour .England’s; jfor.wards were right on top. Seldom has an international pack, been so definitely top d-og as England’s during the second half. They gave inI numerable chances to-their backs, but I the selfishness of their centres' anS the. offside tactics of the Scottish threequarters, unchecked by the rhferee, made all of no. avail. Twice Sobcy, England’s serum half and the hero of the day, got over Scotland’s line, but tackling Scots prevented a touch down. Scotland seldom looked like scoring,', but, apart from standing offside, defended- well. i ! MAKING OF CLOGS. I Although the Lancashire lassies have given up wearing clogs in favour of high heeled shoes and silk stockings, the making of clogs in thi* country in a growing trade. More than 500,000 elogfl are made in England annually,, and every year the export* are increasing. Britain has made a (speciality of clogs, and. there are now 160 patterns, ranging from the old wooden clog that used to be worn in Lancashire mills to furlined Wellington clog*, which are worn by gardeners. Price* range from 4e to I7s 6d. The growth of new trade* like .the, artificial silk trade has given an impetjiifl to, the wearing of clogs. Wooden clog* are used by all worker* who are employed among chemicals. The export trade is chiefly among miners. In the mines of Iceland, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa, English clogs are now being worn. But even in this trade Germany i* trying to swamp us. Last year' she *ent over 200,000 pairs of clo-g* to England.

TWO HUNDRED LETTERS A MINUTE

The Business Efficiency Exhibition is an international affair. As one of the promoters put it to me, if something emanates from Timbuctoo for. the speed-ing-up of trade, it is given prominence here. All the more satisfactory, then, that the legend “British Made” .should be so conspicuous among the countless ingenuities. The organisers are the Office Appliance Trades Association of Great Britain and Ireland, whose policy it in to gather together each year in one building a comprehensive display of modern office machines and methods. The aim is to increase the efficiency of British offices, and to reduce their overhead cents by preventing the waete of time and energy. Among the novelties thia year are a self-regulating timing system, a combined typewriter and adding machine, a contrivance for datestamping and numbering incoming correspondence, and an inexpensive handoperated invention for opening letierp at 'the'raie'"of ! 200 a. minute.' : ■ //SEEING’’AND HEARING." .' ■ StC'aidy prdgrciSß continued in' the experimental Work of developing broadcast television. The relation’s between the 8.8. C. and Mr. Baird were at one time not too cordial, but now the two interests recognise their mutuality’, and are co-operating well. Though the television broadcast is still of interest merely to the expert amateur, the time is obviously coming, and not slowly, when if. will beconie a popular affair. Already arrangements are being made, I as from the end of this month, for simultaneous broadcasting of sound and vision, and I hear that the manufacture [ and sale of equipment for that' purpose | has been decided on. It would be a fair- | ]y safe prophecy that within less than i

two years from now, at the outside, our ; domestic aerialo w’d be conveying their messages to, both, out; earn .‘unl.qiff eyes. FOURTH DIMENSIONAL. If one gets a 8.8. C. expert to talk shop .one, occgoionally hears weird things about wireless possibilities. Miracles become quite commonplace oirce.. modern scientific invention enters info operation, Take an example in. itself, perfectly simple even to non-scien title minds. Imagine listening to a speech, word for word and pause. for pause,

several hours before it is actually delivered. But this is a fairly humdrum experience at 2‘LO. It is explained,; of course, by variations of time at distant parts of the globe. Recently London heard perfectly remarks talked' into a microphone in New Zealand at 11.30 at night, at noon on that. same 'day. America got the name thing, of course, before breakfast on the identical day that the speech was made’After mipper. BACK TO BRIAN BORU. Authoritative books tracing the history of Irish families are becoming

-The experts who profess to trace a'client’s deo'ccnt receive a large proportion of their commissions from wealthy? Americana. Owing to the destruction .of - the Four Courts in. Dublin durina the ‘.‘.troubles,” all authentic records °have been, lost, ar - 1 one r ha3 to go to- the books-;on-'Irish/pedigrees- to do any. trapingn .Most IrjAh-Amoricans cxpee£( tQ, haver their fainif^si[traced .back 1

to Brian Boni, a warrior to whom Irish pedigrees go back as inevitably as English to the Conquest. He reigned over Tipperary and Clare in the 10th century, and was killed in battle by the, Danes on Good Friday, 1014. A book on Irish families, published only 10 years ago, is already fetching more than twice its published price. . -. FAMOUS LONDON ORGAN. While “Burt’s” Hospital is embarking on a £1,000,000 scheme of reconstruction, the famous shrine of St. Sepulchre’s,' next door; ie faced ’ with two financial requirements which should appeal to provincial visitors. One is to rebuild the Old Reriatus 'Harris organ; which, first erected four years after the great fire, has had to be taken do.wn as worn-out. All that can be lined of an instrument,.which, in Samuel Wesley’s day was considered the finest in London will be retained; arid the'' panels carved by Grinling Gibbons are to be preserved. But the chance has been seized to act about the-'restoration of St. Stephen’s Chapel, containing .the tomb of Roger ; Ascham, tutor io Queen Elizabeth. St. Sepulchre holds many solemn memories

connected with the Old Bailey over the way, but its cheerful interior is not a -.- whit less impressive than the familiar exterior, and here appropriately the singing of the best English Church nn:<>ic is now being encouraged. FATHER OF THE MOTOR-BUS. Most people date the first omnibus from Shillibeer’s vehicle of 1829, but what, would appear to-be the inception took place 2(18 years ago in Paris. Louis XIV fathered the idea, and even tried a trip in one. The inauguration was worthy of that spirit usually attributed to the gay city. Civic functionaries in. full regalia, archers and guar s turned out and gave the venture a sen oil. Cavalry and infantry hept route clear. Monied Paris, fought to ride in them, but, such is the perversity of human nature, when they ceased to be fashionable the ' poorer classes \Vould have nothing to qd them, and they failed accordingly.’ system ! re-appeared ' in. P/nisr , and in the' Revolution of lS3o.tea.ly won the favour of the populace; in a strange manner. They discovered the . buses made wonderful barricade