ON HOLIDAY IN RURAL ENGLAND.

Wanganui Chronicle, 17 December 1912, Page 7

ON HOLIDAY IN RURAL ENGLAND.

FAMILY RAISING ON FIFTEEN SHILLINGS A WEEK.

THE TRUST HOTEL

ITS CHARACTER AND PURPOSE

FRUIT, FLOWERS AND VEGETABLES.

AUTUMN FOGS

LONDON'S ARMY OF HA^TIJERS

THE LAW AND THE SUFFRA-

GETTES

THE BALKANS AND BRITAEX

IN ANI> ABOUT BRIGHTON

(By a Colonial now resident in England) For my first week's holiday I "was at ilie village of Little Gaddesden. I managed to have a pleasant time there, _iind was enabled to go at first hand onto |^ —ivilih the life of population, and it is certainly marvels of the age tlhat men a wage of from 15s to 18s per bring up a family, and aipt live in comfort. Of course, the a mere flea-bite., andl .they room in which to grow so that the fowl problem is in their case, fcut when it the matter of clothing this some imnn-agemenb.. In ua this sort, where ipraictiieially _ works on the Estate, there in jjho way of firing and .at Xmas wihach help to going, but at villages like .ah K'eiit,' iwhem. there is -Esstiate and each one works farmer, it must be much them to keep going, and it is : that they can do so- well : What a contrast, between j they earn in E'lXgland, and ; Avoulcl get for similar work ' or New Zealand. Another I had the opportunity of : first hand iw.as the Trust ' hotels, of which tihe Bridge- j is ta shilling example. The ; this place kindly gave me infor>mia.tdoii laibout how : were worked, and it apthe, Trusfciwas d'ormed in the . wiilh -the idea' of supplying ; Jn different places with : beer, but also with the ; the virtues of teimipermanager is npt expected to ; liquors if ho can avoid i ho is allowed a bonus oil all j bevenages he na.tur- I he can to foster the sale of it is the exiceptioii 'rather to see anyone partaking of b drinks in this hotel. It the Trust is run by a [ pihilantliropiists so tihia^ they ; if expenses are eianed, and it is more 'Mke a social ordinary hotel, and it i* i a.- Gitnanger to go there maid : philosophy and other subdiscussed with the gireait- | nature, while in the ibilMard- ■ one seeims to vie with the ; what they to make Vh& , pleasant to the iplayers of how such games played. It certaimly ilie'Lps = thiat there are igood-in/-still in the world who of seilf, but live to do good .

Gnddesden lihiad the oppar- , drive through part of tlhe this was very enjoyaibte, j beeches, elms and i the stately larches. It place, and it nuakee one think of someone owning j tille other band there is j abjection to anyone gowish, except when they the portions of the park' young pheasants are being another day we went foir a i Bridigewater Monument, a some 200 feet high, j erected in honour of the ! I^^^^^^Rdgowater, who in the early ( pa^^^^K last century took a great j .interest in the canals of England, and j after whom the Bridgewater Carnal is ; tiiamed. Flrom the summitof this there ; is a fine view ©if the various pa,rts of the Estate with the .village of Allbery close at hand, and the 'London and North-Western .railway winding its sinuous way towards London in the distance. The 'fanms on the Estate can also 'be seen, and they look " quite English, you know," with their boundaries set off by the hedges of hiaiwthorn, etc. And what a sight these hawtlhonns aire to be sure, for they are covered with the scarlet berries, and with the green foliage they form a very nice picture. The beech trees also are covered: with nuts, and this is supposed to foretell a very severe winter, .but whether that will be the case or not, the inhalbiitants expect to see a very big invasion of pigeons, which are said to be very fond of tlhese nuts. I had another opportunity of going through the garden referred to in my last, over which Mr Gentle is the | guiding spirit, and 1 had. the chance of | seeing some beds of onions which made me absolutely 'gasp with astonishment on account of their immensity, for some1 of thorn were over 19J in circumference and weighed 3| lbs. I could imagine that one of these would he enough to shift a. cold if anyone took it at night before turning in. The currant bushes were still laden w;ith fruit, iand the morolla cherries were also being kepS for show purposes, while on .a tomato bush I was shown a bunch comprising 43 fruit, and growing along wires, were loaded with fruit, and two peach trees under glass were' shown wiidch had borne over 250 peaches this season. In the garden where the flowers have their habitat I admired the Hiouirasium Croacata (the yellow spinning wheel), and was shown a stem on the Liliuim Auratuim which had over 40 buds, co there should be a splendid show on that. When the roses are tall out in 'bloom there must be a fine display, las there are many ■hundreds' of these, and they are larranged in ibedfi of the 'Maltese Cross shape. It must be very nice to be independent and to live in a place like this with a nico garden, and every-' thing that one migHt wish for. There is a very nfee reading-room in the village, with a billiard table, and plenty of books and magazines, so that there is the opportunity for the villagers to improve theLr minds as well as their skiJil iat (billiards. The house that this is in must be a very old one, with its old-fashioned solid oa;k (beams across , | tlie ceiling. I was informed that a* one timo this house harboured (rebels at the time of one of the Civil Wars, •and i that there was a subterranean passage from it to a place of refuge, but whether my innocence was 'being taken advantage of or not I cannot say, as the passage was .not shown to me. Perhaps it is used niow for telephones. The autumn weather has been mucii .nicer than what was supposed to be ! summer weather, -as rthere has ibeen very little xaiin at all since the beginning of September, there being actually a 25 days' drought during that month, which is said to have been longer than any other time on record ■where_ there has not been a measurable quantity of rain. However, at tihe end of that month there was a good deal of irain and this helped to bring the average almost up to the normal. During October it has been almost consistently fine also, so this has helped to make up for the wet days we experienced during August. Octoiber has remained fine to a great extent, "but during the ipast

week or so we have had fogp almost daily and travelling has been the re- ! verse of safe or easy. Trains which usually occupy a quarter of an hou/r have been taking nearly an hour, w-hile motor buses and taxi cabs^ as well as other vehicles, have been climbing the foiotpatbhis and so forth. On Fridlay j night, it was so dark when th© King i was going to the theatre that he had I men with torches to go in front of the ) carriage to sliaw the Tiight way, which i was just like the old style days of the ; linkmen. It became so thick that evenI ing that all cabs ceased running, whale the motor. 'buses -weir© playing all so:rts i of triclvg, and one of tliem mounted tHie j curb and smashed down &'tetter box, i scattering the letters all over the road. jlt has certainly feeen very thick at I times, and yesterday morning at was ! inipossibfle to see across the irqad ait Forj esb Giate/but'there was practically anone ju the city. On Saturday afternoon^ it I was thick, and afootbaill aiiartch whiich 1 was watching -Was certainly* played under disadvantageous circumsfcamcee, and as we Could not see we gave it best at half time. •

The Police- authnrities of 'London evidently mean to :-weed ouit tiHe street hawkers, of whom "there ai*e iniany thousands, especially jafc Xmas .time, scdling penny toys, firuit, snveets, flowers and other articles of. merchandise. They have Teeenitly decided ttefc all of these hawkers must be licensed and

wear a metal numbered ibiadig€'/but as they would only issue these to such hawkers las had been on' the slfcreets for a period of three. years, and do not purpose issuing any in .the future, it looks as if in a few years time the streets will be qvtiite free of tihese "gutter merchants." These regulations apply only to the city proper, and 'nothing has been done; with regard to the districts ouside,so that the costers', barroiws will still ibe as plentiful as ever there. ■■ The highest number I have seen on a;ny hawker so far as 1509, ©o it is evident that thqi-e is quite a, smial anmy who gain tlieii- living by selling goods in the street where they have no irent, nates or taxes to pay. The storekeepers will be pleased to have this unfair competition removed.

Thre appears to be troulbie in the Amen Corner ias far as the Suffragists are concerned. as the papers '-advise ttot the Petliick Lawrences and the Pankhutrsts have dissolved forces, so perhaps we will have the different parties breaking each other's windows, and tliis would ceiitainly be better than smashing those of private people who diave nothing to do with -politics. What a travesty of justice it \yas for the Grovt. to release Mm Leigh simply ibeoause she refused to take -her food. Supposing some more man had tried to set fire to a theatre and endangered the lives of hundreds of people, and had been given his deserts 'with a sentence of five years' imprisonimsmt, would the 'Govt. have re^ leased him -because he dealincd' to oat? This is not iat all likely,, and when anyone cotmimiits a criminal offeiiice, whether it is in the cause of same political! idea or not, they should be made tk> suffer for it. The Govt. luave no'badcbone, iand have made ;a farce of tho sentences on these law-breakers. Then we had aniotihei* faroe of a simiilar ntoturo here a Aveek or two ago, in which, a school teacher named Wilks was imprisoned .because he would not pay his wife's income tax. It seems die. hias a salary of £160 per annum, on'which h.Q pays Inccxme Tax, but his wife, .who -is a Suffragette, is a lady doctor, and she makes a ,much Naigger ineam'e. She was called on for her tax, ibut declined to pay it, so the Govt. asked (her husband and he declined to pay. _ It appears that the Law can do nothing to a married woman in this way—lainother instance of women .bedng without rights —but can imprison the huislband' for the non-payment, so Mr Wilks wias duly incarcerated in gaol. His wife said that although he wias not in a good esta/be of health she would jallow him to Temain there just to emiphiasise the principle of the necessity of Votes for Women.1 She fancies she would help the cause by this action^ instead of which it drew ridicule upon it, and she was. pilloried on piatfoirm and in Press laibout the easy way in which she was making la martyr of herself, per medium of her husband, who apparently had -no say in the matter. Meetings of protest were held, and a band used to play outside of the prison, each afternoon, ljut when things were simmering down a wander came to the prisoner one afternoon and told him he ooudd go out iand join his friends, so that once more the Govt. 'has shown its ineptitude. If tit was worth while putting him in gaoil they .'should have kept him there, but apparently they never know their own minds.

The trouble in the Balkans which, has been simmering for so long hias now come to the boil, and the declaration of war fay Turkey shotwe that the so-ioaMed mediation of the Powers had no effect. With the jealousy existing between, them, more especial] y Austria and K/ussia, who are both looking for further territorial expansion in that dir action, it woe not likely that anything would be done in regard to preventing the conflict, and it appears to me itlhafc .when the war betwen the contending parties is lover, and a division of the spoil is to take place, the otheir countries iwili bo drawn into it, and the long looked for European War will be an accamipMshed fact. Then the map of' Europe will bo altered to a very great extent. Of' course, the diplomats say tli'at tihe war will be localised, but it is easy enough to say this, but it will 'be very difficult to carry ouit while each nation is iooking for -a little more coumbry. 'Germany will not take a prominent ipart in the affair, as she will let Austria take the chestnuts out of the lire, and later on when the Austrian Emipemr dies she will stretch out her tentacles and aibsiorb Austria and Hungary,- as well as any other placets they (have niched in the meantime. But Italy has also to ibe considered, as n't is not to her interests to alloiw Austria any more footing on the Adriatic, and as there iis a predominating population of iEtialianis in the Austrian seaports of TrieiatJ and Fiume Italy thinks she should 'have these instead of her ally. I fancy this

will end in the severance of the Triple Alliance, and it will probably be Germany and Austria against the rest of Europe, and with enemies all around them I fancy these two natioais Avili then find they have (bitten off mo.ro than they can chew. To my mind Great Britain should certainly support the Turks, for their massacres do not appear to bo aJiy 'Worse than those of the so-called Christian Albanians and

Macedonians when they have (the oppoi'tunity, and while Turkey controls the Dardanelles, Groat Britain has nothing to feiar from the Russian Black

Sea Fleet

But let the Turks be wiped

off tiho face of the earth as a nation, and then Russia will probably seize Comsitantinoiple and will dominate tho situation. Since the Japanese War tfhe Great Bear luais been very quiet, but all the time the details are /being Tviorkod out, and one of the objectives as India. In furblurance of this they are now getting a controlling influence in PorsM,

and the-beauty of it is that this is being done in conjunction with Great Bri-

tain. Lelt 'Constantinople fail in the hands of Russia, and the Suez Canal and India are done with as fiar as Great Britain are concerned. It will not be for a- year or two, but it \vill came. There is a lot of sickly sentimentality talked in the Press here aboxufc the down-trodden subjects of Turkey, (but others who have been on fthe spot state that this is a frequently exaggerated, and when the positions are reversed tho Turkish women and children have just as bad a tiime at the hands of these poor

perseci^ted^ Ohristd'ans. We luave not had a great deal of war news up ix> the present, a.s the censorship is very stiict, and it is usually soaiiethiiiig to the effect that 1a big battle has been iroporiied, and then we heiar later- on thaifc four men and a goat have been killed or something similar, "The Daily Chronicle" has made good ai-rangements, and the reports from their lady correspondent with the Montenegrin troops (haye1 been very good indeed. She itas resided in Miontenegiro and other Balkan .States for some yeans and has apparently been ailow'ed to go where none of the otlher newspaper cori-eiaponidentls lia.ve.

Brighton has the reputation of 'being the Queens of Wa'tei-ing. >Pilaces, and there is no doubt that tho 'hotels, etc., along..tihe froixt are exceptionally fine, while the esplanade and the Palace Pier are magnificent, the latter being quite fairy-like^evVhen the eJeetirio light is 'turned on., ,Tlien there as the famous Aquiarium, and the eleietric "'railway along ftlio edge of the ma,, -ibut .when theso ha.ye 'been menitioiied avihaft else is there? The beach is.shktigle, and muss be very hard and ampleasaJit. for iWialk•ing. on, 'but when the tides igoes out there is a certain amount of half Band and-half mud on wiliicli. the beaoh artists exercise their powers wiith pictures of Carisibrooke Oa&tle (one of the set -paecee) laaid other scenes. Tiie train service • by. the London and Bniigiton line is execmble, the carriages being filthy old that should Save been put on the scrap hea/p many years iaigov and the speed is aiot such, as would causa heai't disaaee. However, for our day an this city we-did:noit spend too much time on the f ro'n.t, -]>ut went for ia pleasant drive to-Rottingdean some few miles out, where there is ah old .■church with insori|ptidnis> going •baick to-.1723, and in,/tMs churchyiaaxl is th& buiial-' place of. WuLliani ißliaok, the novelist. .In.the, aift«rHoon 'we liad a very aiice drive through the subtiThs, where.therewas, less, uiiifoiuiiitydn the laroliiitecture and the. houseis reminded' me- of (fclie Australiaa>i ones, out into the country through, fields of . corn, where fences soomod tovbeunilaiown, land thence to the Devil's Dyke, a. peculiar valley for-miati-on. wliicli is reputed by kgend to have, been pipked-out by Satan with, ia view to flooding the. Sussex Weald and the cfhurehes there. It is a wonderful View..from' the top of the Jiill oveir these smiling ' farms of Suasex vthat -nestle down below with their .well-trimmed1-, hedges, ricks, etc.