A Letter from London

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 219, 15 September 1928, Page 14 (Supplement)

A Letter from London

Special Correspondent. All Rights Reserved.

LONDON, July 29. Dame Ellen Terry. Dame Ellen Terry, whose death so many artistic friends are mournirfg, was probably one of the most vital IJeople in the world. She found it quite impossible to keep still or to be anything but vivacious and bubbling over with high spirits. There was something very charming about her ‘rrcsponsibility. A year or two ago she had a fall and broke her arm, and the /doctors insisted that she must stay in I bed and that rest’was imperative. Miss lEdith Craig, her daughter, would settle /her comfortably and leave her with a Vook or with an affectionate injunction to “try to go to sleep.” Dame Elllen would promise, and Miss Craig wauld leave her. Scarcely had she got baqk to her own room when she would hea/c Dame Ellen up and out on the landing, “Oh, Edy” —she would begin, her ! promise forgotten, because sometiling she wanted to do or say had suddenly occurred to her. Then she would see Ihe grave expression on her daughler’slface, and in a second, she would be alk contrition. “I quite forgot. I really twill keep quiet,” she would say, but thte experience would be repeated in a mwtter of moments. Dame Ellen’s Garden. I suprose the thing with which Dame ElA?n Terry’s name will be most closely associated in the beautiful corner of KeJbt where she died will be her garden.} Nothing more peaceful and beautiflil could be imagined. When she first wert to live there and was sufficiently Active to be able to look after it hersadf, she planted all kinds of swect-scenred herbs—in which she delighted—and! had the flower beds filled with re|al old-fashioned plants. The whole of it was re-claimed marshland —th e cottaige and garden look out over a wide sweep of Romney Marsh —and she loved to try experiments with plants wlaich other people had found it impossible to grow in marshy soil. There werV hundreds of daffodils —her favouritc| flower—among the grass, and these) were usually a blaze of golden gloryl for her birthday at the end of Febriiary. This year, when she was eighty, I and spent her birthday with friends in another part of Kent armfuls of ulaffodils were picked from the garden sent to her. The “E.P.’’ I hear that the I-trince of Wales has brought his “E.P.v Alberta ranch up-to-date by installing electric plant both for lighting and power. Two sets of plant have been paid down, which ha s enhanced the allready high prestige of the ranch. K am told that his Royal Highness’ exainplc is sure to be followed by other ranch owners in this area, of whom there iftre not a few. The Prince has won th(d admiration of Canadians by comporting himself just as-any plain citizen f armer. A photograph of the King ove r the living room mantelpiece and the letters “E.P.’’ carved on the oak be am overhead arc the only emblems of R oyalty the Prince allows. | Mr. Tom Johnston, M. P. I am glad to hear tha t Mr Tom Johnston, the Socialist M.l who has enhanced his reputation so markedly by his handling of the .pavidge case, is to be a member of thL Parliamentary delegation which is gloing to Canada (when the House rises, t Mr Johnston is not only one of the i ablest of tho (younger Labour memlpers; he has a width of outlook, especially on Imperial matters, which few? of them enjoy; and he had tho good tsense to dissociate himself at < fairly/early stage from the Clydeside irresponpibles with whom geographically ho wa|s then included. Mr Johnston speaks Well, has a sense of humour, and works! hard at practi-

cal tasks. If Mr Maxton would only devote himself to similar discipline, instead of letting himself be misled by men less able than himself, he w-ouid be of more service to the causes in which he believes. Mr Johnston is assured of a high place in a Socialist Government if we have one within the next twenty years. The Woman in the Air Derby. I am told by an expert in aviation that Miss Winifred Spooner, tho only woman in the great air race round Britain, is one of the few women who matter in the air world She is a wonderful pilot, with magnificent ..elf-con-trol, a great enthusiasm for aviation and its ultimate usefulness to the nation, and n thorough knowledge of her job. She objects very much to notoriety and has never gone in for stunt and sensational flying. But so far as good straightforward workmanship is concerned there is little that she can be taught. Miss Spooner has great strength of character and a quiet confidence in the ability of women to fly as well—and as dangerously, if need be—as men. She never takes unnecessary risks, however, and, so far, she has done very well in tests in which she has taken part. Lord Burghley’s Bride. Lord Burghley, the aristocratic young athlete, has been fortunate in finding a bride in the Buccleuch family. Lady Mary .Montagu-Douglas-Scott is the fourth daughter of the Duke and Duchess, and though only 24, is a year the senior of her future husband. The late Duchess of Buccleuch, who was Mistress of tho Robes, was one of the recognised leaders of the London society of her time, and the “gate crashers” of the present day would have had the fright of their lives if they had ventured to penetrate her domain in Whitehall, the house which is now the headquarters of the Ministry of Labour. The present Duke and Duchess prefer a country life, and with such pleasant places a<s they have in Dumfries, Roxburgh, and Midlothian, their taste is not surprising. Tho House of Commons ’ connocttion of the family is maintained by Lord Dalkeith, who incidentally is one of the leaders of Parliamentary cricket. Flowering after 3000 Years.

What is the fertility duration of I seed? Soon after the remarkable discoveries in Tutankhamen’s tomb, some grains of wheat found in an Egyptian mummy-case were planted as a test, and actually grew and ripened into as good a harvest as are obtained from any modern seeds. I am reminded Of this to-day by a correspondent who visited a garden at Sevenoaks the other day, where ho was shown a bed of sweet peas —of a variety seen nowhere else —grown from seeds discovered in Egyptian tombs by Sir Flinders Petrie, the celebrated archaeologist. It must be strange to have in one’s room a vase of flowers which may bo sap-sisters to the actual flowers that graced the table of RamescsL, 3000 years ago. A Broken Link.

The taximan looked so miserable that I asked him whether he was ill. He was an elderly man, white and wrinkled, and I thought perhaps the heat wave was too much for him. But it was not that. “I’m real down in the mputh to-day, sir,” said the old fellow, “and I can’t hide it.” Then ho told me, in the simplest manner, and quite without any sordid arriere pensee, his little tragedy. Obviously it was a relief to unburden himself to someone. His only son joined the Worcesters in 1914. and left his old folks to look after his dog. The boy lies in St. Quentin cemetery, near the spot where he fell, and to-day his pet dog, treasured all these years as a sort of living link, had to be taken to tho lethal chamber. ‘‘She seemed to know, sir,” said the old man. his eyes filling, “she were joining Jim.” Mr Macdonald as Collector.

Sir Joseph Duveon evidently knew Mr. Ramsay Macdonald’s tastes when he made him a present of an antique writing-desk. The Socialist leader is a fastidious epicure in artistic matter*. He makes no claim to expert knowledge of pictures or furniture, but ho has a natural instinct for them. A few years ago he was the means of buying a famous Orchardson for the Scottish National Gallery and he ju*t missed retaining Raeburn’s Walter Scott for the nation. In the matter of books, however, he can hold his own with any professional. Naturally and rightly, he despises the colossal figures which are paid for rarities not in themselves of great value, but he has a keen scent for the moderately priced treasures which combine literary end artistic interest and his library at Hampstead is th e result of much pleasant exploration supplemented by the gifts of friends, including many contemporary authors. Mr Macdonald would as soon talk books and Scottish history with Mr John Buchan as politics w’ith any of his supporters. New Navy Guns. This year is notable in British progress for the entry into service of a new calibre of gun, the Bin. weapons which have been adopted for new cruisers as a result of the limitation imposed by the Washington Conference. Five vessels armed with these new guns are now at sea, and I hear that the experience gained with them haa been very satisfactory. One remarkable feature is their increased range, the maximum being about 29,000 yardi or 16} miles, which is nearly double the extreme range of tho Gin. guni which were fitted in the old country class of cruisers, for which the new ships are regarded as replacements. Although, too, the projectile fired by the Bin. gun is much heavier—2s6lba. as compared with lOOlbs—improvements in mechanism have enabled the rate of fire to be kept nt :ix rounds a minute, as compared with the nine rounds per minute of tho old 6in. guns. The Bin. guns of the new cruisers, too, nfo fitted in twin turrets on the centre lino, so that all may fire on either side; whereas in the former county class, although 14 guns were mounted, only nine could fire, en the broadside.