A Letter from London

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 291, 8 December 1928, Page 14 (Supplement)

A Letter from London

LONDON, October 11, 1928. Opportunity for Liberals Impartial critics of the political situation are of the opinion that the Naval Pact bungle, and the rash enthusiasm of Sir Henry Page-Croft and his clique of safeguarders, have fur the moment completely changed the prospects for the Conservatives at the com mg election. Had the election come at the close of the last session of Parliament, they are of the opinion that the Tories would have had a safe majority in the country, but as things stand today they are not at all confident of a similar result. The Birmingham cun ference, however, is thougut to have had nearly as bad an effect for the >So.cialists as Yarmouth had for the Cun servatives, and the out.ome of these two annual meetings is already being suggested as a free presentation of many thousands of votes to the Liberals. It will now be interesting to watch the second conference at Yarmouth. The Liberals have hail the advantage of watching the proceedings of their rivals, and they can hardly fail to profit by it in making their bid for popular sympathy. Secret Millians The Treasury is likely to be involved in a much bigger dispute over the late Sir David R. Yule’s death duties than over the Houston millions. Though he was almost unknown in this country, this old Scotsman living in the wilds of Hertfordshire after making a fabulous fortune in the East must have left between £20,009,000 and £25,000,900. The Treasury’s levy on the smaller sum would be about £BOOO,OOO, which is the biggest sum ever charged to une pers< estate. Sir David’s special hobby was so investing his money that it escaped the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s fine-drawn net, and his ingenuity was amazing. He had millions invested in an Indian bank which afforded infinite ramifications for* reinvestment, and it will take months to unravel the full account of Sir David’s immense estate even apart from any probable law actions. The Carpet Limit

Sancho Panza tells us it is a faux pas to mention hemp in the house of the hanged. Equally it is just now a mistake to talk about carpets to people in the civil service. The rule used to be in Whitehall that carpets were furnished only to those rooms whose occupants were getting a salary of £750. Pursuant of the eternal economy campaign the Treasury has row drastically raised the carpet limit to £l,OOO. Perhaps in exceptional cases of people only just below the £l,OOO standard they may be permitted to retain a cast-off carpet, but otherwise the Office of Works is rigorously applying the class distinction. Civil servants are therefore now strictly classified according as they have or have not office carpet. It should be useful to mammas with marriageable daughters, but city men who are rather more luxurious than Whitehall in their standards must take up the carpets when the incometax accessor calls. Royal Films

The King and queen have arranged a little entertainment for themselves and a small group of friends at the end of this month. It will take place at Sandringham, and will consist of the films taken by the cinema man attached to the expedition in East Africa of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Gloucester, The first reels arc nearing completion, and it is expected that they will arrive in this country about the time that their Majesties go into residence in Norfolk. Both arc very fond of “the pictures,” the; Queen especially, and the ballroom at bandringham has been specially adapted and lighted so that films can oc shown under thebe st conditions. Whenever a programme is arranged the Queen always asks that some humorous pictures may be added. She is very iond of “a comic.” and laughs whole heartedly at the slapstick methods of the screen comedians Making a Hobby of It

the rigid exclusiveness of the Royal Yacht Club, which refused even to accept one of King Edward’s nominees, and which sumu people call suobbisn rets, mains unshaken by the war's social upheaval, its members appear to wake a hobby of blackmailing elig ible candidates, a genial habit that is no huger si- prevalent nowadays even among the best W est End clubs. Among the lung list of distinguished people whojj membership it has rejected me latest is taid to be Lord Louts Mountbatten, and lor the second lime, it is hard to understand such action even by the Royal Yacht Club, but it perhaps explains wny this year the Mountbuttcus cut out Cowes, and weui, straight to the booth of France after Goodwood. Of course, one hard-ana-fast rule has always been observed by the Royal Yacht Club. Members must own and sajl a yacht. 100 Dangemus

if all one hears is true about the btreet C’ftemcs Committee’s recommendations lite may shortly become us dangerous for some of us as Nietische recommends. Lady Joynson-Hicks was among the women members appointed by hci husband to the committee, and the feminist views on “sex equality” find stiong expression. While proposing more severe penalties for women of knewn ill repute, the Committee’s recomnienGallons include drastic ones for men accused of sneaking to women. Critics are not wanting if such chan ges as tins, which seem to make the law an increasing instrument for black | mailers, whose activities are amqng the most undesirable of our post-war symptoms. As a L)-ion police court solicitor yut it t •-day. mtn will soon have, at this rate, to cake duennas with them when the? walic abroad.

A Bowes-Lyon Romance Much interest is manifested in Society in the announcement of the engagement of the Duchess of Y'ork’s youngest brother, Mr David BowesLyon, to Miss Rachel bpendcr-Clay. Everybody who knows the Duchess at all intimately is well aware of the affection between the brother and sister, and the Duchess has watched this little

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romance grow and ripen with delighted intcrc.-l. Il is uuiy a little while ago I that Mr Bowes-Lyon was in London wth his parents, and Miss SpenderClay was a guest at a family party at cue of the hotels- The Duke and [Luchei.s were there, too, and there were , cemments by friends who were watching them on the perfect understanding which {•■(’lined to exist between the youngest boy and girl of the btrathmere family. Lady btrathmore’s eyes irested with tender affection upon her two chibJiiu when they danced together. Miss bpcndcr-Clay is entering •me cl the must charming and delightful, as web as one of the oldest of the proud Scottish families. Exchanging Visits When Lord Burgh ley g visit to the Duke and Duchess of Buculeuc-n 13 over, it is possible that his charming fiancee, Lady Mary Scott, will return with him to Burghlev House tu stay io; a little wmlc with her future parcnts-in-iaw. Lurd and Lady Exeter. Burghley House is sure to interest her, for it is a storehouse of treasures. The tapestries are said to be almost as fine as those at Belvoir Castle, and Lady Exeter makes the supervision of a wonderful collection of mosaics, bronzes, and carvings her special care. Although he devotes himself almost entirely to an out-uf-door life and athletics, Lord Burghley is very proud ul his ancestral home, where Royalties and interesting personalities have been entertained since before the days or Queen Victoria. It is said that when the old Queen stayed theie she said quite openly that she was envious of the large number of beautiful pictures at Burghley. The Premier Baroness An interesting golden wedding anniversary this month is that of the Earl and Countess of Dartrey. Lord Dartrey’s family has been connected with County Monaghan since 1770, while the countess, who as Baioness de Ros, holds the Premier Barony of England, is descended from the Robert de Ros who defied Henry 111. Her family tree shows a curious recurrence of daughters as inheritors of the title. Three women have previously held it, and twice it was in abeyance between twu sisters, as it may be in the future between Lady Dartrey’s own three daughters, history repeating itself here as in the Orkney family. The earl and countcss are at present visiting their youngest daughter. Lady Eleanor, who married en second noces a Hungarian noble, and lives in his country. Lady Eleanor’s elder daughter—sht had two by her first marriage—wedded a Hungarian captain when only 16. Museum of Music Mr Richard Northcotc. the archivist of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is pleading for a national museum of music. He recently showed me his own valuable and interesting collection, which includes relies of many celebrities in the world of music Brahms, Handel, Caruso. Wagner, Nik isch, Mrs Billington, and Madame Cat alani are among the most famous. Quite close to Mr Northcote lives thd d. ughtcr of Jenny Lind. bhe, toOj possesses a unique collection of relics. Northcote declares that there are many people, like himself, who would gladly lend their collections for the purpose of stocking a museum such as exists in the Paris and Milan opera houses. At present, they are, for the most part, warehoused and hoarded away, and no one ever sees them. The “T.P.” Tint Everybody wuo has seen Mr T. P. O’Connor to congratulate the Father of the House of Commons on his 80th birthday is surprised at his glowing health. Except that he has lost the use of his legs, “T.P.” looks in magnificent condition, bir Bazil Zaharuff has presented him with a patent chair rather like that of Major Cohen, the M.P. who IoM both legs in the Liverpools in the war, and one of the Gluckstcins has given him a crutch stick, bo “T.P.” is still able to stand up to make an after-dinner speech, which is nowadays his chief occupation. His complexion is. so “T.P.” declares, a delusion and a snare. He is taking regular violet ray treatment every morning and this imparts to his genial fcatmes that seaside bronze so admirably set off by his white hair and moustache and Irish blue eyes. Fewer Doctors There is a marked falling off in th® entries for the medical profession this year. There is a common belief that the profession is overstocked, and that present-day entrants will have a hard time making a living. That night have been so had the immediate post war rush continued, but the longer ana stiffer course uni’er the new regulations and the fact that there is less money about have had their effect, and it would seem that those entering the profession now will hit upon a time in their careers when there will bo :ai actual shortage. Fewer women are taking up medicine as a career, 'he experience of many women doctors being discouraging. Ono is surprised at the large proportion of students who <lro[» out after the first and second years. Is is that they find the life too hard, or that the freedom which the st .dents permit themselves weeds out all but the strongest characters? The Chamberlain Doves I imagine that none of the late Mr Joseph Chamberlain’s friends, still less his opponents, ever associated that statesman with the dove. Yet one of the revenges of Time, which has seen his eldest son, bir Austen Chamberlain, honoured as the main author of the Locarno Peace Pact, is that the family coat of arms has doves as “supporters.” The arms were granted from the College of Heralds in due course after Sir Austen received the Garter on the signing of the Pact. Hence the symbolism of the supporting doves. 1 believe that the Foreign Secretary is the only Commoner living whose coat of arms include the sur rounding Ribbon of the Garter. It seems rather a pity that, the College of Heralds being such nn eminently sedate and unhumorous faculty, the notion of including a monocle rampant never suggested itself. Tt would have been a stronger ancestral link than an olive branch.