Topics of the Day.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 25, 22 June 1910, Page 47

Topics of the Day.

By Our London Correspondent.

LONDON, May 6. /TT"\ AY, June and July are the most fl I B interesting months in the London year. More things seem / to happen then than in all the rest of the year. London renews its youth in the early summer, and plunges into a thousand new activities with a zest which would leave you breathless if you tried to keep pace with the foremost. It is a rush and a whirl, and yesterday’s events are forgotten in the excitement of to-morrow. The opening of this year’s summer season has been unusually brilliant, in spite of the weather, which is atrocious. London is enjoying THE NOVELTY OF AN AVIATION BOOM. The wonderful aeroplane race to Manchester has set the fashion for the season, and everyone talks aeroplanes now. Louis Paulhan, the winner of the “ Daily Mail ” £ 10,000 prize, had such a reception in London on Saturday as falls to the lot of few men. At the luncheon at the Savoy Hotel, where the French Ambassador presented him with the £ 10,000 cheque in a golden casket, men of mark in every profession assembled to do him honour, and when he and Grahame White drove to Charing Cross after the banquet their progress was a triumphal procession.' The Strand Was black with cheering thousands. The young Frenchman, by nature modest and reserved, had a curious, half-frightened look through it all, but he was very happy, and his little wife looked radiant!

There is no doubt that the English can be hospitable. “Damme! But you do things well in England,” said Louis Paulhan, in one of his rare bursts of expansiveness. Coming from so reticent a man, it spoke volumes for the impression made on him by the surging welcome, the magnificent banquet, the mighty chorus of praise. He liked, too, the sporting spirit-shown 3 by the English in thus acclaiming a Frenchman, although he had beaten ' their own champion. “ Ah,” lie said, “ that is real sport.”

I have never known or heard of a race of any kind which created sudh widespread excitement as that historic flight for the £lO,OOO prize. It interested people of every rank and station in life, from King to .crossing-sweeper. Half England seems to have stayed out of bed all night on the night of the race. The whole country was on tip-toe with excitement. Some of the London morning papers published as many as seven •editons during the night, and one of them, to my sold nearly 100,000 extra copies next day. And now the excitement is being kept alive by the offer of another £ 10,000 by the “ Daily Mail ” to be divided between two great flying contests—one in England and the other between Paris and London. Never has a newspaper received better value

for its money than the “ Mail ” has had for that first £ 10,000. It has been a magnificent, world-wide adventiseniient, and is in its way another striking tribute to the genius of Lord Northcliffe, whose idea it was. Paulhan, by the way, does not retain the £lO,OOO, I hear. He was under contract to his teacher, Farman, the designer of the machine, to fly on Farman biplanes for a salary of £BO a week, and five per cent of all prize money won. So the bulk of the £ 10 000 goes to Farman, the winner’s share being 5 per cent, or £5OO. “LA MILO’S ACQUITTAL.’ 1 After a trial extending over five days at the Old Bailey, Mrs. Pansy Eggena, who is better known to readers on both sides of the world as “La Milo,” was last Monday acquitted of the charge of fraud levelled against her by a West End jeweller named Wood. The charge was made three months ago, the prosecutor alleging that “La Milo,” with her husband, Ferdinand Eggena, and Percy Easton, had conspired to obtain from him jewellery to the value of £6,280. The defendants were all committed for trial, but only Eggena was kept in durance vile, “La Milo” and Easton being admitted to bail, pending the opening of the Old Bailey sessions. At the opening of the trial this week, Mr. Avory, who recapitulated the circumstances of the case at considerable length, said the man Eggena, who was a German, early last year made the acquaintance of the prosecutor. He asked him to supply certain jewellery, which he wanted to show to his “aunt.” In view of the prosecution, “La Milo” was the “aunt” spoken of. After negotiations, the jewellery, the subject of the charge, was selected by Eggena, the prosecutor agreeing to accept as security 25 motor-cars, worth £20,001), which were stored at premises in Euston-road, of which the prisoner Easton was one of the managing directors. They were represented to belong to Eggena. Payment for the jewellery was to have been made in January last, but the money was not forthcoming, and upon Easton being applied to for the cars, he said he had given them to Eggena upon a properly signed order, which he had notified to the prosecutor. That, however, was denied.

In February it was ascertained that the jewellevy had been pledged. The case for the prosecution was that the whole of the representations made by the prisoners were false and merely a scheme to get possession of the jewellery. “La Milo,” in the witness-box, was a picture of indignant innocence, and crossexamine her as he would prosecuting counsel could get' nothing out of the

lady which could be construed into an admission that she knew anything of the nature of her husband’s dealings with either Mr. Wood or Easton. It became quite clear in the course of her evidence that she had known really nothing of Eggena’s nefarious transactions, and like a loving and dutiful wife had never asked questions. That she was in any real sense a party to the frauds the jury did not believe, and after the judge had summed-up they at once acquitted her. So also did they acquit Easton, against whom the judge suggested that there was no real case. He, like “La Milo,” had been quite aware of the real nature of Eggena’s transactions. Against Eggena a very strong case of fraud was made out, and it was proved in evidence that in pursuance of his schemes he had deliberately forged Easton’s signature to a receipt which he had shown Mr. Wood, in order to induce that gentleman to part with jewellery against the security of the 25 cars stored at Easton’s establishment. The judge took a lenient view of Eggena’s offence, and, taking into consideration the fact that he had been in custody since February, let Inin off with 21 months’ hard labour. One thing that particularly nettled “La Milo” was a suggestion made to the effect that Eggena was living on her. This she indignantly repudiated, pointing out that through being a bankrupt himself, Eggena could not have a banking account, so the money supplied to him by his rich relations was placed to her account, and she gave it to him as he required it. “La Milo,” in the course of her examination made the interesting admission that she earned about £5,000 a year, her weekly salary being anything from £lOO to £2OO a week. WANTED—A NEW WORD. What is the best word to describe a man who flies? So long as aeroplanes were in their experimental stage and nobody knew or talked much about them, it was sufficient to . give the men who manipulated them -a scientific sort of name, such as aviator. But flying has in the last week of two been the most-talked-of subject in England, and “aviator” is found to be. far too clumsy and pretentious for a household word. What is there to take its place? We need a new word. The newspapers wrestled manfully with the difficulty in their accounts of the great London-Manchester race, but their attempts to ring the changes on “aviator" were not very hopeful. “Flying man”;suffers from lack of compactness, as .also does “man-flyer.” “Aeronaut” is not a word that the multitude take kindly to. The French use the term “oiseeau-Lomme,” or birdman, as a synonym for aviator, but that does not seem very satisfactory either.

There has been some correspondence on the subject in the papers this week, and perhaps the best suggestion that has been put forward .is the word “airman,” on the analogy of “landsman,” “seaman,” “countryman,” “townsman,” and many others. To the objection that

“airman” does not distinguish between the men who fly in airships and those -who fly in aeroplanes, the reply is that neither does “seaman” distinguish between those who go to sea in sailing ships and those who go in steamers. Most new things begin with a long name, and end with a short one, the Anglo-Saxon tendency being to keep words short. “Wire” is gradually replacing “telegram” in everyday use, and in course of time will probably do so in books and newspapers. “Bike" is still plebeian, but its day of triumph oyer “bicycle” may only be a matter of time. “Wireless” is already a noun, used note a wireless telegram, and “photo.” is used far oftener than “photograph.” Nobody talks nowadays of “pianoforte.” So that if we call our flying men by a name which cannot be easily shortened for everyday use, the chances are that that name will not stick. For this reason “aviator” is a term which seems doomed to extinction.

SKINUED BY A SCALD.

NECK LIKE RAW MEAT — LOTIONS AND ORDINARY TREATMENTS NO GOOD. ZAM-BUK ENDS TWO YEARS SUFFERING. Mr. George Haigh, of tile Harbours and Rivers Department, Newcastle, says : —- “While -working at my trade of enginedriving, a steam-pipe burst, and scalded my neck severely, which broke out in ulcerated and inflamed wounds, and caused me an immense amount of agony. I consulted a doctor —also pretty well all the chemists in Newcastle — who prescribed different lotions, which I applied without gaining any material benefit. Some of the treatments would heal my neck temporarily, but it would soon break out again. For two years 1 thus suffered agony, during which period my neck was like raw meat. 1 could not bear to wear a collar, but always a soft muffler round my neck, and had great difficulty in turning my head. 1 had seen Zam-Buk advertised as a cure for my trouble, and was often on the point of writing for a free sample as advertised but failed to do so. One day I met a friend, and when explaining my trouble to him he presented me with a pot of Zam-Buk, which he happened to have with him, and advised me to give it -a fair trial, which I promised to do. After the fourth dressing with Zam-Buk I found the inflammation greatly reduced and I could turn my head slightly with out turning the whole of my body as formerly. Thus encouraged I purchased a supply and continued with the treat ment. and after persevering with Zam Buk for only a short time, my nock was quite healed and as sound as before the accident occurred. I can now wear a stiff collar without discomfort, and, in fact, am my old self again.” Zam-Buk, the great healer, is invaluable for eczema, piles, ringworm, poisoned wound, raw sore places, bloodpoison, chapped hands, cold sores, fester ing wounds, sore feet, blisters, bad legs, diseased ankles, and heals cuts, burns, scalds and bruises. Of al! chemists and stores at Is. fid. and 3s. Cd. per pot.