LONDON CHAT.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11487, 21 January 1903, Page 8

LONDON CHAT.

(FROM Ol'R OWN" l-OKRESPON'DEKT.) LONDON, December 12. Queen Alexandra h;w entered the 59th year of he.r age, and there were rejoicings at Sandringham, Windsor, and other royal localities uv« the event. It is trite, but true, to soy that the Queen looks as young as Jier own daughters, or younger. * Max ' ■ O'Reli, the we.l-knmvu French writer, wu. chatting with ;v fritiid of mine about t-be Coronation, at which he, like, myself, was present. As-ked what lie thought of.it, to* - Frenchman threw up his hands and de■dared with passionate enthusiasm, "Ah, but I can think of nothing , but the Queeal What beauty, what grace, what charm! It is marvellous!" Yea; that is what,we all feel. Pec-pie do say that the Queen "mates up." It, may be so. But what about : -'. those beautiful and expressive eyes; that . lovily, tender mouth; that sweet ejpiession; that gentle chaiin of manner; that rare grace and dignity of carriage: These at least, cannot be "madia up," and ii is these points which constitute the larger part ' of what we aill so ■warmly admire in Ai«x- '"'' andra. And the many instances we all know of her.genuine goodness, of her inttnw sympathy with sutfwing, and her extreme kinuness, of heart, womanly tenderness, and exquisite feminine Uct, add to her intrimm peraonal beauty and extrinsic charm. A case which has occupied the Law Courts is of a peculiar nature, not merely on account of the social standing and position of the accused, but also of the strangely harsh and onjjr&seive treatment accorded by ' tho authorities to one of them -who waa promptly acquitted. The presiding Judge, * r bir lonest D'ulton, in his summing up, ad■ministered the severest censure to the pro- - secution that has ever been pronounced in , ; my experience. I give a fuller report elsewhere, which is well worthy of careful perusal. It is simply amazing that such things can be done in these <lays—gentlemen of high standing arrested under warrants on charges of fraud, when in the *■ Judge's opinion, summonses -would have § answered all purposes; t%s warrants applied $" for a Saturday nig-ht, so as to prevent bail 5 being obtained, the accused being therefore * detained over Sunday, made to deep on .§ plank-beds, etc.; one of them dismissed by X the Magistrate on. Monday without being , * called on for his defence, yet being re-ar- I rested on the Attorney-General's fiat, tried js and acquitted without 'being asked for any <v defence; five of the other seven defendants -S being also acquitted, and the remaining two "f convicted only on two minor eounte of the. >J' voluminous indictment! Yet this is what 'J; the learned Judge stated to havo happened! | The Recorder's stinging criticisms ought to J draw public attention to so ecamda..t>us a % persecution. I may mention that the ac- •! custd were Edward Beauehainp Roger* mi Jjj Norman Henry Everard Rogers, produce -4 brokers, Mncmg Lane; Ransome Wallis | and Algernon Wallis, provision merchants, ffl Tooley street; Sheppard James Kan-" J some and Arthur James Roxusome, colonial , M merchants, Leadenhall street; and Joseph l ' *jg Rolls Short, produce merchant, Orosby' <§ Square, Richard M. Newton, bristle met- f chant, of Manchester, wag found not guilt;, % and discharged. m

So far this baa been a grist month U respect of w<eather. Black frost day aftei 4 - day, with keen *act winds, a perpetual' : canopy of dull grey cloud and never H \ glimpse of sunshine, do not make up •'"; cheeiy sort of time. There has never been- ; any intensity of frost in and around Loo- ? don—the lowest thermometries reading so -,a far having been 27 deg., or 6 deg, of j froetr—but, on the other hand, the ther- , j mometer has hardly ever risen more Hun "'| a degree or two above freezing point all *| day, and so the frost lias gone on, con- -.J tinuous. There has been a little ekatinj 1 on the shallowest of the Hampatead ponds, J but no other metropolitan water " beam " m yet, and mow'a thaw is Betting in. Th« 'J amount of suffering already caused in Lou- •% don by the severe weather is simply ap- M palling. Work is very ecarce, fuel «£'.'■! provisions are dear; 70,000 returned Be-x.ll servists add to the ranks of the ployed. All the cbaritabk organia*' < ; % tions are ihard put to it even appreciably *|| to meet the dire necessities of the ca*e. '3g Yet the Premier said yesterday, in Per«rap liamwit, that he had no reaeoa to suppose -jgj the distress worse than usual. .*£ As for our treatment of our Reservist*."7B? and discharged soldiers, it is a crying did*, to us as & nation. One is known to have died of starvation. .'&

Another committed tuicide in utter deepair ,< ; of finding any meaw of livelihood, ana jo'<~ : ether cases the wives end children of «ol« '~t diers aw suffering the moat terrible pri- , rations. It doeeVem to the ordinary <*•«&• server that the country that can thus treat ,5 its gallant defenders and those dependent ttftftf them does not deserve to have men to I*T >£ down their lives on her behalf. there will not agaiu t» irach a rush to •"Ml a Mfjhrrl<ind which has proved herself e£j| infair'Oi'ifJy ungrateful. ,~j|| . Nμ are the Volunteers much by trie -Attitude of the War Office. WiUN| the viev of promoting -volunteering the valuable service which volunteeW'i ] proved themselves capable of rendering"! j during the late war, the Pall Mall j ties have prescribed a set of condition! elj j future service, which the vast majority efj | the class who form the bulk of our unteer force are utterly unable to roJflE,| | For instance, a lengthened period in camp is required of wung nwn who «•;; I mostly clerks or shopmen, and who | only comply with this stipulation at tflffi | cost, of relinquishing their livelihood. Aa*j) | the ingratitude tshown for Tectnt eer " dot* not encourage any desire to trnrt ij public generosity for compensation W? 1 | losing their means of support. So J» *w j| not surprising to find much at a discount; to read d *?v JjS| 1 numerous resignations of experienced tet-r officers, and to notice a laoKJitM«B § falling off from the spirit which P W T~|l| tlnve years ago. But that w the way **sJ|| Mall does things! One would have th OT lrc|f| that tlie experience gained of what T jj twrre can do voluntarily would tba War Office against imposing deten*»l | restrictions, however desirable these m ßjs|i| eeem from tlie old military pipeclay viewpoint. But, oh, dear no! A qiiecr time of year this, you will w J|j|| for English cricket news! Yet there . Sjl some, and interesting at that! The *>*™*M counties which accepted tlve role of ••''•iS \ik upon which was to be tried the P pined new Ibw rule, l>ave just dead against it. The »uggrated ■makes a batsman out if he stop °t°* l ?"S9 than with his bat a ball which would Ki*. Kk «riti*u wfaetkr it tet«flHl

ejekete or not, has been tried and found wto work welL So say the minor eoirntifcg. It ie doubtful, therefore, whether tfcu M.C.C. will try again to carry it. but another change in aid of the bowler is rejoomended by a meeting of the county captains. Tiz., that the width of the wicket iboiild be increased by one wicket, tins ieiflg arrived at through thickening each gtoinp. To this ie appended anotlier proposal, viz., to add an inch to the Height god a fourth ie to diminish his bat-width by Jin. AH these are to be considered by tlie JI.C.C. before next .seuwon. It is ako advocated that future "test matches' , with a fietting Australian team shall number only fcjiree instead of live, and shall be allowed c foil week each if necessary. But as thjt would mean only one match in the provinces, as two must be played in London •lon* at Lord.-* and one at the Oval— there je cure to be a vigorous protest from tlie gjeat,North centra, such as Lee Shelfield. juid Manchester. George Anderson, the once-renownea Yorkshire batsman, has just passed uway. He has not Wen long in following,, lii.s col Jeague in Parr'a famous "All Kngland Kleven." John Jackeon, the celebrated fiu*t bowler. Anderson was one of the English team that visited New Zealand in the "sixties." He w;is ;i tremendous hitter, and once mad<- a (.lean (hive for «-ight, all run out. By th* by, 1 was talking la.-t Sunday to n Chri-nchureh man, Mr Will«=, who pl»y«d in the Chriatchurch Twenty-two j«jn»t Parr's team, and mill cherishes ■feasaiit reminiscences o£ the historic patch. I wonder how many New ZeaItndere are still living of thone who participated in it? Of the English players, 1 fancy William Caffs-n—the great Surrey bat and bowler, wh« was in both of the rir.st English teams that went out to Australia —is tlw sole survivor. I believe he ft ill carries on business in Reigate as a hairdresser, or did until lately. By far the most intertisting musical event of this year has been the first production in London of Richard Strauss new orchestral "Tone-Poem," "Kin Hetdenleben," "A Hero's Life," which was given under the composer's baton at the Queen's Hall a few days ago". It ia a. tremendous work, in ■which all the extremeut resources of the modern orchestra, over which Herr Strauss but an unequalled mastery, are employed without stint or limit. Also all the jnodenieat defiances of old-time rul«e ol innnony are praotieed with a coolness that approaches recklessness. Some of the deecriptive scenae are simply and! frankly and intentionally hideous masses of wild cacophony- Other portions are delightful in tbfir etrong contrasting beauty and sweetneu. Of the immense skill * with which the work is conetructed there can be no Intelligent question whatever. Indeed, the poMeseion by Strauss of not merely talent, but genius, can hardly be seriously doubted. But whether his methods will ultimately become the musk- of the present a* Wagner* , have, or whether they will remain, the \Bwomprehended musk of the future as Wagner's once waa, but is no longer, I dare net venture to predict. Nobody will attempt to deny that he in much the most prominent living composer of Germany, aad f cannot help believing that hia works win live. Richard Strauae. by the way, must not be confounded with Johannes Strauss, the prolifio producer of co many charming •waltzes. Richard is not only quite "another gentleman, , ' but ie not even related to the family of Johannes.