TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14886, 28 January 1914, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The English public An knows much less abotit Obscure its wealthy men than Millionaire, the American public does about its millionaires. Some time ago a Mr Birch Crisp arranged the £6,000,000 loan for China, and tho London Press to hunt up some facts about this unknown financier. Now there is the case of Mr Mallaby-Dcoley, who by purchasing a large part of the Duke of Bedford's London property for three millions brought off the largest private land deal in tho history of London. In America Mr Mallaby-Deeley would havo been brought prominently before the public's notice before he bought the Bedford property, for ho had been concerned in such trifling deals as the purchase of the Piccadilly Hotel for £500,000, and another London property for £400,000. But in epito of the magnitude of the dealings lie has carried through, Mr Mallaby-T>eeley is not a prominent or even a well-known figure in business circlos, and he is said to be one of the hardest men in London to find- According to the "Daily Mail," men who have been associated with him in business in tho city were as surprised as London at large by tho announcement of the colossal transacti :m which ho had carried through. He had no office, aud not even a telephone number. Tho huge transaction was conducted on would appear to the average business man to bo very casual lines. "When I submitted my first offer," said Mr Mallnby-Deeley, "I had not actually inspected the property, but my offer was made subject to the verification of tho rents and figures supplied to mc. Of course, the area was known to mc. After that I again visited my agents. A few calculations made by mc on the corner of a blottingpad formed the basis for my second offer. 1 am told that piece of blottingpaper is now a treasured memento, kept by my agent. The second offer was accepted within a few days. Tho signing of the agreement by which I took over this important slice of the duko's estate was a plain, prosaic, business-like incident, and tho business was transacted in the space of half an hour." According to* the London correspondent of the Sydney "Daily Telegraph, '' there are plenty of MallabyDcelcys, but one never hears of thou) until they die, or unless they come into public notice through some such deal as this. Tho London correItoyalty spondent of the Sydand ney "Sun" sends a Suffragettes, vivid account of the suffragette disturbance at Covent Garden Theatre in the presence of the King and the Queen. When the lights were turned up in the first interval the audience looked at the Royal box. Then women's voices were hoard shouting discordantly, and the eyes were turned at once to a box on the second tier, opposite the Royal party. In this stood three welldiessed women, and from the baJcony in front of it hung a scroll inscribed :— King George, do you knov; that ffomp- are being tortured ? Unfortunately for the women, the balcony-top was broad, so the word .""Kins' , was not visible, and to the audience it appeared as if the suffragettes were addressing the King with most offensive familiarity. While the audience was reading the scroll, the three women shouted, "King George, Mrs Pankhurst is being tortured." "When the audience recovered from the shock, a storm of hisses and other demonstrations of resentment drowned the militants' voices. Up in the gallery other militants took up the cry, ' and threw sT:eaves of a suffragette leaflet on the people beneath. A man connected with the theatre asked the women to withdraw from their box, and when they refused., had them forcibly removed. Five ushers were needed to remove two demonstrative girls in the gallery. "All this time the audiencewas hissing, and it had patently lost all patience with the militants. Laughter Had turned to anger. But there was still another woman, who rose from nowhere in tho third tier, and shrieked tho formula. An elderly gentleman sitting near by bounded from his chair, rushed at the woman, and had bundled her down the stairs before she could grasp what had happened. After that there was peace. If there were any more militants in the audience they remained quiescent. The manifest temper of the audience was murderous." The King's face, we are told, was a study. Amazement, amuse-

ment, indifference, and indignation, chased one another across it. Queen Mary, however, '"froze into contemptuous and icy disdain." A career which has A something about it of the Fight dramatic, if not of tho Against tragic, revealing a story Odds. of a nineteen years' stnigcle against bitter hardships and ill-luck, is that of an Englishman named Cook, who a.t the age of 26 was dismissed from a Wolverhampton office, and at the same time declared a bankrupt. That was in December 17th,. 1?94. On the same date of last rear Mr Cook, middle-aged and prosperous, entered tho Official Receiver's office at Wolvorhampton. and presented the Receiver with a cheque for £800. thereby paying his creditors 20s in the £, and clearing off all costs in connexion with the bankruptcy proceedings. How hard his present prosperity has been to attain, what struggles and set-backs ho has had during those nineteen years are related by Mr Cook himself. "The day I was dismissed," he snys, "is very vivid in my memory. We were all looking forward to Christmas Day. 1 was earning good money. I was . young and headstrong, and lost my temper very easily. Rebuked at the office by one of my superiors, 1 answered back in a manner which could only mean certain dismissal." Three years of absolute poverty followed his bankruptcy, and then he decided to go to London. With two sovereigns, borrowed from a friend. he arrived and wandered through the streets till he came to a little cheap hotel. There he met a fellow-derelict, a tragic figure, whose solo worldly possessions were a top-hat and frock coat. Both went to look for work together. They expeudod what was left of the two sovereigns on strawberries and cherries, and tried their luck 1 at pushing costers' barrows. The result was not a success. "When we got out into the streets, we were too shy to shout, and went along as silently as ghosts. Borne flower-girls saw wo were new to the game, and helped us all they could, even bringing along their regular customers to our barrows." At last an answer came to 0110 of Mr Cook's applications for work. It was from a firm of shipping contractors. By this time his clothes were deplorably shabby, but his friend lent him his top-hat and frock coat, and on this way he succeeded in impressing the manager sufficiently to get the job. This was tho beginning of brighter times, and soon he was able to Rend money to his family. Five years ago, after many ups and downs, he found himself able to launch out .-is a railway expert. The companion of his early struggles was not 60 fortunate, however. Less than six months after the commencement of their acquaintance, ho died of starvation, dressed till the last in his frock-coat and top-hat. The story gives one a fascinating glimpse of the drama of London life. There is no reason to suppose that Mr Cook's struggles were out of the common.