BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 840, 11 June 1910, Page 13

BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

) LONDON SUMMARY. ROYAL VISIT TO ST. PAUL'S. THE ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL AND ST. GEORGE. London, April 20. The festival of St. George was celebrated on Saturday, April U3, in London and in many parts of Great Britain., In the metropolis interest centred iu the Prince of. Wales's visit to SK Paul's Cathedral for tho commemoration service of tho Order Of St. Michael and. St.' George, of which his Royal Highness is Grand Master. Among the officers and members of the order in attendance were Sir Charles Lucas, the Earl of Cromer, Sir C. RiversWilson, Lord* Strathcona, Viscount Milner, Sir West Ridgeway, the Earl of Ranfurly, Lord Northcote, Admiral Sir H. H. Rawson, and Admiral Sir F. G. D. Bedford. Iu the evening tho festival dinner of the Royal .Society of St: George was held at the Connaught Rooms. Admirals Sir Harry Rawson, Sir E. R. Promantle, and Sir Frederick Bedford, and General Sir Edward Huttoji, aiid Colonel Newton J. Moore (Premier of Western Australia) were among those present. Flags were flown in honour of the occasion from a very large number of public buildings and offices throughout the country.

SHAKESPEARE' DAY. . At Stratford-on-Avon on Saturday (April 23),' Shakespeare's birthday was celebrated on an unusually large scale. The streets were richly decorated with flags, flowers,* and festoons. Wreaths were sent from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, London, and -Manchester, as well as from the public schools and colleges. The great feature of the day was the unfurling of fifty national and'oversea.'flags by Ambassadors and Sir George R-eid, the High Commissioner for the Commonwealth. / Shakespeare's tomb was decorated with a mass of flowers and wreaths, hundreds of bouquets being sent for. this purpose. The King sent a fhiion Jaok, and the Prince of Wales the national flag of Wales. Dramatic performances took place in the theatre, mostly consisting of Shakespeare's plays, and a number of. other attractions were provided.

£10,000,000 WATER SCHEME. A .£10,938,710 water scheme, by which it is hoped to ensure London a full supply for the next fifty years, was adopted at a recent meeting ot' the -Metropolitan Water Board.' Astonishing figures Riving estimates of the enormous increase in London's needs so far as water is concerned were placed before the beard as follow:— a Av. daily supply Year. Population. (galls.) 1916 3,031,000 251.000.000 . 192(1 9,431,000 330,000,000 1936 11,076,000 388,000,000 1948 13,428,000 470,000,000 ' 1960 16,286,000 570,000,000 The scheme by which tliis necessity would be supplied proposes the construction of new reservoirs in the Thumbs Valley with a total capacity of 20,900,000,000 gallons. It is estimated that the cost ill 1916 or 1917 will bo .61,983,760, while this will rise by instalments until by tho year 1941 a total capital expenditure of .£10,9:18,710 will have' been incurred.

PATENTS IN 1900. T!ie report of the British Comptroller General of Patents, Designs, and Trado Marks, published ns a "White Paper, outlines the trend of invention' in 1909. Ho says that one of tho outstanding features of the year ivas tho enormous development in aeronautics, the number of applications relating to this subject being more than three times tho number received during 1908. Problems relating to lighting hayu been a prolific -source or invention, especially with regard to vapour or self-generating gas lamps, and to automatically lighting and extinguishing street lamps. The'coming ■ into force on April 1 of the Children Act (1908) has resulted in a considerable number of improved fireguards. In tliq sphere of medicine, .the sour milk treatment advocated by Professor Jletchnikolf has given rise to several applications dealing with the culture of the bacillus bulgaris and other lacto-bucilli, and to various preparation's thereof. There was a large increase in the applications l'or patents from England -and Wales, a slight increase from Scotland, and a decreaso in those from Ireland.

DETENTION OF . SEKGOJIE. : The Court of Appeal has given judgment in the appeal of Sekgome, who had been chief of the Eatawnna tribe. in the Bechuanaland Protectorate.. In December, 1905, a petition was presented by members of the tribe to the Assistant Commissioner stating that Sekgome was not entitled to be their chief, the properchief being Hat.hibe, the son of Sek-' gome's .half-brother, and asking that .Sekgome might be deposed. -The High Commissioner refused to do this. . Sekgome went to luniberley on private business, and during his absence the tribe made Ife.thibe chief in his place. It being found on inquiry that tliu opinion of the tribe favoured Mathibe, Sekgome was detained in 190G at Gaberouos,' ill the Protectorate, it being feared that' if ho went back it would lead to bloodshed. Proceedings were commenced On. Sekeomo's behalf in u.Court- ill Uriqualand, but the Court declined to 'act, saying it had no jurisdiction. Application was made on his behalf to a Divisional 1 Court of the King's Bench Division, and a rillo nisi was granted for the issue of a writ of habeas corpus, which was afterwards discharged. The appeal was dismissed with costs; WIRELESS MESSAGES. In view of tho public opening of the Transatlantic wireless service on Saturday, April 23,' a communication from the Post Office (issued as a White Paper) is of interest. According to this return, between March 31 and December 31 last year 34,406 radio-telegrams were exchanged -between the shores of the United Kingdom and commercial ships at sea. At tho end of the year 32 licenses were, held by shipowners in respect of 'ships registered in the United Kingdom, and ll(i vessels were covered by these licenses. The revenue derived by tho Post Office from the radio-tele-grams referred to was .£ll2O from coast station' charges, and ,£llls from inland telegraph charges. Apart from ship installations there were 200 licensed 'stations in the United Kinudom at the end of the year, but of these 241 were licensed for experimental purposes only. In the. county of London 58 stations were licensed, all for experimental purposes. PROFITS OF CO-OPERATION... The steady progress of the co-operative movement in Britain is strikingly indicated in the report of the .Central Hoard of the Co-operative Union. Last year the societies belonging to.the union numbered 15G1—one more than in IMS. Their increased prosperity may be judged,from tho following comparisons:— 1008. 1009. Inc. No. of members 2,510,191 2,585,203 60,099 Shares J58,2«,980 J5M.135.96i Js90 f 984 Trade .£107,550,051 -£108,912,261 X 1,361,610 Profits ,£11,728,617 .£12,011,128 .£282,476 An overwhelming proportion of the_ total profits was obtained by retail societies. The exact division was as follows:— Retail societies j£10,817,945 Wholesale societies 922,756 Productive societies 184,159 Supply associations 52,006 Spccial societies 4.257 BAKING HANK FRAUD. Tho city police aro now engaged in searching for a man in connection with it daring and successful fraud on .the London and South-Western Dank. The fraud was worked with tho minimum nf risk to tho perpetrator. ' He advertised for a boy to enter his employment, and one of tn« aoDlicants was a German lad

who only recently arrived in Eng-•V-m •^ lo mau mn de au appointment with him, and arranged that ho should begin his duties on the following mora* JDg. .The next day the man placed a cnequL* lor ,£757 in an envelope, and asked him to go to the head office of tno Loudon and South-Western Bank, in renehurch StYoct, draw the money, and bring it to him at a rendezvous he named. Tho boy did as lie was told. ~i i ef lN<! boro tho name of a customer who has a" substantial banking account, ?i U j cl ? vcrl . v was tho signature forged that tno suspicions of the clerk to whom tno cheque was handed were not in the least aroused. Tho money was paid over ni seven .£IOO notes and the rest in gold. Iho man appears to have followed the boy, and when he saw that the fraud I had not been detected, ho intercepted the j lad, and, after obtaining tho money, y.ent off, telling the boy v ho would meet him again later on in tho day at a place ho mentioned. Ho has liot been seen sinoc. LORD KITCHENER'S RETURN. After eight years' absence on Empire service Lord Kitchener has returned to England on the. Whito Star liner Oceanic. J.he scene on the arrival of the vessel at Southampton was most animated. The quay was crowded with ticket-holders, to be turned away. I As the Oceanic camc alongside, hearty j cheers were raised, and tho police band 1 played patriotic airs. Tho "Mayor, with oviier civic dignitaries, ottered the FioldAlarshal an informal welcome in the library of tho steamer. Tho '.lis-, tmguished soldier, who was looking! brouzGd and well, briefly thanked them I for tho honour. When he came ashore, the sceno was one of intense enthusiasm, rivalling, if not excelling, similar sqenes the Boer War. Lord Kitchener afterwards took luncheon with tho Mavor at tho South-Western Railway Hotel. He was accorded a most enthusiastic reception by a largo crowd upon his arrival in London latei in the day. STRANGE-- BREACH OF PROMISE CASE. ( ♦ Jesusa Agnes Ebsworth, a wealth# Kensington widow of fifty-four, was ordered in the Law Courts to pay .£IOO damages for breaking her promise to marry Mr. J, D. Bower, a twenty-five years old draper's assistant. It was stated for tho plaintiff that Mrs. Ebsworth seemed to have been attracted by him from the very first,, and that when he asked her to marry him she only .stipulating that, their engagement should be kept secret from her son George, "a gentleman with a fiery disposition/', At Mrs. Ebsworth's request Mr. Bower secured a position at a glover'ssshotp t at 255. a week. Mrs. Ebsworth, it- was stated, paid almost daily visits to the shop, and declined to be served by any other assistant than her lover. * She would wait for him nearly an hour, and then go away without buying anything. Mrs. Ebsworth denied any promise of marriage, and said that she only "took a motherly interest in him." '

DOGS AS ■ DETECTIVES. In his annual report— issued as ft Blue Book—Captain H. D. Terry, Inspector of Constabulary for " the Southern District of England, soys:—"Experiments huvo been made during the past year in tho use of bloodhounds ' for' tracing criminals, a matter to which I- referred •last year in my report, but, so far as I can ascertain, without any satisfactory result. In one notable case, that of a prisoner escaping from Winchester Prison, the hounds, though working under every favourable circumstance, were unable to follow the trail. Their failure in this instance was most'significant." In this connection it is interesting to note that Mr. Bullock, one.of tho chief constables of the- Metropolitan Police, has inspected the liennols of tho Paris police dogs at Slontrouge, his visit, it is understood, being in connection ■ with h proposal to form a pack of police dogs for use in suburban London.,

, A LAND OWNERSHIP SCHEME. Great interest has been aroused b.y an experiment in small ownership which is being made by tho Duke of Bedford at llauldeii, near Ampthill, Bedfordshire. The dukci lias decided to divide np one ot his estates of more than -JSO acres into small holdings, the. holders being enabled to purchase on such terms that they will be the absolute owners of tho land they have husbanded after thirty-five years, if not before. No deposit will be required, (Hid the only restriction .on the ownership of the land, until it is bought

outright, is that throughout the entire thirty-five years the hind shall be used for agricultural purpose only. Every holder of the larger plots of land will be entitled to common pasture, buying his share on the same terms as he purchases his own land, and, therefore, finding himself at the end of thirty-five years a joint owner of twenty-five acres of pasture. The larger holders desirous of building a house and homestead will be lent sums up to ,£SOO, to be repaid by annual payments calculated on the basis already mentioned.—'"Standard of Umpire."