BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 942, 8 October 1910, Page 12

BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

LONDON SUMMARY. THE HEROINE OF THE CRIMEA. London, August 26. With imprpssivo simplicity the remains of Florence Nightingale, the horoino of the Crimea, were laid to rest in the family grave at East Wellow Churoh, on the borders of tho Now Forest. Tho coffin—on which there were only'two wreaths, ono from tho QneenMother and the 'other from the Nightingale family—was home to tho grave by non-commissioned officers of the Brigade of Guards. At St. Paul's Cathedral was hold a memorial service' attended by at least ten thousand people, from tho representatives of the Ring and the Royal Family to Crimean veterans: from tho Chelsea Hospital. Three thousand nurses, representing every hospital in London, were also present. The musical part of the service • was performed by the band of the Coldstream Guards. Flags were flown at half-mast at all the hospitals.

A DRAMA OF THE HIGH SEAS. The Board of Trade inquiry into the loss of the steamer British Standard, which foundered off Cape Frio on her maiden voyage, has resulted in a :e----markable judgment. Tho court found that the foundering of tho ship was caused by human agency. The captain's certificate was suspended for 18 months, and he was ordered to pay 1000 guineaß towards the coat of the inquiry; the chief engineer's certificate was suspended for twelve months, and he was ordered to pay fifty guineas; and the third engineer was censured. In addition, the court declared that the captain had made false statements, and had offered to give £300 to the second mate if he would make certain statements. The British Standard cost £33,267, of which £26,500 remained on mortgage with the builders. She was insured ■.■.', for £55,300. The captain owned a number of shares in the company owning the ship. It was stated that the ship did not ■ sink until five hours after she was supposed to have struck some submerged object, and that the captain took false: statements from members of the crew in order to prevent the court ascertaining the truth.

v.; : A. 6UPER-DREADNOTJGHT. : The/ the. largest battleship ever built in .'a British dockyard,; has been launohed by theV Marchioness : of Winchester; at Portsmouth.;:''. A : J .bottle of ■ 'Australian 1 wine ; was - : . used .'. at'/ 7 the christening'ceremony, which was;.:witnessed by.' nearly '50,000 people/ As she ;fcook : tHd water, the Orion's hull weighed 8000-tons, and. when completed it win weigh,22,oooVtohs.'' She: is. 684_. iiuji, long; : and;is .the'... : 'first"; battleship : : •-to rhount.the hew .13.J5in. : guns.: ;Of;_ these she will carry ten, disposed in pair;: pn ■a'.-line;that runs directly down..the centre bf. the ship;., thus enabling her to fire all guns on either side.' The Orion's 'gnus' will fire ...a projectile' that is tically half as. heavy, again.; as those fired by'. the';Dreadnought.;,: -,.■/■;' "■■? . '':■'-. '• '■:';■

: £49,000,000 IN DEPOSIT. ' The shareholders ol Parr's Bank and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank have been informed that a' provisional arrangement has been made for the amalgamation of the two concerns as from June 30 last. The paid-up capital of Parr,'s Bank is £2,204,780,' and i that of the Lancashire v and_ Yorkshire £862,660. An idea of the importance of the amalgamation, may bo . formed from the fact that the Lancashire institution has deposits amounting to added to the £39,.000,000 'SrParr'iipwill give the' amalgamated bank total deposits of £49,000,000, making it the fifth bank in size in the kingdom. DEPUTATIONS TO GERMANY. An interesting proposal is made in the preface to the second volume of the reports of the Tariff Reform League working-men deputations to' Germany. It is. suggested that, as the official Free-trade organisation seems disinclined to accept the evidence of the men who have been already to Germany to inquire into the working of proteotion tariffs, a joint deputation should be arranged., Five to ten fairminded men should be selected by each side, and the expense jointly borne by the two' organisations. The business of the deputation would be to inquire into the condition-of the workers, the state of employment, the price and quality of .foodstuffs, and, finally, the rentals of working-class dwellings. The men-should collect ,their evidence and make and sign their report on each town visited.

THE PAN-ANGLICAN FUND; The thank-offering raised in connection with the Pan-Anglican Congress has been brought to a total of £350,000, of ' which' '£104,000 has already been paid to the various dioceses in the oversea States and abroad. It has been' agreed to adopt a scheme for South Africa whereby £24,000 will be invested for grants towards the upkeep of colleges and schools and for loans towards making schools more efficient. . Onolialf of the amount is to be applied for the benefit of natives and Asiatics. Schemes for the expenditure of the £50,000 granted to India, and the £10,000 to Australia have been considered by the committee, but deferred for further information. Another grant was one of £1000 for Moosonco, in Canada, for the purchase of, a boarding school for Indian children. LONDON'S LOST CHANCE. Speaking at the half-yearly meeting of tho Milford Docks Company, Mr. C. E. Newbon declared that London haa lost the onormouß shipping revenue which is enjoyed by Liverpool. "There was a time," he said, "when the City of London advanced to tho Crown £367,897 35., and in discharge of the' debt tho fee simple of 300 manors'and estates was conveyed to the corporation. Among them was the lordship of Liverpool, 'with all Customs, anchorago, and tolls of tho waters of the Mersey, and with all tho manorial seignorial, and regal rights' of the' to.wn and lordship of Liverpool then oxisting. Aid this lordship and those rights, .from: which .an nnnual.income in millions is now derived, was sold by tho short-sighted corporations of the period to Lord Maryborough for the sum of £450." GEIM RELIC OE TRAFALGAR. Amoug tho exhibits loaned by the King to the Japan-British Exhibition is tho actual bullet that killed Nelson at Trafalgar. The bullot is a circular musket ball of lead. On one sidb of it arc embedded portions of the gold laco from tho admiral's uniform,'' which, together with othor fragments of tho uniform, woro forcod into the wound. The royal exhibits arc in a room specially set apart in the Fine Art Palace. Tho bullot is suspended in a plate-glass casket which- at night is lowered into a. pedestal lined with tho finosl steel. Tho bullet came into the royal collection through Dr. Beatty, who extracted it from Lord Nelson's wound and gave it to King William IV. INDIAN STUDENTS' CLUB. Office has taken tho lease of a houso in Cromwell Road, South Kensington, and tho houso will be opened at tho end of the month as the official headquarters and club of Indiai students in London. Two societies, tho National' Indian Association and the Northbrook Society, will find a homo at tho club,, and Mr. Arnold, the edu-

cational adviser of the Indian students, will be transferred thither from the In« dia Office; The control of the house will be in the hands of a small managing committee, consisting of Mr. Arnold, a member nominated by Lord Morley, and a representative appointed by the two societies. SCIENTIFIC BURGLARS. A burglary of a daring and skilful nature has been attempted in the jewellery quarter of Birmingham. A ;j*ng of thieves with an extraordinary equip- ■ ment cut through a wall into premises occupied by Messrs. /Wright and Hodg-," kiss, goldsmiths, of ■ Vyse Street, and •_ attacked the metal strong-room. ' By.means of oxy-hydrogen blow-pipes they, had penetrated the steel 'door to a depth of over two inches when they , were disturbed or abandoned their efforts because the'gas supply was exhausted. An electric signalling appara* tus had been installed on the premises, and across the top of the main stair- , case ropes wore stretched. The police have not mado any arrests. EAST-END AND Efforts are being mado in the East" end'to bring before those in authority a proposal that East London should ba included in the route to be taken by the royal procession on the occasion ot the coronation next year. On the day following the coronation of the late King a royal procession took place, partly through South London. It is thought that East London might be honoured by a visit in this way. The Mayor of Stepney is to call a meeting on -tha subject on September 7, when proposals will bo made as to the most suitable route so far as East London, is concerned, and a petition will then be for» warded to the proper authorities.

A HUGE TRANSFER. Preparations are "now being made for' ono bf the most gigantic industrial operations ever known—namely, ;the transfer of the entire service of' the National Telephone Company to tho State,' and, incidentally, the addition of more than 18,000 people to the'list of civil servants. ' On' December 31, 1911, the Government will take over lock, stock, and barrel, a company whose stupendous business is indicated, by the following table:— Messages handled last year 1,362,000,000 Capital expenditure '£15,000,000 Authorised capital £13,125,000 Annual revenue, £3,500,000 to £4,000,000 Subscribers or stations ... x 516,888 Sorvants 18,200 Exchanges „ 1,569 Within the next few weeks the company will begin its great task of enumerating its plaut all over the country, and also trying to determine the ago of tho plant.

EFFECT OF EIGHT HOURS ACT. A direct result of the Eight Houra Act, which limited miners' working , hours to eight a day, has been to reduce the hours of work of miners by 2j392,322 every week. This figure is given by Mr. Askwith, K.C., of the Board of Trade, in his review of the changes in rates of wages and hours of labour during 1909. Multiplied by, SO, which allows the miners a fortnights holiday in the year, this represents 'a total of more than 100,000,000, fewer hours of work in a year.' It is computed that there was' a, total' decrease of £2,767,400 in the wages of work-peopte reported to the board during the yeaa, compared with £873,800 in, 1908, .

RAILWAY COMPANIES' POLICY. It'is stated, according to the report printed for private circulation, off a committee representing the leadiigjail. way j lines in Great' Britain, thafthe"" *li railway companies consider the demands of their employees have gone .beyond the limit, and they are resolved to support the decisions. of the. conciliation < boards. If trouble should arise between them and their men, they are prepared to stand by one another. They are not inclined to make any further concessions to the men. , The report also states that in no _ cases will fares bo' raised, and that in many cases ties may bo lowered. ■ , v

SILENT MOTOR OMNIBUS.' " The London General Omnibus Conn pany have been experimenting sinca Christmas with a new typo of petrol omnibus, , and they are now satisfied that they have secured silence and speed. So pleased are the directors that fifty similar vehicles have beea ordered, and are now being built at their engineering ' works at Walthamstow. These silent motor- omnibuses will in time replace all the noisy vehicles, and then the roar of London's traffio will be somewhat subdued. Th« new type of motor omnibus weighs less than three and a half tons, which is tha Scotland Yard limit, and -carries Si passengers —like the older type of motos omnibus.—"Standard of Empire." /