BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1267, 24 October 1911, Page 2

BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

j -4 I LONDON SUMMARY. j THE WRECK OF THE FIFESHIRE. ! London, September S. j Five members of the crew of tlio wreck j ed linor Fife-hire, which went ashor oft" (he coast of Soni.ilihiiiid, told a tlirill inR story when I hey landed at Tilbur; | from the P. ami U. liner Persia. "Moi 01 tho jw.-i.eiis.Ts were in their bunk ' nnil .many of tliem were ask-op when lis j ship ran nil tho rocks on the night o j Au'pi-i said Robert Nixon, sicorag I sl.'i'. aid. "Up pa-.-ed a horrible nighl j and in tho mornj]),? ,to make mutter I v.or-e, we .saw that I lie shove was lino i with savages, armed villi spears, nm i looking decidedly unfriendly. They mad 1 thn e.lening gestures, and altogether ma<l 1 it clear to us that our presence was no i de-ired. The shore was only about fou i hundred yards away, and about twent j til' tiio natives swam out to the ship; Car I tain .Cramer, however, would only olloi j one of (he men to come on board. Who j tho man cot on deck he pointed to tlics j of his party who were on shore, an drew his hand across his threat in a .*ip nifiennt manner. He muttered son:' thin,? the. whole time, but v:o could r«mako out a, word of it. 'I'lie mate dres' ed lnm in a gold-braided suit and mr.d him presents of tobacco, and with 'lies lie swam ashore." All th.rough the da the natives watched events on the line] rj and after dark it wa« ,'houg]i(: Lhry migh attempt to surprise the ship's company Careful wateh was kept, and Runs wer discharged at intervals. Oil tho niornin of August !I the ship was abandoned, an tnoil cn board—llo altogether—left i four boats for Aden. some -150 mik away. The third officer's boat capsizc but the occupants were rescued, and tli craft was righted. At eleven o'clock c night thoso in the third officer's bo.'i sighted (he light of a liner, (ho Krone Klramsliip A dour. After sixieen hour: searching the A dour picked up two r the other boaf.9, but no trace could b found of tho l>oat containing llio secon officer and 23 other persons. HISTORY IN DRESS. Tlio most interesting recent acijnisitio to tlio new London museum, which is sco to be opened for public inspection is th _ series of English historical costumes co! Iccletl by Mr. Seymour Lucas, R.A. Th Metropolitan Museum of New York mail /treat efforts to secure the collection, an. offered a high figure for it. Mr. Lucr.f .however, disposed of it to the Londo: Alumuiii at a price less than half (ha which he might have obtained. Tiler is no other collection to equal it. I iMvers completely the period betwee Henry VIII and Georeo 111, and tho at thorites have lx*n able (o bring it dow to the present day. The museum is ( have the Coronation robes of Queen Vic torin, -King Edward, and Queen Ales andrn, r.'.id King George and Queen Mur,y and the Queen, in addition, has promise to lend her marringo gown and otlie dres-ys. Queen Alexandra lias also in.ti mated that she will lend on permaneii Kvi tho dresses of Queon Victoria, to Bother with the uniforms of King ]Jc ward and tho I'rince Consort. TOBACCO SHORTAGE. The long-threatened crisis in the to baoco trade is now rapidly approaching and there is little doubt that during tli coming year consumers will have to pa; considerably increased prices. The difli cully is due to two causes, the first bcini a natural shortage, which is the resul of drought in the United States phnta tions, and tho second the restriction o output agreed upon among the planters who are fighting tho trusts. Owing t>. this combination of circumstances thi year's output will by much smaller tha,that of last year. Practically all to / b.-icco will lie affected, but naturally tin efi'ect of the rise in prices will be mos keenly felt by buyers cf the cheapei , brands. LEVI A T fIA N SUBMARINE. Early in 1012 tho first submarine oi Class "E" will bo completed. This vessel will mark an immense advance in th< construction of submarines. She will be about twice as big a.s her predecessors, having over SOO tons displacement—biggei than most destroyer,?. She will be the first submarine to have decks on which the crew can work guns, which can lit lowered when the vesel is to be submerged. Submarines of this class will alsr be tho first to use heavy oil engines Wireless of|iii|.inwit and cnmprc.'sseil ah in cylinders will also be carried. TRAMCAR DISASTER. One passenger was killed and nine wer« injured as the result of an accident to n Ijondon County Council traincar, at (Ik. junction of Shardcloes Road and Lewis ham High Road. Khardeloes Road is i: steop hill, sloping down to the High Roail, and when the traincar reached tlio bot> torn, instead of stopping it left (lie rails, mid charged across tho road. It lurched to olio side, and then toppled heavily ovt-r. Four people were pinned beneath th® car. one of them being a young iniM of _ twenty, named Sells, who was terribly injured, and died in a few minutes. The passengers iusido the car were hurled together by the shock, and tho scene was, in the words of a witness, "a jumble oi human beings, glass, and broken woodwork." At the inquest on the b"dv • Sells, Mr. Robert Barber, of (he Board of Trade Labour Exchange, who was an eye-witness of tho accident, gave evidence. 110 said that there was absolutely no line on the curve into tho High Road for tho tramear to travel on, "owing to (lie groove being c.hccktnl ot' hard sand, which must have been there a week. Tho line is absolutely worn out there. The car would not have had a ghost of a chance." The jury, in returning a verdict of accidental death, expressed the opinion thai there was not sufficient ?vjdnnce to show why tho traincar left the lines. But they added the following rider to their verdict: "Great attention should be paid to tho cleansing of tho tramlines at all junctions and curves, and we recommend that the Highways Commitlec of the London County Council should adopt a suggestion laid' before us that the curve should be widened at the junction of Shnrdelocs Road and Lewisham iligli lioad." BY BALLOON TO AFRICA. It is understood that a balloon expedition from London to Africa is contemplated in November by a well-known London aeronaut, with the idea of breaking tlio world's record of 1190 miles without a descent. The balloon will be one of the largest ever fitted out for an expedition, the capacity being over 100,0 M cubic feet, with a diameter of' about GOft. We are informed that the journey can bo accomplished, under favourable weather conditions, in forty-eight hours. The idea is to take a lino across France, and the African coast would be reo.ched in 1100 miles. November has been chosen as tlio monlh of departure, owing lo the cool temperature which then prevails being more favourable for ballooning. A member of the projected expedition to Africa slates that lie considers ballooning is attended with as httlo risk as motoring in Hyde Park. He expects to cover tho greater part of the journey through air at an altitude of about DOOO feet. .£3OOO JEWEL TIIEFT. A brougham containing JjDOOO worth of jewels was stolen on September 5 at the Nag's Head Corner, Wood Green, a busy centre of traffic. Tho brougham and its contents belonged to _ Messrs. Lawson, Ward, and damage (Limited), wholesale manufacturing jewellers, e£ Clerkenwcll Road, and had been sent out in charge of their travellers. Shortly before two o'clock it arrived at tho Nag's Head corner. Here il was left unattended for a few minutes, but a wheel was secured with a chain and padlock, and tho doors were locked. In spilo of tlicsn precautions, the vehicle vanished. A man states that ho saw a coachman in livery driving it down Ixirdship Lane. An hour later the brougham was found in Wcstbury Avenue, a quiet thoroughfa-.-ft. The windows had been broken and tho jewels abs-fracUxl. THE PAGEANT OF INDIA. Mr. Frank Lasc?lles, tho master of tho Pageant of London at tho Festival of Empire, has accepted e.n invitation from tlio Imperial Reception Committee at Calcutta to organise tho Pageant of tho History of India on tho occasion of tho King and Queen's visit at the end of Docember. Interviewed at the Crystal Palace, Jlr. I-ascelles said the pascanl will give tho history of India from tho earliest times dow a to tho Goveutocnth ccnturj.

The chairman of tile Pageant Commitlco is (ho Jlnh.ii'KJa Sir .7. If. Tagore. "Tlic lc-iding Princes of India arc lendin:,' costumes, servants, and elephants,. 1 believe there arc to be about £00 elephants in the procession, which will be about four miles Ion?, and the performers will niimber between 0000 and TffiK). The si>t scenes of tin l pageant nrc to 1)0 presented on tli.i 3l.ihl.iii, a great open space outside Calcutta." The pageant will be witnessed by the King and Queen. .£9,000,000 IX DEATH DUTIES. I'll" reeeint into the Exchequer from the death duties during the period of twenty weeks ended Angiisl 1!) of (ho current financial year was .£0,110.000, at the rate of .£170.050 per week, which compares with a roc-jipt of -C 10.711.000 for (ho corresponding period of last rear, and X:),Wi,<M> h (lie previous year. I.,ist year's receipt was. however, increased by the sum of JCI.SFO.OOO paid short in (lie previous y-rar, wlion tin' passing of tlio Finance Bill of 19(13 was in suspense, and this amount should really be cmli'.cd to the receipt for H.'o9-lfl. The Budget estimate of ihe yield of the dvath duties for the current financial year, which will end on Jf.-vrch 31. 1912, is .C2.i.1.)0,n00, bein-? .'■yi'lM'.t less tlun the revised estimate for last veer, and will require an average weekly receipt of JMM.IiSI, which is foino-v.-hat higher (ha'i (he average of die past twenty weeks, during which, how-cr--r, there h'js been onlv one estate exceeding a million.—''Standard of Empire-"