MARITIME RELICS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 22, 27 January 1938, Page 24

MARITIME RELICS

A LONDON DISPLAY

great interest manifest;

(From ' "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, January 5. A show which is attracting much interest not only among the schoolboys for whom it was. primarily arranged, but also- among the general public, is the Sea Roamcrs' Exhibition in Selfridge's Palm Court, where a comprehensive collection •of maritime relics and curios is on display.

Pride of place is given to "Valhalla," the Hall of the Dead, which is the name given to> one of the finest maritime 'collections in- -the- world by it 3 owner, Mr. Silver-Cumbers, better known by , his '.'nom-de-mer," Captain John" Silver., According to' Captain 'Silver, the "star" of his collection is a fragment of the life-line of the Titanic, which was given by a member of. the crew to Captain Holl and later to Captain Silver. Of very sjoecial interest, however, is the figurehead of "The Golden Cherubs" carved-by the master carver, Grinling Gibbons,- circa 1662. This is believed to be tho oldest merchant ship figurehead in the world. Other'fine, figureheads in the collection are "The Bride," so named in 1863 in honour" "of the -wedding of Edward VII to Alexandra, and "Beda," a magnificent figure, taken, from the wreck of the barque 'Bertha Marion, later called Beda. . . N , Many beautiful-models' are included in the collection and Captain Silver has made a speciality of mounting them on■ glass .resembling sea water, with a real sea bed some three inches below. Thus, his model of the Gravesend rests in glass above'a sea bed made of. sand, shells, and 5 wood collected by~ Captain Silver on the Goodwin Sands. WATCH FROM THE BOUNTY. Many other fascinating treasures of the sea are,to. be found in the exhibition. \A curio of special value is the watch belonging to William Peckover, a gunner on H.M.S. Bounty at the time of the mutiny. It, travelled with its Owner in the open boat across the Pacific, and was his only means of telling the time until June:2,- 1788; when, as related in his log, it stopped. This watch, together with a nail and a fragment of the rudder, also on display, are believed to be the only r_lics of the Bounty which have come back.to England.

One of the original bullion casei foun<| among the wreckage- of the Spanish Armada, blue prints, from the original plans of H.M.S. Victory, coins and tokens dating back 2000' years and recently found ; during excavations near London Bridge, are' alsb to be seen. Tents, clothing, and equipment used by Scott and other famous explorers of the Arctic and Antarctic can be examined, and a genuine eskimo kayak may be compared with a kayak (or canoe) built by the Thames Se» Scouts for their training.

Other exhibits include diving apparatus and working models, a portrait gallery, ancient shipping-"house" flags, and models and equipment of. passenger liners, past and -. present.. Credit for the. preparation-and-excellent layout of the exhibition goes tol Mr. H. Chatham. . ■ -