LONDON TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 20054, 20 December 1928, Page 11

LONDON TOPICS

A Bit) PAGEANT [FttOU OtTB COKEE3PONDENI.] ■ November 8. The pageantry associated with the opening of a new session of Parliament, which, latterly has become a far more attractive spectacle for grown-up Londoners than the Lord Mayor’s Show, took place with all the usual eclat. But the crowds assembled in the streets to watch it were hardly as big as His Majesty is used to, and to thencurious silence was added the melancholy pall of a real November tog. The flags floating from Whitehall’s buildings looked like trembling ghosts through the veil, and the summits of Parliament's towers were invisible. But the encircling gloom gave a certain artistic magic to the gorgeous panoply. The Beefeaters seemed march out of the mists of history. The golden State coach looked more than ever a fairy creation like Cinderella’s The Life Guards escort had the shadowy aura of plumed giants of romance. And through tho London fog one caught fleeting glimpses of King George and Queen Mary, bowing side by side in their royal coach, gracious but remote, like a scene from ‘ Alice in Wonderland.’

MUNICIPAL ELECTION RESULTS. Naturally the Socialist leaders are cock-a-hoop over the local elections, which show a more sweeping ictory tor Labour candidates than ever belore recorded. From the Conservative point of view the worst feature is that tho Socialists did even better in the country than in London, because the average percentage of voters in the country ’S much higher than in London, where most of Labour’s gams can easily bo explained by general apathy on the electors’ part. But all election experts know how fallacious are municipal contests oi- even by-elections as any indication how a general election will go. The Socialists are much better organised and command more propaganda than either of the two other parties in most municipalities, and though it is a plain warning, the result of the local elections need have no bearing on what happens next spring, though Mr Baldwin is hampered, as Lord Bailout was in 190(5, by the inevitable reaction against a Ministry that has gone tho full length of its tenure. WELL SALTED.

So far as tire next Parliament as concerned, though youth may be served, it will not serve. A careful analysis of the ages of all known candidates lor election to the next House of Commons reveals an astonishing maturity. The average works out at between 45 and 50, which is considerably above the prewar normal. Whether this is a satisfactory symptom or not depends on the point oi' view. It will bo a well-salted assembly, but may have just a touch of senility. It all turns on whether a legislator is past his or her best at 40, the age at which industry sometimes considers a man too old. It is curious that the average age should bo so high, because all the prophets told us the war would throw affairs into young hands. The contrary seems true. Few families nowadays can afford to k youngsters go straight from school or college into Parliament. Most M.P.s are business or professional people who have already “made good.” ATLANTIC FLEET COMMAND CHANGE.

The coming change in the command of the Atlantic Fleet is a surprise. Admiral the Hon. Sir Hubert Grand took up this command on August 15, 1927. The usual tenure is two years, but an extension to three is generally granted. Yet Sir Hubert is to be relieved cl the command in April, 1929. In naval circles this is regarded as a preliminary step to his being given another appointment, possibly as First Sea Lord in succession to Admiral of the Fleet Sn Charles Madden, Sir Charles is dut to retire on July 51, 1929, on the completion of five years in his present iauk, and Admiral Grand, who was Second Sea Lord before bo took command of the Atlantic Fleet, is reguided as a likely choico for the higher post. Vice-admiral Sir Ernie Chatfield. as the new Atlantic Commander-in-chief, will meet with wide approval. Lord Beatty’s (lag captain all through the war, he has had a brilliant career from the time when he took four first-class certificates in passing for lieutenant. He has just relinquished the post of Deputy-chief of the Nava) Staff. REORGANISING THE INFANTRY, In connection with the reorganisation of the infantry, which has been in progress for some time, there is now a proposal to increase the number of machine guns to twenty-four per battalion at war establishment of just over a thousand of all ranks. That armament will be supplementary to the slightly larger weapons with which the foot soldiers will be armed for anti-tank work—a very different proposition to the one machine gun per battalion in South African war days. Funds will not permit the immediate supply of all these weapons, but regimental machine gun companies, of which there will be ono to every three rifle companies per battalion, will bo armed as early as possible in proportion to their peace establishment, reserves of guns being built up as opportunity offers. For the present the scheme will not apply to the Territorials. BLUE RIBBON NONSENSE.

The popular notion that the big shipping lines are engaged on a sporting contest for the North Atlantic record is a romantic error. True, they are all building up-to-date leviathans, but their object is to capture business and not the blue ribbon of the western ocean. It may be, of course, that a record-breaking liner draws tbe millionaire passengers and that even shipping magnates are human enough to feel the thrill of laurelled championship honours, [hit the essential fact is that these great ocean greyhounds cost nowadays nearly as much as a modern battleship—somewhere in the neighbourhood of £3,(J(JU,OU0 —and obviously it would be bad business to let so much “ floating ” capital . : idle in dock. So the utmost effort * made to speed up the total voyage, which includes a quick turn round at each end as well as a fast ocean passage. In the former respect the Cunard and White Star lines have a geographical advantage over their German rivals. DUCAL “BLUE.” It is a toss up whether the Royal Horse Guards or the 10 th Hussars fire in the society sense the crack cavalry regiment of the British Army. While the 10th can claim the Duke of Gloucester as one of their captains, the ‘ 2 Blues ” have now recruited on probation for second lieutenant the P re ' mier Duke of England. The original intention was that the twenty-year-old Duke of Norfolk should go up to Oxford, but there has been trouble over tlie entrance examination, and now he is undergoing hard training in another school under the critical eye of the “ Blues ” rough-riding instructor. It argues plenty of pluck in the young Duke, who is far from being what the Americans cal! “ a husky.” Slight, short, and pale, with horn-rim _spectacles, he is not quite the ‘‘ Ouida ’ figure as a dashing cavalryman yet. but probably the “ Blues ” will bring him on better than Oxford. The Duke’s c. 0., Lieutenant-colonel the Hon. George Moncktori-Arundel, is Viscount Galway’s heir. NEW NOVEL PATENTS. The London Institute of Patentees has organised an exhibition, of novelties, including machines to aid the rook to cut and crimp pies and seal the edges of the pastry so that the

juice or gravy cannot escape into tho oven. Another device prevents tho contents of a saucepan from burning, and a knife which never requires sharpening will cut bread without making crumbs. A motor car novelty is a taxicab body without side doors, a sliding panel at the front providing entrance and exit. A “ safety first ” gadget in the form of a walking stick displaying a red and white electric light when necessary; an apparatus which will brush and comb the hair simultaneously , a machine which pays out wages and exchanges Treasury notes for silver; and a device which automatically records the output of a factory are also among the exhibits, IRELAND’S SPECIALITY. A shrewd business friend, well-known in the city, has given me an impression of Ireland to-day as he saw it during a recent motor tour. He was struck by the thoroughness with which, in the south, every trace of English association has been removed. Even the signposts are in Erse, and some committee of unfortunate professors must be busy inventing ancient Erse names for quite modern things. In Dublin there is a cenotaph, not unlike out own, but commemorating the heroes of the war with England. A small boy, armed with a shotgun to keep off crows, pointed the weapon at my friend’s car, and exclaimed vehemently: “To hell with the English!” Business seemed very stagnant, and the Irish-American is the main financial hope. Country folk specialise in discovering parental cottages for famous Irish-Americans. They are now whitewashing one and doing it up for Governor A 1 Smith. WITH THREE PIANOS. Though 1 met Paderewski quite recently at dinner—when he delivered that famous oration on Poland which was more electrifying before it became quite so stereotyped—it must be twenty years since i heard him at the piano. Those who have had the privilege during Ins present tour tell me that his mastery lacks little of its former virtuosity, and that ho is even less ol the perfect automaton and a little more of the temperamental artist. Wherever he goes three grand pianos travel around with him, and ■he chooses the one for his concert performance as an ordinary man selects his morning razor blade. There are three other things inseparable from tbe Polishex-Premier —his fur coat, his top-hat, and his walking stick. The latter has been in his possession so long that it now takes rank as a mascot, and Paderewski would sooner lose two of bis pianos than that stick. “HOOVER, YOU’RE IT!” Herbert Hoover, President-elect of tho United States, emerged into the limelight as the man responsible for feeding Belgium in 1914. How that responsibility came to him is told by Burton Hendrick. Three Belgians arrived in London, and convinced the American Ambassador and Sir Edward Grey that unless something was done at once Belgium’s millions would bo starving within thirty-six hours. Page called in Hoover to meet them at tho American Embassy, insisted that a director must be found to take charge of the undertaking, and, turning to young Hoover, remarked: “Hoover, you’re it!” Hoover made no reply. He merely glanced at the clock, got up, and silently left the room. In a few minutes ho returned. Pago asked him why ho had left. “ I saw by the dork that there was an hour left before the New York Exchange closed. So I went out and cabled, buying several millions of bushels of wheat, for the Belgians, of course.”