OUR LONDON LETTER.

Shannon News, 27 February 1925, Page 4

OUR LONDON LETTER.

THE STAR TURN,

Close students of firmament say confidently all eaay that Mr. Churchill is more than eyer the star turn. He has matured a lot Itoce lit he played an active role a Westminster. His figure has more than pehaps, as a still Keen SSo man, he and he x S ? ow going distinctly bald. But he gives sifns of having really sown his political wild oats, and, aware of the quite mistaken popular view that he is au SrltifSersonality to ™ r f£ ly for gravity and weight. When ne speaks as Chancellor of the Excheouer no back-bench dogs bark, ana when he gracefully takes a P™<* f Snuf? even the marble effigies minster Hall seem to smile approva on this brilliant kinsmen ot the great est Deleg . at ion

There was an almost comic touch about the arrival in London ol the Trades Union Congress delegates from Russia. The delegates had evidently all been warned not to speak of their experiences ,to anyone, aad when the train arrived they dashed out, hardly stopping to shake hands with the friends who hadl eattered to greet them, got into«cabs and were f uickly driven off. Mr. Herbert Smith, Miners' Federation, was wearing a Cossack fur hat pulled well Sw'n, but gave little time for one to admire it. He also sprang into a taxi and disappeared from view. Chief Command at hi. Changes involving some of the most important positions in the Navy have ££ b£n approved by the King. Those of chief public interest are the selectio* of Sir Roger Keyes. while still a vice-admiral to be Commander-in-I r.hifif in the Mediterranean; and or

Sir Frederick Field, who recently returned from the world cruise, to succeed him at the Admiralty as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. Rear-Ad-miral Cyril Fuller, who commanded the Navy throughout that "best run \ show" the conquest of the German r Cameroon territory in West Africa, is the new commander of ,the Battle Cruiser- Squadron. It is an illustration of the way in which vo un S J 3 ® }. come to the front nowadays that Six \ Roger Keyes takes up the «kief command afloat at the age of fifty-two, | while the average age of the -Six new I flag officers in fifty-one. Not long before the war the average would have to the neighbourhood of sixty

The Foreign Oflioe. The Foreign Office quadrangle is just now the scene of much building activity. During the war a superstructure of wood and Bteel was raised on the roof of ,the Foreign Office building. This was pulled down about twelve months ago, but the loss of accommodation has been felt so severely that a permanent extra floor is to be added. A similar addition was made to the India Office som e years ago, and the Foreign Office addition will be on the same lines. One of the finest views of London may be obtained from the roof of the Foreign Office. It is from here that the signal is given of the departure of Royal processions from Buckingham Palace, so that the military all along ,the line may be on the qui vive.

Steel Houses. Lord Weir, who,, by his manufacture and erection of what are generally described as steel houses, has attracted so much attention, is at present in Scotland making arrangements to meet the expected demand for these buildings. It is anticipated that many municipalities, and private builders also, will be ready to experiment with this new type of house. Some criticism was directed at the first houses of this description, principally that they were cold in winter and that the interior walls sweated, but these faults have, it is believed, been successfully combatted. The houses are by no means all steel, the frames being timber, and their great merit is that they are cheaper, especially in large numbers, than the brick houses, and are quickly erected. A Wonderful Old Lady.

The Earl of Glasgow, who has the D. 5.0., and has become a "recruit" of the Fascists in Scotland,, is the son of a wonderful old lady. Montagu Lady Glasgow, widow of the Earl of Glasgow of racing re'nown, is 90, active and well, and interested in her latest grandchild, Lord Bruce, the infant son and heir of Lord ahd Lady Elgin. Lady Glasgow is mother also of Lady Cochrane of Cults, of Crawford Priory, Fife, whose elder daughter is Lady Elgin,

Public-house Signs. The fact that the title of a play recently produced, "The Man with a Load of Mischief," was suggested by a public-house sign in Marlebone, has quickened interest in public-house signs. There is a very old and curious one, "The Frog and Flat Iron." What lias a frog to do with a flat iron? The simple and satisfying explanation is given by Mr. A. S. M. Hutchinson, the author, who says that in illiterate clays an inn was known solely by its sign, a bull, say, or a lion. If the proprieor moved to a new hostelry ho tried to keep his customers and maintain old associations by taking his old sign with his and joining it to his new one. Thus we get "Bull and Gate" and "Rose and Crown." On Bluckpool sands. Col. S. F. Cody, has not escaped noLice as one of the pioneers of British aviation, but his share in its development was more substantial than would be inferred from tho brief mention he has got in the newspapers. He sot up the first British record in 1909 of 40 miles in lhr. 3min., and established two other records in 1910. But Cody's achievements in aviatlo'a should not'be judged by these llyinj;- records, lor lie was a pioneer in the fact that Lor many years before flying began he was ,a mysterious figure on Blackpool sands with kites. With his goatee beard b.ig sombrero, and the fact that he had a likeness to "Buffalo Bill," the American scout and showman, the airman became known as "Buffalo Bill" to small boys and others who watched his operations.

Women Inventors. By the courtesy of Major Clifton, of the Institute of British Inventors, Sackville-street, London,. I was given an opportunity recently of inspecting the fascinating collection of inventions and novelties which that institution lias brought together. One phaso of women's work on exhibition was original rd by almost a child. This devor little lady, Misa Lottiee Ajpperly. at: the age of 15J asked her parents to give her a fret-saw. The same afternoon saw tho beginning of a

work which is now givin- employ- | ment to hundreds of people. A Youthful GeniUS. Miss Apperly has applied a keen aTtistic sense to many hitherto untouched branches of woodwork, . BOA through her amazing gift of faitnfui representation of actual living persons and her wonderful sense of colour her little painted, carved wood statuettes are now the rage of London. Not content with her statuettes, Miss Apperly is now directing her activities into other channels. There are Spanish combs, ear-rings, and slides of carved wood, all painted with exquisite Sesigns conceived in the tarry brain of this clever young arust. Square Saucepans. Among th 0 articles which will appeal to the housewife are the new familiar saucepans, made square instead of round, so that they may be packed closely one against the other. The inventor is a hard-working little woman in Lancashire, where time is money. Another feminine brain has evolved a simple little apparatus costing a few pence, which is put into a saueepan to prevent milk or other contents from boiling over. Still another domestic invention is in the nature of a reinforcement for an ordinary toilet comb —an article which has the mortifying knack of breaking in two if a little extra strain is put on it. This little attachment, fixed in the centre of the comb, render® it unbreakable,, while a comb, already broken can be used again, if the two pieces are joined together with the metal strips. Not the least interesting item in this home of inventions.comes from a nurse who has solved the problem of making the bed grow with the child for whom it is bought. By a simple method of extension, the cot can be converted into a bed suitable for an older child, with extra side wings for safety if required. What they Will Dance. In spite of all the recent talk and difference of opinion it seems pretty clear that Christmas «nd the New Year will "not bring any iconoclastic change in our mode of danci'ag. The Tango pops up its diminish,*! head occasionally, but, since scarcely anyone can dance it successfully except our Argentine visitors, it is not likely to figure very largely o'a Christinas and. New Year programmes. The "Blues" is—or are —as dead as the Dodo, anu the five-step has but few devotees, bo it remains to the waltz,, the fox-trot and the one-step to carry the dancing honours during the Yuletide and New Year festivities, and everybody ib busily polishing up these old favourites. :■ Ungine-Drivers Hotel. In order that the crews of their engine's may have more comfortable quarters when stranded away from home, the London Midland and Scottish Railway have decided to build at Camden Town a hostel containing 90 bedrooms for ,the accommodation of engine-drivers, firemen and guards. For some time it has been felt thct the lot of these men, whose life necessarily irregular- owing to the nature of their work, should be ameliterafed as far as possible. Arrangements made to deal with the' problem had been gradually outgrown by increasing traffic. The accommodation became out-of-date and insufficient,, and the alternative for the overflow were outside lodging houses or long journeys to another hostel. Reading, dining and

recreation rooms will be provided in the new "engine-drivers! hotel," which is to have central heating throughout and one apartment specially reserved as a drying-room for the men's clothes in bad weather. In addition to the luxury of a hot bath when coming off duty, the guests will have at their disposal an up-to-date laundry. Women Smokers.

A distinguished Vienna doctor has discovered that only unhappy women smoke. If the medical scientist's theory is at all true. London must harbour a tremendous proportion of unhappy ladies. Because we have now reached the stage when, leaving women of the lower working order only out of account, and even in their case the elderly and midle-aged alone, non_smokers are the small exception rather than the general rule. Most women brain-workers and professional women smoke.. All fashionable women do so. But I have carefully noted that, whereas ladies who use a cigarette as an adjunct of fashionable etiquette smoke in strict moderation, those who really enjoy their tobacco invariably smoke to great excess. Sixty or severity /gaspers a day is by no means extraordinary, though the results are only, too painfully obvious. One lady, whose name was world-famous when «fa.e militant suffragettes were on the warpath, rolls her own cigar etets and uses a strong pipe* of tobacco. Dog Fashions.

I am expertly assured that the craze for foreign' dogs in London is noiw dying out, and an essentially native animal is coming into great favour. At the West End you no longer see no many massive German or melancholy Persain hounds, but you en. counter quite a lot of those bouncing animated doormats known as BobTails. Their correct name, I understand, is Old English Sheep Dog, but I have never seen one used either by a shepherd or a farmer for practical work with sheep. For that purpose the dog most favoured is the Scots Collie, or off-breeds thereof, whose intelligence sometimes develops to an uncanny extent. The Bob. Tail may Or may not owe his present popularity to the modern feminine style of hairdressing. He is a rollicking affectionate fellow, but not extremely highbrow, and most difficult to keep clean. On fine mornings nowadays Hyde Park is full ofthem. Sublime Tact.

Irish reminiscences always possess special fascination, partly because Irish life has peculiar phases, and partly because autobiographers are never dull. The recollections just published by Sir John Ross, ex. Lora Chancellor of Ireland, arc no exception. He was reading in bed in his hotel one night when a lady who had obviously mistaken her room entered. and began disrobing at the dressingtable. "Bring by tea at once!" ex. claimed the tactful lawyer,, and the intruder promptly availed herself of the chance to pass as a waitress. This is the companion story to one tola at the Foreign Office, as the supreme instance of tact, a young attache entered the bathroom to And his host's daughter in the bath. Like a flash he withdrew, discreetly muiflmuring as he closed the door: "I beg your pardon, sir!" That's the true story, and a London journal, which attributes it to a mere artisan plumber, does a grave wrong to the P.O. traditions.