Evening star., 1899-07-29

Methodfsm, with the ministry OF which his
family have been associated for three gen.
erations. He belongs to the older and more
conservative con s school OF the connection. and
yet he Is among its most truly progressive
spirits. The family of his paternal grand
father. who were Celts of the Scottish
Highlands, passed over, as many others
did, to the north Of Ireland, and there set
tied. carrying with them their sturdy Prot
estant faith Presently there came an asso-
citation with early Methodfsn, and, in 17S4
young James Macdonald was called into the
ministry by John Wesley himself.
Mr.. Macdonald has five sisters, all bright
and capable women. The eldest married
Mr.. Lockwood Kipiing, himself the son of
a Wesleyan minister. Another became
Lady Burne-Jones; third, Lady Poynter,
and a fourth, the wife of Mr.. Alfred Bald
win. the present M. P. for one Of the di-
visions of Worcestershire. Rudyard Kipling
Is thus the grandson of two Wesleyan min
listers, and the nephew of third.
In 1881 Mr.. Macdonald was appointed to
the theological chair at the Handsworth
College, Birmingham; and for some time
had seat on the school board of that city.
In 1891 a further change came. During an
extended tour in the United States, in COM
pany with his nephew, Rudyard Kipling, he
was suddenly appointed by the conference,
then in session. one of the general sec
retaries of the Foreign Missionary Society.
In this Office, alike by his able care of the
department of continental missions and by
his eloquent advocacy. he has proved a
most valuable officer of the society.
As q preacher in his own class the presi-
dent is facile princeps: his chaste diction
and his fluent and felicitous utterance COM
bining to make unique eloquence- He has
always been in the front rank of Wesleyan
preachers. Neither Is he unknown an
author. Some years ago he published
short life of Fletcher of Madeley. and prev
ious to that fascinating life of DR.: Pun
shon Coming in contact in early and later
life with men of literature and art-hs
brethers-in-law, Resetti and others-he has
always been a cultured and broad student
of English literature. During recent years
his special study has been Latin church
hymnology, and a long series of able ar
ticles in the Methodist Recorder indicates
wide and expert knowledge of his subject.
donald looks barely fifty, his clear cut feat
ures and brisk, alert manner giving promise
OF many years of service to come.
Tramwny Extension.
An extensive scheme of tramway extern
sion is one of the first fruits of the activity
of the London county council in the do
main of proprietorship. The proposals
under consideration comprise the construc-
ton of some eighteen new tramways and
the doubling of several existing lines, the
estimates for the whole work amounting
to something approaching a million pounds.
Little exception is taken to the project in
its broad outlines, as the extensions de-
signed are in nearly every instance well
planned, but there is a feeling of impa-
tience at the fact that the council should
be at such pains to extend the area of
tramways while the problem of traction
still remains in allegiance. What the public
wants is a system of electric tramways
such almost every other city in the
world possesses, and it does not at all un-
derstand why it should not have it imme-
diately.
A couple of years ago the county council
engineer investigate American
street railway systems, with the result that
while Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester,
Glasgow, Dundee and other provincial go
ahead towns, even to little Bristol, which
generally lags behind, have their electric
tramways, either underground, on the sur
face or overhead London is about to con-
struct "a short experimental line" in
which electric traction will be tested.
Meanwhile Londoners have the omnibus
and the smoky underground, commonly
known here as the sewer. Perhaps in the
course of fifty years there may be a trolley
two in London, or possibly a system of
electric underground railways. But we are
assured that the experimental line will be
constructed as soon as possible, and tests,
within fifty miles of London, will be SOL
emny carried out and reported to the
councils committee.
Good Prospects of the Shamrock.
After a great deal of secrecy and backing
and filling on the part of Sir Thomas Lip
ton and his assistants, the America cup
challenger Shamrock has been raced
against the Britannia. On the merits of
her first performance the aristocratic
yachtsmen of Cowes are prepared to pro-
nounce the Shamrock a sure winner of the
cup. In a thirty-eig ight-mile course she beat
the Prince of Wales boat by about thirteen
minutes, and is said to have shown
great capabilities, being only ten sec
onds in stays, and proving herself very stiff
in a moderate breeze. The fact that she
did not use her backyard topsail, club
topsail as it is called in America, is made
much of. The Britannia spread her largest
topsail and all her other canvas, but it is to
be remembered that the Britannia is an old
boat and has been lying by for a season or
and cannot be regarded as in her usual
form. The Shamrock is a new vessel and
combines all the latest expressions of the
yacht builders art 1t is to be hoped that
she will do better than the Valkyric III and
give the Columbia good races, though pa
triotism forbids the wish that she should
win the cup. If she should, however it
would have the effect of putting to an end
the statement invariably made here by
British yachtsmen that the boat from this
side is badly handicapped by having to sail
across the ocean. That charge would not l
am sure, be alleged in regard to the Ameri-
can boat should she be obliged to come
here. 1t is conveniently forgotten that the
American which won the cup had to sail
across. The people who make this state
ment and those who repeat it all sides
enough to stand the immense pressure Of
the enormous sail area spread upon modern
racers is naturally strong enough to cross
summer sea without fear of strain or ma
terial damage / do not think that any Of
the British boats that have crossed in re-
cent years have found the sea formidable
under their jury rig or have sustained dam
age. To be sure, the Valkyre III had a
hard crossing. but this was chiefly due to
the vessel being awash all the time owing
to her slight freeboard, but she was prob
ably built no stronger than the Defender
The Vigilant and the Navahoe, which made
the same crossing, got on well enough and
made good passages, the Viglant beating
previous records for yacht crossings
There Is no doubt that the Shamrock is
a good boat and a fast one, though the
boatmen at Southampton, who have had
many chances of inspecting her with critical
eyes, are not altogether in love with her
appearance, and bets have been freely made
against her bringing the cup home.
Agricultural Philanthropy.
The spirit Of philanthropy is fertile in
the invention of new fields for benevolent
effort An association whose secretary is
the Hon. Caroline Roche, has been formed
for the purpose of encouraging the planting
of flowers and shrubs in ra ilyyav cuttiner