Evening star., 1901-08-24
British Peer Accepts Craftsmanship of
Railway Board.
some POLITICIANS ARE PLEASED
Members Of Parliament Appear to
Be Heavy Tea Drinkers.
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

| Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
LONDON, August IA. 1901.
British politicians Of all shades of opin-
ion. and even those without opinions tof
whom there Is no Iack), may now breathe
freely Lord Rosebery Is disposed Of He
has accepted a seat on the board of the
Great Northern railway. and further "ex-
cursions and alarums' in the domain of
politics need no longer be feared. 1t may
| come as a surprise to many people that
the ambition Of the primrose peer should
be satisfied to aspire to the chairmanship
of railway, but undoubtedly he is less
| likely to stir up his party in his new
sphere Of activity; and now that his ener-
gies are taken up with the consideration of
that important matter, the race to the
north" it may be hoped that the Liberal
dmperialist League will have an oppor-
tunity Of looking into the quality Of their
liberalism.
l do not know positively why Lord Rose
berry has turned from politics in disgust
ana devoted his conspicuous abilities to
railway work, but l have a suspicion that
his recent failures In the business of in
venting titles may have something to do
with IT, HIS proposal for the better def
.on ni.ion or the kings most excellent majes-
" was treated with scant consideration,
ana generally the conduct Of his friends
ana former adherents has seemed particu-
iarly ungrateful. However, the loss sus-
tanned by the country through this deser-
tion OF his lordship will be no doubt a gain
to the railway company
Commoners Heavy Tea Driuker..
The report Of the kitchen committee of
the house of commons, which has Just been
issued officially. is one of the most remark
aDie documents ever issued by that BODY
Inc total number Of meals served during
the session was 1O1, ,7O3-an enormous in
crease on all previous years. due in great
measure to the increasing popularity of
tea on the terrace and the magnificent spell
OF tropical weather in the later weeks of
the session.
Upward Of 10000 teas were served on the
Meh-knoWn promenade overlooking the
= names, G and In addition to these nearly
oo,VoV iuncheons and dinners were provided
cisarS alone brought in more than ftOO to
the exchequer. and wines more than ten
Times tnat figure. while the total profit of
me seSs1on-and to realize a profit is not
the object of the committee-was over f2O0
In recent years the operations OF the
ai'Sien committee have been regularized in
s,on manner as i formerly unknown. The infu-
sion OF few experts" that is To- saw
legislators who had had what one NAV de
scribe as professional experience in cater
ing Tor the refreshment Of their fellow
. creatures. worked wonders The admins
tfation or the kitchen department was Al
once placed on an Intelligent business foot
lne' with the result that the house of com
mons, II no longer the best club In I,andon
is undoubtedly the cheapest
A member can have a good, wholesome
smiling dinner, washed down, il he be fru-
gaiiy inclined. by a ten-penny bottle Of
claret. He can have a half bottle of either
red or white wine for sixpence Rut in
spite of these temptations, it is the Terrace
tea table that holds the field
|. YeOmanry In Bad Repute.
Lord Lansdowne. In q recent speech, said
that ne yielded to no one 'in the admira-
tion which feel for the officers and men
whose return the country halls with such
pride and satisfaction" This may be true
enough about the earlier-formed yeomanry
regiments. But from aletter have seen from
an officer in command Of large batch of
the new imperial yeomanry. we are asked
to believe that they have been a him
drance rather than q help to Lord Kitch-
ener. II, says this officer, the government
wanted to provide employment for the
have done better than they did in enlist
Ing the new yeOmanry."
He states that two generals in South
Africa have absolutely declined to have
follow suit. II believe" he concludes.
that am inside the mark when say that
less than 10 per cent were capable shots
and less than 10 per cent capable horse
men, and these were the men sent out to
conquer clever and stubborn foe born to
the use Of his saddle and his rifle There
must be an awful row about this sometime
and 1t is well that public men should be
informed of the true facts Of the case"
This may be an exaggeration, but as these
statements are coming out every now and
again from officers at the front, 1 believe
that the war office WILL sooner or later
be obliged to take some notice of them.
The Grave of Robinson Crusoe.
have recently been up in Norfolk for
a short holiday and all lovers Of literature
uyin ho RI io1 -
have discovered the final resting place OF
Robinson Crusoe.
He was apparently worthy tradesman,
who lived at Kings Lynn, Norfolk, and
died at that ancient seaport at the end Of
the eighteenth century.
His grave is at st. Nicholas Chapel there,
fine large church built in connection with
the parish church of st. Margaret's
While deciphering some Of the inscrip-
tions on the graveStOnes with which the
church is entirely paved, We discovered
near the front a slab which stated that
Elizabeth wife OF Robinson Cruso," was
buried there in the year 1851. This imme-
diately whetted ones Imagination.
Lower down the slab said that "Ann,
daughter of the above" was also buried
there in 1852, and below this mirabile dictu
was the following:
also on this side of the
South Pillar Lies Inferred
the Remains of
ROBINSON CRUSO,
Upholder,
Who departed this life August 6, 1901.
In his sixty-second year"
We stood spellbound and did not mind
In the least the lack of the final "e." as we
knew that our forefathers were not par
ticular about such small matters.
After our first emotion, however, we be-
gan to fear that he could not be the genu-
inc Robinson Of our childhood, whose thrill
ing adventures enthralled our fancy. 1t
was evident that this good Cruso was not
DeFoe's wanderer, but simply an honest
trader In Lynn. Besides, I find on con-
sulting the book that DeFoe's hero, when
he settled down ashore In 1705 was then
seventy-three years old.
However, Robinson Cruso's grave is In
Kings Lynn. and I am glad that I have
seen It,
Another inscription that seems to SAVIOR
Of literary character and may therefore
interest Star readers was the following:
''In Memory Of
''MR. THOMAS HOLLINGWORTH,
'An Eminent Bookseller, a Man Of the
Strictest Integrity In His Dealings and
Much Esteemed by Gentlemen Of
Taste for the Neatness and Ele-
gance of His Bindings"
The eminent bookseller died at the re-
spectacle age Of seventy. and his wife at
ninety-three.