The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-11-09

H
 London is so large that we often
 say that we meet a friend who has been away for five years as though we had seen him only the day before, we are missing the Americans who for six months have been so visible everywhere. They come and go as birds of passage, making a season while in transit over the islands-the Americans who we call Eng lish, now, are either off, or are about to set sail for India. The durbar this year will be as grand as the historic one in Lord Lytton's day. Curzon will be a royal parsonage on this grand occasion, a proxy for King Edward. He will receive the homage of the Indian princes, stand ing on the dais or throne. 1t will be a magnificent spectacle Lady Curzon will have to stand at the foot of the throne. In such a state ceremony she has no place. But as her place will be near the throne and she will be the first lady" in India she will be socially speaking, to all intents and purposes, queen. She will not be bothered with orders of precedence in selecting those who stand about her, who form her court. She may invite who she pleases to be her household. Hence the rush of her old American friends, many of them titled, such as the Duchess of Marlborough, Lady Stafford, Lady Churchill and others, as well as the Letters Bradley Martins and others. We expect grand accounts from India
 sse
 The talk about the queen of the Bel gians memoirs is all stuff and nonsense. Marie Henriette kept diary but not regularly. She jotted down merely for the purpose of refreshing her memory in after-time, and always in the baldest and dryest manner. All her mental energies ran into music, in which she attained high connoisseurship, and into horsy af- fairs She was not a writer and never knew what the writing impulse was In a circus sne would have been the right woman in the right place. l think, as write, of her daring drives in her pony phaeton across the railway near Daeken. She generally timed her crossing for the closing of the gate across the high road. When the man at the station came out to shut out the public because tram coming at full speed had been signalled, the queen rrade a sign to him Whlch ne understood. She then gave whip and rein to her four cream-colored ponies, and dashed across the railway not much too soon to escape being crushed by the train When on the other side she was pale as death, but thrilling. The man at the station had become too accustomed to this oft-renewed feat of the queen to feel uneasy about it. But when new to the place his heart almost ceased to beat as he saw her and the team ny across while an express seemed almost to thunder down on them. She never took any of her children or an attendant in the phaeton when about to dare death as I have described.
 .
 November 1 should be red-letter day in the calendar of the London errand- boy, for on that date the purvey or ms favofite delicacy passes under the control of the London county council. Hence forward the person who permits ice creams or any similar commodity, to be manufactured, sold, or stored in any eel lar. shed or room in which there is any inlet or opening to g. drain, or which IS used as living room or sleeping room' is liable to penalty Of AUS; ana the same penalty applies to the maker of ice creams who does anything likely to ex- pose his wares to infection or contamlna- ton. In order to insure the thorough ap- plication of the Act, similar penalty Is also incurred by the street-vender who fails to exhibit notice stating the name and address of the manufacturer Of his wares. Little Italy will be considerably nerturbed in consequence, while no doubt the Liberty and Property Defense League and the special correspondent of the Times whose mission 1t is to discredit the extention of municipal energy, will con sider the Act to give unwarrantable pow CTS of interference with private enter prise, No one else, however, will be dis posed to regret that at last steps have been taken to check the wholesale dis tribution of halfpenny worths of ptomaine poisons.
 A metropolitan constable the other day gave us an exhibition of common sense motor car was coming along at a good pace. It looked to be going over twelve miles an hour It probably was exceeding the legal limit by more than a mile or two. Suddenly in front of it two vehicles colided Beautifully un- der control, 1t came to sharp standstill in less than a couple of yards. Up came the constable and charged the motorist with having exceeded the legal limit What is the harm if l did?' said the motorist. "The car was stopped at once. A hanson going at half the cars pace could not have stopped, and there would have been serious accident" The con stable sensibly admitted that this state ment was quite true and went to work to disentangle the traffic.
 There were great ladies and great gem tlemen in the past Some two hundred years ago the London theaters opened at six o'clock, and 1t was, therefore, difficult for playgoers to arrive punctualy, and obtain seats, many of them sent footmen, or hired men from the streets, to secure