The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-01-03

London December 26.-Title-hunger is
the curse of the country at the present
time. The late queen, during the last
years of her reign, distributed baronet-
cies and knighthoods amongst the mid
die class more generally than had been
the custom before, and King Edward has
been even more liberal The increased
facility of obtaining these minor titles
has put it into the head of almost every
prosperous middle class man to strive
and scheme for one.
A curious development in modern Eng
| land seems to have escaped the notice
even of those who watch the times most
carefully. In savage tribes the men oc-
| cupy themselves with hunting, playing,
and fighting, and the women work Ev-
cry year now more and more English
women earn their livelihood, and en-
ployment for them has been found in a
hundred and one direction, in which
| men were occupied only a quarter of a
century ago. On the other hand, Eng
] lishmen spend much more time over
sports and games than they did even
twenty-five years back, and work
shorter hours than then. Also when the
war in South Africa absorbed our reg
| ular army thousands volunteed to aban-
don their work for the purpose of hur-
| rying off to the front. AS to our women,
as Mattresses, clerks, typewriters, tele-
| phone and telegraph girls, governesses,
school teachers, Journalists, nurses, ac-
| tresses, dancers. and in many other oc-
| equations and professions, they general
| ly work harder and throw their interest
| INTO their employment much more than
| do the men. Are we slowly returning to
the savage state? VIII the men in Eng
land half century hence employ their
time In lighting and sport whilst to the
women will be confided the work?
! The late Sir John Robinson, manager of
the Daily News, used to tell this curious
story OF the chances of journalism. When
Lord Mayo was encouragement of India,
gentleman whom Sir John knew slight
| ly entered his sanctum, told him he was
| about to visit India and asked permission
to telegraph to the paper any news of i'm
portance that came to his knowledge Sir
John said yes # 1t were really of i'm
| portance. What would you call import
anti" asked the gentleman. well" said
| Sir John, ''if the encouragement were
| assassinated. and you Were by, | should
| call that important" When Lord Mayo
|
| by, and at once telegraphed the fact to
| the Daily News, which was the first paper
| to announce it. III the poor man were to
| be assassinated," said Sir John to friend.
| was 1t not lucky for us that our man
| was close by" Sir John was very
staunch friend without being a bitter enc
my. He was always most popular with
| his staff. most fair and honorable In all
! his dealings, and one of the most agree
| a Of ma mir for io g
| on men and things were always to the
| point, and he had been brought into con-
| tact with so many persons of note that he
| had fund of interesting anecdotes. There
/ was always a certain simplicity about him
which contrasted agreeably with his
thorough knowledge of the world and the
| acuteness of his remarks.
Canon Anger, who has just resigned the
stall at Bristol, to which he was appoint
| ed by the Lord Chancellor in 1887, is one
| of the comparatively few scholarly and
highly-cultured divines of the Anglican
| church. AS a preacher of thoughtful, elo-
quent, interesting sermons, DR.. Anger is
| unrivalled and all his literary works have
been most uccessful-notably his admir-
| able monograph on Crabbe, which was
published a few weeks ago.
The late Lord Stair was the head of one
of the great historical houses of Scot
| land. He was a whg of the old school in
| accordance with the traditions of his
| family. but he had no taste for the tur-
moil of public life, and never played any
| conspicuous part in politics. Whenever
| Lord Stair was called upon to come for
| ward prominently he always acted with
propriety and general appreciation. He
| succeeded to the eardom in 1864, when he
| took his seat in the house of lords as
| Baron Oxenfoord, a title which had been
| conferred by Lord Melbourne on his I'M
| Gle. the seventh earl of Stair, in 1S41, and
/ which he inherited by special remainder.
| Lord Stair gave Mr.. Gladstone hearty
support until 1885, when he Joined the lib
eral unionists. and he was one of the very
few peers who supported the liberal leader
in the Midlothian campaign of 1s79-S0 The
| MANAGEMENT of his vast estate was the
passion and pleasure of his life. He was
! a model landlord, and expended great
| sums of money in improvements of all
| kinds, the welfare of both farmers and
laborers being his paramount object
|
The king and queen will be the guests OF
| the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth
during the first week in January. This
| Is the first sovereign visit to the house
of Devonshire in half century. the last
one being that Of the late queen and
Prince Albert. few years after theiI
marriage The entertainment will, OF
course. cost the duke a small fortune.
Princess Alice of Albany and Prince