Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-29
NOT FOR SEA SERVICE
Prince of Wales Will Not
Command a Squadron.
EDUCATION IN LONDON
MODERN ARCHITECTURE SUP
PLANTING OLD STRUCTURES.
Experiences of the Bus Drivers and
Charlottesville Electric Trains
Inaugurated-Notes.
.cisl Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Evening star.
LONDON, December IS, 1904.
| 1t is learned that there is no truth what
| ever in the rumors which are going around
| to the effect that the Prince of Wales, who
| is a vice admiral in the navy, is to hoist
! his flag and go to sea in command Of a
| squadron That but for the death of his
| elder brother. he would have stuck to his
| profession and gone on 20 the highest po-
| sition in it, in the same way as his late
| uncle the Duke of Edinburgh, and as King
| William w did. goes without saying. But
| when he became heir to the throne all
| thoughts of an active sailors life had to
| be abandoned. His royal highness retains
| his rank in the service, and will eventually
| become an admiral of the fleet, as the
| king is, but he will never hoist his flag ex-
cept on the occasion of some great naval
| pageant such as Spithead has witnessed in
| recent years. The king needs all the as
| sistance his son can render him in carry
| ing out the functions associated with the
| British monarchy. and for this reason
| alone, if for no other. the Prince Of Wales
will not go to sea with a fleet, no matter
how much he may desire to do so.
| London is somewhat behind American
cities regarding education, but a new plan
| has been submitted to the London county
council which will advance matters to some
degree. 1t is estimated that the scheme
when ii comes into full operation, will cost
f2I5.OOO a year This however, includes
the necessary provision of new secondary
SCHOOLS. for 1t seems that those in which
the counciIS scholars are now accommO-
dated are nearly full. 1t is proposed to
select every year, at the ages of eleven
and twelve, between two and three thou
sand of the ablest children in the London
public elementary schools and to give them
free education in an approved secondary
school until the end of the school year
in which the scholar attains the age of
fourteen. These junior scholarships are
to be offered to all who attain a certain
intellectual standard, and under certain
conditions are to be accompanied by con-
siderable maintenance grants.
As to the method by which potential ge-
MUS is to be selected. the committee seek
to combine the results of examination and
the general estimate of the teacher. Then
as TO the second stage. If at the end of
the two years the head master reports that
the scholar is exceptionally able and likely
TO gain an intermediate county scholarship
at the ages of fifteen or seventeen the
scholarship is to be renewed for the other
TWO years 1t will also be renewed if the
scholar. having proved his quality engages
to become a pupil teacher in the councils
service and proceed to a training college
The scheme is frankly described by the
committee as new form of providing
pupil teachers, and as the requirements of
the elementary schools will compel the
council to pick out twice as many girls as
n
dard may have to be lower in the case of
girls The existing intermediate county
scholarships and senior county Scholarships
and exhibitions complete the Educational
ladder"
Changes in Architecture.
Many leases are at present expirine at
that part of the west end in which the
jostle of Mayfair is most persistent. There
are wide gaps in St James street in Bond
street and in Piccadilly where woru-out
ana comparatively mean buildings are be-
ing pulled down to be succeeded by higher
ana more pretentious erections which will
tell future generations nothing Of the archi-
lecture or the present day EXCEPT that If
was chiefly of bastard type,
some OF the changes that are TAKING
place are the direct outcome of cbangas
III IN iashlonable life. The hotel and tie res
taurant are becoming features In the "a stas
OF Belgravia just as the coffee house rnIed
the literary world of DR.. johnson. Tho
Duke OF Devonshire and Lord Salisbury are
p pg oVershadoWed by large American
notei, American in style of structure. and
also In financial conception This huge
square building Is going up on the site of
Walsingham house "a
1t Will stand at the corner of the Green
Park; 1t Will tower high above Devon
shire House, on the opposite side of Pic
SADLY, and it will turn its upliest side
rlght against Lord Salisbury's house ia
@AAS Stf WiIiCu VIII De thrown z
completely out of scale as If a monster
mandatory were placed against it. An
other change, which was approved by fhe
county council yesterday, will be more
grateful.
1t Is learned that the Duke of Devonshire
IS not likely to sell his house, which is
wen known to Americans who are famiI-
lar with Piccadilly, but his successor will
be Obliged to. as falling rents are INSULT
clnet TO maintain all the palaces belonging
TO the family, and the London property
must go the way of most large and old
houses in great thoroughfares
If it were not that they are the happy
possessors of fairly even tempers-save
when rivals on the road are concerned
and a philosophic disregard of hardships
the London bus drivers and conductors
would long ago have risen against the
commonplace hardships of their daily lot
IL is at time like this, when the winter
days are short and nights are long and
cold, with the rain a-rainng every day,
ana the streets a continuous puddle, that
the dulled sympathes of the man in the
street are stirred for the man on the box
The 'busman puts in an average days
work of fourteen hours.
His work in the crowded streets of Lon
don demands a clear head and a ready
hand combination of qualities which the
London bus driver certainly possesses in
such degree that he is by universal con-
sent the finest whip in the world. At the
end of each journey he has Just time to
get off his box to get drink of some
thing hot" but for the rest of his long
day he is perched upon a narrow seat,
blown upon by wind and rain, his Feet
and hands numbed with cold and his sole
exercise that of his wits in wordy en-
counter with his brother drivers or occa-
sionaliy with troublesome passenger
His pay is six shllings and sixpence
day, but from his weekly total must be
deducted seven or eight shil1ings for vari-
Gus expenses connected with the stable his
sick and accident club, and superannua-
ton. But the 'busman is not grumbIing so
much at his pay as at his long hours. His
day Is divided unequally between his bus
and his bed. He has no time to cultivate
the amenities Of family life, and hardly
knows his children except by sight, and
any sort of recreation is for him totally
out of the question.
A movement is now on foot to obtain
better conditions for him. and 1t is certain
to have the unanimous support nf he
London public, who, with all his faults,
1--we him no less because the rising tide Of
motor traffic threatens to sweep him from
his box. or, at all events, ID change his
type completely.
The Metropolitan and District railway.
which were the pioneers of the London
underground lines are now within meas
urable distance of Identification. The
work of conversion has been proceeding
rapidly for many months past, and it is
expected that early next year this great
of int nj rsyjIJ ho,