Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-22
GOSSIP FROM LONDON
English Naval Officer Writes
Of Togo's Fleet.
BOOM IN HOUSE VALUES
UNIQUE HOTEL FOR BABIES AND
NURSES OPENED.
Elaborate Appointments and Suites
Romney and Some of His
Noted Masterpieces.

Ga lucTc flftS Oe6u some u1SpO-
sition to consider much of this work I'M
necessary but the Japanese do not share
this opinion or they would not have done
so much. AS a matter of fact, they take
much more serious view of the coming
of the Baltic squadrons than one would
have thought possible after the way in
which they have smashed UP the Port
Arthur fleet"
In the course of his letter the officer
states that the japanese have given every
opportunity to officers from the British
war vessels to study the effects so far as
they may be seen on the Japanese ships of
modern shell fire. and at least dozen re-
ports on the subject have been forwarded
home to the admiralty
One OF the most interesting facts discov-
cred Is that the greater velocity of the
shell the less is the probability of it's ex-
ploding effectively on contact. The Jap
anese are understood, therefore, to be serv-
ing out a new kind of fuse to facilitate the
explosion of the charge on meeting with the
slightest resistance possible.
Every once In a while the British ad
miralty have searchings of heart over the
condition of the navy, and now Sir John
Fisher. the newly appointed sealord. is
busy overhauling things and making recon-
medations to do away with all obsolete
vessels. In the three principal dockyards
of the united kingdom there is lying at
this moment upward of e16,o00.000 worth
of obsolete warships, which. nevertheless
figure as electives in their various classes
of reserve.
The old Sultan. for instance, which was
sunk in the Comno channel between Malta
and Coco. has cost over Ell 100000. including
construction and repairs. The Sultan car
ries muzzle-loading guns to this day, and
every penny spent on this vessel during
the last ten years has been money thrown
away.
All the third-class cruisers of the "P''
type are equally useless for fighting pur-
There thirteen of them. their
average cost being e1JO,000 They are
miserably armed with the obsolete Al gun
and carry only 80 tons of coal. The origi-
nator of this class of vessel wasted more
than e2,OUO,0OO of the national money Sir
John Fishers drastic treatment of the stu
alton he finds at Whitehall will be ,sgener-
ally commended on the principle that it is
no use throwing good money after bad.
Property Values Advanced.
A sign of the immense increase of wealth
and righteousness in the west end of Lon
don in recent years has been the excessive
prices which have been paid for town
houses which are perhaps occupied by their
owners only for about six months out of
the twelve The increased prices asked and
given for these palatial establishments have
been chiefly confined to Mayfair, or that
area bounded by Park lane, Oxford street,
Regent street and Piccadilly. A house with
d lease of sixty-fve years. which was sold
eight years ago for about iii, 900, Is now
again in the market al the price of 100000.
1t Is, indeed. difficult now to get house IN
one of the fashionable west end squares
on a twenty-one years lease for less than
twenty thirty or forty thousand.
1t was thought at one time that the mod
ern craze for flats would seriously depre
ciate the value of houses. This expectation
has not been borne out by experience, al
though many large Old-faShioned houses,
like that of the late Duke of Cambridge,
are now being demolished to make ste
III a., ll,.%
house, as distinguished from a mere fiat.
will always have powerful attraction both
for those who possess them as inheritance
and for the newly rich, VINO look upon
large establishments in town and country
as the appanage and evidence of aristoc-
racy.
1t is with a knowledge of this weakness
that agents are now buying UP large houses
In the west end squares at prices that
would have been thought sensational Il
few years ago.
The improvements committee of the Lon
don county council, pursuing the councils
aim of relieving serious congestion of traf-
fic in Piccadilly by widening this important
thorOughfare have decided to submit to
that body scheme dealing with the sec
ton between st. James street and Duke
street, at a cost of fT2, 800 Unless the op
portunity is seized it cannot recur for an
other eighty years. This new section Is
practically the last remaining narrow por-
ton of the important main thoroughfare
connecting Piccadilly Circus with KenSing
ton and Hammersmith.
Important widening operations at Ken
sington have already been effected, ana
work in other parts of the route mas either
been completed or is in hand or sanctioned.
During the last three years the sums voted
for this purpose amounted to no less than
EGGS 600 The present scheme will bring up
the total expenditure to the huge amount of
f34O 536 of which fJ6. 493 will be contributed
by the local authorities.
The council have determined to equip the
oil wit
paratus, so that when an alarm has been
given messages may be transmitted imme-
diateIy either to the headquarters of the
fire brigade or branch stations. The posts
are being adapted to meet the exlgencieS of
the new departure or new posts set down
in the leading thoroughfares at a. higher
elevation than the old ones the idea being
TO make it difficult for children to tamper
with the machine.
Babies in Hotel Life.
These are the days of hotel life. So it is
not surprising to find that In this respect
even the babies are being catered for. An
institution exists in London for the training
of ladies as chidren's nurses, and it has
opened a new branch which is to form a
finishing school for the nurses and at the
same time a hotel for babies of a month to
eight years old. large. airy house In
Pembridge square has been taken and
charmingly decorated and daintily fur
nished with Lilliputian furniture. 1t has
been transformed into a hotel such as
should satisfy the most fastidious of baby
guests. The rooms go by such names
"Forget-me-not." "speedwell." Dawn"
Peace" and Joy" There are six suites
each suite presided over by it's own special
nurse, and the whole house or hotel is
der the supervision of an experienced ma
tron
The institution should prove boon to
parents whose work takes them abroad,
officers and others on foreign service. mem
bers Of the. theatrical profession and others
who have to be parted from their children.
Yesterday there were already some tiny
guests In this babies hotel.
The news that babies have taken to hotel
life has naturally brought inquiries from
anxious parents. who see in this movement
the thin edge of the wedge-the dawn of an
era of rollicking independence on the part
OF bachelor babes of four weeks and up
ward. and of strong minded spinsters of the
same mature age. For the reinsurance of
these parents 1t may be stated that at the
babies Carlton there has so far been no de-
mand for latchkeys. though there is the
equivalent of a night porter In the nurse.
who keeps q watchful eye by night as well
as day. Nor is there a smoking room.