Evening star., 1908-01-19
LONDON FESTIVITIES
Welcoming the New Year at
Great Hotels.
entertaining THE POOR
Fashions Changes for Bond Street
Sidewalks.
TROUBLES OF LORD CURZON
Financial Affairs of the Government.
England's Richest College Get
ting More Money.
TROUBLES OF LORD CURzON
Special Correspondence OF The Star.

bow II in suitably and the extra polce-
men on duty in St Pauls churchyard to
prevent any one interfering with.the rites
performed each year by London Scots
when the cathedral bell strikes twelve.
The hotels. for their part. have done their
best to surpass all previous New Year
ewes but one is again reminded how ut
tie can be done after all. even when no
expense is spared. At one hotel at five
minutes to II all lights were put out.
and as the last stroke of twelve sounded
a large transparent clock In the hall indi-
Gated the first time OF the new year.
Punch was served and twelve dancers,
dressed in the period of 1snS gave spe-
ciaI dance to open the ball.
At another great hotel there was a
gift Of silk reticules to the women. Here
egain the lights were extingu!shed. and
the eager guests listened to hear the
chimes of Big Ben coming over the green
park. Then a fanfare of trumoetcrs.
There was more imagination here. third
hotel had this surprise for its American
and English guests: The figure of Bri-
tannia suddenly appeared on a platform
and rang Rule Britannia. and God Save
the King and "Auld Lang Syne." FL
nalfy the ladies received reticues of the
Louis XIV period and the gentlemen card
cases. New Year presents do not seem
to occupy I.ondoners' thoughts. The West
End shopping streets have begun their
first and inferior sales. and are not very
crowded.
Entertaining the Poor.
This is one side of the picture: there
Is another. The poor. as we'll as the
rich. have had their New Year festivities
New Year afternoon there was a great
scene al. the Guild Hall, when. under the
personal supervision Of Sir William Tre-
loar. the late lord mayor. who during his
year OF off1ce raised ECO 900 for crippled
Children. thirty large vans were loaded
with boxes of good cheer for distribution
among the cripDles of London too in
firm to attend the Guild Hall BANQUET
In the evening. The gross weight of the
boxes was over thirty tons comprising
1900 pounds respectively of meat pies
cakes and Christmas puddings. and 35G0
pounds of tea and sweets. In the evening
there were hospital and other entertain
ments. but the great event was the feast
ing OF ,1.3CO children in the Hall Of Cog
and Magog. and under the very eyes of
the lord mayor and sheriffs. The young
sters were cordially welcomed by tn
chief magistrate. and then attended to
by professional walters. and with band
playing lively music. they proceeded to
consume great quantities of meat and
pfum pudding. Gifts were afterward pre-
scented to them
One OF the pretty New Year customs in
Paris is to send flowers and boxes of
sweets to the ladies of ones acouaint-
ance who have offered entertainment dur
Ing the year. The practice has now
grown up of substituting artificial for real
flowers. The result Is altogether charm
ing. The flowers are beautifully made
tiveness OF the French "ouvriere" They
resemble SO nearly the real thin- as TO
deceive all but the expert. and. further
more, they are cunningy scented SO as to
dtnuse real perfume. Paris has always
maintained a pre-eTinence In this delicate
art OF flower making. and year by year
only aff1rms her position.
/ Artificial Orchids.
The custom has now skipped the straits
and Invaded London. and from the British
metropolis are sent daily orders for thou
sands OF cases of Paris artificial flowers.
which were showered upon the fair hos
tesses OF Belgravia. The most perfect i'm
itations. perhaps. are the orchids. and in
the shops that display the real and the
artificial side b. side there is a positive
diniculty in distinguishing the one from
the other: The custom. however. will ap-
peal 10 those people who object that the
hte OF = flower should be cut shor. 10
satisfy whin OF fashion. though it be
equally true that IL would never have
grown at all had ii not been for that self
same fashion.
Right" Side of Bond Street.
One subtle and curious change which
has come over fashiona ble Iordon of lai.
IS the disappearance of what has been
known from time immemorial as the
right side of Bond street Architecture
ally the street remains the same. and the
shop fronts stand where they did. but
every one who is any one when going
north now forsakes the left pavement.
Wncn Is the right. for the rieht sid.
wlich. according to all tradition il tba
wrong. At one time the proceeding OF
walking down Bond street" had ONLY on
significance. II meant OF course. walking
oo"n the left pavement. and TO cross the
street was an expedition, an adventure in
which one did not like to he caught Nth.
out good reason. But nowadays Bond
street has two sides, of which nei,har
ehsnse sssTs the pr precedence, Another little
cHange In the general appearance of
things is the introduction OF the cul, IF
the tall ualk-stick "
The King set this fashion some TINA
ago. and 1t has rapidly brought ferrri =
20 esrth. after long intervals. during
az varying degrees and angles wbicI,
were neither particularly graceful NOR
al all rational. The tall walking STICK
giving, as it does. inches to the ordinary
ans lnduces gravity of gait which
borders on the Johnsonian The arr ~
WieIolng 1t. moreover is not mastered
In = day. The king has 1.-THE arm
WeIi Forward. the hand almost level u-itb
the elbow. X is seldom that the mode
TOT men presents anything 50 well worth
living up 10 as the tall walking-stick.
Lord Curzon's Troubles.
Lord Curzons complaint that Tho
prime minister has refused to permit
him to enter the house OF lords through
the ordinary channels has been fruitful
or plenty Of gossip and any number Of
rumors today. but no new facts have
come To light 1t IS significant that tha
complaint is re-ec.oed only in .xtre,n.
party circles. Opinion among moderata
men on the opposition side is that Lord
turZon has made a false move i'm the
first place in soliciting a pearape ~
the hands of the present government
and. in the second place. in wearing his
heart upon his sleeve. The cornplaint
penned for there can be no question
that Sir Henry Campbell -Bannerman has
done precisely what any other prime
minister would have done in similar cir
cumstanccS.
There is belief that reasons of
health have not been solely responsible
for I.ord CurZon's sudden resolve 70
abandon his long-cherished desire TO re-
enter the house OF commons and 90
into the lords as 4 representative Irish
peer. As matter of fact not very
long ago he was willing 10 stand for an
English constituency. but was no, will
ing to give such pledge on the fiscal
reform organizers He IS a free trader
indeed. one OF the most POWERFUL presen-
iations of the case for free trade in
relation to India was made in the now