Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-09
Special Correspondence of The star
nNDnN II

Special Correspondence of The Star
LONDON January % 1908
"VERYBODY knows or ought to
r. knoW-that Hall Gaines home is on
- the Isle of Man In fact il is Sae
opinion of many of his admircrs-and 1t Is
an opinion which Hall Caine himself
would be the last to disputc-that the Isle
of Mans chief claim to distinction is that
It is the home Of Hall Caine. And yet.
incredible though il may sound. there are
people living on the Isle of Man who do
not appreciate the reflected glory which
thu presence OF the great man in their
midst cOnfers upon themselves. Among
them is a Mr.. Hutchins. I would gladly
give him the benefit of his full name if
knew it, Mr. Ffutchins is a member OF
that unique legislative body which runs
the Isle of Mantle house of keys So.
of course is Hall Game.
The house of keys has been aSltated re
Gently by a m~nentous question. The
chamber is draughty. Some of the n m
bers are baldheaded. For baldheaded
man to sit in draught is "a sore trial. one
of them moved that they should he al
lowed to wear their hats when the house
was In session. Naturally the legislators
threw the whole weight of their ponder
Gus intelIects into the discussion that fol-
lowed Mr.. Hutchins assumed the leader
ship of the "hats-off" section. In an
eloquent speech he declared that TO dis
cuss the affairs of state in the house of
keys with hats on would be an insult TO
the dignity of his most gracious majesty.
King Edward VII. Because, although the
king himself was never present at their
weighty debates. the governor of the
island, Lord Raglan, attended as the per
sonal representative of the sovereign
And therefore to sit with hats on in his
presence was equivalent to sitting with
hats on in the kings presence breach
of etiquette which no loyal Engl1Shman
could contemplate without shudder.
*
Such logic as this could not be refuted.
The baldheads were defeated by eleven
votes to nine Henceforth. drauEhts or
no draughts when the house of keys is in
session they must uncover their bald
pates.
1t was after winning this glorious vic
tory that Mr.. Hutchins. emboldened by
his success. ventured to speak in terms
of "lese majestic" of Hall Game The
fact that Hall Caine was not present
may have been responsible for some
measure of his audacity. The opportunl-
ty was offered him by the discussion
which followed on the plans for the pro
cession to Tynwald Hill next summer
for the annual open-air PRONUNCIATION OF
laws. Mr.. .Hutchins arose and boldly
demanded a rule prohibiting members
from appearing in "unseemly dress, such
as some tourists wear when on monday
jaunt.'
lone of our members" he went on. in
tones of scathing Indignation, has shown
such little respect for us, for himself and
for the historic ceremony in which he
participates, that he-not once, but often
has taken part in it thus arrayed,
wearing a SLOUGH hat and, if l mistake
not, knickerbockers. too. You all know
to whom | refer-Mr. Hall Caine. Mem
,t.,11 Mt
tire as they wear when they go to
church.
You could have heard Il pin fall when
Mr.. Hutchins finished his attack on the
one great MAJ in the whole Isle of
Man Members eyed each other aghast
Some of them doubtless shared Mr..
Hutchins' convictions. but they lacked
his courage. 1t was one. thing for men,
berS with well-thatched heads to vote
that those who lacked such hirsute pro-
lection should keep their hats off; quite
another to convict the best advertised and
most widely read author of the age of
sartorial bad taste. The discussion of
such a topic was full of danger. One
member found way out of it's snares
and pitfalls. He suggested that the
matter should be left to the determine
ton of Lord Raglan himself. That sug-
gestion was eagerly adopted. 1t is now
up to Lord Raglan to determine whether
or no, on the occasion of the historic pro-
cession, Hail Game must wear the sort
of clothes most affected by respectable
nobodies, in which he would be inconspic-
uous, or be permitted to parade in
costume which will make him appear
conspicuous.
Hall Game has been interviewed on the
subject He denied the 'knickers." He
said he had not worn those authorizations
of trousers for ten years. from which it
may be inferred that his calves are not
what they used 10 be. Last year" he
went on, Il went to Tynwald Hill from
my home at Greba Castle in d suit very
like this one ! have on. and my usual
hat. Those clothes | should certainly
have worn had l been going to church.
Some of the members of the house of
Keys attend at Tynwald in frock coats
and silk hats but | do not think that
etiquette demands that degree of dis
comfort. For my part he added. land
this may be regarded as d hint to LGrd
Raglan, l cannot take this protest seri-
CuSly
Hall Gaines usual" hat is a thing
OF rare br&uty and unique. Foreigners
and visitors to the isle can identify him
by il alone. The broad brim and low
suppos d TO emphasize his resemblance
that hat at all hazards Tynwald would
be a dreary place without it,
My constituents" he said. will not
Of I.