Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-17
Transfers of Ocean Liners.

simply stout
Transfers of Ocean Liners
The report is current among shipping
people here that the White Star line has
at present under consideration the trans
fer from Liverpool to Bristol of several
of its Atlantic boats, and that regular use
is to be made of the new dock at Avon
mouth. which was opened in July last /
have reason to believe that there is some
truth in the rumor. for the undouhted adj
Vantages of Bristol as distributing cen
ter for the south and midlands are now
generally recognized. Every effort is be
ing made by the city corporation to de-
velop the facilities of the port. and the
different railway companies running into
it have. l understand. large extension
schemes on hand. Should the White Star
rumor be true, the line will then have
three regular services between England
AMI the United States. The belief. more
over, is still strong that the Cunard com
pany must, sooner or later, follow the
White Star lines example and go to the
English channel with its fast liners. One
of the difficulties in the way of this CON
templated Change-at least for the present
lis the mail contract. which provides for
Queenstown as a port of call. while the
facilities at Southampton are not yet quite
equal to the accommodation of the Lusi-
tania or the Mauretania. on account of
admiralty objections regular calls at Ply
mouth are believed to be improbable.
Changes at Westminster
On the east side of the cloisters of
Westminster Abbey an important work of
renovation is proceeding which will re-
store to the public use one of the most
ancient portions Of the abbey buildings.
Every visitor knows the Chapel of the
PyX, the ancient treasury of the kings of
England. with its iron-bound double door
opened by seven keys where formerly the
box containing the standards of gold and
silver was kept before its removal To the
mint. The chapel is a remnant of the
original abbey Of Edward the Confessor.
and forms part of an old undercroft or
suhstructure of early Norman date, an
other portion of Westminster school. The
remainder of the pilared undercroft.
divided in two by a brick wall. has for
long been disused except for storage pur-
poses. This is the portion now under
going restoration with view to convert
ing it into museum of Westminster an
tiquities. Ths partition has been demol-
iShed. the floor relaid and electric light
introduced. and one of the most venerable
parts of the abbey, unknown for cen
-turies to the public. will soon be reopened
to view. This work will probably super
sede the more comprehensive scheme ad-
vocated by the dean of Westminster. who
urged that the entire undercroft should be
restored to the Original! design and uti-
lied for the burial of the nations great,
the abbey itself being full to OVERLOOKING.
Among the most remarkable figures at
the Roman Catholic eucharistic congress.
now shortly to assemble. will be Cardinal
Sancha of Herwas, Archbishop of To-
ledo and. patriarch of the West Indies.
The coming of SO distinguished a Spanish
ecclesiastic to London shows how pro-
foundly the Roman Catholic Imagination
is moved by the fact that the nineteenth
eucharistic congress meets in the capital
of the British empire. Last<year. when
the eighteenth was held at Metz. only
one cardinal. the Cardinal Archbishop of
Cologne, walked behind the papal lesate,
Cardinal Vanutelli, in the great process
siop of the congress. This year the
pope's representative will be followed by
seven princes of the Roman Catholic
Church. and two more. Cardinal Moran
of Sydney and Cardinal Lecot of Bor-
deauX, will only be prevented by physical
intirmity from fulfilling their original in
tention of being present. There would
scarcely have been so large a gathering
of cardinals at any other place outside
Italy.
Furry Over Picture.
There is much discussion over the pur-
chase of a newly discovered picture by
Franz Halls by the National Gallery trus-
tees for e25.0o0. 1t is a long price. but in
these days of fierce competition for the
worlds masterpieces. when governments
dealers and millionaire collectors on both
sides of the Atlantic are in the art mar
ket, it is the bold stroke that wins. If
the National Gallery had acted less
promptly the picture would almost GER
tainly have gone out of the country, for
a foreign government is said to have been
ready with u still higher bid. 1t trans
pires, moreover, that the new acquisition
is one of the most important works o. the
HARLEM master. The group consists OF
eight figures-husband. wife, children and
a nurse-set against a background or
trees. with Dutch landscape in the dis
lance.
ant
the parents being seated, with the chill
dren standing or playing around them.
The dresses are typically Dutch or the
Halls period, and the dominant colorS
are gray black russell and maroon. The
late owner of the picture is Lord Talbot
de Malahde an Irish peer. whose mother,
by the way was Il daughter of Mr.. Pat
rick Murray of Simprim Forfarshire.
There is at least one other important
Halls group in an English private cOlleC-
ton With the portraits already In the
Gallery and those in the Wal
lace collection. London will now be fairly
rich in the works of Halls
How the picture came to Malahide Cas-
tie will be very interesting reading. Its
discovery opens avenues of possibilities
before the collector If a great Halls
group could lie hidden even from the all
seeing eye of DIR. Bode of Berlin in
famous Irish castle. what treasures may
not yet lie untouched?
A Famous Portrait.
There has long been a rumor that an
equestrian Halls portrait exists in a great
house in the Mdlands. / know of a fine
ncatalogued Hogarth of historical
we'll as artistic interest that hangs in an
Did house in London suburb, and
suspect that there are a few of the big
art dealers who have not earmarked some
treasure or other maturing quietly for
fame and the market. If the pedigree of
The Halls group is as good as that OF its
late owner II must be above scrutiny.
The lordship and castle of Malahide have
been in the possession of the Talbots for
over go years in the male line of him on
whom ii was originally conferred by
Henry III. Richard de Talbot, who is
mentioned in the Domesday Book, was
the common ancestor of the Malahide
and Shrewsbury peerages. The present
Lord Talbot de Malahide married a
laughter of Sir James Boswell of Auch-
inleck, and he now owns Auchinleck
House. in Ayrshire
In connection with the tercenten lry of
the birth of John Milton, to be celebrated
here in December there will be a re-
yival of the poets choral tragedy, Sam
son Agopistes" 1t is little fitted for rep
on the modern stage New
artheless in 1900 the EliZabethan Stage
Society produced it. The revival will be
rather a literary than theatrical event.
samson Agonistes'' is favorite with
public speakers for quotation. Lord
Morley has made good use of it, and when
speaking at a great political meeting in
[eeds shortly after Mr.. Gladstone's