The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-25
ANXIOUS BRITISH CHRISTMAS
p,pIru VICTORIES DCLL THE
,TIFTIDE NIRTH.
IN. festival Nc Lsnger . Nome Oas in
o,d England: in Fact Jehn alaai u
,hauxinx -Eieetisns: Nat Plague:
p-,,.e without Gums: House Parties.

.-..rsf css, D,,psfcs to TIM srS
t.SrrS. Dec ?i-The spirit OF Christ
r.,. t. Mt quite so buoyant as usual in
..., England this year. Whether IL il
r.. s~..., 4 the aoft weather or the re-
,,-, course % politics who can say? A
...r-.. e change. OF permanent unrest.
- lndouhtsdly fastened itself upon
me. minds Of the Masses Of the English
,..,,Ls and this feeling does not hsr-
,.,r.y, with Yuletide hghtheartedne~s
~. rauu.ll alterations in the social and
,..,..ai NE which began five years ago
c.r , longer after the recent elections
,. -sear,ied as a temporary phase Of
g-r,>h public opinion. and sober second
,b.rch.s disturb the usual reflections
vh,,r the. holly and the mistlstoe in
,p,-"
Itar too there il a change in the OBJ
So, Anca e the holiday itself which is
r...ra NJ ticeable this year than ever before.
Christmas ALWAYS hsd been until the
-u.n'trth century dawn.d Englands
hone. or family holiday. peculiarly and
exclusively domestic in its observance
Thl> custom " centuries is being reversed
RI. wear II has been impossible for
u.-.,- pa-r to secure accommodations
VIII. IN. exodus from England To the
Eryr.-a and other Continental resorts
= ~" greatest ever known.
T-ily 'h- time has come for the world
/. r...I-. it, popular conception Of Eng
I,Lfrrn IN m ~ ways than one. The
ENGLAND II tradition. the England oven
cf Dickens. ia disappearing. II il too
pa-lv IN This period Of transition to sketch
-. n. \ n.
evolution - produc cling in these islands:
hir " will be a curious modification of
~. John Bail whom even the nineteenth
century regarded as one OF the worlds
dominant figures.
BY-ELECrIoSs
\ considerable number of by elections
a-e already foreshadowed early in the
YEA perhaps at the nd Of February
l. = expected that several Liberal peers
viii 10 created. some OF them being mem
h.r- a. the House OF Commons II il
rImored hat no less than two or three
DOZEN Liberal peers will figure in the New
Yea honors list a. the first instalrn.nt
This - considered TO be a tactical move.
which is deemed likely to influence ma
,erialy the attitude Of the House of Lords
toward the veto OIL.
NE RAT PLAGUE.
The Times publishes a minute report
Of the rat plague in East Anglia and urges
the Government to make thorough in
v.-tigstion. 1t 10 estimated thar this would
cost $4,000. II il now certain that the
plague infected rats arrived in Suffolk
,hrea or four years go from Bombay.
~ II Oh t.la -
pre-cn, ha not yet been di, covered hut
The Times maint aims thai an investigation
could settl. this. and until the areG in
which there are plague infectei rats il
defined no steps can be taken 10 handle
II .atlsfs ctorily.
It il admitted there is no reed FOR
-care. Few people in England come into
actual contact with rats. hut II has been
proved beyond a doubt that the plague
IN last Anglia is exactly tn. same a. the
SOURCE which killed 1000 90 persons in
india bet ween 1894 and 1905
In q vast majority Of cases in India it
took the ubonic form. Fou- proved
and half dozen suspected cases in East
gia assumed tn pneumonia form.
This il not nnly more sever. ia the
hunonic form hut il NOR" ange rous
from the fact that il il transferable di-
rec'ly by the patient breath carrying
the germs. so that should an outbreak
occur in the thickly populated sium dis
rric- the disease co I'D h. spread fter
the first cases without the agency Of plague
infect a rats
The East Anglia cases fortunately
have all been in extremely isolated cot
tage- but the extent TO which rats IN
East Anglia are infected can be- realized
from the fact that more than per cent.
~ tho live rats captured IN the Ipswich
district. taken at random. were found to
b.. nfected. while during the most viru-
lor' epidemic IN Bombay. when thou
sands Of rats were caught and examined
daily. the percentage rarely reached six.
ARM THE POLICE
John Bull has one characteristic which
is apparently Interchangeable. Nobodys
experience except his own carries the
-iEht..t weight with him. The whole
country has been debating this week the
question whether the police should be
armed with revolvers. Since five brave
men we're shot down by alien burglars
a week or 50 ago and q similar incident
occurred in London less than two years
a. one would imagine that the question
rarrIAd its own answer But the authori-
'is- throughout the country. utterly ig-
roring IN. practice Of the rest 81 the
civilized world. almost unanimously OPP
r"-e such a startling innovation II 10
n" va ggernted compliment 10 say that
N" iersonnel OF the English police IL the
"res' IN the world. No men anywhere
.'H~ such restraint against such prova-
'a'lnn. vet their own superior- profess
grH1lllngn.-- 10 trust them with the
means Il ordinary self-def.nce
HOUSE PARTIES.
hr's'nas house parties are more
"rru- than usual King George.
yu."r Mary and the royal children are
Seeding IN" holiday quietly At York
l'''t." where no festivjty will take pisc"
~ "r' n" usual tree for the royal young
.''-. Queen Alexandra and tn" Princess
.',rIa are al Sandringham where the
'-".r PorrugIese Minister I'll" Marquis
o." ~.,"raI. n great ssvorite 81 the late
E't Eiwird. il their guest.