The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-11-14
LONDON NEWS NOTES
OF WIDE INTEREST
Heavy Rains, Following Severe Drouth,
Have Done Great Damage In va
rious Parts Of Ma

LoAuuhf NpNs H. ne HedNN ldlHS
which have broken the exceptional
drought which has prevailed this year
in England may have done more dam
age than good according TO reports made
by numerous landlords.
They assert that the long drought
has played the part of a long-sustained
earthquake with the heavy rains act
ing as the final shake. SO severe has
been the action on many buildings that
the repair bills will equal the rental
for the next two years.
The shrinkage of the clay and other
subsoils has been so great that IN some
places whole streets of houses have de-
veloped threatening cracks, drainage
systems have been disorganized, and
building inspectors are having the busiest
times of their careers. The damage to
the London suburbs has been especially
severe. There has been wholesale sub
sidence in number of HerdfoFdshire
villages, and some of the finest old
homes in the clay districts of the Mid
lands are threatened with destruction
Architects and builders attribute the
disturbances solely TO the shrinkage Of
the subsoil, which is much worse on
the clay soils which normally hold the
most water.
General regret is felt that DR.. Har-
vey w. Wiley, chief Of the bureau of
chemistry Of the United States depart
ment of agriculture, was not able TO ac-
eept the invitation of the Council Of
Pure Food and Health Society Of Great
Britain TO preside at their national con
gress to be held here next March. DR.
Wiley is well known in England both
for his advocacy Of pure food laws at
home and for his attendance here at
numerous congresses held in connection
with applied chemistry and food adul-
teration.
II is hoped at the coming congress,
to formulate practical proposals for the
standardizing Of food stuifs, for the def
milton Of what are legitimate and IL
legitimate manufacturing processes, for
the proper distribution of food for sale
for the codiflcation Of existing laws,
and for the Capitalization Of the work
of inspection in the local government
board.
The society will endeavor to present
strong legislative program to the gov
eminent, the chief feature Of which viii
seek TO correct the abuses alleged to
have grown up on account of the food
and drug inspectors working only under
local authority So lax have some Of
the local authorities become that it Is
said the law is dead letter in several
places.
An age limit and not the length OF
residence at the college or university
from which they register may soon be
the rule which win regulate the eligibil-
ity Of Rhodes scholars for oxford ath-
letic teams.
At present the rule is that no ath-
lete is qualified to gain the coveted half
or full Blue by representing Oxford Oh
the playing field after he has completed
four years residence. Some Rholcs
scholars have already completed two or
three years at some foreign or colonial
university before reaching Oxford and
through them inter-yarsity play tends to
develop into case Of men versus boys.
In considering this evil the authorities
at first thought of ruling that in the
future the four-year rule should apply
to any university at v heh the scholars
We're in attendance, so Rhodes man.
who had been in college three years be.
fore reaching Oxford would only be eli
gible to one years play there. Owing to
the difficulty Of determining what con-
stitutes school of university standing
this solution has been dropped. The
plan now most favored is the substi-
tuition of an age limit and it is be-
lieved that before long rule win be
adopted that no man more than twenty
five years of age may represent either
Oxford or Cambridge. This ruling would
still give the Rhodes scholars an advan.
tage of two years over the students ma
circulating from United Kingdom schools
The new submarine cable telephone
which the British postoffice is laying be-
tween this country and Belgium is said
to possess speaking properties marked
1y superior to any now in existence.
Eighteen months ago considerable at
tention was attracted TO the new Anglo
French cable, which was the first sub
marine telephone cable to be fitted with
NiAatb dit hbbAu 1fNiAhh1AAS % iONuN
ing" coils In this cable at intervals
of one nautical mile throughout the
whole length, there are inserted series
of four coils, two above each other, the
electrical effect Of which is to increase
the capacity of the cables by anything
from $50 to 270 per cent. This cable
which has two circuits, was of an ex-
perimental character, and, so much doubt
having been expressed as to the feasibil-
ity OF the coils, was designed so that the
loaded coils could be cut out of use
altogether leaving it an ordinary tela
phone cable.
So successful has it proven, however,
that the designers of the new Anglo.
belgium cable have provided that the
"loaded" coils must be essential for
its use. BY doing this It has been pos
sill e to reduce the weight of the IN
sulation from 200 to 100 pounds per
mile, and as gutta- percha is used exclus
lively, a considerable saving over the
cost of the Anglo French cable will be
made.