The Washington herald., 1912-04-02

! ing is the fact that a year ago Lord
TweedmOuth won a similar wager from
Mr.. Dupee, in which he took two pole
! ponies as a prize. on that occasion MI
| Dupee bet the peer that he would not
make his appearance on the stage al
Los Angeles in a play called THE
Deserts in a scene depicting Summing
in the lower quarters Of a city. Lord
7 Tweedmouth carried out his part, and
duly won his bet.
He shipped the polo ponies to Eng
land, where he intends that the third,
won this time, shall join them.
Banbury Castle. in the town Of that
name in OxfordshIre. known to history
for the great zeal OF its inhabitants for
! the cause of the Roundheads CPuritans)
and famous TO this day for a fine tasting
pastry cake with rich mince rIIing.
boasts OF an oak-paneled Globe" room
which is coveted by cosmopolitan Amer
ican millionaire for removal to this
country TO grace the walls and ceIIing or
his new mansion in the Fifth avenue sec
tion of New York.
II seems as though Banbury is fated
to have to part with all OF its haIlowed
institutions. Bsnbury Cross, castle and
church are three OF these that have al
ready disappeared. Puritans DESTROYED
the cross in 1902. Parliament demolished
the castle in 1886; and the grand old
the inhabitants were too mean to keep
II in repair.
Three other things have made Banbury
famous-its zeal, its cakes. and its ale
The cakes alone remain to make protit
for several original dealers. The zeal
has oozed away, so that 1t is no longer
pleasant sarcasm TO say. as did Ben
Jonson's Drunken Barnaby:
To Banbury came l. q rrofane one!
Where I P1ritanc one
Hanging Of his cat on Monday
For killing Of mouse Sunday.
King George has given a farewell audi
ence to two OF his best known warriors
by land and by sea. Admiral Sir A. X
Wilson and Field Marshal Sir William
Nicholson, on relinquishing their positions
as first sea lord and chief of the gen.
eral stan of the army.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir William is sew
enty years Of age. and having thus
reached the limit OF active service was
placed on the retired list Of the navy
after ffty-seven years Of service He
entered the navy five years before the
launch Of the first British ironclad, and
while the White Ensign was still carried
by a number of sailing three-deckers He
had been specially promoted to the rank
OF admiral OF the feet in l90T-otherwise
he would have been retired as an admiral
at the age OF sixty-five. In 1910 he proved
his value to the navy and to the nation
by succeeding Lord Fisher at the admi-
ralty and closing the breach, so largely
based upon personalities. that had gone
far to ruin the esprit de corps of the fleet.
AS a midshipman Sir Arthur saw serv-
ice in the Black Sea and in China. In
1852 he was present at the bombardment
of Alexandria, where curiously, enough,
Lord Fisner and Lord Charles Beresford
also were engaged. He won the-Victoria
Cross at the battle of FL Teb by keeping
a breach in the British square with his
bare fists against pack of bowling,
spear-armed Dervishes.
With his retirement there Is only one
Victoria Cross in the active list of the
navy. Admiral Wilson declined a peer
age when he was relieved at the ad-
miralty last November by Sir Francis
Bridgeman.
FLANEUR.
Ccopnsht. 1917. by Court Gossip syndicateI