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OUR LONDON LETTER. .!!

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OUR LONDON LETTER. [i^rcnn Ow Speiial Corrupandtni.'] There will be general pleasure at the Kind's decision to honour the men who went to France and Belgium to light at the be- ginning of the war. There has long been a feeling that some special recognition ought to be given to the "Old Contemptibles," the men of ,Ion3 and the Mame who played euch all heroic part in stopping the German rush to Paris. They are now to be awarded a distinctive decoration, with a riband. The decoration will be awarded to those .1.who landed for service in France 01 Belgium during the earliest and most criti- cal phase of the war, up to and including the first Battle of Ypres." The recipients :will include members of the original Expedi- tionary Force, the Indian divisions, the Royal Naval Division, and some Terri- torials, the London Scottish among others. The pity of it is that there should Be so few left of the little Expeditionary Force that did such mighty deeds; but those who survive have splendidly won all the honoura "IJIe can pay them. Butchers are not taking at all kindly to the order to exhibit a list of prices in their shops. When housewives went to buy the week-e-nd joints they found that many re- tailers had no list on view. When questioned they all with one accord began to make excuse. They had not had time to prepare the list, or they did not know they had to show it. One butcher indignantly asked if Lord Rhondda thought he was a clerk! Write out a list2 Not he! No doubt the butchers will be made to understand that like other people in these times they must do as they are told. At present, however, they are proving rather fractious. Some of them exhibited to their week-end customers a notice "No Beef for Sale," and the cus- totaers had to go elsewhere or be content ;with some other meat. As in other food supply difficulties, it is not easy to find cut exactly who is to blame. The butchers blame the salesmen, who, they say, refuse to let them have supplies at the prices fixed by the Food Controller; and the salesmen blame the farmer for sending few and in- ferior beasts to market. Perhaps the trade hopes by making difficulties to induce Lord Ehondda to increase the prices, but there does not appear to be any chance of that; and the consumers note with satisfaction that the Food Controller is sticking to his guns. People are learning their air-raid lessons. They are not so fond nowadays of running out into the streets when an alarm is given and gazing up at the sky to see what is going on. They are learning to stay in v their own hemes or to find cover somewhere. It is to this that the small number of casualties in the last raid is due; and if everybody had acted on the official advice to take cover the number would have been Bmaller still. But though most people have come to act more sensibly, the temptation to get out into the street is too strong for I some of them. In one suburban road people .vh.o would gladly .have gone to sleep were kept awake long after the raid was over by their neighbours chattering outside. They bad got up and seemed disinclined to go to ,bed again. They had better have stayed in- doors an the time, for the raiders might have come back, and bombs were just as likely to fall in that road as anywhere else. Still, for some people the temptation to go outside seems irresistible. That extraordinary legend of Lord Kitchener—that he was not drowned in the Hampshire and it still living-has received another fillip. A few weeks ago Lord Kit- chener'ts sister was publicly declaring her belief in the truth of the story, and now a firm of Liverpool insurance brokers has been aekod to quote a rate to cover the following risk ;That Lord Kitchener was alive on August 31, 1917, the onus of proof to be on the assured, and to be furnished within three months from peace being signed." The underwriters, it seems, have accepted the ia. surance in the sum of < £ 10,000 at 5s. per cent. The news of this transaction made a mild sensation, for the evening papers. They would have made a splash with it in the days of posters. As it was, the street ven- dors did their best with black paper and chalk, one of them exhibiting this line: "Further Proof that Kitchener is Alive." The underwriters apparently regard it as a 400 to 1 chance, which is long odds. It is surprising to find so many people inclined to credit the story. None of them can give a satisfactory reason why, if Lord Kitchener is alive. the fact should not be officially stated. The South Coast rescrts, enjoying com- parative immunity from war's alarms, are experiencing another prosperous ee £ «oa. Since July they have been crowded with holiday-makers, and those people who neg- lected to book rooms well in advance have had to put up with anything fhey could get, while in a good many cases they could get nothing at all, and hadr to try another town. The increase in railway fares has been a very good thing for the resorts within easy reach of London, whilst it has made practi- cally prohibitive the journey to places at a greater distance. But not all holiday-makers have gone to the sea this year. The higher railway fares have operated to the benefit of people in the villages of Surrey and Kent.- I was told the other day that practically every village in the Dorking and Leith Hill district of Surrey has as many visitors as it Ifa9 accommodation for. A very charming district, too, for spending a holiday in. The end of Summer Time has come a week or two earlier than last year, the Commis- sion which inquired into the working of the new time last summer having found that towards the end of September with the clock put forward artificial light was needed in factories in the early morning. This was considered undesirable, and the date for ending the Summer Time made a fortnight earlier. The benefits resulting from the extra hour of daylight must this year have been far more considerable than last year. Hundreds of thousands of allotment-holders have been able to spend the time on their gardens, with excellent results for the country's food supply. Nobody nowadays says a word against the Summer Time Act. It is a war-time measure which has evi- dently come to stay. A. E. M. I

SHCCR UPON SHOCK.J

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IGERMAN TROOPS RETIRE: BRUISE…

IFOR 1914 CAMPAIGNERS.

i SUMMONSES FOR SERMONS.j

—————.■o.—————— ARRESTED AT…

BEQUEST TO WORKING CLASSES.1

SUGAR AS BRIBE. I

VIBRATIONS.I

BLIND MAN'S FISHING PRIZE.…

MimKiXS FINANCE CONIBOLLER.…

DEATH AFTER EATING PIE. 1

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IPENSIONS FOR THOSE WHO LOSE…

IDANGER OF NIGHT FLYING.I

I - SEVENPENNY MILK..I

I SOLDIERS" CHRISTMAS PARCELS.I

IHOTEL JEWEL ROBBERY. !

10s. FOR A THREEPENNY BIT.…

IPRISON FOR JEWEL THIEF.I

I GIIU. KILLED BY LORRY. I…

I GAVE BREAD TO DOGS.

IDRESS OF THE SAY.I

-THICKNESSES -OF -GLASS.I

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TEA TABLE TALK.

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lOUR CHILDREN'S CORNER

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