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OUR LONDON LETTER.

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OUR LONDON LETTER. (FROM OUK. OWN CORRESPONDENT.) The Queen arrived at Copenhagen on Saturday during a heavy snowstorm. Her Majesty was met on the platform by King Frederick and Queen Louise and other mem- bers of the Royal Family, who greeted her affectionately. The station was hung with crape, and everyone was in deep mourning. Queen Alexandra drove away in the same carriage as the King and Queen of Denmark, to their late father's palace. Immediately on their arrival Qiieon Alexandra, together with the Dowager-Empvcss Dagmar, her sister and other mourners, proceeded to the room where the corpse lay. Tlio whole Royal Family dined together at nine o'clock. The funeral will take plafe pt the Cathedral of Roskild, and the late King's relatives will I THB QUEEN AND ITER FATHER'S FT;NEBAL. travel there in the same train as the corpse. The bier on which the body of the late Queen Louise's coffin rested will be used on this occasion. Mourning services have been held in the principal clnux-nes at Copenhagen, in- cluding St. Albans, where an English clergy- man, the Rev. Mr. Kennedy, officiated. lie referred in sympathetic language to the late King, and to his daughter. Queen Alexandra, for whom," he said, all Euglish hearts were aching." Queen Alexandra herself was present, accompanied by the new King and Queen of Denmark and other members of the Royal Family. The Duke of Cumberland and his son, along with the Grand Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, attended the funeral service at the German church. The mention of Mr. Walter Long as a possible successor to Mr. Balfour in the leadership of the Unionist party has made the late President of the Local Government Board one of the most-talked-of men in political circles, next to the great leaders themselves. His political career presents a record of faithful service to his party during the last twenty-five years. It began in 1880, when he became Conservative member for North Wilts, and since 1885 when he became Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board, he has held the im- portant posts of Minister for Agriculture, President of the Local Government Board, and, lastly, Chief Secretary for Ireland. As the Tories are' reputed to love military men, the fact that he is a Colonel of the Prince of Wales's Own Yeomanry may, perhaps, be regarded as a slight additional qualification, which may counteract any unpleasant re- membrances on the part of Tory dog-fanciers of the muzzling order. At Harrow and Christ MR. WALTER LONG. Church, Oxford, hev became attached to cricket, and that and hunting have been his recreations ever since. In politics we know him as a man who takes things quietly and who works steadily rather than as a brilliant speaker. His relations with Mr. Balfour are of the closest, and it is not surprising that he has contradicted the rumour that he was a possible successor to the leadership. The political sensation this week has been the demand of Mr. Chamberlain that Mr. Bal- four should come over and join him as a Pro- tectionist, in default of which the question of the leadership of the party is in suspense. The Tariff Reformers are two-thirds of the party in the House. Mr. Long's prompt de- claration of loyalty to his ciiier served as a party call to Mr. Balfour's following. Mr. Chamberlain declined the leadership, but there was talk of forming a separate Tariff Reform party. The argument, on the- other hand, was that, while there was the work of Opposition to do in the House, Tariff Reform was no longer an immediate issue. The new battleship Dreadnought, which is to be launched by the King at Portsmouth this week-end, is the last word in warship construction. Her plans have been altered since she was begun to embody the lessons of the Russo-Japanese War, and, in add-on, she will be the first battleship to be driven by turbine engines—an experiment which will, it is expected, result in a great saving of space, vibration, and weight. Her armour is thicker and her gun-power greater than that of any other war-yessel afloat. She has taken the shortest time to build of any warship, this being the beginning of experiments in quickness of construction. She has been built in sixteen months from start to finish, instead BRITAIN'S NEW IRONCLAD. of the usual period of thirty to thirty-six months. The cost of her construction repre- sents an expenditure of over a million and a-half of the nation's nicnoy. Great care has been taken to prevent the details of her de- sign from becoming known. The Dread- nought is intended to be the flagship of the Atlantic Fleet. The Admiralty had been in- clined to listen to the counsel of those who urged that two rmall battleships were of more value in war than oLe large one, but the report of the British Naval Attache at Tokio caused them to alter their opinion. The Battle of Tsushima is said to have de- cided the day in favour of the big battleship. It is expected that the ceremony of launch- ing the Dreadnought will be a very quiet one, by the King's desire, in view of the funeral of the lata King Christian of Den- mark, his Majesty's journey from London being quite private. The tragic death of Lady Grey, wife of the Foreign Secretary, has brought forth many expressions of sympathy, both public and private, including a message of condolence from the King. The deceased lady was very popular, being, in fact, one of the leading Liberal women in the North of England. Al- though she was the daughter of a Tory squire, she threw her- self into her husband's political work with great enthusiasm. She was one of his hardest workers during his first election campaign at Berwick; and on its successful issue she was presented with a bouquet of everlasting Rowers. in token of the THE LATE LADY GREY. nature of her husband's connection with his constituency. It is particularly sad that her sudden death should' have occurred just as Sir Edward was entering upon the duties of a position which she had done so much to en- courage him to achieve. She leaves no children. In appearance the deceased lady was remarkably like her husband. Her tall and handsome figure was familiar at Liberal meetings, where she generally occupied a place on the platform. She was often seen in the Ladies' Gallery of the House listen- ing to debates in which her distin- guished husband was concerned, and she would attend an opponent's meetings to take note of the points in the speeches. She ac- companied Sir Edward to Berwick on the occasion of. his last victory at the polls, and was presented with a handsome cushion in token of the victory by the Deputy-Mayoress of Berwick. A brilliant pyrotechnic display on the Isle of Arran marked the celebration by her own tenantry of the betrothal of the wealthiest of British heiresses, the Lady Mary Vamil- ton. The fortunate suitor is the Marquis of Graham, eldest-son of .J.he Duke of MOllt- rose. -La(i-y mury is ene aangnter of the twelfth Duke of Hamilton, who died twelve years ago. It is only a few weeks since she came of age and entered into possession of her fortune. She reigns, as Highland chief- tains and chieftainesses have reigned from time immemorial, in the wild and beautiful Isle of Arran. A veritable Queen of the Isles, the young heiress is tall, blue-eyed, and slender, and if her wealth did not attract attention her beauty would still bring ner admirers among the stalwart tenantry who BETROTHAL OF THE WEALTHIEST HEIRESS. worship her. She is the only child of her father, and had she been a man she would have inherited ten British and two Scottish titles. Her father left her all his property with the exception of that whicli was en- tailed. The present Duke of Hamilton, her cousin, received the entailed property. The "U18 of Graham Is the handstmer" trrh" TO vast estates near Glasgow, surrounding Buchanan Castle. He is distinctly a person- ality in Scottish society, and has had a re- markable career. As a youth he had a pas- sion for adventure, which led him to go to sea, where he has had many unusual ex- periences. He is now in his twenty-eighth year, has served in South Africa, and has made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Parliament. His competency in navigation and seamanship is attested by the fact that he holds a master's certificate, granted by the Board of Trade. His first voyage was on a steamship to Australia, immediately after leaving school. One year he spent as a mem- ber of the crew of the sailing ship Hesperus, and for two years he was in the Naval Train- ing Squadron. He navigated Lord Brassey's yacht, the Sunbeam, home from Australia by way of the Straits Settlements, and some years later he again took charge of Lord Brassey's ship on a voyage to Canada. A year or two ago he enthusiastically took up the Naval' Volunteer Reserve movement in the West of Scotland. A singular abduction case is at present engaging the attention of the Westminster Police-court authorities. Lucie Musgrove Jones, a girl under sixteen, disappeared on January 5th. She was employed at a hair- dresser's shop underneath Marlborough Man- sions, Westminster, and was traced by De- tective-Inspector Fuller to a West Kensing- ton boarding-house. The girl's story is that she was taken bv Mrs. Bertha Brandon. one I THE WESTMINSTER ABDUCTION CASE. of the prisoners, to Chilworth, and from there to Paris, where she met a Mr. Milner, who is now also under arrest. After staying some time with Milner she returned to Lon- don, and was placed in the boarding-house where the police found her. The delenoe is that the girl left home of her own free will. The case is adjourned until evidence can be obtained from Paris, and the prisoners are allowed bail, which, in the case of Mr. Milner, amounts to £300.

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OUR LONDON LETTER.