The King has been twice 10 Epsom races this week, and next week he is to be at Newmarket. In the intervals, however, he has had plenty of public business to attend to, and among other things he has finally sa..ctioned the form of the Coronation Service in Westminster. The tremend ously long and fatiguing ceremony of previous reigns is to be considerably curtailed, the most important variation being that instead of all the peers doing Vomge in person the act of Homage will be performed by only one, the premier Fis fellows. These' will almost cer.
vet of each degree, on behalf of all
tainly be the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquess of Winchester, the Karl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, Viscount Hereford and Lord de Ros, though the claim of the last-named is challenged by Lord Mowbray, who by the way is also prosecuting a claim to the ancient Enrldom of Norfolk, which if successful would make him Premier Earl. It is exceedingly unlikely however, that these claims will be adjudiated upon before the Coronation, in which case the five representative peers will be those I have named, who stand at the head of their respective orders on the present Roll of Parliament. The King and Queen have also signified their willing-the city, and lunch at the the week following the Coronation, and they will probably also make a state visit to the east end of London, which feels aggrieved at being left out of the route of the great procession on he day after the Coronation, Motor Cars.
Another great exhibition of motor cars is tobeseen this week at the Agricultural Hall. Tt embraces several hundred vehicles, contributed by more than three hundred exhibitors, and bears evidence of the great growth of the autocar industry in this country. At the earlier shows nearly all the cars shown were of continental make. This time, though there is still a big proportion of foreign-made cars, the majority are English, and in point both of effectiveness and grace they certainly compare very favourably with their foreign rivals. Among the cars shown is one not yet quite completed, which is in course of construction for the King, who has become quite an enthusiastic' automobolist. It is a powerful machine seating eight persons, the motor being of the Daimler type. The Prince of Wales, who also interests himself greatly in motor cars, visited the exhibition jon Wednesday.
The Barbican Fire.
The biggest fire which Londoners have seen for some years occurred ea Monday night in the Barbican, within two or three hundred yards of the site of the great fire some four or five years ago, when the Church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, where Milton lies buried, narrowly escaped destruction. This quarter of London has caraed such an unenviable reputation for fires that the insurance companies demand such high premiums that good many of the houses destroyed or partly destroyed on Monday were uninsured. The total destruction has been estimated at £2,000,000; but this is probably agood deal over the mark. Quite close to the scene of the fire is Bartholomew Close, and Cloth Fair, which contain some of the most remarkable old houses to be seen in London, some of them dating certainly from the 16th century. They are built mostly of wood, and it is a marvel that they have escaped destruction by fire for all these centuries. The whole cluster will however shortly disappear, and however much the antiquary may regret it he cannot deny that the clearance is called for in the interests of sanitation and safety.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.