Among the new mayors who took office in London this week are two women, Councillor Mrs. C. 1. Hart-nell of Chelsea, and Alderman (or woman) "Mrs. P. M. Beacham Greenwich, whose husband was mayor nine years ago.
At Aylesbury there is a lady mayor, Mrs. Paterson, who on elec tion immediately created her 16- year-old daughter, June, mayoress, Dutting the chain of office about her heck. June, being still at school, is said to have been chiefly inter in the number of holidays which her office would bring to her.
Although there are complaints every year from various papers about London's traffic being turned upside down by the Lord Mayor's process sion, we were all rather sad that there wax none this year and Sir William Coxon drove to Guildhall, not in the State coach but in a motor ear. The us tial ceremonies of inauguration wore observed, but from the public point of view might aswell have been omitted.
Some people say that now the sequel of processions has been broken it'wilt never be revived. But one cannot think so meanly of either Londoners of Lord Mayors as that An Honourable Firebrand was characteristic of Mrs Des-pard, sister of the Earl of Ypres (formerly Sir John French), who has just died at the age of 95, that there fg nota line about her' in "Who's Who." Yet she was one of the most active revolutionaries of her time.
She put it down to sympathy with Satan in "Paradise Lost," read when was a girl of 18. She was a rear friend and ce-worker with that beautiful rebel, Miss Maud Gonne, whose doings were particularly notorious during the Boer War.
Later on Mrs. Despard was one of the most militant of the suffragettes, refused to pay taxes and went 10 prison several times. After the Great War she threw herself ardent Greeting Made Difficult curious to think of Christmas cards having to be' censored and Surely a wicked perversion of these certainly peaceful and occasionally beautiful emblems of good-will that they should have to be. But in the fast war' it was found that enemy agents were using "Christmas cards {o'send information. So the Censor thas' issued rules for what we may To some countries, France, all the Empire, and the United States, we may. send cards as. se please." But fil the rest of the Continent. (except France), China, Japan and Siam (or Thailand az we mist learn" 10. call it) and the overseas possessions of Spain, Portuyal. and Moly are cen serable. 1¢ we wish to send cards these countries, we must give Hist of addresses' Yo the shop which we buy. the cards, and they will put the matter through Military Censor. So the cards should arrive in nice time for Christmas 1940.
T do not know whether spies are becoming more active or discretion more relaxed, but precautions on the part of the authorities are more noticeable than in the first weeks of the war." A special poster, in which a beautiful. vamp acting on Hitler's Lehalf figures prominently, has Iately been produced for use in reap centres, and the paper con-Sinually warn us against unguarded remarks, A day or two ago thoughtlessly "asked an old friend whether his son, who is in the RNV.R, was at sea, only to be answered with stony silence. T felt hot all over, and am still not quite sure whether T have not been' reported to the Admiralty.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.