Category: 100 Years Ago

30 DECEMBER 1924

The draft of the Allied Note to Germany on the subject of the evacuation of Cologne has been completed by the secretary of the Ambassadors’ Conference.

French Prime Minister Édouard Herriot, in a statement to the Senatorial Foreign Affairs Committee, referred to the cordial relations between the British and French Governments, and to the mutual understanding of interests and views that both are striving to establish in all international questions in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and the Far East.

South African opinion opposes the Geneva Protocol in its present form. Sir Abe Bailey declares that no body outside the South African Parliament must ever decide for South Africa whether it should go to war or not. Should Great Britain sign and the Dominions refuse, it would mean the breaking up of the British Empire, as no Dominion could escape Great Britain’s liability without seceding.

The East African National Congress, after a stormy debate at Nairobi, has adopted, on the advice of its President, Abdul Wahid, a Kenya merchant pioneer, a series of resolutions offering, on behalf of Indians in East Africa, entire co-operation with the Europeans for the next three years.

Over a hundred inmates of a private lunatic asylum which caught fire at Tokio are missing. A number of bodies have been recovered.

Mr Lloyd George at Criccieth said Liberalism would be the strongest force the Government would have to contend with before it reached the end of its term of office.

29 DECEMBER 1924

Following the gale and rainstorm of Friday night, great damage has been caused to property in all parts of Scotland by flooded rivers. Countless fields have been inundated, and roads rendered impassable. A shipping disaster is reported from Islay, where a German trawler has been wrecked, with the loss, it is feared, of eleven lives. In England, Wales, and Ireland, extensive flooding took place. The Rhondda and Taff rivers overflowed their banks at several points, causing great damage and heavy destruction. Shipping also suffered severely.

The Conference of Ambassadors has decided to notify Germany by Collective Note that it is impossible to evacuate Cologne on January 10. It is understood that the reasons they will give are the necessity of awaiting the final report of the Control Commission and evidence regarding the non-fulfilment of the disarmament clauses of the Treaty.

The last report which General Nollet made to the Inter-Allied Commission of Military Control shows that the organised forces of Germany are in excess of the number authorised, and that the stipulations regarding the High Command and the reserves have not been observed.

M. Tsankoff, the Bulgarian Prime Minister, after conferring with members of the Jugo-Slavian Government at Belgrade, left for Bukharest. In an interview with Press representatives at Belgrade, he stated that the Balkan States were at present faced by a grave danger from subversive elements, which aimed at the overthrow of the existing social order.

The Congress of the Indian National Liberal Federation at Lucknow has concluded. According to Reuter’s correspondent, the session is generally regarded as showing signs that the party is regaining strength.

28 DECEMBER 1924

There were substantial floods in the Thames Valley with heavy amounts of damage done to agricultural land.

A train was caught in a landslide in Wales with four passengers hurt when 300 tons of earth fell on it.

27 DECEMBER 1924

26 DECEMBER 1924

A meeting of the French Cabinet approved a memorandum from M. Herriot expressing the opinion that it was impossible to evacuate the Cologne zone by January 10.

The Paris Eclair publishes an account of M. Herriot’s conversations with Mr Ramsay MacDonald at Chequers in the summer, when the French Premier emphasised the dangers which threatened France on her eastern frontier.

Mr Bruce, the Australian Prime Minister, has informed the Imperial Government that it would be difficult for him to attend a special meeting of the Imperial Conference in March to discuss the Geneva Protocol, and he has suggested that the matter could be settled by cable. A similar view is understood to be held by the Canadian Government.

A fire broke out at a Christmas entertain- ment in a school at Hobart, Oklahoma, U.S.A., and 40 persons lost their lives.

A terrible air disaster occurred near the Croydon Aerodrome. The Instone air liner DH 34 had just left with seven passengers and the pilot on board, when it was seen to be in difficulties, and then it crashed. On reaching the ground it burst into flames, and everyone on board perished.

In an American aviation accident four men of the Naval Air Service lost their lives.

M. Otto Ballon, a well-known Latvian air- man, has been killed at Buenos Ayres.

The Pope, amid scenes of solemnity and splendour, opened the Holy Door of St Peter’s, Rome, to signify the opening of the Holy Year.

On January 1, Oslo, the ancient name of Christiania, is to be revived.

25 DECEMBER 1924

Many spectators were injured following a football game between Bristol City and Swansea Town played on Christmas Day.

The Dundee Evening Telegraph reported:

“Mr F. G. Linfield, the former Liberal M.P., who has returned to London after a tour in Africa extending over several months, described his jungle adventure with a lion.

Mr. Linfield, Mr. Ormsby Gore, and Major Church were appointed by Mr. J. H. Thomas, when Colonial Secretary, as a Colonial Office Mission to make inquiries in Central Africa. While they were there the General Election intervened. They were unable to return in time, and of the three who left Britain M.P.’s only one, Mr Ormsby Gore, came back to find himself re-elected. Mr Linfield’s adventure with the lion occurred after he had ascended a mountain in company with Lord Delamere and was returning in order to secure help to release Lord Delamere’s car from a dangerous position.

Concealed Behind a Bush

“While we were ascending in the car,” he said, “rain came on, and the car skidded all over the place. There were no roads, and at one point one of the wheels went over, and the car was on the point of toppling over. Major Buxton, Major Dutton, and myself got out and tried to push the car to keep it from toppling over the side, but at one point one of the wheels went over, and the car had to be abandoned. Major Buxton and I walked for nine miles to the nearest farm to get help. As we were walking along I saw under a little bush a foot or two away from me a black object. I was not thinking of Africa, and imagined it was like a pig. Before I could say a word it jumped up, just looked at me, and then bounded into the dense bush. Major Buxton walked over to where the lion had disappeared, but I told him to be careful as there might be cubs there. He said, ‘The best thing we can do is to walk straight on. Probably the lion is as much frightened of us as we are of it.’ So we walked on, keeping as far as possible from the dense bush. I kept one eye on the bush and another on the nearest tree.”

Lion’s Skull as a Reminder.

On another occasion,” he said, “I stepped out of the rest house in which I was staying one night because I could not sleep on account of the high temperature. I had just opened the door and stepped into the garden when there was a tremendous growl. I went back into the house at once. Next morning I was informed that two or three hyenas had been prowling about the grounds.”

Mr Linfield has brought back a large number of trophies and mementoes of his visit. These include swords, spears, and shields, a beautiful lion’s skin, and the skull of another lion. The lion’s skin his colleagues decided ought to be presented to him because of his adventure.”

24 DECEMBER 1924

The Government is sounding the Dominions and India will, according to the Times, be represented at a conference in March to discuss the questions arising out of the Geneva Protocol. Germany has notified the League of Nations that in the event of entry into the League she could not accept responsibilities under Article 10 of the Covenant.

The increasing hostility of the Russian peasants to Communism has caused the Moscow authorities to summon a conference for the revision of Soviet institutions.

The Egyptian Parliament has been dissolved by decree of King Fuad, and new elections will take place in February.

After several days’ hard fighting Scutari and Alessio have fallen into the hands of the insurgents in Albania.

The Ministry of Transport announces that the highway authorities of the country have been invited to collaborate with the Ministry in the modernisation of certain limited lines of national communication, and that the number of principal routes selected is main road schemes contemplated include a new high level bridge over the Tyne and a new crossing of the Tweed at Berwick.

Sir John Gilmour, M.P., Secretary for Scotland, was among the speakers at a “Come to Britain” dinner in London last night. Replying to the toast of “The Trade of the People,” he expressed the hope that the housing problem, the Scottish herring industry, and agriculture in the co-operation of Government, and employers in the building trade workers would have the co-operation of the Government and employers in the building of houses.

Sir James Craig, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, in a Christmas message to the people of Ulster, says he is convinced that united action on the part of all in the return to stabilised conditions in Europe will eventually put the coping stone on the prosperity of the Imperial Province.

23 DECEMBER 1924

Thomas Johnston, the Socialist candidate in the by-election at Dundee, had a majority of 12,739 over Mr E. D. Simon (Liberal).

In a letter to Mr Austen Chamberlain, M. Rakovsky refers to a statement in the House of Commons by the Home Secretary on December 10 to the effect that proofs of the authenticity of Zinoviev letter cannot be disclosed out of fear for the safety of the person who supplied Britain with the document, and adds that the Soviet Government “is prepared to guarantee the unhindered departure of the above-mentioned person” from its territory.

The Turkish Government has warned the Soviet that if the attempts to renew Communist propaganda activity in Turkey do not cease, they will expel and deport the majority of the Russian officials attached to the Soviet diplomatic and trade missions. The Soviet envoy, Suritz, was informed that the Turkish authorities have at their disposal incontestable evidence of anti-French and anti-British propaganda in Syria and Egypt conducted by Russian agents with headquarters in Constantinople.

The German Government’s Note to the League of Nations on the question of Germany’s admission to the League refers to the dangers with which a disarmed Germany is confronted, and to the difficulties resulting from the disparity in national armaments in Europe.

From Washington it is reported that President Coolidge opposes elevation of ships’ guns, regarding it as futile to spend money on battleships which are likely to be scrapped after twelve years.

Martial law is reported to have been extended to the whole of Albania in consequence of the lack of response to the recent mobilisation order.

22 DECEMBER 1924

David Lloyd George, at a Liberal demonstration in Edinburgh, stated the case for the maintenance of the Liberal party in the political life of the country, as coming between a party who supported private monopoly and vested interest, and the Socialist party, who sought to confiscate everything for the benefit of a State monopoly. On the problem of the slums, he contended that no solution would be found unless they dealt with land monopoly.

Voting takes place to-day at Dundee in the by-election caused by the death of the late Socialist member, Mr Morel.

At a political demonstration in the City Hall, Glasgow, Mr John Wheatley said that, if any attempt was made by the Government of Great Britain to launch us into war with Russia, he for one was prepared to spend, not merely his time, but his life, in appealing to the working class of this country, not merely to refuse to join in the attack, but to utilise the opportunity of the war with Russia in attacking British capitalism.

Benito Mussolini has thrown a bombshell into the Italian political camp in the shape of an Electoral Reform Bill providing for single-member representation and adoption of the British system whereby a majority vote secures a direct seat. His action involves an appeal to the country during the spring.

Édouard Herriot, the French Premier, received at his bedside a number of Parisian journalists, to whom he made a reassuring statement regarding Communists’ activities in France. He deprecated panic-mongering, the effect of which was to injure the credit of France. La Liberté is to be prosecuted for an alleged infringement of the Press Law.

Much angry comment appears in the German Press with regard to the British Government’s decision to postpone the evacuation of Cologne, which is held to be a breach of the Versailles Treaty. The German Government still awaits reports from its London and Paris Embassies, which are to be a breach of the Versailles Treaty.

21 DECEMBER 1924

Benito Mussolini announced a surprise bill in Italy for voting reform, based the new electoral system more on the UK model.

The death of British diplomat George Buchanan (1854-1924) was announced.