Berkshire and the War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 3. p. 662

KILLED IN THE LONDON AIR RAID.

P .c . Alfred Smith, who lost his
life while d ire ctin g children t o
sa fe ty d u rin g th e J u ly air raid
on London , was th e son o f M r. G.
Smith ,London Road, Wokingham .
H u n dred s o f sym pathisers
stood ou tside St. Peter's Church,
Islington , w here th e fun eral ser
v ice w as held. A ll ranks of th e
p o lice fo rce w ere represented
fro m G (th e division t o which th e
officer w as a tta ch ed ), N and Y ,
w hile th e firemen from th e Upper
Street station, Islington , were
also presen t, w ith a large num ­
ber o f N o rth L on don special con­
stables. T he w idow and her little
son w ere presen t a t th e service,
a n d th e la rg e ch urch w as crow d
ed. T he N Division police band
w as in a ttendance, and accom­
pan ied th e procession t o th e
cemetery a t Abney Park .

The l at e P. c . ALFRED SMITH.

BERKS TERRITORIAL ASSOCIATION.

On M a y 17th th e A ssocia tion lost its president
b y th e death o f Lord Haversham , w hich to o k
pla ce at his house, Grosvenor Square, a fte r an
illn ess o f five w eeks. I t
w as when L o r d Haldane's Territorial A rm y
cam e in to b ein g th a t L ord
Haversham was chosen
chairm an o f th e Berkshire Association , and he
held th a t position up to
th e tim e o f his death. H e
served fo r ten years in th e
Grenadier Guards,
a nd at th e a ge o f 30 en­
tered th e House o f Commons as Liberal M em ber
fo r Wells, and continued
a m em ber, w ith some
sh ort in terva ls, u n til he
was raised t o th e peerage
in 1906. O utside P a rlia ­
m ent L o r d H aversham
le n t his assistance t o a
va rie ty o f pu blic objects.

LATE LORD HAVERSHAM.


A POPULAR PARSON.
Few gentlem en of th e cloth are
b etter known in R ea din g than
Captain th e Rev. Edgar AUST.
Besides preaching a good sermon
ho can play a fine gam e o f footer,
and one ~ well rem em bers his
clever w ork a s h alf-back fo r
Wesley in 1901-3, when th ey won
th e Town Cup. O ne can ju d g e as
t o his prowess when it is men
tion ed that within one m onth he
was selected for the B erks and
Bucks Junior County and Senior
County. Several tim es he figured
in th e Reading R eserves team ,
and he also played in a trial gam e
at. Southampton. A pprenticed t o
T. C. William s and Sons, th e oldestablished iron founders,
London Street, Readin g, he la ter on
decided t o enter th e church, and
after five years, at College, w ent
to St. George'€™ s Church, Notttingham.
A b o u t tw o years la ter he
was appointed t o a cu racy at
Holy Trinity, From e, and later
priest-in-charge at St. Thom as'
Wells, Somerset.

THE DISABLED SOLDIER AND SAILOR.
Colonel Morrison's Scheme to
Assist Them.

It is a happy augury for the future to see a rich
prominent landlord devoting the greater part o f his
time and thought to seeing how he can best apply
his wealth and opportunities for the benefit of others.
And this is what Colonel Morrison, D.S.O., of Basildon Park, is doing.
The scheme o f a Training Centre at Basildon Park
has been formed with the object of training dis
charged disabled sailors and soldiers in, firstly,
general agricultural and estate work, and, secondly,
basket work and similar work supplemental to
estate work, and fitting them by such training to be
in a position to earn adequate wages to correspond
with the work accomplished. When this training is
finished the men will leave the training centre and so
enable fresh cases to be dealt with. All the men so
trained will be found employment from the Centre.
The size of the estate in question is 7,000 acres,
and the number of men proposed to be taken for
training at one time is from 40 to 50, who would be
recommended by the Local War Pensions Committees
in Berkshire and Hampshire and any other county
that may join these two, under the new scheme of
co-operation o f counties for purposes of training and
treatment.
The arrangements and work o f the centre are
under the personal supervision o f Colonel Morrison
and a small working committee appointed by him.
This latter is specially formed for undertaking
the duties o f supervising as to the men'€™s social wel­
fare and general well-being.
The starting of this training does not involve
any new building, as there are already suitable
houses for billeting the men in com fort; board and
lodging can also be found for the men during their
training in cottages on the estate, and some co t
tages are available for men taking the longer courses
o f training who may wish to bring their families with
them.
The secretarial duties are undertaken voluntar­
ily and all tools and materials are provided by
Colonel Morrison, so that the only expense to be
met it a weekly fee per head per man to cover
cost of instructors'€™ salaries and loss o f material un­
avoidably spoilt and wasted, for which a sum of 5s.
per head weekly is proposed, provision for which is
made under the new Royal Warrant.
The following various occupations for training have
been suggested: €”Basket-making, those used on an
estate for feeding purposes, etc., and not the kind
made by blind men (Colonel Morrison proposes to
organize this industry on a permanent basis and that
Basildon should be used as a distributing centre,
which should be o f great assistance to men who, after
training, carry on this work in their own hom es):
hurdle-making, stockman, dairy work, cheese-making
and poultry-keeping, boot repairing; instruction in
special industries, e.g. work connected with saw
mills, motor tractors, electric light and general
estate engineer'€™ s w ork ; supplementary to above
named may be added hedging and ditching, thatch
ing, ladder and step-making, estate carpentering,
painting and house decorating and other farm work.
No payment for any work accomplished is
made to the man during the first month o f training,
but a weekly sum o f 2/6 the second month, rising to
5- for the third month and 7/6 the fourth month
is paid by Colonel Morrison as a bonus, apart
from the 5/- bonus payable, under the new Royal
Warrant at the end o f a fully completed course of
training.
It is, o f course, known generally that
during training each man receives 27s. 6d. (including
pension) from the Pensions Ministry, thus making a
total of at least 32s. 6d. per week.
All particulars can be obtained from the Secretary,
W ar Pensions Committee, Shire Hall, Reading, or
the Secretary, St. Laurence'€™s Churchyard, or Colonel
Morrison, Basildon Park, Reading.

TH E REV. EDGAR AUST.

TRADE W IT H ITALY
B aron Di San Severino
in an address to th e Reading Chamber of
Commerce expressed th e hope th a t a
com m ercial alliance m ay bin d t o
geth er Ita ly and th e B ritish Isles,
fo r w hose m anufactures his com
pa triots show a strong preference.
T he B aron cam e t o E ngland at th e
in vitation of th e Navy League to
deliver a series of lectures th rou gh­
out th e U n ited K in gd om on th e
com m ercial relations betw een Ita ly
and th e British Empire. T he Navy
Leagu e to o k th is step fo r th e prom otion
of m ore in tim ate econom ic
relations betw een th e B ritish and
Italian peoples in consequence of
representations m ade b y th e Naval League of Italy.
Photo by Vuillemenot Montabone, Rome.

BARON DI SAN SEVERINO.