The largest of the well-known Scottish families is the MacLeod family. This family has branches in all the English-speaking countries and in some countries where English is not the native tongue. The family is headed by a lady called Mrs. Flora MacLeod, the twenty-eighth in the line of those who have headed this family, whose history goes back to the days of the Vikings, for it was founded by the fourth son of Olaf the Black.
Tourists visit Mrs. MacLeod's castle, which stands on an island lying near the west coast of Scotland.
The members of this family have taken part in all the wars in which England has fought. And when all the members of the family gathered at Dunvegan Castle to bid farewell to their Canadian and American relatives who were about to return to their home countries, they learned that they had also been taking part in the resistance movement in Poland.
Mrs. Flora told the members of the family that some of their relatives who had settled in Poland since the year 1860 had joined the resistance movement against the Nazis during their occupation of that country.
Lady Ravensdale,
daughter of the Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, has held a dancing competition whose purpose is to raise the standard of dancing in Britain. This lady has never been able to master modern American dancing, even though, in her capacity as vice-president of the national body of girls' clubs, she has tried to learn it. Yet she is not sorry for it: "I think some of the steps of this modern dancing are not a pleasing sight, if we watch the dancers and their steps." The competition is made up of the quickstep, the slow foxtrot, the waltz, and the tango.
She says that these dances "are the finest dances that can be watched and performed, and there is no doubt that the new dances will fade away quickly, as happened to the Charleston."
Three British women are working at the domestic information center in London which was recently opened: the former secretary of Earl Lloyd George, the proprietress of an old hotel, and one of the officers of the women's auxiliary corps. This center will undertake to solve the problems of young married people and to answer all the questions that reach it.
Miss Sayers is distinguished by her black
hair; she is of middle age, and she left her post as Lloyd George's secretary after continuing in that work for four years. The reason that moved her to resign was not that the post displeased her, but she saw that the political field did not suit her, and so she preferred to leave it.
During the war days she provided five thousand meals a day for the workers of a factory in South Wales. She is therefore the best person to guide those who inquire about everything connected with the art of cooking. As for Miss Isabel Grant, daughter of one of the well-known British lawyers, she was the proprietress of the Grand Hotel before the war; she is a tall, dark lady with an exact knowledge of household management, and her work will be devoted to answering everything that concerns the management and organization of the home.
The third is Mrs. Olivejo, who was a schools officer of the women's corps. She will undertake to answer everything that concerns work and schools. One of the visiting specialists attached to this center is Nurse Catherine Black, who nursed King George V during his last illness. She will attend to matters relating to nursing.
A company in London has held an exhibition considered the first of its kind. New electric heating devices were displayed in it, and they met with a great response abroad, for numerous inquiries were sent in from various parts of the world — from Canada to Argentina, from Norway to Greece and Turkey, from Iran to India, and from Egypt to Johannesburg.
At present the Rediffusion company, which manufactures these devices, does not accept orders from abroad unless it has technical representatives in the regions wishing to buy. A modern method such as this requires, as the company's owners say, some time before it gains a firm footing.
This device was invented by a Briton, and its distinction is its capacity to heat wood, glue, rubber, iron, powders, wools, and textiles. It is expected that this device will play an important part in British industry, because it speeds up production and cheapens it, and it will also improve the quality of the goods produced.