Dimming of the Day

34 Opening Moves destined for the Ulster Volunteer Force. The police and the customs ‘knew nothing of the matter’ and apparently cared less. A report to the London Education Committee advised against the teaching of sex hygiene in elementary schools, but also that teachers should be trained to deal with the ‘repression of undesirable habits’: they also drew attention to the moral dangers arising from lack of supervision of parks and open spaces. In the Reichstag the Foreign Office Estimates were being debated. Herr von Jagow, the Foreign Secretary, ‘began with the Balkans. The general relief of tension in Europe had progressed…..and he hoped that the regeneration of the Ottoman Empire would be promoted by peace and neighbourliness in the re-distributed territories. He was not happy, though, with the anti- German tone of the Russian press. Negotiations with England ‘were being conducted on both sides in the most friendly spirit, a spirit which in other matters also prevailed in Germany’s relations with Great Britain.’ In mid-May the committee of the Monmouthshire County Cricket Club held their annual meeting in Newport and, whilst bemoaning a falling-off in gate receipts in Minor County matches at Rodney Parade, they noted an increasing interest in the game in the manufacturing and mining valleys and discussions took place about more matches being staged at Ebbw Vale in order to tap into this growing enthusiasm for the summer game. Somewhere different in the social scale, among the county scores in The Times this day was the scorecard of the annual match between I Zingari and the Household Brigade, played at Chelsea. Mr F.R.Foster had resigned as captain of Warwickshire but was persuaded during the day to carry on playing. In fact his father had died in April, his elder brother was unwell, and he felt he was needed in the family business; but he agreed to give it one more season 24 . On 18 May The Times had an article headed ‘The War Cloud’, but it was from a correspondent in Belfast. On the railways, the NUR wanted an eight-hour day and a 48-hour week, an increase of 5 shillings for every grade, and full recognition of the union. At Old Trafford on 16 May Lancashire had experimented with a Saturday start against Derbyshire and had attracted 5,000 spectators. Jack Sharp made 105: then a professional, and a double international who played football for England, he was to reappear after the war as an amateur and eventually as Lancashire’s captain. According to Wikipedia, after ten years with Everton he became a director of the club and opened a sports shop (eventually taken over by JJB Sports in the 1980s), but in fact he was advertising his sports store in World of Cricket by 1914. Worcestershire, in the field against Surrey, wore black armbands: it was the day of R.E.Foster’s funeral. Foster’s death from diabetes at the age of 36 had been noted everywhere: he still held England’s record individual 24 Robert Brooke, F.R.Foster , ACS 2011