Dimming of the Day

68 July 1914 White taking eleven wickets in the match (five for 25 and six for 66). On 25 July WG played his last innings in any form of cricket. He scored 69 for Eltham against Grove Park. It was felt that had he been able to run he would have scored a century. He played in one further match on 8 August but was not required to bat in a drawn game between Eltham and Northbrook. By now – for the first time – the leader column in The Times turned first to Europe rather than Ireland. The Manchester Guardian had started to worry earlier, talking on 25 July of a ‘Grave European Crisis’ and ‘Threat of War’. ‘Austria’s note… has brought the continent to the verge of a great war’. By this time things were stirring. The stock market was very depressed. The Serbian reply to the Austrian note had been delivered and was considered unsatisfactory. At this point the Austrian minister to Serbia left the country. The Serbian Army was mobilising. The Times took the view that the Serbian reply had been very moderate and conceded almost all that was asked, Surely the Emperor Francis Joseph, who has given the world so many proofs of his devotion to peace, is not going to jeopardize the safety of his empire and the tranquillity of Europe because Servia has not at once acceded to the whole of the very humiliating requirements of the note? The paper talked of ‘war fever’ in Vienna and it now seemed hard to visualise how war could be avoided, with the question being how far it would spread; what would Russian commitments to Serbia and German commitments to Austria-Hungary mean in practice? The trial of Mme Caillaux continued to give good value: the judge had apparently sent his seconds to the Assistant Judge because of ‘certain remarks’. The lady herself had fainted when certain letters that M Caillaux had written to her were read out. The Admiralty cancelled leave for the Royal Navy. There were massive falls on the Berlin Bourse. In Ireland an attempt at gun-running to the National Volunteers had resulted in a battle with the police and troops, with several dead. The Times said, ‘there can be no doubt that the country is now confronted with one of the greatest crises in the history of the British race’ – meaning, of course, Ireland. There was nothing to suggest any great popular reaction in England to either of these crises. The Times noted that for the next ten days Lord’s would be devoted to Public School cricket, leading up to the final match when a Schools XI would meet MCC. Surrey beat Hampshire by eight wickets and were now firmly top of the table. The Times also reported on the Bar v the Barristers’ Clerks at the Oval. It indicates the extent to which such features as the cricket scores were about old school and varsity contacts and the gentlemanly classes talking to each other. A meeting at Worcester showed the county in immediate need of £350 and