Dimming of the Day

70 July 1914 of coaching at public schools (following the tetchy correspondence about Harrow). It followed that with Clifton v Tonbridge. Tonbridge were out for 55 after the first four batsmen got ducks. Clifton made 266 and Tonbridge were 73-4. G.W.E.Whitehead had a good day, taking three for 9, making 78 and then taking three more wickets. George Whitehead played a couple of games for Kent this year, but died near Menin in October 1918. Then only did The Times turn to county cricket. For Essex C.A.G.’Jack’ Russell, a steady professional batsman who was later to play a handful of Test matches and to average over 50 in them, and C.D.McIver, who had won Oxford blues in 1903 and 1904 and played 59 matches for Essex over 20 years, set a new county record with an opening stand of 212 against Leicestershire. Essex ended the day at 428 all out. Surrey’s push for the title continued as Sussex were out for 184 at the Oval, Surrey 114-2 at the close. There were wickets for G.J.W.Platt, a professional who played 33 times between 1906 and 1914, taking over 100 wickets, and later playing for Staffordshire. By 29 July hopes of peace were dashed as Austria-Hungary formally declared war on Serbia. The Times was now arguing (with the benefit of a little hindsight) that Austria had played it that way all along and had never intended to be dissuaded from war. This was almost certainly correct, though Austria’s war aims were very vague: Austria was insistent that it had no territorial demands (and indeed the last thing the rickety empire needed was more troublesome Slav subjects), but it certainly wanted to give Serbia a good thumping and hopefully to divide the country up. But The Times still argued that Russian movements were essentially defensive and that Germany ‘had behaved very well’ being ‘dragged at the heels of the Austrian war chariot’. France was taking precautions. The Manchester Guardian was still suggesting that Austria and Russia could show sense even after Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war. On 30 July it said, The Times , whose influence at great crises in our foreign affairs has almost always been for evil, yesterday took it for granted that if the war were not localised this country ought to take the side of Servia and Russia. There were those who still believed that war could be prevented. The International Socialist Bureau would meet in Brussels. Jean Jaurés had issued a statement that held the Austro-Hungarian government responsible, agreeing that France was doing what she could to avoid war. In Britain precautionary measures were being taken but the government was not talking much about them. France and Italy were prepared to attend an ambassadorial meeting in London, but Germany had not given a positive response. The Times’ Paris correspondent had reason to believe that Germany ‘has given more proofs of her desire for peace than have yet become known to the French.’ Slightly overshadowed at last (though in France the papers gave it more space than the impending crisis) was the trial and Mme Caillaux’s sensational acquittal on the grounds that M Calmette had insulted her