The Henson Journals

[312]

Friday, October 13th, 1916.

802nd day

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A letter came from a Leeds parson asking me privately to suggest names for the Vicarage of that city. It appears that the patronage is vested in 25 trustees, & that these gentlemen are at their wits' end to discover a suitable clergymen, and meditate handing over the matter to the Bishop of Winchester! Thus the world goes with us! I wrote to Pearce inquiring whether he could suggest anybody. I can't. The clergy are all of the same colour now, and that the wrong one.

I went to the Bank, and directed Mr Moult, the Manager, to hold my "War Savings Certificate" in his strong–box. The serial number of this document is D 27,493, and it falls due on September 26th 1921. If the said document were lost, a duplicate could be obtained on production of the serial number.

That strange lad, Charlie Fairlie Cunningham, now a Papist formerly a chorister at Westminster Abbey, writes to me a rather rhapsodical letter on the religious state of England. I was so far interested, however, that I sent him a careful reply.

We spent the afternoon in going over the great munitions works which the Government have established at Birtley. Dolphin and Captn Algrain were our guides. We first visited the cartridge factory ^which is^ under the direction of Armstrongs, and mostly 'manned' with women & girls: and then we went to the shell–factory which is entirely worked by Belgians, largely invalided & wounded soldiers. From the Factory we went on to the village – Elizabethville – which now contains 4500 Belgians, of whom about 400 are married. It is completely organised as a civil community under a governor (Capt. Algrain). We visited Church, Hospital, Schools, Market, & private houses.

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