LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .sx SMOKE ABATEMENT .sx The Voting of Permanent Officials .sx Sir , - The letter of Mr. Arnold Marsh , general secretary of the National Smoke Abatement Society , in last Saturday's issue hardly replies to my previous letter .sx In that letter I endeavoured to draw attention to the pernicious practice of permanent officials voting .sx This he entirely ignores .sx I also suggested as alternatives to the admittedly expensive proposed Statutory Joint Authority that powers over factory chimneys should be exercised by the police , who already have control of the domestic chimneys , or by the present sanitary inspectors having powers in other districts as well as in their own .sx To neither of these does he give any consideration whatsoever , but tries to justify the expense of the new authority .sx Surely alternative suggestions with many advantages are worthy of some degree of investigation .sx He accuses me of being illogical in objecting to the new authority because it does not touch the question of domestic smoke .sx I object to it mainly on the ground of expense , but also because it would have no further powers than those already in existence .sx Why , if it is desirable to approach Parliament , should not an effort be made to obtain powers over domestic chimneys ?sx Surely Parliament would be quite prepared favourably to consider a reasonable scheme as an experiment in a restricted area , and if it worked would probably extend its operation .sx Does Mr. Marsh consider the domestic chimney problem incapable of solution ?sx Only on this assumption can I understand his attitude .sx It certainly does not seem at all clear why the whole question of factory and domestic smoke should not be attacked at once .sx Regarding Mr. Marsh's statement that the economic loss of an invisible five shillings on the rateable value is caused by smoke , I doubt very much the data for such an estimate ; but , assuming it to be correct certainly half is from domestic chimneys .sx His idea , therefore , of saving the five shillings at the cost of one-tenth of a penny is clearly wrong by that 50 per cent .sx I still think that the proposed statutory body would only touch the fringe of the problem , would be expensive and ineffective , and than much more good would come from either of my alternative suggestions , coupled with active encouragement of the use of smokeless fuel on the domestic hearth .sx - Yours , &c .sx , HERBERT WALLS .sx Wayside , Torkington , May 12 .sx " GENESIS " .sx Sir , - In the " Manchester Guardian " of the 11th is the account of an address delivered by the Rev. S. Proudfoot , who , taking Epstein's " Genesis " as his subject , is reported to have asserted of those who have criticised it adversely " that neither the method nor the matter of criticism had approached the theme with anything like the reverence which it demanded .sx " One does not wish to appear a prig , but if a claim be made to a monopoly of reverence on behalf of those who approve a certain estimate of values in respect of a particular work of art , I think one may be permitted to confess to being inspired by an equally deep reverence for " the theme , " if that be motherhood and the mystery of man's emergence from the unknown ; but my reverence for these cannot cause me to rejoice in their expression in the form and spirit of this particular image .sx For this work appears to me simply as an image appropriate to some rather dubious form of nature worship in some primitive re-Christian mystery cult , and to exalt nothing higher than the " dark gods " which gloom so distressingly in the flesh-haunted polytheism of the late D. H. Lawrence .sx It will be obvious , of course , that this view will have many implications , but none that can justify any charge of undue levity .sx - Yours , &c .sx , GERTRUDE ASHTON .sx 2 , Bristol Avenue , Levenshulme , Manchester , May 11 .sx BRITISH FILM PRODUCTION .sx Our Unexploited Empire .sx Sir , - May I express my agreement with Mr. O'Reilly's letter on the lack of British films showing the Empire ?sx His suggestion that Malaya would form a suitable background for films of adventure is a particularly happy one .sx Though becoming increasingly known to tourists , this beautiful country is still but a name to many people in these islands , and the revelation on the screen of its many scenic glories could not fail to open the eyes of those more stay-at-home Britons who are too often apt to regard the distant parts of our far-flung Empire as either dreary " wide open spaces , " mountainous wastes , or sun-parched deserts .sx By all means let us have films made in Malaya .sx It is to be hoped that before long British producers will act on the suggestion of your correspondent .sx Their failure so far to have discovered the Empire for film purposes is yet another instance of the lack of imagination that has always characterised British film studios .sx - Yours , &c .sx , JOHN SPENCER , late of Kuala Lumpur .sx 18 , New Street , London , W.C. , May 11 .sx " SENT BY A READER " .sx Sir , - I would like to express my appreciation of the series of reproductions of amateur photographs appearing in the " Manchester Guardian .sx " I took a fancy to one some time ago and was able to get into touch with the photographer , who has very kindly supplied me with several prints .sx We find , after a little correspondence , that we have many interests in common , and are thankful to the " Manchester Guardian " for , as it were , introducing us .sx -Yours , &c .sx , NORTHENER .sx May 12 .sx English Schoolboys in Greece .sx - The Rev. R. Richmond Raymer , lately British Chaplain in Athens , writes from Sheldon Rectory , Birmingham :sx - Will you kindly allow me space in your columns to express the thanks of all concerned in the first conducted tour of English schoolboys in Greece to those officials of the Greek Government and the many public and private friends in Greece who assisted to make the venture such a conspicuous success .sx Prominent among these were the British Minister to Greece and the Hon .sx Mrs. Ramsay , M. Melas , Director General of Hellenic Tourist Traffic , the British and American Schools in Athens , the American Express Company , and the Greek railway and steamship companies .sx To all these , as well as to good hosts in monastery , school , hotel , and restaurant , every member of our party of twenty-six , which included a few schoolmasters and parents anxious to test the success of the experiment , is profoundly grateful for a wonderful experience , secured at a cost so low that the accurate estimate excited the scornful incredulity of a well-known travel agency .sx The first appearance in their midst of an organised group of English schoolboys was hailed by the Greek people with genuine delight , since it appealed both to their deep affection for this country and to their justifiable pride in their own .sx M. Veniselos expressed his great regret that absence from Athens at the time of their visit would prevent him offering the party a personal welcome , a regret fully shared by the boys , who appreciated immensely the kindly courtesy of the veteran European statesman .sx A full report of the tour , which covered the greater part of Attica and the Peloponnese , is now in preparation ; and it is hoped that this year's venture will be the forerunner of many similar expeditions in the future and of a wider knowledge and appreciation in this country of all that Greece has to offer us .sx Motor-tyre Pressure in Hot Weather .sx - .sx Major Frank H. Bale , hon .sx secretary and treasurer the Order of the Road , writes from Donington House , Norfolk Street , London , W.C. 2 :sx - The great majority of motorists have already schooled themselves to observe most of the excellent advice that is being tendered to them during Safety Week ( May 11-16) .sx There is , however , one small yet important safety factor that should be emphasised at the approach of the warm days when many car-owners think they should reduce their tyre pressures below the recommended minimum .sx The underlying belief is that hot weather might cause a dangerous expansion of the normal pressure , but that idea is based upon a misunderstanding .sx Rubber is a poor conductor of heat , and in our too temperate zone the difference between summer and winter temperature upon the air within the tyre has been proved to be small enough to be quite negligible .sx The risks of under-pressure , on the other hand , are very real , involving as they do loss of braking power and lessening the road-holding qualities of the tyre ; and it will be doing a service to the general public if you will allow the attention of your motorist readers to be drawn to this curious misapprehension .sx SAFETY ON THE ROADS .sx Average Driving Speeds .sx Sir , - Allow me to say that I fear the writer of the " Miscellany " notes on average driving speeds has subscribed to a fallacy and is as inaccurate in his statements as Lord Cottenham is in his .sx To illustrate that it is possible to attain an average of over 25 miles per hour without ever touching 50 miles per hour , let me say that my home ( or one of them ) is in Manchester , and I did the trip a few weeks ago between Wembley Park and Fallowfield , a speedometer distance of 190 miles , exactly in six and a quarter hours , an average of 30.4 miles per hour , and did not exceed 40 miles per hour at any time ( my maximum then was 44 miles per hour) .sx This very morning I came from the address below to Big Ben - twenty miles - in 45 minutes , and if you can show me any part of the journey through South-west London where fifty is possible I shall be obliged .sx I submit that averages from 25-35 miles per hour can be maintained easily over English roads without touching high speeds .sx - .sx Yours , &c .sx , JAMES E. ROURKE .sx Pendock Grove Cottage , Cobham , May 13 .sx Sir , - I do not know Lord Cottenham's qualifications for giving his views on safe driving , but talking of driving up mountains took me back in mind to the days spent in the Italian Alps during the war .sx I am quite sure that drivers of cars used to drive up in the one-ton Fiat lorries at easily thirty-five miles an hour , and when it came to private cars the speed exceeded that .sx Yet there were hairpin bends to circumvent , but even these did not seem to decrease the speed .sx I often marvelled how it was done .sx Accidents were few .sx The only ones I knew of were lorries which went over the side in the depth of winter when the snow was thick and icy .sx Yet those which went over the side were generally those of Italians , and I have not heard of an English driver who managed to come to grief , though if one did he may have to go into the category of a bad driver .sx My point is this .sx If an English driver could keep up a really good speed on the Italian Alps in the depths of winter without accident , why can he not do it on the English mountains ?sx Is Lord Cottenham underestimating the capabilities of an English driver ?sx - Yours , &c .sx , H. E. SHEEN .sx St. John's Rectory , Miles Platting , Manchester , May 13 .sx ARABIA .sx Mr. Bertram Thomas's Narrative .sx Sir , - In reading the entrancing story of Mr. Bertram Thomas I could not help reflecting upon what seems to be an interesting fact - namely , that writers on Arabia have , in an especial degree , been inspired to a prose of very great distinction .sx One thinks of Kinglake , Doughty , Gertrude Bell , Lawrence ; and now there is Mr. Bertram Thomas .sx Is it , in part , " the quality of the " ?sx Mr. Thomas's narrative is , as it were , put to our lips in a vessel of gold .sx - Yours , &c .sx , CHARLES H. ROBINSON .sx 12 , Hope Street , Higher Broughton , Manchester , May 14 .sx OUR LOST EXPORT TRADE .sx Fashion Changes .sx Sir , - I have read with interest your leading article in to-day's issue regarding the Prince of Wales's plea for greater efficiency on the part of our manufacturers , but may I suggest that further consideration might with advantage be given to what is probably the vital factor in the Prince's speech - namely , his reference to the " fickle taste of the world .sx "