NATIONAL RELIEF FUND 



3633 



NATIVE CURRANTS 



Mtm-tionedbyan Act of Parliament 

 i>f July, 1915, was to obtain a com- 

 plete ii.-t <>f men and women with 

 a \ii-w ti. utilising their services 

 if need arose. Particulars were 

 rv<|Hired as to age, occupation, 

 iimililication for war services, and 

 nationality. A registration cartl 

 was given to every person on the 

 register, containing name and a 

 iniinliiT, also indicating the class 

 in \\liich ho or she was placed. 

 Tlif Utter was also indicated by 

 11 number, these being arranged 

 according to occupations. These 

 rani* hod to be produced to a com- 

 petent authority the police or 

 military when required. The 

 national register was used as the 

 basis of a subsequent canvass of 

 unnilisted men of military age 

 under Lord Derby's scheme, and 

 later still was utilised by the 

 National Service ministry. After 

 the signing of peace it fell into 

 disuse, although the cards were 

 n<-\ >-r called in. 



National Relief Fund. British 

 charitable organization. Known 

 also as the Prince of Wales's Fund, it 

 was inaugurated by the prince in 

 Aug., 1914, to receive and distribute 

 money for relief of distress directly 

 due to the Great War. Applica- 

 tions for help to wives and families 

 of sailors and soldiers were dealt 

 with by local branches of the 

 Soldiers' and Sailors' Families 

 Association. For civilians local 

 relief committees were formed. 

 The fund was wound up in Mar., 

 1921. The aggregate receipts 

 amounted to 6,975,124; amount 

 expended in naval and military 

 relief, 3,978,102, and in civil relief, 

 2,668,019. Various hospitals, in- 

 cluding those for limbless sailors 

 and soldiers, benefited, as did in- 

 dustrial settlements for the dis- 

 abled. Grants were made to 

 damaged towns on the east coast, 

 British refugees from Russia, and 

 other sufferers. The balance was 

 utilised in connexion with the 

 relief of distress arising from un- 

 employment. 



National Reserve. Name given 

 to a body of men formed in Great 

 Britain for national defence, which 

 became, in March, 1916, the Royal 

 Defence Corps (q.v.). 



National Restaurant. Cater- 

 ing establishment initiated by the 

 food ministry of Great Britain in 

 New Bridge Street, London, during 

 the Great War. Run on the lines of 

 the national kitchens, and produc- 

 ing 3,500 meals daily, it was taken 

 over in 1920 by an organization of 

 ex-service men known as Veterans' 

 Commerce, Limited. 



National Review, THE. Con- 

 servative monthly, founded in Lon- 

 don in 1883, under the editorship of 



Allied Austin ami \V. J. Court- 

 |I|H . In 1898 L. J. MaxHc became 

 editor, and under his control it 

 became a strong advocate of Tariff 

 Reform and very outspoken in itn 

 criticisms of Germany, and of 

 Liberal politicians in <in-.it Britain. 

 National Service, MINISTRY OF. 



Department of the Briti-li <.o\,-m 

 ment created elm ing the Great War 

 to make the best use of the men 

 and women of the nation Neville 

 Chamberlain was appointed direc- 

 tor-general of national service in 

 Dec., 1916,and in Aug., 1917, he was 

 succeeded by Sir Auckland Geddcs, 

 under whom the department be- 

 came a ministry. In Nov. it took 

 over from the war office the direc- 

 tion of recruiting for the army, 

 which henceforward was its main 

 activity. In Nov., 1918, when the 

 war ended, the ministry was 

 merged in that of reconstruction. 

 Its headquarters were at St. 

 Ermin's Hotel, Westminster. See 

 Man Power. 



National Service League. As- 

 sociation formed in 1902 to advo- 

 cate a change in the British army 

 system by abolishing voluntary en- 

 listment, or at least supplementing 

 it by some measure of compulsion. 

 The president of the league was 

 Lord Roberts. It came to an end in 

 Feb., 1921, and the remaining funds 

 were handed over to the Boy 

 Scouts' Association. See Compul- 

 sory Service ; Conscription. 



National Sporting Club, THE. 

 Headquarters of British boxing. 

 Founded on the site of Evans's old 

 house in King Street, Covent Gar- 

 den, London, in 1891, it issues its 

 own code of rules. The earl of 

 Lonsdale has been president since 

 its inauguration. See Boxing. 



National Trust. British so- 

 ciety for preserving places of his- 

 toric interest or natural beauty. 

 Founded in 1895 and incorporated 

 in 1907, it is governed by a council, 

 of which half is nominated by the 

 chief learned societies in the United 

 Kingdom. It has been the means 

 of saving from destruction scvera 

 fine buildings, and it holds in trust 

 for the nation Wicken Fen, Box 

 Hill, Minchinhampton Common, 

 and estates in the Lake District 

 and elsewhere, as well as several 

 old buildings, including Barrington 

 Court, near Ilminster, and Kanturk 

 Castle, Cork. It has also the care of 

 8,000 acres of Exmoor. Up to .Ian., 

 1921, it had saved about a hundred 

 properties. Its offices are at 25, 

 Victoria Street, London, S.W. 



National University of Ire- 

 land. Irish university, founded in 

 1908. It arose owing to the demand 

 of the Irish Roman Catholics for 

 university education, and is in a 

 sense the successor of the Royal 



Native Currants. Branches with 



flowers. Inset, above, end of 



branch with leaves ; below, fruit 



of Australia. The numerous, 

 slender branches are erect, and 

 without leaves except near their 

 jxtremities, where they are very 

 small. The minute white flowers 

 are borne in spikes and produce 

 small greenish-red, currant-like 

 berries, which are fleshy and 

 edible. They are acid, and some- 

 what astringent, but they make a 

 good preserve and a cooling, aoid 

 beverage. They are not related to 

 the British garden currants, or to 

 the dried currants of E. Europe. 



University of Ireland, dissolved in 

 that year, two of whose colleges 

 viz. Uni\'T.-ity Ci.lli-yi-, fork, and 

 I'nivermty College, Galway are 

 included in it; while a third uni- 

 M -i-ity ^college was opened in 

 Dublin.'- S. Patrick's College, May- 

 nooth, is a recognized college. It ! 

 is controlled by the Roman Catho- 

 lics, although there arc, strictly 

 speaking, no religious tests. There 

 arc faculties of commerce, science, 

 and engineering, in addition to 

 the more venerable ones. Medical 

 degrees are granted, and those of 

 master and doctor of Celtic studies. 

 Irish is an obligatory subject at 

 the matriculation examination. See 

 Cork; Dublin; Galway; Ireland: 

 Education. 



Native (Lat. nativus, natural). 

 Literally, something due to birth 

 or origin, as opposed to something 

 acquired. As an adjective, it is 

 used in various senses, e.g. native 

 land, native customs, etc. As a 

 noun, it refers to the original or 

 older inhabitants of a country as 

 distinct from those who went 

 there later for instance, the ; 

 natives of Africa. See Aborigines. 



Native. Term used in miner- 

 alogy for minerals, particularly 

 metals, found in the free state. 

 Gold is the principal metal found 

 native, while such metals as zinc j 

 and aluminium are never found in ; 

 that state. See Metal. 



Native Currants (Leptomeria 

 billardieri). Shrub of the na- 

 tural order Santalaceae, native 



