16 MAY 1914, Page 17

[To TER EDITOR Or THE • 'Sreeraroa."] SIR, — With your correspondent of

last week, Mr. L. E. Steele, I always thought the roof of Westminster Hall was Irish oak, and cherished the tradition that no spiders would snake webs on it! This, surely, could easily be verified by any of those who lately visited its recesses. How came it, I wonder, that Lord Avebury in his Pleasures of Life (" The Beauties of Nature ") says: "The chestnut has beautiful tapering leaves . . . and wood so durable that to it we owe the grand and historic roof of Westminster Hall " P—I am, Sir, &c., E. M. PRICHARD.