County Observer and Monmouthshire Central Advertiser Abergavenny and Raglan Herald Usk and Pontypool Messenger and Chepstow Argus

In recognition of his public services during the past forty-four years, Alderman Henry Hart, who has thrice been Mayor of Canterbury, was presented witli-the honorary freedom of that city. A similar honour was conferred at Porte-mouth on Alderman Sir Wm. Pink, who wae mayor of the borough five times. OUR SHORT STORY. MY LOST LOVE. Aunt Helen remarked just now that I had "looked kirider peaked ever since I came from Barton's Corner, but to-day I looked downright sick and as white as a sheet." She had not seen the letter I took from the post-office-a. broad, glossy envelope, directed in a firm, manly hand. She did not see me go to my room and open it with shading fingers. I knew what would fall out—snowy wedding-cards tied with narrow white ribbon! To-day-even while I write-they are in the ohurch, the man I have loved with a life's devotion, and his bride. I must love him no more. I may pray for him and his wife; I may be their friend— true, earnest, sincere; but my love must die now —to-day. Connie thought it was very hard I should come to Aunt Helen's just when she was so busy with her trousseau but there were others to help her, and I—I could not bear it. Barton's Corner was but a tiny cluster of cottages when my, father and Hilman Crostey started the woollen mills there and made a l'orttiite. Each of them married the other's sister, and Constance Crosley and I were not only cousins, but companions from our cradles. When Fil man Crosley died, ten years ago, father wound ip the affairs of the firm, and sold the mills, retiring from business a rich man, but fretting for employ- ment. He built a magnificent home in what was then a flourishing town around the mills; but he did not live long, and when he died mamma. and Aunt I izzie Crosley, with mamma's brother—my Uncle Charlie Wilton—all lived together in the big house that was my father's last piece of worldly work. The mills were bought by a company whose foreman, Stephen Dempster, was brought into contact with our family during his business inter- course with father. Finding him a gentleman by birth, education, and manner, father made him welcome in our home circle. From the hour when Stephen Dempster's frank, noble face, and tall, manly figure first came before me I loved him. I did not define the pleasure it gave me to see him in those days; but I know now why I felt utterly happy in his presence, restless when he was absent. When father died Stephen Dempster became our close, intimate friend. Uncle Charlie was then in Scotland, and Stephen was as a son to my mother, as a dear brother to Connie and me. A dear brother! Even in my own heart I called him so then. And soon, in return for all he gave to us in time, sympathy, and attention, he began to demand from me the same, half-uneonsciously. He was alone in Barton's Corner, boarding with the clergyman, Mr. Paitersen, and I think, when once he found a friend to sympathise with him, it was an unutter- able relief to him to take that friend into full confidence. Connie used to yawn and walk off when we got stupid," as she called us when business affairs occupied our attentions but it interested me deeply to hear all the vexations and trials of Stephen Dempster's position. The mills were owned by a company, who, throwing all the work and all the responsibility upon the foreman, hindered and hampered him on every side. They are badly managed," Stephen said, with biting emphasis. Managed by a man who is expected to run them without expense. Our profits are falling off every month, because no part of them will be allowed for improvements. Oh he cried suddenly, if I only owned the mills! And then he added, in a low, confidential tone: But I shall probably be discharged. Thecori- pany are tired of their speculation, and are talking of selling out the whole concern." But they did not. and the whole concern, in spite of Stephen's efforts, became a failure. It was early in the fall when he came to tell me the tidings. To think they will fall to ruin, probably," he said, while I must go into the world again and look for work, leaving all I love here! I have hoped against hope, but it is all in vain." My heart-beats nearly choked me, but my voice did not falter as I said Yon may obtain the same position in a new company." No; for I bear the whole blame of the failure here. And if I did, what is my paltry salary to offer to a woman who has wealth ? I will never stand in the position of a fortune-hunter, even for my love's sake." But if she love you?" I said. "I have never asked—I will never ask that question till I can offer her at least a home of my own." Could I throw myself in his arms ? His love was in his voice and in his eyes. He loved deeply, earnestly, as he did all things else. I talked again of the mills. With two thousand pounds above the cost of purchase, Stephen was sure he could start the work again in good order, relying upon profits for further improvements and repairs, and the mills would be cold for a mere song. They are so thoroughly disgusted," Stephen said, speaking of the company, that they would catch at any offer. Nobody will buy. Money is not very plentiful, and any experienced person can see that there must be a heavy outlay at the outset." "Do you think six or seven thousand pounds would buy the mills?" I asked, almost afraid of derision, knowing how much they had cost to erect, and what handsome fortunes had been made in them. I am positive it would; but it might as well be ten millions, as far as I am concerned." Have you no property ? I asked. "A tumble-down house and barren farm in Aberdeenshirc,"he said, laughing—" a legacy from my grandmother." There was no more said of the mills, but I made ( it my business to go to Warminster, saw the lawyer who managed our property, and out of my abundant means opened the way to independence for the man I loved. I do not claim to have been disinterested or unselfish. I loved Stephen Demp- ster, and I believed he loved me. I thought to be repaid a thousandfold when he came to me, a prosperous man, and asked me to be his wife. My first happiness came when he brought to me the good news I knew was coming, but which was so totally unexpected to him, and claimed my usual sympathy and counsel. It seems incredible," he said. An offer of twelve thousand pounds for a farm I would have gladly taken five hundred for! Mr. Mason, a lawyer in Warminster, writes to me and says the money will be paid as soon as I sign the papers." "But," I said, hypocritically, "there may be minerals there. You may lose upon the sale." c, I'll take the risk. To own these mills, to run them on my own pian. to stay in Barton's Corner, I would sell all the coal in Scotland if I owned it." So the bargain was made, and all winter I lived in a fool's paradise. Every new plan was sub- mitted to me. I coaxed workmen to stay. I made suggestions founded upon memories of father's plans. And Connie, would flit about like a butter- fly in her pretty dresses, a,nd laugh at our gravity, or break in upon our serious consultations with her songs. It was the first proof of Stephen's brightening hopes that he began, for the first time, to follow Connie to the piano, to chat with her upon light, gay subjects, to compliment her in courtly language. And she would smile and blush, and tell me, in confidence, that really Stephen was wonderfully improved since he bought the mills. 0 Spring found me blind still. A lovely day in May tempted me to loiter in the garden, and I was dreaming of the future I had built with golden fingers and rosy hopes, when I heard Connie's voice in the summer-house. Connie almost lived in the garden, so I was not surprised; but a moment later Stephen spoke: "Why, my darling, it will be no news to your cousin. Months ago I told her of my love for you, my despair at my poverty; and because she has so often spoken hopefully of my success in wooing I have kept up a brave heart. But tell me again, Connie—my Cciinie-tliat you love me." I went to the house stunned. I gained the room Connie and I shared, and tried to realise it all. Stephen loves Connie! I kept repeating it over and over, but the words conveyed no meaning to my mind. Yet when Connie came to tell me her sweet secret and claim < my congratulations I could listen and talk, and even meet Stephen without betraying myself. Nobody thought it strange I should visit my Aunt Heien a hundred miles from home. I have often been here, vwd Connie's pouting at my resolution to stay tux October had no effect. I think inother g. essed my secret, but said nothing-only smoothed my way and talked away any appearance of oddity at my absence on the wedding day. If I were only sure Connie would make Stephen happy I could be more reconciled; but she is so silly, so shallow. What did he see in her? Her beautiful faee, her childlike manners, have won him; but will they ktop his love? Will lie not miss sympathy, and intelligent companionship ? I may not question. By this time these two I love-the.se two, I repeat—are married, and no one shall ever know whose unknown gift smoothed the way to their bridal. And I will go home to mother, knowing I shall meet no voice or face to remind me of my lost love and hope, and praying only that I may be ever tt true friend to Connie and Connie's husband.

ESCAPED IN A CAB, I CRIMINAL LUNATIC AT LARGE. A criminal lunatic escaped from vvirison Ureen Lunatic Asylum, Birmingham, on Saturday after- noon, and on Monday was still at large. His name is William Greaves Edwards, and is about 47 years of age. His conviction recalls a sensational crime. Edwards was sentenced to ten years' penal servitude in 1898 for attempting to murder his daughter by throwing her under a train at New- street station/He had been living apart from his wife, and fetched his daughter, who was then 10 years of age, from school and took her to the station. For some time they walked up and down the platform, and as a train was coming in he picked up the child in his arms and threw her in front of the engine. The child lost both arms tnd one leg, but nothwithstanding these mutilations she re- covered. A public subscription was opened on her behalf, and the child has been well educated. In spite of her terrible physical disadvantages, she has made great progress, and is said to bo an artist of considerable ability. At the trial of her father Dr. Whitcombe, the superintendent of Winson Green Lunatic Asylum, was called, and stated that in his opinion Edwards did not know what he was doing when he threw the child under the train. Almost immediately after his sentence Edwards had to be removed from prison to the asylum, where he has since remained. He is said to have shown signs of improvement lately. Notwithstanding the crime which he had committed, Edwards was allowed to be amongst other inmates in the day-room. Shortly before five o'clock on Saturday afternoon, as the inmates were assembling for dinner, he was missed, and a thorough search of the grounds was made but no trace of him could be found. I The asylum stands in the centre of spacious grounds, surrounded by a wall, but it would not I offer much difficulty to anyone in getting over, pro- vided he escaped the observation of the warders. That Edwards went over the wall there is not much doubt. So far as can be gathered the escape is I thought to have been premeditated. Recently one of the attendants, on returning from a holiday, found that access had been gained to his keys, which were missing. It is suggested that Edwards had somehow arranged to be met by someone outside the gates, for it is stated that a cab was seen to drive away at a furious pace late in the after- noon. Edwards's face was familiar to the inhabi- tants of Winson Green, where he had lived before his conviction. His wife and daughter still live in the neighbourhood, and the latter had visited her father many times.

I .1 CURSED SAXON SHILLING." I A SEDITIOUS PLACARD. I Afe the Dublin Commission Court on Monday two young men, named Thomas Atkins and Thomas O'Shea, were indicted for posting in the city a seditious placard. It contained the following sen- tences Irishmen, will you keep your country enslaved and under the heel of England by joining the English Army, Navy, or Police Force? Have you no love for the Motherland that boro you, the land that has been pauperised and denuded of population so that England might fatten while she gloats over the degradation that has been put upon our stricken and persecuted land ? The chains of bondage are fastened tightly around the wrists of your loving mother. Will you lend your aid in fastening them still tighter by joining the forces that are keeping her enslaved ? You can assist in the uplifting of the Irish nation by refraining from entering the English forces. If you are an Irishman, you will be true to Ireland, and, hy refusing to take the cursed Saxon shilling, you will lend a hand in restoring your mother Erin to nationhood." The hearing of the case occupied a considerable time, and eventually the jury found the prisoners not guilty, and they were discharged.

I "READING TRASHY LITERATURE.* "Reading trashy literature" was the theory advanced in the Brentford Police-court on Mon- day by the mother of Laura Macnamara, an ingenuous-faced servant-maid of seventeen years, to explain the girl's remarkable conduct. The charge against the girl was one of stealing 5s. 6d. from her employer, Mr. Joseph Turner, of Houns- low. During the last ten days, it was stated, no fewer than 63 windows had been broken in Mr. Turner's house. Extra police were put on to investigate the matter, but they could find no clue to the mystery. On Sunday morning Mr. Turner, his family, and the servant went to church together. At the end of the service the girl, as was customary, was sent home in advance to replenish the fire and prepare the dinner. When Mr. Turner reached the house he was met by the servant-girl, who, apparently in a state of much excitement, cried. Oh, sir, burglars have been here!" Cabinets and cupboards had been broken open and articles thrown about. In the course of a closer examination of the premises, however, a bag containing 5s. 6d. was found concealed between the mattresses of Mac- namara's bed. She was ultimately given into charge on an accusation of stealing the money, and she then confessed that she had broken the 63 windows by throwing stones at them from the inside of the house. A remand was ordered. -<q

REVERIE. Alone and sad upon the grass I lay Watching the crimson clouds that show the day Has done its work; the sun had gone to rest, And crimson, gold and purple, decked the west. The birds were hushed, the very brook was mute, And all was still save Pan's most magic flute, I And as its doleful harmonies did change The world swept slowly past, so soft, so strange, That I did think I dreamed and heard it not; And cast not sad reflections on my lot. But as I list it suddenly did cease As tho' Pan's flute were troubled in its peace And sullen silence greeted every breath. The earth was still and solemn as in death; Then once again fresh harmonies did sound- I And elfin fancies floated round and round, But still the world went on, and people died, And still I felt alone and sad, and sighed. But Pan's sad time, it ceased from time to time, As tho' he sought fresh rhythm and fresh rhyme. And tried his dismal solitude to end. Ah Pan, thy flute is ever thy choicest friend. Seek not with mortal man a friend to make, Be warned in time, seek not thy heart to break, But play thy tunes; crave comfort not from man, And let thy friend be e're thy flute, oh! Pan. GLADYS EMANUEI*

At the resumed inquest on the victims of the South Stoneham Workhouse tragedy (whereby four inmates lost their lives through an escape of gas during the night), the jury returned a ver- dlC-t of "Accidental death." They exonerated the officials from blame, but recoromended that the control of gas in the dormitories should not 00 left in the hands of occupants. "Trade is very slack," said an undertaker in the Shoreditch County-court, "but I expect, it to be a bit brisker later on."

BOOKS AND MAGAZINES. I ON A LINER IN THE RED SEA.—It was con. sidered to be a cool passage, for there was a head wind nearly all the way, while a benevo- lent thunderstorm with heavy rain came out of the sky one morning. Notwithstanding these blessings the heat was trying. In the words of the German manager of an Egyptian hotel, the weather was, in fact, "enormous 'ot." It was a moist heat, like that of a rich man's greenhouse. It made everyone limp, sticky, and irritable. The nights were little better than the days. Children declined to sleep and were very fretful, while some of the ladies were moved to tears. There was a disposition to do nothing but foster the art of lying about. After lunch every chair on the shady side of the ship was occupied by sleeping passengers or by people at least with closed eyes and dropped books. The long row of recumbent figures made the deck look like a hospital ward filled with anaesthetised patients. It was the ambition of everyone to lie or sit in what is called a "complete draught," so that wherever any wind could be found there would be little groups gathered together drinking it in. In England there is a desire to get out of a draught, in the Red Sea to get into one; and at night the most fortunate were those who slept in such a, blast as made their scanty garments flutter like a flag. Many of the passengers slept on deck—a few ladies in the music saloon, a few men in the smoking-room, but the greater number of both sexes in the open. It was neces- sary only to have a mattress and a pillow placed on the floor, and the sleeping arrangements were complete. The ladies took possession of the for- ward deck, where they built themselves a kind of zareba out of deck chairs and other loose barricades. They did not, however, diffuse around themselves either the blests-ings of peaoo or the charm of repose. They talked more or less all night, and, according to the impressions of some, the zareba might have enclosed a parrot house. On one morning, about 4 a.m., the occupants of the ladies' laager had fallen upon sleep, to the joy of all. But at that hour a thunderstorm arose, and on the first flash of lightning the more timid burst out of the corral, and, trampling on the bodies of prostrate men, rushed screaming down the companion. After this, the suburbs of the ladies' quarter were re- garded as unsiafe to sleep in. At 6 a.m. each morning the ladies went below, and then for one hour the deck was given up to the men, who paraded luxuriantly in pyjamas. Military officers, learned judges, and responsible mer- chants were brought down to one level—that of pyjamas. In these simple garments they walked the ship, while the decks were being washed down with that lavish use of water and noise which is peculiar to the mariner.—" The Other Side of the Lantern," by Sir Frederick Treves. WHES THE ICE GIVES UP ITS DEAD.— Glaciers are very old—centenarians every one of them. The young ice which is forming daily and hourly, for instance, at the uppermost sources of the Mer-de-Glace, Mont Blanc's most famous glacier, will be between 179 and 180 years old when it finally reaches the Vale of Chamonix. And many glaciers can boast of a far longer life-span even than this. In 1860, a very slowly-moving glacier in the Austrian Alps, which flows in the Abreuthal, threw out a well-preserved corpse, still clad in a dress of a fashion which had been abandoned by the mountaineers for over three hundred years. It is conjectured that this unlucky individual must have fallen into some crevasse high up near the glacier's source; as, of course, the nearer the accident happens to the place where the ice- river comes to an end, the more speedily will the body be delivered up, and vice versa. Only the other day, for example, a Grindelwald glacier disgorged a body which was identified as that of a man named Guebel, who tumbled int6- a crevasse as late as 1901. having only just started on his upward journey at the time the accident happened. On the other hand, another body delivered up by the ice this season, that of a guide named Nagi, of Aosta, Italy, has been in the grip of the glacier ever since the summer of 1877. But in this case the fatality took place near the summit of Monte Rosa, so that the remains may be said to have made a quick passage down. The corpse was, as is usually the case, in an almost perfect state of preserva- tion, and easily recognisable. Tho above by no means exhausts the list of bodies delivered up by glaciers during late years, but the one for which every Alpine guide is eagerly on the look-out has -,o far not been found. This is that of the intrepid Lord Francis Douglas, who fell four thousand feet from near the summit of the Matterh-orn on the Zmut Glacier, on July 14, 1865; and which is "due," if we may say so without irreverence, at the ice river's tongue about this time. The occasion was the first ascent of the mountain, which had up till then been deemed absolutely inaccessible, and the tragedy caused at the time a tremendous sensation. Three other members of the party fell with Lord Bougies, but their bodies were recovered soon afterwards.— "T.A.T." HER CRUEL PAST.—"No," said the theatrical manager to the Society woman-who-has-adopted- the-stage-as-a-career, "I fear that you have not the temperament to essay the very exacting role you are so anxious to portray. Properly to present the character, a woman must have fathomed the height and depth of human emotion." The-Society-woman-who-has-reeently- adopted-thc-etage-as-a-career looked fixedly at him a moment before replying, an almost pity- ing wonder in her beautiful eyes. "Do you, then, doubt that I have drunk deep of the waters of Marah, and have been tried in the furnace?" she asked, in a low, pained tone. "I do," he remarked, with brutal frankness; "you have always been a, petted daughter of wealth. with every wish gratified since your earliest years. You may have known some little trials, but—■—" he threw out his hands with a gesture of finality and turned on his heel as if about to end the interview. "One moment," she cried in ringing tones; "you will admit that the fame of my beauty is world-wide." "Yes," he answered grudgingly; "your picture appears constantly in the magazines and newspapers you are certainly valuable; but I do not con- sider you equal to the part. On that point, I must insist." "Alas!" she. moaned, covering her eyes with her white jewelled hands, "your taunts show me that I midst reveal the terrible secrets of my cruel past." At these words the manager .turned again, the light of joyous hope in his eyes. "Secrets! Past!" he cried eagerly. "Aye, man!" sternly. "Secrets, indeed, and a past. Listen!" she hissed. "Do you see this rose-leaf complexion? To secure it I had three layers of cuticle removed and for weeks after suffered the torments of the lost. To achieve this classic nose, paraffin was injected beneath the skin, and I endured the agonies of necrosis of the bone. To gain these delicately arching brows my scalp was cut and drawn back. These long, sweeping lashes were sewn through my eyelids, and to attain this rare, Titian shade of hair, I almost lest my eight. And yet you say I have not suffered Great tears were running down the hardened manager's cheeks. "And in order to secure temperament," he exclaimed, "I might have decided on an actress who has known the petty griefs of being jilted twenty or thirty times, or run over by an automobile, or starved while waiting for an engagement; might have selected some mere, ordinary woman, content to remain as God made her, instead of one who has sacri- ficed aill for Art."—"Life."

Bleeker: Hello, oM man! I see you are operating the typewriter yourself now." What became of that pretty stenographer you used to hivo? Meeker: Oh, she quit her job to get married, I'm sorry to say." Bleeker: dee(I Who is her husband?" Meeker: I am. The Bow-street magistrate Alfred Brooks, alias James George Craik, described as a, commission agent, of St. Johns-wood, who had been accused of forgery and fraud at one of Messrs. Lyons's restaurants. The Duchess of AJbercorn and Lady Alexandra Hamilton were present at Marliborough-street I when two men were charged with breaking into J the stables of the Duke of Afcercorn's house in j North-row, Park-lane. The men were re- m&nded.

INTERESTIISTCr ITJiMS. South London admirers are presenting a fulZI aet of episcopal robes to Canon Laeke, Bishop- designate of Woolwich. Not only were Filicides buried with the usual rites nowadays, said the Ardwick coroner, but the Bishop of Manchester had authorised a special burial service for them. Despite all precautions taken by the Cheshire' county authorities to prevent the spread of" anthrax, another case, making the eixth within two or three weeks, 'has broken out at Sidding- ton. If the gentleman who missed some bank- notes on board a British and Irish Coinpany's- steamer many/years ago applies to he may recover them," runa an advertisement in one of the daily papers.. There were 8-45 applicants for a clerkship worth 35s. per week under the Saliord Corpo- ration. So heavy was the catch (150,000) of hrringsi of a Yarmouth boat that she had to share her' haul with another vessel. The Paris, Lyons, and Mediterranean Railway coal contract of 90.000 tons has been secured by Messrs. Pyman, Watson, and Co., of Cardiff, at about 17s. 6d. per ton. Although a Swymbridge (Devon) dairymaid, named Annie Smale, died a few minute3 after being kicked by a cow, the autopsy showed that her death was a purely natural one, due to heart disease. Contracts for two new steamers have been placed with Clyde shipbuilders' by the Anchor Line. One of the vesselst, which will have a gross tonnage of 9,000, is for the Glasgow and) New York trade, and the other is for the India, trade. Sentence of two years' hard labour for horse- stealing at Mitcham was passed upon a mam named Stevens at the Old Bailey. For the first time in nine years the Black Maria" attending the Stratford Police-court has made its return journey to Brixton Gaol! without a prisoner. Because his boot hurt his corns a West Ham pauper cut the leather, and he was sent to gaol for seven days for wilfully damaging the guar- dians' property. After lasting ten week, the strike of rivet and stud-trade workers in South Staffordshire ..nd Worcestershire ended, the -employers con- ceding the advance of 10 per cent, in wages asked for. A new class of offence, made possible bv the new regulation allowing Post Office Savings Bank depositors to withdraw sums uo to £ 1 on de-mand, was mentioned at the Old Bailey. Beatrice Shannon was bound over on a charge- that she had altered an entry in her pass-book and thus obtained 9s. 9d. by fraud. Mr. Pickford, K.C., Recorder of Liverpool, and Mr. Leslie Scott have been appointed to represent the British Government at tli.,e Inter- national Maritime Conference. Thirty-flvle, anti-vaccinationists were each com- mitted to prison for seven days at Derby for failing to pay either costs or fines imposed upon them at previous hearings. In opening a shooting range at Penrith, the Speaker (Mr. Lowther) said that- rifle clubs were essential for training those upon whom the country might have eventually to rely for the, defence of our shores. The suggested erection of an ocean wharf, whereby it is hoped to .save £ 120,000 in distri- bution and £ 244,000 in loading annually, was referred by the London City Corporation to the special committee on the Port of London. For having embezzled sums totalling C214, after being sixte,en years in the service of the- Southwark Council, W. Pottinger, a rate col- lector, was, at the Old Bailey, gent to prison for twelve, months in the second division. Rate- payers gave evidence in his favour. The King went to the races at Newmarket. and inspected his own racing stable at Sgertoc iHouse. Mr. Balfour was made an honorary freeman of the City of Edinburgh, and Mr. John Morley and Mr. Andrew Carnegie received like. honours at Montro6e. The Prince of Wales has sent strict orders that the Sabbath is to be observed carefully during his tour. In return for the release of the captured. British officers the Moorish brigands are now demanding a ransom and an appointment for a, bandit chief. The Bishop of London, in his annual charaa. at St. Paul's Cathedral, condemned smalr,, families and religious apathy. The boycott of Andover by motorists is having; a serious effect upon the prosperity of the town. The feeling against the local magistrates, who- support the police, is very bitter. In an imperial manifesto the Czar declares that the eastern portion of his Empire will de- velop itself in peace with the now become our friend." A gentleman buigiiir appeared at the New- ington Sessions to plead for his vatat, who was acquitted of a guilty knowledge of his thefts. The late Lord Grimthorpe left personal estate sworn at L- 1,562,500, in addition to real estate. Two of the new London tubes in course of construction by the Underground Electric Railways Company will probably be opened next year. The three-weeks married life of two faithful lovers, who waited for each other for forty years,, was brought to a tragic close by the death of the aged bride. Mr. Charles Warner made a. flying visit to Paris, leaving London at nine in the morning and playing Hamlet at the Opera Comique in the afternoon. He made up as Hamlet in the train. One hundred and sixty-five accidents, involv- ing sixty-five deaths, have occurred, says the "Echo de Paris," on the Alps since January last. By a. majority of twelve votes the Australian Federal House of Representatives has adopted, a motion to petition the King in favour of Home- Rule in Ireland. Pope Pius X. recently received. Mr. Patrick Cahill, of Dublin, who was the optician to the late Pope Le6 XIII., and was fitted with a. new pair of spectacles. As a result of the special appeal made by the Vicar of Braintree, the collection at the parish church last Sunday constituted a record for thm present year. Owing to a fire which broke Out in the drying; kiln, the brewery of Messrs. 1 aine and Co., at St. Neots, Huntingdonshire was destined as well as a flour mill belonging to the same firm. Swallowing a fish bone. while. at dinner, Dr. Lucy Alexander, the assistant medical officer of the Liverpool Medical Mission, was afterwards. operated on for its removal, but she died. 'Although we have an Empire of gi*eat re- sponsibility what really matters is the work which is done m England," said the Archbishop of Canterbury at a meeting of the Church of England Mens Society at the Church House, Westminster. Claiming to he the only woman steeplejack in the world, Mrs. Charles Corbett has recently been painting the flagstaff of the Broad-street Bank Building, eays the "New York American," which ig more than a hundred and twenty f.uet from, the ground. While working in a pottery manufactory at Stoke-on-Trent, Edith Pye, a young woman, got her hair entangled in a revolving shaft, and her scalp was torn off. She was removed to the infirmary, where an operation was performed. In order to discuss a numiber of questions of common interest to the British West African' Colonies, a meeting of the Governors is now being held in London, of whom the Governors of Gambria, Lagos and Southern Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and Northern Nigeria are now home on leave.

= NEWS NOTES. The Nelson celebration on Saturday was of a national character. In London and in almost every town in the country something was done to commemorate the great deeds of Britain's naval hero. On Trafalgar-square an immense concourse of people took part in the celebration, which took the form of a religious service conducted by Bishop Welldon. Hundreds of beautiful wreaths were laid at the base of the Nelson Statue, which was entwined with ever- greens and flags. Towards the end of the afternoon the crowds were dispersed by the heavy downpour of rain. On Sunday refer- ences to this great national event was made in over 30,000 churches. The King unveiled on Sunday a memorial at the Royal Military chapel, Wellington Barracks, to the late Duke of Cambridge. The memorial —a beautiful representation of the Ascension in Italian mosaic-was marred by some unfortunate mistakes in names and spelling. For example, the first Christian name of his late Royal Highness, George," was entirely omitted from the inscription, though the King partly amended this error, by laying emphasis on the word George," when in the art of un- veiling the memorial. The word division was spelt "divison," and other words were omitted from the inscription. These mistakes will necessitate the substitution of another slab of marble. It is reported that the German Navy is to be increased enormously without delay. Eighty new torpedo craft are to be built forthwith. The size of the new battleships is to be increased to 16,000 or 17,000 tons, and votes are to be obtained for six new armoured cruisers of the most powerful type. Prince Henry of Prussia is to be placed in supreme command of the fleet. The German papers combine their attack on Great Britain and are calling for Lord Lansdowne's resignation, owing to the part which that statesman is alleged to have taken in the recent "revelations" respecting Anglo-French policy. King Edward, too, appears to be the object of a great deal of animosity on the part of the Anglophobe section of the German Press. Admiral Togo made his formal entry into Tokio on Sunday to report to the Emperor the return of the fleet from war. Needless to say, the gallant hero had an enthusiastic welcome from the people. All Tokio was in the streets, and the firing of salutes and playing of bands made the day memorable in the annals of Japan. The Mikado warmly praised the services of admirals, officers and men. The character of Togo's reception will be appreciated when we state that five Imperial carriages were placed at his disposal. It is reported that the Australian Board of Control will invite the Hon. F. S. Jackson to take out a team of English cricketers to Australia during the winter, the M.C.C. having declined a similar invitation. As the Austra- lians are naturally anxious to wipe out the results of their recent defeats in the English test matches, it would be unwise to take out any talent of an inferior character. Mr. Jackson, who captained the English team at each test match last season, would be sure to decline the invitation if he cannot captain the best possible team. It is stated that the Australians netted 4:900 apiece as the result of the tour this year. If the figures are correct the maiden trip of the big steamer Amerika was exceedingly profit- able from a financial point of view. The recepts were R30,000, and the cost of the trip £ 11,000, leaving 4:19,000 profit. The trip was notable for the first attempt made on a liner to provide a, la carte restaurants. The prices on board were similar to those of the first-class restaurants in London and Paris. It appears that the refrigerating machinery worked per- fectly, enabling a service of fresh game, poultry, fruit, and vegetables to be maintained throughout the voyage. Of the 411 saloon passengers 120 depended entirely on the restaurant for their meals. The Prince and Princess of Wales are now fairly on their way to India. They had a warm reception at Genoa, where they went on board the Renown, which is to take them to Bombay. The British Mediterranean Fleet escorted their Royal Highnesses through the Straits of Messina, and on Monday a naval review took place off Sicily. The King of Italy telegraphed his greeting to the Prince and Princess of Wales on their entering Italy, and expressed the hope that the ties uniting the two Royal houses would long continue. Mr. Choate, the late United States Ambas- sador to Great Britain, is being entertained in various cities in America with record magni- ficence. He has made an important discovery since he left us. He has found that the strain on nerve, mind, and body is greater than ever in the United States, and he advises his countrymen to imitate the repose and relaxation that prevail in other countries. "You were going at a tremendous pace when I went away," said Mr. Choate at a recent banquet in New York, but now, if I can judge, you have set upon the pace that kills." Let us take warning from these wise words. The Daily Telegraph publishes some extra- ordinary details as to the state of things in the seminaries in which the students for the Russian priesthood are prepared. The writer states that in the higher classes in those schools the pupils who are wholly Atheistic or totally indifferent to religion, number in some cases over 90 per cent. of the total. Others leave these seminaries totally unequipped for their future office, even in many of the rudiments of knowledge. Im- morality is rife among all classes, and disorders are constantly breaking out. It seems that in every corner of Russia the seeds of national decay are being sown, if they are not already ripening to harvest.