The Cardiff Times

SITTING AT LLAMELLY. The Sunday Closing Commission continued its inquiry atHanelly on Wednesday afternoon in the Atbenssuin-hall. There was no sitting during the forenoon. Mr J. S. Tregoning, J. P., and owner of Morfa Tin Works Mr R. Nevill, J.P., owner of the Wern Iron Works Mr J. H. Rogers, of the South Wales Tinplate Works Mr D. Randell, M.P.; Dr Davies, Silob Dr Jones, Mr D. C. Jfidwards; Clerk to the Board of Guardians and Mr John Jennings, were present. CAPTAIN SCOTT. Captain Scott, police superintendent, was the first witness called. He stated that he had been four years in the town. The statistics of Sunday drunkenness were as follows :—In 1884, 14 caeef; 1885, 11; 1885, 8 1887, 15; 1888, 44; 1889, 47. The rise of the numbers in the two latter years was due to the existence of clubs in the town. One of these had proved latterly to be a bogus club. In February, 1887, he proceedectagainst oue club in Emma-street and another in Oxon-street, but it was proved to the satisfaction of the magistrates that they were bona-fide clubs, and the summonses were dismissed. The Central Club in Market-street was started in August, 1887, and he issued a summons in October of that year, but the summons was dis- missed. On the occasion there were 48 persons found in the club. He proceeded against it again on 29' h Sept, last, and secured a conviction. There were 81 persons then found on the premises. The rise in a number of cases of drunkenness was due principally to this last-mentioned club. Persons had been constantly seen coming out of the club in a state of drunkenness, and nearly all the con- victions had been in thn neighbourhood. The penalty imposed was £25 and costs. Tha delay in proceeding a second time against this club was due to the difficulty of obtaining infor- mation. There had lateiy been considerably more drunkenness in Llanelly on Sunday than was formerly the case. He attributed this to the fact that the club trade was more prosperous now than formerly, and doubtless some portion of the increase was due to this fact. In regard to the bona-fide traveller they bad bad trouble, and he thought it should be loft to the discretion of the magistrates to decide as a matter of fact whether a man was or was not a traveller. Bome persons came into the town on Saturday, lodged all night at public-houses, and then, as lodgers, were entitled to a supply of drink on Sundays. Persons went out of town to Pem- brey, Loughor, and Kidwelly, and this form of travelling was increasing. Another difficulty was in respect of cases where the landlord of a licensed house professed that the persons found on the pre- mises were bis private friends, and convictions could not be pbtained. POLICE INSPECTOR EVANS. Police-inspefetor Evans was the next witness. He concurred with Superintendent Scott's evi- dence, the facts mentioned being in accordance ,with his own experience. Sunday drinking decreased lor a few years after the act came into operation, but this was not the case during the past two or three years, and the change was attributable to the existence of clubs. Before the act came into operation persons waited in numbers about tbe streets on Sundays for the houses to be opened, and were to be seen rushing about at ten o'clock after being turned out in the evening. All that had disappeared since the act .was passed. The police had had some amount of trouble with public-houses selling on Sundays. A watch was kept against the officers, and they could not detect evasion of the act. There were in some cases internal communi- cation between licensed premises and private houses; and the act did not go far enough to en- able conviction to be obtained in cases of this sort. Beerwascarried out on Sundays occasionally now, but not to such an extent as was formerly the case. Do you think that the policy of the act is ac- cepted by the people, and that the majority de- sire it to be enforced ?—I do.—The witness added that in 1833 a great deal of trouble was caused by internal communication between public-houses and private houses. In some cases there would be a tube, through which the beer would be run, and taken in jugs at the other end. In other in- stances, there would be movable bricks in the dividing wall, and these would be moved to put liquor through. Evasions of the act were becoming less frequent as time went on, distinctly BO. He would like section 9 of the act of 1874 amended, for he bad bad cases of beer served on Sunday evening, and the publican having come forward to swear that it was paid for on Saturday, the case was dismissed. He would like the bona-fide traveller question to be left to the decision of the magistrates. He had bad a. case where a man came to town; got drink at one house, went 150 yards further to another and was again supplied; but although be brought the landlady of the first bouse to prove that the man had been served there the cuse was dismissed. The bench generally dismissed the case if the traveller hart come three miles. The police in Llanelly did not now take any more atringent action against drunkards than they did before the act. Public opinion was stronger now than it was some years hack. During the past two years there had been more drunkards about the streets on Sundays than was the case before the act passed this was due to the clubs. In the earlier years after Sunday-closing was enforced, it worked very well and drunkenness was lessened. By Lord Emlyn: In one of the clubs the sub- scription was 6d a quarter. The premises were an ordinary dwelling bouse, in which tha "manager "had lived previous to tbe formation of the club, and all tbe furniture belonged to him. There was nothing there for recreation except a few newspapers. The rooms were small, being only those of an ordinary dwelling house. There was no special accommodation for a club. The bouso Was open no particular hours, and very little was done in it on week days. Anybody could have gone there on week days if they liked, but there was very little business done. Nothing except intoxicating drink appeared to be pro- vided for the members. In the other "club" cases, it was almost the same the manager bad lived in the place before it was opened as a club. Take the Market-street Club, what was its condition?—There was nothing hardly in the house. No furniture; nothing whatever. A few boards, put across on some beer casks, were used as seats. That was in 1887. No furniture in the club whatever 7-N at any at all. And that was held to be a bona-fide club ?—It was, my lord. In 1889 there was some furniture. It was a private house with one room fitted up as a bar. In one room upstairs there was a table and a few chairs, and in another was a piano. The rules submitted in 1889 were exactly the same as in 1887. The charge against the club was for selling beer without a licence. A con- viction was obtained and fine inflicted on the 9th of the month. The only difference between the three clubs—Emma-street, Oxon-street, and the Central Club (Market-street)—was that more persons went to the last-named. There was no difference in regard to provision of entertainment. MR JOHN JENNINGS. Mr J. Jonnings, magistrates' clerk and clerk to the local board, stated that he had known Llanelly for 28 years. He had some statistics relating to cases of drunkenness but they differed from those of the police-superintendent in that they embraced the hours from midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday, instead of from 6 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday. In 1883 there were 20 Sunday oases; in 1884, 14; 1885, 20; 1886, 21; 1887, 30; and 1888, 60. He could not express an opinion as to the operation of the act in the town, for he bad made no observation on Sundays. He wished to see the bona fide traveller clause eliminated from the act, and the question to be left to the discretion of the Enagig- trates. Lord Emlyn What was the difference in 1889 whereby this club was convicted Witness In 1887 the books were produced and they were clearly kept; there was a committee, secretary, and treasurer. In 1889 the manager was also the treasurer, and it was clearly proved that some persons supplied were not members. By Sir R. Harington: In witness's opinion it would be an improvementin tbe lawif associations of persons merely for the sake of selling drink to members were made illegal. MR JOSEPH MAYBERY. Mr Joseph Maybery, chairman of the local board, who bad known Llanelly for 45 years, had no doubt as to the benefits which the act bad conferred upon the town. He saw very distinctly, walking through the town several times each Sunday, that there were far fewer drunken parsons about on Sundays now than there were before the aot came into operation. If there had been any increase ha would have seen it. He was manager of tin-plate works, having 800 omployees, one-third of the number being men, and his experience had been that prior to the act, on Monday mornings, be bad frequent cases of men absenting them- selves from work, and occasionally getting doctoral certificates that tbcur were unfit for work. Since the act had been in force he did not remember having a single case of that nature. He now had no difficulty in getting men to work on Monday mornings, and did not remember having had a single doctor's certificate after the date of the act. He handed in a resolution passed by the local board to the effect that inasmuch as the great majority of the people of Llanelly value very highly the benefits of the act, and would view its repeal with dismay, the board urged upon the commissioners and upon Parliament to improve and strengthen the act so that club- houses might be subject to the general licensing laws. DR J. A. JONES. Dr James Arthur Jones, alderman of the county council, practising as a surgeon, stated that he had known Llanelly for 13 years, and believed that Sunday drunkenness had materi- ally decreased. Fewer persons got drunk on Sun- days than was the case before the act. Certain bogus clubs had been started, and they were opened day and night. People went into them and stayed there until tbey got dead drunk, and the police could not intetfere. He had a considerable practice as surgeon to some of the works, and had knowledge ] of the homes of the workpeople. During the past eight or nine years there bad been considerable improvement in the dwellings. Children were better clad they got better food, and they were better clothed. The workmen stayed more at home on the Sundays. The Sunday-closing Act was one factor in bringing about this improvement. His experience was that tha workmen of Llanelly Were a superior class. He bad noticed since the act that persons had become more temperate; and be had observed that those persons whose homes bad not improved were those who belonged to certain drinking clubs in the town. The condition of the streets had much improved. Prior to the act it was practically a competition bstween the places of worship and the public-houses. Thousands were going to the churches and chapels, and hundreds were waiting to go into tbe public-houses when they opened. Such was not the case now. Excuses for non- attendanse at work at the beginning of the week had materially diminished. It was 'not an un- common thing before tbe act for him to be called to attend persons who had received injuries in street squabbles and tights, but this had now entirely disappeared, or nearly 80. Cases of extreme drunkenness, resulting in delirium tremens, were nearly extinct now, and in such cases as had occurred he had been able to trace the sufferers as members of the drink clubs, or as men who had taken advantage of the bona-fide clause. Clubs should, in bis opinion, be placed under supervision similar to that of the public-houses, and there should be some alteration in the bona-fide traveller clause. He also believed that the police had been far more vigilant lately. He presented a resolution from 91 chapels in the town and neighbourhood, repre- senting 26,561 members, and this expression of opinion in favour of the act bad been in each case carried unanimously. The clubs were not wanted. Except the Conservative Club, they had been started by persons who wanted to make profit out of them. By Sir R. Harington He thought that associ- ations existing simply tor the purpose of selling drink to members should be made altogether illegal. Prior to the act, one in every ten of certificates asked from him for the excuse of men not attending work on Mondays would be such as he would refuse, knowing them to come from men who bad been drinking and who were not entitled to them. By Mr Hibbert: If the clubs were under magisterial supervision they would refuse to grant licences; and if liquor licences were not granted they would cease to exist, tor they were estab- lished for no other purpose. Nineteen out of every twenty of the working class were in favour of the act. MR J. H. ROGERS. Mr J. H. Rogers, of the South Wales Works, employing 1,050 hands at Llanelly, stated that he had had charge of the works since 1870, first as manager and afterwards as mauaging partner. After the act came into operation the workpeople came more punctually on Monday mornings, and they were now as able to work on Mondays as on other days. Such was not the case formerly. At present there were no more breakages of machinery on Mondays than on other days, whereas before the act was passed there were many more breakages on Mondays-more on Mondays than on all the other days of the week put together. He traced that neglect and carelessness to the fact that the men were formerly not in a tit state for their work. There was improvement in the appearance and comfort and welfare of the people during the last few years. This was pro- gressive improvement, partly due to the Sunday- closing Act it bad played an important part. He found that those who took an active part in athletics and other amusements were the steadier and more sober class. (Applause.) (The Chair- man desired that no expression of sympathy or opinion should be made.) There used to be a great deal of drunkenness among their work- people, but until the last two or three years he had not known of any convictions, and this he attributed to greater energy on the part of the police. By Mr Hibbert: The houses of the men were more comfortable, and from the pecuniary point of view the men were great gainers. He believed that the general opinion of the workmen was in favour ot the act. MR GRIFFITH ELIA3. Mr Griffiths Elias, manager of tin-plate works at Ammanford, who had himself been a workman, expressed approval of the act, and stated that many men had been improved in their circum- stances as a result of it. Whereas they used to be drinkers, they were now sober and lived in their own houses. The court then adjourned for lunch. REV. CANON WILLIAMS. Rev Canon Williams, B.D., was the first witness called after the luncheon. He could not say that he ever saw much drunkenness in Llanelly before or after the passing of the act. The act, however, bad put a stop to an enormous amount of drinking in public-houses on Sunday night. He had no personal knowledge as to whether it had driven drinking into private houses. On the whole he was in favour of the continuance of the act, with a few amendments. On the whole the act had been beneficial. The Chairman: Why do you say on the whole ? —Certain evils perhaps unforeseen have followed the operation of the act. One is the working men's clubs, which have been a great evil at Llanelly. It has also caused many people to taka excursions to a distance simply to get drink. Public opinion for the most ptrt was in favour of the act. He thought working men's clubs should be placed under control. He would make no dis- tinction between a gentlemau's club and any other club. He would place all social clubs—to dis- tinguish them from friendly clubs—under the same supervision as a licensed bouae. And give them the same hours of closing ?— Yes. Would you make that of universal application ? -1 am now speaking of Walea. Would you ask the legislature to adopt legislation with regard to Wales which could not be reasonably expected from other parts of the country ?—I am not prepared to give an opinion as to what legislation would be best for Ettgland. We in Wales may require some special legislation. Continuing, the witness said, another improve- ment he would suggest was that the bona fide clause should be amended, though he did not think it was any use measuring the distance. Men would ga 1J or 20 miles simply for the sake of drink. He kuew a young man who went from Llanelly to Swansea simply to get drink. The young man had told him so himself. That was a distance of 12 miles, and what he did hundreds of others would be dis- posed to do. He did did not think the clause should be abolished entirely, but no intoxicants should be sold. Would such a law in practice be possible to enforce ?—Well, that I cannot say. One result would be that bouses where refreshments are sold without intoxicants would be multiplied. By Mr Hibbert: He bad no objection to the Scotch system of setting apart certain houses for the entertainment of travellers. The majority of opinion in Wales was in favour oi the aot. Mr John Hughes, brickmaker, New Dock, Llanelly, testified that the act had been a great blessing to the town. INSPECTOR GIDDINGS. Police-Inspector Giddings, of Pontardawe, pre- sented statistics showing that from October, 1877, to October, 1882, there were 282 persons proceeded against for Sunday drunkenness and from October, 1882, to October, 1888, there were 507. Ha attributed this increase in numbers to the greater prevalence of illicit drinking. People congregated in private houses, casks having been brought there previously, and men gathered together there solely for drinking. There had been a great increase in the number of travellers," and the number of vehicles which came out to bis district with casks of beer was much greater, having increased from 2 to 14 during the latter part of the week. Increase had been noticed more particularly during the past five years, and was still growing. The police force in the division had had to be increased by three or four men. In July last, each, Sunday during the month, tbe number of bona-fide travellers in the public-houses in this division were counted. On the first Sunday, in 93 houses, there were 689 persons; the second Sunday, in 98 houses, 565 persons on the third Sunday, in 97 houses, 613 persons on the fourth Sunday, iu 88 houses, 556 persons. Each constable visited the houses .in his own district, devoting the whole afternoon to the work. Witness himself visited 15 bouses but did not see in any one of them a person who had been previously in another house—if he bad done so he should have summoned them. The witness suggested tbc.t the provision of the act which made it necessary for tha police to obtain a warrant before entering a house should be altered; and that they should have power of entry at any time, providing there were grounds for suspecting that illicit drinking was going on. He suggested also greater restriction in regard to the issue of wholesale licences, for at present some of the holders of those licences sold 4J gallon casks on Sundays. Shebeens were on the increase in his district, he having had four convictions last week. During the last two years it had been necessary to place a constable on on of the roads to check the furious driving of those who went out into the country in traps on Sun- days. POLICE-SERGEANT HOWELLS. P.S, Ho wells, stationed at the Mumbles, declared that the act had been a real failure," so far as that place was concerned. Previous to the passing of the act, respectable people would visit the place with their families on Sunday after- noons, take tea there, and return home in a quiet and proper manner. Since the act a different class of people came, going from house to house to get drink. Eleven trains came in during the Sunday and the heaviest one would be 'at 3.40 carrying 1,400 to 1,500 persons. Each of the others would have from 500 to 600. The greater; part a £ £ *ersons came for drinks they*being travellers," and entitled to be served at the public-houses when they reached the Mumbles. Nine out of every ten visitea the public-houses. The Chairman: Don't they come to visit the seaside ?—They didn't find it out previous to the act, my lord. (Laughter.) Witness added that drunkenness was very much on the increase, and be had had to get an additional constable to assist him for the last 18 j months. This was owing to the Sunday trading, witness not being able to control the people, and there were complaints of gardens being robbed. During the past six weeks the local board had made application for one mote constable to be placed on duty there. He should ,tike the bona- fide traveller's limit extended to ^10 miles, so as to keep Swansea people away from the Mumbles. (Laughter.) The Chairman I suppose any distance which would be longer than the actual distance between Swansea and the Mumbles would Buit your pur- pose?—It would, sir. (Renewed laughter.) Witness continued by expressing an opinion that it would be well to open the bouses for an hour or two in the middle of the day and the evening so as to permit of persons getting beer for their meals. There were 80 to 100 working men at the Mumbles who worked in Swansea during the week, and they could not getlleer with their dinners on Sundays. Three or four of them went to Swansea to get drink. What do the others do ?—They stop at home, air. What do they do for their beer ?—They go without, sir. But I may as well tell you three out of the four are dead. (Laughter.) I hope they have not died for want of their Sunday beer ?—I think it was too much of it they had. (Renewed laughter.) In reply to further questions, the witness stated that if visitors were noticed going from house to bouse to get drink, they would be sum- moned by the police. Previous to the commis- sion, however, they had no convictions; Bince the appointment of the commission, convictions had been obtained. MR ROBINSON SMITH. Mr W. Robinson Smith, solicitor, of Swansea, solicitor to the Licensed Victuallers' Association of that town, presented memorials from the license-holders of the district, mainly with re- ference to alterations of the act. In their opinion the act had not prevented Sunday trading, but had diverted the trade from prooerly regulated and police-controlled bouses to clubs and private premises. The act had not afforded relief to tbe dealers in country districts, having on the con- trary increased their labour by the in- creased number of bona fide tra- vellers who went out on Sundays. They suggested the opening of the houses from 1230 to 2.30, and from 8 till 10 o'clock, for sale both on and off the premises. Mr Smith stated the members of the trade were considerably harrassed by persons calling at their bouses and representing themsolves falsely to be persons qualified to demand a supply of refreshments. The trade had made no representations to the police, although they had to him personally. AMUSING EVIDENCE. Mr John Samuel, joiner, Llanelly, stated that he had been a member of the committee of the Central Club, Llanelly, but severed his connec- tion about three months before it was suppressed. Occasionally the club wis open all night. Most of the business was done on Sundays. The Chairman As a matter of fact was any business worth speaking of done on other days?— A trifle. There were 300 or 400. members of tbe club, and only a few went there on other days except Saturday and Sunday. When a new mem- ber was proposed he had to "go under the com- mittee." Sometimes he was proposed by a member, and at other times onlv by himself. (Laughter.) Would it be going too far to say the election by the committee was provided for in the rules, but that nothing else was done ?—If tha club bad gone on according to the rules it Would have been in existence now. It has been said here that anybody taken in by a member could get a glass of beer?—He was not supposed to have it; but I do not say that many did not get it. The subscription was 6d per quarter. Was it regularly paid?—Mostly. The club has been given a very bad character. What is your opinion of the conduct of the members ?—To be sure, there are many of bad character, and some of good. In public-houses it is just the same. The police say tbat very large numbers of men came out of the club drunk, and that it is owing to the operation of the club that convictions for drunkenness have largely increased. What do you say to that?—I believe it has increased because of such clubs and the shutting up of public-houses. I believe there is more drunken- ness now. The witness was then questioned as to tha house used for club premises. It had, he said, six rooms, and the chairman pressed him as to the purpose for which each room was used. One room, 12tt. by 8ft., was, it was stated, used as a reading-room there were newspapers in it. One room was used for putting persons by when they were intoxicated. (Laughter.) Was that done under the sanction or by the order of the committee ?—Well, the committee were not always there, but they knew of it. Was that room set apart by the committee for that purpose I—That room was always used for that purpose. Nobody went there except them. Have you ever seen persons put into it your- self ?—Yes. How m-\uy at one time ?—Only one. Did those persons go there voluntarily, or were they put there ?—They would go of themselves when they knew they had had too much, till they got right to show themselves to outside people. What became of the profits of theclub?—I don't believe there were any profits. I didn't see any. How was it managed ? Did the committee buy the beer, or did the managers supply the beer and sell it to the members?—The manager would attend to persons at the bar, but he was under the committee. Did he render account to the committee, or was the club conducted for bis profit ?—The club was conducted by the committee, but he did more than he ought himself. Mr Hibbert: What was your object in joining this club?—Well, there was a few jobs wanting to be done in carpentering. (Laughter.) MR EVAN DAVID, shunter on the Great Western Railway, Brynaman, was the next witness. He, too, handed in a document in favour of Sunday- closing from the chapels in that district, and himself gave testimony in favour of the measure. The Rev W. D. Williams, Calvinistic Methodist minister, Gowerton, stated that the act had been of great benefit. He supported the resolution handed in at Carmarthen on the pre- vious day. The rev. gentleman was much pressed because of a remark ha made that a policeman had told him it was no use proceeding against certain public-houses because the owners were magistrates; and it was pointed out to him tbat by specific provision in the Licensing Act persons haviug an interest in public-house property could not adjudicate in reference to it without becoming liable to a heavy penalty. The Chairman desired Mr Williams to give the names of the persons concerned, but he declined, stating that he was not justified jn so doing. The Chairman: I do not think it ia right to make the charge unless you are prepared to give uames. Mr Williams It would implicate persons. The suggestion was that there would be sympathy on the part of the magistrates with the owners of the bouses. MR WILLIAM JOjKIES. Mr William Jones, tin-plate worker, who gave bis evidence in Welsh, presented a memorial signed by 650 workmen in favour of the act, and stated that of his own know- ledge he could inform the commissioners that the houses of the people were much improved, they attended worship more regularly, were better housed and better fed than before tbe act, that law having had an important influence in bringing about the improvement in their con- dition. MR W. DAVID. Mr William David, curator of the Mechanics' Institute, confirmed the evidence of Mr Maybery and Dr Jones as to the improved condition of the people. Attempt was made, about five years ago, to get up demonstrations against the act in Llanelly, but it failed utterly. A person came to the town, and stayed a fortnight trying to get up a meetiug. He hired the hall, but no one attended; and he then endeavoured to have an open-air demonstration, but no one attended that either. Mr David presented a petition in support of Sunday-closing from merchants and shopkeepers; and another from 61 publicans (half the total number in the town) in favour of amend- ment in the act. This closed the evidence, and, in announcing the adjournment, the chairman took occasion to thank the Local Board for the great trouble they bad taken, and their kindness and hospitality to the Commissioners. The adjournment then took place.

WELSH-SPEAKING tilAGIS- THA TES. With every desire to conciliate the Welsh people (whose rarebits" alone would be sufficient to inspire me with an affection for the principality), I am unable to go with the Rev Ambrose Jones, of Ruthin, m his" contempt and detestation of the English language." To my thinking it is not a bad sort of language as languages go, and it furthermore happens to be tbe one in which I am usually in the habit of expressing such ideas as occur to me. But in the Welshman's exclama- tion, I want to make it quite impossible for magistrates who cannot speak out language to sit on the bench in Wales," I thoroughly concur. I cannot conceive anything mora monstrous than that magistrates speaking no Welsh should have at theIr disposal the persons and property of Welshmen who speak no English. In a very large number of the sessions and county-court cases in Wales, the court is completely at the mercy of the interpreter. If I Welshman I should never rest content until this shameful scandal were abated.—Trttfh.

DUKE OF ARGYLL ON HOME RULE. HI The Duke of Argyll, writing to a'correspondent with reference to the Home Rule scheme for Scotland proposed by the Marquis of Bute, says: —" I do not think it worth while to spend much time or thought on the various fads which occupy the minds of men who think themselves compe- tent to devise a brand new British constitu- tion restoring the Heptarchy or setting up a Pentarchy.

SURE AND HARMLESS OURE MR WORMS IN CHILDREN.—Kernick s Vegetable Worn Lozenges. 74d and 13(1,(1 bow», with full direction*, J3558

DEAR PINAFORES, WINTEB BOUQUETS. I have just seen a shop full of the prettiest winter decorations imaginable. What are called the Makart bouquets are coarse in comparison; but these, which I hear have created a perfect furore at the Paris Exhibition, are delicate and elegant in the extreme. One may say that the Makart are the outcome of German, and these new ones, which have no special name, of French artistic taste. The whole earth seems to have been ransacked to procure the materials. Every species of flowering grass that grows has been laid under tribute. There are Chama lora leaves from the Cape, Uva flowers from California, the green Gynerium, and a great many more everlasting flowers that I have never dreamed of, mixed with endless varieties of palms, with the feathers of rare birds, and pampas plumes dyed in most delicate colours. I examined many of the flowers closely, and cannot help thinking that silk is very cleverly introduced into some of them. For instance, there was a kind of mauve thistle, the calyx of which looked plant-like enough, but I believe the bloom was a tuft of silk. Then there were large loops and bows in brilliant colours that reminded me of the coloured wocd shavings that the famous Scotch lady who had only a shilling in her pocket, and a fancy dress to provide, begged from a carpenter and trimmed with them a straw hat,in which she looked a bewitching shepherdess, and secured the match that made her a wealthy woman all the rest of her life. Then the pots and baskets that these bouquets are placed in are the prettiest of their kind, there really never has been anything seen like them in England, and there is no doubt a future of success before the inventor who has shown such admirable taste and skill in manipulating nature's treasures. PICTUEE8, The principal thing in the way of picture shows is the Pastel Exhibition at the Grosvenor Gallery. There are not many foreign ones this year, and I personally fancy that the British band is too heavy to succeed with such a delicate medium. See how light, how tender is a Greuze, or just look into the French illustrated papers at Christmas, and you see precisely the touch and daintiness necessary for a successful pastel. There is a head of an old widow woman that is very fine, and a delightful study of a little girl dressed in a flowered satin Japanese gown, holding a black fan in her small band and looking supremely dis- dainful. They are, however, by a foreigner. Miss Flood Jones has sent a portrait of her father, "The Precentor of Westminster," and there is rather a pretty picture of Little Simone and her Doll." It is, however, in landscape that English pastels tell most. A sweet little picture called The Pool," by Mr Peppercorn, is a treat to see, and Mr W. Stott has some Alpine sketches that for effects of snow and atmosphere are quite magical. A lady, Mits Osborne, sends some views of Venice, in which the sea and the palaces are splendidly brought out, and there are three by Mr Colebrooke Stockdale, that exhibit much skill in the use of pastels, as well as cleverness in adapting them to quite different classes of subjects, and an appreciation of atmospheric effects due to long and close communion with Nature both at home and abroad. Brodrick Bay and Castle is a study of our own ciime and country, and "The Libera- tion of V enice-Garibaldini passiug the Statue of Bartolomeo" gives the indescribable clearness of Italian atmosphere as well as a very sympathetic touch of Italian individuality. A third picture by the same band is Aurora," a very charming and ideal study. The "Arts and Crafts" Exhibition, though not pictorial, is artistic, but I have not yet had time to look much at it. My attention has been centred on the Langdale linen and the embroidery on it, and the other triumphs achieved by the use of flax threads, and as a general show I have done justice to nothing else. My sympa- thies are first with the women who stitcb, and next with those who write and paint; possibly I think most of the former art, because several of my own relatives made a fine art of it before there were openings for women in the literary and, strictly speaking, artistic professions. WOMEN AND GOOD WORKS. Lady Burdett-Coutts was the first woman who neriously took up the Irish Fisheries, and she is now seeing some of the fruits of her labours in the improved condition of the people of Baltimore. I know a gentleman who acts as ber right hand and factotum in this as in many other of her charitable enterprises, which always contain the saving element of helping people to help them- selves, and I do not think the general public have any idea of how much this wealthiest of ladies has accomplished in the Emerald Isle. At least one other has followed her example, for Winifred, Lady Robinson, of Kingstborpe, who is the president of the Bucks Women's Liberal Federa- tion, is greatly interested in the condition of the Irish peasantry, and finding that some of the population on the Galway coast could add to their precarious livelihood by fishing, she has kindly had a 6erviceable boat built for them. This is just a start, and where the fishing is encouraged net- making follows, and then comes the fish curing and packing, and exporting, over and above the supply of fish as local food. A good work at home in our own city of London, accomplished in a very unostentatious way, has just been brought under my notice. The Scientific Dress Cutting Associa- tion, whose doings I always follow with great interest, has, as its practical woiking bead and ruling spirit, a lady who you would suppose bad no time for anything but her business, but has contrived to infuse in those under her influence an element of kind consideration for others that is bearing good fruit. A year ago or more she started a Dorcas Society among them, asking all the students who lived near enough to come one evening a week and work for the poor; and now it has taken rather a different turn. A great many who aim at becoming dressmakers require a good deal of practice in the actual manual work of running and stitching and putting in gathers and so forth, and she has given them this practice in making up little frocks, fee., out of remnants which have been bought out of an occasional collection of pennies. It has awakened a great deal of interest, and many girls have added woollen petticoats, Itc., made in their spare time at home, and yesterday the whole collection was shown to me previously to being divided between the Alexandra Hip Hospital for Children, in Queen's-square, Bloomsbury, and the Hospital for Women and Children in the Waterloo Bridge-road. I know both hospitals well, and have often observed how thinly clad many poor mothers and children are when they are discharged cured, and the respective matrons will be so glad to have whole and decent bodices to give to the women, and warm frocks and jackets for the little ones. While at the rooms of the association I also saw a miniature Court train made by the pupils, and just being seut off to the International Exhibition at Brighton. It was made of the prettiest cream satin, brocaded with little sprays of pink flowers, and the train and bodice were bordered with Jovely, nit, narrow swan's down. The front and the sleeves were of tulle with silver beads on it, and there was an under petticoat or ekirt of white silk, with a sweet little fringed out ruche round the bottom. Every bit of the inside work was as neat as hands could make it, and the inside of the train had all the little flounces of white mull muslin edged with lace put in just as if it had been of full size. The other exhibit was a very neat tailor-made bodice of check tweed, with a white vest most exquisitely finished and looking as easy as a glove. The world i* quite as much, WOMEN perhaps more interested, in CONVICTS. naughty women than it is in good ones, or the waxen effigy of Mrs Maybrick would not be the latest addition to the Exhibition still known as Madame Ttusaud's, though that ancient dame and clever modeller has long slept the sleep of the just, though it is said that in every generation of her descendants there is one who inherits her special talent. Indeed, there is one at the present time who bids fair to make his mark as a sculptor, and one can under- stand that modelling and sculpture are kindred arts. But to return to our convicts of the feminine gender, a friend of mine, who has recently been privileged to pay a visit to the establishment devoted'to them at Woking, says the building is in t tha. prettiest part of Surrey,, and altbougb- providing accomniodaion for 720 cony iota, hr- present 310. Madame Rachel, notorious as "Beautiful for ever," and Constance Kent, con- nected with the Road murder, were confined there, but tbe best known prisoners now confined there are Mrs Gordon Baillie, the noted swindler, and Mrs Maybrick. For life prisoners there is no fixed rule, their cases being considered by the Home Office periodically or under petition. Mrs Baillie and Mrs Maybrick are entirely different in style and physique, but prison dress and cropped hair are wonderful levellers of looks. Mrs Maybrick appears in perfect health. Both the Lord Mayor and the FBUIT Fruiterers' Company appear to CULTUBK. be doing their best to encourage fruit culture, and to bring about the restoration of fruit gardens and orchards in connection with our homesteads and cottages. The Lord Mayor states that except in Kent, and possibly one or two other counties, the orchards which were once of considerable value have most unfortunately been allowed to decay, and we are in conseqenoe annually paying a very large sum to foreigners for apples, pears, and plums which might be grown on our own soil. The proposal of the Fruiterers' Company is to obtain a fund of at least £5,000 for the purpose of rousing the country to the importance of this question. They further intend to offer prizes in different counties successively for the beat orchards connected witb ordinary farms and cottages. The Fruiterers' Company have contributed jB500 towards this fund, and several individuals have promised other sums. Before an appeal is made to the public generally, tbe Lord Mayor asks the Livery Companies and a few leading citizens to bead tbe list. Tbe Duke of Newcastle has given £50, Messrs Crosse and Blackwell j352 10s, and Lord Wolverton £10 103. There is no doubt that these comparatively little things pay, and I consider that they come within the sphere of women's industries. Arable land in our changeable and uncertain climate is enough to break any farmer's heart, but let the land be laid down in pasture where possible, and tbe remainder planted with fruit trees, strawberries, and currant bushes, and I believe he will be able to live, and a quiver full of daughters will be ss valuable as an equal number of sons. For cannot the women milk the cows and make the butter and cheese, and gather the fruit, and pack- and preserve it? But all the same there is an outlandisbness about a fruit field that there is not about a corn or turnip field. It really is very comical to FRINCIELT remember the outcry that a few TBADESPKOPLE. years ago was made about trade, and to see how fashionable it has become in the highest circles. The fact that the Due d'Aumale is among those who have received important awards at the Paris Exhibition of 1889 has evoked some interesting statistics about princely or noble tradesmen. The Due d'Aumale obtained bis prize for the "Zucco wine," which be grows on his property in Sicily. The Due de Montpensier, on his side, draws a considerable income from the sale of Seville oranges and his wheat grown near Bologna, in Italy, while Prince Galitzan raises bis own champagne, !\1édoc, Hermitage, and Burgundy, in a corner of the Crimea. The King of Holland's beer from the Brasserie Royal was also rewarded by the jurors, while in another order of things Cardinal Lavigirie, the anti-slavery apostle, was the winner of a Grand Prix for his Algerian juice of the grape. Among the French noble- men, however, who are connected with commerce by considerably closer ties are the Due de Doudeauville, who makes a nice trifle out of the wine and oil produce on his property at Bisaccia, in Italy. Near Bonnetable, the Doc has a manu- factory of earthenware and china. The Due de Feltre is in the milling business; the members of the Montebello family sell famous champagne, while the Marquis de Lur-Saluces offers his own Chateau Yquem directly to the public. My experience about trade is that the nicest people tick closest to their shops. I have said nothing about FASHIONS. fashion, for tbe fickle dame is still in abeyance. Many beads of firms have gone over to Paris to be in at the death of the exhibition, and from what I have seen and heard they will bring home the novelties. Ever Yours, LOTTIE.

£5,QOO IN PRECIOUS STONES STOLEN. On Sunday night information was received by tbe Edinburgh police authorities that a box con- taining jewellery to the value of about JB1,400 had been stolen trom at cab at the Caledonian iSmtion. It was stated that on the arrival of a special train at the Rtation with the London Gaiety Company from Manchester, the jewel box belongiug,to one of the lady members of the company was placed in the cab by a porter, and that when the lady herself entered the vehicle she found that the box bad disappeared. In consequence of the above report, a represen- tative of the Press called at the Gaiety Theatre on Monday and saw Mr Charles Abud, the genial treasurer. "I do not yet know," said Mr Abud, which of the ladies this can be, but we sball knuw directly Mr Edwardes arrives, for he saw the company off from Manchester yesterday. I can only tell you that Miss Florence St. John carried with her jewellery^to the value of nearly £5.000, and that Miss Lilian Price had at least £ 4,000 worth of jewels, also that Miss Addie Conyers had a large amount of jewellery. The loss may have been sustained by any of these three ladies. You will notice that the loss was not dis- covered until the party had arrived in Edin- burgh indeed, the lady seems to have seen her jewel case placed iu or on the cab, and she missed it when she arrived at her hotel. It is therefore not probable that it is far away, and will in all likelihood be found very soon. Ail the same, it is naturally a source of great anxiety to her and to us." An Edinburgh correspondent telegraphed on Monday afternoon:—Miss Florence St. John arrived last night at Edinburgh from Manchester with a oompany who this week will play Faust up to Date, Lyceum Theatre. Miss St. John at Princes-street station gave a jewel case con- taining jewellery worth £2,000 to a porter, along with parcels, to place in a cab. It turned out that another cab had been engaged, and the articles were removed from the first cab. It was then found that the jewels had been stolen. Though the Edinburgh police are investigating the mysterious disappearance of the dressing bag and jewels of Miss Florence St. John, they have not as yet recovered the missing articles. Inquiries confirm the view that the bag was stolen from the cab at the Caledonian Station in which it was placed. It would appear that when Miss Florence St. John stepped on to the platform of the station sue bailed a porter. Mr James Wbitefield, the carriage inspector, responded to her call, and upon the barrow he rought with him be placed three articles—a basket, a Gladstone bag, and a dressing bag—which had been lying on the platform, and proceeded with them to the cab stand. The first row of cabs he found were eugaged, and he haded one of those standing in the second row, the driver accepting the engagement. Whitefield says tbat passing through the first row of cabs he placed the basket and the dressing-bag on the front seat of the cab he had hired for Miss St John. He came back to his barrow for the Gladstone bag, but when he returned to the cab the dressing bag was missing. The opposite window of the cab was down, and he says that when he placed the basket and bag on the seat he noticed a man standing a few feet beyond the cab; but as it was dark at the time he could not see what he was like, and as there was nothing to arouse his suspicion, he paid no atten- tion to him. Campbell, the driver of the cab, states that he did not see any person near bis vehicle, but that he was standing on the rigbtband side of the horse—a position in which be might not observe anyone ou the other side of the cab. It appears that after the party alighted on the platform, two young lady members of the com- pany, at the request of Miss St. John, hired a cab for her, and when, in compauy with one or two friends, she reached the cab stand, a few minutes after Whitefield, she informed the latter she wished her luggage taken to the cab hired by the young ladies. Both Campbell, the cabman, and a member of the company, wbo gave an account of the affair, corroborate each other in this, that it was when Whitefield proceeded to remove tbe packag-osfrom Campbell's cab, in order to convey them to the cab engaged by the young ladies, that be dis- covered that the dressing-bag bad disappeared. Campbell, the cabman, states that some of the other cabmen, in speaking abcut the affair, stated that they noticed a suspicious-looking man hurriedly leaving the precincts of the station carrying a bag in his hand. The missing dressing-bag, which has upon the outside tbe letters "F. St. J. contains articles valued at £2,000. The contents include a diamond neck- lace, a diamond crescent brooch, a diamond heart, two diamond rings, one diamond and emerald ring, a pair of large diamond earrings, a gold chain bracelet with a gold key attached, a pocket-book • lined with gold, and containing acbeque-book and a cheque for JE27 lOll. The bag is fitted up with beautiful tortoiseshell and crocodile boxes, and the scent bottles are of red glass with gold mountings.

THE ANNIVERSARY OF TRAFALGAR. Monday being the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson's historic flagship, the Victory, which after undergoing extensive renovations and repairs in tbe dockyard, again occupies her" wonted pride of place in Portsmouth Harbour, was, in accordance with time-honoured custom, dressed at mast-bead and peak with garlands of laurels, while the spot where the hero fell, tbe cockpit in which he died and varioas relics were decorated with evergreenS: Formerly survivors of Trafalgar assembled on board on the anniversary of the battle, and were entertained at dinner, but one by one the veterans living in Portsmouth and the contiguous district had passed away, and for some few years no festival has been bald on board the Victory.

A WOED TO MOTHEHS.—Kernick'a Mothers wS^dTwx«i prevent conTalrion&ls

COLUMN FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. By Maggie Symington. Between the dark and tbe daylight, When the night is beginnine to lower, Comes a pause in the day's occupations Taatis known as tho Children's Hour. lAnq tdlow. The toy trade will be getting brisk very shortly now, and perhaps we might have a little chat together to-day about the toys which delight you, for I shall have something so very important to say to you shortly tbat everything else may get crowded out of the Hour, I dare say you have no idea at all what it costs us, as a nation, every year just for the children's toys. The Cost of Toys. We pay £579.629 annually for foreign toys alone, only think of that! Such an enormous sum of money for the amusement of you chickens. But are there no toys made j:Ín England ? Well, yes but comparatively few. There is one house in Birmingham that turns out 200,000 paper dolls annually, but the chief toy-countries are Germany and France, although Sweden, Norway. Belgium, and Holland all make toys for exportation, too. I should like to take you witb a bop, skip, and a jump right away to one of the great toy districts of the first-named country, and let you have one little glimpse of this busy land. Where the Toys Come From* The country ail around those quaint old towns of Nuremburg and Leipsic is inhabited by a great community of peasant toy makers. Either in the depths of the great Thuringian forest or on the wide country are the little villages in which, the toy makers live. It is only in the winter"] that they work at the toys; they have their little farms to manage in the spring and summer, and even the children have to help in doing this, for it is the farm that supplies them with necessaries; the toys bring luxuries, very modest luxuries, but still this labour is not depended upon for the family living. But when the summer is past, and the cow. which was used for ploughing in the spring, has carried the harvest, and the wood has been drawn from the forest, cut and piled for the winter, and the apples and potatoes have been buried in the straw, and the pork is dried or pickled—then the family settle down to their winter work, and turn out toys by the hundreds and thousands. So, you see, that by a change of industry the family is at work all the year round, which keeps them comfortable and independent. It is just because they have other irons in the tire. and do not depend absolutely upon their toy labour that they can turn cut toys cheaper than we can in England. Shall we just peap into one cottage and see what Miss Dolly has to go through beforo she is ready to appear in the market ? The Doll Workers. Most cottages undertake especial branches of the business, and each member of tbe family has an especial part assigned him or her. The little body is sewn by one, stuffed by another, and the legs, kid arms, and fingers made by a third. All these, and the waxen head with "eyes inserted by the oculist of the party, are joined together by yet another, and Miss Dolly is passed ou to the dressers, or is wrapped in swaddling clothes and sent away to some other country to be costumed. In this cottage the youug Fraulein who seems to be mistress of the work does nothing but dress the hair and put the veil (In doll brides. At a table before the window, the* fair-haired German giri sits, with lots of minuitura brushes, combs, and pins before her. Withi a steel spring she fastens Miss Dolly, and tuela. with rapidly moving fingers, she combs out dolly's flaxen hair, whieh literary stands on end, ax<d rolls it into a corotet a tulle veil a few inches equate is next pinned on with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, and so Miss Dolly becomes a bride all ready for the market. Then she is handed over to a boy wbo sits at another table, and whose duty it is to prepare her for her voyage across the sea. He wraps her carefully in a piece of COIUSE) muslin aud lays her in a packing-oase among bandies of paper shavrngs. For all this work of making every- thing about the doll but the- bead, the family is paid thirty pfennige,a tnfla mere than threepence in our money, as fifty pfennige are equal to ourfed. "When the weather is bad, and the children can- not go out to play, we make perbaps seventeen shillings a week," the Hausfrau said, but we do not pin the children to the work, and we are qaite content with twelve shillings, for we do not live by toy-making." There is nothing more cosy M winter draws nigh than An Old-fashioned Fireplace. I remember so well when I was a child reading once about somebody who had a real old-fashioned bouse in which was a nursery, I think, that had a curiously ancient fh-eplace, all sat round with Dutch tiles. Those tiles with their funny figures and impossible landscapes, in deep blue ou a dull yellowish ground. Did you ever see any of them ? But in this old nursery I read about, the mother used to get her children around her and tell them Bible stories from the tiles. I have forgotton everything else about the book, but the picture impressed upon my mind of thuse old Dutch tiles in tbe fireplace, and the mother tilling the children stories. I read an account of some old Dutch tiles the other day, and it brought back to me this childish recollection. Tiniy were set. in pairs in a fireplace in a very old house, with au odd one in the middle at the top. The indigo blue represented old Testament scenes, of course, and these might have been the very tiles from which the mother told her children tales. Noah's ark was a small Datcih house with two windows set in a boat, and n ^Dutchman in a modern jacket was drowning in water that did not quite come up to his waist. Aloses smiting the rock was doing so with a long pole, as if be was afraid to go uearer like a boy touching off a cannon be was in a frock and leggings, his hair cut short on bis brow, and he had elbow sleeves. Jacob, with a staff in his hand, wore a broad- brimmed Quaker hat, and was goi ug on a journey towards a windmill. The tempi* i at Jerusalem was a castle with a crusader's flag ilying from the tower. While the animals Davit i was tending looked more like pumpkins witli stalks than anything else. I found this little story about A KANGAROO MOTHER in a book ju*t published, desc-ribii tg a journey from London to Melbourne, "My friend was seated in his balcony," says our traveller, "fealmg tired after » hard day's ride, when be saw a kangargoo lingering about the house as if it had some object iso view, and was hesitating about carrying it out. Sometimes it would approach to within a few yard!s, and then retire again to a distance. My friend felt too lazy to go for his fowling-piece, and remaine d watching it for hia chair. At last the poor benstcamoto where the water-bag was banging, an d taking a young one out of its pouch, put it to tb e water to drink. While the little one was quenching ita thirst, the mother was within a few ueet of tbe balcony, every fibre in her body toenailing with excitement. When ber baby had finished drinking she carefully put it back in her pouch, and started off out of danger at a swinging pace. When it is considered what a timid animal the ifcangaroo is in its native state, this is really a magnificent instance of the courage that mother-lsve can give." I cannot assure yau tbat this little story is true, but is told as a true incident. Pauline B. Bach writes to tell me about A Little Dog Named Wrinkles. "Wrinkles No. I. did not belong to us. When she brought us her puppy, she dragged it tp mother's feet. The puppy cried after her when she went away; she had got down to the haJI, but when she beard its cries she rushed back and hit it ever so bard, and seemed just as if sbe were scolding it for wanting to leave such a good home. He has grown up the ugliest little thing you ever saw, but he is such a aarling. If Friix is lying before the fire, and Wrinkles wants to come there too, Fritz will not let him come any- where near but if Wrinkles is in front of the fire, and Fritz wants that place, be gradually gets closer and closer until be is up to Wrinkles, who moves a little farther off, and so Fritz by degrees gets the position he wants. Woe betide poor Wrinkles if he tries to regain his place. Wrinkles delights to tease dear old Tory. our pug, who is nearly thirteen years old, by trying to make him run races, and jumping and biting him till be loses bis temper and bites back again. In the study we have a large invalid chair belonging to mother. The cushions have to be placed up the back, so Wrinkles lies on the top cushion, and Tory and Fritz on the lower one. If Wrinkles does anything very naughty, such as pulling up the flower roots in the garden. Tory looks so shocked, just as if he meant to say, Oh, isn't be naughty ?" Tory never goes on the flowet borders, but always keeps carefully to the paths. When the currants were ripe, Wrinkles used to go under the bushes, take a bunch in his mouth, strip all the currants off leaving only the string, and eat them. If no one will play with, or take any notice of him, he goes to tbe fire and takes the red-hot cinders out. He is a beautiful swimmer. We took him out in a boat a good way, and threw him over, but for the first few days one of us swam ashore by bis side so that be should not get frightened, but now he swims by himself." My News Bag. -• Item: The Rev ?*flnjamin Waugb. the ohiltiraa'fi friend. xn,.» { x>ex read in public the other day, alluded to the Children's Charter,* and said that a grand opportunity was note afforded to stamp cruelty to children out of the land. The law had come to be grandly right; it had been created by Christian labour it was the expression of Christian sentiment, and must be enforced by Christian money. Item: A wealth of Christmas literature is beginning to stream from the press on behalf of you youngsters. Too bad, when you are all hard at lessons, and are likely to be for another two months. Perhaps the good genii of the Christ- mall books knows that it takes Santa Ciaus soma time to make selections for you. Item. When the little Crown Prince of Germany was six years old he had a bedroom given to him instead of being in the nursery. Hie was very pleased, and said, This is nice now. I need notfbe with the children," Item: The smallest screw in the world is tba fourth jewel- wheel screw in a watch, which is almost invisible; magnified by a glass, however. it is seen to be a screw. It is said that a lady's thimble would hold many thousands of them. Item: The thirty-first of this month is Nut- cracker Night; burn nuts. stab apples, try all sorts of spells, and send an account of your doings to the News Baj, Holiday Letter Prize Award. I have not received so many expressionll of op nion from my readers as I should like to have done, which shows tbey are not inclined to be I critical. Out of those received, most are in favolft of Frederica Metcalfe's letter. An opinion which I cordially second, speaking as I do from behind the scenes this letter was nicely written, well- expressed, and exceedingly interesting, therefore I award the first pr.ze to her. Ethel Brockiehurst's letter gains the second highest number, very deservedly, so I think again, so we will give her the second prize. Some are afraid to praise the letter from little five-year-old Hilda Brighouse, thinking she is too young for it to be entirely her own com- I position but as I have been assured, and have every reason to believe, she bad no heip at all, I am quite sure she well deserveR the other prise. I Pauline B. Bach, Bertha Hewitt, Alice Met- calfe, Lilian Atkinson, and Fred G. Kansley aH obtain votes, and certainly deserve commenda. tion. I hope none of the other competitors will be discouraged, but all try to improve them- selves in letter writing before next summer ccmes. James W. Muntus.-The present tense is the correct one to use in the sentence complained of, and you should b9 obliged for the corrections. I think if you will study the sentence carefully you will see this. The prize books will be despatched imme- j diately. Answer to acrostic of last week :-Lamb- Hood L-ure-H, A-bedneg-O, M-il-O, B-a-D. Address all communications to— APNT MAGGIE (Symington), 1 Hunstanton, St. Edmunds.

f RAILWAY COLLISION AT TALYWAIN. On Wednesday George Woods, a guard oa the Great Western Railway, was admitted into the I' Newport Infirmary suffering from severe injuries to the head and face. Wocds was in charge of a mineral train at Taiywain, and whilst some shunt- I ing operations were in progress, another train collided with the van in which the man was at work. The force of the concussion threw him against the side of the van, and in- II flicted the injuries. He was brought down to Newport, and received into the lutirmary in an I unconscious condition at about 11 p.m. Up to noon to-day he had not recovered consciousness. He is a young married man, and resides at 2C, Upper Raglan-street, Newport.

THE WEEK'S HEALTH BILL The return of the Registrar-General for the week ending Saturday last (19th Oct.) shows that the rates of mortality in the several towns, arranged in order from the lowest, were as t:1JnUF-- Derby .13'2 Bradford 20'6 Leicester „ „13"c Bristol <20*7 Nottingham „ 14 5 Sheffield. ^21*4 Brighton ,14'tj Liverpool — ..?1 o Cardiff ..14'6 I Blackburn 22,-4 Birkenhead 15.8 Huddersfteld„—„22"5 I Portsmouth 10 9 Halifax ~„22'b balford .163 Suuderla.nd _237 London 16"9 { Leed balford „16 3 I Sunderland London 16"9 { Leeds „ „24'2 Birmingham.. „ „ „17 1 J Hull Oldham .17 6 Kewcastle-on-Tyne .26 3 Norwich ..18*2 Plymouth .31*4 Wolverhampton .19 0 Preston Bolton 191 j

I A MODERN MIRACLE. THE MOST MARVELLOUS EXPERIENCE CF ONE as GLOECESTEE'S OITIZEKS. (Gloucester Journal, April 30 ) THB readers of this paper were more or tesc amazed at a most remarkable statement from onfr of our citizens which appeared in this paper on the 16th inst. So unusual were the circumstaaces connected wilh it. and so much comment did it occasion oa the street and in social circles, that a representative of this paper was commissioned tc investigate its details and verify its fdfcts. The article referred to was a statement made by Mr J. H. KUminster, of l £ <ug's Home, Gloucester, that, after having lain at the point of death for some weeks, given up by both piiymcians and friends, he had completely and wonderfully regained his usual health. Mr Kilminster was found by our reporter, and, upon being questioned, said: "Yes, sir, the statement Mi true, every word of it. For nearty a year I suffered from acute kidney disease, which finally became complicated with dropsy and severe asthmatic attacks. My condition was most deplorable. I had the best medical ad- vice that was to be obtained, who consulted with my regular medical adviser, a well-known and ekiiful man. They informed me that my water was full of albumen and tube casts, and gave me little hope that I should ever recover. All these months I could not lie down on account of the asthma and dropsy, and could not rise from my chair without assistance. Ou October 23rd last I had aa unusually mevere attack, which came near ending my life. My friends concluded I must die. and hurriedly brought in my family physician. As all the regular methods had failed, he saw no objection to my using Warner's SAM Cure, of which he had heard good reports, though never having had any experience in its use him- self. A bottle was obtained for me, and I received almost instant relief. At this time tuj breathing was so bad that it could be heard across the street I was bloated from head to foot, and my water was thick with albumen. My physician watched the progress of my case carefully under the use of Warner's SAFE Cure, and each tort- nigtit, when the water was tested, be found the albumen gradually growing less, until it wai entirely free, and I eoon recovered my usual health." "Your experience has certainly been most wonderful." "Yes; and my recovery so remarkable that it has excited much attention, and physicians at well as others have investigated it thoroughly and 1 am glad, for I feel that the results of suet a wonderful cure should be known to the thou- sands in all parts of the land who are suffering from troubles of the kidneys, liver, or heart, in some of their many dangerous forms." I Our reporter thanked Mr Kilminster for his very frank and clear statemen:, and was about leaving* the bouse, when a gentleman stepped up to him and inquired if he were seeking information about l iMr KilmiimsLer's illness and recovery. The scribe j replied that be was, whereupon the gentleman said— | So «m I, aud I have come all the way front I London for that very purpose. Kidney trouble* I seem to be alarmingly increasing all over tht ] country, and [ liave a very near relative wbo is | gfiTcted much as Mr Kilminster was. 1 haw been to see several of Mr Kilminster's friends i and I tell you, sir, it is simply wonderful. What did they say r' asked the man of news. 1 Why, sir, they fully confirmed everything j Mr KJ I tri i aster has said. Mr J. Ward, Bohannom House, Wotton, who was a candidate for Pariia- I ment at the last electicn, and is now a member of I the School Board, Town Council, and one of the Board of Guardians, stated that he has known Mr Kilminster all his life as a staunch friend ant! supporter. He took great interest in his case, and watched with sorrow from day to day the gradual approach of death. He shook hands witb bim for the last time, as he was convinced he could not live, his death being expected every hour. He afterwards learned that he was improving, and on I calling upon him found this to be the case, and that a medicine called Warner's SAVE Cure was doing wonders for him. HesaidthtH it had per- formed a miracle for him almost beyond belief, and I that it was a most wonderful case." Mr J. Williams, Northgate-street, said that "Mr Kilminster's recovery was a surprise to every one that knew bim. We never expected toseehim out of his house again, but expected to go to his funeral. His recovery is singularly unaccountable, and speaks wonders for the Warner's Mr Franklin, Gloucester, elecioneering agent, ■aid I have known Mr Kilminster ail his life, I and consider his case little ieus than a miracle. I visited him constantly while he was ill. and under- stood from his physician that he could never recover. He was the colour of ashes when I saw him, very much bloated from head to foot, and was scarcely able to breathe, and. there seemed no possibility of his tiving. A: this stage he com. menced taking Warner's BATE Cun, and RAPIDLY recovered. It is certaiuiy a most wonderful medicine." Mr G. W. Holden, chemist, 75, Northgate- street, said Yes, I both know and have hoard of Mr Kilminster'* seirious iilnesq and bis recovery. He purchased most of the Warner's SAPE OURE from me. The case is a very wonder- ful one, and speaks volumes for the medicine. We are selling large quantities, and, from the reports of it, have every confidence that it is a specific for all kidney and liver disease;i." The conclusions from the statements above made, which come to the newspaper man as well as the general public, must be twofold. First: | That a modern miracle of healing has been per- formed in our midst, and that, too, by thfc simplest means, and one which is within the reach of every one and, secondly: That testi monials of such high character, and so oatspotrec in tone, conclusively prove the value of th* remedy, and its superior nature to tbe proprietary articles with which tbe public have been flood (Hi. The greater includes the less," and the remedy which has been proven so valuable, and her saved a life after it was brought down to death's door, must unquestionably be certain in all mio(iir troubles, which are so disastrous unless taken ia time. The remedy which cured Mr Kilmtmter, and of which the above gandemen speak, can be procured of all chemists and medicine vendors in the Uaited Kingdom, at 4s 6 f per bottle, or direct of ttbe manufacturers, H. H. W AJUUCK A Co., 86, I Olerkenwell-road, London, E.C.