The Rhos Herald

l OUR LONDON LETK^T s I « I [From Our Special Corresponde.nt.] I There is always something interesting about the family parties in the House of Ccroinons, and the new House will have a number of them, though not so many as the last. A goodly number of separations and exchanges have been effected by the elec- tion. There are still, of course, Mr. Cham- berlain find his son Mr. Austen Chamber- lain, vvlule the brothers Harcourt and the brothers Craig have emerged scathless from the fight. There are also two Balfours in the House, who are not, however, related. Lord Morpeth, who sits as a Unionist, will again be faced by his brother, Mr. Geoffrey Howard, who is on the Government side. The Master of Elibank will be joined in the new House by a brother, as also will Mr. Arthur du Cros. There will be one Cecil in the new Parliament, as there was in the last. It will, however, be Lord Hugh this time. He comes back after four years' abseiice, while his brother, Lord Robert, h-:» lost his seat. His fate is shared by Mr. Strwsrt Bowles, who gives place to his father. Sir Charles McLaren, who had a son for company in the last Parliament, will also have one in this, but not the same son. Mr. Russell Re-a will be in his accus- tomed place, but his father has suffered de- feat. Mr. Wedgwood Benn will be in similar his father. Sir John Benn, having failed to secure re-election. An interesting change is bvonght. about by the success of Mr. Ne] Primrose, whose brother. Lord Daloieny. has retired from the stsge. It is interesting to note that the House of Com- mons will assemble' without having amongst lib; sir hundred and seventy inc-iiibers a j Gladr.t'onc, a Bright, or an Acland. It is a great many years since that could be said. The terrible disaster to the Brighton ex- prp-ns is another instance of how accidents will happen in spite of every precaution I that human foresight and ingenuity can de- I vise. For yeais trains have been running safely and swiftly over the particular place where this catastrophe occurred, carrying I their hundreds of passengers in what seemed like perfect security. But there came the I fatal moment when something failed and brought the inevitable tragedy. It is a curious commentary upon the manner in which railway travelling has become part j and parcel of the national life that accidents have very little, if any, effect upon the popu- ( larity of the railways. The fact is, of j course, that railway travelling is one of the safest modes of journeying from place to place. At such a time as this people are apt to forget that, but it is nevertheless a fact. The proportion of accidents to the number The proportion of accidents to the number of people carried every year by the railways is very small indeed, arid; going by the law of averages, it would be easy to prove that travelling in the train is a good deal safer than walking about the streets of London. In recent years the railway companies have put into operation many mechanical contri- vances, the object of which is to minimise the possibility of accident, but unfortu- nately there will always be the something nately there will always be the something unforeseen. A good many people must have been won- dering lately whether such a calamity as has dering lately whether such a calamity as has befallen Paris would be possible in London if the Thames were to rise as the Seine has done. Remembering how London, to a much larger extent than Paris, ie un- dermined by tunnels for various purposes— sewers, tube railways, and such things-the bare idea of any such occurrence is horrify- ing. We have the assurance, however, that no such disaster could possibly occur here. The County Council, looking to the possibility of a rise of the river, long ago took such pre- cautions as, it ie claimed, would be quite adequate to deal with any overflow. If they had not already taken such steps, one may be sure that the appalling experience of Paris would have led them to attend to the matter without any loss of time. It is doubtful whether the recommendation for the appointment of two additionaf; High Court judges will be acted upon 4 the Government. The judges, who complain of being overworked, are naturally in favour of it, and some members of the Bar advocate it also—it may/ be because some of them think they would jlook rather well in the judicial robes. After all, two more judgeships would mean two more prizes .for the Bar. At the same time, of course, there should be enough judges on the Bebch to deal .with the busi- ness. It will be remembered that the Lord Chancellor rather questioned the assertion that the present judges are overworked, and suggested that they could accomplish a good deal more if they would consent to eit a few hours extra every week. There is, however, another way of meeting the difficulty-by extending the jurisdiction of the County Courts. At present their juris- diction is strictly limL^d, and there is little doubt that an extension of their powers would be popular. It would be cheaper, if nothing else, and that is a very important consideration with most litigants. Besides, it is not denied that many of the County Court judges are as capable and as learned in the law as some of those in the High Court. That they occupy a rather less exalted posi- tion is not to be taken as proof of inferiority in that respect or in any other. Judgeships are bestowed, as often as not, for political services, and many a judge sitting in a pro- vincial court-house would have been lording it in the, King's Bench if only vacancies had occurred at an opportune time. On the whole, there would probably be as much law and as much justice administered in the County Courts if their jurisidiction were ex tended as there are now in the superior courts. The City of London is jealous of its privi- leges. It does not bestow them lightly, and tLe?« upon whom they are hs,. k; w."d are pro P()'t:')1Î.t.eJ;V tu*oud of them. There does not appear *»") tie anything specially desirable in the liberty enjoyed by certain regiments to ihutsh through the City in !.r;vsie days with cuKmrs flying and bayonets fixed. To the man who cares nothing for tradition it seems a little ridiculous, perhaps, that there should be any icstric,tioii, but a good deal of interest attaches to it,, nevertheless. Every privilege conferred, like every picture in the advertisement, tell6 a story. Permission to carry the colours and the fixed bayonets is enjoyed as a permanent privilege by the 3rd Battalion of the Grev-ulicr Guards, the Buffs, and the Royal Marines, in recognition of their past services, and it is not to be cheapened and made a thing of no account by granting it to all and sundry. So, when the 7th Royal Fusiliers, famous in song and story, asked for it. on the ground thrt it is inconvenient to apply for permission on every occasion when they pass through the City, they were met by a refusal. If any proof were needed of the remark- able success of the Queen'e Hall Symphony Concerts, one had only to look round the great hall on Saturday afternoon. There was scarcely a vacant seat, and the immense audience signified their approval of the various items of the excellent programme in a very enthusiastic fashion. The concert was one of the best of the series. The out- standing feature was a superb performance of the Franck Symphony in D minor, a work which has not often h<?en heard in London. This Symphony is a composition of extra- ordinary beauty, and those who heard it for the fir-st time on Saturday heard it to advan- tage. for the orchcatra was in its best form. Miss Marie Hall, the gifted young violinist, and that fine singer, Mr. George Henschel, contributed to a most delightful programme. A. E. M.

DRINKING AT BUSINESS. In the course of an inquest at Lambeth Coroner's Court, on the body of Alfred Wm. Brandon, a corn broker and grain expert on the Baltic Exchange, who died from narcotic poisoning, it was stated that deceased took a certain quantity of alcohol a day with friends on the Exchange, but was never the worse for liquor. The Coroner (to a witness): Does being on the Baltic mean a certain amount of whisky a day? Witness: I should say it does. About 90 per cent. of them have two or three whiskies and soda during the day. A medical witnc-" ascribed death to nar-i cotio poisoning. The deceased's illness would have arisen from the continual use of a-lcbhol, and probably the deceased took to drugs to counteract the effects. The Coroner, in summing up, said it ap- peared that there were certain businesses where it was necessary for men to drink together. One would have thought that the days of Mr. Pickwick were now passed, and these mid-day orgies were no longer neces- sary, but the custom died hard in some places. This man, he said, drank a good deal, and no doubt suffered in health in oon- sequence of his habits. The jury returned a verdict of "Death by misadventure."

OLDEST WOMAN SUBJECT. The death has taken place at Glasgow, at the age of 106, of Mrs. Mary Moore, who was the King's oldest woman subject. She was born on January SO, 1804, the daughter of an Irish farmer, whose ploughman she married in the course of time, much against her parents' wishes. She became the mother of three children, but they and her hus- band died many years ago, and she left Ireland for Glasgow about the year 18&t A precarious living by sewing, supplemented by parish relief, enabled her to keep her home in a one-roomed house, where she lived alone,. and where, until a few weeks ago, she was able to do all the housework and to read without spectacles. She became ill a few weeks ago, and was rsmoved to a hospital, where she died.

Sir John Llewellyn has gives XI,000 t. Swansea Hospital building fund. Mr. Tennyson Smith, the well-known tem- perance advocate, has accepted an engage' ment for a tour in South Africa,

NATIONAL SYSTEM OPENED. ——— The national system of Labour Exchanges same into operation on Tuesday. The success of the new scheme depends upon the close relationship between the lab ar ex- changes in different parts of the count' The exchanges will not make work; but t; y will bring the work and the worker into ennmuni- cation in a more effective way than h-ta ever been done before in is country, provided I they have the hearty co-operation of capital and labour. One hundred exchanges, with a total staff of between 300 and 400 persons, will be open this month, and 150 more within the following six months. Scotland and Ireland have six ex- months. Scotland and Ireland have six ex- changes each. Premises have had to be se- I quired all over the country, in localities con- venient alike for employers and workpeople. The eight districts into which England ial divided are: -London, Bristol, Birmingham, Nottingham, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool. Posters have been displayed every- where, containing the address of the labour exchange in the particular locality. The registration will be simple. So far a# skilled and unskilled workmen arc concerned, the reference to the last employer will be thfJI chief factor; when the applicant is, 3ay, cashier, or a confidential clerk, references win no doubt be required by the prospective em- ployer. What the exchanges will do will bo to put the capable workman in a position to know where work suited to him is obtainable, and the employer what labour is available. Skilled workmen, assistants, cashiers, clerks, typists, labourers^—in fact, anybody of the great army of workers of the kingdom—can register their names at the labour exchanges, but domestic servants are, outaide the purview of the new Act.

AGRICULTURE'S CHANCE. Lord Carrington, President of the Board of Agriculture, was present at a meeting of the Farmers' Club on Monday, at which Mr., H. Trustram Eve read a paper on the Development and Road Improvement Act, 1909. "In view of the state of parties in the new House of Commons," Mr. Eve said, "agri- culture has a splendid chance of asserting itself, and, seeing that the Development Act is purely non-political, we must ask the members, new and old, who represent the 150 agricultural constituencies to work together, irrespective of party, and see that the Act is administered largely for the benefit of agriculture. "We must not forget that the member# representing Ireland ^fill also be in a very strong position in the^next Parliament, an« as they have a happy knack of getting their own way English agriculturists vaim see that each part of the United Kingdom bus fair play.

CHURCH AND THE MASSES. Viscount Ridley, speaking at the annual meeting of the Newcastle Diocesan Society, held at Newcastle on Monday, urged the necessity of the Church relying rather upon the contributions of the masses than upon the large subscriptions of the well-to-do. Landowners had to pay more and more ifll taxation, and it was obvious that what was paid in taxation was no longer available for, Church purposes. Landowners had no^ etinted their obligations to the Church 10 the past, nor would they do so in the future,, but they had many direct calls upon them for Church purposes and the Church's in- come should be drawn from as many and 3IJ varied sources as possible.

| EPITOME OF NEWS. | I for in a fr*nm»y-ear Charles Mickle- j ••• ',j r:"f; Parhiington', wa,s at VV iHes- j 'fin t- J; I ,ri. £ i.VO OOS's. i llavirg field. the office since 1863 the second rea ler ft. :'i feeretjtf-v of the Bayswater Synagogue, the liev. Ranb»wjl Harri*, is about to retire: Ret rrr -g 1,, polling booth, Mr. R. A. of Thsrsi.- •' ipper Company, died in the train at Uddiugcen, Lanarkshire. Ovisr,' to a fat; of rth & in at Camp.ibisso, Italy, lor. the liaes. Two third-clas# eo«i< he» roiled d o.) an embankment, and three persons were kji!a and ten injured. I dre n it mr-s v.-c,rihy to go down with a solid, elrar-oved 3,000 Socialist voterg, than to slink into Pa;?<rnv"o at the- coat-tails of a cynical and pinto- cr-lk j L Eitviefc Mr. Victor Grayson in the u Clarion.' Owing to his aft/voting in dressing the e&roa-e of f, v- ss .ft-rwards foutid to have had srfhrrjc. Julm Ho' :v Cumberland fwvmer, con- U-Hotcu ui diseáFi., and died, it was stated at the inquest at iir-unproii. iiout a hundred onpnhlished compositions of tlw great vio.iniist P,rnnini in him own manuscript ) have boon soid by jtr.c' ion at Florence. The works are said to be loo-t v when published to enhance Pag.»nini'a reputaLioo as a composer. Travelling in an omnibus belonging to the London General Omnibus Company, Marie Moniecai of Mile End road, got a quantity of oil on a blue silk dress, and was, awarded £4 damages a; J costs against the company at Shorditch County Court. Ex^lain'tig how he bad been driven into the Bankruptcy Court, a witness at Shoteoitch < "oonty Court sa:d that an (lilt loyve had run away with his money and witli abothiir man's wife. Among those present at the Cheshire Hunt b ill, which took pla; o at Nautwich, were Catha- rine Duchess of Westminster, Lady Helen Grosvonor, and hoi d 41 ugh GrosTenor. Mr. Alficd Di-vics, the proprietor of the Swedish Saw Mills, at The Bitterns, King- ston, was aujueting the mechanism ot a p"L1p on Friday night when his clothing wns caught in the shafting of a very large fly- wheel. He was whirled ronnd with the and so horribly injured that he died three hours after. His daughter witnessed the accident. Cardiff police on Sunday made a raid upon a Chinese shop, where it is reported that Chinese sen men were playing a game known amongst thomselveis as fang-tong. A wild rush wae made by the players for the doors, but only one man managed to escape. Twenty-seven were arzested. Some months will elapse before the Admiralty airship, which is being built at Barrow, can be launched. The design is a modification of the Zeppelin, and it is believed it will carry an armament and a crew of eight. It will have nt> magazine for explosives. In consequence of Prince Albert of Prussia having been promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet by the German Em- peror, he b.ks been promoted to the honorary rank of Admiral of the Fleet in the British Fleet. 119 Mr. Alfred Corncr,, -a prominent religious worker, giving an address in New Bridge- street, who made a C-iveeh in a tramcar pro- testing against the fare, struck the conduc- tor, and then fell on the car, was fined .£1 and costs at Willesden. The Marquis di San Giuliano, Italian Am- bassa-dor in London, who was recently ap- pointed to the Embassy in Paris, was enter- tained by the Italian commercial colony at a farewell banquet at the Hotel Cecil and ex- pressed his regret at fearing England. Sir William Anson, Mr. Atfquith, Pro- fessor Brunner, of Berlin, Mr. Bryce, British Ambassador to the United States, Professor Girard, of Paris, Mr. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Lord Macnaghten, Sir William Markby, Chief Baron Palles, Sir Frederick Pollock, and Professor John Ran- kine have become the first honorary mem- bers of the newly-formed Society of Public Teachers of Law. At their meeting on Saturday the Metro- politan Aeylums Board adopted the recom- mendation of their Finance Committee that they should in future save money by abstain- ing from insuring their premises against fire. The Union Castle Kner Armadale Cattle, which reached Southampton on Saturday from the Cape, brought one of the largest consignments of specie ever shipped in a single vessel from South Africa. It was valued at £ 1,032,827, and on arrival was transferred to the mail express for London. I The directors of the North-Eastern Rail- way have appointed Mr. Oswald Sanderson, of Hessle Mount, Hull, East Yorkshire, a director of fheir company, in pla<*e of the late Mr. Arthur Wilson, of Tranby Croft, Hull. Mr. Sanderson is managing, director of Messrs. Thomas Wilson and Sons, the great shipping firm, of Hull. Salvatore Lima, the leader of the "Black Hand Society, who was arrested on June 9 of last year by the United States Secret Service Police at Marion, Ohio, has been sentenced to sixteen years' imprisonment. Ten other members of the society have been sentenced to periods of from two to ten years' imprisonment. Sir H. H. Risley, Secretary of the Indian Home Department, introduced in the Coun- cil a Bill for the holding of a census in March, 1911, said that 300,000,000 people in India were counted between seven o'clock I und midnight when the last census was held, and the results were published fifteen days later. It is understood that Mr. Gaynor, the mayor of New York, intends to abolish the arming of the city police with truncheons or "night sticks," many complaints of undue violence having been received. Except in districts where hooliganism is rampant, the police will be expected to do their work un- Last year 338 motor-cycles and 981 motor- cars were registered in Middlesex while 5,191 drivers' licences were issued or renewed. Harold Castle Rook, a farmer, of Bast Flot- manby, was, at Scarborough, fined FA for driving a motor-car without lights At a dan- gerous speed. Six weeks' imprisonment in the second divi- sion was passed at Birmingham on G<eorge Dent, a farmer, for fraudulently obtaining money from the United Counties Bank. The Edinburgh Castle, which is being built at Belfast for the Royal Mail Service of the Union-Castle Line, was launched from the yard of Messrs. Harland and Wolff, Limited. With the object of giving greater publicity to the advantages of intensive cultivation an exhibition of "French Gardening" is to be held at the Royal Botanical Society's Gardens, 4 Regent's Park, in July.

STORY OF MASKED BURGLARS. Lizzie Morgan, a eeventeen-year-olS servant at North Row Farm, Red wick. a. lonely house on the moors between Newport and Chepstow, has told a strange story of an adventure with masked burglars. Three women lived at the farm—Mrs. Walters, her niece, and the girl Morgan. Early in the morning the girl, with her feet and hands securely tied, dragged herself to her mistress's room and told, her how in the night a cloth had been put over her head by two masked men, one of whom said, "Don't shout, or I will kill you." The girl said she became unconscious, and awoke to find herself bound. A search of the house was made, and it was found that three valuable siher cups and an electro-plated teapot were missing. There were, however, no footprints or finger-marks, though the window-ledge appeared to be chipped, as if an attempt had been made to force the window. The missing articles were recovered from a stream at the back of the house by the police, who are not inclined to accept the story of Masked burglars.

TOWN COUNCILLOR COMMITTED. Evidence of some remarkable auditing of accounts was given oil Monday at Kingston-on- Thames, when Wm. Young, 59, a- builder and member of Kingston. Town Council, was sent for trial at Surrey Assizes, charged with con- verting to his own use e-eKani money—stated to amount to nearly to the Kingston Workman's Club Building Society. Young, it was stated, had been secretary of the society for, eighteen years. Prosecuting counsel said that there was what was called an audit each year of the society's books by two members, who put their names to a balance- sheet. They would admit that they did not understand the accounts. Figures were put before them bv the prisoner, these were checked by what wns c^lWI a balance-sheet, and that they called, nn aiK.it.

ADVENTURES OF A SIXPENCE. The strange story of a. gilded sixpence waø told at West Ham, when Millie Wheeler, married woman, living at Hermit-road, Plaistow, was charged with uttering counter- feit coins. Mrs. Wheeler went to a public-house and obtained change for a sovereign. Later che returned and asked for change of half a sovereign. The barmaid tested the coin and said it was a gilded sixpence. Mrs. Wheeler insisted she had received it in the change for the sovereign, but the barmaid r positive she had not given it, and tbø woman, greatly distressed, went away. She returned and said she had changed tho- half-sovereign at a pawnshop. Some time later a boy came to the public- house from a neighbouring oil shop to obtain change for "half a sovereign." The coin ho [tendered was a gilded sixpence. It was then found that Mrs. Wheeler had changed thtf gilded sixpence at the oil shop. Mrs. Wheeler, the magistrate was iit" formed, was a most respectable woman. Her husband out of his wages sent her a sovereign, which was all the money she pos- sessed, and she had acted throughout Jit good faith. Mr. Gilleepie said there had been a mis- take somewhere—-he did not wish to cast any aspersions—and the accused would be dis- 'charged. x

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.* During the hearing of a case of alleged wife, neglect against Benjamin Holt at Blackpool, on Monday, the woman stated she had been married twice to defendant* After her first marriage to Holt she heard that her first husband was alive. When her first husband died, she married Holt again. Alderman Mather: There is no doubt about your being married. Defendant said that- when complainant married him the second time, she had not seen her first husband's corpse. Defendant doubted the legality of his marriage. Alderman Mather: "There is no doubt about it now." He ordered Holt to pay do* weekly.

"A SHEAF OF BANKNOTES." "The Dean of Manchester," states an ad- vertisement in a- Manchester newspaper, "wishes to thank the unknown friend who, has sent him a large sum of money in bank- notes." Bishop Welldon, the dern, speaking to A newspaper correspondent, said: "I found an envelope addressed to me at the cathedral containing a sheaf of banknotes. They were plainly meant to be distributed for charit- able purposes, and I propose to use them ins that way."