Flintshire Observer Mining Journal and General Advertiser for the Counties of Flint Denbigh

A DEAL IN "FUTURES." Slim Jim: "Say, Mr. looses, will yer givs I me a couple o' quid for a gold chain worth fifteen ? Moses: "Let's see der chain Vere is it?" Slim Jim: "Acrost that old josser's weskit!

HOW A FORTUNE WAS SPENT, Mr. Arthur Patwain Jenkinsoh, a tailor, trading in Brook-street, Cavendish square, as Jertkinson and Allardyce, bro.ught /an. agtion on Saturday against .Mi. Nicholas J., W04,0 a tailor's bill amounting to £ 103 odd.. r: Mr. Woodf it was said, was a gentleman who had inherited £ 200,000 and run through it. i In 1907 it was contemplated that: he should lac- company a Barpn Ott on an expedition to Ar- gentina. An outfit was ordered from the" plaintiff. Mr. Wood was then an undischarged bankrupt owing a debt of £ 48 to the, plaintiff, and it was urged on his behalf, that the outfit was ordered on Baron Ott's credit. In answering questions put to him by the Judge, Mr. Wood suid his- age itds- only.-anty- five, and that wh-en "he went bankrupt lie was two years younger. He had been brought up to nothing, but was intended for the Army. He spent CI13,000, the amount of his bankruptcy liabilities, in motoring, shooting, and racing." Mr. Justice Darling gave judgment for the plaintiffs for the V.5 10s. j

THE HENRTQUEZ ESTATES. Referring to this company, "The Financier and Bullionist" of the 17th inst. says:-—There has been a good business passing in the House in the shares of Henriquez Estates, Limited, on the basis of 1 13-16 to 1-gl during the past day or two. The company, readers may be interested to know, has a capital of £ 36,000, in Cl shares, of which 26,000 shares have been issued. The sompany owns a property in the Republic of Panama (about eight miles from the canal irhich is over 40,000 acres in extent. The pro- perty comprises:—(1) A rubber plaLatiQnof )ver 250 acres, containing more than 50,000 -fibber trees, ranging in age from five to eight fears, 30,000 of which are ready for immediate tapping. (2),,74X. ^cres cleared and sown with Yuinea grass, well fenced and amply watered, suitable in every way for the immediate plant- ing of young rub.ber trees. (3) A virgin forest of about 40,000 acres, containing not less than 40,000 virgin rubber trees, ready for immediate tapping; it also contains mahogany and other valuable timber. Tapping the trees has already commenced. An official statement estimates the 1909 profits at RIS,650 which should allow of a dividend on the issued capital of some 50 per cent.—not 5 per cent., as by a printer's error we were made to say in our issue of Saturday—and these profits are to be derived from tapping cultivated and wild rubber on the property, as well as from the sale of excellent timber upon it. Labour is said to be plentiful, and, as the property is outside the canal zone, the rate of wages is lower than at Panama. Rubber cutters, machete and mule-men can be obtained *t 2s. 6d. per day with food, or 3s. per day with- out food. The estate is approached by a good road from Panama for about six miles, and afterwards by a mule-track, which is in good condition and open all the year round. Rubber can be conveyed to Panama in five or six hours, while mahogany and other timber can be floated down the Rio Chagres during the heavy rains. The climatic conditions of the Isthmus of Panama are exceptionally good, and the estate Stands 600ft. above the sea level. The tempera- ture the whole year round only varies from 70 iegrees to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The rainfall averages from 130 to 150 ins. per annum.

The Willesden Education Committee has re- fused to carry out an order of the Board of Edu- cation directing it to allow ten square feet of floor space per child. The order would reduce the school accommodation in Willesden by 1,250 places. Sir Arthur Nicholson, the British Ambassador in St. Petersburg, and the leading members of ( the British colony attended the opening of the row premises of the English Arrow Rowing Club. The old premises were burned down last autumn. Lady Londonderry, at a meeting of the Royal Irish Industries Association at her town house, said the association had sent Queen Wilhelmina a baby robe of Carrickfergus guipure lace, mounted on fine Irish cambric, made at the Con- vent of Sligo. Six champion Clydesdale horses, including [Angus (champion of" America), which belong to Mr. Armour, the Chicago meat magnate, arrived in England to take part in the International Horse Show.

PHARAOH'S PALACE. In an account of the work of the British School of Archaeology during the past season at Thebes and Memphis, Professor Flinders Petrie described the ruins at Memphis of the palace of King Apries-the Pharaoh Hephra of the Bible -who was contemporary with Jeremiah. This, he said, was the great Memphian discovery oj the year. The palace is of impressive scale. about 400ft. long and half as wide. The iriddk court is more than 100ft. square, and the painted stone columns in it were over 40ft. high. The stone-lined halls, of which seven remain, were over 40ft. long, and half as wide. The brick walls were nearly as large, and were about 15ft. thick. A still larger court extended on the north side, in which lie capitals1 of columns which must have been about 50ft. high. I What Professor Petrie described as the CronE supreme find was the fitting of a palanquin of solid silver, a pound in weight, decorated with ra, bust of the goddess Hathor with a gold face, of the finest workmanship of the time of Apries. The great gateway, and the immense walls descending deep into the mound, indicated that there lay the ruins of successive palaces built one over the other, and Professor Petrie prophesied that in six or eight years the earliest records of the Egyptian Kingdom toight be brought to light.

DRAWING-ROOM DRAMA. Remarkable evidence was given on Saturday at Dunb^yne, co. Me at h, when J. Eden Savile, from Stamford, I^incolnshire, said to beje, mem- ber of St. James's Club, London, was Charged with attempting to murder Charles Forte.scue Uniacke, by shooting him in the front drawing- room of the Villa Dunboyne. Uniacke, by shooting him in the front drawing- room of the Villa Dunboyne. Mrs. Nina Cecile Uniacke deposed that she eent Mr. Savile a telegram on the 19th inst. asking him to come and see her, on her hus- band's suggestion. When he arrived her hus- band came into the room and asked Mr. Savile "the reason for the lies he had told." Mr. Savile pulled out a revolver, which he pointed at Mr. Uniacke. The latter threw his arms round Mr. Savile, and the revolver tvent off. Mr. Uniacke brought Mr. Savile to the ground. Before he left Mr. Savile wrote a statement for the police, saying that he had attempted to take Mr. Uniacke's life. < j It was stated that the prisoner had handed the police lettef in which he said the eonfes- j sions made by him were false, they, having-been vfruhg from him while Uniacke threatened hira j with a hunting crop and his wife held a revolver 1 at his head. The charge was reduced to shooting with in- tent to wound, and the prisoner was committed for trial at Trim Assizes. Bail was allowed.

MAURITANIA'S NEW RECORD. For the first time on record a mail dispatched from Liverpool on a, Saturday has been de- livered to the postal officials in New York by the following Thursday. The Mauretania, by expediting her passage, has managed to accom- plish tnis; having covered the entire distance from Daunt's Rock in 4 days 16h. 53min. Immediately the liner arrived in quarantine the mail was transferred to a harbour boat, which at once started up the river. The daily runs were 664, 636, 608, 647, and 268 knots. In the last day there was a three hours' slackening of speed, owing to a fog-bank being encountered, so that the Mauretani& has not yet reached her limit. Her average speed was 25.62 knots per hour, being the highest average steaming between Liverpool and New York.

£2,600 FOR A BOOK. j A Volume of five productions of Caxton's presa haa "beeti sold afc 1:>otheb;y's"- It was the pro- perty of a gentleman living in an old manor house in the North, and was discovered among other books in his library by a well-known book- seller. The volume included "The Mirror of the World," the Dictes, and "Sayings of the Philosopher, Cicero." 1. It" is in original Caxton billding of oaken boards, and the contents were printed by Caxton at Westminster 1479-81. Of the "Mirror only fifteen copies are recorded. The volume is genuine and sound throughout. There was an initial bid of = £ 1,000 for it, and so keen "was the competition that the hammer did not fall until XZ,600 was called.

MYSTERY 0-F TATTOOED WOMAN. A woman who alighted at Reading Station from an Aldershot train in a dazed conditioll, and who could give no account of herself, died in Reading Infirmary. Her handkerchief bore the name L. E. Hancock, and she is tattooed on both arms. These marks include the name I. L. W. Beckhurst, a rosebud OH each arm, crossed hands, and a heart. She is described as between 30 and 35 years old; with dark brown hair and, blue eyes; and was wearing a blue costume, and wore a wed- ding-ring.

PRINCE AND PRINTERS. Presiding at the annual dinner of the Printers' Pension, Almshouses, and Orphan Asylum Cor- ) poration at the Hotel Cecil, the Prince of Wales said, in proposing the toast of the King, that his Majesty had given him a donation to- wards the funds of the corporation. The Prince remarked, that the printer was the invisible friend of all who had risen, and that the printing press was the source of life- blood to the civilised world.

Justices sitting at the London Sessions al- lowed the appeal of Benjamin Levy and Patrick Geraglity against the refusal by the Paddingtou Bench to renew or transfer to them the licence of the Royal Oak, Bisliop's-road, Paddington. Described as a dangerous thief and bully, a labourer named James Kenyon was sentenced tc 18 months' imprisonment at Preston for at- tempted theft. In his cell shortly afterwards he committed suicide by hanging himself with | a bell-rope. | It is officially announced that the Admiralty contemplate a conversion of the East Barracks, J the oldest part of the depot of the Royal Marines at Deal, into a naval infirmary in con- nection with the portion of the fleet now based on Dover. The Carnegie bronze medal was presented to Nurse Ethel Wharton at Aberavon for her con- spicuotis bravery at the recent fire which de- stroyed the Jersey Beach Hotel. Lord Newton, on behalf of Earl Roberts, Pre- sented in the House of Lords a bill to provide for national service in the Territorial Force. The measure was read a first time. j The Art Collectors' Protection Association has been formed, with the aim of securing to the nation the first option to purchase art treasures of national importance and to abolish "knock-out" sales. Á Diamonds, valued at five thousand pounds, which were left in a cab at Berlin by Mile. Anna Parlova, a Russian ballet-dancer, were returned to her by the driver.

STATE AFFORESTATION. The future of the art of forestry. in this country was the subject of an address delivered before the Royal Institution of Great Britain by Mr. Ivor Guest, who was chairman of the Royal Commission on Coast Erosion and Afforestation. The Commission, he said, contemplated a busi- ness, and not a philanthropic venture, from which they calculated the State would reap a handsome profit. That it must benefit those who needed work was an extra advantage, which Might recommend it to the country, and on this ground alone they hoped that it would be put into force. It must be clearly under- stood, however, that they did not propose a new system of Poor Law relief, or that any man should be employed who was not willing mid able to give a fair day's work for a fair day's wage. But independently of all outside con- siderations, the evidence to which they had listened and the. actuarial estimates that we had made, brought them to the conclusion that afforestation in the United Kingdom would stand on its own feet as a commercial enterprise.

"BACHELOR" AND HIS WIFE. The spectacle of a husband declaring that he iidjnot recognise his wife war seen at the Old B&iljey. In 1870 Edwin Wells, a jeweller, mar- ried' Martha Ember, who is still, alive, at St. George's, Bloomsburv. Later 'he married another woman at St. Paul's Church, Hammer- smith. He was tried at the Old Bailey for causing a false entry to be made in the marriage register it St. Paul's by describing himself as a bachelor. He "said that his wife was dead, and when con- fronted with her in court he declared that she was a perfect stranger to him. He was sen- tenced to two years' hard labour.

BETTER THAN "DAYLIGHT BILL." I f "We have a servant who gets up regularly at seven o'clock every morning." { What a treasure How is r "Oh, she is being courted by the milkjj man." ..■ iTrrr TT I

SET 6FT FLFIFT BY* BABY BROT^ERI Set on fire by her three-year-old brotheri Rosina Kathleen Morum, aged J8 months, ,was burned, to death at Stratford. The West" Ham coroner's jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death," and expressed sympathy with the parents. Mrs. Morum told the coroner that she went out shopping leaving the baby and hereon "Joseph, aged three, playing in the kitchen, where a fire, protected bv two guards, was burn- ing. When slie returned ten minutes later, Joseph said that-he toolf the s-mslU, guard offjtlie fire and put a piece of wood between the bars apd set fire to the bab3r. Constable Mitchell said that the boy made a similar statement 'td'him Witne- found the piece of charred wood in the fireplace, and the boy then said: "I set her on fire."

'WF'S! .<a WHY fE.S. j M OLD METALS of every description purchased for cash.— V H. B. BARNARD & Soys, 144. Lambeth Walk, London, O.A PAGE BOOK ABOUT HERBS AND U-± HOW TO USE THEM, post free; send for one. —TBIMNELL, The Herbalist, 144, Richmond-road, Cardiff. Established 1879. r% INDIGESTION Is the primary, cause. of most of the ills to which we are sub- ject. WHELPTON'S VEGETABLE PURIFYJNG PILLS arouse the stomach to action. Headache fliea away, Biliousness, Kidney Disorders, and Skin Complaints disappear. Ask for WHELPTON'S PURIFYING PILLS, And rsmember there is NO PILL "JUST AS GOOD." Is. lid. of all Chemists. Free by Post, 14 stamps. 4, Crane-court, Fleet-st., London. 1 f) Motor Houses of Every Description, from 220. HARBROWS WORKS, SOUTH BERMONDSEY, LONDON, S.E. AGENTS Wanted. Quick-selling- DOOR BELL. Sella on sight. Free sample.—Cheetham. Ha Ifield-st., Oldham. BRITISH COLUMBIA.—w. E. Houit, Real Estate Agent, .Armstrong, B.C., Canada, has choice Fruit and other Farris for Sale. Families located and- made comfortable. Ideal climate, short winters. mus COFFEE. RED J' WHITE *iLlJi B For Breakfast & after Dinner. TILPPP DISEASES, skiN ERUPTIONS, ECZEMA speedily cured by OLD DR. JACOB TOWNSEND'3 SARSAPaHILLA. — 2s. 6d. per bottle, p<!>st free, from DEAN, STEEL & CO., NOTTINGHAM. NOTTINGHAM LACE.—50,000 yards to be cleared. 36 yards, Assorted Laces, Is. 6d., carriage paid.—Central Lace Co., 173, Berridge-road, Nottingham. 9 MMM!L!t& No. 'I.-THE MINER 9 has to bring all his muscles into play. 9 It's heavy work heaving coals, and the H body needs refreshing and sustaining M ■with the right kind of nourishment. H 1. For all workers 'with body or brain H nothing could be better than the splendid BOTANIC H BEER made at home from fifl MASON'S OFXHERBS. I Costa 2dU per gallon, but worth a shilling. H AOENT3 WANTED. H NEWPALL & MASON, NOTTINGHAM. Costa 2de per gallon, but worth a shilling. H AGENTS WANTED. H NEWPALL & MASON, NOTTINGHAM. FACING "WHITE CITY."—Walton House Hotel, 45, Shepherd's Bush Green. Bedroom and Breakfast, 3/6. ANADA.Farmer's like ]irtr of other8 intei;ested'in CANADA.—Farmer's son like hea,r of others interested in ChIlton Foliat, Hungerford. ""¡ HOW tb 6btain a. Free Enlargement frotti RTIJ- Photo,— Apnly, "Marguerite Studio," Roath, Cardiff. SHORTHORN CALVES. FABMERS requiring the very best bred Shorthorn CalVes, Bulls or Heifers, for rearing purposes, should send at once for price list and particulars, to Fred Briggs Gill, Bark Hill, Whitchurch, Salop. PAINT ready for use in every shade. 18/- cwt.' sniiohor JT finality 21/- ewt., finest 30/- cwt. PUTTY, VARNISHES, COLOURS, WHITE LEAD, OILS, BRUSHES, etc., at recorl pi-ices. Send for price list. See what you save.— Actual Manufacturers, Essex Paint Company, Billet-lane, Walthamstow. OBACCOS I CIGARS! CIGARETTES I I Kverv known Brand nt Mahutaoiurers' own L sc Prices. Kiulleas v«rfety"of Tobacconists' Fancy Goods "nd Shop q, Fittings. The trade- only supplied. Opening' orders a Speciality. Send tor Price List to any of our Brunches, or to SIMOLKTON & COLE, LTD., Cannon Street, Birmingham,. FACING "WHITE CITY."—Walton House Hotel, 45, Shepherd s Push Green. Bedroom and Breakfast. :S. C ANADA.-F^rmer\s; son like hear of others interested in Canada.—Long. Chilton Foliat, Ilungorford, HOW to obtain a Free Enlargement from any Photff— Apnly, "Marguerite Studio," Rokt.h, Cardiff. SHORTHORN CALVES. FARMERS requiring the very be^t bred Shorthorn Calves, Bulls or Heifers, for rearing- purposes, should send at Dnoe for ptioe list and particulars to Fred Briggs Gill, Bark Hill, Whitchurch, Salop. PAINT ready for use in every shade, T8/- cwt., superiot quality 2t/-ewt., finest 30/- cwt. PUTTY VARNISHES, COLOURS, WHITE LEAD, OILS, BRUSHES, etc., at record prices. Send for price list. See what you save.— Actual Manufacturers, Essex Paint Company, Billet-lane, Walthainstiny. IVENE is a CERTAIN CURE for CORNS. Post free, <L Is. 1 id ^—CHRISTOPHER SHJEARMAN, Pharmacist, LAMBETH WALK, LONDQN, S.E. EARLY FLOWERING CHRYSANTHEMUMS. ,12 strong 1 Tr nRii!:u>Wl Plants, in 12 Beautiful Varieties, named, fo- 2s. f1ri.. carrit'.P'e paid.—Thyne & Co.. Seedsmen. Dundee.

H .t. FALL FROM AN EXPRESS. James Hartley, a. bluejacket, on furlough, had a narrow escape while travelling to Manchester from Perth. He fell from the train near Dun- blane, when it was travelling at a speed of sixty miles an hour, and although bruised about the head, he, was able to crawl along the line to Piinblane Station, lie was afterwards taken to Stirling In- firmary for examination, but, beyond, a feW abrasions, of the skin and, a number of bruises* he appeared to be little the worse for his alarm- ing experience.

A. man in Moscow named Nestoroff celebrated his hundredth birthday by smoking a cigarette for the first time in his life. He died half an kour later., X. Georges Clemeiiecau-no relation to the French Premier-,was arrested for shooting at the bronze lions in the Place de la Nation, in Paris. During a marriage service at Budapest the bride was so overcome with emotion that on opening her lips to give her assent her false teeth fell out. A CONTENTED COOK IS A BLESSING KIND. You can't expect a contented Cook if she is worried out of her life by BEETLES- KEATING'S POWDER kills Beetles. Get a tin and do it. Sprinkle Keating's on the floor at night and sweep them up next morning- Tins. 3d., 6d. and Is.; Bellows 9d.; NEW SIZE, Id. I

[IFrom Our Special Correspondent.) Though the first stage of the Budget is over, the Government are only at the begin- ning of the battle. All that has been done yet is to adapt the resolutions. The real fight will come upon the Finance Bill, which will be presented when Parliament re- assembles after Whitsuntide. There can be no doubt that members of the House of Com- mons' may look forward to several months of hard work, for if the Budget is to be passed without resort to the guillotine, there is not much probability of the session coming to an 0 end before October. Though most members would rather sit late and long than have another autumn session, the prospect of not j being released until October does not arouse any joyful enthusiasm. In order to mitigate the hardship of sitting all through the summer months, the Government are making arrangements to give some of their sup- porters a holiday in August on condition that they return to the House for September, while others will remain during August and be relieved in their turn. Care will be taken iby the Whips that the Government majority is not endangered. There was very general disappointment at the refusal of the Dean of Westminster to give permission for the interment of the ashes of Mr. Meredith in the Abbey. No reason has been given, though it is stated that the Dean is of opinion that Victorian literature is already fully represented in the national Valhalla. Probably the Dean never I expressed any such opinion. If he had done so he would have laid himself open to the re- tort that there are possibly others better able to give a final judgment upon such a point. It has always been understood that the Dean guided in these matters to a large extent by considerations of the space whicii is etui available within the Abbey, and in this con- nection it should be noticed that the ashes of the great writer were enclosed in a small urn, and not in a coffin. The test for the honour of burial in the Abbey in these days I is high, and rightly so, but even so Mere- dith's life and work surmount it triumph- antly. It does certainly seem as if in a mat- ter of this kind there ought to be some appeal from the decision of a single clergyman, how- ever eminent. Quite a commotion has been created by the action of Mrs. Asquith in inviting her friends to view a display of French frocks and milli- nery at 10, Downing-st-reet, the official resi- dence of the Prime Minister, a week or two ago. Mrs. Asquith, as Mrs. Asquith, is, of course, free to do as she pleases; but Mrs. Asquith, as the wife of the Premier, say those who have protested against her action, is quite a different personage, and ought not to accord a semi-official patronage to foreigners while British tradespeople are in want of all the advertisement they can get. And that she should have arranged the function in the L very house provided by the nation as the residence of the Prime Minister! There's the rub And so there has been quite a lot of fat in the fire. Mrs. Asquith's letter pub- lished the other day should do something to correct the impression that there was any- thing of an elaborate nature about the "exhibition." It was, it appears, just a friendly cup of tea and a few frocks for the inspection of private friends. The news- papers did the rest. Within the charmed circle of knights of the most illustrious Order of St. Patrick there seems to have been recently some dis- turbance of the harmony, and the fact that the latest recruit, the Earl of Granard, was invested with the Insignia of the Order at Buckingham Palace instead of Dublin Castle, has given rise to a crop of rumours. The ceremony of investiture has almost in- variably been carried out in Ireland, and the King himself was invested there, as was also the Prince of Wales. Lately, however, there has been some trouble. In the case of one Tecent investiture there was something very like a boycotting of the ceremony by some members of the Order, and it is stated that some of those whose duty it is to play a lead- ing part refused to act in the investiture of Lord Pirrie, so that the ceremony had to be performed privately. It is whispered that the difficulty has its origin in personal dif- ferences, and, perhaps, the mysterious affair of the Dublin State jewels may have some- thing to do with it. The Censor has been at it again, and has made dramatists more thirsty than ever for his blood. He has banned a play by Mr. Bernard Shaw, "The Showing-up of Blanco Posnet/' which was to have been produced at a series of matinees by the. Afternoon Theatre at His Majesty's. Mr. Redford is pretty well used by this time to having un- kind things, said about him, and he is, un- doubtedly, in for another dose, for the pro- duction of this play had been looked forward to with eager anticipation. In consideration of the disappointment which he has caused to the public it would be a graceful act on the part of Mr. Redford to arrange a public de- bate with Mr. Shaw, in which he should show why he thinks Mr. Blanco Posnet should not be shown up, and Mr. Shaw should defend his play, and incidentally show what a com- pletely illogical and impossible person the Censor is. It would be worth listening to, and would probably prove even more enter- taining than the play. It is a reproach often thrown at political j and municipal parties that they constantly disregard their election pledges. That re- proach, at any rate, cannot be levelled at the Moderate majority of the London County Council. They declared that if they were j elected to power they would do a great many things, and they are busily carrying out their promises as quickly as they conveniently can Those unfortunate steamboats came under the ban of their displeasure; the ser- ■ vice was stopped; and the boats are being sold. The Works Department was another j institution for which they had no love at all; they have broken it up and sold the plant. j They declined to accept the legacy of the housing schemes which had been recom- mended by their Progressive predecessors, and they have now determined to sell the freehold of the land on which the houses were to have been built. Whatever may be thought as to the wisdom or unwisdom of all these things, the Moderates are only carrying out iv the mandate given them by the electors, and they have proved that they are not a party of promises merely. Perhaps the electors had not clearly realised what was to happen, but that is their lookout. A. E. M.

——— A gas explosion damaged the roof of the booking-office at the Elephant and Castle station of the City and South London Rail. Yar-

RAILWAY VANS IN FLAMES. Two travelling vans attached to a North- Eastern Railway goods train was completely destroyed by the fire near Barnard Castle. The "train left Kirkby Stephen shortly after noon, and was carrying supplies of general re- quisites to railway stations in the district. Traffic was delayed at Barnard Castle until the evening. Some telegraph wires were destroyed by the flames from the vans.

XIO,000,000 LOST. Once more the urgent need of an efficient sal- vage organisation for the British merchant ser- vice is shown by the latest figures of the losses due to wrecfaau It is shown that no less than Y,10)000,000 is lost owing to mishaps around the British coast alone in a year, without reckoning Warships. >,>, \1..1 Additional testimony is forthcoming from the fact-that the operations of one Swedishs'salva/ge company during the few years of its existence have resulted in the solving, at an eaormous reo muneration, of vessels worth ;C,5,5001-000.

THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP. SUGGESTED EXPLANATION. Mr. Percival Spencer, the aeronaut, inter- viewed on the subject of the mysterious airship whose nocturnal appearances have been reported in various parts of the country, said the most probable explanation was that they were mode] balloons, of which a large number were being sold, and which ranged in length from 25 to 1( feet. Occasionally petrol was used to supply the lifting power to these balloons, and this might give a luminous flame, which would light uj the country for miles round. Another theorj might be that the aerial'-vessels which had beer seen were two or three of the men-carrying air, ships which had been supplied by his firm, and which the owners had been using. He entirelj scouted any idea that a foreign aerial vessel had crossed the North Sea in the conditions which had prevailed during the past few days. WARNING FROM GERMANY. Herr Friedrich Dernburg, the father of the German Colonial Secretary, writing in th€ "Berliner Tageblatt," says that the lines upon which Anglo-German relations are developing cannot be regarded without grave anxiety, the danger lying not in any methodical hostility ol the two countries towards each other, but in the continual accumulation of explosive matter and in the temperament of the two peoples. Having warned his readers that any spark in the shape of an untoward event falling into this mass of slowly accumulated enmity may start an outbreak, Herr Dernburg proceeds "While Germans may shrug their shoulders at the Symptoms recently manifested of the state of the British mind towards Germany, namely, the invasion scare and the stories of 40,000 spies dis- guised as waiters, of vessels cruising. off ;the mouth of the" Humber, and of a mysterious air- ship hovering over England at night, these are most serious factors in the situation, for when an external incident exciting the popular imagi- nation occurs even a peace-loving Government may be driven to the most fateful decisions."

DRESSES AT DOWNING STREET. J:; ,,&; Mr. Richardson, M.P. for South Nottingham, wrote to Mrs. Asquith asking if the much-dis- CUssed dress exhibition at 10, Downing-etreet, the official residence of the Prime Minister, was, as alleged, of an elaborate and costly character, "calculated to damage the home manufacturer of similar articles." .1 Mrs. Asquith replied as follows:— < "Dear Mr. Richardson,—I must thank you for your very kind letter, "You can assure your friends that there is no truth in the statement that there has been an exhibition and sale of foreign* stuffs or clothe* at 10, Downing-stteet. — "On the 6th of this month, in the course of the afternoon, I received in my private rooms at'tea from twenty to twenty-five of my personal friends, and a well-known French costumier, whose models can be bought in any London shop, brought some specimens for'the inspection of myself and my guests. It was a purely private occasion.—Yours sincerely, "MARGARET ASQUITH."

I, PENSIONS JN DENMARK; A, report .on the finances of; penxnark for 1907-08 shows that-on March, 31, 1907, there were 70.445 persons over 60 years of age who were in receipt of old-age ,pep^ions. They. formed over 25 per cent, of the total population of the country over 60 years of age, and their number is on the increase. j The total amount dispensed in pensions was in 1906-07 P,451,000, of which the State contribute X212,968, and the communes the remainder. The average amount distributed among the recipients in 1906-07 was ifiS '17s. but as the communes have to decide the amount of the pen- .sion$(" what is necessary to life "), there is a gllea t difference between the pensions in various places. Thus the average per principal recipient amounted in Copenhagen to ^810 in other towns-to £10 16s., and in tile country to £7 9s,

A PLUCKY GIRL. 1 A 'girl of nineteen. Miss Florence Smith, of Battersea, was thanked by the Recorder at the Central Criminal Court. for "the extreme cour- age ?' she had shown when a constable named Neal was assaulted by a hbrsekeeper named SaL- mon, who was charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm oil him. A crowd had collected, but she was the only person who attempted to blow the officer's whistle. Salmon snatched it from her and threw it annong the crowd, but she fetched it and blew it, thus bringing help. It was stated that the constable had been so seriously injured by Salmon that be would be incapacitated from duty for the rest of his life. Salmon was sentenced to three years' penal servitude.

CHOIR BOYS AND SUNDAY GOLF. Archdeacon Thicknesse, during an address at z, Wellingborough recently, read a letter from an Oxfordshire vicar, who complained that he could 1 not get any choir boys on Sundays, as they 30UM eritrn seven or eight shillings on the Sab- bath by acting as golf caddies. Was it. a wonder, said the archdeacon, that children succumbed to such temptations? He urged the churchwardens to have declara- tions signed in parishes in favour of Sunday ob- servance as a day of rest and protesting against its desecration.

Putting in at Coquimbo, Chili, the Dutch ship Nederland, from Melbourne, reported that her captain, second officer, and five of the crew had been drowned in heavy weather. Mr. Jahn Laidlaw, a Sanquhar merchant, was found dead in bed. It was ascertained that there was a leakage in a gas pipe, and that he had been asphyxiated in his sleep.

.PARIK S-TRIKE RIOTI Violent scenes occurred at the close of a meet- ing of seven thousand workmen at the St. Paul Riding School, Paris. A large force of police on duty outside attempted to disperse a thousand or more navviee, who were singing the "Inter- nationale," and were shouting "Dovm with Clemenceau » The policemen, however, were assaileH with volleys of stones and glasses and water bottles snatched from the terraces of the neighbouring cafes. Even chairs were hurled at them. Twelve of them were injured by thE missiles. Reinforcements of police and cavalry speedily arrived on the scene and dispersed the demonstrators by a charge, when tran- quillity was restored.. At the meeting inflammatory speeches were delivered against the Government and the mer who had not ceased work. Several speakers urged their comrades to "saboter"spoi work "-and to declare a strike to a finish unh "complete satisfaction" had been given to thE postal workers. The meeting voted a resolu tion to this effect. The following classes of workers decided tc go on strike:— House decorators, hatters barbers' assistants; while journeymen baker.' and copper workers pasesd resolutions of sym- pathy with the postal strikers.

LINER IN ICE ]? ACK2" The Allan liner Mongolian, from Liverpool, with several hundred passengers on board, got into a perilous position in the ice-jam off the St. John's Newfoundland Harbour. Three male and two female passengers walked ashore over the ice floes from, the Mongolian They reported that the ship was uninjured and was not making water, although she was sub- jected to great pressure from the surrounding ice. The relief steamer Prospero escaped from the ice in the harbour mouth and returned to port. The liner eventually escaped, and, working eastward, rounded Cape Spear, and tried to take shelter at Bay Bulls, twenty miles south of St. John's. She was, however, unable to enter the harbour, as it was blockaded by the ice-pack, and she went south to reach the open water at Cape Race. When leaving St. John's the ship had a nar- row escape, as a severe snowstorm was raging, which might have driven her ashore if she had remained in her former position.

I AN AUSTRALIAN HEROINE. One of the most courig-eous acts of self-sacri- £ ce"and heroism,that have elvor been, reported to the KoyaT Humane Society of Australasia came under the notice of the court of directors at the last meeting. On the approach of the Goulburn Valley train at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour, Mrs. Kennedy, the wife of a line repairer, saw a little girl on -the rail. She on -tothe line and snatched the, child from almost under the engine, falling in such a position that the train assed' withili nine "inches of het hfeafl. p a The directors were unanimous in granting the first gold-medal they have ever awarded to a woman.

WHEN IGNORANCE IS BLISS. I Coming events cast their shadows before.

It is anhounced in Dublin that Mr. W. B. Yeats will revive at the Abbey Theatre tlie late Mr. Synge's drama, "The Play Boy of the Western World." It will be remembered that on the occasion of its production in Dublin in 1907 it was received with extraordinary marks of popular disapproval, the play being regarded by many as a libel on the peasantry of the West of Ireland. The King and Queen were among those who sent presents to Lord and Lady Roberts on the occasion of their golden wedding celebration. The Reading Town Council in committee on the question of the proposed extension of the borough decided practically to accept the whole condition imposed by the Local Government Board, ¡.J

WOMEN AND DRINK. A remarkable publication is shortly to be pub- lished which will throw considerable light upon the causes and th6 cipre of intemperance among; women. The Church- of England Temperance Society has for some time past been pursuing iijqpiriea gmong many thousands- of -,d<w5to £ S'' in afl. parts'6f "the country, soliciting their profes- sional views upon intemperance among women. Apart from the medical aspect of the work, there are to be a number of observations on the subject of inteniperance among- women from the pen of those who have made of it a life study.