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

I SERVANT GIRLS YICHMISED. | The story of a rogue who for a time made a living out of credulous servant girls and others was told at the Middlesex Sessions on Saturday, when Alfred West was sentenced to seven years' penal servitude. It appeared that West called at houses where lie knew one of the servants had bought a sewing machine or some other article on the hire purchase system, and represented that he was an inspector of the company. He would ask to see the instal- ment card, and on examining it would say that a mistake had been made, and more money was required. If additional money was refused he would take the article away.

It is understood that after the withdrawal of the international troops from Crete next month the protecting Powers will each in turn main- tain a warship in Cretan waters for the pro- tection of the Ottoman flag. Roy Edmonds, of Berkleley-square, London, W., was summoned at Mortlake on^a charge of driving a motor-car in Richmond Park at 20 miles an hour. Lord Rosebery was in the car at the time of the alleged offence. The Bench flu missed the summons. i '■

"PARLIAMENTARY PARS BATTLE OF THE BUDGET. With the debate on the second reading of the Finance Bill the real hard work of the Session begins. It cannot be said, however, that members of the House of Commons have shown any particular enthusiasm for hard. labour as yet. For the first few days -when' Parliament re-assembled after the Whitsuntide holidays scant ^audiences were the rule. This week, however, will see a change, and it is already apparent that the fight on the Budget will be long and bitter. It will occupy the time of the Commons cer- tainly till the middle of August, and very probably even a month or two longer. What b will happen to it when it reaches the Lords is a problem which remains for the present on the knees of the gods. Meanwhile, there is very little for the Upper House to do just now, and their lordships are enjoying an ex- tended holiday, PRES OF THE Earn HE. It was a pleasant little gathering that assembled in the Harcourt Room, when the delegates attending the Imperial Press Con- ference were entertained to luncheon by Par- liamentarians associated with either litera- ture of journalism, or both. There are nove- lists, essayists, and historians in quite res- pectable numbers in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, while there are, of course, several journalists. Sir Gilbert Parker was chairman of the committee which made the arrangements, and it was a happy -circumstance that the Speaker "was able to take the chair, and to make one of his genial speeches, while Mr. Birrell proposed the toast of the occasion, "Our Guests." THE TRUTH-TELLERS. Mr. Birrell said the Press played a great part in their lives. Nobody would deny that it often threatened their lives, and he was glad to say that it occasionally prolonged them. The only other observation he would make about the Press was this-he would urge them to be more critical and less parti- san. What amazed him in reading the news- papers was that any of them should be parti- san, Why, for example, when the leader of a party happened to be stout and (stuttering should they describe him as slim and elo- quent ? If a speaker they did not agree with was undoubtedly fluent and well propor- tioned, why should they describe him as Quilp'and a st immoier? The Press should critical; feeling one conviction only—that they were telling, the, truth. Now, what was easier than to tell the truth about other people? It presented no difficulty. Almost anyone could do it, and yet how rarely it was done. "THIs DAY THREE MONTHS." Mr. Austen Chamberlain it was who-moved the rejection of the Bill, proposing that it be "read a second time upon this day three months." He said it had never been usual for an Opposition to offer an alternative Budget, gut they had in view an alternative which was as well known to the House of Commons as it was to the country, and the Opposition had every reason to be satisfied with the progress which their scheme made in the further consideration, given to it by the country. He declared that the Budget was against the canons of sound finance, the first of which was that the Government should tax for revenue only." That had gone by the aboard. Theiqefence which Ministers made of the Budget was not that the taxes would produce revenue, but that they would get round the action of the House of Lords oft, the Licensing Bill or would cheapen land, or would force land into the market, or would develop towns and facilitate the pro- gress of the country. LÁND AND THE GOVERNMENT. Another canon ,f soull finan«, said Mr. C]t»in1t>erra,m, Was that the burden? "of taxa- tion should be fairly spread. By this Budget, however, teetotallers and non-smokers who happen not to be income-tax-payers would be exempt from contribution. The ex-Chan- cellor of the Exchequer reserved his strongest denuciationfiOr the proposals with regard to undeveloped land and minerals—"the most wonderful and least comprehensible of the many incomprehensible proposals." He said they were based on the same kind of con- fusion of thought which underlay the whole treatment of land by the Government. It Would be found, he prophesied, that agricul- tural land would not be saved from the new burden, and that the small cultivating' owner Would be hit as well as the large agricul- turist. ■ BACKS AND BURDENS. The Scottish Advocate-General, Mr. Alex- ander Ure, has long been in favour of the taxation of the land, and he defended the Budget proposals with great vigour. "This is a great Budget, he said. "It lays the heavy burdens on the broad backs, and eases the .burdens of those less able to bear them." Dealing more particularly with the tax on the capital value of undeveloped land, Mr. Ure said the Government proposed that the owner should pay a contribution towards the needs of the community in exact proportion to the increased value of the property due to the presence of the community. As to the objections urged to the valuation, Mr. Ure xeferred to the statement made by Mr. Prety- man that it would be impossible for him to make a return of the value of his undeveloped land. "If a railway company or a great cor- poration armed with compulsory powers came into the market to buy that land, I would Warrant that the hon. gentle- man would name a price like a lamb and stick to it like a leech." Members laughed, and when Mr. Ure went on, with refreshing candour, "I would do the same myself," they laughed again. NATIONAL PROPERTY. This Budget, said Mr. Ure, is the answe of the Government to those who say that the taxable resources of the country are ex- hausted. It proposed to find the money by taxing privileges and luxuries, by asking those. who were well able, to do. so to bear the ktfrden, and by inviting a modest contribu- \On frcn those who were at present partici- U 8 in what was truly national property. vy»s Raid by the bankers and others that j'le Budget would impose an excessively _■eavy burden on the shoulders of the ^althy, and that this would result in the bailment, of expenditure, and in the long Un in diminished employment and reduced •gages. That would be a lamentable result. he was quite certain the land, for in- OoV',lei'" WGU-^ 11 take itself away on the ..nti'aiy, the proposals would lead to in- rather than to diminish the effective a ^y153,611^ land. He was also sceptical ■s to the contention that rich men would eave ^he COuntry, taking their wealth with tjejii. There was no country in the world where the rich and well-to-do had such-a good rne as in Great Britain—where their pro- Perty was so safe, or where they got a better return for their money.. j

A BOY'S BRAVERY. The story of a brave act was related by a fad named George Collins, fifteen, in his evi- dence in a charge of attempted suicide brought against Frank Short, fifteen, at Old-street, London, on Monday. Collins stated that on Sunday afternoon he was fishing in the canal, when he saw the prisoner jump deliberately into the water, and struggle towards the middle. Witness saw that the prisoner could not swim, and, divesting himself of his coat, jumped in and swam to the other boy, who by this time had sunk twice. He seized Short and swam with him towards the bank, but when about half way he Was clasped round the neck by his semi-conscioUs harden, and had to release his hold. Witness again got hold of the boy, and swam a few more strokes, but the struggling lad twisted his legs round those of witness, and he was again forced to loose his hold. Finally, how- ever, he managed to get close to the bank, ,and someone pulled both lads ashore. The magistrate commended Collins, awarded him 5s., and said he should report his bravery to the Royal Humane Society.

CAPTURED BY GIRLS. Remarkable bravery on the part of two young girls was described at the Barnsley Police-court on Monday, when Herbert Rollin, George Kaye, Charle 's Greasley, and Joseph Jeffels were each sentenced to two j months' imprisonment for stealing a purse and watch from Arthur Tinsley. While. Tinsley was in a public-house at Ingbircliworth he stated that he had £ 12 in his pocket. The other men heard this state- ment, and when Tinsley left the house they tracked him to a lonely spot, where they attacked him. At this moment Miss Gertrude and Miss Lena Hardley drove up in a carriage, and after a struggle arrested Rollin and drove him to the police-station.

IN THE PUBLIC EYE. SINCE THE CONQUEST. After being in the same family since the time of William the Conqueror, the fine old estate of Holme Lacy, in Herefordshire, is to be sold. The present owner is the tenth Earl of Chesterfield, who inherited through his grandfather, Captain Stanhope. Lord Chesterfield is not directly descended from the famous fourth Earl who gave so much good advice to his son, but he is of the same family. The present Peer was born fifty-five years ago. He was called to the Bar after leaving Oxford, and was private secretary to Sir William Harcourt when that statesman was Chancellor of the Exchequer. He has filled the offices of Treasurer of the Royal Household and captain of the corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms. In 1900 Lord Chester- field married one of the most beautiful women in Society, Miss Enid Wilson, daugh- ter of the late Lord Nunburnholme. o A JOURNALIST KNIGHT. One of the most interesting of the delegates to the Imperial Press Conference is Sir Hugh Graham, editor and proprietor of the Montreal Star." He was the first Canadian journalist to be knighted, and the story of his career reads like a romance. He started on the bottom rung of the journalistic ladder at fifteen years of age, when he became office boy with the Evening Telegraph of Montreal. He had only an ordinary education, but he was a clever lad, and hard working, and he soon commenced the climb which took him to the top of the tree as a millionaire newspaper owner, and one of the foremost citizens of Canada. He started the "Star" in 1869 with a journalist friend. They had less than a hundred dollars in the treasury, and for a long time the paper lived a sort of hand-to- mouth existence. But success and prosperity came at length. o: FROM THE ANTIPODES. Mr. Henry Brett, managing director of the ;1 Auckland Star j" who is another of the delegates to the Press Conference, was born at Hastings, England, in 1843, and has been familiar with the inside of a printing office since his boyhood. He went to Auckland, New Zealand, in 1862, with a party of special settlers. For several years lie worked on daily papers, and then in 1870 he and Mr. G. M. Reed founded the Star," of which he became sole proprietor a few years later. Mr. Brett has taken a very prominent part in the public and social life of Auckland. He has been Mayor twice, is president of the leading musical society in Auck- land, and is a founder and a past president of the New Zealand Press Association. In 1889 he wa Commissioner for New Zealand at the Paris Ex. hibition. Some years ago Mr. Brett declined Mr. Seddon's offer of an appointment to the Legislative Council. o FOUNDRY BOY TO POSTMASTER-GENERAL. One of the most interesting of the members 9 of Mr. Deakin's new Cabinet is Sir John Quick, who has accepted the position of Postmaster- General. Cornwall has the honour of being the county of his birth, but he was only two years old when his parents arrived in Australia with him. He had little schooling, and was at work «.t ten. years of age in a foundry. Later on he became a compositor, and later still a journalist. He made up for earlier educational drawbacks by entering the University, where he took a degree, being subsequently called to the Bar. Sir John is a recognised authority on Constitutional law, and has written much on the subject. -:0:- WITH "BOBS" AT KANDAHAR. General Sir Charles Whittingham Horsley Douglas, K.C.B., who has succeeded Sir Ian Hamilton in the Southern Command, has been a soldier for nearly forty years, and has had a dis- tinguished career. lie. was with the 92nd Gor- don Highlanders in Afghanistan, and took part in the memorable march to Kandahar un- der Lord Roberts. At the battle on September 1, 1880, the Highlander had his horse shot under him. He was twice mentioned in despatches and promoted for his services. In the years following he had some soldiering in Natal and at Suakim. In the last Boer War his brigade was in the daybreak ittack on Magersfontein, and he was frequently mentioned in despatches, besides being promoted ;o Major-General for distinguished service. In 1904 he became Adjutant-General to the Forces. ————: 0: "FATHER OF THE HOUSE." There are other claimants to the title of "Father of the House of Commons," but most authorities agree in awarding the honour, to the Right Hon. J. G. Talbot, one of the members for Oxford University, who has announced his intention to retire at the next election. Mr. Talbot has been a member of the House con- tinuously since 1868, though there was a technical break in 1878, when he resigned his seat for West Kent in order to stand for Oxford University. For thirty years he has never had to fight an election. Mr. Talbot was born in 1835, and he is interested in Church affairs and j archteology. He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade in Lord Beacons fie Id's iast Administration. :o: last Administration. I FOR EXAMPLE'S SAKE. Because an officer should not say to his men Goon," but "Come on," General Sir Ian Hamilton, who has been appointed Adjutant- } General of the Forces, recently signed the pledge for example's sake. He declared at a meeting of the Royal Army Tem- perance Association that he stood before them not as an apostle holding up a shining light wherewith to guide their erring footsteps, but humbly as a sinner in whose hand glim- mered the candle of repentance." He also confessed to some twinges of conscience when he reflected upon the 10,000 odd quarts of dutiable liauor which had been poured down his throat in thirty-seven I' years of Army service. Sir Ian was born in 1853. He has always been keenly interested in the men under his command, with whom he is very popular. ¡

Sir George Kekewich, M.P., as hon. secre- tary of the Incorporated Parliamentary Asso- ciation for the Abolition of Vivisection, has addressed a letter to the Earl of Lonsdale in- forming him that, in view of his resignation of the hon. treasureship of the forthcoming In- ternational Anti-vivisection Congress, his name doe& not remain on the list of vice-presidents.

| DUTCH ROYAL CHRISTENING. | The baptism of the infant Princess Juliana took place on Saturday afternoon at the Wil- lemskerk, The Hague. In accordance with Queen Wilhelmina's wish the decorations were very simple. At the moment when the august couple entered the church the Royal Excelsior Choral Society sang a canticle, after which the religious ser- vice began. The infant Princess's cortege to the church left the Palace a quarter of an hour after the departure of the Queen and Prince Henry, Prin- cess Juliana. being in a carriage drawn by six horses, with a guard of honour of a squadron of cavalry. When the Court Chaplain had concluded his address and the christening service had been read, the Grand Mistress, making a deep obeisance, placed the infant Princess in the | hands of her mother, who held her during the brief ceremony at the silver Gothic font. After the benediction had been pronounced the Grand Mistress received the royal child from her Majesty. The young Princess was conveyed to the Palace-with the same ceremony as before, and the Queen and the Prince were escorted to their carriage and returned to the Palace,

CANAL COLLAPSE. One of the embankment walls of the Maritime canal, Brussels, collapsed, and the water poured in a graat flood into the adjacent little River Senne, which rapidly overflowed its banks and inundated the villages for some distance around. Three hundred craft of various sorts were on I the canal at the time, and they were in consider- able peril by the sudden falling of the waters. The accident was promptly reported to the authorities, and a detachment of troops from II the Brussels garrison was sent off with instruc- tions to construct a barrage to stop the overflow of the water. The attempt was made, but with- out great success. The accident was noticed about eleven o'clock in the morning by some boatmen on the canal, who observed that the level of the water was sinking. An explanation of the unusual occur- rence was soon forthcoming. At a point be- tween Brussels and Vilvorde the canal passes over the -River Senne, with which it is con- nected by a. feeder conduit built on the syphon principle, and it appears that the sides of this conduit collapsed without warning, allowing the water to rush unchecked from the canal into the ri v«r. Steps were immediately taken to isolate t:J9 section of the canal where the break occurred, but not before the level of the whole canal had fallen about five feet.

I TRAGEDY WITH HAPPY END. Mary Ann Evans, 38, a laundress, was brought cl up at West Ham to receive sentence for attempt- ing suicide on May 28, but the case terminated romantically. The defendant jumped off the pier-head at Victoria Dock into 23ft. of water. She was galin-jitly saved under difficult circumstances by Ernest Langford, the pier-head man. He had afterwards to walk a mile and a half to change his wet clothing. The Bench, in consideration of Langford'a "pluck, skill, and courage," gave bim £ 1, which they thought an inadequate award for his con- duct. A constable said that the prisoner had been living with a man named Morley, who, having obtained work, was willing to marry her. Morley said that his job was a permanent one, and the wedding would take place in three weeks' time. The Bench discharged the, prisoner and wished the couple happiness.

L BABIES NOT WAITED. Writing in the, Orsett Deanery magazine for June, the Rev. W. C. Bishop, rector of Orsett, condemns the-taking of babies to church. Re- ferring particularly to a recent confirmation service, he says:- 11 "Why will people risk spoiling all the solemnity of this service by bringing babies? Surely the ^Candidates for the rite of confirmation are the people to be considered on such occasion. But, no! Some people wish to 'see the sight,' and they will bring a baby or small children who cry or talk, and the solemn effect of the service is largely spoiled. And it is rarely church people who are so selfish and ill-mannered. It is usually the chapel people who show this rude- ness. Why do they want to come at all? Chapel people don't believe in confirmation, and have often enough to say against k."

Mr. Felix Brown, of Chicago, has invented an appliance by means of which a man may cut his own hair. There is a plague of moles in districts of South Lincolnshire. In Morton nearly 6,000 moles have been captured during the past season. Mrs. Dinah Sprague, of Chicago, celebrated her hundredth birthday by eating four meals, each of. which included meat and doughnuts. A young man named William Houghton, who was remanded at Liverpool on a charge of mur- dering his father with a poker, said he struck him in order to defend his mother. 4 The Gas Committee of the Coventry Corpora- tion have decided to establish a pension scheme for gasworkers whose services are not required in consequence of changes in the system of gas manufacture,

PRESS OF THE EMPIRE BANQUET OF WELCOME. LORD ROSEBERY'S SPEECH. An enthusiastic welcome was given, on Saturday by the Press of Great Britain to the editors and representatives of He Press of the "British Dominions beyond the seas." The guests were entertained at a banquet at the White City, at which nearly all the lead- ing journalists of the British Isles were pre- sent. The guests were received by Lord Burnham, proprietor of the "Daily Tele- graph," who presided at the banquet, having on his right Sir Hugh Graham, of the Mon- treal "Star," and on his left Lord Rosebery, the orator of the evening, to whom was en- trusted the toast of "Our Guests." Lord Rosebery said there had been confer- ences before, many of great importance, at which the Prime Ministers and Ministers of the Empire had met together to consult on the great matters of policy concerning the Empire. It was no disparagement to those gatherings to say that this was more impor- tant still. He had the greatest respect for Prime Ministers and Ministers, but whatever their stars might be when in the ascendant, they were essentially transient bodies, and the power of a great newspaper with a double function of guiding and embodying the public opinion of the province over which it exercised its influence was immeasurably greater than that of the statesman. He had I £ o say to our guests from beyond the seas— welcome home. That was the motto of this occasion. Some of them had never seen their home, and he hoped they would see some- I thing of it during the fortnight of their stay —its ancient and settled civilisation, its abbeys and cathedrals, its universities, its Houses of Parliament, and its teeming manu- facturing and commercial communities. Then, last of all, surrounding all and guard- j ing all, they would see a prodigious Armada, a prodigious but always inadequate Armada,, j "And all these, gentlemen," said the ) speaker, "are yours as much as ours, your possession, your pride, and your home." ) A DREAM-TKIP. Lord Rosebery then told the story of a dream which he had dreamed—a favourite practice, as he remarked, of retired poli- ticians. He dreamed that some of our obso- lete warships were used for purposes of peace, and that Parliament, having voted supplies for two years, packed up and went for a trip in those ships in order to see some- thing of the Empire. He would take them to Canada, where they would see many new things; to New Zealand, where they would see most of the policies which they were things; to New Zealand, where they would see most of the policies which they were endeavouring to construct for this country, j carried out under the advantages of a virgin soil and a total absence of tradition and com- plexity. Then, on to Australia, where the expedition might indulge in the permanent sport of hunting for the Federal capital. Then they should return through South Africa, where they would see the greatest success of the Imperial Government of Great Britain, the greatest and most recent suc- cess, where a bold and magnanimous policy had healed the seams of war, where the blood gallantly shed on both sides, which might hate been a stream, of unending divi- sion, had extracted the cement which has united a new Empire. The excursionists might proceed northwards .through Africa— avoiding Uganda, so as not to disturb the privacy of the late President of the United States. They might take their way home by Egypt, where they would see what British Government wisely directed can do to rescue order from chaos. IMPERIAL DEFENCE.—THE VITAL TOPIC. The most vital topic to be discussed at the conference was that of Imperial defence. The condition of things in Europe was remark- able, so peaceful and in some respects so menacing. There was an absolute absence of any of the questions which ordinarily lead to war, yet there never was in the history of the world so threatening and so overpowering a preparation for war. There were features of this general preparation for war which must cause_ special anxiety to the friends of Great Britain and of the British Empire. He asked them while they were in this country to com- pare carefully the armaments of Europe with our preparations to meet them, and give their impression to the Empire in re- turn. He felt confident in the reservation and the power of this country to meet any reasonable conjunction of affairs, but he did wonder where this expenditure on warlike preparations was ever going to stop—if it was merely going to bring Europe back into a state of barbarism, or whether it would cause a catastrophe in which the working men of the world would say: "We will have no more of this madness and this foolery, which is grinding us to powder." We could and would build Dreadnoughts as long as we had a shilling to spend on them or a man to put into them. But he was not sure that even that would be enough, and he thought it might be their duty to take back to the Dominions across the seas the message that some personal duty and responsibility for national defence rested upon every man and citizen of the Empire. Sir Hugh Graham responded to the toast. CHEAPER CABLES. At the Foreign Office on Monday the first business meeting of the Conference was held, the subject for discussion being "Cable News and Press Inter-ConMiiunication." The dele- gates were cordially welcomed by Lord Crewe, the Colonial Secretary. A resolu- tion was carried to the effect that it is of paramount importance that telegraphic faci- lities between the various parts of the Empire should be cheapened and improved, so af1 to ensure fuller inter-communication than .exists at present. A committee was ap- pointed to report to the Conference, at its reassembling on June 25, as to the best means to attain this object. It was also de- I cided that the British and Colonial members of the Conference be a Standing Committee to continue the study of the question of Im- perial news services/ and to take measures I to secure a reduction in the rates of trans- ] mission preparatory thereto. The delegates afterwards proceeded to the House of Commons, where they were enter- tained to luncheon by members of both j Houses associated with, journalism and litera- ture. A garden party was given in honour of the Pressmen by the Prince and Princess of Wales at Marlborough House, the King I and Queen being present.

pr3y° ant^fi1!e silver tankards, embossed with a cuff ;fn^ ^.ated about 1740; a massive silver nlf S' cig'ar-box, and silver sugar-sifter— Wedding presents—were stolen from the r lng-rooui at the residence of Mr. Percival TV, +>ilf St. Leonards-terrace, London, W. ne_thief got into the dining-room by the Window, a low cycle-shed enabling him to* do so T Emily Aves, who was accused at Highs-ate of Sleeping out and being without visible means of Subsistence, produced Xll in gold, four qallztttiolid rings, a gold watch, two gold chains, earrings, and a gold brooch from various ai'ts of her clothing. She was discharged. altord de Hamsey's tenantry in Huntingdon- Ire and Cambridgeshire have presented the diJ?" Hermione Fellowes, his daughter, with a hQj.m°nd and sapphire brooch in anticipation of GQrr)ftlarria'8e to Captain Lord Esrne Charles w«*Qft-Lenaox.

ADANA MASSACRES. SURVIVOR'S TERRIBLE STORY. Detailed information is only now beginning to arrive concerning the terrible massacres I which took place in the districts around Adana and Tarsus in April last. At Kozo- I look, an Armenian village, the people, be- sieged by Turks and Kurds, were tricked into surrendering their arms, and then massacred with the most revolting cruelty, only a few I escaping. One of the women survivors says: "They marched us for hours on the moun- tains, with one pretext or another, till they tains, with one pretext or another, till they brought us to a level place not far from the I Tarsus road. They at last told us they were going to kill us. They ordered us to lie down on the ground in a row, with our heads to the west. We begged them to shoot us through the heart or through the head, but they said they did not want to waste powder and ball on swine like us-they would do the thing more cheaply. There was a great crowd of them. Four or five went at each of us with swords and daggers, hacking our heads and breasts. I cannot get the shrieks out of my ears. I, was badly wounded, but not killed. They had made a great fire of dry bushes, and now they threw us all, dead and wounded into it. My three little children had not been killed; the men took my oldest and my youngest, a mere babe, and flung them into the flames, where they perished. I had my second child in my arms, and we were thrown into the fire togethei. I at once scrambled out, though badly burned, with the little one. I ran a short distance and sat down, dazed and weeping. A Turk had pity on me, and led me away, My husband and thirty other members of our large family were killed."

THE LAST GAME. TRAGEDY OF TWO BROTHERS. Seated side by side near a chessboard on which they had apparently played a final game, two brothers were on Monday found dead in their house in Ellison-road, Streat- ham-common. Their names were Theodore Block, fifty-eix, and Louis Block, forty-eight, and they are described as a commercial tra- veller and an animal, painter. About 8.30 on Monday morning their housekeeper found on the breakfast room mantelpiece a letter signed by both men and addressed to her as follows "We hate to live and are not afraid to die. We wish our bodies to be cremated at as little expense as possible. We wish for no service. To compensate you for your trouble we leave you the whole of the furniture in the house, pictures, etc., together with the little money that is left. After we have been cremated our ashes are to be thrown away." On the room being entered the brothers were found as described. Glasses beside them seemed to have contained cyanide of potassium.

COLLAPSE OF A PIER. A disaster happened at Mandeville, Louis- iana, on the Mississippi river, on Sunday night, in which nineteen people were drowned and many injured. An excursion steamer was approaching the wharf to take off a number of passengers. The river was very full, and the current extremely rapid, and the Margaret came down on the wharf at full speed, striking it a heavy blow. The pier, which was only a flimsy affair, instantly collapsed, and precipitated its living freight into the water. There were fully 200 people waiting the arrival of the steamer. All these persons were instantly in the water, while the bow of the boat cut through them. Several of those who lost their lives had been struck by the boat's stem, and probably killed before their bodies sank. Many of those not in the deeper Water scrambled to the banks and got out. Besides the nineteen drowned thirty or forty of the victims were bruised and injured bv the steamer or her paddles.

SUFFRAGETTES IN THE ACADEMY Foiled in repeated attempts to interview Mr. Asquith in the flesh, the Suffragettes took revenge on Monday afternoon by putting a "Votes for Women" placard on his portrait in the Royal Academy. Mr. Solomon J. Solomon's painting of the Premier in his Chancellor's robes is one of the most striking pictures in the Academy. On Monday a group of three voteless women were observed to gaze on it with particular intentness. Suddenly one of them leaned over the rail and fixed the placard over the glass of the' portrait. An attendant had the manifesto off; at once, and scarcely anyone saw what had happened. No steps were taken against the dauntless three, except that they were shadowed until they left Bur- lington House. The officials, of the Women's .Social and Political Union say that they know nothing if the exploit.

Three soldiers of the Foreign Legion, attempting to escape torn the military prison at Mostaganem, Algeria, were fired upon by the guards. Two, one of whom was a German, were killed, and the third was recaptured. The Canadian Pacific Railway is going to spend V,1,200,000 on the enlargement of its I terminals at Fort William, the scheme pro- viding for a new dock system, new steel freight sheds, and extensive 094-1 storage yards*

CHARGE AGAINST MOTORIST. At the Ches,terAssizes on Saturday Thomas Jolliffe, of Mount Alyn, Rossett, was acquitted on the charge of the manslaughter of Emily Roberts, a cook. The case for the prosecution was that the woman was knocked down and fatally injured on the night -of April 3 at Chester by a motor- car owned and driven by Mr. Jolliffe, who, it was alleged, was under the influence of drink and was driving at an excessive speed. Sir Edward Clarke pointed out that the two witnesses, who were the only persons who actually saw the accident, said it was caused by mis judgment on the part of both the prisoner and deceased. After a f-aw minutes' consultation the jury retnrend a verdict of not guilty. Sir Edward Clarke stated that Mr. Jolliffe had made finan- cial I epaiation to the relatives of deceased.

INTERESTING ITEMS. o The battleships Ocean, Triumph, Swiftsure, and Canopus, and cruisers Lancaster, Diana, and Min- erva have left Malta for Gibraltar and Lagos. After attending a series of functions at Pen- zance, the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of London returned to town. Lord Allendale, who is at Bretton Park, Wake- field, has dislocated his shoulder, and has cancelled all his engagements. Upwards of 16,000 Sunday-school children were- given a treat in the Birmingham parks. Several men were fired £ 20 each at Omaha, Nebraska, for swearing over the telephone. | Earl Grey, the Governor-General of Canada, will receive an honorary degree at Oxford on June 23. j Barnett Freedman, tobacconist, St. George's- | street, London, E., was fined £ 100 at Thames Police-court for concealing saccharine. < After exciting debates the Irish Trade Union Congress at Limerick defeated attempts to turn j the body to a Sinn Fein (extreme Nationalist) policy. I Judge Ruegg, K.C., has been appointed by the Home Secretary to inquire into difficulties in the application of the Factory Acts to florists' work- shops. Lord Gorell will act as arbiter of the demands j of the Great Eastern Railway employees, for a j revised system of employment. Mrs. Eilen Butler, who was one of Miss Florence Nightingale's assistants in the Crimean War, has died at Portsmouth, aged 80 years. While leaving the cage at the North Seaton Col- | liery, Northumberland, Robert William Baker, a ] putter boy, was struck by the cage, which had | restarted, and hurled down the shaft and killed. During May the output of gold in New Zealand amounted to 46,5250z., valued at £ 185,271, against I 45,0170z., valued at V-179,487, during the eorre- ) sponding month of last year. | Fear of political disaster, said a speaker at the j Conference of Head Teachers at Leicester, pre- vented the Government from raising the exemption i age for half-timers to fourteen years. The baby born in the Kalmuck camp at th& Imperial International Exhibition, Shepherd's Bush, has been named White City." There are 3,490 factories and workshops, with i 6,485 workrooms, in the City of London, and in these 25,524 men and 26.814 women are employed. | A dramatic rescue was affected at Bideford, when Mr. H. R. Butler plunged from the quay into the I Torridge to save from drowning a little boy, who proved to be his own son. I Lord Strathcona. High CommissionerforCanada. has received a cablegram stating that a huge silver nugget, valued at £ 3;200, has been found at Cobalt. In trying to pass a van in Mile End-road, In trying to pass a van in Mile End-road, ¡ London, where the road is up," a motor-omnibus I mounted a bank and fell into a trench 7ft. deep. The passengers were unhurt. On the invitation of the King, the delegates to the Imperial Press Conference will witness the I presentation of colours to the Territorial Forces by ais Majesty at Windsor Castle on June 19. It is believed that Messrs. Kirk Brothers' bar ironworks and blast furnaces at Worthington will be included in the combine between Messrs. Dammell, Laird and Co., and other great firms. At West Hartlepool a bpy named Thomas Hall was ordered to be birched for placing a large iron bar between two points on the railway line. At a baby fete which will be held on July 1 in the garden of St. Clement's Vicarage, Fulham, the Bishop of London will deliver an address. Mr. Thomas Smith, a pioneer of the crana making industry, who was known familiarly as The King of Rodley," died at Leeds. The Old Rectory at Caversham, which was given by Henry VIII. to Wolsey, was put up for sale at I the Mart, but was withdrawn at £ 7,000. The Fulham Borongh Council has offered E20,000 towards the construction of a bridge over the West London Railway, which divides Fulham from Kensington. In order that they may obtain a knowledge of the Irish language from native speakers the Lon- don Gaelic League are sending a number of chil- dren of Irish parentage to the West of Ireland this Summer. After making a speech on religion at Victoria Park, Solomon Abrahams, a Bethnal Green watch- maker, fell down dead from heart failure, it was stated at the inquest. Falling down the stairs of the Salvation Army shelter in Charles-street, Hatton-garden, a man named Henry Lill fractured his skull, and was < taken to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where he died. On the fiftieth anniversary of his own installation as Worshipful Master of the Dover Freemasons' Lodge Mr. Henry Doyton initiated his son into the mysteries of the craft. On their arrival in Newcastle in August the Newcastle Chamber of Agriculture will entertain the Guild of Swedish Merchants and members of the Chamber of Commerce of Sweden. While attending to a cage bird outside her win- dow on the sixth floor of a house in Percival-street, Clerlien well, Rachel Bradley fell, and was seriously injured. She died in St. Bartholomew's Hospital. A serious fire broke out in Belfast Ropeworks, the largest concern of the kind in the world. The brigade succeeded in extinguishing the burning flax and preventing the destruction of machinery. I y. Several London motorists were summoned before I the Hayward's Heath Bench for exceeding the motor speed limit of ten miles an hour at Hand- cross, the fines and costs amounting to about £85. Viscount Valentia. M.P., Grand Master of the Berks and Oxon Mark Master-Masons, has con- vened a Provincial Grand Lodge, to be held in the University Masonic Hall, Oxford. It was stated at an inquest at the City of London Coroner's Court on Beresford Humphreys, sixty, who died from blood-poisoning, that this might have been due to friction, a bad boot causing a wound on the foot. The funeral of Mr. Dennis Edwin Samuel, brother of Mr. Herbert Samuel, M.P., Under Secretary for the Home Department, who met with a tragic death at Leamington Station, took place in the Jews' Cemetery, Willesdsn. A verdict of "Accidental death" was returned at the inquest at Borough-bridge on Miss Madge Paver Crow, who tripped at a stile while out shooting, and was shot. The Army Council has sanctioned an increase, from 2s. 6d. to 5s. of the reward payable to re- cruiters for enlisting an artificer or engine-driver for the mechanical transport section of the Army Service Corps. One of the candidates to be ordained to the priesthood by the Bishop of London at St. Paul's Cathedral on Sunday was until recently organ olower at a suburban church. At the dinner to tenant farmers connected with the South Notts Hunt the Earl of Harrington de- nounced the poisoning in the district of both foxes and hounds. It has been reported to the Islington Borough Council that a ratepayer induced another person to represent him and serve a term of fourteen days" imprisonment for the non-payment of rates. The Czar, in an Imperial Rescript addressed to Count Cassini, accepts his resignation as Am- bassador to Spain, and expresses his thanks for the. Count's arduous services, extending over a period of fifty years. A verdict of Suicide during temporary in- sanity" was returned at the inquest at Birmingham on Arthur Butler, a tram driver, of Lea-road, Greet, who fatally shot himself and his wife in the kitchen of their house. The advantages of the municipal telephone are shown by the annual accounts for the past year's working of the Hull system. A net pro- fit was realised of £ 1,040, and this is not through high charges, as the flat rates obtaining m the city are, for business purposes, onlv xti- per annum, and for private service t-.