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

CHURCH PARADES OF SOCIALISTS. The Socialists bad several church parades on Sun- day. The unemployed of Bayswater and Marylebone started in procession from Paddington-green for the parish church of Marylebone, into which a large, number of them entered. During the sermon of the Rev. Thomas Tucker, of Melbourne, on behalf of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, there was occasional interruptions by some of the audience, who also hissed when her Majesty's name was mentioned. Demonstrations were also held by the Walworth and Camberwell Socialists at St. Giles, in Peckbam- road, and by the Bermondsey branch of the Social Democratic Federation at the parish church, 13el- mondsev street, the rector of which is the Rev. C. D. Lawrence, and who, as the chairman of the Ber- mondsey Vestry, appears to be specially obnoxious to the Socialist party in the district. Some of the re- marks of the rev. preacher did not pass unnoticed by the audience, but there wai no such hostile display as that which took place at a similar parade at Battersea on Sunday week. At the conclusion of the service the Socialists left copies of Justice on the eeats, and having re-formed outside the church marched to Bermondsey- square, where they were addressed by Mr. H. Quelch. At Battersea Parish Church there was a large attendance of Socialists, who when the prayers for the Queen and Royal Family were read indulged in loud and prolonged hissing. During the Rev. Mr. Buckwell's sermon the audience occasionally ex- pressed their assent audibly, but received other pas- sages with exclamations of dissent and hissing, and hear, bear. The preacher appealed to his hearers as follows Please don't interrupt. We are in a Christian church, and should conduct ourselves with decency while here." But when the rev. gentleman went on to stato that there had been much progress and great improvement in the condition of the poor during the last 50 years for which they should be thankful, there were loud and angry cries of No, and other exclamations. After which he concluded the sermon. The processionists then returned, as they had arrived, in the presence of a number of mounted and foot police in Battersea-park-road, where they were addressed by Socialists and others.

■ DEPRESSION OF TRADE IN SCULPTURE. A German contemporary relates pathetic stories of the depression araong the Paris sculptors. The misery of the unemployed sculptor is greater, pro- bably, than that of any other artist, partly because there i always less demand for sculpture than for pictures, and partly because the cost of the sculptor's materials is so much greater than that of the painter or musician. If you pay a visit to the Ecole des Beaux Arts, you will not. fail to be attracted by the bronze Mercury, who is drawing a thorn out of his heel. The right arm of the god is wanting, and you may imagine, not alone from the nobleness of the work but from this defect, that you are looking upon an old Greek statue. This Mercury was the last work of the luckless Fculptor Briants. Although he had gained the Prix de Rome, and his genius was acknowledged as in- comparable among his French contemporaries, he was almost always, so far as commissions went, unemployed. A garret served him both as studio, living room, and bedroom. Here during the severe winter he worked at his Mercury, always saving his small quantity of I coal for the hours during which his model was sitting to him. He spent the rest of the day without a fire. Ona night the cold was so bitter that he heaped upon his bed all the clothes he possessed. He suddenly remembered his masterpiece, which he had just finished, and, dreading lest the damp clay should be frozen, he stripped himself and put all his clothing and bed covering around the figure. When his friend Cavalie entered to see him on the next day, the sculptor lay on his bed, frozen to death. His Mercury also, in spite of the artist's sacrifice for his art, was frozen, and the right arm had fallen on the floor. His friends had the Mercury cast in bronze but tbe.v resolved, ic memory of the sculptor, that it be cast without the right arm, exactly as it was found at his death. This is the figure which is now exhibited for the study and inspiration of young French sculptors III tho Ecole des Beaux Arts.

GREAT FALL OF ROCK AT NIAGARA Part of the Canadian shore of the Niagara, near the Horseshoe Fall, known as Upper Table Rock, has fallen into the water at the foot of the Falls'. This rock was the chief point of observation for tourists on the Canadian side. It measured 60 feet by 100 feet, by 170 feet. The faU is attributed to frost, and to the fact that an immense body of ice had accumulated there. From the bank visitors can now see behind the sheet of water pcuring over the Horseshoe.

The Rev. Sam Jones says: When a man's religion gets so low down as to permit him to drop a bogus dollar into the collection plate and take out 50 cents of good change, we want to be out in the church ves- tibule ahead of him if we have loft our umbrella here.

THE LONGEST TUNNEL IN THE WORLD. An engineering work that has taken over a century -I to construct can hardly fail to offer some points of interest in its history, and illustrate the march of events during the years of its progress. An instance of this kind is to be found in a tunnel not long since completed, but which was commenced over 100 years ago. This tunnel, or adit, as it should be more strictly termed, is at Schemnitz, in Hungary. Its construction was agreed upon in 1782, the object being to carry off the water from the Schemnitz mines to the lowest part of the Gran Valley. The work is now complete, and according to the Bauzcitung fiir Unyarn, it forms the longest tunnel in the world, being 10-27 miles long, or about one mile longer than St. Gothard, and 2 miles longer than Mont Cenis. The height is 9 feet 10 inches, and the breadth 5 feet 3 inches. This tunnel, which has taken so long it making, has cost very nearly a million sterling, but the money appears to have been well spent; at least the present generation has no reason to grumble, for the savings from being able to do away with water-raising appliances amounts to a yoar. There is one further point, however, worth notice, for if we have the advantage of our great grand- fathers in the matter of mechanicll appliances they certainly were better off in the price of labour. The original contract for the tunnel, made in 1782, was that it should be completed in 30 years and should cost £7 per yard run. For 11 years the work was done at this price, but the French Revolution en- hanced the cost of labour and materials to such an extent that for 30 years little progress was made. For 10 years following much progress was made, and then the work dropped for 20 years more until the water threatened to drown the mines out altogether. Finally the tunnel was completed in 1878, the re- maining part costing 922 a yard, or more than three times as much as the original contract rate. — Engineering.

A BABOO COMING TO CUT A FIGURE IN THE WORL D. A curious letter has been addressed by a native of Madras to the head of an important English com- pany in Bombay, from which the following are extracts "May it please your Honour,—Believing I that the pitiable case of a promising Hindoo will be never overlooked by wealthy and benevolent gentle- man like your honour, 1 beg to state that- Let not mercy and Truth forsake thee Bind them about thy neck Write them upon the heart of thy table.—Bible. I am a native of Madras, As I was frus- trated in all of my attempts in India I have finally made up my mind to leave India for a distant foreign country like England, where I am certain there will be many chances for active young men like myself to enrich themselves, and thus cut a figure in this world. The Hindoos are for the most part vicious and also very jealous of their neighbours. The natives I should say do not seem to inhabit the promise of civilisation. I am really sorry why the Almighty create such brutes at all. The prospects of the natives are generally barred, and consequently very limited, because they are not permitted to take foreign travels. For my first experiment I prefer London to other places, because the Englishmen are more tamed with the natives than the other nation?. As I am too poor as already stated to pay money for a passage to London I humbly pray that your Honour may be pleased to grant me a passage to London gratis and thus enable me to land at London with much ease and comfort. Say not unto tiay neighbour, Go and Come 1 Again and to-morrow I will give when Thou hast it by thee.—Bible." I

THE TITHE W AR On Saturday a crowded meeting was held at Col- chester to discuss the tithe question. Mr. C. W. Gray, M.P., who presided, said that as 52 years ago reasons were shown for altering the law with regard to tithes, it was perfectly legitimate and honourable for farmers to demand that the question should be re- opened to-day in view of the altered state of agricul- ture. He deprecated confiscation, and agreed that tithe was property, but he urged that the original donors intended it to bear some relative proportion to the productiveness of the soil. The following reso- lution was carried unanimously 41 That in the opinion of this meeting, owing to the great depreciation in the value of land and its products, from which tithe is taken, in justice to the owners and occupiers of the said land, it is imperatively necessary that a re- apportionment of the tithe upon it should be enforced by Act of Parliament, and that such an Act should also provide fair means by which the tithe may be gradually redeemed." Mr. John Parry, Llanarmon, who, since his stock was sold for arrears of tithes, has become the leader of the Anti-Tithe Agitation, is making a tour of North Wales. At Llangeinwen he said he would venture to declare, of his own knowledge, that un- less there came speedy relief one half of the Welsh farmers would become insolvent. Their patience was great, but was well nigh exhausted. He advised them not to break the law or assault policemen or bailiffs. Let them simply stand with their pockets closely buttoned up, and let the parsons recover tithes in the best manner they could. j t

STABBING WITH A DARNING NEEDLE. Dr. G. Danford Thomas has held an inauent at the Clerkenwclt Coroner's Cour into the circumstances attending the death of Charles Miller, 77 years eld, a whitesmith, residing at 22, North-avenue, Winchester- t-trf-et, Pentonville. Annie Jones, who was called in after the dtceased was discovered dead, deposed to finding a needle, or, as she first thought, a small tube, "staking out of his chest, just below the heart." Dr. Jaiiies Wallace, who was called in at four o'clock on Monday afternoon, stated that the de- cpa¡:' d IihiI then doubtless been dead 24 hours. Dr. A. J. Pepper and witness having made a post- mortem examination of the body came to the conclu- sion that death was the result of a punctured wound of the heart, caused by a needle. Dr. A. J. Pepper, F.R.C.S., said there were no external signs of injury upon the body, w'tb the exception of about nine punctures in the middle of the lower part of the chest. The darning needle produced was inserted ust below the chest, and had wounded the liver. A second puncture was between the ribs, and had pene- trated the right ventricle of the heart, whence half or nearJy a pint of blood had escaped into the pericar- dium or bag of the heart. Syncope, consequent upon this, was the cause of death. All the wounds ad- mitted of being self-inflicted. Robert Miller, recalled, stated that he had never seen the darning-needles produced until they were found in his father's bed- room. The jury returned a verdict of suicide while of unsound mind.

THE WIT AND WISDOM OF LONDON CHILDREN. A very striking and suggestive summary of the history of the relations between Great Britain and Ireland was that of the candidate for a scholarship, open for competition to all children under 13 years of age in attendance at the public elementary schools of London, whose answer to the question. Write a short account of the Conquest of Ireland" was in the following words: "The conquest of Ireland was begun in the year 1170, end is still going on." It may assist the reader to believe that the gay wisdom which is embodied in this answer was not purely acci- dental, but was the outcome of thoughtful reading and observation, if we subjoin a few equally wiseand witty answers given at examinations by London children of t.nder years. 44 Name some of the leading events in the life of Lord Nelson," was a question which was once set at an examination of the boys in attendance at a Jewish school. One lad begun his answer with these words "Mr. Nelson was a sailor; the King made him a lord, which pleased Mrs. Kelson very much." A class of boys in a Board School were being examined orally, not very lung since, in Scripture. One of their special subjects of Scriptural study for the year bad been the life of Moses. What would you say was the general character of Moses?" asked the Inspector 41 that is to say," added he," what sort of a man was Moses?" If He was meek," said one boy "brave," answered another boy "learned." added a third boy. Please, sir, he was a gentle- man," piped forth a pale-faced, bright-eyed, neatly- dressed lad (f eleven or thereabouts. "Gentleman repeated the official, with a look of unmistakable sur- prise, 41 What do you mean ?" The well-behaved little boy promptly replied in the same thin, nervous voice, "Please, sir, when the daughters of Jethro went to the well to draw water, the shepherds came and drove them away, and Moses helped the daughters of Jethro, and said to the shepherds, 4 Ladies first, please, gentlemen.' "A compound sentence," wrote a London boy, at a recent examination in English grammar, is a sentence about n.any things m general, and about nothing in particular." There is clearly hero the evidence of an effort to think. The child had, seemingly, quite forgotten the definition in the text-book, and, very properly fixing upon the dis- tinctive word 41 compound," he evolved out of his own mind a definition which, though inaccurate from a grammarian's point of view, ought to have secured for the lad a few consolatory marks. Why was the ark of bulrushes, in which Moses was put, daubed with slime and with pitch ? was a question that was once put to a large class of children whose ages averaged eight or so. To make him stick inside," was the ready reply of a little boy in knickerbockers, whom the teacher (a woman) apclo- getically described as the most restless and trouble- some child in the school. The examiner took the liberty of predicting a future for that boy. The school text-book gives14 Milk" as a perfect example of a food which contains all the essential ingredients of a mixed diet. The example of a mixed diet once given by a boy, at a written examination, was A sausage." The example given by a girl at the same examination was, "Roast duck, potatoes, and green peas, and a little jam tart afterwards." Blessed are the merciful, for thpy shall obtain mercy. What do you mean by mercy? Mercy means, if a man is out of work, and owes you any money, you must not summons him. This answer was given, at an examination, by a child in attendance at a Board School in the East-end, and probably embodies a lesson in practical morality, based upon t.he child's own bitter experience of the hardships of pinching poverty. London children are prone to reveal the secrets of the health in their school exerei-eq and [ examination papers, and these revelations, if not always either witty or wise, are not unfrequentlv very pathetic. The following is the first exercise in composition ever written by a little ruddy-cheeked boy of seven. He was asked to write on his slate anything he liked the result of his painstaking effort clearly revealed what be did not like: My mother says that fat is good to eat; it is a thundering lie. The com- position exercise of a little girl in the third standard once contained these sad words: The doctor told Mrs. Perry that my mother has one foot in the grave; it is not true, my mother is ill in bed."

THE LIFEBOAT SERVICE. With reference to the statement which has recently appeared that the Board of Trade contemplates an inquiry into the efficiency of the lifeboat service as conducted by the Royal National Lifeboat Institu- tion, the following letter has been addressed to the chairman of the Lifeboat Institution Board of Trade, Whitehall-gardens, Jan. 13, 1887. "Dear Sir Edward Birkbeek,-In reply to your letter, Lord Stanley of Preston wishes me to inform you that the statement which has appeared in various newspapers to the effect that the President of the Board of Trade has promised his best consideration to the desirability of holding an official inquiry into the seaworthiness or otherwise of the lifeboats of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, is without foundation. Lord Stanley is aware that the institu- tion is giving the matter its most serious considera- tion, and he has offered to place at its disposal any official assistance that it may require. I am to add that representations have been made to the Board of Trade as to the desirability of insti- tuting an official inquiry; but as Lord Stanley believes that the institution is in full agreement with the Board of Trade in the matter, he does not think that any occasion for snch an inquiry has arisen.— Yours faithfully, T. W. P. Blomefield. 41 Sir Edward Birkbeck, Bart., M.P., Chairman of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution."

A STRANGE CAREER. The American newspapers announce the death of an Irishman, who was a well-known figure for many years in New York, and who bad in days past played an important part in Ireland. In New York, says Truth, he was known under the name of Stuart, but his real name was O'Flaherty. He bad been a member of Parliament and a Lord of the Treasury, and had been made an Irish Commissioner of Income tax, with a salary of X1200 per annum. Then he got into pecuniary difficulties, went to America, and changed his name. He arrived, he once told me, with only a few shillings in his pocket took a garret, and lived on potatoes. He had spsnt these few shillings, when it occurred to him that he would write an article severely criticising the acting of Mr. Fox-rest, the tragedian. This he took, when written, to the Tribune office, and showed it to Mr. Horace Greeley, who gave him 25 dols. for it, and told him to bring him more couched in the same style. Once intro- duced to the New York press, he soon made his way, and became one of the most slashing journalistic de- fenders of Tammany Hall. As he was excellent com- pany, he was much sought after, and became a member of the principal New York clubs. Nothing gave him more pleasure than to chaperon any Eng- lishman arriving at New York.

SCENE-Illilitary school.-Offlcer: Who invented gunpowder?—Recruit: Most likely an artilleryman.

MR. BRIGHT AND THE FEDERATION LEAGUE. j The following let;pr from Mr. Bright, addressed to the precidbut of the Manchester Statistical Society in reply to an invitation to attend a meeting to hear a paper by Mr. Howard Vincent, M.P., on "Imperial: Federation," has been published One Ash. Rochdale, January 12. I Dear Sir,—I have to thank you for your invita- tion to the federation' meeting fixed for the 21st of this month. I cannot attend the meeting, and regret to have to nay that I have no sympathy with its object and purpose. I am as anxious as you and your friends can be that the Colonies should remain attached to and in perfect friendship with the mother country, but I am of opinion that any attempt to unite them by political bonds more closely than they are now connected will tend not so much to permanent union as to discord and separation. England will not be governed or in any degree influenced in her policy by Canada or Australia or the Cape. The Colonies will allow of no interference by EnglaHd with them, with their laws, or their tariffs. England's blind foreign policy may involve us in wars with some one or with several of the European Powers—wars in which the Colonies have no interest, but by and through which they may be subjested to serious in- jury. In such a case what will happen ? The federa- tion cord will be strained to the uttermost, it will probably oreak the Colonies will prefer separation and freedom to the burdens and sufferings which their connection with a European nature through their mother country will impose upon them. How would your federation deal with the fisheries digpute be- tween Canada and the United States ? If Canada were an independent State the dispute would soon be settled, for she would yield to the arguments of her powerful neighbours, and, if there were no 4 Dominion of Canada, the dispute would be settled by English concession of the reasonable claims of the Government of Washington. How would a federation composed of delegates or representatives from the colonies of Australia, from South Africa, from Canada, and, perhaps, from India, meeting and acting w.th some representative body in England, deal with this fisheries question and with other questions which might and would arise within the whole boundaries of our ever-growing empire? I commend a considera- tion of these problems to any thoughtful men-men who are active in promoting a federation league. Thd federation project seems to me to be founded on ignorance alike of history and geography. It is partly, or mainly, the offspring of the Jingo spirit, which clamour for a vast and continually widening empire, and seems almost ready to boast that it can fight the world outside its own limits. I would recommend all sensible men to let the question rest. If we are conciliatory and just to the Colonies, and if our foreign policy is less mad than it has been during much of the present century, we may hopo that the friendship between Britain and her daughter States may long continue and may strengthen. If changes come which we cannot now foresee, but from which nations cannot escape, and if separation becomes necessary, let us hope that what will be done will be done in peace, and with a general concurrence, and that the lustre of the English name and fame will not be tarnished, but will receive an added glory from the greatness and the prosperity and the wisdom of the States which England has founded. -I am, very respectfully yours, "Jomx BRIGHT."

FIFTY YEARS OF BUILDING SOCIETIES. (From a Times Correlpondent.) The Times, in an article headed Half a Century of Thrift," furnished details, last September, of the Trustee and Post-office Savings Banks. It is a cir- cumstance of some interest that the year just closed was tbe fiftieth since 1836, when the Act 6 and 7 William IV., cap. 32, for the encouragement, protec- tion, and regulation of benefit building building societies, was passed, and that this 44 most notable movement, which has done so much in recent yeais to improve the condition of the industrial classes of the people," has thus attained its jubilee year, when a fair estimate may be formed of its vitality. As compared with savings banks, which are institutions merely for the reception of the savings of the poor and their investment on tbe responsibility either of a body of voluntary trustees or of the Postmaster-General, building societies, which are institutions in which the members manage their own affairs on their own responsibility, represent a far more advanced stage of the develop- ment of thrift. It is curious to notice that, like savings banks, they belong to two distinct classes, tbe older societies enrolled under the Act of 1836, and the newer societies incorporated under that of 1874, with which are associated many which formerly be- longed to the earlier class, but have elected to take upon themselves the privileges and responsibilities of incorporation. The Act of 1836 was introduced in the House of Lords and passed both Houses (so far as can now be ascertained) with but little discussion. Some indica- tions in the Act, and in the previous history of the societies which it was designed to promote, seem to show that the idea in the minds of its framers was to encourage the acquisition and improvement of dwell- ings among agricultural labourers and other cottagers. The amount of each share was limited to EI50, and this was probably supposed at the time to be the value of the kind of dwelling-house that it was contem- plated the members would wish to acquire. Later on legal decisions enlarged the scope of the measure by interpreting it to allow of a single member holding any number of shares. In so doing they deprived the limitation of any practical meaning whatever, but at the same time aided largely in the development and the usefulness of building societies. It may be convenient, in a few words, to explain what a building society is. In the first place, it is not a society which builds. Its operations are re- stricted to the advancing money on mortgage to its members for the purpose of building or purchasing a dwelling-house or other real or leasehold estate. If it has surplus funds, it may lend them to non- it has surplus funds, it may lend them to non- members on the like security, but not otherwise. In- cidentally to this, however, the societies (with the exception of those which lend money withont interest) fulfil the very useful function of accumulating the savings of the members whose turn has not come for an advance, or who do not desire to purchase a dwel- ling-house for themselves. They have thus become the self-managed savings banks of a numerous class, and, as we shall presently see, have thus bad a success commensurate with that of the Governmental and semi-Governmental savings banks to which the above- mentioned article referred. For tbe first 10 years, 1830-1846, all tbe societies were terminating clubs. They commenced operations with a given number of members, each of whom con- tinued his payments until the whole were satisfied, either by having received an advance on mortgage or by being paid the accumulated share of the funds. All these societies have long ago completed their pre- scribed course, and ceased to exist. Some indication of their number is given by the Parliamentary return for 1886, where the earliest existing society in Mid- dlesex is numbered 158 on the register; the earliest in Lancashire numbered 419; the earliest in York- shire, 45; the earliest in Surrey, 92. It may be esti- mated from theee figures that in England and Wales more than 1000 such societies were enrolled during the first 10 years of the operation of the Act of 1836. If each of them may be taken on the average to have provided 50 members with the inegns of acquiring a dwelling-house, the number of persons thus assisted at this very early stage of the movement was not less than 50,000. In 1846 the idea of a permanent society was originated. Members who had joined one society which was successful became desirous as it approached its termination to join another, and it was soon seen that it was not at all necessary that a society should be limited to a single group of members, and come to an end as soon as its first issue of shares had run its term that, in fact, there was nothing to prevent new shares being issued continuously and advances being made for a fixed term of years instead of for an un- certain time, dependent on all the accidents that might affect the duration of tbe society. Four of the permanent societies established in 184G have continued to the present time and become incorpo- rated under the Act of 1874. These are the Port- sea Island Society, with 1849 members and a capital of £ 462,000; the Wakefield and West Riding, with 980 members and £ 146,000 funds the St. George, Hanover square, which has 183 members and £ 23,000 capital; and the Chelms ford and Essex, with 170 members and funds amounting to £ 19,000. Altogether, between 1846 and 1874, more than 4000 societies were enrolled, and of these 580 have become incorporated. How many of the remainder continue to exist under the provi- sions of the Act of 1836, and have not become incor- porated under that of 1874, cannot be exactly ascer- tained. Very many have been terminating societies, and have run out their term of existence some, of course, have been failures; but the number that still remains is probable not inconsiderable. If it be fair to make a guess at it from the number of partial amendments of rules submitted for registry, and to assume that the proportion would be as great for the unknown number of unincorporated societies as for the known number of incorporated ones, this would give 865 as the approximate number of the former. They include some societies of great magnitude, as the Birkbeck and the Conservative Land Society. The societies established between 1846 and 1874 are not separated from the later societies in the return for 1886, which differs from the returns for previous years in being arranged according to counties and not according to date of establishment. The general in- crease shown in the return for 1886 over that for 1885 iF so slight that the figures for I Si* may be used for the present purpose of showing the progress of the move- ment. The returns of 4G6 such societies were abstracted in which the number of members (averag- ing for those which failed to give this information) was 337,000; the annual income, £ 15,515,635 the members' capital, f24,206,752; the borrowed capital, £ 12,905,177 the balance of undivided profit (in 430 societies), £ 1,271,302. On the other side, the amount invested on mortgage security was £ 36,234,649 on other eecurities, £ 2,063,613; and the balance deficit (in 26 societies), £ 84,969. The Act of 1874 came into operation on the 2nd of November of that year, and since then all new societies have been incorporated under it. In the 11 years the incomorations of new societies have num- bered 2000. Taking, for the same reason of com- parison, the return for the year 1885 instead of that for 1886, in which these are not distinguished frcm the older societies; we are able to obtain information of 1372 of these societies, numbering in members (averaged as before) nearly 300,000, having an annual income of £ 5,578,342 in members' capital, £ 8,028,700; in borrowed capital, £ 2,749,985; in un- divided profits (955 societies), £ 440,012. On the assets side the amonnt invested in mortgage was £ 10,258,658; in other securities, £ 905,907; and the balance deficient (in 363 societies) was 44,132. We have thus traced the Building feociety move- ment, so far as statistics of it are available, through three periods the first, that of the small terminating societies established between 1836 and 1846; the second, the growth of societies under the influence of the permanent system and of the liberal interpreta- tion given to the Act of 1836 by the Courts between 1846 and 1874; and the third, the impetus given to the formation of new societies by the incorporating Act. The return for 1886 enables us to group together the latest facts relating to 1953 incorporated societies, making the total capital of incorporated building so- cieties in the United Kingdom X52,681,198-that is, X7,000,000 more than the capital in 1884 of the Trustee Savings Banks, and £ 8,000,000 more than the capital of the Post Office Savings Banks. When to the capital of the incorporated building societies is ¡ added that of the 865 unincorporated benefit building societies assumed to exist, one of which alone is known to have an income exceeding £5,000,000, there will be obtained an aggregate equalling, if not ex- ceeding, the L90,000,000 of the two classes of savings banks put togother. "That such a large capital sum belongs for the most part to the industrial classes of this country speaks much for the well-sustained efforts these classes are making from year to year towards a provision of comparative comfort and independ- ence." It is true that there ia another side to the ) picture, and that there has been a tendency to over-speculation which has of late brought several societies to grief. The mere savings bank deposit tor, however, has not been without his experieot S of loss through the rascality of actuaries and the negligence of trustees and managers, as the recent case at Cardiff may testify and the building society member has only himself to blame if he employs servants who are not trustworthy, for he has—what the savings bank depositor has not-the right to in- tervene in the management of his own affairs. "The benefit" building societies have conferred is sub- stantial, and augurs well for the future of those classes by whose efforts it han chiefly been acquired."

THE RENT WAR IN IRELAND. DTJRLTs, Sunday night. The evictions which have been going on at Glen- beigb, county Kerry, for the past few days were not resumed yesterday, owing to the inquiry which was being held into the conduct of the tenants who are charged with resisting the deputy sheriff and also with assaulting the police while in the execution of their duty. The district inspector made an applica- tion embodying the details of the occurrence of Friday, and then applied for an eight days' remand. Mr. Conybeare, M.P., appealed to the magistrate to liberate them on bail. Great excitement, be said, prevailed owing to the scenes which have taken place for some days past, and the committal to gaol of these men would have the effect of raising that ex- citement to an extraordinary pitch. He did not seek to justify anything that occurred on the previous day. He only gave his impression that if his application were granted it would be most salutary, and have & moral and tranquillising effect. He would offer such bail as would fully satisfy the Crown, Mr. M'Dermott, while agreeing with Mr. Conybeare, said he could not accept bail without permission from the Crown. The prisoners were accordingly remanded. It is stated that Mr. Pierce Mabony, M.P., is going down to be present at next week's evictions. Twenty-five pri- soners arrived at Tralee last evening from Glenbeigh, where they were arrested, charged with assaulting the sheriff and bailiff at evictions. They were mec by a band, accompanied by a large crowd, which fol- lowed them to the gaol. Mr. W. K. Redmond, M.P., one of the defendants in the State prosecution trials, and who during the hearing was ill in London, attended in the Northern Divisional Police-court, Dublin, yesterday, to enter into bail to stand his trial in conjunction with Messrs. John Dillon, Daniel Crilly, David Sheehv, M.P.'s, and William O'Brien, at the next commission, Green- street, on the charge of criminal conspiracy. It was stated by Mr. Healy that though Mr. Harris, who has been most seriously ill, is now improved, there was no chance of his being able to attend for a considerable time, but he would feel grieved if he were not re- turned for trial with his colleagues. The magistrate (Mr. O'Donel) said that would be impossible in his absence. A public meeting of Nationalists was held at Easkev, county Sligo, to-day, Messrs. Sexton, Mac- donald, Crilly, and other M.P.'s attending. Mr. Sexton, who spoke at some length, declared that the present Government would bear from the Irish party when Parliament met. The Plan of Campaign was unanimously approved, and very decided language was used. Yesterday Captain Plunkett, divisional magistrate for the Cork district, visited Youghal, and bad a con- sultation with Mr. Blakeney, the: agent of the, Ponsonby estate, at Green-park Hotel, in reference, it is understood, to the relations between the tenants and the landlord. Judgment has been marked against five of the tenants, who have adopted the Plan of Campain, for the amount of their rent, S412. Yesterday two process-servers from Clonmel were engaged serving writs for non-payment of rent and processes for shop accounts due by farmers and traders in that locality, when they were attacked by a crowd of people. One of the officers was seized and beaten with sticks, his coat was taken off and searched, turned inside out, and placed on his back, and he was then sent on Lis way, the crowd pelting him with stones. The other officer was pursued, but managed to effect his escape. There has been further development iu connection with the Elton eviction case. It would appear that Mr. Bennett was one of the magistrates who sen- tenced Mr. John Maloney to two months' imprison- ment for assaulting Police-sergeant Flynn on tha oc- casion of the unsuccessful attempt to evict Edmund Davoren. Yesterday Mr. Bennett sen4" in a number of dry cows to Mr. Michael Hartigan for sale at his paddocks. The auctioneer had received by post a. proclamation," signed by the Prince of Saxe- Weimar," warning him against selling and the public against buying the cattle. In consequetico, the stock bad to be returned unsold. The proceedings of tenants on the O'Grady estate at Herbertstown have been followed by those on the estate of Captain Lloyd, near Murroe. That gentle- man's property is under the control of the Court of Chancery, and within the past few days some of the tenants have been served with writs for rent, and a day or two ago several farmers from the surrounding districts came with horses and traps to Capt. Lloyd's estate and removed the cattle, &c. A rather alarming statement wa3 made yesterday at a meeting of the Limerick Rural Sanitary Board. Representations for 353 new cottages were submitted,, and Mr. M'Inerney, proposed that they be passed. Mr. Barry, J.P., said the total loan would be £ 109,000, the interest on which would be X.5000 a year; the rents from cottages would not be more than S2000 a year, 90 that the ratepayers would be burthened with the deficit of £ 3000 a year. Lord Clarina said they should lcok this matter in the face, act prudently,, and not be popularity hunting. The ropresen tations were passed by 17 to 8. Duislin, Monday iSight. A gang of armed disguised ruffians entered the bouse of a respectable farmer named Patrick Iveane* of Dirreen, about four miles from Castleisland, late on Saturday night and fired several shots. Five took effect, and severely injured the man. A. later tele- gram says that five pellets had been extracted from Keane's leg. It is feared, however, that amputation will be necessary, as the leg is much shattered. KeaDe. it appears, was evicted, but afterwards paid his rent, and was then reinstated. Payment of his rent is regarded as the cause of the outrage. Five young men of the locality have been arrested. The house of Mr. T. O'Connell, J.P., Mill-street,, county Cork, was attacked last night by a party of Moonlighters. The house was in charge of a woman, but failing to find arms, the marauders decamped. Several persons were arrested on suspicion, but subse- quently released. To-dav Judge Boyd ordered the release from cus- tody of three tenants named Shea, on the O'Donogtoue's estate, county Kerry, who had forcibly retaken posses- sion, and now undertook to pay a year's rent. The headquarters' staff, mounted, and other police established at Killarney last August for General Buller were discontinued to-day. Mr. Meldon, legal adviser, left to resume his duties as resident magis- trate in Tipperary, and Colonel Turner left for Tralee. At the Tralee Divisional Quarter Sessions to-day bills of indictment were sent before the grand jury against nine men, charging them with rescuing cattle* from the sheriff's bailiffs, near Listowel. Judge Curran, in his address, gave the jurors minute in- structions, but they ignored the bills. The judge sent them back a second and a third time with the same result, and his lordship remarking that by their action they appeared to have ignored the oaths they had taken, said he would remit the cases for trial to the Kerry Assizes. The defendants objecting, the judge remarked, Thank the grand jurors." A telegram from Letterkjnnv states that to-day numerous contingents of constabulary from the sur- rounding stations were being concentrated under County Inspector Alcock and a resident magistrate at Greenore, to protect Mr. McCay, sub-sheriff, in an extensive eviction campaign to be commenced there to-morrow. There are 40 evictions to be effected on the property of Mr. Nixon, and eight on that of Mr, Stewart, Dalkey, Dublin. ■?<r A Loughrea correspondent telegraphs that notices were placarded in that neighbourhood calling upon the tenants on the estates of Lord Clanbroch and other landlords to meet, at four o'clock on Sunday, at Cross Roads, Holly hill. A strong force of police was consequently dispatched to that place, but no meeting was held, and after remaining until a late hour the police discovered that the notices were intended to hoax them. The actual meeting was held at a place three miles distant, and the tenants are said to have paid to trustees considerable sums, under the rules of the Plan of Campaign. Mr. Sheehy, M.P., was in Loughrea yesterday, and was closely watched by the police. Mr. Wm. O'Brien has, it is announced, given to Lord Dillon a cheque for E8000 out of the rent money collected on his estate, under the Plan of Campaign, and a guarantee that the balance shall be paid promptly, subject to the reduction of twenty per cent. agreed upon.