Barry Herald

A REMARKABLE CLOCK. A master carpenter has just finished, at Chatledon, in France, a clock that haa taken him 24 years to make, This clock is composed of four faces, the largest of which indicates the seconds, minutes, hours and years. The centre hand goes round this face once in a century. On the other three faces are hands marking on one the days of the week, on the other the months of the year, and on the third the dates of the month. Leap-years are not forgotten, and the irregularity in the number of days in the month is equally provided for. The sun is shown at the hour of sunrise and sunset at exactly the same hours III the sun is following the course of the aeaBons. Every morning an hour before sunrise, every even- ing an hour after sunset, a sacristan opens a little door, takes off his hat, and rings the Angelus. At 12 the clock plays an air of music, which varies every dav. The quarters are rung on two different bells. The hours are marked by a procession of the 12 Apostles, each one armed with a hammer, with which he strikes upon a gong. The exterior of the clock is in sculptured brass, representing the industries of Peace. —

DR. MURRAY has renewed bis offer to defray the cost of an expedition to be sent to Christmas Island, which is tin uninhabited place south of Java. It pos- pp-ssef an indigenous but unusually rich flora and fauna. We understand that the British Museum authorities have undertaken to send a naturalist with such an expedition. DTTHING the work of removing the books from the ld Congressional Library at Washington to the new 6UIMI!T» novel method of removing the dust from thf v n ri 's '.vas successfully introduced. That was to 1 rozzle of a hose into play, through which Sf ;"a.nl of r under heavy pressure was ejected. Tht r is said to be the cleanest and moat latis-j v i of dusting imaginable.

A LINCOLNSHIRE GHOST STORy From Halt on Holegate, a village near Spilsby, Lincolnshire, comes a story which is causing some sensation among the folk in the neighbourhood. For Borne time rumours of human bones having been dis- covered under a brick floor of a farm, near the village, of strange tappings having been heard, and of a ghost having been seen, have been afloat, and it was with the intention of trying to sift the mystery that a Liner In reporter has just visited the scene. The farm- stead where the sounds are said to have been heard, and the ghost seen, stands some distance back from the high road, and is occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and their servant man. On being interviewed M .-a. Wilson was at first reluctant to make any state- nit-ir. but eventually she narrated the following story We came here on Lady Day. The first night or so "e heard very strange noises about midnight, as though someone was knocking at the doors and walls. Once it seemed as though someone was moving all the things about in a hurry downstairs. Another time the noise was like a heavy picture falling from the wall; but in the morning I found everything as right as it was the night before. The servant man Mt, snying he dared not stop, and we had to get, another. Then about six weeks ago, I sAw something.' Before getting into bed, m v husband having retired before me, I thought I would go downstairs and see if the cow was all right, as it was about to calve. I did so, and when at the foot of the stairs, just as I was about to go up again, I saw an old man standing at the top and looking at me. He was standing as though he was very round-shouldered. How I got past I cannot say, but as soon as I did so I darted into the bed-room and slammed the door. Then I went to get some water from the dressing- table, but feeling' that someone was behind me I turned round sharply, and there again stood the same old man. He quickly vanished, but I am quite certain I saw him. I have also seen him several times since, though not quite so distinctly." Mrs. Wilson conducted her interviewer to the sitting-room where the figure appeared. The floor in one corner was very uneven, and a day or two ago Mrs. Wilson took up the br;cks, with the intention of relaying them. When she had taken them up she perceived a disagreeable smell. Her suspicions being arousedj she called her husband, and the two com- menced a minute examination. With a stick three or four bones were soon turned over, together with a gold ring and several pieces of old black silk. All these had evidently been buried in quicklime, the bones and silk having obviously baen burned there- with. The search after this was not further prose- cuted, but a quantity of sand introduced and the floor levelled again. Dr. Gay, to whom the bones were submitted, stated that they were undoubtedly human, but he believed them to be nearly 100 years old.

ULLSWATER MYSTERY SOLVED. Miss Johnston, of Carlisle, who disappeared myste- riously from Ullswater a fortnight ago, has been found in Manchester. While crossing the lake her boat swamped and she had to swim ashore. She received such a mental shock that instead of return- ing to the hotel at Hoytown she wandered away and took train for Manchester.

DEFEAT OF KING MWANGA. Telegrams from Zanzibar state that on July 6 King Mwanga left Uganda secretly and organised a rising in the Buddu district against the Government. His forces were defeated on the 20th by the troops under Major Ternan, Deputy-Commissioner, and he escaped to German territory and surrendered to the Germans, by whom he is detained. Order was re- stored throughout Uganda, and it is intended to pro- claim the infant son of Mwanga as King, with a Regency.

WHAT BATTLE LOOKS LIKE. A BALACLAVA HERO'S DESCRIPTION. The North Devon Herald publishes an interesting chat with a veteran of Balaclava, Mr. F. W. Major, in his retirement at Braunton, near Ilfracombe. Mr. Major, who wears the Crimean medal and clasps, as well as the Turkish medal, is described as of mili- tary carriage," despite hiB 70 odd years of life, and over 20 of ac- tive service, in the lioval Ma- rine Brigade, which was landed (as readers will remember) for the protection of the harbour on Balaclava d«v. Stationed within a hun- dred yards of the Light Bri- gade, he wit- nessed the whole of that deadly and historic charge and watched the Russian guns make mincemeat of our erallant men. In graphic language Mr. Major spoke of the difficulties and hardships endured for nearly seven months it was impossible to obtain even a change of clothes. There was much brilliant and deadly work," said Mr. Major, bat it had its grave side, as many men dying of neglect as from shot and But you came off all right yourself ?" Mr. Major was asked. Not quite that, he said in effect. It was but to be expected after so many years buffeting in the open that he should not escape scot free, and as a matter of fact he had now for many years, until lately, been continually troubled with nervous dis- order and muscular rheumatism. In March, 1894, his sufferings were accompanied and grievously accentuated by an accumulation of water, till my legs swelled as big as my thighs, to quote the old soldier's words, and 1 was in bed for some months. Of course I called in a doctor, said he, but his medicines did not cure me. So things continued, until, reading so many newspaper articles describing remarkable cures, and one case similar to my own, I decided to try a box of Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People. They affor ed me a little relief, and, hoping to obtain further good, I decided to give them a fair trial, and, leaving o he doctor's medicine, I sent away for half-a-dozen boxes, with the result that I was speedily about again, and I have never been troubled with even the^P10™9 since." •' I have recommended Dr. Wilhams' Pink Pills to many other sufferers. But for them," added Mr. Major, I should not be ere to make this statement now." Dr. Williams P'j" ftre famous for the cure of rheumatism, indigestion, scrofula, anaemia, consumption, chronic erysipelas, &c. They are a splendid nerve and spinal tonic, having cured many cases of paralysis, locomotor ataxy, neuralgia, St. Titus' dance, and nervous headache. They are sold by chemists, and by Dr. Williams Medicine Com- pany, Holborn-viaduct, London, at 2a. 9d. a box, or six for 13s. 9d., but are genuine only with full name, Dr. Williams' F'nk "ills for paie People. These Pills are not like other medicine, and their effects are permanent.

ANOTHER permanent addition to the seaside attrac- tions at Great Yarmouth has been made by the open- ing of a revolving observation tower erected on the north beach. The structure is 12oft. ,n height, and is built entirely of steel on concrete foundations. In- cluding the machineiy it weighs about 125 tons. A circular platform built round the tower, and con- structed to accommodate about 160 passengers, is raised to the summit and lo ered by means of steam power. As it ascends the platform revolves by electric power at the rate of one revolution in three minutes" There is another platform at the summit, to which access is obtained from the revolving appa- ratus, and which is hoisted to an additional height of about 20ft.. • „ TUB average consumption of pure alcohol in France was 1-2 litres in 1830. IQ 187^ lt; was 2-82 litres, and in 1893 it wan 432 htres. *6 latter year the number of cases of insanity directly due to drinking was 3386. Tho Minister of Education appeals to the teachers ia the schools for whole-hearted co-opera- tion in attempting to MTe fr°m this per- manent scourge, more an wars or the deadliest epidemics.' ■1 °ot hopeless, he thinks, and he points to Switzerland, Norway, and Canada, where drinking has diminished. OF the 10 judges of the Supreme Court who are eligible for retirement, Mr. Justice Cave is the only one at present who seems likely to avail himself of the opportunity to retire. e aster of the Rolls, with 29 vears of service, has been entitled to retire for the last 14 years, and so has Baron Pollock, who has been a judge for ^ea"" -be other judges entitled to retire are Lords Justices Lindley and Lopes, Justices Hawkins, Matthew, North, and Day, and Lord Justice Chitty. LITTLK notice has yet been taken of some of the curiosities exhibited at the Historical Section of the Victorian Era Exhibition. Among these curiosities may be mentioned an arm-sling worked by the Queen for the Crimean Exhibition of 1855, and the silver- mounted State chair of the Ashantee Kirg, which was lent by the Prince of VV ales. There is also a fine collection of relics and autographs of Charles Dickens, the writing~desk of Thomas Hood, and a table on which Thomas Carlyle wrote The French Revolution."

KLONDYKE GOLD-FIELDS, -For BRITISH COLUMBIA. SRR Messrs. KENDRICK & HOLLINGSWORTH, Dashwood House, Chartered Accountants. New Broad Street, London, E.C.

THE AFRIDIS. ALL ABOUT THEM AND THEIR COUNTRY. A few notes about the Afridis, the Khyber, and A]i Musjid by one who knows both the people and the places well, may interest you perhaps," said a ueil-known Indian expert to a reporter of the Morn- ing Leader when asked for his opinion on the Indian frontier troubles. I can't say much about the out- break, for I confess I do not understand it; but I've traded one way and another in and about the dis- trict for over 50 years now, and fancy I know the folk and their country as well as anybody in London outside official circles. It seems almost inexplicable to me that the Afridis should have risen. England has no quarrel with them, and, so far as I know, they had none with us. It is a mystery, too, to me why they should have attacked Ali Musjid andjFort Maude, seeing that both forts were held by men of their own tribe, men practically chosen by themselves for that duty, and own brothers, of course, to many of them. It is the last thing one would have expected them to do, for if there is one feature more marked about them than another it is their keen clannishness. All they care for is themselves, not themselves personally-they sacrifice their own lives readily-but for themselves as a tribe. Clannishness is veritably a religion with them. The Afridis are not of the same race as the Indians proper, they are Aryans like ourselves, and, just as we were 1300 or 1400 years ago, they are always bursting for a fight. They are the most im- portant and most powerful of the tribes outside the frontier. You might liken them to the old Scottish borderers or the ancient Northmen of Europe, but I the comparison would be rather rough on the Scot and the good old Goth. By nature and training the Afridi is nothing better than a bird of prey. He will meet you with an open smile, and at first you think him an awfully nice sort of fellow. But if he don't get the better of you bv affability and cunning he will soon let you see that the real man is cruel, treacherous, unscrupulous, and passionately vindictive. Altogether they are a re- mai-k- tible people. What makes them perhaps all the more interesting to us is that they possess and seem always to have our old inborn instinct about demo- cratic principles. They live in the rudest form under which society can exist. Nothing would induce an Afredi to adopt a handicraft. He would sooner go and kill himself for somebody else's amusement than think, say, of keeping a shop for the good of himself and others. They follow agriculture a little, grow some wheat-they are wheat, not rice, eaters-and k¡oep stock; but their chief pursuit is plunder. They love marauding excursions upon neighbouring tribes, and have the old Goth's longing to swoop down on the towns of the rich adjoining province. Notwith- standing this they are held firmly together by a code of laws, unwritten but acknowledged and understood by everyone, and enforced by the whole body with a strictness of observation which show that every man takes any infringement as an act against his own person and privileges. Their chiefs have none of the arrogant aristocrat about them. They are indeed nothing but delegates, and cannot speak at a council meeting except to express the wishes of those they represent, which they must first collect. Each village is divided into sections. The mem- bers of each section send a representative to a council of the village and the village councillors elect one of their number to be a member of the council of the whole tribe and a chief of the nation. It is singular how like in this they are to what we were in our earlv Saxon untamed days. A council meeting is very interesting. Good manners are the practice, but every decision to be binding has to be by unanimous vote, and if it happens that there is only a small obstruc- tive opposition the majority has a habit of dropping persuasive oratory and punching the minority's heads till an agreement is come to. They are advanced, you pee, and far ahead of us in some things. Then in addition to the unwritten laws and the perfectly democratic constitution, there are a large number of unwritten maxims, by which every member of the tribe governs%, himself. For instance, an Afridi is bound to grant anyone who has crossed his thres- hold any boon that may be demanded, even to the sacrifice of all his property and his life itself. It is a great thing to get well over an Afridi's doorstep, even though it be only formed of a big mud brick. He is bound to feed and shelter you when you ask it. The worst of the business is, though, that there is no maxim to prevent his letting a neighbour know he is entertaining a person worth killing and robbing, nor even to make it impossible for him to follow and set on you himself once you get outside his house. The vendetta is stronger with them than it was with the Corsicans. Unless they seek retaliation' for an injury, or the life of a kinsman, or even an insult, they are disgraced and scorned by the whole tribe. They have to give up every other pursuit till revenge is obtained, and if necessary they will follow their man for years, using every possible dodge to trap him. If they fail the duty is handed down, and may descend in the family for generations. Alto- gether they are a nice people not to know. The men are lean, athletic, and muscular, generally black or brown, with acquiline noses and high cheek bones, sometimes fair and not seldom pleasant-looking, and possess a fine, proud bearing. The women-who, by the way, do all the work both at home and in the fields-are as a rule quite handsome, of a Jewish type, usually pale and sallow, though, but occasion- ally fair and rosy-cheeked. They wear their hair plaited in two long plaits down the back like Marguerite in 'Faust.' The men nearly all and nearly always wear dark blue turbans, with dark blue tunics fitting the body tightly, but only reaching half-way down the leg. One more quaint comparison with ourselves and I'm done. Marriage with a deceased brother's wife is obligatory among them, but nobody bothers about a deceased wife's sister. Infidelity to the marriage vow was at one time a capital offence. I'm not sure whether it now is; refusal to go to battle, however, is. The country inhabited by the Afridis runs for 50 miles along the British frontier. But since the peace of 1879 they have given us no trouble; in fact, they have on the other hand been very good friends. England takes no tax of any sort from them and pays them a handsome subsidy for providing enough of their smart young men to form a sort of military police for the protection of the Khyber. It is this body of levies which has just been attacked. TheKhyber Pass is a weird, uncanny place. It is a deep slit in the mountains 33 miles long, and cut by torrents that have rushed towards the Indus. Its widest part is only 450ft. wide, and it narrows down to less than 10ft. in places, while the mountain of slate rocks rises on either side absolutely perpendicular. The road or bed is fairly good, though in places rough with shingle. Ali Musjid is 9 miles from the entrance on the Indian side. It is a very rough poor old fort, but could hardly be taken without artillery, and absolutely governs the pass. The road by it is only 40ft. wide, and happens to be very slippery on account or projecting rocks. The moun- tain rises like a wall on each side, and the fort looks straight down from a height of about 300 yards. "Ali Musjid has figuied prominently in our history. It was near there that poor Burne's camp had a narrow escape from being overwhelmed by the sudden rising of the torrent to which the pass is sub- ject, particularly about this time of the year. "There in the first Afghan war we had many rough skirmishes with the Afridis. Taking the fort cost Col. Wade 22 men killed and 158 wounded in 1839, and 400 native troops were just afterwards massacred for the sake of their pay. It was there, too, that Sir Neville Chamberlain's friendly mission to the Ameer of Afghanistan was stopped in 1878 there that the ultimatum was handed to the Ameeee general, and there that Sir Samuel Browne started our last Afghan campaign. For some time before then the Afridis had been joining our native troops, and had fought well for us, in the Black Mountains among other places. But after the '78 outbreak they were for a long while suspected, and refused when they tendered themselves for enlistment. However, they seemed to be going on quietly enough, and were such fine fighting men-the only Indians really who will fight for the mere love of it-that Lord Roberts allowed them to be again taken. They enlisted at once by the score, and now there are hundreds of them in every native regiment; so many, in fact, that the authorities are in quite a hole to know which regi- ments to send to the front and which to trust. It ia this which makes the rising much more serious than it otherwise might be."

A SERVANT'S STIPULATION. Domestic servants have been known who stipulated for the use of the household piano at least one even- ing per week. Some of them now insist oc their masters supplying them with bicycles for their daya out." At a registry office the other afternoon a gentleman obtained a servant with an excellent cha. racter, and apparently a good domestic in every way; but she positively refused to accept the place unless he promised to give her the use of a bicycle on het day out." She said it was necessary for her health. The gentleman demurred at first, but at last he con- sented, in the hope that she would prove a household treasure worthy of such a concession. He has now purchased a bicycle for the use of the maiden

WILLS AND BEQUESTS. I The Will (dated September 18, 1889), with a todicil (dated October 5, 1891), of Mr. Charles Jay, of 15, Addison-crescent, W., senior partner in the firm of Grindlay and Co., bankers, who died on July 21, was proved on August 9 by Mr. James Henry Matthews and Mr. Austin Low, his executors and partners, the value of the personal estate amounting to £ 146,369. The deceased leaves numerous legacies to relatives, to his executors, and to all clerks and porters employed by his firm, as well as to all bis Bervants. The residue is placed in trust for the benefit of his six nieces. The will (dated February 20, 1894) of Mr. Charles William Earle, of Woodlands, Cobham, Surrey, who died on June 7 at Effingham, was proved on August 11 by Captain Sydney Earle, of the Coldstream Guards, and Lionel Earle, the sons, two of the executors, the value of the personal estate amounting to £ 90,396. The testator bequeaths certain pictures and portraits to his wife, Mrs. Maria Theresa Earle for life, and then to his eldest son, Sydney the remainder of his pictures, all his plate, books, furniture, and effects, and EIOOO to his wife; and his dwelling-house, Woodlands, to his wife for life, or until she shall marry again. A sum is to be set aside to produce 91600 per annum, upon trust, to pay the income to his wife for life or until she shall marry again, and upon her marrying again, to pay her E1000 per annum for life. The residue of his real and per- sonal estate he leaves to all his children in equal shares. The will (dated May 7, 1897) of Mr. Edward Hill Mannering, of 11, Arkwright-road, Hampstead, who died on June 13, was proved on August 13 by Walter Mannering, the brother, and Charles Price, the executors, the value of the personal estate amounting to £ 54,107. The testator bequeaths E1200 to his daughter Alice Mary and legacies to executors, rela- tives, servants, and others. The residue of his pro- perty he leaves, upon trust., for his daughters Alice Mary, Edith Laura, and Hilda Dorothy. The will (dated Feb. 27, 1897) of Miss Maria Tip- pinge, of Davenport Hall, Congleton, Cheshire, who died on June 8, was proved on July 30 by Henry Thomas Gartside-Tippinge and Vernon Gartside- Tippinge, the nephews, and John Arthur Pomeroy, the executors, the value of the personal estate amount- ing to £ 45,920. The testatrix bequeaths JE50 each to the Friends of the Clergy Corporation, the Gover- nesses' Benevolent Institution, the British Home for Incurables (Clapham),the United Kingdom Beneficent Institution, the Clergy Orphan Corporation School (Canterbury), and the Church Army and there are numerous gifts and legacies to relatives and servants. She also gives E500 per annum, for life, to her nephew, Colonel Robert Francis Gartside-Tippinge, and on his death the capital sum to be set apart to pay same is to go to his eldest son. The residue of her property is to be divided between certain of her nephews and nieces. The will (dated December 9,1874) of Mrs. Sarah Susanna Bunbury, of 87, Eccleston-square, who died on June 20 at Watlington-park, Oxfordshire, was proved on July 26 by'Colonel Cecil Hanmer Bun- bury, the son, one of the executors, the value of the personal estate amounting to £ 35,174. The testatrix appoints the trust funds under her marriage settle- ment to her surviving children in equal shares, and she leaves all her property, including her share of the estate of her uncle, Yicesimus Knox, to her sur- viving children and her two grandsons, the surviving children of her late son, Henry Fox Bunbury. The will (dated April 10, 1897) of Mr. James Curtis Leman, of 51, Lincoln's-inn-fields, and 2, Ravenna-road, Putney-hill, who died on June 27, was proved on August 5 by George Curtis Leman and Downton Curtis Leman, the sons, the executors, the value of the personal estate amounting to £ 31,878. The testator bequeaths his wines, consumable stores, and such of his furniture and effects as she may select, to furnish a house, to his daughter, Edith Maud, if unmarried at the time of bis death; the re- mainder of his furniture and effects, and all his plate, books, pictures, and jewellery to be divided between all his children EIO,000, upon trust, to pay the income to his daughter, Edith Maud, so long as she shall remain unmarried and he appoints the unap- pointed trust funds under his marriage settlement to his sons George and Downton. The residue of his property he leaves to all his children, and the issue of any child who may have died inhis lifetime, certain amounts g'ven to or settled upon children to be brought into hotchpot. The will of Mr. Charles John Phipps, theatrical architect, of 25, Mecklenburgh-square, who died on May 25, has been proved by Mrs. Honor Phipps, the widow, the acting executrix, the value of the per- sonal estate amounting to £ 10,292. Letters of administration of the personal estate of the Right Hon. Edith Countess of Ayleaford, who died on June 24, were granted on August 3 to Andrew Alfred Collyer-Bristow as a creditor, the value of the personal estate amounting to £ 8742.— Illustrated London News.

TRAMPS AND "SWATTY." An obliging tramp recently enlightened me (says a correspondent) as to the significance of a beggar's sign in the shape of the letter T surmounted by a small circle, which was chalked on the gateway of a suburban residence. It was to the effect that the folks in the house were in the habit of giving the mendicant fraternity swatty" (a word to me of unknown etymology—that is, tinned meat. As that commodity is not looked upon with favour by tramps, the houses of those who dole out tinned meat are marked in the manner described so as to be avoided.

THE MEASUREMENTS FOR SOLDIERS. It is announced from the War Office that the fol- lowing have been laid down as the physical equiva- lents required in candidates for commissions from the Militia, Universities and Colonial Military Forces, and for admission to the Royal Military Academy and Royal Military College Age 16, height 64in., weight 1201b. • age 17, height 64|in., weight 1251b.; age 18, weight 1301b.; age 19, 1321b.; age 20, 1351b.; age 21, 1381b. age 22, 1401b. From 18 years upwards the candidate's height must be 65in., ,nd chest girth up to 19 must be 33in.; at 20, 33in. •wd beyond that age 34in. 2

IN HONOUR OF THE DUCHESS. A dancing master in New York has invented a new dance and named it the Consuelo in honour of the Duchess of Marlborough. It was greatly admired at the convention of dancing masters in New York, and it bids fair to be immediately popular. It is one of the simplest and yet one of the prettiest dances introduced in recent years. A number of young girls are practising it to give at a flower fete. They will wear white frocks with garlands of roses, and after each posing, when the merry mazes of the waltz begin, they will scatter a few marguerites ,each time.

THE CAT AND THE CYCLE. A Chicago woman takes her cat for company when she cycles. She says that pussy watches the sights "with all the eagerness of a happy child at a car- nival." I have watched, remarks a correspondent, a small dog sitting in a basket suspended from the handle-bars of a bicycle, and I must confess that be looked anything but happy. The Btrainedlook in his eyes was quite unlike enjoyment, and the swaying of the basket must have been the reverse of comfortable. A cat likes comfort above all things,and the strongest; feline nerves would never be proof against the gong- ringing which is inseparable from safe riding.

COLONEL THE MARQUIS OF WORCESTER, who com- mands the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, has had 30 years' service with that regiment. He formerly served in the Royal Horse Guards. In 1887 the late Lord Fitzhardinge resigned the command of this crack Yeomanry corps, which was taken over by Lord ,a Worcester, whose father, the present Duke of Beau- fort, K.G., had formerly occupied the same position. IN the Army estimates for 1896-7, the effective strength of the Yeomanry is given as 11,678, that of the Volunteers being 263,528. It ia reckoned that about one-fifth of this total on an average leave the force every year. The cost of the former is 973,010, whilst that of the latter runs to 962,5,000; the pay of adjutants amounting to E75,500, and that of Wrgeant-instructors £ 98,000. THE average wealth throughout the world, taking its population at one thousand fire hundred millions, is about £ 65 per head, according to recent calcula- Itions. Russia, in spite of her great natural resources, appears to be the poorest civihsed nation on the face of the globe. SUPPLIES of soft fruit from Ken", are now over. The season for the growers, which has been rather bet-t-er thas an average one, has come to an earlier finish than usual, owing to the forcmg nature of the weather. Prices have been very good for all fruit ex- cept strawberries. The crope of apples and pears promise, in point of quality, to beexceptionally good, though the yield is very thin, many of the orchards failing entirely in the matter cfjMaM. RETURN OF THE WINDWARD. The Dundee whaler Balaena, from the Arctic regions, put into Lerwick on Saturday morning, and Captain Robertson, the master, was interviewed by a reporter as to his meeting with the Jackfon-Harms- ivorth Expedition. Captain Robertson said it was with deLght that at four o'clock one morning he descried the UnionJack floating from the flagpole at Cape Flora,and saw members of the expedition signalling to the vessel. It was not, however, until the evening of the following day that communication conld be estab- lished over the ice, and then Mr. Jackson and four other members of his party boarded the whaler. The nature of the greetings may be imagined when it. is stated that this was only the second occasion during their sojourn of three years in the arctic regions on which they had been in touch with the outside world. Mr. Jackson had the satisfaction of reporting that the party were all in the enjoyment of excellent health. He informed Captain Robertson of the doings of the expedition since the departure of Dr. Nansen in August last year. The winter passed quietly and uneventfully, but with the return of Spring sledging excursions were organised, as the result of which Mr. Jackson has been enabled to map out the entire north and west coasts of the Franz Josef group of islands. He has named islands, channels, and headlands, so as to leave no doubt of the nationality and loyalty of the discoverer. The north-east and the east coast of the islands remain unexplored. Captain Robert,son's business being walrus hunting, and not a pleasure trip to Cape Flora, he left the settlements, and pur- sued his business but he was twice again at Cape Flora, the second occasion being the day upon which the expedition took its departure for Europe. This was the 6th inst. Captain Brown, with the Wind- ward, had arrived about July 22, and prepara- tions had been at once commenced for the home- ward journey. At length, when Mr. Jackson and his party bad to bid farewell to the little settlement, they locked the door of Elmwood and tied a union jack to the flagstaff so that it could not be blown away by storms. Then one by one the little party made their way to the shore and thence to the Windward, which was to bear them home.

A GENEROUS OFFER. At a meeting of the governors of the Newcastle Royal Infirmary, on Saturday, the chairman (Alder- man W. D. Stephens) announced that Mr. John Hall, a Newcastle shipowner, had offered to give £100,000 for the erection of a new infirmary on condition that a site could be procured on the Castle Leazes or Town Moor Recreation Ground, at the out- skirts of the city, and that the subscribers of the £100,000 already raised should allow that money to be devoted to the maintenance of the institution. Mr. Hall, in addition to this munificent offer, was a liberal contributor to the original fund of £100,000 successfully raised at the instance of Mr. Riley Lord, ex-muyor, to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, for building a new infirmary on the site of the present institution, which is near the centre of the city. Of the amount already subscribed £30,000 or £40,000 was given on condition that the new building should be built on the site of the existing one, which is near the railway station and within easy distance of the largest factories.

THE VAGARIES OF LIGHTNING. On Saturday, Mr. G. F. Roumieu held an inquetlo at Hulford House, Sbamley-green, near Guildford, touching the death of Thomas Colthurst Jameson, a retired major in the Scottish Rifles. From the evidence it appeared that deceased went into a meadow on the previous Wednesday to pick mush- rooms, and shortly after there was a single clap of thunder and a flash of lightning. About half an hour later he was found by a gamekeeper in the employ of Mr. Cubitt, M.P., lying on his face in the field, quite dead. Around him, in a radius of several yards, were his clothes and boots, which had been torn and scattered about in an extraordinary manner. The lightning appeared to have struck deceased on the right side of the head, tearing the cap he was wearing to pieces, and burning off his hair. It then passed inside his collar, down the front of his body and both legs, into his boots, which were torn to atoms, and then passed into the ground, tear- ing a hole about 18in. in circumference and 3in. deep. Deceased's collar was torn into a hundred pieces, none larger than a sixpence; the front of his shirt was rent into ribbons, the jacket and undervest literally torn to shreds, and the knicker- bockers he was wearing were stripped off him. Deceased was wearing his sister's gold watch at the time, and this bad stopped at 10 minutes past five The glass had been reduced to powder, the works blackened, and the small screws twisted out. A ver- dict that death was due to deceased being struck by lightning was recorded.

BIG DOCK SCHEME. Advices to band from Cape Town state that de- finite plans for the erection of new docks, basins, and coaling jetties at Simon's Town are now engaging the attention of the Admiralty. The scheme is a large one, and will, if approved, have a very strong influence on the fortunes and progress of the naval port. They involve an expenditure of some two and a half millions of money, although they have been so drawn up that the scheme will admit of modification and curtailment if considered desirable. Mr. Shield, the civil engineer who had been sent to Mauritius to draw up plans for docks by the Admiralty, called at Simon's Town on his way back, and his scheme, which has been approved by the Commander-in-Chief at Simon's Town, is at present underconsideration. It is tolerably certain that docks will be constructed at Simon's Town but the actual site, the date of com- mencement of the work, and plans to be followed, are matters on which no decision has yet been 'arrived at. The docks, if constructed, will take the largest ironclad afloat, and it is possible that an arrangement will be come to with the Harbour Board, under which the Royal Navy shall be entitled to a prior claim on the Cape Town Dock in time of war. For the construction of extensive docks for the navy, Cape Town is, of course, utterly unsuited. It is anticipated that the new reservoir at Simon's Town, which has a capacity of 40,000 tons of water, will be completed in the course of a couple of months. The reservoir, which has been constructed by the Imperial authorities, will be an immense benefit to the port and to the ships, and will obviate the possibility of drought for the future.

AUDACIOUS BURGLARS. Remarkable details are given of the burglary, on Friday of last week, at Caterham. The Mardens, Tupwood, is a house standing in its own grounds upon the hillside, about a mile and a-half from Caterham Station, and is tenanted by Mr. Creighton, an old gentleman 87 years of age, and his sister, a maiden lady, a few years younger. Notwithstand- ing the fact that Mr. Creighton maintains in the house a large number of domestics, male and female, it appears that burglars effected an entrance early on the morning mentioned. Subsequent examination shows that the library window was opened, a piece having been cut out of the shutters by means of a centre bit. The first in- timation of anything wrong in the house was received by Miss Creighton, who awoke to find three men at her bedside. They were respectably dressed and masked. Miss Creighton was naturally much alarmed, and was about to call for assistance, when her nocturnal visitors, politely, yet firmly, assured her that they would not offer her the slightest injury or disrespect if she would only tell them where they could lay their hands upon her jewellery. Miss Creighton did so, and the burglars possessed themselves of a number of valuable rings, several watches, and a quantity of plate, which, by an unfortunate accident, had that night been left in Miss Creighton's bedroom. Among the booty of which they thus possessed themselves was a small but valuable watch, and this Miss Creighton tearfully implored the thieves to return to her, as it bad been the dying gift of a brother. Two of the men were unwilling to do this, but the third—evi- dently the leader of the party—appealed to their better nature with such success that eventually the watch was handed back to the lady with a courteous bow. The men then left the room with a stern admonition to Miss Creighton to maintain silence. Entering the room of Mr. Creighton they woke that gentleman, and while two of the party impressed upon him the neces- sity of not giving an alarm, the other went through hie trousers pockets. Very little of value was found in the old gentleman's room in spite of the fact that it was thoroughly overhauled, and after bidding Mr. Creighton a polite "Good morning" the men left the premises, both Mr. Creighton and his sister being too much upset to raise I an immediate alarm. Later on the police were called in, and investigation showed that property to the amount of about £80 had been removed. There is no clue to the identity of the burglars, but the police are informed that about six o'clock on the morming in question a light cart containing three men wis seen being rapidly chinn down the valley in the direction of London. The police, after careful in- vestigation, have come to the conclusion that the work is that of experienced metropolitan "cracks- men."

AT the moment when Russia has moderated her rigour towards the Jews, Prussia seems to have en- tered upon an anti-Semite campaign. Reports continue to reach London of expulsions which have caused the greatest suffering and misery. The Hebrew com- munity at Meniel has been reduced by nearly one- half, and further orders of expulsion are executed with the utmost stringency.

ART AND LITERATURE. THE first part of the new and enlarged edition of The Queen's London,"which will bo issued on September 8, will be devoted exclusively to pictures of Jubilee Day (June 22). Thirty-two large photo- graphic views showing the procession from start to finish, with descriptive text, will be given in the part. A BIOGRAPHY of Sir John Millaia, written by his son, Mr. John Millais, is to appear shortly. It wiH have the merit of being authoritative and sympa- thetic and it will gain in popular interest by in- cluding reminiscences of the artist given by some of the notable people who have sat to him. Many of his subject pictures were painted from sitters selected from his circle of friends, and their experi- ence in his studio should prove extremely fascinating reading. A VERY promising addition to the list of trade papers is the Grocers' Monthly, an illustrated tech- nical organ and review of the grocery and allied L trades," to quote the sub-title. The admirably got-up first issue of the new venture contains a lare quantity of useful information, brightly put together, and tho- roughly up-to-date. A good deal of space is devoted to association matters. The editors are Messrs. Arthur Seymour Jennings and F. Copeman, both gen- tlemen with a large knowledge of the interests repre- sented and of trade journalism generally. READERS familiar with the story of William Cowper's life as told by his biographers will remem- ber that Samuel Teedon, schoolmaster at Olney, was one of his personal friends. Teedon kept a diary, which extends from October, 1791, to February, 1794, and among the entries are many references to Cowper and to Mrs. Unwin, which, of course, gives the diary an importance it would not otherwise possess. For many years the book was lost, but it was happily re- covered in 1890, and it was recently sold by auction in London. IN view of the present outbreak on the Indian frontier Messrs. Cassell and Company have decided to issue a cheap edition, in penny weekly numbers, of their "Illustrated History of India," by James Grant, author of British Battles on Laud and Sea." This issue will be brought down to date, and will include an account of the more important struggles with the native tribes now in rebellion. The first number will be issued on the 15th of September. THE growing tendency on the part of novelists to instruct readers as to the meaning of their novels recalls a little incident which once occurred in the House of Lords during the Committee stage of a very important bill. Considerable difference of opinion had been expressed as to the meaning of a particular clause, when a member of the House rose and de- clared his ability to settle the matter in dispute, since he himself had "drafted the clause in question, and remembered exactly what was in his mind at the time." The leader of one of the great parties at once interposed with the remark that what the noble lord had in his mind when he drafted the clause was of no consequence in connection with the discussion, The sole point was as to the meaning which the clause would actually convey to those who read it." MR. ONSLOW FORD, R.A., finished, a few days ago, his memorial statue of Dr. R. W. Dale, which is to be unveiled at Birmingham in October. The statue is described by one who has seen it as that of a scholar and thinker. Dr. Dale," he continues, is represented seated and wearing a doctor's gown. His head rests on his right hand, and the square of his college cap forms a support for his arm. His attitude is that of quiet meditation." SIR WILLIAM RICHMOND is modifying his design for the mosaic representing the Crucifixion, which is to occupy the first of the quarter domes beneath the great dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. In obedience to tradition he has abandoned his idea, for which it ap- pears there is insufficient authority, of representing the figure of Christ as crucified upon the Tree of Life, and he will substitute instead a cross, which will be set against a background of rose-trees. His design may lose something of its originality by the change, but it will better satisfy those necessities of symbolical expression which are regarded as supremely im- portant in ecclesiastical decoration. IN the current number of the Author the editor dissents from the opinion of a Quarterly Reviewer that a man of letters who pays serious attention to the commercial value of his work is likely to impair its literary quality, Sir Walter Besant says: 1, No because the two have nothing to do with each other. If the writer means that there is danger that the artist may have his brain filled with commergialism while he is at work, one can only reply that he must be a very mean and miserable artist. Apply the same kind of conventional talk to painting. All great painters receive large sums of money for their work. No one in his senses has ever reproached them with doing so; no one has ever asserted that they have ruinad their art as their price went up. In the name of common sense, then, why cannot literary men be treated as on the same footing as painters?" MR. TKOMAS BAILEY ALDRJCII may be styled the last survivor of the New England school of littera- teurs, among whom are to be numbered such distin- guished names as Emerson, Longfellow, Russell Lowell, Whittier, and Wendell Holmes. The author of The Ballad of Baby Bell "-a poem, be it known, written when Mr. Aldrich was only 20-was born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the picturesque sea- port which under the name of Rivermouth turns up in so many of this writer's poems and stories, includ- ing the autobiographical narrative of The Bad Boy." Mr. Aldrich has been everything in a literary way. He has tested his powers as poet, novelist, essayist, and dramatist. Among his best known works are his story Margery Daw," his Atlantic essays, and his drama Mercedes," published in 1884, and produced some nine years later. Mr. Aldrich, who has also filled the post of magazine editor, is now about 60, but is still hale, hearty, and erect. A NOTE of alarm has just been sounded concerning the condition of the Parthenon. The whole build- ing, it appears, needs to be carefully repaired, if it is to be saved from absolute destruction, and a good deal of delicate restoration is wanted to maintain the decorative beauty of various crumbling details. But the most serious matter is the discovery that the western section of the exquisite frieze is being destroyed by the action of the weather. It is at present without any protection from rain and frost, and the surface of the marble is rapidly being eaten away. If this process is to be arrested something in the way of a roof to the colonnade is indispensable even a temporary arrangement of boards would suffice to preserve what is one of the most important relics of a national art that has never been rivalled. Re- storation in this case is, of course, impossible, and the sort of treatment that will make stable crumbling walls cannot be applied to the work of Phidias and his assistants. At all costs this work ought to be preserved, and the final remov al of the frieze to a place of safety would be a less evil than its destruc- tion for want of proper attention. A TRANSLATION by Mr. Ernest Vizetelly of M. Zola's Paris," the concluding volume of the trilogy of which Lourdes" and Rome" have already appeared, will be published by the same firm. Paris may be expected to arouse more curiosity, even than the account of the Papal city, which con- tained so many remarkable pictures. "Zolaism," save for one very peculiar example, was not exhibited in its full flavour in Rome," and it may, perhaps, be found that in Paris," in spite of the fondness of novelists for describing the French capital as the real Modern Babylon," M. Zola has left more to the imagination in his pictures of the darker side of life than was his custom in the Rougon-Macquart Series. THE Dublin National Gallery is, like all our other public institutions devoted to the display of artistic treasures, seriously hampered by want of space. The collection it contains has, in the half century during which the gallery has existed, grown so rap.dly that there is now no room for the display of fur. her ac- quisitions, and the addition of a wing is urgently needed, not only to make a provision for the future but also to relieve the overcrowding of the present wall-space. The claims of the gallery are undeniable, and they are accentuated by the fact that its de- velopment has gone steadily on in spite of the small- ness of the fund available for purchases and general expenses. The annual Government grant is only EIOOO, and yet a collection has been brought together which is worthy of complete respect. A little official generosity in the matter of a building grant would not in this case be misapplied. THE comprehensiveness of Michael Angelo's genius, as described in the Innocents Abroad by the Yankee tourist-who suggested that the guide would save time by attributing everything in Rome, from the Tiber and the Colosseum to the newest hotel, to that famous master-is almost rivalled by the plan of a collection of National Ballad and Song which Mr. John S. Farmer has undertaken to compile and edit. The book is to contain "a complete anthology of English, Scots, and Irish lyrics prior to the year 1800, embracing all previous collections of ballads, song, garlands, drolleries, merriments, together with many other in manuscript, which have never before been published." The first and second instalments of tnis stupendous anthology, containing II slang songs and catiting rhymes," merry songs and ballads," have already appeared, and have afforded to the lover of such literature an opportunity of becoming ac- quainted with many old lyrical composi |ons as rare 1 J rruJn*xt section will appear in as they are curious. Ihe neit se^ rr about two months' time, and will be concerned with n "hunting songs and ballads of the chase. It will fill three volumes, and there will be three editions- small paper," large paper," and do luxe."

MARKHAM is wretchedly absent minded." What's he been doing now ?" Went out to dine 11 yesterday, and apologised profustly at the end of the dinner for the poorness of the spread."

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FOXES "MADE IN GERMANY.' Considerable indignation is being manifested in the hunting districts of the Midland counties, especially amongst agriculturists, in consequence of the impor- tation of foxes bred in Germany. In Bedfordshire, for instance, owing to the scarcity of cubs, and in order that sport may be assured during the coming season, a large number of young foxes have been brought over and liberated in various parts of the country. Farmers are loud in their protestations against the practice, and allege that they are sustain- ing frequent and heavy losses by nightly visits to their homesteads of Reynard, who is described at being even more vicious than the English fox.

PHAETON COURT MARTIAL. The court-martial on Captain Eirby and Lieu- tenant Graham, of the cruiser Phaeton, in connec- tion with the recent collision between that vessel and the torpedo boat-destroyer Thrasher, took place on Saturday on board the cruiser Blenheim, at Devon- port. The Court found the charges against both officers partly proved, and adjudged them to be reprimanded and admonished to be more careful in future.

DEATH OF THE MARQUIS CONYNGHAM. The Marquis Conyngham died on Saturday mornipg at Slane Castle, county Meath, at the age of 40. He was formerly a lieutenant in the Scots Guards, and afterwards held commissiont in the East Kent Yeomanry Cavalry and 3rd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers. He was also a J.P. for East Kent. He interested himself but little in politics, but was fond of yachting, racing, and other kinds of sport. As a resident nobleman he was very popular, his relations with the tenantry around him being most friendly. His successor in the title is his eldest son, Victor George Henry Francis, Earl of Mount Charles, who was born in 1883.

WITH the development of high-speed craft paint manufacturers will evidently have to devote some study to the adhesive qualities of paints intended for the protective covering of metal-hulled vessels, if the somewhat jocose theory set up in the Brooklyn Navy Yard is given any weight, says an American con- temporary, The torpedo boat Porter, which has been displaying its speed by circling about one of the fast Sandy Hook steamers while the latter was under full power, made a run from Newport, R.I., to Brooklyn in six hours. When placed in the dry dock the vessel's bottom was found to be nearly bare of paint, and it is held by some of the officials in ex- planation that the speed developed was too much for the adhesive quality of the paint.

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IN future the Guards' depot is to be at Caterham, and will consist of one company from each of the regi- wental depots. However the officers of the Guards may approve of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guarda being sent to the Rock, the medical officers belonging to the battalion will not have any very idle time, as, in addition to their daties therewith, they will also have to take a share of the garrison work with the officers of the Army Medical Staff. TilE reigning Bey of Tunis will, it is said, shortly abdicate in favour of his son, and will thereafter live at Nice. One of his aides-de-camp is already on his way to the Riviera to seek out for his master some de- sirable villa residence" where he may spend his declining days. CAPTAIH A. H. C. KENNY-HERBERT, of the North- amptonshire Regiment, who has been the seniorl Instructor of Military Topography at the Roya Military College at Sandhurst for over seven years is leaving for the West Coast of Africa on a specia mission connected with a survey of Asbantee Captain C. Moore, of the Royal Berkshire Regiment is to be appointed to the vacancy in consequence at the Royal Military College. LADY BAZLEY, who has just died, celebrated as long ago as 1878 her golden wedding with Sir Thomas, who for more than 20 years-from 1858 to 1880- was member of Parliament for Manchester. Sir Thomas, who died in 1885, in his 88th year, was made a baronet 28 years ago. Besides representing Man- chester at St. Stephen's, he had filled the quaint office of borough-reeve of Salford when the feudal forms of government by a court leet still survived there. THE Dutch residents in London have thrown tbemselvQR heartily into the movement for making a gift to the Queen Regent of Holland on the termina- tion 12 months hence of the duties of her office. Among the warmest supporters of the movement are the Dutch Jews in London and the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, who have formed a joint committee. Already the subscriptions promised amount to a large sum. M. YBRESTCHAGIN, the Russian artist, is likely to bs the first recipient of the prize for the propagtiol1 of pacific ideas," which has been created in accord- ance with the terms of the will of the late M. Nobel, the inventor and manufacturer of explosives. M. Verestchagin has certainly ample claims to this award, for few painters have ever repreaented the tragedy of war, or emphasised its horrors, with such appalling and vivid fidelity. His pictures are dis- tinctly object-lessons; and their tendency is, by sheer force of contrast, to assert the value and charm of p pnoPi. .L.

ever umpod." .ver a..cLH of the very many unsgifttMi NIXEYSfJgk |J "caRVUSW BLUE Ready lot Ute, Iflst. Ba.p. and Su&oxes, 884 G4. IfoDl.. & I.g, Nlz.r'