Barry Herald

OUK LONDON CORRESPONDENT. One of the most striking proofs of the steadily strengthening friendship between this country and the United States, which the course of the present war in South Africa has afforded, is the ntting out by American enterprise of the hos- pital ship Manie, which sails for the Cape on Monday. Previous to its departure, the Duko of Conna.ught will specially present to the vessel the Union Jack which the Queen has given for its use: and her Majesty ui another way has shown her keen interest in the warm appreciation of the work by the personal welcome she has accorded to the doctors and nurses who are to go wilh the Maine. Especial interest has been taken in the movement by people in London, because the necessary money has, to a large extent, been subscribed by members of the American colony in our capital, and the most heartfelt good wishes will go but to all concerned in the vessel. Help of the kind suggested will assuredly be needed, for every engagement, whether on a large or a small scale, swells the total of wounded, and the promptest dealing with their injuries means much for the recovery of the hurt. But it is not only from a practical point of view that this gift is appreciated; there is a deeper sentiment involved, and that, as has already been indicated, is the recognition of the growing friendship between tha two great Anglo-Saxon peoples. London will be furnished within a verv few days with an opportunity for displaying its share in the national grief over tlH-I losses we have recently suffered in battle, as St. Paul's Cathedral is to be the scene nexb Tuesday of a special service in memory of those who have fallen in South Africa. The occasion cannot fail to be an impressive one, for the list of casualties already to hand is a long, sad, and awesome one and it is fitting that a public manifestation of the grief it has created should be made in the great metropolitan cathedral, which has so often been the place wherein thanksgiving has been ottered for British vic- tories or the conclusion of peace. At West- minster Abbey, that venerable temple of silence and reconciliation, intercession, mean- while is being offered daily for those at the front, for the hearts of very many are con- stantly with those in South Africa just now, and prayers for their safety are everywhere being offered. It is thus that the grim, stern reality of war is being brought home to the public mind, for even those who have neither relative nor close friend serving in the field cannot but be impressed by all that is passing around him, and is consequently so placed that he can share the grief of the stricken. In the present generation, London has more than once gained by the gifts of generous bene- factors, and among these the late Sir Henry Tate will long be remembered as among the greatest. The public, generally, of course, will best know him as the donor of the magnificent National Gallery of British Alt at Millbank; out there are other parts of London which never ought to forget him, and notably Brixton and Streatham, which are indebted to him for the fine buildings in which their free libraries are housed. As to the first-named institution, the beneficence of Sir Henry Tate was constant up to the very time of his death, for largo extensions were going on up to the last "awl so great was his innate modesty that these, as completed, were quietly opened to the public without any ceremony. It was the same spirit ¡ which dictated his desire that the institution should not be known as ''the Tate Gallery"; but that should not prevent us all from remem- bering what a magnificent things the late Sir Henry Tate did for the beautifying of London as well as for the encouragement of British art. Musicians the country through will be in- terested in the reorganisation of the Queen's private band, c, which, indeed, is an event of distinct musical importance. Her? Majesty, it would appear, has re- cently been hearing several fine musicians, as well as the excellent Queen's Hall orchestra; and one point of this has been that, upon the resignation of Sir Walter Parratt, her Majesty's Master of Music, opportunity has been taken to reconsider the personnel of the private band, which consists of some thirty professional players. Princess Beatrice is understood to have taken a keen interest in this matter, for she is devotedly found of music; and the hope is being expressed that she will now use her influence in the direc- tion of securing that the works of British composers shall be more drawn upon in the programmes laid before the Queeir and her guests. Encouragement of this kind from the highest quarter in the land would be welcomed upon all hands; and it might be exercised with advantage in regard to painting as well as to music. The archaeologist in these times is just as energetic and enterprising as the sportsman, and there is, indeed, a flavour of the sporting element to be perceived in connection with a portion oi his work. It is, therefore, scarcely to be wondered at that one outcome of the recent opening of the Soudan will be the im- mediate archaeological survey of that vast region. An inspector of antiquities for Upper Egypt and the Soudan has already been ap- pointed as a first step in this direction, and the post has been given to an Englishman, a fact which is the more welcome to Egyptologists in London, because positions of this character have hitherto been conferred upon Frenchmen. It may safely be assumed that impor- tant diecoveries will reward the efforts that will be put forth, for the unexplored por- tion of the Soudan must contain much of the utmost value to the student of ancient iiim ex- tinct civilisations—a branch of study which in these days is being increasingly pursued. Although it was once declared by so high an authority as the first Lord Brougham that the main object of the British Constitution was to put twelve men in a box, the average Briton does not seem to greatly appreciate the privi- lege of serving on a jury. The consequence of this lack of appreciation, however, has been very smartly brought home to a number of Londoners within the past few days by the action of a judge of the High Court of Justice. His lordship, upon taking his seat on the Bench one recent morn- ing, quietly, but impressively, observed that the officer of the court had informed htm that a number of special jurors had not answered to their names, and that as on the previous day he had given fair notice on the matter he intended to fine the absentees ten pounds apiece, upon the ground that their conduct placed an unfair burden upon those of their fellows who did attend. The judge might, of course, have based his decision upon the point that such an infraction of duty was a contempt of Court, but- mor& sympathy will generally be felt with his action because of the precise line he took. It is, in fact, an ex- tremely selfish thing for & man to refuse to undertake his fair share of duty in the jury box; and if, instead of commiseration and threats, a judge would oftener excercise lis power of fining those who shirk the con- stitutional duty of the citizen and throw it upon their neighbour, a good work would be Zone. The fact that one of those officers wounded in the battle at Modder River is a member of the famous family of Neilsons, who occupy the same position in the football world as the Graces and Walkers do in cricket and the Bayfords in running, has called to the mind of many the- thought of how intimately the army is associated with sport in the United Kingdom. It is claimed, indeed, that, if it were not for the exceptional skill attained by our leading amateurs and professionals, and for the fact that the life led by a soldier IS more or less a rousing one, more would be neard 9f military cricket; but there is no mistaing that it is in hunting that the army has lett its greatest mark. Coaching, however, ha5 awtin- Tuished votaries among our forces, while there is little need to insist upon the military devo- tion to polo. The adventurous spirit shown m these directions has its reflex in others of more Warlike type, as we are perceiving In South Africa just now., R.

TITERS IS OTQUXSTIONABLY no better remedy in whole world for all coughs and throat troubles KEATING'S LOZENGES—any medical man ^*11 assure you of this fact. Relief is speedy; simple in action; the most delicats can taie them, mtaA cwrywbers is 13 £ d. tins-.

NEvVS NOTES. GENERAL severe repulse at Storr. berg was distinctly unwelcome, but such checks are bound to be encountered by forces to whom the fighting ground is unfamiliar whenever they advance upon a foe who has had time to en- trench. And the irregular country about S ormberg would in any case favour the Boer soldiery, who know all about kopjes" and the broken-up nature of the bulk of South Africa. The British officer who has to rely on native or Hollander guides is at a distinct disadn1.ntage,altogether apart from the honesty or otherwise of those he is compelled to engage. When it comes to a question of a British force choosing the battlefield, and essaying a fair trial with the Boers, we may hear a different tale told. Meanwhile Buller, White, Methuen, and the rest have been handicapped by having insufficient forces for the task in hand, especi- ally as regards the supply of artillery and cavalry. This difficulty should shortly now be removed. IT is indeed surprising to find what resources the Boers have provided themselves with in the way of arms and ammunition. They may not be precisely a military people, but to de- scribe them as a race of poor and simple farmers is at any rate a misnomer. They must necessarily have been arming for the fray in an expensive way for a very long time past. We know now how wrong we were to permit such a menace to im- portant parts of our Empire. Xever again" must it happen, to quote the words of a re- sponsible Minister of the Crown. And some way must be devised of making the interests that have been the real occasion of the costly and sanguinary campaign bear the expense, in so far as money can wipe out the dreadful trial of war. ALL the time we are hearing of gallant deeds and splendid soldiery on the part of every rank of our lighting men who have gone South to do their country's work, and we may well be proud of Tommy Atkins" and his leaders. But there is always another aspect other than that ir- radiated by glory to a battle picture wherever there are fightiug men abroad there are weeping women and children at home. The nation must accept it as a sacred duty to assuage the grief of thA stricken; and when we urge that this is the nation's bounden duty we mean that it behoves us all individually to do our best to discharge it according to the oppor- tunities within our compass. The great wave of patriotism sweeping through the Empire has happily loosened the purse strings promisingly and we trust that the funds will flow fully and freely through the best channels as long as the occasion may require. There is no time to pay like the present: obligations for bene- fits attained are apt to be forgotten if not promptly discharged. So we echo, to all, the strung Kiplingesque injunction, Pay! pay pay We do not say give but pay This wo owe to Tommy "-we must not think of what we are to do as charity, but look upon our moiety of disbursement as at once incumbent and privileged. We hope and trust that the large funds now swelling on every hand will be administered with big- hearted wisdom and gratifying celerity. ArTER an open autumn, we go-i: the other day a quick-change demonstration of how variant the British climate can be. Cokl winds, hard frost, and snow, came in matP parts of the country, and found some of us unprepared. But such weather is more seasonaoie than belated mildness; and seasonable conditions suit the majority. One lilies tj have a cold snaiJ" commencing just prior to Christmastido and continuing into the New Yaar. It hardly looks like "Yule otherwise, and generally speaking in Britain it is best. There is a world of homely English wisdom in the old folk saying: "A green Christmas makes a fat churchyard." But the oltl and the feeble and the very poor feel the sudden big drop intern pcrature very trying to them,and we should do out utmost just now to alleviate their lot. The poor we have always with us let us not neglect their claims because we are remember- ing Tommy Atkins" and his dear ones warmly. Tommy himself would be the last to desire it, though Kipling has christened him an Absent-minded Beggar."

THE PROMOTION OF GEN ERAL OFFICERS. By the Queen's command, a new Royal Warrant has been issued by the Secretary of War respect- ing the future promotion of officers to general rank. It being deemed expedient that all promotion to the rank of major-general or lieutenant-general shall, from the 1st or January, 1901, be made by selection to fill an appointment, it is ordered that, until that date, promotion to the rank of major- general shall, in the absence of special recommenda- tion, be given to the senior colonel of the same branch, if he is stated by our Commander-in-Chief to be competent to command in the Held. Promotion to lieutenant-general and general shall, unless there is good ground for a contrary course, be by seniority. Prom January 1, 1901, no promotion shall bo made to the rank of major-general or lieutenant-general except by selection to fill an appointment, or as a reward for distinguished service." The number of general officers on the active list will be gradually reduced until January 1, 1901, as vacancies occur in the ra.nk of major-general by absorbing the second of every two vacancies, and in the rank of lieutenant-general by absorbing the third of every three: and from the date menuioned all vacancies not tilled by appointment or as a reward for distinguished aervice will be absorbed.

WILL CORDITE BE DISUSED ? There is a feeling all over Europe and the United States at the present time (says Field en's Magazine) that the nitre-glycerine powders must eventually give place to a true gun-cotton powder. The Germans have long been using BaSlistite, which contains 40 per cent, of nitro-glycerino, but they are now experi- menting with a view of using a pure gun- cotton 0 powder. France has a powder with- out nitro glycerine, a gun cotton compound with some other substance, not nitro-glycerine. Spain is using a powder without nitro-glycerine. The British Government cordite, with its large per- centage of nitro-glycerine, has done very well, not on account of the large quantity of nitro-glycerine, but because everything connected with it has been so very well done, that is, both the nitro-glycerine and the gun-cotton are well made, and the percentage of vaseline being large the powder has succeeded better than any other kind with a large quantity of nitro- glycerine. Its erosive qualities, however, make short work of the gun using it.

THE taking over of the Caroline, Marianne, and Pelew Islands by the Germans has been completed. The former Spanish garrisons have arrived at Manila. SOMS extensive contracts for the supply of iron girders, &c., to be used in the construction of the National Harbour at Dover, have been placed with Belgian firms. THJ: crisis in the diamond trade at Antwerp is assuming formidable proportions. Already 13 diamond cutters out of 57 have closed their establish- ments. AT the'Battle of Modder River two Lincoln soldiers were wounded—Joseph Victor Westwood and Frank Ashcroft. It is a remarkable chain of coincidence. that the yoang men were close chums, are both 21 years of age, were employed at the Ironstone Mines at Lincoln before enlisting, both enlisted on the same day, and entered the same regiment—the 2nd Cold- stream Guards. Both were transferred a few months ago to the 1st Coldstreams, and now both have been wounded in the sam., battle. MR. W. B. WILSON, the chairman of the Provincial Police Orphanage at Redhill, writes that the com- mittee gladly offers to receive orphans from the families of any police reservists attached to the southern police forces who may lose their lives in the ?resent war, and the committee of the Northern 'olice Orphanage at Harrogate has, it is understood, decided on the same course with regard to the northern forces. To meet the need thus likely to arise the committee appeals for increased support. oonatlOn of £500 endows a bed for an orphan in pe pe ui y, the bed to be named after the donor, and £ 15 a year support* an orpW ,th,e the 8th Hussars who will probably help to form another brigade of cavalry for acf nc °r ?ranoek, who is the eldest son °f Lord ^^d Miss Shaw, of Wel- burn IW- Yorkshire He lives at The Grange, which !S ,n that county. MA.J0P. G. T. H. THOMAS, B.A.M.C. has been appointed to the medical charge of the Royal Irish Regiment, for service in South Africa with the Sixth Division.. if ¡ '.) I

"WEEK'S TEll GAHEN HEAME?" When's teh gnhen heame ?" You would not ex. pect to hear Kaffirs say that, but they do, many of them. What is it? Dutch or German? No; it is English. When there happens to be a fair number of men belonging to the same county on one gold mine, the KaUir labourers quickly acquire a few common dialectical expressions, and repeat them with great gusto. Thus it comes about that you may herr a dusky son of Afric- ask his brother the question, When's tPh gahen heame?" (When are you going home?) This is one of the first questions one Cumbrian puts to another on I11pptin< at'tpr R. prolonged absence.

THE SCENE OF THE QUEEN'S VISIT. A correspondent, writing from Bordighera, says The choice of Bordighera for the sojourn of her Majesty next spring has elicited criticism in certain quarters with regard to the alleged scarcity of drives in its vicinity, and much stress has been laid upon the dusty and rather primitive nature of the high road towards Yentimiglia. A very short excursion in the neighbourhood will, however, reveal to the most casual observer numbers of charming drives, all at a short distance from the Hotel Angst, and most of them leading from the beautiful Strada Romana. Apnrt from the perfect quietude of the quarter in which the hotel is situated, the Strada Romana is free from tramway lines (of which there are none in Bordighera), and there is also a marked absence of automobilism. To the northward extend" vallate" pretty country roads winding through ever- chnnguig scenery in the midst of hills covered with olives and palms to an extent not to be met with elsewhere. In the Yallata Bor^hetto the drive to Vallebona, in that of Yallecrosis to Ospedaletti on one side and to San Biagio and Ventimiglia on the other, to say nothing of the drive to Soldano and through the Vallata Nervia to Camporosso, furnish an agreeable variety of scenery and points of view. Besides these, drives lead to Coldiro Di and to Dolceaqua, while longer routes, varying from 13 to -1 kilometres, lead through a charming country in various directions to San Remo. La Mortolo, Men- tone, Airole, Isola Bona, San Michele, Pigna, Ceriana, and Taggia. Beyond doubt, if nothing happens to prevent the Queen's projected journey, her Majesty will find in Bordighera a sojourn uniting every possible desideratum. It is stated that the high road to Vntmigli:1 will be put in order, and that before the month of March it will be as agree- able and free from dust as are the Strada Romana and the roads in the various vallate.

GENERAL SYMONS' FUNERAL. I At 3.30 p.m., on October 23 (says a message to hand by runner from Ladysmith) General Symons expired. He was IJllrieB on the 24th. His body was sewn in a Union Jack, and was carried to tbe Church of England burial-ground by the non-commissioned officers and men of the Hospital Staff. All the officers who could attended, and as the body was taken out of the camp every man who was able stood to atten- tion. The funeral was most impressive. All the Boers r.iised the;r hats as the procession passed to the burial-ground, where many of them attended the service, behaving most respectfully..

PRISONERS AT CAPE TOWN. Notwithstanding statements which have been made to the contrary, the Boer prisoners at Cape Town declare that they are perfectly comfortable and happy. Arrangements have been made, enabling them to play football and quoits, and they are supplied with excel- lent creature comforts.

BRAVERY IN THE FIELD. It is announced that the Army Medal for Dis- tinguished Conduct in the Field his been awarded to Serjeant G. Smith, Royal Engineers Colour'-Sergeant A. Colville Sergeant A. Gray Private \V. Guthrie, Highland Light Infantry; Sergeant G. Gordon, Army Service Corps Private G. Biddiscombe, Royal Army Medical Corps.

AFTER THE WAR. The Hon. Seymour Ormsby Gore has received the following from a resident official at Pieterinaritzburg by the last mail: So much is certain that had tbe Premier of Natal and Governor not foreseen the danger of an incur- sion, and begged for the Indian contingent, which did not arrive a day too soon, the whole of Natal would iiave been at the .mercy of the Boer. The qutstions we raise are: Will the Colonial Boers rise now, or will they threaten to rebel in the event of contemplated annexation of the two Republics? Is our Government going to let the Boers dowa gently? Will they annex the two Republics and make Crown colonies of them, with responsible government, the same as tbe Cape; or are we going to hand back the councry.and so show the Boers and the world our bona-tides, even at a great sacri- fice of life and national expense ? That the future can only tell us! Whatever happens, so much is certain, that the loyal colonists who have sacrificed their blood and their all will raise a general outcry against any undue forbearance shown to the Boers. 12 England thinks that this mere demonstration or her power and a further display of magnanimity will ensure the loyalty of the Boer and the peace of Africa, she is much mistaken.

SIR HARRY JOHNSTO}.S. MISSION. Sir Harry Johnston, the new Commissioner and Consul-General, has reached Uganda with safety. He intends at iirst to make a stay in the Naivasha district, and then proceed toMengo, the capital, for the greater part ot his term of office in Ggandkhe will not reside in any one place for any length of time, as his mission, which officially is a special one, is really to make himself acquainted with the condition of things throughout the whole of our Uganda Protectorate. Sir Harry Johnston does not expect to remain out longer than 18 months at the most, and he hopes to be home again before the summer of JOO1.

AETHERIC TELEGRAPHY IN THE NAVY. It having been reported as probable that the Admiralty will decide to equip all tho more modern war vessels with wireless teJegraph apparatus,, and that the -German naval authorities are negotiating with Mr. Marconi with a view to providing all Ger- man warship with his apparatus, the Elccirician says it has been unable to obtain confirmation of either of these statements. Both Governments have been in negotiation with the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company, but our contemporary understands that no definite conclusion has been arrived at.

PRINCE OF WALES AND WAR HORSES. Mr. Laurenee W. Pike, who has been agitating th*. cause of the horses wounded in battle, has received the following leiter from Sir Francis Knollys His Royalllighness yields to no one in an earnett desire I to alleviate as far as possible the sufferings of the animals who are employed in the present war, and it would afford him much pleasure, therefore, should it be practicable to see, to use Mr: Wyndhnm's words. 4 some international convention in force which would extend to wounded animals tbe same pro eot on for which the Geneva Convention provides in the case of men.' Prince of Wales is gratified at finding from the circular issued by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that they have already taken the initiative in the matter."

FRENCH SUPERSTITION. EXTRAORDINARY FRAUDS. The Paris correspondent of the Morning Posf re- ports an extraordinary story of frsiuH. M. Cuvillier, Commissary of Police at Charenton, has arrested a gang of pretended sorcerers, who in less than a twelvemonth have relieved credulous inhabitants of his district of ove 100,000f. The chief of the gang, Jean Sorino, known as the brass man," was first arrested, and it was on his confessions thnt M. Cuvillier was able to raid the sorcerers' headquarters. They were situated in a small detached house, fitted up as a witches' den. Besides the phantaqmagoricai decorations incumbent on such a locality, the floors and walls contained trap-doors and other devices of stage trickery likely to appeal to the imagination of believers in occult sciences. Sonj^os wife used to officiate as chief witch in these interesting surround- ings. Correspondence seized during the police raid.re- vealed the methods whereby the victims were despoiled. For instance, a Madame de Maignen, widow of an officer of high rank, who was suffering from an incurable malady, applied to Madame Sorino and in the course of a few sensational seances parted with 10,000f. When Madame de Maignen came to follow the. treatment that was to cure her, "Hébé" (Madame Sorino), after an impressive re- ception, set her in a comfortable armchair facing a brightly-decorated scene. Very soon two dazzliugiy- attired young women, Rosa and Paule appeared. In- troduced as angels, they promised Madame de Maignen relief on earth and eternal life in Heaven. After these predictions they vanished. Then Hébé" gave her patient opium pills that reduced her to a somnolent condition. As soon, however, as her eyes closed she was awakened with a start by a tremendous clanging of metal and electric detona- tions, and, looking up, saw in place of the angels the celestial physician who was to cure her of all her ills. The part of the apparition was efficiently played by M. Jean Sorino, clad in a gorgeous suit of shining brass armour surmounted by a magnificently plumed helmet. "Young and beautiful person," he would say, thou shalt be healed. But some of your fellow-creatures who are poor suffer as you do. It is written that thou shalt contribute to relieve their woes. Give lOOOfr. to the lovely Hébé und thou shalt be healed." Madame de Maignen used to pay, and she was then given a third opium pill, which sent her to sleep. When she awoke the foolish woman believed she bad been in Heaven, and was thus led to part with 10,000fr. There are other victims, whose names are withheld owing to their social position, who should have known better than to be duped by such a vulgar fraud. Meanwhile, the Brass Man, Hebe, Rosa, and Paule are all in goal, and the police are unearthing further accomplices. The sorcerers, it has been dis- (covered, had branches in Paris, where similar swindles were perpetrated, and it is stated that the victims are not only choice in quality but are also considerable in number.

CnM- "Mamma, why did they call Robinson Crusoe's man Friday?" Mother: "Because he came to hím on Friday." Child: to Then why don't you call me Wednesday, instead of Paul?", YBS," said the milliner, "the suicide of Mrs. Drestokil is a terrible affair. Why, she did it the very day I sent my bill in, and people will think the bill has something to do with it, and it will ruin me." Hu FATHER (from the head of the stairs): Ethel, is that young man gone ?" Ethel (iu an ecstatic stags whisper): Awfully, papa." ''i .j 1, f 1f.t, lt\.L' i lUf

A SERGEANT'S EXPERIENCES. 1 Sergeant J. Freeman, of the 1st King's Royal Rifle, writing from Ladysmith, on October 31 and November 1, to his brother, admits that they had a rough time. Describing the artillery duel at Glencoe, he says thej ducked and dodged the enemy's shells, most of which, however, flew harmlessly overhead. The ad- vance,' he continues, was carried on under a very heavy fire, and we went across the open in skirmish- ing order, every now and then dropping and firine; volleys at the Boers' position on Talana Hill. The enemy's rifle fire played havoc with our troops. When the foot of the hill was reached the enemy poured in on us a terrific fire from rifles and those terribieNorden- feldt quiek-firing:Runs. The latter were going plunk, plunk, plunk, as fast as the very d—1 can run. We were what you may call playing hop-scotsh—literally hopping and skipping over them as best we could. The order was given by General Symons to storm the hill. He called out, Forward, the Rifles, the gallant 60th. and take that Well our Colonel (Colonel Gunning) then called out, Advance,' and threatened that he would shoot any man he saw hanging back. He turned and led the way, and in a minute or so he was shot dead. It was terrible work storming that hill. Several of our men picked up Mauser rifles, bandoliers full ofummunition, bags and satchels, and waterproof mackintoshes, and caught some ponies belonging to the Boers. One of the prisoners I had handed over to me was named Coorad Cronje. He was one of tho leaders, a commandant, I believe. He was well-dressed in plain c.othes, and was fully armed. I took over his arms and searched him. From his bandolier and satchel I took, I daresay. 250 rounds of ammunition, and then I felt through his pockets, in one of which I found 30 rounds. He had plenty of money, notes, and coin (Dutch and English), besides documents and other papers, and a watch and chain. I took all the documents and everything except his watch and chain and money. The same proceeding was gone through with the other prisoners. By the way, two of them were English (commandeered) and one a German. I had to stay on guard that night, which made three nights I had no sleep." Describing the march to Ladysmith, he says "All night we marched through mire and over rocks. It was pitch dark. We crossed rivers up to our waists, and all the time it was raining hard. We were not- allowed to smoke nor to strike matches. We were so tired that at every halt we would drop down on the wet ground to rest. In fact, we were all mora or less asleep-asleep walking. We marched a distance of nearly 80 miles since we left Glencoe to the time we reached Lidysmith. We went very near Rorke's Drift. During an engagement the day before yesterday outside Ladysmith the Gloucester Bat- talion and about three companies of the Royal Irish Fusiliers were led by two of the enemy's spies (who were. unfortunately, engaged by our authorities to conduct them into camp) into the very midst of the Boer camp. A very neat trap, indeed. Of course they were overwhelmed and broken into small parties, and the whole of them taken prisoners. They wero then despatched in several special trains to Pretoria. We often have cause for a little merriment. To-day the men of our battalion had some fun and excitement in chasing some pigs. They had belonged to a farmer around here, a Natal Boer, who had left his farm and gone over to the enemy. Our men caught 16 of his piga, and to-night they are cooking them and eating them by the wood fires. They sit around the fires eating and telling tales and jokes and roara of laughter. Just like the British, is it not

A PLUCKY CHAPLAIN. The Rev. A. A. J. Andrews, Congregational minister, of Durban, who volunteered to go to the front as honorary chaplain to the Natal Mounted Rifles, in which corps many of his congregation are enrolled, sends a description of Elandslaagte from Ladysmith to his atred father, who is a Congrega- tional minister at Woburn, near the Duke of Bed- ford's estate. The Lancers, who were mistaken by the Boers in the growing darkness for a body of their own men, fell upon them and turned a rout into a wild flight. Commander Schiel was very furious at losing the battle, and said he would like to kill every man, woman, and child in Natal. In this he was the ex- ception to i he rule, for the captives whom we liberated said the Boers had treated them with greai kindness. After the battle Dr. Donnybrook and I spent the night on the field of battle, find also followed the retreating Boers for a distance of six or seven miles, searching for and tending the wounded and dying. In the early hours of the mcrning we came to a Boer Field Hospita! and shouting out 'Doctorand Predicant,' we entered and rested, and slept there awhile. By daybreak we were out. again. Aoout. six miles from camp Dr, Bonny brook rode up to 25 mounted and armed Boers, aud told them they were his prisoners. Order- ing two to the weapons of their comrades, he marched them into camp prisoners. For an unarmed man to accomplish alone this was an exceedingly brave thing to do. After the battle one of the cap- tured held up his gnn and said Look through this. I have not fired a shot. I am a Britisher. They forced me to come.' The attack on the Free State Boers who have come within seven miles of Ladv- smith I cannot describe. How the bullets spattered around They sang and whistled and screamed. It was like a rain of hail, tho dust jumped up. and we could count the bullets by hundreds and thousands. Once when we were gathered behind a kopje a gun flashed in the distance, and an awful screaming passed over us within two yards of our heads, bursting in the rear. We were ordered to move our position at once before a second shell came. Some of the men skulked and hid and crouched, and in their fright, rushed across the fire-swept valley and lajtdown behind the stones. I saw one man fall into a hollow, and ran up to him thinking he was wounded, bur. found he was hiding from fear. Or course he soon came along. On the whole, though, the men did grandly, and were as brave as you could wish them to be. Cullingworth's horsa was shot under him, and a bullet passed through the fleshy part of his leg. Only this morning did he find it out, and he has gone off to the hospital. All night he thought he.lntd sromach-ache through drink- ing a bottle of beer, but this morning, when he un- dressed to wash, ho found his clothes soaked with blood, and the doctor told him he was shot. Yesterday we had'a fierce battle. We left camp at two o'clock in the morning and rushed a hill, which we occupied till two o'clock in the afternoon. While the bullets were flying thickly on the hill uid the men were lying on their stomachs. I pulled up big stones and Iniih. them up in front of them to shield theui from harm. At two we retreated very hastily aud in great. disorder to the cam p. I was the last to leave the hill, and shortly after overtook a dismounted man who was tired cut, I made him mount my horse, and ran hard myself for over 500 yards. Then I was obliged to mount behind another man to re- gain my wind, and we slowly jogged along until the man who was on my horse found that he could ride on an artillery waggon. I took my own horse again, and off we went, but immediately after I saw an infantry man sh jt through the stomach with a Mauser bullet. I put him on my horse and led him and the horse for five miles into camp and to the hospital. I had nothing to drink until three p.m., and was very sick through exhaustion, but, am all right again. On Sunday night we had a service in an open tent—officers and men stood around. We sang, read, and I pleaded with them earnestly to love and fear God. Lieutenant Clapham was deeply interested and moved. In yesterday's battle he fell shot through the heart. I have now been through three battles. The second was the severest in infantry fire. The Mauser bullets dropped round us by hundreds. This time we have learnt what artillery fire is. No one much considers the ping and the thud of a bullet; unless it comes Tery close it is no more noticed than a hailstone. But what we do not like i& a shell screaming a few feet above head."

THE Rev. Sir George Talbot Bridges, Bart., whose death in India at the age of 82 is announced, was many years a Jesuit missionary in the Bombay Presidency. THE Committee of Council on Education have appointed Mr. Henry John Boyd-Carpenter and Mr. Ernest Wyna-Williams to be two her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. i

ROYAL ACADEMY STUDENTS. Sir E. J. Poynter, who presided at the Royal Academy on Saturday night, when the prizes to the successful students were announced, in the course of an address laid stress upon the necessity of the pos- session of qualities of invention and dramatic con- ception, as well as technical skill. The mere imita- tion of the model was not true realism. He cautioned the students against abort roads to success. There were no such roads.

"ELIJAH" AT WINDSOR. The Queen attended a performance of the oratorio Elijah, given in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on Saturday afternoon, on behalf of the Soldiers' and Association. Mdme. Albani,Mr. Ben Davies, and other distinguished vocalists sang the solos, and the choruses were rendered by the Windsor and Eton Madrigal Society, Princess Christian and Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein taking part in them. Princess Henry of Battenberg and her children were also present, and the audience num- bered about 700. The Queen evinced much interest in the proceedings, and remained till nearly five o'clock; the Princesses staying till the close of the oratorio.

MINER'S THRILLING ESCAPE FROM DEATH. The men employed at Glanmerriog Colliery, near Llanelly, had a very narrow escape from being drowned on Saturday morning, when, as the result of one of the colliers tapping an old working, a large volume of water rushed with terrific fM-ce into the pit. David Thomas, who dealt the unfor- tunate blow, at once gave the alarm, and all within hearing escaped. Two men, however, named Thomas Williams and David Lloyd, were some distance away, and without the least warning they were imprisoned in their stall by fully 2ft. of water. Their lamps went out, and Williams was carried away and drowned. Lloyd, who had a most fearful experience, succeeded in finding an aperture in the wooden cross-pillar supporting the roof, into which he put his arm. There he hung fcr nearly 11 hours. Several attempts were made by his fellow-workmen to rescue him, but each effort, gallant and determined as it was, had to be abandoned in consequence of the water being within a few i ches of the roof. His faint cries for help could bo heard all day from the pit's mouth, and a comforting reply was returned to the unfortunate collier. In the evening the water level fell 4in. as the result of the pumping operations, and shortly before seven o'clock three men, Thomas Francis, John Hanns, and David Jones, again plunged into the water, and this time they overcame every obstacle and swam to Lloyd's rescue. They found him still clinging to the roof, and in an exhausted and benumbed condition. A rope was placed round him, and the unfortunate fellow was pulled through the water about 10 yards. He was then put. into a tram and taken to the sur- face, where he was attended to by Dr. John. After partaking of a cup of beef tea Lloyd sufficiently recovered to proceed to his home. A diver's services have been engaged, but Wil- liams's body has not yet been recovered. When interviewed on Sunday Lloyd, who appeared weak, ascribed his miraculous escape to the gallant efforts of the three men named. He himself had, in the darkness, attempted to swim towards the pit's month, but he knocked his head against the roof, and it was some time before he was able to again find the timber he had been clinging to. He groped about until he found it, and here he remained until rescued. He sustained many nasty bruises on the body, but he thought the end was nigh when the water rose within a few inches of the roof, and he had to place his hand sideways so as to prevent the water going into his mouth. As it was, he had swallowed a large quantity of the filthy water.

THE WARWICK HOSTEL. Mr. Asqiiith presided over a meeting held at Reading on Saturday in celebration of the firSt anni- versary (or Founders' Day) of the Lady' Warwick Hostel, established for the purpose of t^ainiVig women of culture and education to discharge the Work ap- pertaining to the lighter and more refined branches of agriculture.* The report presented by Lady War- wick detailed the success of the experiment, which was inaugurated two years ago. Mrr^&qWth* observed that the scheme tor which they were indebted to Lady Warwick had discovered a new outlet for female employment which was both suitable and re- munerative, and they might hope before long to find skilled and thoroughly trained women applying themselves more and more to the various neglected, but most important, branches of agricultural pro- duction.

THE BOERS AND KHAKI. A special correspondent of the Exchange Telegraph Company, writing from Cape Town, under date November 15, says: The existence of khaki has immensely enraged the Boers, especially at headquarters, where alone its use was known and understood, and I am told on unim- peachable authority that when the campaign was opened the various Boer commandants were in- structed that the abuse of the flag of truce was a legitimate set-off to the khaki blind—that they were to kill all the British they were able to, honestly if they could, but kill them somehow. There have been many instances of personal valour and devotion, one of which I append. It oc- ourred when the 5th Dragoon Guards were sent during the engagement at Ladysmith to the relief of the Imperial Light Horse; Which Corps had got, into a tight place. A trooper's horse had been shot under him, arid the man's plight was seen by Lieutenant the Hon. Ralph Pomerov, who fode back and waited under heavy fire till the trooper could mount behind him; when he rode out with the man, both escaping. The Ladysmith Hospital comprises the town hall and several of the churches, these buildings having been placed at the disposal of the military authori- ties, and there is, in addition, a number of tents in use. One of the patients, a young Gordon, with particularly bright eyes and a smiling face, told me how he was wounded by a rifle shot received in the knee at the very moment when the Gordons saw the victory was theirs. The knee, he said, was difficult to heal when some of the bone were shattered as his was, and he was afraid he would bedetained some time in the hospital. Have you any idea of bone-heal- ing ?" he asked; for I'm not to lie here. I want another slap at them. There's to be a big fight some day, and I want to be in it."

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Set!ton receipt r of 15or 34 stamps, l>y E. T. L VWU* IIJW1.KJ. CO.,Manufacturers. Dryu-ti Street, Rf-iVarr ef Imitations, Injurious Worthless. > tiiE London policeman is the cheapest in thd world. He costs only £ 97 a year, while his Parisian brcjther eost«- £ 140. London spends £ 1,060,000 yearly itt police protection. iji tofcber. wordsr every inh&bi- tant, pays on an average sixty-eight pence and three farthings. Paris spends EIOOOCO more than London for her police, and is not nearly so well protected. Heir police bill?averages outat 122 pence per inhabi- tant, or nearly twice as much as the citizens of London has to pay. Twenty-nine policemen look after every 10,000 Londoners, and they only arrest 210 of their took every year. It tabes thirty-nino policemen to watch over the same number of Paris- ians.1 1065 of whom net arrested everv vear. COCOA—The National Drink. NEVER in the history of the world has Coooa been so much held in favour as a national drink as it is at the present day. Yet there are Cocoas and Cocoas. MK.'BM. FRY have ftained no fewer than 275 GOLD MEDALS and DIPLOMAS, and their Pure Concen- trated Cocoa ia the Result of au accumulated experience oi which places this well known Firm at an advtage far above all the rivalry e3asting amongst ie no better beuerag8 tha" PURE CONCENTRATIO 0 i Dr. Am, f wh6 ÖõöëõÃ F.R.S.E., f j ideal of perfection. TITRT THESE WORDS are necessary in order to s-et the tiKht Cocoa, via., FKV'a PtTW *,1 COVOBNTR ATED. W. S. PENLBY. the well known comedian, originally had visions of a musical career, and after- singing in the choir of the Chapel Royal, Savov, and of the .Russian Embassy, he turned his attention to the stage, and appeared in' the burlesque of Zampa at the Court Theatre. For some time he filled musical parts, and sang in several of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. His performance of the Foreman of the Jury in Trial by Jury revealed his talents as a comic actor, but it was not till he assumed the character of the Rev. Robert Spalding in The Private Secre- tary," following Mr. Beerbohm Tree in the part, thit he took his nrbper place. WHEN FEELING LIVERISH REMEMBER WW that CARTER'S LITTLE LIVER PILLS "Touch" the Liver. They absolutely cure Sick Headache, Bilious- ness. Torpid Liver, Indigestion, Constipation, 8allow Skin, Dizziness, Furred Tongue. Small pill, small price, small dose* purely vegetable, forty in a phial. age One Night. Is. lid. of all Chemists.. Be sure they are CASTER'S. BEAUTIFUL TEETH FOR ALL WHO USE daily on the tooth brush a few drops of SOZUDONT, the pleasantest dentifrio« in the world. Cleansesthe teeth, and spaces between them as nothing else will. Sound and pearly white teeth, rosy lips, and fragrant breatn ensured. Ask for SOZODONT. 2s. 6d. Colonel ALBERT EDWARD W. GOLDSMID, who has been appointed Assistant-Adititant- eneral on General Kelly-Kenny's staff, is the eldest "son of the late Henry Edward Goldsinid, H.E.I.C.S., formerly Chief Secretary to the Bombay Govern- ment, and was born at Poona in 1846. He was educated at Sandhurst and graduated at the Staff College, his first appointment being as Adjutant of the 140th Fusiliers in 1871. At present he -in Assistant Adiut*r.VGeneral of the Thamet District,

THE German Emperor, as a linguist, appeared to advantage during his recent visit to this country. His English is free from all but the slighest accent, and is terse and idiomatic. He talks it a good deal, and without any hesitation. This, of course, is as it ought to be. His French, which as a rule is only used playfully and in inverted commas, as it were, has the genuine Parisian racle." The Empress als* talks Englisk well, but with a strong accent and with an ocrasional quaint turn of a phrase. The boys vastly prefer their mother-tongue, and are apt to shy' a little if an unexpected speech is ad- dressed to them in English. But they understand the language all the same. To bear the Prince of Wales speak German is like hearing a German born and bred. PRESIDENT STKYN, of the Orange Free State, is a Free Stater by birth, a lawyer by profession, aad a Republican by conviction. He is still not much over 40, is happily "tarried (hia father-in-law and mother- in-law are b. th Scotch), and before the war was con- sidered a coming man among the Boers. He was elected President in February, 1896, just after the raid, succeeding Mr. Reitz, who is now State Secre- tary in the Transvaal, and who. like himself, has been a judge. President Steyn's emoluments are £3ûOO a year, £600 table money, and £800 for travelling expenses. LADV (sitting for portrait): And make my mouth small, will you, ever so small ? I know it is large feally, but make it quite tiny, will you ?" A (politely): Certainly, madam. If you prefe I will leave it out altogether. t i.

GERMAN EXPLORATION IN EAST AFRICA. Baron Erlanger has embarked on board the steamer nerzog at, Naples for Abyssinia and British East Africa,witha viewto scientificexploration inthese countries. According to the Frankfurter Zeitumj, his expedition will consist of a hundred Somalis, half of them armed, and will start from the British Somali coast for Adis Abeba, the capital of the Negus Menelik, who 1ms permitted the barer, to tra- verse Abyssinia southwards to Lake Rudolf and the neighbouring districts. The journey will last about two years.

ZULU LOYALTY TO ENGLAND. AS INTEHESTIHG LETTER. When in the latter dajs of 1878 it became ap- parent that we were committed to a desperate struggle with the great native fighing machine of South Africa-the Zulu nation —the writer (a. South African correspondent of the St. James's Gazette) was commissioned by Sir Henry Bulwer, then Lieutenant- Governor of Natal, to raise, for service, as auxiliaries to the Royal Engineers, a force of native pioneers. A few dozen chiefs and indunas to act asnon-com- missioned officers were placed at my disposal by the Secretarv for Native Affairs, the late Sir Theophilus Shepstone. One of these was a connection of the Zulu King, a political refugee from the land across the Tugela. After the war I recommended this chief, M'Plaank by name, to a Mr. Mullens, the father-in-law, by the way, of the famous Mr..Tohan Colenbrander, of Matabeleland, who is styled by the natives through- out South Africa as Rhodes' •' tick bird "—in other words, his agent in advance. Since M'Plaank served under me he has been to school, and has been in yearly receipt of books from his former commandant. The last parcel of litera- ture I sent him was at his request, • it may be inte- resting to note, a cheap edition of Napier's Penin- sular War." As he frequently visits his compatriots in Zuhiland, I deem it at the present moment iute- rtsting to quote a letter which I received from him by the last Cape mail, inasmuch as his communica- tion throws a most welcome light upon the attitude of his people with respect to the momentous events that are in progress, and also because it reveals to what a high standard of intellectual culture a pure Zulu may attain. Ii DufftJ-rond, Durban, November 3, 1899. "Sir,—I keenly appreciate your generous tribute to the loyalty of the Zulu nation during the fierce crisis of English rule in South Africa. It is the first real test of the loyalty of the Zulus, and as a Zulu who was once a chief, to see that the loyalty and gratitude of my people is appreciated by the white people of NataL J-?•< t "It is as you say, respected sir, a tribute, and a magnificent one, to England's just policy to the Zullls, I dare to assert it is even-a finer to the natives' appreciation, not only of benefits already conferred, but of the spirit that actuated England inhev.d\:Alings,with- him. I may disagree as to the lessons taught by Maxim guns, hollow squares, and the 'thin red line/ I think no one can have read colonial history, chronicling as it does the rise again and again of the native against I'liffperitd forces, with- out feeling that he is influenced far less-by England's prowese in war than by her justice in peace. My Zulu fellow-countryman Understands as1 clearlv as anyone, the weakness and the strength present time. If the Zulu wished Ulundi, this would be his sftprehitf'opportunity to rise and hurl himself across the-Natal frontier. But I, having just returned from my native country, have been able to report to the GoveririVtent at Pietermaritzburg that there is not CKe -'sKfelitest sympton of disloyalty; not the ide&'of lifting's'fidj^er against the white cffhbjecU of the greit and godd Queen. There is among the chiefs and indunas of thy people an almost universal hope that the Imperial arms will be victorious and thht a Government which, by its inhumanity and relentless injustice, atid apparent inability to see that the native has any right a white man Should resjf>ec £ hika forfeited its place among the civilised Governments of the earth, and should therefore be deprived of powers Ho scandalously abused—formerly by slavery -arid in latter years by disallowing the native to buy land, and utterly neglecting his intellectual and spiritual needs. There are wrongs to be redressed, but we Zulus believe that England will be more willing to redress them than any other Power. There is still much to be done in the way of educating and civilising the mass of the Zulu nation. We chiefs of that nation have observed that wherever England has gone there the missionary and teacher follow, and that there exists sympathy between the authority of her Majesty and the forces that labour for civilisation and Christianity. We Zulus have not yet forgotten what we owe to the late Bishop Colenso's lifelong advocacy, or to Lady Florence Dixie's kindly interest. These are things that are more than fear of England's inight, that keep our people quiet outside and loyal inside. This is not a passive loyalty with us. Speaking for almost all fellow-countrymen in Zululand, I believe if a great emergency arises in the course of this history-making war, in which England might find it necessary to put their loyalty to thetest, they would respond with readi- ness and enthusiasm, equal to that when they fought under King Cetewayo againstLord Chelmaford'sArmy. Again assuring you that the Zulu people are turning deaf ears to Boer promises as well as threats, I remain with the most earnest hope for the ultimate triumph of General Buller-who fought my King for half a year—Your humble and most obedient servant, M'PLAANK, Son of Maguende, brother of Cetewayo." After I had read this very remarkable letter, I found myself half unconsciously wondering what place in the scheme of South African life will be found for Zulus such as this nephew of the last of the Zulu Kings. One thing I am fully certain of, that there are few natives in the Cape Colony (where they are full-fledged voters) capable of inditing so sensible an epistle.

IMPORTING SERVANTS Scandinavian girls have been imported to South Shields, Sunderland, and other Tyne ports to act as domestic servants on account of the scarcity of Eng- lish girls. Their employers state'that they are atten- tive and industrious, and without many of the foibles of English domestics. In Norway and Sweden there is plenty of female labour available, and as steamers are constantly run- ning between those countries and our northern porta girls for service in Pmglish homes are readily obtained. So well has the experiment answered in the districts mentioned, our correspondent statee, it is likely to be largely extended.

A NEGRO BURNED ALIVE. A message from Maysville (Kentucky) reports that a mob numbering thousands of people on Wednes- day took a negro, charged with the murder of a white woman, from the custody of the officials at the Court-house. They afterwards bound the man to a tree and burned him alive, but before the fire was kindled he was subjected to the most atrocious I tortures.

..V -■ MR. CHAPLIN ON TUE WAR. Mr. Chaplin, M.P., was the guest of the United Service Club at a dinner on Saturday, and spoke at some length on the difficulties of tho campaign in South Africa, and on the success with which they had been overcome. With regard to what. was to be the issue of the war. he asked the English, people to have pat ience, and to rest assured that, cost what it might, and whatever changes in South Africa it might involve, the Government would be no party to any arrangement that would nbt give the most absolute sectÝri1.Ÿtha.1.11ere should be no recurrence of this disastrous war. «