Barry Herald

KfiTOME OF EWS. THERE are 270 officials in the Queen's house- hold. TUIII world's Press is stated to include 37,000 newspapers. NEARLY 40.000 men desert from the German Army every 12 months. ABOUT 730 people living iiv, London AYE said to have incomes of over £ 20,(XX) a year each. THE Government pays out a year in pen- eionr to literary men. NEARLY a. quarter of all cases of insanity are fcereditnry. THIRD-CLASS railway fares in India are less than a farthing a mile. Tnp. reinstallation of the Prince of Wales as Grand Master of Mark Masons will take place at Mark Masons' Hall on Tuesday, May 81. THE arrangements for the municipalisation of the Bradford Technical College am ,stated to be now practically completed. IT is announced that Great Britain has now finally agreed to send representatives to the Brussels Sugar Conference. THE West Hartlepool School Board has adopted, try five votes to three, a recommendation to provide pianos in their schools. ONE of the keen naturalists of the_.House of Peers Í8 Lord IHrnham, who is alio arf.arèent spottaitMin. AXOTIIEK attempt to settle the railway rate- cutting in the United States and Canada has failed. THE Stockholm Riksdag has voted in favour of a .railway from Gellivara to the Norwegian frontier. Op the peerages at present existing more than 300 were created during the Queen's reign. THE vicar of Llaurhos has just received anony- mously the sum of £12.50 towards the completion of the Duke of Clarence Memorial Church. Llandudno. THE Field has received photographs of some extra- ordinarily large New Zealand trout varying between 41b. and 17Mb. Tun Transvaal Executive Council has granted to a Mr. Labuschagne a concession for 20 years for the establishment of iron foundiies in the country. THE Greek Legation has addressed a Note to the Porte claiming an indemnity for* the losses sustained by Hellenic subjects during the Armenian riots in Constantinople in 1896. TIIE International Postal Conference at Hobert has adopted a resolution declaring it to be undesirable at the present time to reduce the postage rates with Great Britain. RUSSIA has the most rapidly increasing population of any country in the world. The growth during the last 100 years has been a fraction less than 1,000,000 annually. A LONG-LOST egg of the Great Auk has just been discovered after being hidden It belonged to the late Lord Garvagh. and after his death it was stowed away in an old attic. Mr. Harting found it there. MAXY ladies, from Royalty downwards, are successful salmon fishers. Among these are the Princess of Wales, Princess Charles of Denmark, the Duchess of Fife, Lady Allington, and Lady Katharine Scott, daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch. THE overseers of Bulk, Heysham, Slyne-with-Hest, Scotforth, and Skerton townships, Lancashire, have been ordered to hold another parish meeting because their last election was void, in consequence of the date being contrary to the Act. A NEW YORK paper says thnt London ladies are learning at last how to dress. We thought they took to dress some hundreds of years ago, but perhaps New York journalists get their ideas- of London women from the advertisement pages of" certain fashion weeklies. The dressing there is un- doubtedly in a rather elementary stage. CYCLING is one of the amusements at the National Institute for the Blind ih France.' A species of home trainer is used, the wheels of which are so arranged that the actual speed is indicated on a dial, so that races are held, and some of the inmates have estab- lished records. The machines also gite Audible signals at various speeds. IT has been announced by the War Office authori- ties that no more Lee-Metford cartridges loaded with reduced charges for practice at limited ranges are to be manufactured. Considering the difficulty that has been occasioned in finding ranges owing to the greater distance which the Lee-Metford bullet travels, the- wisdom of this decision is somewhat open to question. Tmwan very few details- have yet reached 1 the: Press with regard to the recent fighting in the Hinter- land of Sierra Leone it is evident that some hotly-oon- tested actions have taken place in that district since March 18. One officer, Lieutenant Yeld, 1st West India Regiment, has been killed and at least half a dozen other officers of the regiment have been wo,tridedin action, while the officer commanding the battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel Bosworth, has died of heat apoplexy. The cause of the fighting -was re- sistance to the collection of the house tax. M. IIANOTAUX, the French Foreign Minister, is thus written of in the Sunday Special: •' A*t public re- unions, official garden parties, re-eptions at Embassies, he is very retiring. You nc*er see him the centre of a throng. He is fond of being alone. Unlike his colleagues, he lives in his own apartments at the corner of the Rue de Bellechasse and tlrd Boulevard St. Germain. He gets away from the Quai d'Orsay as soon as he can, to seek each day the com- fort of his bachelor home on the fifth fioor." A MAN called Knopf has just wn the prize of thé Berlin Smokers' Club. The president offered a prize to the member who couMsmoke the most HaVanrtali cigars, of the largest size to-be bought, in two hours. The club is intended to propagate the cause of a free use of tobacco, and, says To-day, is intended to counteract the efforts of the Anti-Nicotine League. Knopf won easily. He smoked 10 cigars in twty hours, and, during the whole performance, never touched a spot of anything to drink. As a manager of shooting. Lord Leicester of Holk- tiam has no rival. He knows the habits of the birdsf "nd the ground to be beaten so well that if he cannot secure success no one can. Some hedges on the estate birds will never cross, Others are on favourite lines of Hight. All these, says Co untry Life, he knows, and for weeks befbre the driving begins he is out with his head-keeper, Joyce, and marking out the drives. If, as sometimes happens, the birds break away, he will never be induced to go on to fresh ground, as he justly considers that 20 broken birds are worth 200 unbroken. PROBABLY the majority of volunteers are unaware that it is against the rules of the service to smoke while they are in uniform before a certain hour. The. impropriety of this formed the theme of an address delivered by the adjutant of the 1st Newcastle Engi- neer Volunteers, while they were assembled in their drill hall preparatory to attending Divine service. In the course of his remarks the adjutant warned the men not to smoke before six p.m. when in uniform. It would therefore appear that, like the cyclists, the; volunteers of Newcastle have now got a regulation time for lighting up." FEW millionaires nowadays preach the Gospel, but the most conspicuous evangelist in New York at the present time—the richest one in the world—is Mr. William Phillips Hall, the President of the Hall Signal Company, which, says a weekly paper, has practically a monopoly of the railway signal service of the United States. He is a self-made man, and his days are given to finance in Wall-street, while 11.: evenings are devoted to conducting services. NOT long ago the inhabitants of Cape Town were greatly surprised at the firing of the mid-day gun before the appointed hour, and. for a period the officials were equally puzzled at the extraordinary occurrence. The action of the elpctric current by which the gun is fired goes through an instrument fitted with a light tongue, which.is very finely set. Ifc_, appears that a spider found its way through one of the openings in the instrument, and whilst exploring must nave touched this tongue sufficiently to move it. and thus fired the gun. Hitherto, in respect of the efforts of various. Governments and private powers to improve the (mlHe of tobacco, the plant has always been treated ns an annual. Now, according to a famous expert, Herr Wilhelm Daroczi, editor of the Magyar I>ohnnynjM[h a paper published at Buda-Poath. Hungary, which is devoted to the subject of tobacco and its culture, by reason of the experiments he has made, the. nicotian weed," with special treatment, can be ren- dered perennial in character. Further, her avers the yield of each succeeding year is heavier than that of the first. Herr Darocii experimented first, in 1894, when he put into pots a few Ghiubeck plants, which he kept in a room throughout the suc- ceeding severe winter. These specimens bloomed, again the next. season, with the remarkable difference that the leaves were larger, and of infinitely finer quality. These plants he exhibited at the "Mil- lenium Exhibition of Duda-Pesth, in lopO, when, they created quite a sensation among growers. TWENTY-SEVEN native officers and non-commis- sioned officers and men of the 11th Bengal Lancers, the Corps of Guides, Bengal Sappers and Miners, 20th Punjaub Infantry, and 35th Sikhs have been awarded the Order of Merit for conspicuous gal- lantry in action on the Indian. Frontier. It was this Order which was referred to ih the House of Com- mons in reply to the question recently asked as to the eligibility of native Indian troops for the Vic- toria Cross. Whether or no the Sepoys would con- sider I he English decoration t.f greater value, there is no doubt whatever that the Order of Merit is highly prized, and its issue to so many officers and un of the Indian Army will show them how well their valour in the recent fighting has been appre- ciated bv the Indian Government. As attempt is to be made to get the Government to appoint experts in flax growing, with a view to im- proving the growth of flax in the North of Ireland. Is Germany when the vote of the jury stands six against six a prisoner is acquitted. A vote of seven against five leaves the decision to the Court. and in vote of <sight against,four the prisoner is convicted. 1 T is stated on German authority that the astound- ing number of 2,000,000 glass eyes are made every year in Germany and Switzerland, while one French house manufactures 300,000 of them annuallv. MAJOR-GENERAL SALTS SCIIWABE, commanding the troops in Mauritius, has been selected for the post of Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, in place of Major-General Robinson, C.B., who re- tires under the age rules. THE Princess of Wales receives many anonymous letters. They come to her on all sorts of subjects, otioil inclosing presents. Recently she received a box with holes punctured in the sides, and. when she opened it. a tiny white dog jumped out. Her Royal Highness has kept the dog. AN old man living in Paris, who appeared to be in extreme poverty, and gratefully received the gifts of neighbours, has just died. On his room being searched, the police found a small box containing stick and valuables to the amount of PI:OI?.&JLY no man living has written the words to so ninny songs as Mr. Frederick Weatherlyfyet he is only 4o years old. Mr. Weatherly was born atPortis- JI.d, a little place at the mouth of the Avon, not far from Bristol and not long after leaving University he was called to the Bar. Ten wife of the late Earl of Bradford had a sister, of whom it was said she was theonJy woman who re- f;»'d offers of marriage from two Prime Ministers. She was a Miss Forester, and in her youth refused 1,orJ Palmerston. She married the Earl of Chesterfield, and as his widow refused Lord Beacons- field. A FEW weeks ago a hairdresser in Paris received an offer of 801b. weight of hair from a convent near Tours. This represented the tresses of 300 novices who had entered the convent, for on taking the veil they were, of course, obliged to have their locks shorn. has an interesting article on the TiUersall family. Old Richard Tattersall, an ancestor of the late Mr. Edmund Tattersall, was be-Id: oi t h;s yery old firm for many years. He was a bold; rider, a good boxer—indeed would have been cham-' pion of England had he not been lame. He was witty and popular wit ha!. SARASATE, the violinist, is a confirmed bachelor, and the responsibility is usually laid at Auber's door. W hen the latter handed Sarasate the first prize of the Paris Conservatoire, he wound up his little speech-of presentation with the words—" And, above all. never marry !"—a piece of advice which Sarasate iLls never forgotten. ConT TOLSTOI contributes to the Age an article suggested by Mr. Edward Carpenter'a recent pamphlet on "Modern Science." Tolstoi argues that' the most important of all sciences—the science which seeks to answer the question, "How to Live"—is almost entirely neglected in favour of the so-called natural and mental sciences, which merely stimulate th,. human craving for curiosity. MAJOR-GENERAL GILDEA, C.B., who recently died, (aged 67) at Tullichewan, Dumbartonshire, fought wish distinction in the Crimea, the Transvaal, and the Soudan. In the Transvaal he commanded the g irr son at Pretoria from December, 1880, to Sep- lemlvr. 1881; in the end he was severely wounded, ;:r.. l had to be replaced. CHARLES BERESFORD, as a robbed orchads, hated desks, and would not hear of any other career than a military or naval one. The British Navy owes the fact that he is an officer in it to one of his early escapades. He was caught, when a very s'nall boy, in an attempt to harpoon his nurse with, the snuffers; and his people, probably thinking that tli's showed some inclination towards a nautical life,, him off to sea. MANY of the highest ladies in the land have most peculiar hobbies. Princess Henry of Battenberg possesses a number of Angora rabbits. From their long wool she works many articles that are both useful and ornamental. Lady Brassey loves pug dogs. The Duchess of Newcastle finds companion- ship in huge wolf hounds. Countess De Grey dotes on bulldogs; Lady. Beresiford has. a liking for c i;s, and keeps over 100. The Counteasxif Jersey is fond of collecting old lace and linen and rare cirna. FEW .machines earn as much as locomotives, and. considering the nature of the work, very few kinds of mechanism last as long. On some railways there are engines in use at the present day built 40 years ago, and on a leading southern line there are plenty from 25 to 30 years old. The average life of a railway- engine is from 15 to 18 years. During its lifetime it, is calculated that a railway-engine earns its original cost. 100 times over. WE have all, at one time or another, enjoyed (says tlu Fda) a hearty laugh at the. solemn warning given of old by the Skibbcreen Eagle that it had its eye upon Russia." Once again that keen, fierce glance is cast in the direction of the grasping Muscovite. This ts how the Eaulc, in its issue of Saturday last. speaks of the Russian occupation of Port Arthur: Again, one of the foulest, one ot the vilest dynasties that has impiously trampled on the laws of God. and has violated every progressive aspiration the Almighty implanted in the human heart when He fashioned man in His own image, and breathed into his soul the breath of life, threatens, for the moment at least, to put back the hands of the clock that tells the progress of civi- lisation. The Emperor of all the Russias, this wicked enemy of the human race, has succeeded in raising his hideous flag on Port Arthur, and plant- ing his iron heel and cloven hoof on the heathen Chinese—filthy, degenerate creatures, who, it must be admitted, are fitting companions for the tallow-eating • knouting" barbarian. AT Fabron, near Nice, there dwells a poor old woman who has established a kind of tacit personal association with the Queen as one of the old friendly faces of her yearly visit ro the Riviera. Year by year and day by day as the Royal carriage approaches the old lady may be seen waiting. As it passes she makes a silent courtesy and withdraws, and the levee is ended. The cottage, which is a poor one, has come to be one of the landmarks of the daily drivet and on Monday last. her Majesty prepared a pleasant surprise for her humble old friend. Accom- panied by Princess Christian, she had been to. visit the Crown Princess of Roumania at the Chateau de Fabron. As the carriage approached the old woman was observed at her post, but instead of passing the Eoval carriage stopped, and with her own hands the Queen presented to her a large bundle of excellent linen and other family utilities. AIOYG the writers who have taken Oriental life for their theme, Mr. Hugh Clifford is winning a con- spicuous place. He has written a new volume of stories entitled Brown Humanity Being Scrawls and Smudgesin Sepia, White and Yellow," which will ippear very shortly. Like Mr. Clifford's earlier the new one deals with the Malay Peninsula, a find which, as he says in his preface, has, become rery dear to me, which I know intimately, and the best years in my life have hitherto been spent." The new stories are intended to "illustrate the lives led by those among the natives of the peninsula who have not been changed out of all recognition by the steadily-increasing influence of Europeans to picture their habits and customs, their beliefs and superstitions, and incidentally to give some idea of the lovely land in which they move and have their being. Mr. Hugh Clifford is British Resident at Pahang. TUB appointment of Mr. R. G. Woodfall to the Devonshire County-court will be recognised by the profession as an excellent one in every respect. He is a sound lawyer, and was an effective and capable advocate. His first came celelrre was the case of Bradlaugh v. Newdigate, in which he was junior counsel for Mr. Newdigate. He appeared for the Swiss Government in the famous Castioni case, and for Mr. Dibley in the Liberator case. Mr. Woodfall has been a Revising Barrister for sevru years, and. presiding over tho keen party struggles in the Car- diff Revision Court, very quickly created a feeling of confidence in the soundness and impartiality of his decisions. In 1892 Sir Richard Webster appointed Mr. Woodfall one of the counsel to the Board of Trade for wreck inquiries. Mr. Woodfall has on several occasions represented the Home Office at in- quiries held as to colliery explosions, and reported thereupon. IN a recent article on the amount of waste water power in Iceland, C'otmos says the immerss water- falls there would suffice to supply all the 75.0JO in- habitants with as much light and heat as they could possibly want. und might also open up the -country industrially. The Gulf Stream makes the climate quite bearable, in spite of the high latitude. The three cataracts, Allarfors, Suiliors. and Goda- fors, could develope a power greater than the largest waterfalls in Europe. Their first duty would be to heat and light, the capital, Reykiawik, a town of 4000 inhabitants, whoso population has doubled during the last 20 years-making use of a roaring torrent three miles from the town. The soil of the island, which is of volcanic origin, is rich in minerals, and water power is everywhere available for electro-metallurgical pro- cesses. It is also remarked that if Iceland took a more serious position in the minds of the civilised world its situation is a valuable one for scientific observations and for a meteorological observatory, which could contribute useful information as to the laws governing tempests, and might also be of prac- tical service in telegraphing warnings of approaching •tormik PRINCESS MAUD is described as the ch^ss-player, pf he Royal family. THE Sultan of Turkey spends jmore for his table :111m any other human being of modern or ancient ;imes— £ 1000 da ly IT is annoumed ,hat Professor Barnard, of the Lick Observatoiy, has determined the diameter of Septune as 32.9(A) miles. TuKKE are about 1,500,000 persons employed in the world's coal-mines, one-third of them being in England. If every school in Paris there is a restaurant ivhere free meals are served to the children who arc loo poor to pay. THE French Senate has passed the Budget with a number of amendments, in consequence of which the bill will have to be referred back to the Chamber. IJ ¡SPITAJ.FIELDS ClIVRCIInnd parish is to have a memorial of the late Bishop of Bedford, as well as that part of the Diocese of London over which he presided. Dr. Billing laboured 10 years in Spital- fields, wlÜh he left to take up the officeM a bishop. In order to perpetuate his memory, it has been decided to erect an open-air pulpit in the church- yard, as was done at Wliitechapel in memory of Dean Champneys and at Marylebone in memory of Canon Cad man. SEVERAL ladies are now Masters of Hounds. Lady Gifford, for example, masters the pack of harriers known by her naoie in Northumberland, and ,herself carries the liorn. In South Wales Mrs. Pryse-Rice hunts her own harriers while in King's County Mrs. Briscoe whips a pack of hare hounds to her husband, Captain Briscoe. One other lady, Mrs. Cheape, is also to be found mastering. ONE of the newest American ideas is the "Dove German," which, being interpreted, means an after. noon cotillion, danced by girls only, in light after- noon dresses. To'these parties men are not invited, but all goes "merry as a marriage bell" in their absence, and the girls not only enjoy the healthful exercifce, but they soon become expert dancers, and at the same time make moat valuable friendships among their own sex. THE Sultan of Turkey has just built at Mecca the biggest house in the world. It is intended for the accommodation of pilgrims, and is capable of shelter- ing 6000 persons. The next biggest house in the world is in a suburb of Vienna. It consists of 1500 rooms, 13 courts, :and 31 staircases, and accommo- dates 2112 tenants. Next come the three Rowton Houses in London, with 800, 677, and 500 tenants re- spectively. THE. late Mr. Gibbs, Q.C., has left his clerk a legacy of £1500, It is not many weeks since Mr. Graham Hastings, Q.C., upon retiring from the Bar, presented his clerk with a cheque that Lord Jus- tice Collins made a similar gift to his clerk. Among other well-known lawyers whose clerks have received from them legacies of £1000 and upwards are Mr. Justice Manisty, Lord Justice Kay, Sir John Kars- lake, Mr. Crompton, Q.C., Mr. Dowdeswell, Q.C., and Mr. Apsland, Q.C. Mr. Justice Manisty gave his clerk a legacy of £2500, which is the largest snm ever received by a lawyer's clerk from his em- ployer. Is view of America's naval and military prepara- tions, attention is now drawn to the man who is at the head of her army. General Nelson A. Miles s j military career dates from his boyhood. He went through the Civil War, and so gallantly did he carry himself in that struggle that when it ended he found himself a brevet-major-general at 26. When the trouble with the Indians broke out, General Miles was in the thick of the nghting.and directed the operations there for six years. It was General Miles who, after the Civil War, took charge of Jefferson Davis when a captive at Fort Munroe. REFERRING to Horace Greeley's handwriting, a writer in Harper & Magazine saj's "His chirography was phenomenally and preternaturally atrocious; but when you Once got the trick of the hieroglyphics, it was not so very difficult to read. The stories about it outnumber the fables of iEsop. It is claimed that the presidents and secretaries of some lyceums would occasionally get a letter from him announcing that he could not come, which they read affirmatively, and to which they would reply that the date named and price mentioned were entirely satisfactory, and then proceed. to make .publio an announcement of his lecture. MANY goodjsbori^swf lold ftf Sir Richard Quain. whqse social distinction had latterly overshadowed his medical reputation. One of the most charac- teritic of them was-tt of the friend-patient who was first urgently warned by Sir Richard Quain, the physician,tagainst touching champagne or port, and shortly afterwards equally warmly urged by Sir Richard, the host, to try very special brands of those wines which he had brought out for his guests. The guest-patient laughed and drank, and pondered'on the mysteries of Tned-icai advice. TIIE Duke of Richmond has just celebrated his 80th birthday. It is gratifying to learn that his I Grace, who ia jtat now at Goodwood House, is in the enjoymoni of excellent health. He is among the ( oldest of thuse who have been Cabinet Ministers, being exceeded in age by only three—the Right Horn Speiicwr Walpole; who was born in 1806 Mr. Glad- stone, 1809; and the Earl of Cranbrook, 1814. The Duke of Richmond takes a great interest in agricul- j ture and in the national sport of racing but, except on the beautiful lawns at Goodwood, he is never seen on a racecourse. f THERE is probably only one man in existence wlm can boast of having taken part in UO battles in India, 84ofthem occurring in about 18 months-June, 1857, to January, 1859. This interesting veteran is Mr. William Edwards, who served in the 9tr. Lancers and who now resides at Hound, near Southampton. His last battle was at Kunda Kote, in January, 1859, and in that year, later, he returned to England with his regiment, accompanied by only one other survivor out of the number who landed with him in India in 1842. Mr. Edwards received a pension of lid. per day on his discharge in 1867, after 25 years' service. "i CAITAIN DITTON, one of the officers serving in the Soudan expedition, is 6ft. 7in., but lin. shorter than the tallest man in the British Army. The latter unique position is filled by Captain Oswald Ames-a good-humoured soldier, whose pet hobby is the study of trees and astronomy, and who took a prominent j' part in the Jubilee procession. At the end of last year the Scots Guards captured a recruit, who is now their pride. He is twenty-two years of age, and measures 6ft. 5^in., and is believed to be the tallest private in the Army with the except ion of an artillery- man, who is lin. taller. I THERE could not possibly be a whiier city than Cadiz, unless it Were built of snow. As you near the coast, you see in front of you a white mass which appears to be floating upon the water, just as you 'are. The first thought of a foreigner is that he i3 in sight of an iceberg. The white mass, glittering in the sun and rendered more dazzling by the blue sea and kJ; looks exactly like a monster ice mountain partly melted, so that outlines of castles and hills appear upon it; but only for a second does the illu- sion last, for you know there are no icebergs in that part, and you aie quickly informed that it is Cadiz. No Other towtl in the world presents such a magic appearance. THE lovely Marechal Niel rose owes its name to the Empress Eugenie. When General Niel returned from the scene of his triumphs over the Austrians in Italy after the Battles of Solferino and Magenta, a poor man gave him a basket filled with exquisite yellow roses. The General had a cutting struck from one of the blooms, and when the rose frea from it had grown, he took it to the Empress Eugenie. She was charmed with the gift, but when she asked the name of the rose, she was told that it was unknown. "Ah!" she said, "I will give it a name; it shall be the Jjforechal Niel." By this she conveyed to the gallant officer that he had been made a marshal of France for his services to the country, as well as namihg the lovely blossom. THE Bishop of Stepney makes an urgent appeal on behalf of a sad case of clerical distress. In 1814 the Rev. Georgp Towcshend. Driffield, some time Fellow of Brasenose, Oxford,, was- appointed to the Rectory of Bow. Through his energy the church of St. Stephen, North Bow, was built and the parish sub- divided. ThisWRS done 40 years ago, and to pay I for the church Mr. Driffield took the burden on hts own shoulders, mortgaging his life insurance of I £ 2200- Altogether, he laboured 36 years in the East- ?nd. In 1880 his college presented him to the Rectory of Wold, in Lincolnshire, but he has now been compelled to resign this living on an annual pension of £75. He is in his 81st year, and has a wife and two sons depending upon him. It is in- tended to free his insurance money, so that provision may bo made for his wife and family. TIIJ St, Jqjneas Gazette, in a preliminary announce- ment, thiukø that Comedies and Errors," the title of Mt. Henry Harland's new book, peculiarly appropriate to the delicate work this artist in short itories has aehiwved, hinting both at th glllety and the pathos, in each of which he is in his own way i incomparable." JOMMOJN as is the superstition that Friday is the most, unlucky of days, and 13 of numbers, the belief most unlucky of days, and 13 of numbers, the belief in unlucky hours is"equally widespread on the Con- rinent. and in the East. Gambetta was so firmly jonvinced that certain hours of the day are lucky md others unlucky that he would never commence my important undertaking or start on an important journey without consulting a famous reader of cards is to the auspicious hour and President Faure, who was prudent enough to select a lucky hour for Parting on his recent journey to Russia, is said to share Gambetta's superstition. President Carnot was less credulous, and selected an unlucky hour for starting on the journey to Lyons, where he was assas- tsinated by Caserio. The superstition is so common in Paris that cards tastefully embellished, and con- taining a list of "hour-) 'o be avoided," are extcn- • lively sold. I ••• t ¡, i ,It IT IS reported that in Iceland there Have been but two rtises of theft in .roeo years, and that alf forms of crime are so nearly unknown that the. island has no soldiers, no policemen, no tramps, iro poor-houses no prisons. Commenting on this blissful innocence an American Western editor calls out Just think of it, boys, and then go kick yourselves In fact nearly everybody in this country had better kick him- self a little bit." THE method of liquefying air, invented by Dr. Carl Linde, consists in letting air at high pressure escape from an orifice and cool by its expansion. The air so cooled is employed to cool more air as it ap- proaches the orifice, and on this regenerative' principle a very low temperature is quickly obtained Dr. Linde i. constructing a machine of 120 horse- power to produce liquid air for the manufacture of chlorine by the Deacon process. THE famous lime-tree, which since 1813 has been one of the curiosities of the battlefield of Leipsic, is no more. It has been uprooted by a hurricane, It stood on elevated ground, and was known as Murat's lime-tree, for the reason that it is said to have served him as an observatory on the morning of October 14. Legend has it that Napoleon himself watched the course of the battle from this tree. Its trtink was 20 metres in height, and nearly two metres in diameter. TilE value of danger boards to cyclists, experienced and inexperienced alike, who find themselves on strange ground, has already been proved. But it seems that these boards are not so numerous as they might be. It is for this reason that the National Cyclists' Union is issuing circulars -to all County Councils, District Councils, and highway authorities, offering to supply danger or caution boards for erection on nills where these useful warnings are required. They have doubtless been the means of preventing many accidents. TIM new Military Secretary to the Commander-in- Chief in India, Lieutenant-Colonel Duff, is an Aberdeen man, who has been 14 years in the army. He eniered the Bengal Civil Service in 1881, having previously served in the Afghan War. He has already made a good fighting record, having also been through the Isazai campaign of 1892, and the Waziri war of 1894-5. Colonel Duff ,was specially mentioned in despatches for his gallant behaviour »t the battle of W»no. He is 43 years of age. THE Government of Ceylon are making an attempt to sell land in th6 neighbourhood of Anuradhapuraj the ancient city recently dug out in Northern Ceylon, and which has created so much interest among archaiologists. Probably a modern town will now spring up at Anuradhapura, for a good road has been opened to the place, and large numbers of tourists are now flocking thither regularly to view the ruins. Hotels are being, talked of, and probably ,here will soon be an Anuradhapura newspaper to give us the news from that classic spot. THE most sentiment-ally interesting cricket match at Lord's this, season will be the Gentlemen and Players' match on July 18, 19, and 20, for on the opening day of the contest, in which, unless any- :hing unforeseen prevents, Mr. W. G. Grace will take part, the champion cebebrates" his fiftieth birthday. Between this match and the first occasion on which Mr. Grac; played for the Gentlemen 33 years have lapsed. One tiling is very certain—that' out of com- pliment both to the Champion and the spectators, II :ho Gentlemen should (the Globe says) take first innings without-the formality of tossing at all. TirE Prince of Wales's tricycling accident—parti- culars of which are just leaking üllt-seems to have, been of a somewhat alarming nature, seeing that the Prince is not so young as he was. It seems (says the Rambler) that whilst riding uphill with Sir Francis Knollys in the neighbourhood of Sandringham the Prince, on account of the loose and sandy nature of the road, pulled too heavily on his handle-bar and the machine capsized backwards, throwing the Royal cyclist wi'h considerable force to the ground. The Prince nirrowly escaped being run over by Sir Francis, who was following closely "behind. Fortu- nately he was unhurt. M. FEHSAND KHNOPFF, who has shown nothing in London s'nce the last Spring Exhibition at the New Gallery, has sent over four canvases from his Belgium studio for the coming exhibitions. Two will be seen at the New, and two lesser'works are destined for tho International Art Exhibition which is to »be hekt afc Knightsbridge. Both the pictures for the Regent- street galleries are symbolical; one being called Incense," the other The Blue W7ing." A sketch for an important work is included in the quartette, and the finished picture may possibly be seen in one of the metropolitan galleries next year. TUB law is full of figments, and one is that its Court never lunches. It only adjourns." Woe betide the fledgling barrister who, in sweet igno- rance of the fact, gets up and Asks the judge to take such and such a case "after luncheon!" As a matter of fact, this adjournment is the chief event of the day, Most of the jurors have had to rise at some unearthly hour in drder to get to the assize town in time for the sitting oftheCdurt, often travelling 20, 30; or even 50 miles for the purpose and it is little wonder that everybody rejoices when half-past one, the hour for timn and spell, ho arrives. Even the poor prisoner gets his drink of water out of a tin- pot, and a halfpenny roll of brown potato-bread. MA-TOR-GMZRFRAL WILLIAM STARKE ROSIBFRRA. whose name was familiar on this side of the Atlantic at the time of the Civil War, has died in California I at the age of 88. A native of Ohio, he graduated from West Point in 1842, and entered the Corps of Engi- neers. For abont four years he acted as Professor I at the Military Academy, but resigned in 1854 to go into business as an architect and civil engineer. In the Civil War he served in the Federal army from beginning to end, and reached the rank of Major- I General. Leaving the army in 1867, he was sent as Minister to Mexico. Afterwards he was Member of Congress for California, and from 1885 to 1893 he acted as Registrar to the United States Treasury. TnfcRE seems to be some nonsense going on among the natives in the Seychelles similar to the obeak superstition's which cause so much trouble occa- sionally in Jamaica, Trinidad, and other parts of the West Indies. Recently at Tatamaka, in the Sey- chelles, a brutal murder was committed, and all sorts of atrocities perpetrated on the body of the victim in accordance with the peculiar beliefs of the fanatical murdrrers. The latter were duly tried, convicted, and condemned to death, but the sentence was after- wards commuted by the local authorities. Among the sympathisers with the fanatics, however, the belief is held that the Government was afraid to have the law carried out, and a: very unsatisfactory state of affairs has ariseti in consequence. TUB University of Illinois has completed arrange- ments to devote considerable attention to railway I mechanical engineering. A very complete dynamo- meter is being built for the purpose of efficiently carrying out railroad tests by the students. Facilities Ifor such will te afforded by the line managers, while the University will supply the instruments for taking observations and making measurements. To begin with, Professor Breckenridge, of the University, will start a series of tests to determine the effect of in- crustation and scale on the efficiency of locomotive boilers, with the view of ascertaining how long it will, with safety, be economical to keep such in service. MR. FRANK W. TorHAM has painted a larger pic- ture than usual for the Academy this year. He has taken as his subject a scene enacted during the great plague of 1665, the incident having been described by Pepys in his Diary- The canvas gives us the moment when the child from a plague-stricken house i- being handed out from a first' floor window. The little: lassie is nude but byg tl^el.sidat of the m&n who is holding his arms to receive her, stands a girl with the clothes for her to put on. The father and mother are both at the window, and towards them the child stretch- qut her arms. A woman within the shadow of a doorway is crouching as though plague-stricken -too, and the empty street indicates that something is wrong. Although the work is anecdotalv unlesa you I-ppen to., %lie story, the scene strikes you as very curious.; J THE Cape Colony is divided nto.77 divisions, and. its dependencies into 29 districts. The Legislative ,tn Council consists of 23 members, elected for f é\rew years the Chief Justice is ex officio President of tJuia Council. The House of Assembly lias 79 i^em.bera,: elected for are years, and these latter represent the., country districts and town of the colony. The colony is divided into seven electorate provinces; each electing three members to the Legislative Council, and two others, one for Griqualand West4 and the other for British Bechuanaland. The quali- fication for members of the Council 18 POSSESION of immovable property of £ 2000, or movable property worth £ 4000. All members of Parliament are entitled to £ 1 Is. a day for services, with extra 15s. if resident more than 15 miles from Cape Town. Ev-ENWf mutss at afternoon r^wptiana :s the tatejst innovation in political Washington -socieij. Miss Mabel M Kinley, a niece of the President, is the pioneer of the movement, and her recent appearance at an afternoon tea-party in » decollete gown c.used —as well it might—something °' sensation. If the innovation had died on the spot and never been seen again, the sensation would have been something to be thankful for, but unhappily for Washington, the fashion has" caught on already among the more advanced set. THE Chinese are said to possess secrete in the pre- paration of sweets that astonish our most accom- plished confectioners. For example, they know how to remove the pulp from oranges and to substitute various jellies. Tlve closest examination fails to reveal any opening or incision in the skin of the eritit. They perform a ilimilar feat with eggs. The ■tiells are apparently as intact as when tilu eggs werf newly laid, but upon breaking and opening them they %r« found to cqctftin nuts and sweetmeats. ') .1#.1.\ .VI i. <>' i-1' >r<

A RELIC OF SEDAN. A small piece of linen, which has a little history attached to it, has just been purchased by a Berlip collector from an innkeeper of La Moncelle, near Sedan. On September 2, 1870, General Lauriston. of the French Army, after the decisive defeat at Sedan, accompanied by a bugler who employed his instrument to arrest attention, mounted a tower ol the town, provided with a white flag. The truce thus sought was, of course, the preliminary to the surrender of Napoleon and a large proportion of the French Army to the German forces. When the latter entered Sedan, this flag- which was, in fact, a linen sheet-was pounced on by some soldiers, who tore it into strips, and eacl retained a portion of the cloth as a souvenir of the occasion. The father of the innkeeper mentioned, who figured in the war, secured a bit of General Lauriston's improvised flag of truce, and it had hung framed in a public room of his hostelry ever since.

WEATHER FORECASTS. In Annalcn dcr, Hydrographie und mariiimen 'de I Meteorologie, Dr. W. J. van Bebber has an article on weather prediction, with especial reference to the storm signal service on the German coasts. The author lays stress upon the difficulty of obtaining a clear idea of the success of weather predictions in different countries owing to the various methods ol checking them, and thinks that the only safe criterior is the opinion of the public most interested in them He makes various proposals for the improvement ol the forecast, most of which have been previously con- sidered, e.g.: (1) The extension of telegraphic communication to islands in the North Atlantic (2) The introduction of the so-called circular system of communication, by placing the principal stations and central offices throughout EuropE in direct telegraphic correspondence with pad other, immediately after the observations are taken (3) More frequent telegram's, and where possible the establishment of telemeteorographs, or instrument; reporting the chief meteorological elements continu- ously to the central offices. This arrangement already exists at a few places on the Continent. (4) A direct exchange of telegrams between various signal stations; (.5) The adoption-oif nieans'for more generally disse- minating the principles of weather conditions among the public, and the publication of an atlas containin types of weather by means of whichtele,graphicre ference to conditions similar to those actuary exist- ing might be made, without waiting for the publica- tion of weather charts, as at present. The seriotis, question of expense underlies the adoption of any ofj these suggestions.

ETHER DRINKING. Ether drinking in the North of Ireland has cropped up again, and some important evidence on the subject was given on Monday last by Mr. C. Leatham, County Inspector of Londonderry, before the Licens- ing Commission. This degrading and pernicious practice appears to have originated in direct conse- quence of Father Mathew's campaign against alcohol. The same thing is well known to have happened in the South of Ireland, when, in conse- quence of vast numbers of people having laken the pledge, stimulants sometimes far worse than alcohol were introduced and freely consumed under the delusive name of Temperance cordials.' In the North, ether, on which we learn that a man can get drunk and recover himself three or four times a day, was the form in which the craving for stimu- lants was supplied. It is bought in large quantities and freely retailed to the people. Father Mathew's temperance mission was the biggest and most success- ful thing ever undertaken in that way,' and rill the facts connected with it deserve to be carefully con- sidered by temperance reformers.

LEGISLATORS AND THEIR HATS. Unlike our own Legislature, a fall shiny silk hat is so rare in the Canadian House of Commons that the recent apparition of one has been made the subject of comment in the Dominion Press, much as Colonel Lockwood's blood-red waistcoat, is now inspirisg paragraphs in our pwn, The^soft. warip felt iiat is that chiefly affected by .Canadian$J\I.P.'S, and the Hon. Edward Blake, who sat in the Canadian1 House of Commons for many years before migrating to Westminster, continues to adhere steadfastly to it his old Canadian headgear, doubtless from the force of habit, although he rarely obtrudes it upon the notice of the House. On arriving, he hangs it up in the members' cloak-room, and goes through the legislative day bareheaded like a Whip. 0

A DISAPPEARING THEATRE. It is reported that the old Prince of Wales's Theatre, off :Tottenham-cou £ t-road\ which has been closed for dramatic performances since it was given np by Mr. Edgar Bruce, about 16 J("rs ago, has been sold by auction, and is to be demolished. As all playgoers knpw, its palmy days date from 1865, t, iv, when it was leased by Marie Wilton (Lady Bancroft), and for long was nightly crowded with ultra-fashion- able audiences. It, should be noted that that lady partly reconstructed the theatre, whose mean and dirty interior had earned for it the sobriquet of the Dusthole." Just over a century ago Sirrnor Pnsquali opened the place as a concert-room. Then the: building passed into the hlinds of the directors of the Concerts of Ancient Musiq." At that period,, a handsome box was fitted up in the auditorium for the convenience of George III. and Queen Charlotte. At the beginning of the century, under the direction of Colonel Greville, a body of gentlemen amateors, called the [" Picnics," gave a series of performances. "Their fame," says that chatty authority on London, Mr. Timbs, "rendered them objects of alarm to the pro- ( fessional actors of the day, and exposed them to the attacks of the caricaturist. Gilray." Between them and the time qf Marie Wilton's management, the most noted folks connected with the theatre were Mrs. Yates and Mdme. Vestris. The house, thrcugh- out its existence, has revefied jn many names, in- cluding "New Theatre," 'y^he^tp of -Varieties,'1 West London," The Fitzroy,' Queen's," and Prince of Wales's." The last was given to it by Miss Wilton.

EXPERIMENTAL-AGRICULTURE. At tho meeting of the British Association held at 'Toronto last year, a resolution was passed (remarks Nature) by the General Committee, requesting the Council to consider the desirability of approaching the Government with a view to the establishment in Britain of experimental agricultural stations .similar in character to ilyDse which are producing such 'satisfactory results in Canada and-elsewhere. This proposal was referred by the Council to a special committee, which has since made a report. The committee, while agreeing that some central institution might be of great use in the improvement of agricul- ture in this country, pointed out that there are already a number of independent bodies, connected with agricultural societies, colleges, and county councils, which are conducting agricultural investiga- tions, and that it would be undesirable to approach the Government without the co-operation and sup- port of these various bodies. The Council of the British Association has accepted this report, and has requested the committee to communicate with the various institutions interested in agriculture through- out the country, and to ascertain their views upon the,subject. We are informed that the committee are now in communication with the various institu- tions referred to, in order to obtain a combined opinion upon the desirability of the creation by the Government of a central agricultural institution, for the purpose of undertaking agricultural research, and of acting as a centre of union for the various 'bodies conducting similar researches in this country, and of affording them advice and assistance when desired.-—Nature.

HOW ROYALTY TRAVELS. How Royalty Travels is the title of an interest- ing article in the Railway Magazine which gives pictures of the royal waiting-rooms at Paddington and Perth. The Prince of Wales, it seems, has at »ihis command on the Great Western the company's d irectors'coach, which is very magnificently appointed, and has a kitchen and many other departments on board. The train in which the Queen travels to Nice consists of two saloon carriages, which are her Majesty's private property. The North Western royal saloon consists of two carriages made t into one vehicle sixty feet long. The Great Eastern's special saloons for the Prince and Pfincess of Wales demand a big crop of descrip- tite adjectives. The Chatham ana Dover spent £ 100 ion the hand-painting of the coat-of-arms on the panels of their vehicle. The French President's train was built for hint in 23 days for the Czar's visit. It includes a study for the transaction of State business. The Kaiser's tra'n—whi<'h incltrdes two nursery cars —cost him £ 186,000, but the Czar's train has no ■equal in the world, and took two years to build. The kitchen contains every convenience that, would be if-otind in the-palace. When the Czar travels another train, an exact prototype of the Czar's, carrying a part of his aiiite, either precedes or follows. These two trains wait for each other, then pass and repass one another several times during the journey, so that il is not easy to identify the one wherein the Czar is travelling. TlIis precaution—a sort of three-card trick "^waa taken at the time of the Nihilistic plots, and hns since then been continued. By the way, Mine Patti shares the hon&rs of royalty on the Great Western. She, too, can have her particulai saloon at any timo when she wants it. .¡:

THE DARGAI PIPER. Piper Findlater, a Southampton correspondent states, has had another offer of marriage, this time from a lady who is well known in Indian society, and who not only offers the piper a home, but says she will willingly place at his disposal her income of £ 5000 a year. Findlater does not, however, appear to be unduly elated by this offer. He is well on the road to recovery, and entertains his companions in Netley Hospital by practice on his pipes. The officer 'I on L commanding the Gordon Highlanders at Aldershot has visited the hospital and had a cheering interview with the patients.

THE VACCINATION QUESTION. A pamphlet, entitled "Facts about Smallpox and Vaccination," has been issued by the Council of the British Medical Association, giving in small space a large number of facts and figures as to the efficacy of vaccination, together with the authority upon which thestatonents rest. It is shown that the mortality from smallpox is much less now than in pre-vaccina- tion times, and that the greatest diminution in the smallpox mortality is found in the early years of life, in which there is most vaccination. Statistics are given from various countries in proof of the statement that in countries where there is much vaccination and re-vaccination relatively to the population there is little smallpox. In Prussia both vaccination and re-vaccination aro compulsory, and smallpox mortality is almost abolished. In Austria, where vaccination is not compulsory, the rate instead of being seven per million, as in Prussia in the ten years ending with 1892, was 458. In Belgium also vaccination is not compulsory and in 1875-84 it had a rate of 441 per million as compared with Prussia's 22 in the same period. Similarly, in classes among which there is much vaccination and re-vacina- tion there is little smallpox, while in places where smallpox prevails it attacks a much greater proportion of the unvaccinated than of the vaccinated, especially where the vaccinations are comparatively recent. In houses invaded by smallpox in the course of an out- j break, it is stated, not nearly so many of the vacci- nated inmates are attacked as of the unvaccinated in proportion to their numbers, and the death-rate among persons attacked by smallpox is much greater, age for age, among the unvaccinated than among the vaccinated. The Contention that independently of vaccination smallpox is a milder disease now than in former centuries is met, and it is pointed out that though isolation of smallpox cases in hospitals is a useful auxiliary to vaccination it is no substitute for it, that vaccination is very safe, and that calf lymph is now available to boards of guardians and others for the vaccination of every child in the country.

WHEN NATIONS RORROW. Nations, like individuals, often have (remarks th Daily Mail) to resort to little loans," in order to pay off old scores, and just now China and Greece are in the unhappy positions of borrowers who have to hand over to a third party the money they are pledging their credit to obtain. In private life most of us have had experience of the chronic borrower, but the individual with a mania for lending is not often met with. This, however,' does not. apply to borrowing on a big scale. A year or two prior to the collapse of the Argentine boom, when every little" one horse town in Argentine was asking for loans on the London market, British investors in a fit of mad frenzy literally hustled each other in order to be first to get in their applications, and where hundreds of thousands '/fere asked for millions were actually offered. Alas! for these free- handed lenders, the fate of many of them was almost as dire as that of the lamented Sir. Pipchin, with his unhappy investments in the Peruvian mines. Our own colonies form the aristocracy of bor- rowers. When a colony wants money, it announces through its bankers that it is prepared to receive tenders in sums of not less than for a loan of, say, £ 3.(XX),000, bearing interest at three per cent. The authorities further intimate that notefider below, say, £U8 per cent. will be Considered, and when the tenders are opened the allotments are made to tho highest bidders. r In the case of a foreign country requiring a loati, the arrangements depend upon the national credit. High interest may have to be offered by the financiers undertaking to raise the money, in order to tempt in- vestors,and other expedients resorted to for the pur- pose of giving the loan a good send-off. When without any apparent reason the bonds of a certain country rise steadily in value on the Stock Exchange, old financial hands at once arrive at the conclusion that that country is about to attempt to float a new loan. It comes about in. this way: A financial house in London has undertaken to obtain a certain sum for ai'South A.Ynerlcati Government. That government's existing bonds are quoted at 80 on the London Stock Exchange, and so in order to im- prove the price, and, consequently, the standing of the country in the eyes of the investor, the financial house begirts buying the old bonds on a fairly large scale. If, as a result, the price is sent up to 90 or even 85, the new loan can be issued on far more favourable terms from the point of view of the nation borrowing. There is. often a, vast difference between the amount a nation becomes indebted for and the amount it actually receives. Supposing, for instance, a loan is brought out at 90, the nation concerned receives for every million it becomes liable for only £900.000, minus the expenses and profits of the financiers engaged in the transaction. So that an impecunious nation, like an impecunious individual, has to pay dearly for accommodation." Captain Kidd s treasure is nothing to the millions lent to countries which have subsequently defaulted. The records of the Corporation of Foreign Bond- holders tell a marvellous tale on 'this head, and the ingenious statistician might weave wondrous stories of the giddy heights to which the British sovereigns lent to countries that never will repay would reach if piled one on the top of the other. In tha recently issued1report of the Corporation,Costa Rica is mildly informed that, "apart from the question of good faith, Costa. Rica would have found it to her ultimate advantage had she ihade a more equitable' ^Tratig'e- mcnt with her creditors."

WILLS AND BEQUESTS. The executors of the will, which bears ditto April 1:3,. 1894, with codicils of August 17, 1896, and December 23, 1897, of Air. George Dixon, of The Dales, Edgbaston, M.P. for Birmingham 1867-76, 9 and afterwards for the Edgbaston Division, who died on January 24 last, aged 77 years, leaving personal estate of the value of £ 168,601 7s. 6d., are his sons Arthur Stansfeld Dixon, of Augustus-road, architect, Charles Wolryche Dixon, of Hagley-road, and James Ernest Dixon, of Broad-street, merchant, and his son-in-law Frederick Ilathbone, of Sutton Coldfield, merchant. The testator desired that any donations or gifts for public or private purposes which he might have promised should be paid, and that some article of artistic merit or of personal use or ornament should be given to such of his friends as the executors might choose. It was his wish that his sons Charles and James, who were his partners in bijsiness^, should be the Managing executors, and he bequeathed to each of them during the continuance of the trust £100 a year. The other two executors are to act alone in any matters affecting his business relations with Rabone Brothers and Co., and his son Arthur is to have the option of acquiring his house in Augustus-road. He bequeaths to his private secretary EIOO, to his gardener a ;,life annuity of £50, and after his death to the gardener's wife, if she survives her hnsband, a life annuity of £ 25 to his cook a life annuity of £ 20; and to other servants of five years ser- vice each two years' wages. Any two or more of the testator's children are to have the use and enjoyment of The Dales and its furniture, and he left his residuary estate in trust as to 27-150th shares for Ilia son Arthur Stansfeld, as to 27-150th for his son Charles Wolryche, as to 15-150th for his son James Ernest, as to 19-150th for his daughter Helen Margaret Dixon, as to 26-150th for his daughter Kate Marion Rathbone, and as to 36-150th for his daughter Dora Emily Mary Walker. The executors are authorised to concur as may be found expedient in the continuance, or transference, or winding-up of the business of Rabone Brothers and Co., and they may invest on the security of landed estato in Great Britain. The executors of the will of Mr. John Sfttchell Hopkins, of Jesmond-grove, Highfiald, Edgbaston, J.P., who died on February 11 last, aged 72 years, leaving personal estate of the gross value of, £ 31,087 19s. 5d. and £ 5067 4s. 6d. net, are his sons Mr. Arthur Antwis Hopkins, Metropolitan Policf magistrate, and Mr. Erneat Threlfall Hopkins, brewer. The testator bequjjathed to his Wife, Mrs, Jane Hopkins, £ 250, the uso and enjoyment of Jesinond-grove and its furniture, and a life annuity of £ 800, and to his daughters Alice Mary and Edith Jane £100 a year each during the lifetime of their mother, and after her deaths sums of £ 5000 eacfc are to be in trust for them. Mr. Hopkins left his farm at Newlands to his son Arthur, and he left the residue of his property in equal shares to his said two sons Arthur Antwis Hopkins and Ernest Threl- fall Hopk ins. | The deed of trust disposition and settlement bears date July 20. with a codicil of September 23. of Dame Euphemia Chalmers Millais, of Bowers well, Perth widow of Sir John Everett Millais, Bart., P.R.A., and hø executors are hereon, Mr. John Guille Millais, at Horsham, Kent, and George Gray, of Bowers well, and Albert Gray, of Cuiford-gardens. Lady Millais died on December 23 last, and the inventory of her per* tonal estate amounts to £ 15,924 10s. 8d. t

TTNXON LINE forfte SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD FIELDS. Sailings from Southampton every Saturday. Calls made at Madeiroand Tenerife. Apply to tin UXJON STEAJTSHIPCo.,Ltd., CanuteRd.,Southampton,an. Sontli African House,9-Ho 98,Bishopsgate St. Withiii,Loi(ioa IRIIN BUILDINCS AND RODFINC. V Churches, Chapels, Miuion and School m Lawn Tonnia, Oolf, and Cricket raviiioms. Cot- V Church em. Chapels, AfiMlon and School m Lawn Tonnia, Oolf, and Cricket Cot- ■ Stables, Farm Building*. XLooflnff A A X)e*orlptioik of Iron Buildings. Ifllj. II "mtTi TtrnwmrrTirT STATIOIL W. HABBRQWS' WOKKS. LONDON, S.E. JUNO CYCLES are the Very Best. Diamonds from £10; 16s. 9,1. Monthly. 12 Monthly Payments. SMtjJ ttcd Gent's [!)) t Safetiea,di:1212a.t 21s. Monthly, .£14 14-8,; 2413. 6d. I tor New Seiv- IfTl^lwlT I 8ons List of JUNO and Accessories, sent Post 1 free. Juno Kidin? School, 1,700feet, now open. Metropolitan Machinists' CoM liatd. 70, 76, Bishop*, irate Without. B.C., and at Piccadilly Cirouo (exactly opposit# the Criterion), LONDON, W. THE MEW rWEWCH K £ «UEJ3V a TUCDADinU This successful and highly popvila* I n LrVArlUrl. remedy, as employed in the Continental Hospitals, by Ricordj Rostan, Jobert, Velpean, and others, combines all the desiderata to be sought in a medicine of the kind, nnd surpasses everything hitherto employed for im- purity of the blood, spots, blotches, pains and s welliiiers of tin joints, kidney and liver diseases, gravel, pains in the back, nervousness, sleeplessness, Ac. Therapion is prepared in three different forms, Nos. 1, 2, amis, according to diseases for which intended. Full particulars semi stamped acMr<>.«s«4 envHnja* for pamphlet to Mr. R. JOHNSON, 43, HOLFOKIJ SOL* A KK, LONDON', VV.C. Nunip thi» P»pxr. "COOPER" CYCLES From £ 5 IDs. COMPETITION DEFIED. Latest design frame, large weldlesa steel tubes, hftll bearings, tangent wheels, brake and mudguards cushion tvres, £ 5 10s.; pneumatic, IP £ 7 Ids. Ladies', with dresa !?ear guards, from £ 6. Twelva s/ ^21 j'uy months' warranty. Lists free. AgfciiM Wanted. WM. COOPER, 7o3, OLD KENT ROAD, LONDON, S.E. ♦ | ♦ Speciai Offer to ♦ Poultry Fanders. | f TTTE are certain that t I W the "ZEBSJL" Ex- | ? tract of Meat is superior { { to all other Animal Foods t t for Poultry, and to give t ♦ Poultry Fanciers an ♦ opportunity of testing t ♦ our Assertion, we have t } decided to offer JB50, ♦ which will be given in 4 sums varying from JS10 ♦ } to ,£1 to persons who, ♦ during: the year 1898, ♦ are most successful in J winning the highest nam- + ber of Prizes with Fowls ♦ fed on "J&EBEJI| If i ite To~Daif for Full Par- A + titulars, which may be hall. post free from 5 "ZEBRIL" LIMITED, | t 17, Withy Grove, Manchester. CYCLES at Wholesale Cost! Gents' Pneumatic Safeties f.7 17 9 A Ladies' Pneumatics £7 18 6 Gents' Cushions £ 6 12 6 Ladies' Cushions £ 7 7 5 'Í Marvellous Value. Lists free. THE CYCl-EMS. 20. lVTTON ST., LIVERPOOL THE VINOUAi SKIN FRF,IFIF-R SQAP (for the Complexion), {w/H.^aTabut. CREAM (Itching, Burping Face Spots), 1/1 £ POWDER (Redness, Roughness, Sweating, &c.), 1/-

THE BUDGET. In the view of the coming Budget statement, the Irish Financial Relations (London) Committee have issued some interesting leaflets. One of these sets out the Irish Budget of ]Sfri. Many will be sur- prised to learn that thero is any possibility of stating the Budget figures separately tor Ireland. But, this is one of the results of the late Royal Commission. The papers issued in the autumn of 1897 for the year ending Starch 31st of that year, show the following curious facts: I.The Income-tax returns showed a large falling oil on Irish Income. II.-Tlie Death Dalies showed an, increase compared with a falling off in Great Britain. III.-pThe total tt-.es colle-cted-, in, ,Ireland were £ 600j0001mpre than in the yea^r ending March 31, 1894, although tho Royal Qommission had declared that the amount then was some three millions a year more than Ireland should pay. In new of the findings of the Commission, this result is yery^remarkable, especially when contrasted with other incidents. In t.he summer of 1895 except tionaJ., measures were taken towards the relief of famine; in 1898 already similar steps have been takenr-ia-meet another -emergency. -Since-1894 tho population has decreased by over lOftOOO. Thus we see-: that in spite of two famines, a falling off in the numbers of the. people, and in the yield of Income- tax., the increase of taxation continues at an accele- rated pace. No doubt taxatioi has also increased in Great Britain, but happily the increase is not accoin- papeC-l by the same sad evidence of national decay- ar.d that niakes all the difference. This leaflet shows that nearly eight and a quarter millions of Imperial taxation were collected in Ire- land last year, and how this huge sum was wasted. Copies may be had from the Hon. Sec., 37, Belsize- a/veniie, N.W., and it wiH well repay the study of those who desire to understand the subject. The second leaflet deals with the Local Govern- ment Grant and the share of the money which goes to the landlord. It sums up this position by show- ing I. That, no Irish local authority will, under tho present proposal, get a farthing more than it would have got if its district had been situated in England. 11. The sum of which Ireland has been deprived during the two years of unequal treatment in the matter of airricnltural rates is, £ 1,200,000.

CARTER'S LITTLE r ,r; UVER PILLS. jgllPV M BEAUTIFUL TEETH fov *U who ou daiiy ou CiM m& ivK S0Z0D0NT H TiiytS Forty La a tfc* yltMutatt'lMllfrlH la ns lift world. fut'i TKiutiL Cleanmes the teeth an(I spacm belweeu tbt-in as nothiug else Cure _TurpM IjYor, Sound luidpearlrwliita IS teeth, rosy 1 ips and Iragran* aiur Kv HigtM CbraA. breath onwired. 1*4 I Aak log SOZODONT. Q*. ed. -4

——" tth Jtn FRY'S "PURE CONCENTRATED- COCOA MAINTAINS ITS PRE-EMINENCE as a LiGHT and NOURISHING DRINK. I7-P.C. Just three wprds are necessary in order to pet the rijfhc brand, vii., HKY'S -I'iJK' — CONCENT-R ATED. it 1