Abergavenny Chronicle

I PROFESSIONAL MARATHON. j About 40,000 persons were at the Stadium on Saturday when, with Lord Lonsdale as referee, a professional athletic meeting was held. Chief interest centred in the Marathon race, over the Olympic course, from Windsor to the Stadium. A lap and about 250 yards of the track had to be covered by the competitors after entering the Stadium, in order to com- plete the distance of 26 miles 586 yards. The result was a triumph for England, as although J. Keywood, the most fancied Britisher, who finished third in last year's race, broke down at about fifteen miles, and the second favourite on the English side, in A. Crudnigton, who last year finished fourth, trod on a stone, twisted his ankle, and had to retire, C. W. Gardiner, a member of JV fine athletic family, several of his brothers being well known amateur -runners, came to the rescue, and, taking the lead soon after passing through Pinner, retained it to the end. His time was 2h. 53min. 23 l-5sec. About twenty men completed the tirying journey under 3t hours. The names of the first seven were as follow:—C. W. Gardiner (Eng- land), 1; Hector Labry (France), 2; F. Morris (England), 3; A. Neveu (Belgium), 4; J. Gun- trip (England), 5; Victor Snouck (France), 6; and A. J-ohnson (England), 7. Most important of the events on the Stadium track was the fifteen miles race. This was won by F. Millot (France) in lh. 32min. 45 l-5sec. At ten miles A. Aldridge (England) led Millot by nearly a lap, but was shortly afterwards seized with sunstroke, and retired, leaving Millot to finish alone.

RACE BETWEEN DIRIGIBLES, The two German military airships which are daily undertaking trips engaged on Saturday evening in the first race of dirigible balloons ever held. At a quarter past five the Gross II. and Parseval II., after preliminary manoeuvr- ing, were aligned over the Tegel rifle butts, and a race was decided on to test the comparative speeds, a stack of chimneys on the far side of the Tempelhof parade ground, about six miles distant, being taken as a turning point. Major Gross, the inventor of the Gross air- ship, acted as starter. The Gross II., under Major Sperling, got away first, while the start of the Parseval II., under Captain George, was delayed. The result was declared a dead heat, as both airships made the same time, namely, fifteen minutes to the turn and fifteen back.

TEACHERS AND MARRIAGE. The statement that the employment of mar- ried female teachers in London schools is to be curtailed is causing much consternation among the married teachers and those about to be married. In the hopes that the Council will not make a regulation retrospective, many marriages are being hurried on to take place during the summer holidays, especially those where both bride and bridegroom are teachers. A very large percentage of female teachers in London are ardent Suffragists, and these particularly resent the probability of their occupation being lost should they venture to marry.

EARL SUMMONED FOR TWOPENCE Lord De La Warr was summoned by a taxi- cabman at Westminster on Saturday for two- pence. His defence was that the driver had taken a longer way than he need havs done. The summons was dismissed, and Lord De La Warr was awarded P,2 2s. costs. A witness said that the combination of the time and distance arrangement ssmetimes oc- casioned varying charges. < "Well do I know it," said Mr. Fransis, who tried the case. "One night it registers sight- pence, and the very next night, over exaciiv the same route, I find it Is. 2d."

CHINESE HAIR FOR U.S. LADIES. 1 In the year 1907, 56,133 pounds of human hair J were invoiced at Hong Kong for shipment to the United States, and in 1908 207,414 pounds were declared for shipment. This hair is brought to Hong Kong from the interior, and there cleaned and sorted according to length and quality. It is then packed and shipped to New York. It is said that the hair can be so treated in New York as to alter its colour and texture, and that it is used in making tho switches, curls, and bands which are fashion- able in the United States at the present time.

I In conformity with the recommendation of the I Elections Verifications Committee, the Lower House of the Prussian Diet declared the election of the four Social Democratic Deputies for Berlin to be invalid. Considerable delay to south-eastern suburban traffic from Cannon-street was caused through a carriage of an outgoing train fouling the points near the extreme end of the platform. The French Chamber passed the first clause of the Bill allowing silkworm growers, for 20 years from May 1, 1909, a bonus of 6d. for every 2Jlbs. of raw silk. Inhabitants of Chaborowsk, Siberia, finding one of their streets too worn to walk on COltl- fortably, named it "Zeppelin's-road." The authorities have acted on the hint, and repaved it. "Wembley is one of the most disappointing neighbourhoods I know," said a witness in a land assessment action at the Middlesex Guild- hall. "I see no immediate prospect of develop- ment there. Lord Cheylesmore said at the annual meet- ing of the Soldiers and Sailors' Help Society, over which Princess Christian presided, that the society had helped 120,602 men-nearly two expeditionary forces. H.M.S. King Edward VII., which was Lord Charles Beresford's flagship in the Channel Fleet, established a record at Kirkwall by taking in 1,021 tons of coal in 3hrs. 22mins.— 303.3 tons an hour. In place of Admiral SLade, late Director of Naval Intelligence, Mr. Carlyon Bellairs, M.P., haa been elected a member of the Council of the Royal United Service Institution. Mr. MacNeill, M.P., introduced a Bill in Parliament to curtail flogging sentences. At last year's assizes the "cat" was ordered in twenty-two cases for robbery with violence. Edward Williams, who had been concerned in fifty-four London boarding-house thefts, in- volving jewellery valued at £500, was at the Old Bailey sentenced to four years' penal servi- tude.

EMPIRE DAY CELEBRATIONS.) I THE MARCH OF THE CHILDREN. I Empire Day on Monday was a brilliant suc- cess. In the schools, in public parks, in civic parlours, the observance was general all over the country, and, indeed, throughout the Empire. For the first time a great proces. sion of school boys and girls took place in London. Thousands lined the streets and cheered the young people as they marched to Hyde Park, where the trooping of the colour was followed by a march past—Lord Roberts taking the salute. Special notice was directed to a gun's crew from Eton, and to the large number of mem- bers of the corps of Baden-Powell's boy scouts, who wore their workmanlike uniform. A contingent of boys dressed in naval cos- tume, who were dragging a small field gun, also came in for a popular ovation. Promi- nent places in the procession were also occu- pied by Lieutenant Barrett's London naval cadets and Dr. Barnardo's boys, who brought their band. Many boys' brigades from various parts of London were also repre- sented, together with schoolboys from all quarters of the metropolis. The girls in the procession, for the most part, wore white dresses. Many of them had their hair wreathed with flowers. Almost all carried flags. A young girl, attired as "Britannia," occu- pied the place of honour at the head of the procession, and many of the other girls were dressed to represent the natives from various portions of the Empire. Among the other events held in the metro- polis to mark the day, was the unveiling in the Imperial International Exhibition at the White City of a statue of the King. Lord Strathcona, High Commissioner for Canada, and one of the staunchest of Imperialists, performed the ceremony. Celebrations in the provinces took the form of musterings of children in square or market place, parade of flags, patriotic speeches by mayors or public officer, and the singing of the National Anthem. The Colonies did not lag behind. Numer- ous patriotic speeches were delivered at public meetings in Australia, Canada, and the larger Colonies, while the list of cablegrams shows that even in such remote places as the I Seychelles Islands the sentiment of Empire found spontaneous expression.

I MYSTERY OF MAJOR'S DEATH. I i At the opening of the inquiry as to the death of Major Robert Andrew Faulkner, a wealthy hunting gentleman, whose funeral took plaoe at Ilston-on-the-Hill, Leicester- shire, Mr. Bonskell, the coroner for the dis- trict, informed the jury that Dr. Williams, of Billesdon, had attended the deceased gentleman for some time. During his illness, continued the coroner, the doctor was not satisfied with certain symptoms, which were the result of arsenic, as he had not pre- scribed that poison. An inquest was, therefore, necessary in order to clear the matter up. There was a certain amount of suspicion, and it would be necessary to adjourn the inquiry to allow time for a post-mortem examination and an analysis. The inquiry was accordingly adjourned. Afterwards part of the intestines was for- warded to the Home Office. In consequence of the result of the exami- nation the coffin was reopened by order of the Home Office in the presence of two medical men, and the whole of the viscera forwarded to the Home Office for analysis.

I BOXING CHAMPION BEATEN. I Sam Langford, the negro, defeated "Iron" Hague, the English boxing champion, in four rounds on Monday night at the National Sporting Club. The end came suddenly, with a short, heavy, half-arm punch delivered full on the point. Hague entered the ring in decidedly better condition than when he fought Gunner Moir, and seemed full of confidence. Still, he carried superfluous weight, and as soon as he opened out into a sparring attitude his loose, self-evident swing was in lamentable contrast to the polished nonchalant methods of lang- ford. In the first round both men played for the body. Hague, after being twice hit in the face in the second round, got a heavy right on Langford's face. Many heavy blows were exchanged n the third round. Hague was looking anxious at the end. Langford upper- cut Hague at the start of the fourth round, and Hague cut the negro's 'lip with a counter. But less than two minutes had elapsed when Langford planted his deadly punch..

I THE CASABLANCA INCIDENT. I The decision of the Hague Court of Arbi- tration in the dispute between France and Germany arising out of the arrest by the French authorities at Casablanea of de- serters from the Foreign Legion was delivered on Saturday afternoon. The Court declares that the secretary of the Imperial German Consulate at Casa- blanca wrongly and through a grave and manifest error endeavoured to bring about the embarkation on board a German steam- ship of deserters from the French Foreign Legion who were not of German nationality. The German Consul and the other agents of the Consulate were not responsible in this connection, but in signing the safe conduct which had been presented to him the Consul committed an unintentional error. The French military authorities were wrong in not respecting as far as possible the "defacto" protection exercised on those deserters in the name of the German Consu- late apart from the duty of respecting the Consular protection.

j PRISONER'S LEAP TO DEATH. I After a desperate struggle in the compart- ment of a train in which he was being taken from Bournemouth to Bristol on Saturday to answer a charge of burglary at his parents' house, a man named John Notley leapt on to the permanent way and was killed. The man was in charge of Detective-Ser- geant Clarke, and when the train was between Mangotsfield and Staple Hill, about four milea from Bristol, he suddenly fell on his captor, saying: "I will knock your eye out!" During the fierce struggle that ensued the prisoner managed to open the door of the compartment and got out on the footboard, I fighting desperately to make the officer let him go. With a violent wrench he broke away and fell headlong from the rushing train on to the track, where searchers soon afterwards found his body.

INTERNATIONAL GOLF. I For the sixth year in succession, and the I seventh time in all, Scotland won the ama- teur international match at Muirfield on I n I" oaturaay. At the end of the first round the Scotsmen led by only 5 to 3. In the end, however, Scotland gained a decisive victory by 7 matches to 2. The only winners for England were E. A. Lessen (amateur chahipiob), who disposed of John Graham, jun., and H. H. Hilton, who beat J. E. Laidlay. The most noteworthy result was the crush. ing defeat *hicb Robert Maxwell adminis- tered to John Ball. After leading by 4 up on the first round the Scotsman won the first eight holes in the afternoon, and thus de- feated the Hoylake player by 12 and 10.

The trial of Henry Benson in connection with the Feltham Ba^k case was postponed at the Old Bailey until July. Laurel wreaths adorned the Gladstone Statue in the Strand on the eleventh anniversary of the death of the famous statesman. On July 3 the King will open the new speech- room erected at Rugbv, School in memory of the late Archbishop Temple. The committee formed to raise a memorial to the late Sir Redvera Buller announces that it has been decided to erect a recumbent figure of the late General in Winchester Cathedral. Mr. James J. Joicey, of Finchley-road, esti- mated his liabilities at the London Bankruptcy- court at two hundred thousand pounds, with eight thousand pounds assets. Damp, getting underneath a piece of pave- ment 8ft. square, in the Lady Chapel of Chichester Cathedral,, caused it to expand and burst into fragments.

THE WORLD OF WORK. TRADE UNION'S APPEAL. I The appeal in the case of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants v. Osborne, in which the point is raised whether a trade union's funds may be used in payment of Parliamentary representatives, has been set down for hearing in the House of Lords, but no date has yet been fixed for the presenta- tion of the arguments. ENGINEERS' SOCIETY. The returns of membership of the Amalga- mated Society of Engineers for April showed a total of 107,956, a decrease of 123 as com- pared with March, and 3,011 with the corres- ponding month of last year. UNEMPLOYED IN GLASGOW. The Rev. M. B. Meikleham, of Rochvilla J Church, Glasgow, speaking at Kilsyth of his work in connection with the Lord Provost's Relief Fund to a large audience at Kilsyth, stated that if the contributions of Church people were deducted there would not be enough left to feed the dogs, let alone the people, and if the Church workers were with- drawn there would not be enough people left to feed the dogs. Out of 150 men passing weekly through his hands since December, he had not found a single member of a Pro- testant Church. He asserted further that all the people on the list were just sodden with drink. INDUSTRIAL INSURANCE. A deputation of various collecting Friendly Societies of the United Kingdom, with an aggregate premium income of about .£2,000,000 per annum, has been received by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The deputa- tion desire to have the limitations imposed by Section 8 of the Friendly Societies Act re- moved, and that friendly societies be allowed the powers enjoyed by industrial insurance companies under the Act. Mr. Lloyd George stated that the President of the Board of Trade was preparing a Bill dealing with in- dustrial insurance, and that it was desirable that there should be a meeting of the deputa- tion with both Departments. Subsequently a deputation of seven was appointed to wait upon the Board of Trade and the Treasury at an early date. UNIONS' UNEMPLOYED BENEFIT. Mr. Churchill, in a written reply to a ques- tion by Mr. Lyson Wilson, states that of the 1161 trade unions existing in 1906, 666 paid in all .2514,000 as unemployed benefit in one form or another to their members—weekly benefit, travelling assistance, grants, etc. The following amounts were paid in 1Q05-7 by 82 of the principal unions which give this kind of assistance to their members, and by which the greater part of the total unemployed benefit is paid:—1G05, j £ 522,967; 1906, £ 424,030; 1907, £ 465,668. THE CO-PARTNERSHIP MOVEMENT. In a recent speech on co-partnership, Mr. Charles Fenwick, M.P., said the movement interfered with no man's liberty; it was purely voluntary in its character, thoroughly democratic in. its conception, and aimed at the general welfare of the masses. If ever State Socialism was successfully established in the sense of collective control of all means of industry and exchange it would come all the sooner and all the more permanently by means of institutions such as theirs. On the same occasion Prof. A. C. Pigou read a paper on an economist's view of co-partnership. He said there could be little doubt that among the manual working classes there was lying latent a great fund of capacity for manage- ment and organisation. The threatened divi- sion of the industrial army into two hostile camps had been met in some cases by the establishment of boards of conciliation, but a more thorough and further reaching solution was afforded by co-partnership. LONDON'S UNEMPLOYED. In the financial return presented to the Central Unemployed Body for London it was stated that the total expenditure on the various works, wages, allowances to families, railway fares, plant, tools, and materials, etc., from October 3, 1908, to April 24, 1909, was £ 95,751, while the total number of men employed to date for all works (taking the latest date available in each case) was 8,435, as compared with 4,797, the total number of men employed to April 23, 1908 (the nearest comparative date available). The Emigration Committee stated that since November 1, 1908, 83 persons had been sent to Australia, 56 to Canada, and 16 to New Zealand. MINERS' WAGES. The Scottish Coal Trade Conciliation Board discussed for nearly three hours the proposal by the Scottish Coalmasters Association to reduce miners' wages by sixpence per day. At the close it was officially intimated that the parties had failed to agree. The board accordingly adjourned. The proposed reduc- tion of 121 per cent. affects fully 80,000 miners. At a meeting of the South Wales Concilia- tion Board the men's representatives refused the demand of the employers for a 7! pel cent. reduction in the miners' wages, and it was stated that an independent chairman is to be called in to decide the question. INSPECTION OF OUTWORKERS. Mr. Arthur Whitelegge, Chief Inspector of Factories, in his report to the Home Secre- tary on the administration of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, by local authori- ties in respect of workshops, outwork, etc., in 1907, states that the recorded inspections of outworkers' premises increased from 54,259 in 1905 to 77,138 in 1906, and 102,549 in 1907; notices as to unwholesome premises from 70 in 1905 to 816 in 1906, and 1,948 in 1907, and orders relating to infected premises which fell from 499 to 334 in 1906, rose again to 640 in 1907. The increase in prosecutions for non-compliance with the requirements as to lists of outworkers was not fully main- tained (114, 181, 169), but there was a marked advance in the number of lists re- ceived (14,845, 16,565, and 21,066). The ap- proximate number of outworkers in 1907 was 114,294, compared with 103,475 in 1906, and nearly three-quarters were engaged in the making of wearing apparel. DOCKYARD WAGES RAISED. I The decision of the Admiralty upon the petitions from dockyard workmen has been announced at Chatham. Wood caulkers are granted an increase of Is. per week, and wheelwrights, who are to be paid the same rates as joiners, half-a-crown a week. Authority is given to the Admiralty super- intendent to increase fitters' pay to 36s. in special cases. The majority of the other re- quests are refused. FIRST CO-PARTNERY SHIP. I Dr. Macnamara, Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, was present at the launch at Hartlepool of the first steamer built under Sir Christopher Furness's co partnery scheme. The vessel was christened Asiana by Lady Furness. Dr. Macnamara said the launch of the Asiana was in a way an epoch in British individualism. Sir Christopher had got hold of a right idea, and to its steady development he looked for the redressing of economic injustice, for obviating bad feeling, and for rendering more permanently fruitful the union between capital and labour. T_ ft.

ijaay iionaonaerry, at a meeting 01 the ltoya. Irish Industries Association at her town house said the association had sent Queen Wilhelmina a baby robe of Carrickfergus guipure lace mounted on fine Irish cambric, made at the Con- vent of Sligo. Six champion Clydesdale horses, including Angus (champion of America), which belong tc Mr. Armour, the Chicago meat magnate, arrived in England to take part in the International Horse Show. Men, women, and children in night attire scrambled speedily to a place of safety from houses adjoining the saw mills in Hoxton-street. Shoreditch. where fire caused damage amount- ing to about £ 30,000. The Glasgow magistrates have resolved tc confer the honorary freedom of that city on Mr Asquith. The body of a man recovered from the rivei at Tollesbury, Essex, has been identified as that of Joseph Thipps. of Old Ford-road. Bow.

HUMOUR OF THE WEEK CTCLING PEDESTRIANS. "In what way was I disorderly? asked s man charged at Brentford. Constable: By stopping pedestrians oa bicycles. A QUESTION OF LAW. A pompous K.C. was once asked by s friend anxious to score off him, "May a mar marry his deceased widow's niece The legal man assumed a look ol omniscience, and made his pronouncement "Ah," he said, "the question is really on< rather of ecclesiastical than of civil law- But I have known a case." SCAVENGER AND GENTLEMAN". The coroner at Hackney (to a witness); What are you? The Witness: A gentleman. The Coroner: Yes; but by occupation. The Witness: Oh, a scavenger. BURCH TO BE BIRCHED. After evidence by Captain J. R. Birch, of the Church Lads' Brigade, Harry Burch (12) and another boy were sentenced at North London Police-court to be birched for theft. WONDERFUL SHEEP. When a sheep is seriously cut or other- wise injured the sheep shall immediately report the fact to the person in charge of the shed."—"Otago Daily Times." AN INDIGNANT PROTEST. At North London Police-court a witness re- ferred to his landlady, who had been sum- moned for detaining his goods, as "this lady." The defendant indignantly retorted, "I am not a lady. I am a working woman." (Laughter.) I THE STUDENT'S IDEA. I Speaking at a recent conference Prof. Lloyd Morgan said a student was asked what he learned from his psychology lecturer. "Oh," was the reply, "he tells you what everybody knows in language that nobody can understand." I CLEAN CRICKET. I In carrying his bath right through the innings on Thursday for 125 A. O. Jones has made a brilliant start."—"Irish Field." I THE UNWRITTEN LAW. I Magistrate: "You are charged with com- mitting an assault on this man and blacking his eye. What have you to say, sir ? Defendant: "Your worship, my wife lost a pet dog, and I caught this fellow bringing it back." Magistrate: "You are discharged; but as for you, you miserable scallawag with a black eye, the next time you steal a lady's dog and don't keep it, I'll send you down for six months." I A NOVEL PLEA. I A plea put forward by a juror at the Lon- don Sessions as a reason why he should not serve was "that he was a rogue and a vaga- bond." (Laughter.) He was an actor, which, under an old Act of Parliament, meant the same thing. That fcet had never been repealed. He had no personal objection, but he was instructed that he was not qualified. (Laughter.) Mr. Robert Wallace: Anyhow, you are ex- cused. I GOT A BIT MIXED. I A critic of Government methods, at a pro- vincial political meeting, recently delivered himself of this fine specimen of the mixed metaphor:— "They will keep cutting the wool from the sheep that lays the golden egg until they pump it dry." The audience spoiled the speaker's strenu- I osity with their loud laughter. I BUSINESS IS BUSINESS. I The following advertisement appears in a Hungarian journal:—"lima Rok and Franz Sitoli have great pleasure in informing their friends that their engagement is broken off, and that they have amicably agreed to divide the wedding presents received, instead of re- turning them to the donors." I INCLUDED WAITING. I The commercial traveller had been sum- moned as a witness, and the counsel for the defence was cross-examining him, and elicit- ing many interesting details as to "exes," etc. "You travel for Jobson, Hobson, Slobson and Co., don't you? said the lawyer. "Yes sir." "How long have you been in their em- ploy e" "About ten years." "And you have been travelling all that time, have you?" "Well, no, sir," confessed the witness, making a hasty mental calculation, "not actually travelling. I have put in about four years of that time waiting at railway stations." "LOUIS CROSS EYE." A doctor, visiting a small country town, Went over the local museum. After admir- ing one -r two of the exhibits, the curator, who was an old man, said:- "Ah, but we've got a chair here that be- longed to Louis Cross-Eye." "Oh," said the doctor, "who was he?" "Don't you know, sir? Why, he was one of the Kings of France." "King of France? Louis Cross-Eye? There must be some mistake. Show me the chair." The old man promptly complied, and pointed with conscious pride to a ticket in- scribed :— "Once the propery of Louis XI." • I EXPENSE NO OBJECT. During an inclement spell of weather, 9. lady of the order of the newly-rich was so unfortunate as to contract a painful affection lof the throat, and she accordingly accepted the advice of a friend that she consult a great London specialist noted for his ex- pensive fees. "Your ailment is not a serious one," said the specialist, after examination. "You'll soon be all right. I'll just indicate to your family surgeon precisely where to touch your throat with nitrate of silver, and I think that will meet the case exactly." "Oh, doctor," protested the wealthy matron, in a tone of mingled surprise and indignation, "do order him to use nitrate of gold! Expense is a matter, I assure you, quite immaterial to me!" THE 'BUSMAN'S TIP. A young fellow and his sweetheart lately visited London. They had occasion to take a drive on the 'bus from Victoria to London Bridge, and, being anxious to impress her with his knowledge of London and its public buildings, he began by showing her the Houses of Parliament, which he described as the British Museum; Whitehall, according to him, was the Tower of London. After telling her that the Royal Exchange was the National Gallery, and that the Law Courts was the Bank of England, the 'bus turned into King .William-street, and, on passing the statue of that Monarch, she asked sweetly: "And who is that, dearest ? For a moment he was at a loss for an answer, till the driver, who had with mute amusement heard the conversation all along the route, turned to him, and said in a stage whisper: "Don't be done, guv'nor; kid her it's Harry Lauder." BEGINNING TO GET PREJUDICED. I Acting on the advice of a prisoner for whom he' was appearing, a barrister chal- lenged four or five jurymen on the ground that they were prejudiced against his client. When at last the swearing of the jury was completed, the prisoner, a resourceful Irish. man, leaned over the dock and whispered to his aelvoe&e:The jury's all right now, I think, but Oi wants yez to challenge the judge. Oi've been convicted under him three toimes already, and maybe he's beginning te have a prejudice agin me."

TRAMCAR OVERTURNS. Several people were injured by the overturn- ing of a horse tramcar at Upper Clapton. The Bcene of the accident was at Brooke-road, where the system is being electrified, and the tramcar was travelling to Stamford-hill. When at the points at Brooke-road the tram suddenly shot the points and turned over. There were twelve passengers, and two were thrown from the top. Their injuries were serious, and they were de- tained at the German Hospital The driver, Samuel McAuliffe, also sustained injury, and narrowly escaped being thrown under the car. There was a large heap of sand where the accident happened, and several of the passengers fell on this, and thus escaped more serious consequences. Dr. White, who resides near by, attended to all the passengers, and those who were only slightly affected by the accident were dis- patched to their homes in cabs. The narrow road along which the tram runs was crowded, and great excitement was created.

i BISHOP'S STRONG REMARKS. Strong remarks on what he termed "the degradation of the Sabbath by people in society" were made by Bishop Thicknesse, Archdeacon of Northampton, in delivering his charge at his annual visitation at Northampton. "What we have to deal with now," he said, "is open disregard of the worship of Almighty God by persons in the higher walks of life, their selfish profanities of the day of public worship by needless journeys, motor expedi- tions, dinner parties, and games, to the utter deprivation also of any needed Sunday rest and quiet to their ill-used servants and dependants. "I know as a fact of a large 'fancy-drera' dinner party held on the first Sunday in Lent at a country house in a neighbouring county, tvhere the so-called ladies shamelessly appeared dressed as men and the so-called" gentlemeh dressed as women."

ALIENS IN BRITISH SHIPS. At the opening on Saturday of an addi- tional house erected through the generosity of Sir Christopher Furness, M.P., in con- nection with the Homes for Little Boys at Farningham and Swanley, Kent, a letter was read from Lord Charles Beresford, who wrote:— "I entirely agree with Sir Christopher Furness's views as to the necessity of train- ing lads to be seamen in British ships. We want British seamen for British ships, and there are far too many aliens in them to be either safe or efficient if we are unfortu- nately called upon to defend ourselves in a sudden war."

It is announced in Dublin that Mr. W. B. Yeats will revive at the Abbey Theatre the late Mr. Synge's drama, "The Play Boy of the Western World." It will be remetnbpred that on the occasion of its production in Dublin in 1907 it was received with extraordinary marks of popular disapproval, the play being regarded by many as a libel on the peasantry of the West )f Ireland. Mr. R. Winfrey, M.P., secretary to Lord Carrington, announced that up to May 10 the County Councils had under the new Act pro- posed schemes for buying 17,119 acres and leas- ing 14,544 acres for small holdings, while they had applied for compulsory orders in iifty-six cases for land covering an arpa of 4.853 acres Mr. Jahn Laidlaw, a Sanquhar merchant, was found dead in bed. It was ascertained that there was a leakage in a gas pipe, and that He had been asphyxiated in his sleep. A sensational robbery was committed in broad daylight in a Dublin post-office. A small boy, who managed to get behind the counter, escaped with a cardboard box, containing about thirty sovereigns, end a quantity of silver. He was chased by the police, but was not caught. Women students of the National Health. Society now hold four appointments as factory inspectors, fifteen as sanitary inspectors in Lon- don and eight out of London, fifteen as health visitors, and two as relieving officers. On arrival at Liverpool Central Station of a Manchester express Arthur J. Lews, cf Chorl- ton-on-Medlock, Manchester, was found dead in a pool of blood in a first-class compartment with a revolver by his side. Miss Mildred de Beck Porter, daughter of the Ir.to !r Alfred de Bock Porter, was knocked down on a field path near Barnct- by a seaman uamcd Gecrae Wood, who was sentenced to two month?' hard labour. Albert Gardner, a stockman, of Boxtcd Essex, was served by error with a judgment sumiilq",s intended v for another man. HE immediaTely went into his fowlhouse aud sho himself dead. Britain consumes 47,000,000cwts. of meat s year, 120lbs. per head of the population, said Mr. Hooker, at the Royal Statistical Society Only 54 per cent. of this, he added, is produced at home. The Prince of Wales, the master, and thi elder brethren of Trinity House, entertained" i distinguished company, including many Cabinet Ministers and ex-Ministers, at dinner at theii headquarters on Tower-hill. Two men were arrested near Paris for tht murder of a man who was found with sixteer knife wounds in his body. The men admitted that they had killed their victim to rob him He had one penny in his pocket.

OTHER MEN'S BUNDS. I ? 1 The average Englishman is thoughtless, and getting more and more thoughtless.— THE MAYOR or WELLS. "THE MOVING FINGER WRITES." .1 The verdict of most public, or at any rate Parliamentary, speakers would be that the kindly sponge of sympathetic oblivion is often to be preferred to the cruel fidelity of the verbatim report.—THE PRIME MINISTER. RELIGIOUS EQUALITY. I If we are to have a truly tolerant religi- ous system we must have equal opportunity and encouragement to all varieties of religi- ous expression.Siu ALFRED CRIPPS, K.C. THE THREE HOODS. Good motherhood; manly fatherhood; happy healthy childhood—with these three qualities, and afterwards with education, training, discipline, and character, there is no reason for us to fear for the future of the State.—MR. JOHN BURNS, M.P. HUMAN NATURE. Wherever one goes one sees a British Colony and the British flag, and it is no use pretending that such a spectacle must not be at times a little bit disappointing and irritat- ing to our Continental neiahbours.-Mu. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P. QUITE ENGLISH. Nine-tenths of the difficulties that obstruct Socialism and every other advance that Te- quires organisation and co-operation, consist jn the propensity of Englishmen to contra- dict, insult and quarrel with one another, and then trump up moral indictments to ex- cuse their manners. We are all vain; we are all spiteful. To complain of such things is to complain that the leaves are green and the sky blue.-Mu. G. B. SHAW. TRADESMEN AND BAZAARS. Churches ought not to be allowed to deve- lop into trading concerns which are a drain upon the resources of the congregation and a menace to the trading community in the neighbourhood in which they take place. If the clergy encourage the holding of bazaars they will never have the friendship or the moral or practical support of the vt majority of the trading community. -MR. HEATHCOTE MEAKIN. SERVANT DIFFICULTY SOLVED. I have never had any difficulty in keeping servants; if there is any difficulty it is in getting them to go away, for they wish to «tay with me all the rest of their lives. I make it a rule never to interfere with the work of a servant. I simply each morning write down on a slate what the servants are to do, and I never impose any censure. I alsD like my servants to go out whenever pos- sible and enjoy themselves as much as they -can.—ARCHDEACON SINCLAIR. PAID BY LOOKERS-ON. I have taken the trouble to make up a re- turn of what was spent at football matches, and I find that X10,000 was spent every Sat- urday afternoon. It was a gross waste of money that men should go and stand and took at twenty-two men kicking a piece of leather about.-Siii WILLIAM ARROLL. CHURCH AND STATE. The happiest condition of human society is that in which the Church and State coincide. When, unhappily, they differ neither of them has any absolute or Divine right to override the other, and the individual can not escape the responsibility of his private conscience by an absolute submission to either.-THE DEAN OF CANTERBURY. tfWE WON'T WAIT." One of the reasons for the failure of the -Chartist movements was that the Chartists asked too much. They demanded, like some noisy people a few weeks ago, to have some- thing, and they would not wait. It may be taken as a fixed principle of English life that people who will not wait hardly ever get :what they want.-PRoFESSOR MASTEBMAN. THE SMOKE EVIL. The smoke nuisance concerns everybody, "the poor as well as the rich; for the poor it make3 it impossible for their houses to be clean, impossible for them to grow vege- tables in their gardens; it injures their lives, .because smoke precludes the admission through it of the most health-giving violet rays, the darkness leads to depression, and depression to drink. It is harmful to every building; stone, marble, ifbn, steel, copper, bronze, even gold, are injured by it.-Sip. W. B. RICHMOND. NAVIES OF THE FUTURE. I So long as the decisive element in inter- national combat is naval armament we must, of course, maintain our "nearer three than two to one" supremacy at sea over the next strongest European Power. But the most ardent advocate of the two-keels-to-one etandard need not hesitate to recognise the fact that this is but the last spurt of a struggle the final issue of which will be de- cided not on the water but in the air. So long as the competition is kept up we must hold our leading position. But the future ibelongs not to Dreadnoughts but to aero- planes.—MR. W: T. STEAD. OBSTACLES. I Our present social and economic conditions are a travesty of our religion, and is it any wonder that the best of the non-Christian races treat our pretensions with contempt? Poverty and privilege must go. The spiritual unity of the race is unrealisable until they do.—THE REV. R. J. CAMPBELL. UNSETTLING WEEK-END. I Facilities for locomotion have created the iWeek-end, and I fear that the power of get- ting away is used in a spirit the least in the iworld capable of making for the cohesion, fellowship, and duty of home life.—THE BISHOF OF DURHAM. LONDON TOO BIG. I From the point of view of the civic patriot London is almost impossible. It is too large jto be a city; it has none of the associations -or conditions or memories that could make a nation. It has tried its best, with very in- different success, to be a kind of federation of great cities, but I know by experience how hard it is to develop much sense of civic pride or civic patriotism in the inhabitants of great cities, or places such as Bethnal Green, Stepney, or Poplar.—THE ARCHBISHOP or [YORK. DEAD AND ALIVE. The Court of Appeal is an awfully dreary jplaoe. However acute you may be m dissect- ing an affidavit, compare the interest you feel in an affidavit with that which you take in a living witness. I like the living witness best.-LORD JUSTICE VAUGHAN WILLIAMS. SCOTLAND AHEAD. I In Scotland every village schoolmaster is educated enough to carry every bright boy up to the university. The result is that Scot- tish people are the best educated in th,e ,world.-Sin J. T. BRUNNER. IRELAND'S FAITH. J I never heard the "nerves" of Mr. Balfour but I think of Sir Robert Peel and Catholic Emancipation. Home Rule will come in the same way. I care not from what party it comes; but come it will, and come soon, and the moment Home Rule is granted it will mean liberty for Ireland as it will mean strength and unity to the Empire.-MR. J. REDMOND, M.P.

Thirty-five thousand employees of the in- dependent steel companies in Pittsburg, whose wages were cut 10 per cent. last month, have been notified that the old scale will be restored on June 1 owing to the recovery in business. Mr. C. E. Hobhouse, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, stated in the House of Commons that negotiations were in progress for the pur- chase by the Government of the Thorney estate in the Fen country from the Duke of Bedford.

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