Abergavenny Chronicle

With his wife in the asylum, and three child- ren in the workhouse, George Hudson was charged at Ashton with neglecting to pay for the support of his family. Since 1907 the Guar- dians had spent over X100 in maintaining the family. Three months' hard labour. After swallowing a nail l1 inches long, a* child named Cyril Endfield, aged three years, became ill, eventually dying on December 19 at the Children's Hospital, Great Ormond-street. A verdict of "Death by misadventure was re- turned at the inquest. A bomb exploded at midnight in a grocery stores at Palermo. The owner had refused to pay .£lOOO blackmail exacted by the Mafia, and this was the society's method of taking revenge. The damage caused by the explosion was com- paratively slight.

IS IT MURDER? I The mystery surrounding the death of a boy about four years old, whose dead body was discovered on Sunday in a pond midway between the villages of Lambourne and Abridge, in Hainhault Forest, on the borders of Epping Forest, is engaging the attention of the Epping police. The body was in a perfectly nude state and very much decomposed, having apparently been in the water for some weeks. No marks could be found likely to lead to identifica- tion, and there were no indications of violence, but the police have nevertheless formed the conclusion that the case is one of murder, and are pursing investigations with a view to tracing the parents of the child. The theory is held that the little boy had been stripped of his clothing and thrown into the pond. Hainault Forest is a favourite foaunt of gipsies, with whom the Conservators have constant trouble. There is very little to go upon, the state of the body being such that the circulation of a description could be of little value in the search. The fact that the body had remained so long 'undiscovered is an indication of the loneliness of the place. Save for the pos- sibility of a further development, the police ha.ve little hope of being able to discover how death occurred.

FATAL FIRES. d I A fire occurred in some farm out-buildings at Blessington, Dublin County, on Christ- mas morning, and a man named Andrew Murphy, who had been asleep in the loft, was burnt to death. On Sunday two children died at Bray from the effects of burns. They were left in a room with an unguarded fire, and their clothing became ignited. On Monday afternoon a fire broke out in the workshops of Messrs. Dixon, boot manu- facturers, Gallowgate, Newcastle. The damage is estimated at about £ 10,000. In the London district a serious fire oc- curred on Monday in Rockingham-street, Newington-causeway, on premises rented by a firm of druggists and sundriesmen. It is surmised that the fire had been started by someone throwing a light into the place from the street. A "District Call" was sig- nalled. Great damage was done. On Monday there was an outbrer': at Queen's-road, Hastings, in a second-hand clothes shop. Firemen entered 1he base- ment and found the outlet blocked by iron bars. Just as the water supply gave out, Captain Cruttended and others rushed down and tore the bars away, and succeeded in liberating their comrades. Three children were saved from the next house. —————

DIED AFTER DESERTION. I A strange story of the last days of a six months' old baby was told at the Islington Coroner's Court on Monday during an in- quest on the body of Frederick Douglas. The evidence showed that some weeks ago a gentleman asked a shopkeeper in City-road to recomend a nurse to take charge of a child for one night, and it was arranged that Mrs. Terry, a widow, should receive the infant, which was brought to her by a lady the same night. This person said that another lady would call the next day for the child, but instead two gentlemen came and said that the lady could not come until the Fri- day following. Then the child was admitted into the Islington Infirmary, where it died. It was stated that the mother of the child was supposed to be in Africa. The Coroner considered that Mrs. Terry did her best for the infant. The jury returned a verdict of "Death from natural causes."

Record catches of herrings are reported from the north-west of Ireland, and the twenty-four inhabitants of Innisbaffin Island have already earned nearly < £ 2,000. Mr. Francis McLaren, the Liberal candidate for the Spalding. Division, who is only twenty- three years of age, is believed to be the youngest parliamentary candidate in the United Kingdom. School children in Berwickshire and the border districts recently barred their teachers out and took possession of the schools In ful:al.i ment of a custom that dates from pre-Reforma- tion times.

A verdict of "Death by misadventure" was returned at the adjourned inquest at Rother- hithe into the drowning of two men, Harry Shirling and Fred William Cullon, through the capsizing of a tug in the Thames. Mr. E. J. Grinett, meat inspector to the Pad- dington Borough Council, obtained a magis- trate's order for the destruction of nineteen turkeys, which he had taken possession of at a large West-end provision dealer's shop.. In consequence of' indisposition, the- Rev. R. J. Campbell has gone to the Riviera.

CHRISTMAS STOWAWAYS. A romantic story comes from Lundy Island. On Christmas forenoon the captain of the Rollesby, which left Barry early that morning, bound for Melbourne with coal, discovered, when nearing Hartland, that he had two stowaways on board. They had come out from their cramped hiding place because of excessive cold and hunger. The captain bore the vessel round to Lundy Roads, and landed the. two on the island. The stowaways are respectably dressed young men. They are quite out of the ordinary stowaway class. It is not generally known that it is illegal to land stowaways on Lundy Island, which is the private property of th, lord of the manor resident there. It is obviously necessary to have this prohibition, inasmuch as there is no medical assistance obtainable on the island in the event of diseases being intro- duced by stowaways, in addition to which the inhabitants are at times unable to obtain the necessary food supplies for themselves from the mainland. In this case there was ample Christmas fare, and the "dumped" visitors were well cared for until they could be sent to the mainland. The names of the stowaways are John O'Keefe, of Dublin, and Charles Hay- ward, of London.

COLLISION IN THE MERSEY. i On Monday the Bibby liner Derbyshire and a large- oil-tank steamer named the Saranac collided in the Mersey, and serious damage was done to both ships. Both vessels had recently arrived in the river, and were opposite Birkenhead prepar- ing to enter the dock when the collision oc- curred. The crash was heard on the Liver- pool landing-stage. 1! There was & hMC at the time of the acci- dent, and so severe was the collision that the oil-tank had her bows practically ripped out, while the Derbyshire was very seriously in- jured in the neighbourhood of the engine- room in fact, the water poured into her so rapidly that she was taken by tugs over the Brunswick Bank, on which she gradually set- tled down, with her upper decks clear of the water. After the tide had gone down the large vessel rested almost perfectly clear of the water. She lay on a fairly even keel on the soft mud, and a rent about 12ft. wide was to be seen amidships. Later on it was found that her steel water- tight bulkheads would keep her afloat, and, as the tide rapidly rose, she was taken off the bank, and went up the river, where she came to anchor.

TREATS MURDER CHARGE LIGHTLY. On Monday, at the Holyhead Police-court, Superintendent Protheroe gave sensational evidence in connection with the death of a hawker named Gwen Ellen Jones. It was alleged that William Murphy, the prisoner, had brutally murdered the woman, and had afterwards visited the police-station and con- fessed. The superintendent stated that Murphy "told him the body was in a trench, and care- lessly offered to show him the spot where the corpse was lying. Witness added that on going to the spot in- dicated he found the body in a deep drain- cutting with a ghastly wound in the neck and one hand covering the throat, as if she had: tried to protect it. The prisoner declared that he had nothing to say, but added that what the superinten- dent had said was correct. He then turned and laughed at the con- stables in charge of him, and, being re- manded and taken below, he said, Good afternoon all. Another week's rest."

KETTLE CAUSES DEATH. v On Monday the Watford coroner held an inquiry concerning the death of an elderly married woman named Waterman. The evidence showed that Mr. and Mrs. Waterman had a gas stove in the bedroom, and that in the morning the latter was found suffocated, while her husband was un- conscious. The theory is that a kettle on the stove boiled over and put out the gas, thus allow- ing it to escape. The jury returned a verdict of "Acciden- tal death." The husband has recovered.

BOY'S MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE. The Dublin police are mystified by the re- ported disappearance of a little boy named Christopher Quinn, son of a drayman. One of the boy's companions states that when they were playing in the street on Thursday evening a strange man approached them and asked Quinn if he would like to go to the country. On Quinn replying in the affirmative the stranger took him to the rail- way station, got into the train with him, and departed. No trace of eitiher has been discovered.

I TWO CLERGYMEN DIE SUDDENLY. t Two deaths, which in many particulars are strikingly coincident, are reported from different parts of the country over Christ- mafetide. The deceased gentlemen were both clergy- men who had held their livings for nearly a quarter of a. century, both were sixty-one years of age, and both died soon after con- ducting their services, one on Christmas Day and one on Sunday. The Rev. F. O. Philpott, rector of Little Marcle, near Ledbury, died at the rectory after conducting the Christmas service on Saturday morning. The Rev. Clement Lucas, vicar of Leigh, near Reigate, had preached in the morning, and accompanied his wife to the evening service. He entered the vestry to robe, and as he did not appear in church Mrs. Lucas followed him. She found her husband dead. A medical man was summoned, and the service was abandoned.

I FATHER CHRISTMAS WANTED." I The strange behaviour of Santa Claus at the residence of a respected inhabitant of Bolton is engaging the attention of the police. A family who had retired on Christmas Eve were roused by a little boy, who cried, half fearfully, half gleefully, Father Christmas i a ther Christmas has been! I have seen him shining his lamp in the room." Members of the household arose and discovered that somebody had broken into the house. Later a detcetive arrived and started a search for Father Christmas's fingerprints. The police will not say very much, but from the investigations they had come to the con- clusion that the dear old gentleman did not come down the chimney.

I COAL IN A CASH BOX. I At Eastbourne on Monday Hans Wagner, a German waiter employed at the Devonshire Hotel, was accused of stealing .£8 13s. from the proprietor. It was stated that the money had been taken from a box kept in the drawer of a desk, and that the box had been filled up with coal. Police-sergeant North stated that when prisoner was ordered to turn out his boxes nothing was found. When witness put his hand up the chimney, however, he discovered money wrapped in five separate parcels. A six-chambered revolver was found on prisoner, who was remanded. I

I BANGKOK HELPS LONDON. The Rev. Henry Pitt, Vicar of St. Mary's, Southwark, has received a gift of six guineas from a Bible class in Bangkok, Siam, for the relief of the destitue unemployed in his parish. He has distributed the money among 150 men, all fathers of families, selected from the most distressing cases. Holding up the credit note in the pulpit on Sunday, Mr. Pitt said: "The sad and awful necessity for heathen Siam to send this money to feed the starving poor of London, the capital of Christian England, should fill us all with shame. I fervently hope that the dreadful need, so apparent to all, will speedily pass away." ♦

BOXING DAY SHOOTING ACCIDENT. I As the result of a Boxing Day shooting accident in Battersea, Alfred Jenner, twenty-one, a young porter, lies in a critical condition t at Bolingbroke Hospital. Jenner,! who lives in Winstanley-road, Bat- tersea, was being visited by his friend, Frank Mitchener, aged seventeen, a YOling sailor home on leave from the Nava! Barracks at Portsmouth. Mitchener had in his possession a service revolver, and, Jennei expressing a desire to know how it worked, he was proceeding to show him when it sud. denly went off, a bullet entering Jenner's head. i

.-———— Canada has bought the cruiser Rainbow from the Admiralty, and is negotiating for other large cruisers. It is stated that the King of Greece has summoned Colonel Zorbas, the leader of the Military League, to confer with him. The President of the Local Government Board has sent .£600 to Croydon for the Un- employed Relief Work.

A VICAR'S SUICIDE. ) I At the inquest at Southend relative to the death of the Rev. Henry Ciiarles Lang, Vicai of All Saints' Church, who was found dead in bed from the effects of prussic acid poisoning, a remarkable letter, which was found in his room addressed to his wife, was read. "The only way!" he had written. "Do not inquire any more. You will think me mad, but I am not. I cannot make that excuse.* Dc not think it is the religion which I have taught outwardly, but for some time have not really believed. I am an agnostic—that is, dc not believe in the possibility of a Deity exist- ing, except as a great creative principle or first cause. In spite of you and other things, life is unsupportable. You have been the only light in my life, but how unworthy I am of you. Forgive Mrs. Lang said her husband had been strange in his manner, but had nothing on his mind so far as she knew, and nothing to worry him. Mr. Hay, a chemist's assistant, said Dr. Lang bought z. of prussic acid with which to destroy a dog. A verdict of "Suicide was returned, but as to the state of his mind at the time the jury stated there was not sufficient evidence to show.

THE LAST BOTTLE. I The jury returned a verdict of Suicide whilst temporarily insane" at the inquest on James Cramp, of Cambridge-street, Coventry, who was found dead in Cuckfield Park, Sussex. Deceased cut his throat after drinking a bottle of champagne which he had obtained from a local hotel. William Henry Cramp, a foreman at the Dunlop Tyre Works, Coventry, said that de- ceased was his brother. He had plenty of money. He did a little betting. On Deoem- "ber 9 he left Coventry to go to Brighton for his health. Superintendent Brooman said deceased stayed at the White Lion Hotel, Brighton, from December 13 to December "20 under the name of Scott. He had pawned two diamond rings in Brighton, and when his bag was found in Cuck- field Park he had in his pockets £ 1 14s. 8id. The coroner said he had made away with a lot of money in a short time. The jury expressed the opinion that an attack of influenza about two years ago might have affected his mind.

BELFAST OFFICE TRAGEDY. I When Henry Geeran Workman, employed in a tile merchant's yard at Earl-street, Belfast, entered the premises in the morning he saw a light in the office window. Going into the office he found his employer, Mr. John Leeburn, aged 37, lying behind the door apparently dead, while on a chair, near a gas stove, was a woman unconscious. Assistance was at once procured, and the couple were conveyed to one of the hospitals, but it was found that the man was dead. The woman, whose name is Annie Adair, aged 32, soon recovered consciousness. It is surmised that the couple were overcome by the fumes of the gas, the office being a very small room, and the fact that the man's body was found behind the dqpr suggests that he was in the act of opening the- door to cool the office when he collapsed. In the course of a statement the woman said that some time after she entered the office Mr. Leeburn "took a weak turn," and a few minutes later she became unconscious. Mr. Leeburn was well-known in business -circles.

FOUR LOST IN COLLISION. On the arrival at Hull of the steam fish- carrier Brutus, the captain reported that when about fifty miles off Lowestoft his vessel col- lided with the Lowestoft smack Nancy. The latter was sunk, and four of her crew were drowned. One man, Alfred Beckett, of Lowes- toft, was saved, and .brought to Hull. All the men drowned belonged to Lowestoft. Beckett's escape was a remarkable one. He was in the sea an hour before being picked up. The names of the other men are: David Ellis, skipper, married; Alfred Cudmore, second liand, married; J. Colley, and Frank Hey- wood. Beckett stated that he was below when the collision occurred. He heard a scuffle on deck, and at once made for it, but met the mate coming towards him. "Get your life jacket at once," he said, "we are lost!" Water was rushing into the cabin at a furious pace. Beckett had no time to look for clothes. He grasped a life jacket and put it round him. In a few seconds the water was over the bulwarks, and he was struggling in the sea.

LADY'S REMARKABLE ESCAPE. Eastwell Park, near Ashford, owned by Lord Gerard, and tenanted by Mr. H. J. King, of the South African mining market, has been the scene of an alarming fire. A beam built into a chimney, after smoulder- ing unnoticed for some time, suddenly uurst into flames, and set fire to the upper bedrooms of the mansion. The occupants had narrow escapes. Miss Muriel King, Mr. King's daughter, was rescued just as portions of the burning ceiling fell on to her bed. The fire was confined to the upper bedrooms, but damage amounting to nearly £1,000 was done before the flames were extinguished. Eastwell Park is famous for its view, which Defoe declared was the finest he had ever seen, and, although the building is modern, it has many interesting historical associations.. a

SEAMEN'S TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. The steamer Prestonian, of the Bacon Line, Liverpool, arrived at Milford Haven with the schooner Dantzic, of Watchet, Somerset, in tow. The schooner was on a voyage from Swansea to Treport, France, and met the full force of the gale in Carmarthen Bay. The sails were torn to ribbons, and the deck swept clean. The vessel sprang a leak, and the crew had to man the pumps. When night came the cook, Wm. McGowan, of Paisley, lit flares, actually burning his own clothing one garment at a time. He himself was badly injured, while another man, Wm. Hammond, of Jersey, fell dead soon afterwards from exposure. The others—Charles Askcock (skipper and owner), Wm. Parsons (mate), and the cook- suffered terrible privations. They were landed at Milford, and the schooner was beached.

PIT-CAGE ACCIDENT. Three miners sustained terrible injuries at St. Helen's, necessitating their removal to hospital, and five others were lees seriously hurt, as the result' of the pit-cage being lowered too rapidly, at Groves Colliery, belonging to the St. Helen's Colliery Company. A number of men had been brought to the surface and the cfjlliers working the afternon turn were being lowered. Eight of these were descending the mine when, the speed apparently not having been checked in time, the cage bumped heavily on the landing-place. Fortunately it was held by the catches, which prevented immersion in the dib hole. The men are progressing favour- ably.

WHITECHAPEL POVERTY. In his annual report the rector of White- chapel mentions the case of a home where the = consisted of an onion pudding. "I had a little bit of flour and an onion," said the mother, "so I made a bit of paste and put the onion inside and boiled it." A octor in another case gave a man a bottle of medicine, "to be taken three times a dav of medicine, "What's the good of that," after meals. said the wife, "when he hasn't had a meal for two days?" The rector finds the problem of poverty in Whitechapel a tremendous difficulty.

IN THE PUBLIC EYE. I c I A BISHOP'S SON. I I The Rev. Launcelot Jefferson Percival, Vicar of St. James's, Fulham, who las been appointed Rector of St. Mary's, Bryanston- square, in succession to Dr. Russell Wake- field, is the third son of the Bishop of Here- ford, and has long been regarded by those well acquainted with him as likely to make his mark. He was resident chaplain to Bishop Creighton for some years, and is a close friend of the present Bishop of London. St. Mary's, Bryanston-square, has frequently proved a stepping-stone to high preferment, the last three occupants of the living having all been promoted to deaneries-namely, Dr. Fremantle, now Dean of Ripon, Dr. Leigh, now Dean of Hereford, and Dr. Wakefield, who has been appointed to Norwich. St. Mary's is one of the most important churches in the West End, and is attended by a good many people of light and leading, Lord George Hamilton I being one of the church- wardens. -:0:- V BOSK A DUTCHMAN. I One of the most interesting of our peers is Lord Reay, who has just celebrated his seventieth birthday. !He is by birth a Dutchman, but became a* naturalised British subject in 1877. He has a Dutch title as well as an English one, for he remains Baron Mackay of Ophemert, in Hol- land, while he is also chief of the Clan Mackay in Scotland. At heart he is a thorough Britisher. He is con- nected with a number of learned and other societies, and he was the first President of the British Academy in 1902. He was Governor of Bombay from 1885 to 1890, and for a short time he was Under-Secretary for India. Lord Keay is descended from Sir Donald Mackay, who fought for Gustavus Adolphus. i A • A COLONIAL DIPLOMATIST. I Sir Horace Tozier, who is about to resign the office of Agent-General for Queensland in this country, was born and bred in New South Wales, but went to Queensland while yet in his teens. There he entered the legal profession, and was admitted a solicitor in 1866 being then in his twenty-second year. One of the pioneers of the Gmypie goldfields, he practiced there for many years, and be- came an expert in mining law. His political career began in 1888. In that year, on his return from a visit to England, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as member for Wide Bay. Two years later he was Colonial Secretary, and in that capacity took a foremost part in settling the great Shearers' Strike, which had its origin in Queensland. For his successful handling of this extremely difficult situation Sir Horace received his K.C.M.G. ■ n • I s A N. PEER. The Hon. Robert Alfred Hardcastle Collier, who has succeeded his father in the peerage as Lord Monkswell, is thirty-four years of age. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cam- bridge, and is a clerk in the Foreign Office. The late Lord Monkswell was all his life a staunch Liberal, and was one of the small minority who voted against the rejec- tion of the Budget by the House of Lords. He was best known, how- ever, for his work in connection with the London County Coun- cil, of which he was chairman in 1902. He was one of the original members of the London Parliament, having been elected for the Hagger- ston Division at the first election in January, 1889. For a great many years he was a member of the Asylums Committee, and for some time he was chairman of the Industrial Schools Committee, IL and presided over the General Purposes Com- mittee. -:0: I BROTHERS IN ARMS. General Sir Edward Earle Gascoyne Bulwer, G.C.B., Colonel of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and nephew of the first Lord Lytton, who has just completed his eightieth, year, entered the Army at he age of twenty. He served first in Bulgaria, and next in the Crimea, being present at the battle of Alma and before' Sebastopol. In 1857, on the outbreak of the Mutiny, he went to India, and assisted at the siege and capture of Lucknow, afterwards being selected for the com- mand of a special column,, which had several successful engagements. Later on he was for twelve years with the Headquarters Staff, and from 1889 to 1894 acted as Lieutenant-Governor in Guernsey. Sir Edward resides at Heydon, Norfolk, his birthplace, as does also his brother, Brigadier-General William Earle Gascoyne Lytton Bulwer, C.B., who is a year older. He likewise served in the Crimea, and was severely wounded at the battle of the Alma. 0: I SECRETARY FOB AGRICULTURE. The appointment of Sir Edward Strachey, M.P., to the newly-created post of Parliamentary Secre- tary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries was expected, for he has during the past two or three sessions been the un- official spokesman in the House of Com- mons for the Board. Sir E. Strachey was born at Clifton,Bristol, in 1858, his father being Sir E. Strachey, of Sutton Court, Somerset. He was edu- cated at Christ Church, Oxford, and first entered Parlia- ment in 1892 as mem- ber for South Somer- set. He has identified himself specially with I agricuicaral and friendly societies' interests, and during the present Parliament has acted as the representative of the Board of Agriculture in the House of Commons. —— • F\ • I THE FORD LECTURER. The Hon. John Fortescue, who has just been elected "Ford Lecturer" at Oxford, is a son of the third Earl Fortescue, and has been for some years the librarian of Windsor Castle. He is best known by his monumental "History of the British Army," but he has written other books, chiefly on military topics. He also knows more than most people about the wild red deer of Exmoor. The "Ford Lectureship" is of rather recent foundation. It is really the abor- tive professorship of English history endowed by the late Mr. Ford, who was rector of Nave- stock, near Ongar. It has been degraded to a lectureship because the stipend was considered insufficient to support the dignity of a pro- fessor. -:0:- A HOUSEHOLD APPOINTMENT. Mr. William Dudley Ward, M.P., has succeeded Sir Edward Strachey as Treasurer of the House- I hold. Mr. Ward has represented Southampton, as junior member, since the last General Election. He has won greater fame as an athlete than as a politician up to the present. For three years he rowed in the Cambridge Eight, and helped to break Oxford's long series of victories. Mr. Ward was born in 1877, and was edu- cated at Eton and Trinity. He- was called to the Bar in 1904, but he practices politics. He has acted as, assistant private secretary (unpaid) to Mr. Lewis Harcourt, First Commissioner of Works.

A splendid consignment of trout, including a ber of American rainbows, has been placed in the Thames at Henley by the Henley Fisheries Preservation Association. The fish ranged from lOin. to 14Jin, in length, and num- bered nearly 300. Garsden Milkovitch laughed so heartily at the plight of a friend who stumbled into a marsh at Despotovitch (Servia) that he leaned upon his gun to rest. It went off and shot him dead.

HOW WAGS THE WORLD ? I FIRST TIME IN FRANCE. 1 The Civil Court of St. Etienne has awarded a young woman £80 damages for breach of promise of marriage. Her fiance had broken off a two years' engagement without any reason on the day that the banns were published. This is the first action for breach in which a verdict with damages has ever been given in Franoe. SOLD A PINT OF BLOOD. I Sixty men in New York answered an adver- tisement calling for a volunteer to surrender for £5 a pint of blood, to be transferred into the veins of Isidore Jellenek, a wealthy pro- perty agent. Three strong men were selected, and one of these was chosen to undergo the operation. He was stretched beeide the invalid on a table, and by means of a Cryle tube the seller's radial artery was connected with the medium basilic vein of the pur- chaser. Cocaine treatment locally prevented great pain. The heart action of both bodies aids the transfusion of the vital fluid to the anaemic • veins of the patient. After the operation the man who gave up his blood was unable to walk for two or three days. His first sensation after the operation was of dizziness and great thirst. The sick man felt Ommediate improvement. NEWSBOY TO OPERA STAR. I William Miller, w ho until fifteen years ago Was a ragged newspaper boy on the streets of Pittsburg, has been engaged by the Munich ten6r for the Royal Opera to act as leading tenor for the season, at a salary of £ 2,400. His rise started when a Pittsburg music teacher heard him singing choruses of popular songs among a crowd of newsboys at a local theatre. A RECORD RIDE. I A Russian cavalry officer has accomplished a remarkable ride of 1,250 miles from Riepin, in the Government of Plotzk, to St. Peters- burg. He covered an average of nearly 44 miles daily, and in the last two days rode 86 miles and 56 miles respectively. His horse was about 26 years old. The officer lost six pounds in weight and the horse 45 pounds. NATAL'S UNIVERSITY. I I STATE-OWNED MINES. I New Zealand has its State coal-mine, and South Australia is proposing to undertake a similar venture. The proposed purchase relates to a mine at Maitland, in N.S.W. It is expected that by this means and the expen- diture of some E200 000 in developing the property, a saving of about £30,000 a year on its coal bill will be effected immediately, and considerably more as time proceeds. I SERMONS SUPPLIED. A syndicate established in the United States undertakes to provide pastors of any denomination with one sermon a week for an inclusive payment of < £ 2 a year. In the pro- spectus of the syndicate, the sermons for sale are guaranteed to contain from 2,200 to 2,500 words, and described as being "strictly up-to-date and containing allusions to cur- rent affairs and matters of national in- terest. I DAYLIGHT SAVING IN VICTORIA. A Daylight Saving Bill is being considered by a Victorian Parliamentary Committee. The chief inspector of factories has stated j that he has made inquiries among 343 em- ployers in Melbourne, Bendigo, Ballarat, alil Geelong, and of this number 303, repre- seating 22,480 employees, were in favour of the bill. I AUSTRALIA'S PENSIONERS. At the end of October Australia's old-age pensioners numbered 56,204. In respect of 40,195 of these liability has been taken over by the Commonwealth from the Govern- ments of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, and a total of 16,009 pensions have been granted under the Federal scheme to persons resident in the six States. The annual cost is estimated at £ 1,400,000. I MOOSE OF THE EMPIRE. New Zealand is to receive an important addition to ite stock of big game in the shape of a herd of Canadian moose. The Government was anxious to experiment with some of the big game of the Canadian North- West, and an order was given to a veteran trapper and hunter of the Beaver Hills to try and secure twenty young animals, with the result that seventeen baby moose have been secured. All New Zealand's deer, it is stated, have thus been introduced, none of the present big game of that Dominion being native to the country. I "MARRIAGE DAY" IN AMERICA. In one respect Thanksgiving Day in America may be likened to the Easter Bank Holiday in England. On Thanksgiving Day the matrimonial army in the United States is more-largely recruited than on any other day in the year. The number of weddings solemnised this year is believed to constitute a record, the total being roughly estimated at between six and seven thousand. There were 1,000 in Chicago, 125 in Cincinnati, 100 at Richmond (Virginia), 146 at Baltimore, 300 at Pittsburg, and 2,300 at St. Louis. The number for New York is estimated at about 1,100. I NOT IMPRESSED. A practical joker recently made his first trip to Niagara Falls, and a guide that lie hired was trying to impress him with their magnitude, says an American paper. "Grand!" suggested the guide. The visitor did not seem impressed. "Millions of gallons a minute," explained the guide. "How many in a day?" asked the tourist. "Oh, billions and billions," said the guide. The other looked across and down and up, as if gauging the flow, and then turned away in a bored manner. "Runs all night, too, I suppose? he remarked nonchalantly. The guide never recovered. QUICKER THAN THOUGHT. I It is declared in New York that Nikola Tesla, the well-known American inventor, "has practically perfected a new system of telegraphy and telephony, which differs from the present wireless system in that it utilises as the transmitting agency, not waves of air, but the inherent conductivity of the earth itself. Space, time, and the elements it almost utterly disregards," and, says the an- nouncement, Mr. Tesla is confident that the day when one may talk round the world by wireless telephone at a trifling cost has now dawned. He asserts that distance is no ob- stacle, as in the case of the air wireless, that any number of receiving stations may be used, and that not only will messages across and around the world become incredibly cheap, but that any map anywhere in the world may, by placing to his ear a receiver purchased for a dollar or two, hear an opera in Paris, Melbourne, Vienna, or New York. He had proved from a station he had already established that the very powerful current developed by e transmitter traversed the d-evelo p globe, and returned to its starting point in an interval of eighty-four one- thousandths of a second.

The movement for the establishment of a University College in Natal has now taken definite shape. Instruction is to be given in literature, law, science and art, and other studies; and the course of studies shall be such as may from time to time be prescribed by the Cape of Good Hope Uhiversity. Designs for the University buildings have already been called for from South African architects, and the Agent-General in London has sent out numerous applications he has re- ceived from candidates for the Professorial Chairs, five in number, each of the annual value of £600.

EXPLOSION ON A TRAWLER. CAPTAIN'S TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE On Sunday the captain and one man of the Cardiff steam trawler Monarch arrived at Ballyheigue Harbour (on the Kerry coast) in- a very exhausted condition. They stated that the Monarch's main steam pipe had burst on Christmas Eve, when they were about eighty miles off the Blasket Island, four of the crew being terribly scalded. The vessel became disabled, and as there was no means of getting medical succour for the suffering men the captain and one man took to the small boat in the hope of reach- ing the shore to get assistance. After a tremendous struggle against the heavy seas-during which their tiny boat was frequently on the point of being iawamped-th,ey managed to land at Bally- heigue. The Ferrit lifeboat went out immediately to search for the Monarch, on which there are seven men, and H.M.S. Thrush was dis- patched from Queenstown to search for the trawler. All the coastguard stations around the coast have been wired to in the hope that they may give some news of her whereabouts. It is thought possible that she may reach the Shannon under sail, that is if there is anyone on board capable of navigating her in the awful weather which has prevailed since the captain left her. The skipper, with one hand, covered ninety The skitph i?; open boat in search of help- The trawler was only provisioned for a short passage, and lack of food naturally, adds to the miseries of those on board.

I SENTENCES FOR SUFFRAGETTES. At Liverpool, on Monday, Selina Martin (alias Mary Richards) and Leslie Hall, two London suffragists, were charged on remand with disorderly conduct outside the Reform Club on the occasion of Mr. Asquith's visit. The women were disguised as orange sel- lers, and just after Mr. Asquith had entered the club one of them threw an empty bottle into the motor-car, while the other was caught in the act of throwing a piece of iron. She had her pocket full of ironnuta and bolts. Both had been previously convicted. Martin was fined 40s., with the alternative of a month's imprisonment, and Hall waa sent to prison for a month with hard labour. Martin was further charged with breaking fourteen panes of glass at Liverpool Prison last August while locked up for disturbing a political meeting addressed by Mr. Haldane. She then gave the name of Richards, and evaded service of the warrant until her pre- sent arrest, when she was identified for this offence. She was sentenced to two months with hard labour. ———— —— it.

Miss Viola Tree will make her debut as an operatic singer as Eurydice in Gluck's '■ Orpheus," which will be given by Miss Marie Brema at a West End theatre shortly after Easter. A middle-aged woman was found walking in her sleep in High-road, Kilburn. during the early hours of the morning with nothing on but her nightdress. She was taken by a policeman to a railway station waiting-room near by, and was driven home in a private carriage, with a doctor and nurse in attendance.