Abergavenny Chronicle

STREET LIGHTS FOR SMOKERS. I The High WTyeombe Corporation are en- deavouring to cope with the shortage of matches. In certain well-frequented parts of the town they have placed tin boxes con- taining pipe-lighting gas jets for the con- venience of smokers.

BOARDING STEAMER SUNK. I Admiralty. One of H.M. armed boarding steamers tvas torpedoed and sunk by a German sub- marine on the 5th iust. Seven men, includ- ing four of the mercantile crew, are missing, presumed drowned. i

do 1 A London policeman named Philcox cap- fcured a 201b. codfish from D^bl Pier. Marylebone Council has arranged to keet three pigs at a shelter house in Grove-road. Dr. E. C. Maguire, one of Brighton's best-Jmown medical men, has died, aged forty-nine. Mrs. Loader, of Sherborne, Dorset, has teoeived a letter from her husband, Charles Loader, who was posted as "missing" three and a half years ago, after the sinking of H.M.S. Niger in the Downs. He is a pri- soner of war. A cat upset a paraffin lamp which set a bed on fire, and George H. Parsons, York- road, Islington, a child of four, was fatally burned. £100 damage was done by a mad cow which rushed into tho showrooms of a monu- mental workg at Baliymena and Smashed five headstones. Admiral Sturdee, of Flaklands fame, ad- dressing school children in Kent, said that ail Britishers now look on girls as the back- bone of the Empire.

J SUCCESSFUL LOCAL OPERATION NORTH OF 3STKUNE. ENEMY GUNS ACTIVE. The following rep-ort, :\om Sir Douglas Uaijj have been issued by the War Otfioe;- Saturday, 10.45 a.m. A successful local operation was carried out last nig'lit by Hugvisii and ^oottish bat- talions north or Bethuue, over duty pri- soners being taken. A. few prisoners and three machine-grins were capture by us i- ring the sight aa the result oi successful raids in tea Villers Breton neux sector. A raid attempted by the enemy upon one of our po,-t-; in Aveluy Wood was repulsed. I Local figktiug took place during the night; abowt certain" of our forward poets east of I Kieppe Foreert. Saturday, 10.0 p.m. The nHmiwr of prisoners taken by us in the successful operation -carried out last night nortk of Bethune is 106, We also captured several mac hine-guma. As the re- sult of this attack our trsops have gained possession of the enemy's forward positions on a front of two miles, securing all objec- tives. In the fightin- reported this marning east of Nieppe Forest the enemy, by a local attack carried out and-a: 1. heavy bombard- meat, succeeded in driving in three of our advanced poits west of Vieux Berqain. Hostile artillery was active this morning fiast of Arras, and ha*> »h<wa SGX8 activity I Jthis afternoon north of J Sunday, 10.27 a.m. Yesterdav a fternoon one o our raiding partis ent?r<d a (?crn?n peat aouth-w?t of Merris, and bronrht back eleven prisoners. Other succ?-eful ra\d wrTM?d out bv us during the night south «f the Sommo and in tho neiyhbouiMioed of Hebutxcno resulted in the oapturo of seventeen prisoners and three jmaohine-gnris. Hostile artillery developed considerable activity during the night uortn of Bethune and between Locro and the Ypres-Commes Canal, being mpccially active early this morning a tho neighbourhood of Dicken- beseh Lake.

AIR FIGHTS AT SEA. ——- < -—— ONB BRITISH MACHINE AGAINST SEVEN j Recent announcements made by the Ad- miralty indicated aerial activity on the part of the German Naval Air Ser- vice in the North Sea, leading to a number of combats between British and enemy sea- planes. Details now to hand show that these encounters were of a most exciting charac- I ter, and that our airmea more than held their oyvia. On the afternoon of Juno 4 five British seaplanes set out from one of our East Coast bases for patrol purposes, and for three hours failed to encooxter any hostile craft. NVhem, however the patrol was some die- 4a ace off eue of the seaplanes •was forced to descend to the water owing to a broken petrol pipe. While our machines were circling round the oamaged craft five hostile were atid pursued, "hut they avoided engagement. with our forces, although in superior strength. Our seaplanes then roVarnod to the damaged machine, which was being repaired, A few minutes later two more hostile sea- planes were sighted and chafed off. Half an hour later ten hostile seaplanes were seen coming it the direction of our craft, which immediately went forward to give action. A sharp fight occurred between our four machines and. Use ten enemy craft, in which two cTifniy pinned were riddl-ed with shot and crashed into the sea. one burst into flames just before it reached the water. A British seaplane was damagecl. and eventually landed in Ireland. DEATH IX MID-AIR. During the fight two hostile seaplanes were detached, from the main body, and an excit- ing air duel followed, in the oourse of which one of our assistant pilots was shot through the head and killed instantaneously. The chief pilot, however, continued to navigate the machine, and was attacked from the rear and below by aeven enemy machines. The pilot nose-dived iinmeciateiv, and put up a running fight from tb stera with all seven machines, and eventually succeeded in fore- ing them to break 64-w the pursuit. While climbing again to pic.k up the other British machines, the petrol-pipe on this sea- plane also broke, ncoi-ssitating a landing when ten miles off the Dutch coast. The seaplane was repaired, and was able to re- sume ito flight within ten minutes, and found two of the other British seaplanes. A further search for the enemy proved fruitless, and our craft then returned to their base. It subsequently transpired that the British machine which had had a break- down two hours before the battle was de- stroyed by its own crew after it had reached Dutch waters, and that the crew swam ashore. The crew of both British seaplanes are now interned in Holland. I

SUCH IS INTUITION. Many people regard intuition as an almost magical "faculty, as something higher than reason and intelligence, old as being pecu- liar to women. As* a matter cf fact it is Bi.rhply a Suf quality of intelligence, aided by sensitiveness; it is pc*e.xl by many men, and not always by women. The in- tuitive person drYtT from one of more com- monplace to di. tinguish what may be called the inner or subtler side of facts Just in the same way some men and women can distinguish tints, tones, scent, and flavours which are im- perceptible to others. The intuitive person is gl!td, H-O to .pe:u:, with keen mental evesioht, and gees readily through the shams and disguises which impose on n,ost people. Given refinement, sensitiveness, and" n (I intuition is tioon evolved.

ECONOMY IN CHINA. No economy is like that of the Chinese. On a little arid patch of ground which an Englhh farmer would, leave untilled the Chinaman, by dint of tcii and careful fer- tilisation, will raise rick crops of fruit and vegetables. Everything is turned to ac- count. Old clothing is sold to second-hand dealers, and goes from one class to another until it becomes rags. Even then the rags are washed and iron.ed and pasted together to form the soks of Chinese shoes. All icinds of metals are saved. Old meat and fruit tins are beaten out flat and used for roofing houses. Rubbish which cannot be turned to account in any other way in con- verted into fuel,

"I have failed m business and lost every- thing I am in arrears with my rent and am daily expecting to b: called up for the Army," wrote a debtor to" Clerkenwell County-court. 1

I —*— FIVE HOURS' FLIGHT TO DESTROY [ A BRIDGE. The following details of a recent night raid by Britons illustrate the remarkable efficiency and skill of the bombing sections of the Royal Air Force. Along one very long stretch of river in Belgium there was only one railway bridge across which troops and munitions could pass to the Front. This bridge lay 120 miles behind the Geranan front line. On a certain day it became very important to the British command that this bridge should to put out of lL.é!. Orders were accordingly given to a certain squadron to dispatch a machine in two houra on this iXO milea trip over enemy-occupied territory. At six o'clock the pilot and observer were told that thev were to leave at eight o'clock. The machine on which they were to fly was new to both of them. It had to be examined carefully; the use of a different device had to be fully grmffil; extra. patrol iud bombs had to bo carried. The observer and the pilot had to prepare their maps, mark put the couws, and to a great extent t.o.mmil, the main features to memory. With food and heavy clothing for the long eight journey, they were ready at eight to leave tho aerodrome. Punctually to the minute the engines were started, and the machine rose on its long flight. The lines were soon crossed, and lor a time pilot and oiv-'rver flew over well-known territory whose s and formats were familiar. Then they Arrived at the last outpost of the known country and flew on. Brilliant moonlight lit the country below, and farms and groups of trees could be seen from a great height. Soon the area of darkened towns was passed, and small groups of twinkling light, with little rays of scattered lamps, showed the villages; whiio the big towna sparkled with countless points of light like gems. Rivers and towns and roads and forests appetlred In accordance with the map as the machine tVw onwards on a dead straight line. No searchlights or shells barred the way now the battle area being left behind. At last the silvery ribbon of the river, across which lay the bridge, was before, them. The scattered lights of the town near began t;o be seen, and the pilot and observer care- fully examined all the eurrouncling features of the country—the read s streams and woods—'to make sure that they had arrived fit the right place. There was no Houbt. They flew over the town and saw the bridge, and then, gliding down with silent engines, slowly drew nc-arer and nearer to tlio objec- tive. The town, so far behind the lines and do long unmolested, twinkled gaily. Its cafes and squares were probably crowded with German officers. The approaching tumult must have been quite unexpected. I A DIFFICULT TARGET. The observer, holding his bomb handle, guided tho pilot to the right and left with red and green signal lights. The bridge looked very small-like a mere match laid acrosa the river. It was an extremely diffi- f .7 1 cult target to hit. Ho had but a few bomb3. His machine was the only one. The destruc- tion of the bridge was of vital military im- portance. Ho had flown 150 miles to do it —three times as far as from London to Brighton. no responsibility was great. He lay matching the bridge through the cockpit iioor. The line of his sight crossed it. and tho luminous "range bars drew nearer and uearer to it. At last they touched the bridge. Ho pushed his hand forward once, twice, and accain, and heard the clatter of the bombs falling out behind. He hurriedly rejoined the pilot, who turned the machine -o that he could watch the bridge. With strained evos thev looked down to the little s ilver ribbon and the biack linti across it. Suddenly they caw a great fl.h and a cloud of white snoke in the water, then another on the bridge, and another, and then a :ow more beyond. The bridge lay covered in li pall of omoko, and as the smoke rose it could bo seen that the bridge was destroyed. At once the airmen began tneir Ion<r, mono- tonous journey back, and landed at naif-past twelve, after a flight of five hours, Soon afterwards the report came through: "The railway bridge nt was successfully at. tacked on the night of October It was put- out of action. Seventeen Germans were killed. A boat was sunk, and the house near the bridge containing all the working nlans was destroyed. Tho Germans are arching vainly for them. All movement of troops had to be diverted."

I G009 HARVEST PROSPECTS. Reports on agricultural conditious in Eng- land and Wales, received by the Board of Agriculture, state that wneat is mostly looking well, but that some of the spring- on newly-ploughed grais land has been damaged by wire worm or leather-jackets. Oats suffered more from these pests on llwlv broken-up pasture, and revolving has in several cases been necessary. On old arable land the crops ale strong and healthy; and generally they may be de- scribe-das satisfactory. Barley is also a satisfactory crop. Beans are good, as are also pearj. The area under barley is rather greater than last year; that under oats is larger than a year ago by nearly a fourth. Potatoes generally possess a satisfactory ap- pearance, and are of good promwo. The area, under this crop is fully 20 per cent, greater than last year. Mangold sowing was com- pleted under favourable conditions, and the crop is coming up well. Prospects for all orchard fruit are very pnor, particularly plums (which werev badly cat by frost) and pears. Bush fruits are de- cidedly better; strawberries should bo above average, raspberries over average; while currants and gooseberries are iitlier under normal. The area intended for hay is less than last year by nearly 10 per cent. Pro- sjKcta are good, however, nearly everywhere. With the warmer weather, and coiiisequcnt growth of grass, live stock have made good progress during the month, and are gener- ally in satisfactory condition.

I APPEAL TO POTATO-GROWERS. Success or failure in the war may depend upon our potato crop, which is threatened bv an offensive against which every grower, from the back garden cultivator to tho owner of many acres, must carry out a counter-attack. Reports have already been made of the outbreak of disease, gainst I which security is mainly a matter of pre- ventivo spraying with sulphate of copr I and soda crystals of lime. Arrangements should be made atotlcc to beat the blight by hiring or purchasing .sprayers. Farmers can do this through the agricultural committees, a ad members of allotment nnd other local organisations should co-operate for the pur- chase of knapsack sprayers. Standard makes may be had for £ 3 109., carriage paid. The Food Production Department makes an earnest appeal to all growers to safeguard the crop. Full details as to spraying are given in free leaflets published by the Board I of Agriculture, 3. St. James's-square, S.W. 1, and free leaflets may also be had on another potato scourge—wart, or black scab. If this disease appears and is not notified there may be a fine of I-PLO. j

Although a tradesman, named Bonney. I dived twenty times in a desperate attempt i to effect a rescue, Arthur Gregson, fifteen, Sea Scout, was drowned in the river at Preston while bathing. j

HER PRESSING NEED OF A 44 STOMACH PEACE." "The Germany which is attacking our Armies with such fury," writes "Pertinax" in t-ho "Echo de Paris" (quoted by the Paris correspondent of the "Morning Post"), ia a hungry Germany." In the course of a striking article "Pertinax" says that the peace which Germany wants before every- thing else is a stornaoh peace. In four days tho German people win be reduced from 200 to 160 grammes of flour per head per day (or less than six ounces). Last autumn, according to official fctate- ments, the German Government estimated that t-h-ore would be a shortage of two million tons of flour at this period, but it was hoped to make up the difference from Roumania. and the Ukraine. But Roumania has supplied 46,000 tons less during the last ten months than during eight months of last yoar. The Ukraine, which undertook to supply a million tons before July 1, had down to May 12, in spiti of the price having been fixed as high as t50 a ton, supplied only 30,229 tons. The men-t ration cannot be "increased to supplement the bread short- age, aa the cattle if they have not diminished in numbers have decreased in weig-ht. and bones and ski* form a much greater portion of the total weight than formerly. The potato harvest ha.s been good, but only sufficient to permit a daily ration of a pound per head per day. Efforts are- being moo. to make tip the shortage with arti- ficially-prepared foods, such as powdered milk, fruit, and eggs, which it is claimed give tho same number of calorics as bread, but are not satisfying. In Austria, say s "Pertinax, supplies are still lees abundant, and as tho newspapers admit, the unequal distribution of foodstuffs is producing great bitterness and racial fe?Ung among the various peoples who make up both Empires. "If the Germans suScr a military deleft," concludes "Pertinax," "all these accumu- lated sufferings will be useful auxiliaries to the Allies." t

I NEW RATION BOOKS. About 700 tons of paper are being used in printing the 63,000,000 ration bookt), inclu- ding supplementary, which are shortly to be issued to the public. Nearly 3,000 people are engaged on the work, including women and girls Pi-nd a number of discharged and disabled soldiers. The book for the use of the general public has a white Cover, on the inside of which is a space for the names and addrptises of the retailers. It contains niue pages, aa orange colosred one for sugar, a blue one fer fats, four rod ones for meat and bacon, a brown and a blue one for emergency use in case other foods are rationed, and a green one for reference purposes. A special book 11:1 been, prepared for children, while the supple- I mentary books contain a bacon page and a spare page. Each separate book is num- bered, and bears a code or reference letter, so that it can be traced without difficulty. A special process of photogravure and special ink are being uwd in the printing of the coloured pages, which are covered with a delicate design to make forgery a matter of some difficulty. An additional "overtime meat ticket" is being issued tc r employers at dockyards, munition factories, etc., for distribution among their employees, which will enable the holders to obtain anv I meat meal other than one comprised of butchers' meat at the works, canteens, and else whore.

I à AMERICAN OFFICERS. American officers do not show their rank by the wearing of "pips." A second-lieu- tenant in the United States Army is re- vealed by his plain and ungarnished epau- lettes. Every American officer, of whatever rank, wears epaulettes, but after rising abova the second lieutenant stage each has a distinguishing mark to accompany them. Thus a first lieutenant has an epaulette and one white bar, and a captain an epaulette with two white bars. A major has a gold maple-leaf on his epaulettes, a lieutenant- colonel a silver maple-leaf. A colonel has an epaulette with a silver spread-eagle on it. A brigadier-general has an epaulette with one silver star; a major-general, two silver stars; a lieutenant-general, three silver star*.

I HARDER THAN DIAMONDS. Although the diamond is generally re- garded as the hardest of all substances, it is a fact that there is a substance even harder. It is a metal known as tantalum, a rare metal, although not one of the rarest. Just how hard it is may be imaginer when it is mentioned that a thin sheet of it was once placed under a diamond drill worked day and night for three days. The only effeet was a slight indentation in the tantalum and the wearing out of the diamond. Tan- talum is very difficult to produoe, but when it can be obtained in sufficient quantities it vvill be an exceedingly useful substance. Amongst its other uses, it will be employed to cut diamonds, and to make filaments for electric lamps. It is one of the few sub- stances that are hard without being brittle

I WHEN A TRAIN STOPS. People often wax impatient because ex- press "trams cannot be stopped at eome un- important station at which they wish to alight. They should consider the cost of satisfying their desire. A train going at a rat-e of hty miles an hour can be stopped within 120 yards from the first application of the brake but in doing so, enough power IS lo.;t to carry the "train fifteen miles over a level surface. First, there is the momen- tum acquired by the train then the loss of steam in applying the brakes; and, lastly, tho extra amount of coal to compensate for all these losses. For all of which im- patient passengers would not care to pay 0' ————-

THE BLOWING STONE. Near Wantage, King Alfred's birthplace, is the famous Blowing Stone, which tradi- tion asserts was by King Alfred to summon his warriors in tlme of need. It is a block of sandstone three or four feet high, pierced by innumerable cavities and chan- neL., By blowing into one of there bugle-wise a curious rumbling sound is produced, which ia clearly audible at a distance of six or seven miles.

Mr. Andrew Robertson, foreman ship. i-ri-ht at the shipyard of R. and W. Haw. thorn, Leslie, and Co., Limited, Hebburn- on-Tyne, has b?en responsible for the launching of 450 vessels which, placed end to end, would measure twenty-seven miles. Barnett Sampson, a Russian, was fined JB600 at Thames Police-court for havino, in hia possession 3791b. of tobacco on which duty had not been paid. Dr. L. M. Young, of San Francisco, de- clares that sauerkraut is not really a Ger- man dish, inasmuch as the ancient Egyp- tians ate cabbage, cut fine, pressed, salted, and fermented.

I UI. ASQUITH ON THE TWO THINGS NEEDFUL. Spea.king at the Aldwych Club, Mr. Asquith said the only peace worth the making or the taking was one which would open a new road, free of toll, to all peoples, O'?th" r great or small, safeguarded by the common will, and if nefed be by the common power, for the further progress of huma- nity. The faculties we most needed at the present moment were courago and patience —courage that could faco facts, could not only dare but endure; patience that could not be driven from its equipoise by any alterations either of hope or of fear. These were, to quote Burke's epithet, the "in- bred qualities'* of our race. But lot him suggest ono or two ways in which they might be helped and fortified. In the first place, let us be able to feel that we knew the truth and the whole truth. In his judgment we had reached a stagít of tho war when far moro was to be gained than lost by laying before our own people all the actualities, favourable or adverse, of an unexampled situation. The British people throughout the Empire were ready to face, not only with a clean conscience, but with clear eyes and with cool nerves, any and every conjecture of circumstances. Thero were those who thought that the long strain of the war, despite its glorious and inspiring examples of heroism and de- votion, had in some quarters impaired people's steadiness of judgment. He did not believe this to be the least true of the nation as a whole, or of any considerable section of it. The atmosphere of war always provided opportunities for the cruder and cheaper forms of sensation-mon- gcring which found a ready market among people of low intelligence and high credu- lity. The danger, if there were a danger, did not lie in that direction. But there was a real risk, which in his opiniM wo ought to guard against, that in the stress of the daily and ?,ou?rii, bulletins recording doubtful battles, and here and thero and now and again the yielding of ground, we might be tempted to lose our sense of pro- portion. We must take largo views, back- wards and forwards, and seek to measure events as they occurred, not by the dust and noise which for the moment they created, but for their real and lasting sig- nificance. There was no reas- :i--there never was less reason—why the voice of honest and patriotic criticism should be hushed into silence. But let us keep our eyes fixed and our hearts set on the great dominating purposes to which we had de- liberately consccrated the resources and the energies of the Empire, with an unwaver- ing faith both in the worthiness of our aims and in the certainty that they would be achieved.

I DISREGARD OF GRADE L I "It has been stated that Grzde I. in tha (lew military a.otl is different from what it Ha.3," said Sir D. Maclean at the House of Commons Appeal Tribunal in the course of "ome criticisms ef the grading cf older men. w ell, that is in distinct contravention of tho regulations issued now. 'It is further in distinct contravention of I the understanding under which the Military Service Bill pa&sed through the House of Commons. Un- d OTStC-,)I d then t,iit tht-re "It was clearly understood then that there would be no alteration in the medical stan- dard. Now wo know there is an alteration. "As far as we are concerned, there is only one attempt that can be mad" to straighten things out, and it is this: Wo shalt com- pletely disregard I. over forty-three and treat it aa Grndo II. That is the only clear line that I think the tribunal can take."

I LORD CAMPERDOWN'S BEQUESTS. I The will of the late Earl of Camperdown, dated October 9, 1916, has hen lodged in the Register House, Edinburgh. The testator states that it was solely in deference to the wish of his brother, tho Hon. George Haldane Duncan, of Boston, U.S.A. (the new Earl), that no provision was made for him in the will. To the National Gallery, Edinburgh. are bequeathed the two portraits of Admiral Viscount Duncan by Reynolds and Hoppner, at present in Camperdown House; while the legacies include £ 5,000 to Mrs. Macq neen, widow of John Otto Macquecu, Fae-me-vV-ell, Aberdeen; £ 5,000 to Principal John rule Mackav, University College, Dundee; and I LI,000 each to his butler 11 and housekeeper.

I FRENCH AIRMEN KILLED. I After a successful flight from Franoo, and when within a few hundred yards from thiir destination, Captain Pierrcn and Lieutenant Rousseau, two well-known French airmen, met their death through their machine crashing to earth at Houn.-ilcw. Eye-witnesses stated at the inquest that the machine was se?n approaching Houns- low at about half-pa^t eight at night flying steadily. When within about 250ft. from the ground it suddenly dipped, turned on its side, and dropped like a stone to earth. When the onlookers reached the spot both men were dead. The cause of the accident is unknown..

I AIR RAID SOUVENIR. I At a Lond-on Police-court, Charlotte Wall was fined 20s. for failing to notify the find- ing of the altitude gauge of an enemy air- craft destroyed by gunfire in a recent raid. It was stated that had the instrument, which was made at Stuttgart, not been tampered with, information of the greatest Talue to the authorities would have been obtained. Mrs. Wall said she found the guage in her back-garden, and thought it was of no value except as a souvenir. The woman was liable to a fine of -.EIOO ,xnd imprisonment with hard labour for six months.

Harold Barrett, seventeen, ol Earlstown. whilst bathing in a pit at Lowton, neai Leigh, was seized with cramp and drowned. Mr. H. G. Turner was presented with the freedom of Taunton in recognition of his gift of nineteen acres for garden allotments. A witness at Cierkenw-ell County-court Temarked that he had just heard of a child [ leaving echool to start work at 24s. a week.

I BOLSHEVIKS SURRENDER SHIPS TO I GERMANS. ——— According to a message from Moscow, in- 1 teroepted by the Adpiiralty per Wireless Press, the Bolshevik Government, in conse- quence of a fresh ultimatum and threat to advance, has agreed to surrender the Black Sea fleet to the Germans. That is the real meaning of the order that the fleet shall proceed from Novorossisk to Sevastopol. The message is as follows:— To the Chief Commissary of the Fleet. Novorocsisk. "The People's Commissariat for the Navy has received the following communication from the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, dated June 10: "In the Note of May 23 sent to our repre- sentative Joffe, Baron Kiihlmann laid down the following condition; The German Government categorically demands the re- turn of all our ships from Novorossisk to Sevastopol. German troops on the whole Ukranian frent will mot advance over the boundary line as indicated in the note if our ships return to Sevastopol within a period of cither six er ten days, as we prefer. Ger- many recognises the right ef property of the Russian Republic in tkese ships, and she de- clares that after the conclusion of a general peace they will be returned to Russia.' "Ih his message of June 6 to Count Mir- bach, Baron Kiihlmann delivered an ulti- matum to us demanding that our reply shall be at Berlin before June 14 at seven p.m. Having regard to the constant difficulties in our communications with Berlin, we have given Count Mirbach an early reply. In his message Baron Kiihlmann agreed to guaran- tee that before a general peace ia concluded Germany will not use these ships, which will return from Novorossisk to Sevastopol. As the return ef our ships from Novorossisk to Sevastopol is a fundamental condition of all further agreements between Germany and ourselves for the cessation of hostile action and for negotiations, the People's Commis- sary for Foreign Affairs begs the Supreme Naval Collegium to order our ships at Novorossisk to return t. Sevastopol.— (Sigaed) Chitcherin, People's Commissary for Foreign Affairs. With the above communication was en- closed the following statement by the Presi- dent of the Council of the People's Commis- saries. addressed to the People's Commissary for the Navy: "In accordance with the circuinstanoes ex- plained in this letter by the People's Com- missariat for Foreign Affairs, and tho de- cision of the Government, I order the People's Commissary for the Navy to direct without delay the naval command of the Black Sea fleet to return the warships of the Russian Council's Republic which are at the present time in the waters of Novorossisk to Sevastopol.—June 10, 1918. (Signed) V. Ulianoff-Lenin, President of the Council of the People's Commissaries." In accordance with these requirements the Collegium for Naval Affairs of the People's Commissariat for the Navy orders you to take without delay all necessary steps for the transference of the warships from Novo- rossisk to Sevastopol, so that this work shall be completed before June 10,—(Signed) Trotsky, People's Commissary for the Navy; liaskolnikoff, Member of the Naval Colle- gium.

TRAGEDY OF A BRIDE. I At St. Pancras, an inquest was held on Elizabeth Jessie Culetreth, nineteen. Wil- liam John TCulctreth, a locomotive fitter's assistant, stated that he was married to her on Sunday, Juno 9. The weddiag party was kept up till ono a.m. on Monday, and she was vety lively and happy. They went to their newly-preparedf home at Kelly-street, Camden Town. In the afternoon she was tanding before the looking-glass when she drol rT to the floor, and died shortly after- wards. Dr. Spilsbury stated that death was due to syncope, following upon weakness of the heart. The jury returned a verdict accord. ingly-

A FAMILY'S SACRIFICE. I Three sons of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Purdy, of Cornforth, Durham, have been killed in action during the past six weeks: Private Wilfred Purdy, Scots Fusiliers, aged twenty-two. Corporal Joseph' Purdy, R.F.A.. aged forty. Driver Tom Purdy, aged nineteen. Mr. and Mrs. Purdy's other three sons are in the Army, one in France, another in hos- pital in Egypt, and the third on leave reo covering from gas.

I A SOLDIER'S SUICIDE: I At Wandsworth an inquest. was held on Robert John Hodgkins, of the Rifle Brigade, who was found hanging from his cell window in Wandsworth Detention Barracks. Five days after joining up in April last he opened an artery in his wrist, and was sen- tenced to six months' imprisonment. Re- cently he again opened his wrist with the edge of a boot-polish tin and afterwards hung himself by a cord from his kit-bag. A verdict of "Suicide" was returned. — o

rxmm—mmmmmm—mHMI THINGS THOUGHTFUL. LOVE. The flight of the soul towards God; to- wards the great, the Sublime, and the beau- tiful, which are the shadows of God upon eartb.-Mazzini- THE NEW OUTLOOK. The new outlook has made obsolete the old lines of separation between philanthropy and politics, and between religious and secular. Politics cannot be relegated to some outeT place, but must be recognised as one ride of life which is as much the con- cern of religious people and of a religions body as any other part of life.—Lucy i ryer Morland. KEEP SMILING. Remember that every time a man smiles, and more when he laughs, it adds something to his fragment of life.-Sterne. LOSS. Surprised by joy—impatient as the Wind I turned to share the transport—oh! with whom But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb, That spot which no vicissitude can find?" Love, faithful love, recalled thcCt to my mind— But how could I forget thee? Through what power, Even for the least division of an hour, Have I been so beguiled as to be blind To my most grovious loss?—That thought's return Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore, Savo one, ono only, when I stood forlorn, Knowing my heart's best treasure waa no more; That neither preeent time, nor years unborn Could to my sight that heavenly face re- store, —Wordsworth. GROWING TOGETHER. Good and evil wo know in the field of this world grow up together almost inseparably; and the knowledge of good is so mtervolved and interwoven with the knowledge of evil; and in ae many cunning resemblances hardly to be discerned, that those confuscd seeds which were imposed -upon Psj-che as an in- cessant labour to cull out, and sort asunder, wero not more intermixed.—Milton. DANTE. The poet, the creator of a language, the great citizen, the reformer, the poet of tho religion, the prophet of the nationality—of Italy .-auini. SELF-SACRIFICE. The time has come when the second great work of Christendom should be,n-tha roali-^iion in practice of the ideal of self- sacrifice, the bearing by thQ strong of the burden of the weak, the recognition of ser- vice as the most splendid prerogative of gTØ3tUCS3.-Mrs. Annie Begant. "LEARN THROUGH SUFFERING." Rejoice we are allied To That which doth provide And not partake, effect and not receive! A spark disturbs our clcd; Nearer w- hold of God Who gives, than of His tribes that take, I must believe. Then, welcome each rebuff That turns earth's smoothness rough, Each sting that bids nor ait nor stand but go! Be our joys three-parts pain, Strive, and hold cheap the strain: Learn, nor account tho pang; dare, never grudge the throe! —Robert Browning. ART. The mighty voice of God and the uni- verse. as heard by the chosen spirit, and repeated in tones of harmony to manl-ind.- Mazzini. EDUCATION. The man who is fitted to take care of himself, in all conditions in which he may be placed, is, in a very important sense, an educated man. The savage who understands the habits of animals, who is a gocd hunter and fisher, is a man of education, taking into consideration his circumstances. The graduate of a university who cannot take care of hims.clf-no matter hoW much he may have studied:—is not an educated man. -Ingorsoll. THEY ARE BLIND. Miserable arc thoso blind, untutored people, who lean their hopes upon those things which Time as fleetly bears away.— Petrarch. CONTROL YOUR CONDUCT. The worst kind of unhappiness, as well as the greatest amount of it, comes from our conduct to each othor. If our conduct, therefore, were under the control of kind- ness, it would be nearly the opposite of what it is, and so the state of the world would be almcst reversed. We are for the most part unhappy because the world is an unkind world. But the world is only un- kind for the lack of kindness in the indi- viduals who compose it.—Frederick Wil. liam Faber. TIME AND CHANGE. But time is strong on this wild globe of curs, And immortalities, which seem designed To bloom for ever, fade, like summer .flowers; Bemeath the autumn rain and winter wind, That column with its statue sunk to dust; The people that upreared them ceased to be; Nations and tribes and languages were thrust Each over <?ach, as by some sweeping sea; Till battles of <Vlr own rocked to and fro O'er tho forgotten brave, who sleep below. —Sir Francis Doyle. A MAN'S SOUL. II T- he main thing in a man's life is that he should have a soul which loves truth, and receives it wherever it finds it.—Goethe. TRUE TEST OF MAN. A man is not tested when he stands the observed of all observers, nor when he does some conspicuously great. deed. The true test is his bearing on unimportant occasions and in doing trivial duties. "The great crises arrive in the midst of ordinary com. monplace things, to which as men look back they are ashamed the crises could have come in such an hour and in such a place." Remember the saying, old even, though not always true: "A hero is never a hero to his valet." A BEAUTIFUL THOUGHT. We must never keep back a beautiful thought. If you have endeavoured to think or say it to-day, on the morrow it will be true. We must try to be more beautiful than ourselves; we shall never distance our seal-