Abergavenny Chronicle

I TERRITORIAL FORCE. I i TO BE A REPLICA OF THE REGULAR ARMY I A scheme for the reconstitution of the Territorial Force was resolved on at a con- ference of the presidents and chairmen of the Territorial. Force Associations with the Secretary of State for War. The main con- clusions reached were:— Men desiring- to join the new force should be discharged from their present obligations. and re-enlisted on a new attestation form. All men are to rejoin as privates, N.C.O.'s being subsequently selected from the most efficient material. Xo Territorial unit will be sent abroad ex- cept in an emergency so serious as to re- quire the passage of a General Service Act. The fourteen Yeomanry brigades, which will be constituted in addition, to the four- teen divisions, should be mounted. The Territorial Force should be a replica of the Regular Army as regards organisa- tion. Conditions of service should be sufficientlv attractive to induce men to join and remain in the Force. Mr. Churchill said that every day showed the urgency of the need for reconstituting the TerritoTial Force. The dmand6 upon the Regular Army had greatly increased, .and titty had.-cmiy just got enough to meet the enormous calls during this most un- settled and critical period in the world's affairs. Strong reinforcements had to be sent to Ireland and Egypt, and further con- siderable forces had to be held in readiness to proceed to India. The situation on the Continent was well known, and also the need above all things of maintaining a firm atti- tude at the present time in order to secure the fruits of the war. We had not now, as we had before the war, a large Army Te- serve;4 we had no Army reserve. Therefore the reconstitution of the Territorial Force was needed, and must be pressed forward with the utmost energy. With reference to the award of a special distinction to pre-war Territorials who un- dertook the overseas obligation at the out- break of war, it wa,3 stated that in prin- ciple the Army Council was in favour of the grant of a special medal, and that the Army Council Committee was now working out thct details.

I CAVALRY MEMORIAL SERVICE. I I CAVALPY MEMOPIAL SERVICE. I I The King, the Queen, and the Prince of Wales attended a service at St. Paul's Cathedral in memory of officers and men of the Cavalry and the Yeomanry who fell in the war. The congregation included Queen Alex- andra, Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal, Princess Maud, the Duke of Connaught, the Marquess of Cambridge, the Earl of Ath- loue, and other members of the Royal family, together with Sir DougIaa and Lady Raig, Sir Julian Bvng, General "Goug'h, representatives of the French Army, and the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs. To each member of the congregation was handed a memorial book containing the order of service and an approximate list of the numbers of officers and men of the various units who had been killed. Those of the regular cavalry numbered over 420 officers and 4,700 men. The massed bands of the Household Cavalry played selections and accompanied the hymns. The service included a special psalm, a lesson, and the memorial of tho dead. The "Last Post" was sounded, by buglers from the western gallery, and was answered by "Reveille" from the eastern gallery. The massed bands played the "Dead March" from Saul. and the National Anthem ended the ceremony.

I LAND FOR EX SERVICE MEN. I A statement issued by the Board of Agri- 1 culture and Fisheries shows that 13,797 ap- plications for small holdings have been made, the total area required being 247,277 acres. The proportion of applicants a.mong- men serving overseas is small, but likely to increase. The market price of land," continues the statement, "suitable for small holdings has probably increased by 25-30 per cent. since the outbreak of war. On the other hand, the large demand which is being re- ceived from ex-service men for cottage hold- ings (i.e., for an untied cottage with a piece of land attached, half an acre to three or five acres in size) will have the effect -Of reducing the average size of holdings to be provided. It is unlikely, therefore, that the average cost of the land per small hold- ing will exceed tho pre-war figure cf £ 450."

I DISMISSED FOR DESERTION. I A Naval court-martial assembled at Chat- ham for the trial of Henry Piles, chief stoker, attached to H.M.S. Pembroke, on a charge of deserting his post when in charge of the engine-room of H.M.S. Harpat. It was stated that the Harpat, a lighter, put into Portland after encountering heavy weather, and when she was due to have again accused was missing. He gave him- self up at the barracks at Chatham. Witnesses admitted that the life-saving1 apparatus on the vessel was inadequate. Accused, who had 22 years' service with I an unblemished character, was found guilty, and the Court adjudged him to forfeit his long service and good conduct medal and to be dismissed the service. s

I A DANGEROUS TOY. I Thirty hand grenades have been handed to the police by the father cf Albert Stubbs, a "Beckcnha,m schoolboy, who has been ad- mitted to the hospital suffering from in- juries to both hands, caused b? an 1xPlo- eion. t be d rc,,ji-a vrith The boy wa? playing in a bedroom with a bomb which was found near the tram- ground >at Godstoue, where military b ? b oourses were held during the war, when it exploded, and his right hand war, w was shattered. Some splinters also in- jured the other hand.

I BOILERMAKERS £17 A WEEK. I A boilermaker named A. B. Davies was sued at Swansea for non-payment of income tax amounting to 2E4D for the quarter. It was stated. that during the three months Davies earned £ 220. He, however, I pleaded poverty owing to the recent eight weeks' strike. An order to pay was made.

I DOMINION TROOPS. -I KING'S FAREWELL MESSAGE TO MEN FROM OVERSEAS. Twelve thousand soldiers of the Dominions took part in the farewell ..march through London on Saturday. Huge crowds gave tne men an enthusiastic greeting, and after the pageant the King, who had taken the salute at Buckingham Palace, issued a -message to the troops. It ran:— "It is with a heart full of pride and grati- tude that I take your' salute to-day as you march in triumph through London. "The peoples of the British Dominions beyond the seas, by their instant readiness to share in the trials and responsibilities of the great war, have shown to the world the unity of the British Empire. "You with your comrades frov the Mother Country vied with one another in noble deeds, which will ever be held in proud rwemb-rance. pr "Readily Vou adapted yourselves to the changing conditions of a new and formid- able kind of warfare, and endured physical hardships and exacting mental strain. "Whether on the plains of Flanders, or the heights of Gallipoli, in France, in Pales- rue, or other theatres of war, you displayed gallant endurance in defence and vigorous initiative in attack. "We and future generations will never forget the part played by the Canadians in the second battle of Ypres and on the Vimy Ridge, by the Australia and New Zeaianders at Gallipoii, and in the advance in France in the spring of 1917, by the troops of all three Dominions in the break- ing of the Hindenburg Line last year, by the South African Brigade in Delville W c-cd, and by the Royal Newfoundland Regiment at Monehv le Preux. "Now in the day of victory I wish to ex- press to you, who represent the Oversea Forces, my unbounded admiration for tho splendid, feate of arms, and for sacrifices made. "I wish you 'all God speed on your home- ward journey, with a hope that the outcome of this world struggle may assure peace to your children and to your children's chil- dren." Fifteen aeroplanes were in the air. at one time circling overhead and forming an aerial escort" along the line of march, and this force was joined I by a small airship.

I DEATH COINCIDENCE. I The evidence at a Wandsworth inquest cn Susan Grace Huchens, thirty-two, and her brother, Henry George Huchens, fifty-two, found dead in their house in Asliburv-road, Batter6ea, showed that the man had been a porter employed by Mr. Field, linen draper. Wandsworth-road, but he had been away ill for some weeks. His employer allowed him 27s. (id. a week, hefcrever. It was stated that the man had been dead about twenty-four. hours longer than his sifter, and death in each case was from valvular disease of the heart, accelerated by starvation. The coroner (Mr. Ingleby Oddie) commented on the curious coincidence of a brother and sister both dying from the same disease. He recorded a verdict of "Death from natural causqs" in (ch case.

BRIDGE LOSSES IN THE TRAIN I "I lost ti,ooo one day last May by playing auction bridge en a train journey between London and Manchester," Raid Mr. Jc,hn Edmund Lord, of the New Oxford and Cambridge Club, Pall Mall, when under examination in the London Bankruptcy Court. His deficiency is = £ 10,256, of wlyieh £ 5,834 is in respect of betting and card looses, and part of the remainder in respect of the upkeep of race-horses. He left Oxford in 1903, went ranching in 1906, dealt in motor-cars in 1908, for some years received £800 a year from his father, and from 1914 to 1918 was an Army officer.

I ACCIDENT ^RESTORES SPEECH. I A taxicab conveying the Bishop of Wake- field (Dr. Eden) along a main thoroughfare in Wakefield knocked down George Parkin- son, an ex-soldier. The man was taken to the house of rela- tives, where stitches were put in his lU- jured arm, and then he shook hands with the bishop, saying: "You have done me a good turn. I was dumb before the 'acci- dent." About two years ago, when Parkinson was home, although discharged from the Army, he s a v,; a child in danger of being trampled upon by a horse. During the ex- citement of the rcscue he became dumb and remained so until knocked down.

I OUT-OF-WORK PAY FRAUDS. I At Portsmouth, Albert Edward Dyet (forty-eight), was sentenced to two months' hard labour for obtaining 14s. 6d. unem- ployment donation from the local Labour Exchange by alleging he was out of work when he was not. It was stated that the offence was very common, and defendant s il thero were plenty of men guilty of thl ■same conduct. Rose Norrington and Lily Norringtcn, he: daughter, were summoned at Grays for at- tempting to obtain by false pretences un- employment donation. Mr. Pashley said the. girl was under sixteen, but gave her age to the Employment Bureau as eighteen, and the mother altered her birth certificate. The mother was sentenced to three weeks without hard labour, and the girl was placed en probation for twelve months. Henry Angell was sentenced to six months' imprisonment at Manchester for obtaining ?8 out-of-work pay by false pre- ou,41--c -wor l- p2,y by false pre-

I THREE BOYS KILLED. BY SHELL. t The tragedy which followed the finding by a party of boys of a shell on Liddillgton Hill rifle range, near Swindon, was described at the inquest on the three lads who were killed by the explosion. The shell was taken by one of the lads to the butts and rolled along the flaor. Colonel Peregrine Prince said the ground was most thoroughly eearched after firing, and it was unaccount- able how this shell—which might have been a Stokes mortar shells-got to the spot where it was found, 500 yards from the square on which they u.-u i'-v fell. There was a pos- sibility of a "biind" shell*being mis.;)ed and lying. in the ground for two years before coming to the surface. It would still be a danger. A verdict of "Death from misad- venture" was returned.

Vicars of two parishes, each named Nor- ton, in Worcester diocese, have arranged to exchange livings. The Rev. H. W. Wood has been vicar of Norton, near Evesham, since 1907, and the Rev. W. W. Vevers has been vicar of Norton, near Worcester, since 1904. During the threshipg of a wheat strck on a farm at Snibst&n, Leicesterjhire 211 rats were killed for whih the farmer received SL2. 12s. 9d.—3d. a rat.

I COLONEL TO CONSTABLE. Y.C. OFFICER WHO CANNOT GET WORK, j Holding the rank of acting lieutenant- J colonel when demobilised, a member of the Cardiff police force named Arthur Richinga has resumed duty as an ordinary constable. Congratulating him on Saturday, the chairman of the Bench gave the following details of Richings' record:— Promoted 2nd-lieut. on the field, Nov., 1917. Lieutenant, Dec., 1917. Captain, Feb., 1918. Major (act. lieut.-col.), March, 1919. Among his decorations are the Mons Star, the Croix de Guerre (with palms), Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and the Military Cross. He was mentioned in dispatches three times and wounded six times. At the Royal Academy banquet on Satur- day Sir Douglas Haig said there was some anxiety regarding the future of the dis- charged and demobiltsed officers and men. He heard of sad cases every day, such as that of a demobilised officer who had won the V.C., D.S.O., and M.C. trudging in vain through the streets of London in search of work. When a lequest for work was made, he would beg the employer to reflect on all he owed to these men and to be a little patient, andt try to ,help the gallant fellows to learn some job before he turned them away. After all, it was by good fellowship and unitv that we won, and it would only be by adhering to these principles that the Em- pire would remain strong.

I AN ORDERLY'S HEROISM. I Lieut.-Colonel Viscount Gort, V.C., speak- ing on Saturday at East Cowes, told a touching story of what he described as the unselfish, generous, and affectionate spirit of his faithful orderly, Ransome by name, a police-constable in Somersetshire, who en- listed at the outbreak of war and won the Military Medal. When his lordship was first wounded during the attack of the Guards Division across the Canal du Nord it was Ransome who bound up his wounds. When he was again wounded while winning his Victoria Cross, Ransome, fearless of danger, applied a tourniquet and saved him from bleeding to death. After the attack rn which he was suffi- ciently recovered to take part, Viscount Gort, accompanied by Ransome, went in search of a dressing station. They were ex- pOiCd to the German batteries, and when about 1,400 yards off the station a shell blew off Ransome's arm and smashed his thigh. Lord Gort helped to bandage the orderl, and went in search of a doctor. When he eventually found one, Ransome cried, "For goodness sake, sir, get out of this." They were his last words. The heroic soldier died before reaching the dressing station.

I TOO MUCH FOR WHISKY. I At Croydon, Alfred Parker, licensee of the Harrow public-house, Sandy-lane, Bedding- ton, was summoned for charging an exces- sive price for whisky, for failing to label the bottle with its strength and price, and for failing to sell a sample for analysis. It waa stated that two inspectors of the Ministry of Food were charged a penny above the highest price, allowed, and that the defendant offered them first £1 each and subsequently Y,2 each to take no notice., A fine of iJ40 on the three summonses was imposed, with ten guineas costs.

I NAVY'S PEACE MARCH. I It has been decided to accord a public re- ception to Sir David Bcatty, but the date of the ceremony has not yet been fixed. When Sir David hauled down his flag there was a proposal that there should be a reception, but, at the Admiral's own re- quest, it was postponed in order that offi- cers and men who served under him in the Grand Fleet should be able to participate in the proceedings. The plan likely to be adopted is for a inarch through London of officers and men from the Grand Fleet, with Sir David Beatty at their head. The occasion will probably be the day on which the signing of the Peace Treaty is publicly celebrated.

MORE GAS AND COAL. I Certain modifications of the Fuel Control Order will, it is officially announced, be made on July 1. An official at the Tuel Controller's Office said there was little doubt that the control would be continued for at least another vcar, but on July 1 some modifications will be introduced. Consumers living in houses of nine or ten rooms will be allowed more fuel, both for lighting and heating, but the exact allowance cannot be stated'yet. Every- thing, of course, depends upon the way in which industry recovers. The modifications will apply to gas, eleo. trie lighting, and coal.

HOUSING SCHEMES. I The weekly housing return issued by the Local Government Board states that during the week which ended last Saturday, the number of schemes submitted by lccal au- thorities for approval as State-aided schemes showed an increase. The site schemes submitted numbered 79, and 76 were approved. The total now ap- proved represent 6,697 acres. Ten lay-out schemes and nine house plan schemes were approved. Seventy-six house plan schemes representing 3,576 houses have been ap- proved.

A GIGANTIC BIRD CAGE. I A very unique institution in the New York "Zoo" is what is known as "The Flying- bird Cage." This magnificent aviary is the largest of its kind in the world, being 55ft. bigli, 72ft. wide, and 150ft. long. Large oak and other trees grow in this cage, and the birds live within its Vire-netting bounds in the utmost freedom. The frame of the cao is built of iron pipes, which are covered over with thin meshed netting, and the birds seem to have as good a time as if they were quito free.

A HUGE MAF. I The larger map in the world is the Ord- hance Survey map of England, containing over 108,000 sheets, and costing £ 200,000 a. year for twenty years. The .,5cale varies from ten feet to one-eig^li of an inch to the mile. The details are so minute that maps having a scale of twenty-five inches show every hedge, fence, wall, building, and even every isolated t/ce in the country. The plan shows not only the exact shape of every building, but every porch, area, lamp-post, railway, and fire-plug.

Uxbridgo dairymen have refused to give a second daily delivery of milk. A maximum working week of thirty-eight hours is recommended by the Executive oi the National Union, of Clerks. Strawberries were quoted at 6s. to 109. a J pound at Covent Garden.

I BLAZING 'PLANE. I PEER'S NEPHEW'S LEAP TO DEATH. A terrible aeroplane disaster occurred at Finchley on Saturday morning, a machine suddenly bursting into flames and falling to the ground, killing the pilot instan- taneously. The aviator was ex-Flight Commander Peter Legh, a nephew of Lord Newton. He was a well-known airman, and had one of the finest Hying records in this country. He was wounded in France two years ago, and had since been testing machines for the British Aerial Transport Co. Mr. Legh started on Saturday from this company's ground at Willesden with the in- tention of creating a height record. When over Finchley the sound of his engine seemed to change, and almost at once the aeroplane burst into flames. The pnot threw himself from his machine when still some hundred feet up. He was dead when rescuers arrived, and hi8 clothes were on fire. The aeroplane fell into a greenhouse and set a tool-shed near by on fire. It was a new B.A.T. single-seater of 300 h.p., and was totally destroyed. The military authorities from Hendon visited the scene of the accident, but the machine was so smashed that the experts were unable to ascertain -its cause. ACCIDENT TO AIR CHIEF. The Air Ministry announces that a. ma- chine conveying Major-General Sir F. H. Sykes, Controller-General of Civil Aviation, to Paris on Saturday, met with an accident at Kenley. The pilot, Captain E. M. Knott, A.F.C., was killed. Major-General Sir F. H. Sykes was badly shaken, but subsequently motored back to London. The machine had just left the ground when it side-slipped and crashed with great force. General Sykes was much better on Sun- day, although he was still suffering severely from the shock. PILOT KILLED AT MANCHESTER. While. Flight-Sergeant Parry was flying about 200 feet from the ground at Alexandra Park aerodrome, Manchester, on Saturday, his machine side-slipped. The plane fell, bursting into flames and discharging a large quantity of black smoke. Parry was badly injured when extricated from the wrecked machine and died shortly after- wards.

THE SEASHORE MURDER. Allan Newsome Bushill, twenty-five, a naval officer, charged at Liverpool Assizes, before Mr. Justice Shearman, with the murder of his wife on the seashore at Formby, near Southport, on February 28. was found guilty but insane, and he waf ordered to be detained during the King's pleasure. Before shooting his wife and himself hf bought his wife a ring for X171, so that (he was stated to have said) her last moment on earth might be one of entire happiness He shot her in the back while she was ad. miring it. In a letter he said he could nol face the world and earn enough for his wife and himself, and he was taking his wife with him because the disgrace would ruir her and she was the one being in the work he loved. Dr. W. East, the prison doctor, saic Bushill had told him that he heard voices asking him to kill Iiim-self.

A BARBARIC CUSTOM SURVIVAL. The stono or wooden ball which is often seen on the top of gateposts is a relic of the barbarous practice indulged in by the early Britons of decorating their door-posts with the skulls of their victims who were con- quered in battle. In many parts of the world this custom prevailed until comparatively modern times, and in Africa at the present time skulls are used as a door-post decoration much in the same way as the modern gate- post wears a semblance to the rounded human skull. In a like manner the ball of stone or wood is still to be seen decorating house-top3 and other elevated positions, all a relic of a bygone and barbarous custom to which the builder still clings.

A "MOITEL" TEACHER. According to the "Montreal Herald" tho following advertisement was inserted in the local paper by a member of the Virginia, Dale District School Board:- WAIN I'ED.-For school district No. 12, a teacher with a glass eye, grey-headed, a wooden or cork leg, so she can't dance, and is sure to take to the woods if she sees a man coining." Miss Myrtle Purdee taught the Virginia Dale School. She was pretty, and was deluged with invitations to dances. The grave heads of the School Board soon decided that a teacher who danced so divinely and so frequently at night could not properly work her head during the duy. Then the Board inserted its advertisement.

ANOTHER COALITION DEFEAT. The result of the Central Aberdeen by- 6lection w&e declared on Wednesday, and re- sulted in the defeat of the Coalition candi- date. The figures were:- Major Mackenzie Wood (Lib.) 4,950 L. F. Davidson (Coalition) 4,764 J. F. Duncan (ab.) 3,482 Liberal majority 186 At the General Election the figures were: -Colonel Gordon (Coalition), 6,546; J. M. Henderson (Lib.), 5,903; Coalition majority, 338.

ONE NUMBER MISSING. Superstition still holds undoubted sway" over the mass of the people of this country. Most tenacious of aU superstitions is that which holds that the No. 13 is a harbinger of evil; and so widely spread is the notion that in many districts the landlord who numbers a house 13 is courting loss. Frequently, it occurs that a house so distinguished will neither let nor sell. As a result.. in many fowns and districts are to be found streets, etc., where there is no No. 13. This number is usually re- placed by a name or the No. 11a; but in some cases No. 15 simply follows No. 11.

THE LONGEST ENGLISH LAWSUIT. The longest lawsuit ever heard in Eng- land was that between the heir of Thomas Talbot, Viscount Lisle, and the heirs of Lord Berkeley, respecting certain lands and pos- sessions not far from Wootton-under-Edge, in the County of Gloucester. It commenced at the end of the reign of Edward IV., and was pending till the reign of James I., when a compromise took place, after it had lasted about 120 years.

An American F.5 naval sea-plane has com- pleted a 20-liour flight of 1,250 miles. Digging hitherto uncultivated allotment Land near Ascot station, workmen came apon a stono axe, perfectly made and in- bact, and another man working near by found a stone club-head. i

I EPITOME OF NEWS. I EPITOM I NEWS. A British post-office has been opened at Smyrna. An insurance company is offering to in- sure policewomen at 30s. each. Posted in -Ashford on April 14, 1910, a picture postcard arrived at its destination in Streatham on April 29 of this year. George Barber, aged three years, was drowned at Ormiston, Haddingtonshire, iv the River Tyne, which was in full flood. Poplar Council has prepared a road repair scheme which will cost £ 92,000. Dame Edith Scholastrice Weld, Lady Superior of the Scholastrice Convent at Fort Augustus, Inverness, has died. Forced strawberries sold for Is. each at Manchester. Two officers and fourteen of the crew of the American naval tug Gypsum Queen were drowned through the vessel striking a rock and sinking near Brest. Extensive afforestation schemes are to be undertaken in mid and west Ireland, where the country has been practically denuded of trees during the war. Sir Charles Nicholson, Bt., the Ecclesias- tical architect, is to adapt the ancient parish church of St. Mary'.s, Chelmsford, to the requirements of a cathedral. Lieut. lionel Dixon. R.A.M.C., who was found shot near Shakespeare Cliff, Dover, was to have been married in August. He left* a letter asking for a military funeral. Costing more than zC2,000, a municipal bacteriological laboratory is to be esta b lished at Birmingham to do work for the Public Health Department hitherto under- taken by the university. Her harbouring Lydia Offenburg, a Ger- man with whom he had lived during the wa.r, Morgan Christopher McDermott, a former guardsman and policeman, was fined X20 at A beicjnon, G lamorgan. There are still over 43,000 workers at Woolwich Arsenal. President Ebert has sent a letter to Hin- dcnburg, who is retiring into private life, saying: "I take this opportunity to express to you the undying thanks of the German people for the services rendered by you to the Fatherland." Mrs. Pierce, of St. Asaph, was killed titrough the trap in which she was return- ing from Kinmel colliding with a motor- omnibus. Judge Woodfall, of Westminster County- court, is resigning, and will be succeeded by Judge Tobin, K.C., Hereford and Shrews- bury circuit. Birmingham magistrates dismissed a claim by a woman for a maintenance order I for herself and her child, on the ground that her husband was her deceased's hus- band's brother and her marriage was there- fore illegal. After telling his wife to wait for him. saying She would not be long, Francis Docker, 32, an engineer's machine hand, of Peckham, walked on to Blackfriars Bridge, jumped lover, and was drowned. While competing with some school- fellows to see who could jump furthest on the pavement, Eric Sut?-n" 11, of Kil- morie-road, Forest Hill, caught his foot in the kerb and was run over and killed by an Army motor lorry. Crossing the road to draw her old age penfoion at the post office opposite to tho almshouses where she lived, Mrs. Rebecca Watson, 81, was knocked down and killed by a motor bread delivery van at Hitchin. No golfey under 16 is allowed to play on Wallasey (Cheshire) Corporation links.. Nottingham Housing Committee propose to make a start with tne erection of muni- cipal dwellings by acquiring 174 acres at £ 250 per acre in two suburbs, and building immediately 500 houses as a first instalment. Chief Petty Officer George Samson. V.C., of Carnoustie, Scotland, who, failing to find employment, threatened to play a barrel organ outside Buckingham Palace- unless he was given work, has volunteered for service in Russia. It was explained by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, at a town's meeting which approved of the separate track system for new trams to be laid under the arterial road scheme, that the tram line would be higher than the roadway, and that special crossings would be provided over a sleeper track, which must not be crossed exempt, at stated points. Thirty-three Joint Industrial Councils have now been set up-the latest being those for gas and for electricity. A sheep killed near Capetown had in its stomach two silver watch chains with pen- dants, a good-sized wire staple, four three- inch screws, one three-inch nail, and various metal motor-washers picked up during itE ramblings in the farm yard. The Government his decided to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the i condition of agriculture, ami report what Treasures, if any, are necessary to increase home production cf foodstuffs. The City of London Corporation propose to grant increajses of wages to the members of the cleansing and outdoor staff equal in the aggregate to an addition of X10,000 to the wages bill, which is the equivalent nearly of 1d. rate. Mr. Justice Coleridge says he has dis- posed of over 1,000 divorce cases since De- cember 1 last. A lady has been appointed as a specialist in house husbandry by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Great petroleum wells have been dis- covered in what was formerly German New Guinea. The oil is of high commercial value. After being on the rocks in the Bristol Channel for several days, the mail steruner Tyne has been refloated. A woman who complained to the Maryle- bone magistrate about her husband stated that he earned a good living by travelling about with a gramophone and entertain ing people with it in their homes. In attempting to stop a runaway horse, Thomas Rogers, S3, a Bethnal Green oar- man, was run over by the van and killed. Merthyr Tydvil Corporation has decided to accept a tank, offered by the National War Savings Committee, which had been refused previously. When warming' a bed with a hot brick Mrs. Frances Ann Davies, wife of a Uni- tarian minister at Pontypridd, was burnt so severely that she died from her injuries. A return of London rates shows that the average for the current half-year is about 4s. lOd. in the pound, the lowest being in Westminster (4s. Od.), and the highest in Poplar (7s. 2d.). Forty-eight seed potatoes removed from a neighbouring shed %d-Liring z, the previous night were found near a rat's nest un- earthed near Crawley. Mrs. Bridget Hutton, licensee of the Duke of Edinburgh public-house. Kingston- road, South Wimbledon, was fined < £ 50 for overcharging for whisky, and not having the strength labelled on the bottle. As a sequel to a deputation from the Comrades of the War Association to the Mayor of Portsmouth, women arc to give place to men on borough train cars and new comers will be employed temporarily until the old employees take up work cifter de- mobilisation.

I While engaged in a inock battle with ptones at Oldhill, Benjamin Joseph Edwards, & boy of nine, fell to the bottom of a dis- used pit shaft, 100 yards deep, and at the inquest it was decided to call the atten- tion of the District Council to the dangerous ttato of the ."ibandoned shafts in the district. uFor saving human life," by stopping a horse which had bolted, Arthur McXalty, a Sydenham boy, was presented with = £ 5 and a silver watch, from the Carnegie Hero Fund trustees, by the Mayor of Lewisham. Boys who sounded "All clear" after air raids received certificates. f The remains of two men and several aattle have been found on the Now Zealand ooast. They are thought to have been killed by a castup mine, the explosion of j, which was previously he-ald. I