Abergavenny Chronicle

£ 70,000 FOR UNIVERSITY. I Manchester University is appealing for £ 500,000, and a meeting was called by the Lord Mayor in furtherance of that object. It was. officially announced that before the meeting t65,000 had been subscribed, inclu- ding X10,000 from Mr. Jesse Haworth, X6,000 f rom Lady Royds, £ 5,000 from Messrs. Tootal Broadhurst. Lee and Co., and £5,000 from Sir Edward Hulton, Bart. Later it was announced that the list had increased to over < £ 70,000.

MEN'S WEAR I Mr. Gerald du Maurier was in gTeat form the other day at a meeting of the Theatrical Ladies' Guild. "Years ago," he said, when my father I was drawing for Punch,' he asked me what the voung men of the day were wearing. I attired mvself in a frock coat. red cummer- bund white flannel trousers, straw hat, and tennis boots, and armed with an umbrella told him that was what they were wearing in Bond-street."

I THE AWAKENING. GREAT DEMAND FOR DIVORCE. The report of the committee appointed to inquire into t)e administration of the Poor Persons Rules, which is now issued as a White Paper, states' "It is perhaps un- necessary to inquire into the cause for this great demand for divorce [4,101 during 19181 bv poor persons. It is no doubt at- tributable partly to the war and partly to the fact that wide attention has been called to the possibility of obtaining cheap divorces." An income test as well as the present capital test is suggested as one of the .amendments to the rules.

DEARER MOTORING. PLEASURE PETROL TO BE TAXED MORE HEAVILY. The authorities are said to be considering the advisibility of abolishing the petrol tax of 6d. a gallon. It is stated that the difficulties and cost of collection, when rebates have to be ad- justed, render this step advisable, and it is proposed, in order that the revenue shall not suffer, that thefe shall be an increased tax on all motor-vehicles used for pleasure.

Complaining of the draught in Liverpool Police-court, Mr. Stuart Deacon, the sti- pendiary, sent for his hat and wore it in court. "Government information indicates that Krupps is being- converted for the manufac- ture of commercial goods.' Mr. Bonar Law in the House of Commons. Siam will start an air postal service in January between Bangkok, the capital and the Eastern Provinces. It is anticipated that this will reduce the preeent time taken by mails on the land journey, 16 days, w 6 hours.

COAL BILL. DEBATE ON SECOND READING ADJOURNED. When the seocnd reading of the Coal In- dustry (Emergency) Bill, which limits coal profits to Is. :Ld. a ton, and ends that control on March 31, iwas heard in the Commons it came to an unexpected stop. Both Mr. Adamson and Mr. Hartshorn op- posed the Bill, and the latter said the Government's pledge was not given with a view to limiting profits, but to coerce the miners into accepting the Sankey Report. Mr. Bonar Law said it was to the Miners' Federation that the pledge was given, and now that the representatives of those to whom the pledge was given had said they would prefer to go back to the old agree- ment, he did not think that he could ask the House to give a second reading to the Bill now. Mr. Brace said he did not want it thought that they objected to the limitation of profits. If the Bill came forward again it would be opposed by the Labour Party, un- j less it was accompanied by a clean cut and understandable scheme for the working of the mines. The debate was adjourned.

THE "TIGER." Conferences of great importance have taken place between M. Clemenceau, the French Premier, and Mr. Lloyd George. After his arrival M. Clemeaceau almost immediately went to 10. Downing-street, and took part in two conferences. The Becond "talk" was also attended by Earl Gprzon and Mr. Balfour. Discussion has arisen through the present situation of the Treaty of Peace and the attitude of Germany. The two Prime Ministers found they were in complete accord. They also examined various questions of interest to Great Britain and France, on which they arrived at results with which they are fully satis- fied. M. Clemenceau and Mr. Lloyd George also took up other points of more general in- terest affecting not only Great Britain and France. but also Italy, and m these inter- views M. Scialoja. the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, took part. M. Clemenceau. who was accompanied. i From France by Sir Eyre Crowe. the British representative on the Supreme Council, had a rough crossing. which necessitated a change in the port of landing—from Folke- stone to Dover.

MAN WANTED.. I I CATCH-PHRASE ADEPT, "DON.-T YOU I FORGET IT." I I The police are asking for any information which will lead to the arrest of Andrew Fraser, a native of Newcastle-on-Tyne, who has a fully-aigged sailing-ship and the bust of a woman with a ring round it tattooed on his arms, and who uses the words Don't forget it" when engaged in argument. The Wolverhampton police are offering a reward for the man's apprehension. Fraser is wanted in connection with the murder of Bertha Fraser. who was found with her throat cut at 38,' Clinton-street, Wolverhampton, on August 2. He is 31, and 5ft. 5.,1,in. in height, has a long, thin face, high cheek-bones, a Cumberland ac- cent, and walks with a slouching gait. He served as a first-class stoker in H.M.S. Leviathan, and recently was employed as a labourer at a shipyard in Hebburn-on-Tyne.

French boarding schools are in consterna- tion over a notice that Christmas Day is not to be a school holiday. M. Clemenceau, amid great enthusiasm, welcomed Alsace and Lorraine deputies to the new French Chamber. Mr. Frank Rose, M.P., who challenged the Parliamentary Labour Party over the Neil McLean incident, has returned to the fold. Rev. James Travis, past president of National Free Church Council and. of the Primitive Methodist Conference, hao died at Chester. Durino- the holidays seven ships are ex- pected home with 7,400 troops from India. Many Barrow ironworkers are idle owing 'to transport difficulties and coal shortage. General C.)tnda, on instructions from the Rumanian Government, went to the Paris Foreign Office, and signed on behalf of his country the Peace Treaties and protocols with Austria and Bulgaria; New Bridge-street, E.C., National Restau- rant premises were withdrawn from sale by Messrs. Debenham. Tewson. and Chinnocks. the bidding finishing at > £ 64,500.

1 MRS. SOMERSET HOUSE. 1 REVENUE OFFICIALS THREATEN GENERAI STRIKE. „ < It is reported that officials have been sus- pended and a general strike threatened ii the Inland Revenue Department at Somer- set House following recent promotions and appointments. The determination of the men to get their point or down pens" in a department numbering 8,000, responsible for a revenue of nearly £ 600,000,000 in in- come tax and excess profits duty, is said to be firmly fixed. The officials were suspended, it is stated, as the result of the action of the Board cf Inland Revenue striking cut the names of eight men recommended for promotion by the Selection Board and substituting the names of others. On this becoming known," said Mr. W. J. Brown, of the Civil Service Assistant Clerks' Association, "the aggrieved officials, all of whom are of high- grade, petitioned their members of Parlia- ment, the head of the department, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer." According to a report in the London "Daily Mail," Mr. Chamberlain, on receipt of his letter, directed the head of the de- partment, Sir John Anderson, to take disci- plinary action. The offic lal-, concerned were invited to withdraw their letters, and on de- clining to do so were suspended. The matter was taken up vigorously by the Association of Tax Surveyors, with the result that the suspensions have been "suspended" and the matter is being fought out with the Board. The subordinate officials of the same de. partments have their grievances. They are: Allegations of favouritism in appoint- ments and Appointment of temporary women clerks over the heads of staff men with war ser- vice to positions hitherto held by men which are stepping stones to better jobs. Mr. Brown said that the clerks alleged that several appointments had been given to friends and relatives of high officials at Somerset House, who had thus stepped into lucrative appointments without having to pass the Civil Service examination. A mass meeting of the clerks has been held, and a deputation is now to wait upon the Bc-ard of Inland Revenue to present the men's demands and report to another mass meeting.

) MOULDERS' STRIKE., TERRIBLE POSITION OF DESTITUTE FAMILIES.. The continuance of the moulders' strike causes thousands of Sheffield families to en- dure great hardship, and this Christmas 7s. a weeic strike pay and 3n. obtained through street and works collections will be their only monetary receipts. Many families are in distress, having pawned and sold most of their furniture. Landlords are deferring rent claims. Over 15,000 meals have been given to school chil- dren and schools are to be kept open during the holidays to feed them. John Bagshaw, a moulder's labourer, who had been idle for twelve weeks hanged him- self by a handkerchief from a nail in the ceiling of his home

AIR MAIL SMASH. PILOT INJURED IN CRASH AT CATER- II AM. In spite of having crossed to France and back and performing over 50,000 miles of flight, the London-Paris air service has only one accident to its record. Thih unfortu- nately has happened at Caterham, Surrey, when a passeuger was killed and the pilot, Mr. Brodley, was seriously injured. During a thick mist an Airco aeroplane coming' from France crashed to earth in ? field, the pilot apparently failing to see the ground in cadcAvourins' to land. The machine wz. b?dly smashed up.

THE-An t-ORCE. The Lord Chancellor has stated that there is no idea of subordinating the Air Force either to the Army or the Navy, or to split it in two and divide it between the Army and the Navy. The organisation of the Air Ministry were completing a scheme which would be laid before the House when the Estimates for next year were introduced.

THAT UBIQUITOUS FAMILY. At a wedding in a West Wales village the bride, bridegroom, two bridesmaids, and two curates who took part in the ceremony, and the organist, were all named Jones.

BAD FOR THE BOOTMAKERS. South Bathurst, New South Wales, has decided that its children shall 6 hence. forth barefooted, "in view of the '? testimony of many eminent medical men that it io cou- ducive to health."

MAN-EATING WOLVES. VILLAGERS IN TERROR AT RAIDS. It is reported that great terror prevails at the village of Berar, on the border of the Nizam's provinces, owing to raiL: by a pack of man-eating wolves. Seven people have been killed, while many others have been attacked but escaped. A reward of 20 rupees is offered to anyone who kills a wolf.

WHAT OFFERS? A nightcap worn by King Charles I. during a visit to Rushbrooke Hall, near j Bury St. Edmunds, has been offered for sale, with other parts of that monarch's wardrobe and many histone Items.

GOING BACK. NOTORIOUS ANARCHIST RETURNS TO ITALY. It is reported that the Anarchist Mala- testa has at last gained permission to leave this country in order to return to Italy, but he will not be permitted to land in France or enter Switzerland. Altogether Malatesta. has spent 35 years of his life in England, where he has a number of friends, in spite of his extreme views.

The Vickers-Vimy-RoIIs-Royce aeroplane in which Sir John Alcock and Sir Arthur Whitten Brown crossed the Atlantic has been given to the New Science Museum, South Kensington. The Home Secretary is considering the suggestion that the managers of touring theatrical companies should be licensed, but the proposal would involve legislation and presents many difficulties, said Major Baird in the House of Commons. An employee in a Paris bank has been missing since he collected 60,000 francs from the Banque de France. The Home Secretary has advised that the sentence of death passed on Maude Grime. of Bolton. for murdering her illegitimate child be commuted to penal servitude. A jury of matrons recommended her to mercy, and her execution had been postponed until after the birth of a child. Some 120,000 Polish workers will arrive in France next mouth for work in the recon- struction of the devastated areas. Maharaj Kumar Shivaji Rao, second son of the Maharaiah and Maharina of Baroda, who arc staying at Claridge's Hotel, has died in India of paeumonii, following an attack of influenza.

I FLIGHT TO AUSTRALIA I VICKERS-VIMY MACHINE RAC"E j PORT DARWIN. I I I- iio,coo PRIZE WON. i The Y.10,000 prize offered by the Aus- tralian Government for the first aviators to reach Australia by air from England has been won, and thus another fine achieve- ment has to be chronicled to the credit of disciples of the aeroplane. A message has been received from Port Darwir. to the effect that Captain Ross Smith had arrived there. "All -well." This North Australian messag e is con- firmed by the Vickers Company who state that the machine arrived at i p.m., Aus- tralian time, which is 5 a.m. Greenwich mean tixie. The aeroplane, which was piloted by Capt. Ross Smith, who was accompanied by Lieut. Keith and Sergeant J. M. Bennett and Sergeant W. H. Shiers, was a Vickers- Vimy fitted with two 350-h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle engines—a machine practically iden- tical with that in which the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic was achieved. The following is the "Flight-in-Brief" time table:— Nov. Ilounslow 12 Lyons 13 l'isa 15 Rome 10 Taranto (Italy). 17 SudaBay (Greece) 18 Cairo 19 Damascus 19 Ramadie 20 Bazra 22 Nov. Bushire 23 Bunder Abbas 25 Defhi 27 Allahabad 2S Calcutta 22 Dec. Rangoon ] Kalidgati 7 Bima  8 Port Darwin lU The King, Premier, and Secretary for Air I have sent messages of congratulation to Captain Ross Smith, and the following tele- gram has been sent by the High Commis- sioney of Australia to Mr. Hughes, the Prime Minister:— "Have been requested by Royal Aero Club to transmit the following to you: Subject to verification of machine, Capt. Ross has fulfilled the conditions laid down by Australian Government for £ 10,000 prize flight from Great Britain to Australia. The Royal Aero Club, under whose competi- tion rules and auspices the flight was made, will award prize to Capt. Ross -Smith.'

I DIVE TO DEATH. I I SWEETHEART JUMPS OFF LONDON j At an inquest at Poplar on Annie Sea- brook, aged 19, who lived in Smithfield, the story of a dramatic suicide was told. Albert Woods, piermaster, London Bridge, stated that one night he heard someone call, and running down Z, to the foreshore he found a soldier, who told him that his young woman had jumped over London Bridge. A waterman rowed out, but could not find any trace of her. Frank Vail, a gunner in the Tank Corps, said he had been keeping company with the girl for five years. They went out for a walk on the night of the tragedy. When goiug over London Bridge witness left her for a minute or two. There had not been any quarrel. When he returned he saw her standing on the parapet. She called out, "Good-bye, mate;" and disappeared. The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide during temporary insanity."

I MUSIC HALL RAG. I I HORSEPLAY CAUSES SPEEDY TERII. NATION OF PROGRAMME. Another idiotic "rag" has caused unneces- J sarv trouble and expense. Some Oxford and Cambridge student's, after their football match at Queen's Club, wound up the day with a "rag" at the Alhambra. While some of their number were trying to drag one of the players from the stage box on to the stage during the per- formance the front of the box-which is not I poii,,cr of PIl?7'?)V built to resist the pdhng power of Rugby footballers—gave way, and 20 .students and a mass of lath and plaster fell into the orchestra on to the drum and drummer—a drop of about 5ft. or 6ft. The musicians happily were not .seriously hurt. After this the curtain was run? do?n. "God Save the Kin?" was sung, and the performance Kiiiu" was 'sun-, and the performance

I PRACTICAL POLITICS. 1 I PROFIT-SHARING SCHEME AT BRYANT jl AND L1.1 S. A new system of co-operative profit- sharing with the employees has been approved by the t-harcholders of Bryant and May, Ltd. Resolutions have been adopted increasing the capital of the company to < £ 2,000,000, and allocating 200,000 £1 shares to the workers. Mr. W. A. Smith, chairman, said the new system was a change in the method of deal- ing with surplus profits. Whether they liked it or not, they were bound under existing conditions to meet the demands of labour for a share in the business. Sir Edward Coates, as one of the largest shareholders, cordially approved of the scheme.

I LIFT RUNS AWAY. I I EXCITING EXPERIENCE OF LABOUR I I DELEGATES. I An exciting experience has befallen three British Labour delegates, Mr. C. W. Bower- man, M.P., Mr. Alired Onions, M.P., and Miss Mary Macarthur (Mrs. W. C. Ander- son), at Washington. After visiting Mr. Samuel Gompers at his offices on the seventh floor of a skyscraper, they were coming down in the lift, in which were nine other persons, when the liftman lost control and the cage dashed to the base- ment with considerable speed. Fortunately the safety appliances came into operation, but the whole party were badly shaken, and Miss Macarthur had her ankle sprained, while another lady had her leg broken.

DEARER DOCTORS. I I ILLNESS WILL COST DOUBLE. I The Council of the British Medical Asso- ciation has advised all medical men to in- crease their fees 50 per cent. above pre-war rates. "It is well known," eaid Dr. G. C. Ander- son, deputy medical E.-erctary of the Asso- ciation, "that doctors' fees have not ad- vanced to anything like the same degree as have charges in other professions; until now they have been little more than pre-war." This action, he added, was the result of resolutions which had been passed by branches all over the country.

i Mr, Peter Taylor, of Hindley, Lancashire, began work 46 years ago as a bobbin carrier in the Worthington Mills. He has worked at the same mill all his life, and has now been appointed manager to the mill. The Norwegian Parliamentary Nobel Prize Committee has decided not to award the Nobel Peace prizes for 1918 and 1919. Captain Lanbecht, Denmark's Chief I Scout, presented SiT Robert Baden-Powell with the highest medal the Danish Boy Scouts' Association cam confer, at a Reading Scout rally.

THE ARMY ESTIMATES COST OF TROOPS IN OCCUPATION AREAS. FOUR HUNDRED MILLIONS. Detailed Army Estimates for the yeat 1919i20, as promised by Mr. Churchill, have now been issued. They bear out his fore- cast of an expenditure of L500,000,000 for the year, reduced to £ 405,000,000 by Appro- priations in Aid. The strength of the Army borne on the Estimates is thus indicated:— April 1, una. 2,600,000 March 31, 1920 400,000 Reduction 2,200,000 When the vote was first presented in February laet, a reduction in strength tc 952,000 (825,000 British and 127,000 Indian) was estimated. Further measures of de- mobilisation have since been put into opera- tion. Of the 400,000 expected to remain on March 31 next, 100,000 will be Indian. The process of demobilisation will then be still in operation. Of the total sum required for 1919-20, = £ 273,507,000 will go for maintenance of the Standing Army, including the Armies of Occupation, as follows:— The Rhine £ 76,600,000 In Italy. 2,038,000 B -?ii r I Bulgaria. Turkey, etc. 9,850,000 Egypt and Palestine 31,240,000 Mesol)otaniia 32,890,000 Total. 1152,618,000 The cost of the troops in Russia is in- cluded in the bulk sum of £ 2120,889,000 for the Home and Colonial establishments. It is pointed out that the Army on the Rhine includes the troops in France and Belgium, and that the receipts from Ger- many in respect of the Army of Occupation are estimated at £ 1,500,000, representing local currency supplied bv the Gennal Government for the use of British troops. In the case of Egypt, Palestine, Mesopo- tamia, and Persia th? expenditure includes the cost of the Civil Administration of Enemy Territory in Military Occupation.

HEAVY SMOKING. I Accordin-, to a Swiss professor, he has irnoked over half a million eigiars, an aver- age cf more than 22 daily for 60 years. He says: "I have thus enjoyed 10,000 hours of ;uch happiness as no woman could ever have jiven me, and which was well worth the £6,000 that purchased it. My cigars havo jeen the one solace and sweetness of my ife, and my only regret in leavi^ ng it is hat I canllot laing my record up to a This amazing feat was thrown into eclipso )y the achievement of Ilerr Nanas, an Austrian, wlioee record verges on the in- redible. From the age of 27, Herr Nanas capt an exact account of all he bought and ivhat he paid for it. Thus his account-books show that in 27 years—from 27 to 54—he jonsumed 28,786 glasses of l)er-quite a .nodest average of less than three glasses a lay. From his 54th birthday he abandoned his beer, but contrived to smoke more furiously, until, when he died, in his 73rd year, he had consumed exactly 628,713 cigars. Of the whole number, it is said, 13°500 were given to him; on the rest he had spent the equivalent of X2,500, or roughly a penny apiece. Assuming that each cigar was only 4in. long—they were probably much longer—Herr Xanas mu-t have reduced to ashes an aggregate cigar little less than 40 miles in length.

I TAKING THE CENSUS. The numbering of a nation or country is a big business. In our own case the govern- ing authority is the Ministry of Health, and not, as heretofore, the Local Govern- ment Board. When the first census was taken in 1801 there were only 152 people to each square mile of the kingdom. In 1911 there were 618 to the square mile. The in- crease between 1901 and 1911 was only just- over 10 per cent., which waa the smallest on record. The highest in any ten years was heii it iv?ks 18 per between 1811 and 1821, when it was 18 per cent. Then we were just recovering from the strain of the long French wars, and many people confidently expect that there will be a similar increase between 1921 and 1931. They base this on the fact that during the past few months the marriage and birth rates have both been leaping' up. In 1911 women outnumbered men by a million and a I quarter. I

I THE AGE OF AN EGG. j Ever eiuce the late Dan Leno told a wicked world that there were many varie- ties of eggs, mankind has been dubious. It is now said, however, that there should be no need for the British housewife to be un- able b tell the age of an egg without actually cracking it. All that is required is a glass of water. If the egg is perfectly fresh it wil remain resting in a horizontal position on the bottom of the glass. If not quite fresh it will remain with the larger end raised higher than the small. The higher the larger end the older the egg. The reason tor this is that the older an egg is the more the inside dries up and creates a big space in the large end of the egg, thus making it more an d more capable of floating. So there, in a nutshell, or, rather, eggshell, is the solution to a grave problem.

CLEAN YOUR BOOTS, SIR I I Strange are the usages to which ordinary household utensils can be put. Here is an excellent idea for a shoe scraper, which can be made from an old broom. First of all, cut the bristles quite evenly so that a re- gular surface is secured. Then, right in the centre of the broom, cut out the bristles to about half the height of the others. Lastly, cut off the handle so that only about a foot is left. Near to the doorstep dig a hole in the ground 10 inches deep. Push the handle of the broom down into this. Then pack in the soil, pressing it well down so that the scraper is held firmly upright. The scraper will be-found splendid for cleaning the sides as well as the bottoms of muddy boots and shoes. The bristles of the broom should be freed occasionally from the accumulations of mud that will automatic- ally arise.

NATURES PROVISION SHOP. I Did only certain Uopical trees grow in this country we should, to a great extent, be indifferent to controls" of many kinds. To start with there is the "Bread Tree," which has a solid "fruit"ooizievviiit larger than a cocoanut. When this is sliced and cooked, it tastes almost exactly like bread. The "Butter Tree" of Africa produces as great a quantity of "butter" as a hundred pounds at a time! After only a few months' interval, a similar amount is ready again. When hardened and salted, the product from the butter tree is like lreeh, sweet butter. The "Sugar Ash," which grows in Sicily, contains a sap which hardens into crude sugar. The natives use this without any refining. In South America the "Milk Tree" thrives. This is another of these wonderful "provision" trees. Its eap closely recembles rich cows' rnilk-,aixd the natives there enjoy it immensely. What a blessing to the bairns a few thousand of these trees would provei were it possible to grow them here!

I FREE SPEECH! I COL. JOHN WARD HISSED AT LABOUR CONGRESS. "THROW HIM OUT!" An unseemly incident occurred at the Trade Union Congress, when Colonel John Ward appeared on the platform to take part in the debate on Russia. He was greeted with hooting and hisses from all quarters rf the hall, and stood for some minutes unable to speak. Colonel Ward said he never believed such P4 congress would refuse him the right to speak. He belonged to the working classes, a* they did. (A Voice: "Used to belong.") Referring to Russia, he told the meeting they were doing wrong and were injuring themselves. The meeting was now in an uproar, and there were frequent cries of "Throw him out." "I know," said Colonel Ward, "that you are being deliberately deceived, and you are givea a picture of alfairs in Russia which is incorrect. «. might describe the ruling powers in Russia ns Soviets if they liked, but it did not alter the fact that they were tyrants.

CANADA'S LONG CARS. The tramcars of Canada forcibly remind one of those stca.mcars which used to ply in some o.f Loudon's Northern suburbs and England's Northern cities. Usually the stoves are of the slow combustion type, and coke is the fuel consumed in the Canadian trams. There is a storage bunker either under one. of the seats or close thereto. The stove is placed at the driver's end of the car. and takes up the greater part of the width, a seat beiii,- left vacant on each gide for the purpose. Almost all street-cars on the Canadian system are non-reversible—that is, one end only is used for entrance and exit. The driver thus always occupies the same position, and at the various termini there are short loop lines to reverse the direction of travel. In the newer cars an electro-motor is em- ployed to drive a current cf air over the nre to distribute the heat down the length of the car. Certainly this is a great im- provement, and such can; are splendidly cosy, even on the coldest of days.

I THE DIVING HOG. It is said that some few years ago a large and intelligent water-hog from South America, tired of the local British mena- gerie which exploited himself and his brethren, crept away, and took up his abode in a pond at Manning's Heath, Sussex. There he lived a hermit-lilce existeiice,, swimming and diving, or scrambling along the fringe of the pond by way of exercise and harming no man, until, recently, a | young foal disputed hiH claim to the lake. The threc-feet-long water-hog had the im- pudence to cliase the foal, and suffered death at the hands of a gamekeeper for hi- I misdemeanour. In the Sussex pond the hog's life is re- garded as all the more strange because few of his specics have survived the English climate. Such creatures abound on the rivei banks in South America, a.nd, while pos. sessing the skin and bristles of an ordi- nary land hedgehog, can swim and div<; like a fish, often remaining under water for lengthy periods. They have long, curiously moulded teeth, which enable them to grind to a pulp the vegetable matter that forms their sustenance, and allo4r it to pass down the very narrow piseage of their throat They bark and growl like dogs, and are un- pleasant animalfl when roused.

PISCATORIAL CAMOUFLAGE. Fishermen on the north-west coast of France are said to have been trying a new experiment. They have been using a trawi furnished with a couple of powerful electric lights, one at each side of the mouth or opening. It is rather early to say definitely whether the experiment is a success or not, but certainly the catches were heavier than ysual. Again, when fishing for kerr.,ig or mackerel .with drift-nets, wind and current carry the fishing boats out of their desired positions. This trouble is now largely avoided by the use of "sea or floating anchors. Sardines are a y shy fish, and the nets used to catch them are of a very fine thread and mesh. Fly-Sshermen often dull their gut-casts by Boaking them in eoSce, and so making tl;cm less visible. Acting on similar lines, the sardine fishormea have taken to dyeing their nets blue, and thus causing tucm to be less conspicuous. Line fishermen are Jearning all about tides and currents, for the discovery has been made that a line set between the currents will catch many nore fish than one set in a direct flow.

FATED DWELLINGS. j A cruel fiate seems to follow some houses. For instance, there are houses so infested by rats or mice that no one caa live in them. An ex-soldier took a house of this kind and • moved in with his family. Next morning, of the food brought .into the larder, not a crumb was left. Bread, butter, bacon, jam, eggs—everything was completely cleared. Another house is said to be equally unin- habitable because of the swarms of cock- roaches which haunt it; while in another case a house agent has had to scratch off his list a small house in the country which is full of earwigs. Again, a house has been vacate^ by one tenant after another on account of the queer, unpleasant odour which pervades it. This, it has now been ascertained, corner from marsh gas which rises from the soil beneath. There are houses known as cancer houses, which are shunned like the plague. Doctors cannot explain it, but this awful does seem to haunt certain houses, where case after case occurs among the tenants.

"I'm very glad to have been of any com- fort to your poor husband, my good woman. But wha,t made you send for me instead of your own minister?" "Well, t-ir, it's the flu my poor husband's got, and we dinna think it just reet for our ain minister to run the risk "Yes," sighed the youth in purple socks, "the old gentleman caught me hugging his daughter, and tlftre was a storm." "You should have sent a report to the Meteoro- logical Office," chuckled his friend in white spats. "What should I have sent? "The storm was caused by heavy local pressure." Mrs. Knagg: "I had a dozen proposals be- fore yours, and all from smarter men than you." Knagg: "I'm sure they were, since they all managed to get out of it." He: "But I asked you, dearest, to keep our engagement a secret for the present." She: "I couldn't help it. That hateful Miss Odium said the reason I wasn't married was because no fool had proposed to me, 80 I just had to tell her you had." Frank: "What do you think your father would say, Pamela, if I told him I wanted to marry you?" Pamela: "Really, Frank, you can't expect me to tell you that. Be- sides, father never uses that kind of lan- guage at home."

I EPITOME OF NEWS. Douglas-Pennant inquiry cost £ 9,000. Mr. qm Edwards, M.P., is ill wit) pleurisy. British onions have been freed from con. trol. The Antwerp port strike has ended. French Balkan malls have been destroyed by fire. Sir Krishna Gupta, K C.S.I., has been appointed a member of the Army in India Committee. Essex police will get a boot allowance of Is. 6d. a week. Cases of venereal disease at London hos- pitals show a very marked increase. One and three-quarter millions of shop workers benefit by extension of Christmas holidays. The condition of Mr. Sydney Valentine, the actor, shows a slight improvement. Indian frontier and Afghan campaigns cost = £ 14,000,000. Bermondsev is to have a "Beautification" Committee. .National Kitchens at Balham and Wands- worth are to be closed. From the Home Secretary" 's inquiries, it. did not appear that there was any par- ticular revival of Mormon activities in this country, stated Major Baird in the House of Commons. No Christmas restrictions on passenger train parcels, but send early. During excavations at 41, St. Mary Axe, the upper part of an ancient human skull was found. Despite the approach of Christmas. New Yor-r offices and shops are only permitted to open for six hourn daily, except for the sale of foodstuffs and drugs, under the new Fuel Conservation Orders. The Nowcastle Town Council has accepted a tender to build 100 houses at jE917 each. Four seats at Finsbury Borough Council by-elections have been won bv Municipal Re- formers. Labour won the three seats at St. Pancras. L.C.C. by small majority declined to pro- hibit delivery of newspapers by children. Christmas will be spent by the King and Queen at Sandringham. Owen Wright, an elderly man, who had come from Canada to visit his son-in-law and daughter at Gillingham, Kent, bat never reached them, ha^ been found drowned in the Medway, near Rochester. A train-load of provisions has been sent: by the Italian Government to the children and the sick of Vienna. Thirteen thousand bales of Brazilian. tobacco and 275 boxes of seedleaf have arrived in Hamburg—the first direct con- signment from overseas to reach the port. Wood-worms have eaten to a shel a large beam supporting the turret of St. Helen's- Church. Bishopsgatc, E.C Slough Urban District Council received 117 applications for the post of surveyor and waterworks engineer at a salary of £400 a year. Mr. A. Bromley, of Godalming, has- been appointed. Owing to tte Limerick dock labourers" and Transport Union strike, three large- grain vessels, being unable to get cargoes,, have left for other ports. The Rev. W. T. Elliott, vicar of St. Peter's, Leicester, and Rural Dean. has been made honorary Canon of Peterborough. Cathedral. A professional footballer, Frank Otters-oa* who played for Palmer's Jarrow team in the North-Eastom League, was kilted at Pal- mer's works by being crushed, between an engine and a truck. Members of the Indian Mission, headed by Rajah Sir Hari Singh, visited Portsmouth Dockyard and inspected the naval establish ments and ships. The war-time experiment of employing educated women instead of certificated teachers to teach classes of children under five years of age was nt an L C. C. meeting declared to have proved successfu l. A German drama, called "ScajA Flow" has; been produced at Jena. Mr. J. Alden Weir, the doven of AmerL can painters, has died, aged 67. -tle d C, 7 Lady Baker, wife of Judge Sir George" Sherston Baker, has died at Lincoln. She held the Belgian Croix de la Reine Eliza- beth for services rendered to Belgian refugees. Four German officers who escaped from the Lofthouso Park internment camp, near Leeds, by cutting through barbed wire, have been recaptured Guy's Hospital Court accepted the resign nation of Sir Cooper Perry as superinten- dent from January 31 next, and elected him. a ^ovcrinr of the corporation After January 1 the French air squadrons- formed during the war will be transformed into regiments. A verdict of "Accidental death" was re- turned at the inquest at Plymouth on the, bodies of seven men, serving on the sloops, Silvio and Swindon, who went ashore with- out leave and were drowned, presumably owing to the capsizing of their boat. A French Deputy is taking steps to form a new Parliamentary group which is said to. consist of "members who wish to work with- out noise and ostentation." At the meeting of the London Educaticu Committee it was stated that J.,600 moro. teachers would be required when the COIll. pulsory day continuation schools were: established. Violent storms in the Alps have caused an interruption in telegraphic and telephonic communication between Italy and France and England. Princess Louise has presented a geld watch to the, Poplar Boy S.:out. Jack Purkiss, who spraug in front of a motor-cat- and made a gallant attempt to save the life of a little girl, who afterwards died of- fright. At a general meeting of members of Lloyd's, Sir Raymond Beck was presented, with Lloyd's gold meda! as a mark of appreciation of the services which he haf rendered to Lloyd's and to the country. With the Board of Agriculture's sanction, Peterborough County Council agreed to serve a notice to the Olympia Agricultural Company to quit 900 acres of land in New- borough Fell in order that the land may be developed as small holdings for ex-service men. General Seely has been unanimously elected an alderman of the Isle of Wight County Council. The body of a well-dressed woman, aged a-bout 45, was found in the sea at Folke- stone. She was wearing a dark ccat over a fur coat, black hat, and thick veil. Attached to her wrist was a small black leather purse "Killed by a passing train" was the ver- diet returned at an inquest on an unknown man, aged about 25, found on the railway line between North Camp and Aldershot. The only means of identification was a metal watch with initials M. J. L., and scar on the right leg. Remarking that during the last two or three years he had sentenced between 150 and 200 persol18 for bigamy, and that the offence must be punished more severely than in the past, Mr. Justice Bray passed sen- tences of six months to three years' impri- sonment on seven young men charged with bigamy at Sussex Assizee. While the basin of the Medicis Fountain in the Luxembourg Gardens. Paris, was being cleaned an unexploded bomb, ap- parently dropped by a Gotha. was found. It was removed without accident.

SENSATIONAL BANK RAIDS. » !■ ft MANAGER SHOT DEAD AT LEEDS: EX-OFFICER ARRESTED. <» HOLD=UP AT WOOD GREEN. A 6tartling drama of murder and robbery has been enacted at Leeds in broad day- light, when Mr. E. P. Oates, the manager of the local branch of the Yorkshire Penny Bank, was shot dead by an armed intruder, who escaped with X400. The murder and robbery were committed with amazing rapidity. During the after- noon a man entered the bank, pointed a revolver at the manager, and cried "Hands up!" Mr. Oates moved towards the intruder, and immediately two shots rang out. Mr. Oates fell dead, his assailant seizing £ 400, and fleeing. The assailant, who has been traced by the police, was formerly a second-lieutenant, and had only recently retarned to Leeds, his native city. He drove away from the bank in a taxi which he had engaged. The man's description is as follows:— Height 6ft., hair dark brown, eyes brown, complexion sallow, build thin, clean-shaven, dressed in dark grey tweed suit, black bowler hat, and black shoes, wearing a stiff double collar and tie, aged about 24. Subsequently an ex-officer named Albert Redfern, aged twenty-fouv, was arrested at Bristol and taken to Leeds iu connection with the affair. WOOD GREEN BANK RAID. I SHOT ACROSS THE COUNTER. I Following close upon the raid ,at Leeds came the story of another bank' .at Leeds this time in London, at Wood Green. Driving up in a taxicab, a man entered Barclay's Bank and asked to see the man- ager. There he produced a revolver, the a^nager closed with hiir and the revolver "Jlt off. The intruder was tied up, and •w«».s later found to be wearing a false mous- He was taken to the police station. More detailed accounts state that when the man got inside he fired a shot across the counter, which fortunately missed aim, although there were several clerks at work. At the same moment Mr. Lcwin, the chief -air of sca l es fr,*?ii the cashier, picked up a. pair of scales frem the counter and gave the man a forcible blow which brought him to the ground. There was almost a panic among the girl clerks, but half-a-dozen of the male clerks gathered round and held him down while the taxicab man went for the police. A number of constables quickly arrived in response to the summons, and one of them, entering with truncheon in hand, took the man into custody and removed him to Wood Green police-station, where he gave the name of Edward Edwin Reginald Lock, aged 32. He is believed to belong to Wood Green. The man had in his possession a port- manteau and some sticky substance—which had apparently been bought from a theatrical costumier-a five-chambered re- volver, loaded-one cartridge from which had been discharged—and a piece of lead pipe. He told the police this was intended for them if they attempted to arrest him. He hired the taxicab in Camden Town, and ordered the driver to take him to the bank. BIG SAFE ROBBERY. It is reported that thieves carried off a safe containing 9440 in notes from the Ex- change Restaurant office in Birmingham during the temporary absence of the clerk. Many people were in the street at the time. The clerk locked the office door at 4.30 p.m., and at 5.15 he returned to find the door forced and the safe, which weighed nearly a hundredweight, gone. It was found later in a back street, a mile away, broken and emptied.