County Observer and Monmouthshire Central Advertiser Abergavenny and Raglan Herald Usk and Pontypool Messenger and Chepstow Argus

TOWN TOPICS. I (From Our London Correspondent The attention which has been paid in London this year to the celebration on April 23 of Shakespeare's birthday was so decidedly more marked than usual that it would seem as if that particular date is more and more to be made an English festival. Even the authori- ties of the British Museum unbent for the occasion, and arranged for a small but effective special exhibition of Shakespearian relics to be shown to visitors. These, of course, had the distinguishing merit of being genuine, which is a very strong point, seeing how many fictitious "relics" have been sought to be palmed off upon the public from time to time. The most colossal of these were, of course, the historic forgeries of the youthful William Henry Ireland —the William Henry Erin of the late James Payn's story, The Heir of the Seas," founded upon this curious chapter in the history of human credulity; and these culminated in the pre- sentation even of a play, "Vortigern" being declared to be a long-lost tragedy by our greatest dramatist. But there have been many lesser impostures; and those Shakespearian students who went to the national collection at Bloomsbury while it was to be seen there were well rewarded for their pains by seeing some genuine and very interesting memories of Shakespeare. Close upon half a century has elapsed since the late Queen Victoria, who was accompanied by her husband, Prince Albert, went to Syden- ham to open the Crystal Palace; and the interesting event of June 10, 1854, is to be fittingly celebrated under the patron- age of the King and Queen Alexandra on the coming June 11. The generation which remembers the enthusiasm which had been aroused by the erection of the Palace of Glass in Hyde-park for the first World's Fair, in 1851, is now almost passed away; and it is difficult, when one looks back at the newspapers and pamphlets and periodicals of that time, to realise quite why it was that the enthusiasm ran so high. But it begot very high hopes when the wonderful architectural erection of Sir Joseph Paxton was removed from South Ken- sington to the Sydenham hills and, although these have not in full degree been realised, millions have spent a pleasant time because of that removal, and innocent amusement is still, and long ought to be, a very potent factor in the welfare of mankind. The promise of May and brighter weather with which the capital has lately been visited, lends an especial interest to the topic of the fashions that are being adopted by ladies in preparation for the coming summer. Those of observant eye who walk in Bond-street, or Piccadilly, or Hyde-park just now will note that the most striking feature of these is their mixture of the styles which were prevalent in days long gone by. It has been seen, for in- stance, that fashionable ladies have been wearing Medici collars, with Elizabethan sleeves and embroideries, Marie Stuart coifs, and every style peculiar to the days of the latest Louis of France, in colour, texture, and design alike. More than this, Pompadour muslins are proving the rage of the hour, with seventeenth and eighteenth century brocades and taffetas, as well as Marie Antoinette skirts and bands and Josephine or Empire frocks; and, while the pelerine of the Josephine period is reproduced to-day in velvet and silk, early Victorian fichu effects are in much request. As it has been observed, nothing is too gorgeous and nothing too simple for present-day use, and subdued quaker tones are seen side by side with brilliant shades, so that the taste oc every section ought assuredly to be satisfied. Congresses of all kinds and affecting almost eVery profession, calling, and human interest, will be a special feature of the International Exhibition at St. Louis, U.S.A., which is about to be opened, and they will be taking place right through the summer. But there are others than those which will assemble in America that will receive special attention at the hands of Englishmen, and one of these is the International Congress for the Protection of Industrial Property, which is to be held in Berlin at the end of May. An influential committee repre- senting this country has been formed in con- nection therewith; and the desirability for such a step is sufficiently indicated by what the Congress proposes to discuss. Its principal object will be to make preparations for the re- vision of the Paris Convention relating to patents, while other questions will include the protection of international exhibitions, the right of priority, formalities and dating of patents, designs and models, with the formu- lating of their international protection, the protection of trade-marks, especially in the country of origin, and the confiscation of unlaw- fully-marked goods. Those visitors to London who have watched the dilatory travelling of some of our omnibuses at certain points, and have been both wearied and worried by the delay, will be especially inte- rested in the idea embodied in a proposed new bye-law of the London County Council dealing with a phase of the subject. This would pro- vide that all slow-going traffic should be kept to the kerb on the near side, this action being taken in response to pressure from the Roads Improvement Association. It may be said at once that the suggested innovation is viewed with strong disapproval among the proprietors of vehicles plying for hire and owners of omni- buses, it being declared that it would tend greatly to interfere with passenger traffic, besides proving inconvenient to the public. They contend that the present keeping to the kerb side of omnibuses and unhired cabs is a boon to the wayfarer, who would not rush through a maze of slow, heavy traffic to get on a 'bus or into a cab and it is obvious that there will be much discussion before the new idea is generally accepted. Although the medical Press is apt to find deadly dangers in what most of us have been accustomed to consider the most innocuous quarters, many a Londoner will be inclined to agree with the protest which is just now being raised against the wanton and persistent shaking of the domestic doormat in the face of the passer-by. Those who have to catch trains in the morning on their way to business in the City have their nostrils frequently offended by this practice, which is carried out regardless of the inconvenience and annoyance it is bound to causa; and when they are told, upon distinct I medical authority that it dispenses bacterio- logical flora in high degree, they will not at all relish its continuance. It is roundly described as an "offence against decency and hygiene," I and the attention of the local authorities is urgently called to the practice but, upon a dispassionate consideration, it will be seen that it is easier to denounce the custom than to < suggest a remedy. Doormats are necessities of our domestic environment, and they are bound I to to shaken; but, of course, the question is as I to where is the best place for this process to be j indulged in. One can scarcely imagine the strip of pavement outside the front door to be the most eligible or desirable position; and it might very fairly be urged that, where there is garden at the back, or even the strip of yard possessed by most metropolitan dwellings, it t feul better be done there. Now that the decision of the Association "Cup-tie Final" is always accustomed to be held at the Crystal Palace, London annually in April knows what it is to be given over for a day to an invasion of tens of thousands of foot- ball enthusiasts from divers parts of the pro- vinces. It may be, as has been asserted in the case of the last match so played, that it is something of an anomaly that two Lancashire teams, coming from towns within a few miles of one another, should have to travel as far as London to decide which is the better; but, of course, when the arrangement was originally made, there was far from being a certainty that this would be so, and it was quite possible, as has been the case in one or two previous instances, that a South of England team would have to play off the tie with one from the North. In any case, the one-day visitors evidently enjoy the hurried trip to town, and this naturally counts for much in the consideration of the whole question. R.

I "MODERN FINANCE." STARTLING EXPOSURE BY AN AMERICAN j MILLIONAIRE. Some astonishing statements as to the methods I adopted by American "trust" kings in transact- ing deals in which millions are involved have been made to a representative of the "New York World" by Mr. Thomas W. Lawson. Mr. Lawson is the noted speculator in copper, who is involved with Mr. Henry H. Rogers, "the Standard oil magnate." in the litigation arising out of the amalgamation of the Boston gas com- panies. In a recent hearing of the "Gas Case," Mr. Lawson said Henrv H. Rogers and I have had deals aggregating 100,000,000 dols. £ 20,000,000, between us within the past nine years. One of these deals showed 46,000,000 dols. ( £ 9,200,000) profits. No writing ever passed between us in any of these deals." In the interview in the "New York World," which is revised by Mr. Lawson himself, the millionaire explains why, in detfiing with mil- lions, no record of the matter is made. He declared deliberately that no record is made because the nature of the transactions is illegal. A memorandum of many of them would not endure the light of day. "The wholesale finan- cier's word," he said, "is no more sacred, no better than the ordinary business man's. It's simply a matter of policy with the wholesale modern financier. He can't do business any other way. "As society and the law are constituted, it is an absolute impossibility for a few men to make 46,000,000 dols. profit legally. That's the very foundation of the question. j "Take the affairs I have mentioned. More than 46,000,000 dols. profit was made without putting a single dollar in jeopardy. It was made in a very, very short time, and it represented between one and one-half and three times the total capital employed in the transaction. "I am not going to mince words, or dispute the meaning of such words as legally.' But I do say that such transactions show upon their face that, first, the 46,000,000 dols. must have belonged to the public, the people; and, second, that this sum was taken away from the people by a handful of men—how? Clearly not by going to the people and show- ing them that they were to part with 46,000,000 dols. for the benefit of the few men who were afterwards found in possession of it. So that it must have been taken away from them without, in one sense, their knowing they were parting with it, and this could only be done by what wo may call a trick in finance. "It stands to reason on the face of the pro- position that if an undeniable, Unalterable record had been made of how this 46,000,000 dols. was transferred from the people to the men in ques- tion, it would be self-evident that once that tion, it would be self-evident that once that record got back to the people, after they found that their 46,000,000 dols. had been taken away from them, it would be merely a simple matter of their going to the courts, and having it re- turned to them. "That is why I say that as a matter of policy high financiers engaged in an affair of this kind have to depend each on the other's word. The reason is not that one wants to trust the other, Lut because he has to. If they put their agree- ment in writing, and made a record that could be taken to court, they couldn't get the 46,000,000 dols. "Of course, boiled down, it means 'Modern Finance.' It means that this is the way finan- cial business is done to-day, and that any man who is doing financial business on a large scale must find himself in the position I am in to-day, or else in what, to my mind, seems a much worse one—lying to the public."

A QUEEN'S WILL. DISPUTE BETWEEN KING AND PRINCESSES. The Civil Tribunal in Brussels has given judgment in the application made by the creditors of the Princesses Louise and Stephanie of Bel- gium to set aside the will of the late Queen of the Belgians. The Court refused the application of the plaintiffs with costs, holding that the Act of 1853 was a diplomatic treaty, and that since that time the Queen's property has come under the operation of the principle of separate estates. Queen Maria Henrietta died at Spa in September, 1902. The bequests under her will related to the Queen's private estate, but the pressure brought to bear by the creditors of Princess Louise of Coburg, who benefited under the will as a daughter, made trouble with the King as to the interpretation of her rights. All efforts to bring the dispute to an amicable termination failed, and the result was the extra- ordinary spectacle of a King sued in the courts of his kingdom by the creditors of his daughter. The creditors contended for their part that there was no marriage contract in a legal sense between the King and his Consort, because they entirely forgot to ratify the contract within six weeks of the solemnisation, as the Belgian law requires. Hence under the law there was a joint partner- ship in property, and under it half of King Leopold's immense fortune would fall in as having belonged to the late Queen. The King, on his side, contended that the ques- tion of property between himself and his Consort was governed by the diplomatic settlement, the Treaty of Vienna, 1853, under which the marriage was arranged, and by which there was a separate estate between the contrasting parties. The creditors, among whom were included a Paris jeweller, named Hartog, with a claim of £ 7800; Decroll, Vienna, milliners— £ 6400; and Paquin and Co., Paris, who claimed £ 6800, waited several months for payment after the Queen's death. The then resolved to press for their money. They feared lest King Leopold would, as seemed likely if report was to be trusted, give away his wealth and leave nothing much to hia daughters.

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i "ACTS" OF ST. PAUL. DISCOVERIES GLEANED FROM COPTIC FRAG- MENTS. An interesting publication has just left the Heidelberg press-the Acta Pauli," a narrative of the Apostle Paul's traAelling experiences, which have not until now been known in their entirety. The compiler, Dr. Karl Schmidt, has spent seven y&ars in piecing together 2000 small fragments of papyrus, and translating their contents from the Coptic handwriting. The original has been finally transferred to the Heidelberg University library, of which it is considered the most valuable treasure. It is claimed for the work that it solves many problems connected with early Christian literature, and proves conclusively that several books of that era which have come down to us were only parts of one great work, the Acts of Paul, consisting of (1) the so-called Thecla Acts, (2) the Apocryphal Epistles to the Corinthians (not those in the New Testament), and (3) the Martyrdom of St. Paul. The Coptic manuscripts, Dr. Schmidt says, date from 180 A.D., and are from the hand of an Elder of the Christian Church, written in honour of St. Paul and to combat Gnostic heresies." The volume is dedicated to the Grand Duke of Baden, as Rector Magnificus of the University, under whose high protection the work has been achieved.

The "Standard" states, on the authority of influential Dutch leaders, that the country Boers may soon make what will be calledl a spontaneous demand for representative Government- The Duke and Duchess of Roxburghe have left Floors Castle, Kelso, for Broxmouth Park, Dunbar. Their departure from Floors was oc- casioned by the occurrence of a case of small- pox among the workmen'employed at the Castle. Princess Louise of Schleswig-Holstein, who has made a prolonged tour in India, with the Hon. Mary Hughes and the Hon. Alec Yorke in attendance, is expected shortly at her residence in Queensberry-piace, South Kensington. The coal mines of France, located in the northern part of that country, do not supply the needs of the French people, who have to import 28,000,000 tons, against an average of 21,000,000 raised at home. A Quaker, entering a Birmingham police- court, refused to take his hat off. Without ceremony, a policeman removed it for him. Thereupon the Quaker said he was satisfied;! as one of the old school of Quakers he would not have taken it off himself.

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NEWS NOTES. The present visit of the King and Queen to Ireland is one of an unofficial nature, more for the pleasure of their Majestie amongst their Hibernian subjects than for any other purpose; and Irish people think none the less of our Sovereign and his gracious Consort on this account. The dwellers in "the dear little island green are keen in their love of horses and all connected therewith, and they are proud indeed to have their King and Queen with them at several of the popular race meetings, taking a delighted personal interest in the sport pro- vided. « The death of Admiral Makaroff has been succeeded by a spell of seeming Russian inaction at the seat of war in the Far East, and the appointment of Admiral Skrydloff virtually presages the retirement of Admiral Alexeieff from any position of prominence in the struggle, for it is notorious that the two could not get on together for very long; while Kuropatkin and the Viceroy are of natures not likely to assimilate either. On the Japanese side the naval and military leaders are thoroughly en rapport, a factor which should not be lost sight of in forecasting the future of the campaign. Russia, we know, is huge as to the possession of battalions; but Japan is alert and resourceful. The money question will soon come before the world as between the bellige- rents andfit should be noted, that while both nations have been heavy borrowers in the matter of fighting provision, Russia owes something like five pounds per inhabitant to the little over apound per head of the Japs. The Mikado's credit, accordingly, is much more of a considera- tion than that of the Czar when loan monger- ing has to be faced seriously; and in a big war you cannot carry on without cash. There was a great and orderly crowd at the Crystal Palace on Saturday to see the finish of strenuous struggle of the year for football honours, when Manchester City captured, by the narrowest of margins, the Association Cup from the Bolton Wanderers, who had survived with them through the winter tourney against all competing combinations. The spectators were enthusiastic, and followed every point in the play with keen eyes, and as the issue was in the balance until the whistle called the clubs off the field, the spectators had their fill of excitement. The Prime Minister, the Colonial Secretary, and the Postmaster-General were amongst Z, those who looked on from the pavilion, and all these three Ministers of the Crown had some- thing to say when the match had been lost and won. Despite Mr. Rudyard Kipling's severe satire there is little danger of football falling away from general favour. Bowling on the green is having, we hear, a revival of popularity. The King himself has become a player, and lately, Mr. Balfour is giving to bowls some of the spare time he has hitherto apportioned to golf. It is a pleasant old English game, and one that can be played after a man has come to forty year." At the Shakespeare celebrations of Saturday there was some noteworthy speaking, and perhaps the most entertaining deliverance apropos of the birthday of the immortal William was that of Sir Edward Clarke at the Savage Club in London. That eminent legal luminary remarked that he believed that Mrs. Gallup had proven, to her own satisfaction, that the writings of the Bard of Avon" were those of Bacon, and proven them by cryptograms. Sir Edward said he was a firm believer in the concealment of names. Whatever the truth with regard. to Shakes- peare and Bacon might be, no doubt they all knew that Shakespeare was the author of the Prayer-Book versions of the Psalms. It could be proved more conclusively than anything else with regard to Bacon and Shakespeare controversy. In the name of Shakespeare, properly spelled, there were four vowels and six consonants. If the Savages took that well-thumbed copy of the Prayer- book which accompanied them each Sunday morning, afternoon, and evening to their accus- tomed devotions, and looked at the 46th Psalm, they would find that the forty-sixth word from the beginning of the psalm was Shake,' and that the forty-sixth word from the end of the psalm wais 'spear.' It was impossible to have more conclusive proof. It was an accurate and irrefutable fact from the conclusions he had drawn. Shakespeare was the author of the Prayer-book version of the Psalms." This deli- cate irony on Sir Edward Clarke's part should suffice to laugh Mrs. Gallup out of the literary court for ever. Apropos of Mr. Winston Churchill's tempo- rary loss of speech in the House of Commons, it may be noted that the late silver-tongued Parliamentarian, John Bright, used to safe- guard himself against lapses of memory by infinite painstaking before rising to address an assembly. When he had to deliver a speech of first-class importance he wrote a sort of essay on the subject and tore it up. He then wrote another, and treated it in the same way; and finally a third. In this way he con- sidered that he had not only exhausted his own thoughts upon the matter in hand, but had gained such a command over the language in which it could be expressed that he could never be at a loss. It was a very successful method in his case, but very few men would have the patience to undergo a discipline so laborious. One cannot, however fluent, prepare for a public appearance too carefully. Cameos formed the subject of a lecture at the Royal Institution in London the other day by Mr. Cyril Davenport, F.S.A., librarian at the British Museum. Mr. Davenport said he de- plored the fact that there were now no cameo- cutters in England, the more so as the suitability of these small sculptured stones for presentation caskets was far superior to the present enamelled work. Whilst the lapse of this art in England was to be regretted, it was gratifying to find that in France there was a certain revival. The earliest cameo work was that in Ptolemaic times, about the third cen- tury, B.C., and other antique work of note was that of the Grseco-Roman period. The art never reached a very high level in England, through the work of Edmund Burch was excel- lent. Incidentally reference was made to the fact that the fine group of George and the Dragon on our sovereigns was the work of Ber- nard Pistrucci, an, Italian who was employed at the Royal Mint. •

The lOQth. an.njvenrsary o? the birth of Cobden occurs pn Jape 3, and" the Cobden Club are organising centenary gatherings throughout the country. '¡:? 4;-?"t. \'):I'J

AGED 106 YEARS. A TALK WITH THE OLDEST WOMAW. One of the most interesting persons at the present time in the whole of Britain is Mrs. Ann Howells, the celebrated Welsh centenarian, who, if she lives until June 22nd, 1904, will at- tain the remarkable age of '06. Mrs. Howells is hale and hearty, and possesses the whole of her faculties. She is still able to walk about, and dresses and undresses herself without tne aid of any other person. Mrs. Howells was born at Abercwmboy Farm, near Aberdare, in 1798, and during the whole of her life she has been a hard-working woman. She worked for many years as a pit girl, doing such heavy work as unloading trams of coal and screening slag and refuse, at the pit head of the old Abernant Collieries. Mrs. Howells vividly recalls the time when the news of Waterloo reached Wales in 1815. She recollects the Chartists going in squads to drill on the top of the Merthyr Moun- tain. She first married in 1831, being then thirty-three years of age, and by that mar- riage had seven children. She married, when ninety years of age, her second husband, Thomas Howells, who died ten years later. At present Mrs. Howells lives with her daughter (aged sixty-eight) and son-in-law, Mr. Job Williams, at the Gored Hotel, Melincourt, five miles from Neath. Mr. Job Williams (to whom the journalist spoke concerning Mrs. Howells' remarkable age) is known by every miner throughout Great Britain as the hero of the Tynewydd Colliery disaster in 1877, when he saved the lives of five miners entombed in the bowels of the earth for ten days through a I Mrs. Ann Howells, Aged 106. flooded pit. The following details of Mrs. Howells' later life are embodied in a statement by Mr. Williams, attested by him before a Com- missioner for Oaths, in the presence and hear- ing of Mrs. Ann Howells, on whose behalf he spoke (Mrs. Howells being unable to speak English fluently) About the middle, of February, 1902 (said Mr. Williams) my mother-in-law, Mrs. Ann Howells, was suffering terribly from asthma and with con- stipation, and, being well advanced in years, we entertained very little hopes of her recovery. My wife (Mrs. Howells' daughter) was in great distress about her mother's condition, but one evening, when sitting in the smoke-room in my house, I picked up a newspaper in which was related a wonderful cure by Dr. Williams' pink pills of a young man who had been suffering from bronchitis and shortness of breath. Being so taken up with the story of his cure, I showed my wife the newspaper. She read the article through, and suggested that we should get a box for mother as a trial. I replied that I was quite agreeable, and next day, whilst on business at Swansea, I obtained from a chemist a box of Dr. Williams' pink pills and brought them home. Immediately on my return I urged Mrs. Howells to take some of the pills, and that afternoon she took a dose, and again that night took some more. The old lady next morning appeared greatly relieved of her bronchitis, her breathing was more easy, she had lost the rest- lessness caused by her constipation, and during that day she commenced to eat a little better than she had done for some time. She con- tinued taking the pills, and after three or four days she had regained fairly good health, and from that time up to the present the old lady has always had a box of Dr. Williams' pink pills at hand. Whenever she feels the slightest symptoms of bronchitis returning or being the least bit out of health she takes a dose of Dr. Williams' pink pills and in no time her trouble is gone. Dated this 12th day of March, 1904, (Signed) JOB WILLIAMS, Gored Hotel, Melincourt, Neath. Witness J. T. DAVIES, Solicitor and Commissioner for Oaths, Neath. Mr. Williams added that there was no doubt the old lady owed her present good health to Dr. Williams' pink pills, and that he had often taken them himself, as did the rest of his family, and they always proved themselves invaluable. Mr. Job Williams asked Mrs. Howells "Isn't what I have said correct and true?" "Yes," replied the old lady, "and with- out doubt I think that Dr. Williams' pink pills are. wonderful, and I advise everybody who has not taken them to give them a trial."

PRAISED THROUGHOUT BRITAIN. — Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People are praised by all classes of people, from the lowest to the highest in the land, for the way in which they have cured Paralysis, Locomotor Ataxy, Rheumatism and Sciatica; also all diseases aris- ing from impoverishment cf the blood, Scrofula, Rickets, Consumption of boWels and lungs, Anaemia, general weakness, loss of Appetite, Palpitations, Pains in the Back, early decay, all forms of female weakness, and hysteria. These Pills are a tonic, not a purgative. They are genuine only with the full namt*. Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People, and are sold by chemists, and by Dr. Williams' Medicine Com- pany. 46, Holborn-viaduct, London, E.C., at 2s. 9d. a box, or six boxes for 13s. 9d. Pink pills sold loose, or from, glass jars, are not Dr. Williams' Pink Pills; accept them only in the pink closed wrapper as above described.

I MORAL STORTES.-III. I I THE BAD MAN BAFFLED. I A certain woman sent her Child to the Shop. "Go," said she, "and get Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People: for I am feeling weak and nervous to-day. I need a Tonic." The obedient Infant went forth. But the shop- keeper, seeing that he had a Child to deal with, wrapped up a Substitute. The Wise Child undid the paper and was On to the Fraud. "Look Here," she said, "you have not given me What I was sent for. Where is Dr. Williams' Name? "These are pink Pills," said the man behind the counter. "What more do you want?" I "I want Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People," said the Wise Child, "or else my money I Back. Mother is ill, and she wants the Pills that have Cured people." I MORAL: I Look for Dr. Williams' Name on the wrapper. Substitutes never cured Anyone.

The report presented to the annual meeting of the Royal National Pension Fund for Nursea would seem to suggest that marriage is almost the most fatal disease that afflicts the nursing profession. Of 353 nurses who surrendered their interest in the fund during the year, 160 gave as their reason either "marriage" or "giv- ing up nursing." The work of the Junius Mor- gan Benevolent Fund, which is an auxiliary of the society aiding those nurses who are in tem- porary difficulties, seems toMiave had excellent results. The experience of the fund shows that nurses are more liable to disablement than most women workers, although, at the same tune, their tenure of life is better- Tell your Cook to blow KEATING'S POWDER into the crevices and haunts of BeeUes and Cock- roaches—they come out, die, and can be swept up. Kills ISTits in Children's Heads. Harmless to all animal life. Tins* 3d., 6d., .18., Klled Bellows, 9d., or free for stamps. KEATING, Chemist, London.

I DETECTIVES AND DIVORCE. I POLLARD SUIT SEQUEL. A charge of conspiracy to obstruct and pervert the due course of law and justice in the recent divorce case of Pollard v. Pollard was preferred on Saturday at Bow-street Police-court against Henry Scott (otherwise Slater), 55, of Palace- court-mansions, Bayswater, no occupation; Albert Osborn, 36, of Drayton-gardens, South Kensing- ton, solicitor; John Pracey (otherwise John Bray), 32, of Wellesley-street, Stepney, private inquiry agent; and Frederick Stanley Davies, Westbury-avenue-parade, Wood-green, private inquiry agent. The case was taken in the Upper Court by Sir Albert de Rutzen, chief magistrate. The prosecu- tion was conducted by Mr. Guy Stephenson, instructed by Mr. Sims, of the Treasury; Mr. C. F. Gill, K.C., and Mr. Vanetta appeared for Osborn, Mr. R. D. Muir for Scott, and Mr. Myers for Pracey and Davies. The Earl of Desart, the King's Proctor and Director of Public Prosecu- tions, occupied a seat on the bench. Mr. Stephenson at the outset made a brief refe- rence to the divorce case out of which the pro- ceedings arose, and said that Mr. Osborn, one of the men in the dock, was the solicitor to Mrs. Pol- lard, the petitioner. Scott was the proprietor of Slater's Detective Agency, and Davies and Pracey were detectives in the employ of the agency. He proposed to call formal evidence of arrest and then ask for a remand. I EVIDENCB OF ARREST. Chief Inspector Froest, of Scotland-yard, gave evidence as to arresting Pracey at the office of the Detective Agency in Basinghall-street. When the warrant was read to him Pracey said, I did not think they would pull me in." Pracey was taken to Bow-street Police-station. The charge was there read to him, and he made no reply. Scott (or Slater) was taken in by other officers, and on the warrant being read to him he said, I am as innocent as a lamb. I was away at the time." Detective-sergeant Carlin, of Scotland-yard, gave evidence as to arresting Scott (otherwise Slater) at Palace Court Mansions, Bayswater, at eight o'clock on Friday evening. When Scott was told that he was charged with conspiring with other men to defeat the course of justice, he said, Very well. I will come with you. I am perfectly innocent, and had not been at the office for 13 months prior to last March. I have not taken any active part in the business of the firm for many years. Henry manages the business, but of course I take the money. I know nothing of this case. Someone is supposed to have shown me a letter regarding the case, but I am as innocent as a child." The witness proceeded to say that at a quarter to one o'clock that morning he and Detective-sergeant Deakin arrested Mr. Osborn at his residence, Drayton-gardens, South Kensington. Mr. Osborn was told what he was charged with, and said, This is very annoying, but I suppose I must go with you. I am quite ready to accompany you." Detective-sergeant Bex, of Scotland-yard, stated that he arrested Davies at a quarter-past eight o!clock on Friday evening in Westbury-avenue- parade, Wood-green. Davies said, "You soon got the warrant. I thought there was going to be a new trial. How many more are there in it ?" Witness said he could not answer that question, and took Davies to Bow-street Police-station. HEAVY BAIL DEMANDED. Mr. Stephenson said he could not carry the case any further at present. He was informed that Mr. Henry, the manager of Slater's, had been arrested on a warrant. Mr. Muir said he was instructed to ask for bail on behalf of Slater. The magistrate had heard the statement he made at the time of his arrest, and there was no reason to doubt it. He had not been to his office for many months, and took no active part in the business. Sir Albert de Rutzen remarked that all he had to say about the case was that it was one of very considerable importance. All the men would be remanded for a week. Mr. Slater and Mr. Osborn would each have to find two sureties in £ 3000 each. The other men would be admitted to bail if they could each find two sureties in £ 500. FOUR SURETIES FORTHCOMING. Mr. Gill remarked that the charge against these J men was not so serious as it might seem at first sight. Putting it at its highest, it was a common law conspiracy to procure a divorce for a woman who was now said to be only entitled to a judicial separation, and, if convicted, the men would only be liable to a term of imprisonment without hard labour, Though the circumstances of the case were serious it was not in itself a serious charge involving serious consequences. If a man in the position of Hbnry was called on to find bail in a large amount he might have to remain in custody, and that would be unfair. At present there was an immense amount of prejudice against the defendants, and the case against Mr. Osborn had been presented in the worst possible aspect. Sir Albert de Rutzen said he would consider the question of bail for Henry when Henry came before him. The amount of bail he had ordered the men in the dock to find would be adhered to, but if it would be more convenient he would take for Mr. Osborn and Mr. Slater four sureties in Z1500 each instead of two in £ 3000. Four gentlemen in court volunteered to become sureties for Mr. Osborn, and their names and addresses were taken in order that the polica might make inquiries. Late in the afternoon it was reported to Sir Albert de Rutzen a his pri- vate room that the police had no objection to offer to the four gentlemen referred to, and a little after five o'clock Mr. Osborn was liberated on their bail. No one came forward on behalf of the other men, and at the usual time they were taken to Brixton Prison. HENRY ARRESTED. I Late on Saturday night the man Henry referred to by Mr. Stephenson was conveyed to London from Southend, where he bad been arrested. He was charged at Bow-street by Detective-sergeant Carlin, and taken before Sir Albert de Rutzen on Monday morning. HENRY'S BAIL. George Henry, manager of Slater's Detective Agency-the fifth prisoner arrested as the sequel to the Pollard divorce case—was brought up at Bow-street on the charge of conspiracy. In re- manding him the magistrate offered to accept bail in £1000.

NIGHT ALARM. The lives of thousands of persons at Mount Vernon and Pelham, suburbs of New York, were in peril in consequence of an accident to the gas plant. The flow of gas was cut off for ten minutes, and then turned on again, pouring poisonous fumes into the houses when nine- tenths of the residents were asleep. The police departments organised rescue parties, and made a house-to-house canvass, arousing those who had been asleep when the accident occurred. The chief of the fire department ordered the fire whistles to be blown and the fire bells to be rung. At Mount Vernon, a city of 25,000 people, the church bells were tolled to aid in spreading the warning, and the telephone company joined with the rescuing party, and devoted its entire efforts to notifying subscribers of the accident. Many citizens also co-operated in the work by running from house to house.

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JATARRH AND INFLUENZA. Catarrh is the result of a series of colds the symptoms are:—Nose stopped up, difficult breathing, loose cough, with continued hawking and expectorating. Veno's Lightning Cough Cure quickly cures this condition. Õ Influenza is epidemic and contagious, most prevalent in low-lying districts in spring months. During the severe epidemic which raged iu North America, in 1897; Veno's Lightning Cough Cure was the remedy chiefly used, and it re- duced the death rate to such an extent that doctors never hesitated to prescribe it. It is peculiarly well adapted to the speedy cure of both Influenza and Catarrh. Ask for Veno's Lightning Cough Cure. Price 91-d., Is. lld., 2 2 and 2s. 9d., at Chemists and Drug Stores every- where.

The oldest bellringer in England is John Ron- kin, of Branxton, near Berwick. His age is eighty-seven, and for sixty-six years without in. termission he has rung the bells of Branxton Church every Sunday morning. Mrs. Lakeside: "The atrocities of Russian tyranny are perfectly awful." Friend: "What have you learned?" 'Mrs. Lakeside: "I saw in a, paper this morning that in Russia no one is permitted to marry more than five times." Binks "How did Winks get hurt Tn Jinks: "He was run over by a city official, who was driving very fast." "There is no excuse for such reckless driving." "In this case the official was on public business." "Well, that's dmerent. "Yes, he wanted to get to a meetingiu time to push through an ordinance^ prohibiting auto- mobiles on the public streets.' Native: "Wall, who be you? Stranger x sm one of a committee appointed to investigate the question as to why so many lynchings occur in this section." Native: Wall, I'll tell yen, honest. It's 'cause so many strangers came here a-pokin' their noses into other people s business."