South Wales Echo

Th« Man About Town. The adoption of bye laws for the Registra- tion of Seamen's Boarding Houses in Cardiff was only carried after a good deal of delay, urgent pleading, and hard fighting in the Council. The resolution went through the Council with the force of public opinion behind it, and I have evidence of the excel. lent work which is being done by the Read Constable and his staff in advising the Committee granting the Licences now necessary before anyone can board seamen. Before the Licence was adopted, in too many cases the Seamen's Boarding House was-well, I will be excused. There were of course many Boarding House Keepers beyond moral reproach in the management of their premises and in their dealings with seamen. These have not suffered in the least by the operation of the bye laws, for their legitimate and necessary business goes on as before, without police interfer- ence or hindrance in any way. But some of the keepers of the other places are being pressed into a tight corner, and a few have been obliged to turn their talents into other grooves or to take them away to other towns. Before a licence is granted the Head Constable is asked whether there is any known objection to the applicant, and in some cases the application has been refused, though made successively in several forms and through "agents," who play the part of "owner or manager" before the Committee, but immediately lapse into a very menial position when in the Boarding House, as- the servant of the real master—against whom the police have probably raised very valid objections. The registration of Seamen's Boarding Houses in Cardiff is working on the side of law and order, and it is bearing out the claims of its warmest advocates. All is over—at least for the present! Juab when anticipation was highest there came a telegram announcing that the Post Office crisis was at an end. There is to be no strike of Telegraphists, and the long holiday, towards which Docks clerks and office managers and newspaper staffs were looking with rising spirits and philosophic caution, has been scattered to the four winds of heaven. The enforced holiday or rest from work, when no business telegrams flashed from one part of the country to the other, and when Press I messages were silent, has proved a delusion. Instead of a strike of Telegraphists, forced on by high-handed officialism which has proved deaf to all entreaties, there is in the eleventh hour to be a conference The Telegraphists have grievances, and there must always be many such troubles so long as the great gulph is maintained between the working staffs and the heads of the Department, whom the operators are not permitted to approach The telegraphists have demon. strated to the P.M.G. that they have rights and interests and independence, which should be recognised and respccted. May I congratulate the Telegraphists on the immediate prospect of peace being restored ? The discussion on teaching Welsh in the Board Schools is causing a commotion among the dry bones in the Valley of Indifference t Ap Beurganstdt advances many reasons against the proposal, and alleges that the language of the Cyndry is used only three-p^arters of A wjUiQn of the population of the globe, mostly in Wales; there is no business transacted in Welsh, be. cause "it is all confirmed and paid for in Eng- lish money. There are other U reasons put forward which it would be considered high treason to publish. But, he goes on, "Teach boys French, Spanish, or German girls especially cookery, and the both to be less hypocritical and more moral." He objects to the public love-making which goes on after Chapel" on Sabbath evenings Though he protests and denounces, by one phrase Ap Beurganstdt" betrays that he lives in Wales and is under the influence of the Welsh-English phraseology. He writes the both," an expression rarely to be met with out of Wales. "Didymus Glan Gwaun" is a vigorous Welshman, and fiound it difficult to believe his eyes when he read what one of the parents wrote against teaching Welsh in the schools. He declares that the writer cannot be a Welshman, If so, kindly put him in irons at once as one not responsible for his statements And I am desired to inform him that there are yet thousands of Cardiff Welsh speaking people who believe that the language should be taught in all the schools. The objector is requested to give his name and ad- dress, so that Cardiff Welshmen and women will abhor him, for lie has not an ounce of Welsh blood in him. That is a strange threat, but I have satisfied Didymus in giving his expressions the same publicity that are accorded to the Welshman whom he derides The Corporation and the town will do wisely to lose no time in erecting a Town Hall now that the site has been finally secured and settled. They have a magni- ficent site—one of the finest in the whole Kingdom—and it will be a thousand pities if the opportunity be lost for doing some- thing worthy of the town and the port. But this need not lead to the wasting of years or even months in deciding what to do and how best to do it. I have re- ceived evidence in black and white that Cardiff has no Town Hall worthy of the name, and in the form of an invitation card. The Mayor and Mayoress are giving a ConversazioDe and inviting representatives of all classes in the town to meet the President and Members of the Iron and Steel Institute on the 3rd of August. You must R.S.V.P." to the Town Clerk, but the gathering will be held in the Free Library. The visit of the U Iron and Steel" will be one of the principal events of the year, locally. There has been so great a scarcity of poetry since the Jubilee, which by its de. mand for Odes exhausted the Parnassian Giants, that one readily catches at anything to show that the muse is still cultivated And this is the effort of the latest born Jubilee Poet, suggested by the sublime topic, the heroic etfor, "The Milkmen's Outing Now some are gone to Iifrncombe, Across the rippling men, And some are gone to Minehead, That's Pump and Company. And some skyblues have stayed at home, To oil the iron tail Of the old cow that seldom fails To fill the milking pail. MILK O The playful banter of one that could not take holiday I As one interested in all social work in Cardiff and South Wales generally, I regret to learn that a useful though unassuming institution is in danger of being closed for want of funds and the aid of a few persons who would take the work of supervision. I refer to the Cardiff Shoe Black Brigade and Boys" Home, at present located in Alexandra-street, Cathays. The work was started through the philanthropic kindness of a well-known Councillor, and the Home has for some years done a good service in a quiet way by reclaiming from the streets a number of boys who would otherwise have drifted into worthless or vicious lives. I cannot believe that if the existence of the Home were more widely known it would be allowed to disappear. The Superintendent, Mr Cad by, should be known to my readers, and Mr A. C. Macintosh, secretary to the Committee, would supply information readily about the work, which our Chief Constable for one, views with high approval. Here is a chance for the Cardiff Reform Council or for individual effort to prevent the collapse of the work. It is not as easy to start afresh such an insti- tution as to maintain one already in exist- ence. 40 Public and private as well as Commercial bodies have a happy way of combining busi- ness with pleasure. Some of the pleasantest of social gatherings are those secured on the occasion of annual inspections or official visits to places and works. The Inspection of the Pilot Boats by the Cardiff Pilotage Board is such a gathering, and the members and their friends leave the Pontoon on Saturday morning per steamer. To mention a tithe of the guests and good things taken aboard that boat of inspection would prove tedious to those who cannot, perforce, attend the ceremony and it would not be news to others who are accustomed year after year to accept the invitation of the Board and take a run down ehannel after the Pilots.

BRITISH WORKMEN'S AND GENERAL ASSURANCE COMPANY We publish elsewhere in this morning's issue a suunmary of the report of the directors of the above limited Company for the year ending April 30th, 1897. The report reveals a remarkably flourishing State of affairs, the year's operations having resulted in tha largest increase ever recorded in the company's business. The increase in the total income was £ 81,310; the increase in premium income being £ 79,483. The net in- crease ia the number of assurants was 111,002, producing a new annual premium income of 988,564, A similarly prosperous state of things is shown all along the line. For insbance, the number of new proposals, together with the number of new polioies issued, bear indubitable testimony to the ever-inoreasing scope of the company. The total number of assurants on the company's books, in both ordinary and industrial departments, was 850,359, at an annual premium of £ 560,059 9s 3d, while the total income of the company Was 2519,561 8" 5d, and. after deducting expenditure^ there remains a surplus balance on the year's accounte of £ 32,133 Its 2d. The directors pre pose to set aside £ 17,000 as an investment teawtve fund out of this surplus, and recommend that the whole of the remaining surplus be added to the insuranos fund.

TO-DAY'S WEATHEK, 4.30 P.M. TO.DARS FORECAST FM BNrJLANø; S.W., AND SOWTM WALES. Southerly winds, freshening; rainy close unsettled. GwniiUt.—Showery, thundery, unsettled weather is likely to jjjnead OV#r the kingdom very

CABDW AKD'CODNTlriHoRTICrCLTtJBAT, BOOtEn •The Ninth Annual Show Of Flowers, Fruit, I Vegetables, and Honey will be held on August 11th and 12th. An INDUSTRIAL Fxhibition WIll be held at I (be MM Mite, apea to EU cbOdmt uadM 16 years. Entries dose AuguM 5th. Jr. apply 832E

PAWNBROKER'S BANKRUPTCY I SSI'ieus Allogations. I A meeting of the creditorslof Mr „C. Weissbetg, clothier and pawnbroker, Bute-street,Cardiff, was held in the office of the Official Receiver to-day, there being a, fairly large attendance. In the statement of affairs ib was stated that the gross liabilities were £2,058 12s Id, of which, 21,959 5-J 41 rauks for dividend. The assets are put «t £ 363 Mi 9J, the deficiency being thus £ 1,595 10i 7d. Debtor attributed failure to want of capital, heavy interest on borrowed capital, loss through having become surety, loss on branch in Clifton-street, and bad trade.—In his observations the Official Receiver remarks that debtor had been adjudicated bank- rupt as it was ilob his intention to make any offer to his creditors. He filed his petition in consequence of the refusing of creditors to assent to a private arrange- ment, ind the levy of distresses at both shops. The greater portion of the stock at 146, Bute-_ street, alleged to amount to over £ 200 at cost, was removed from the premises under the distress, and to avoid expense the Official Receiver remaved the remainder to 189. Bute-street, and was now proceeding with the realisation, the assets not being likely to produce anything like the debtor's estimate. The unsecured liabilities include £ 327 for borrowed money, the other debts beillC principatly for goods supplied. In May last the bankrupt sold the whole of the pledges to a local pawnbroker, and they were removed early in the morning to avoid public observation. By an anti-nuptial settlement dated the 2nd August, 1895. the household effects now in tho use and occupation of the bankrupt were assigned to trustees, together with a sum of £400, stated to be then due from the bankrupt to the father of his intended wife, in trust for the bankrupt's wife and ohildren. The bankrupt informed him he was formerly manager for a furnishing com- pany in Bradford, aud commenced business on his own account at 198, Bute-street, Cardiff, with a capital of 2150, in December, 1894, and at 146, Bute-street, about December, 1896 that he also from March to June, 1897, traded at 35, Clifton. straeo, Cardiff, but closed this shop as there was no profit accruing from the business done. There were no proper books of account, and the bank- rupt states he has nover ascertained his financial position or taken stock to ascertain the result of his grading. Debtor did nocadmill he knew he was insolvent until early in June last, although the deficiency amounts to 91,595, and he sold the stock of pledges in May lasb to enable him to continue the business. In reply to a creditor he said he did nob think debtor had accounted for the proceeds of the pledges taken away. Goods to the amount of B157 had also been removed, and only a few pounds had been got for khera.-Debtor, being called into the meeting, said. in answer to the Official Receiver, that he bad disposed of the pledges because he was short of money. He got close on j6200 for them, and the whole of that sum had been paid away to satisfy bills he owed. Debtor admitted that he had been gambling, and lost several hundred pounds by it. No resolution was passed, and the estate will be administered by the Official Receiver.

I EXPLOSIVE HA,ift-WASH. I Risks of the Shampot. I OPINIONS OF THE TRADE. The death of Mrs Fanny Samuelson as the result of the ignition of the petroleum hair-wash with which she was being shampooed has naturally (says the Daily Telegraph) caused a sensation among the coiffeurs of the West End. Until an analysis of the fluid is completed by the authorities no definite opinion an to its composi- tion can be expressed, but inquiry shows that the use of the compound is admittedly very danger-, ous, and the wonder is that accidents'resulting frAm its use have been so few and tM between. From a toilet- point of view, the preparation has apparently a good deal to commend it, especially in the cue of ladies, but it seems donbtful whether they are generally aware of the risks which its employment involves. Some question may pessibly arise as to whether the compound comes under the Petroleum Act, and its sale ought nob to be more strictly regulated. These and other aspects of the subject ate reoeivi attention in 'theproper quarter.

p- I House of Commons. 0 AN ALL NIGHT SITTING. FRIDAY MORNING.—At half-past 2 this morn- ing the Scotch members of the Commons were quietly plodding away with the details of the Local Government (for Scotland) Bill, but it was found impossible to complete the consideration of the whole measure at this sitting, and there- fore, after resisting repeated applications or adjournment, Mr BALFOUR, at 2.35, himself moved the adjournment of the debate. He congratulated the Scotch members upon the good progress made with the Bill, and the Scotchmen gladly and rapidly went off to bed, But not so a little band of men from Ireland who had been waiting for hours in consequence of this line upon the order paper, Outdoor Relief (Ireland) Bill second' reading." On the motion that this Bill be read a second ttme, Mr CnILLY denonuced the Bill, and asserted that it would be a paltry and inadequate measure, selesa to cope with the acute diitreas existing in many parts of Ireland. Mr GBRALD BALFOUR explained that, antici- pating this Bill, Boards of Guardians in Ireland had been administering special relief for months past, and that if hon. members did not pass this Bill these guardians would be surcharged. Mr Daly, Mr Kilbride, Dr. Tanner, and Mr Patrick Aloysius McHugh criticised the Bill as inadequate. MrPATBiox ALOYSIUS MoHUGH addressed the House at wearisome length. The v?rEAKKB called the hon. member to order for repetition and irrelevancy, and finally at 20 minutes past 3 made him resume his seat. The Bill was then read a second time withou'- division, and the House rose at &25.

Betting Tragedy, THE HORSES ALL LOST." Pathetic Letter to a Wife. The Wedding Ring Pawned to Make a Bet The Leeds City Coroner yesterday oonduoted an inquiry at the Bay Horse Ion. Armley, into the circumstances attending the death of John Agan (23), labourer, of 25, Clyde. street, Wellington road, Leeds. The evidence showed that deceased was missed from his home on Saturday last. On Sunday his hat and coat ware found on the bank of the canal at Armley, and his body was recovered from the canal on Tuesday night, near Redcoat Farm, Armley. A notebook found in one of the pockets of the coat contained the following in pencil Daar Wife, Father and Mother, and all Relatione,—I write you these few lines to bid you good-bye. I hope you will forgive me for doing this act. Our Polly has been a good wife to me, but I can never look her in the face again. She has pawned the ring off her finger, and all she could pawn, for mo to horse race for I believe she would have died for me. Hoping you don't blame her at all. Hoping if she ever weds again she will got a better husband, so no more. Hoping if she has a child that my mother and her mother wiU not despise her. Good-bye so all. Just one more word before I am stiff. Dear Polly, I have got a week's notice at the mill to-day, the same as all the rest, so I thought I would back some horses to win something to take on, and they have all lost, and I can never faoe you again. So good. bye. Hoping yon will never want, nor the baby, if you have oue-an(I if you ever get wed again you will get a better husband. Still, I remain your husband, JOHN A CAN. Good-bye, Polly, good-bye." The jury returned a verdict of Suioide whilst of unsouucl mind."

RHYMNEY IRON AND COAL COMPANY. The Impugned Management. DEFENDED BY SiR HENRY TYLOR. It was not expected that the deputation—if wo may use the word for convenience sal,-e--repre- senting malcontent shareholders of the Rhymney Coal and Iron Company at the annual meeting in London yesterday would be able to do more than verbally criticise the management of the company's business on the submis- sion of the report and statement of accounts. The dissatisfied shareholders in South Wales delayed action too long to enable them to take up a strong position at yesterday's meeting. Although the gathering of dissentients in Cardiff on Wednesday represented no fewer than 12,000 shares in the undertaking, it was then too late to get this aggregate holding crystallised into due proxy form for voting purposes at the general meeting. Me Samuel Hern went to London well prepared with facts, figures, and arguments, and these he appears to have launched in the shape of interrogatories to the Chairman. Most of Mr Hern's queries, however, Sir Henry Tylor refrained from answering, the Chairman remarking with some asperity that no company in South Wales gave such particulars as wore asked for, and no company in their senses would give them. Sir Henry declared that the company's property was a grand one, although there was no dividend. When he and his colleagues were asked to take charge of it it was on the verge of bankruptcy. They put L70,000 into it to oarry III on for the benefit of the shareholders and the men employed, and it was now, as it had been described, a powerful company. They had not been in liquidation, as some other concerns of a similar character had more than once, and they had always honestly paid 20i in the j6. Referring to other compauios, he said that from 1891 to 1896 inclusive the Ebbw Vale had paid L37,000 in dividends, the Tredegar Iron Company £ 97,000, and the Rhymney Iron Company 2102,396. It was hardly fair, there- fore, to say they were going from bad to worse. He had good reasons to believe that a dividend would be earned on this year's working. Mr Hern, knowing his helpless position in the matter of voting power, was not unduly per- sistent, being oontent with having ftred skirmishing shots, which dissatisfied shareholders hope are the beginning of a general engagement.

I THE LOGIC OF THE LAW. Daniel Crawley (37), lighterman, of Bermond- sey, was charged at Southwark yesterday with assaulting his wife. The prisoner said he had been on duty 36 hours, and came home at break- fast time, desiring to get a sleep, but was pre. vented by the noise which bis wife made in .quarrelling with the neighbours. This exasperated him, and he gave her a smaok on the meuth," for which he was sorry. Bub what was a man to do ? The wife said she had summoned her husband for previous assaults, but did not appear against him. Mr Slade ordered the prisoner to be bound over to keep thit peace,—Crawley What am I to do ? I eannot go home to atewp. Mr Slade You must keep the peace,- Crawley, reftee That's what I want. (Laughter.)

I DEATH AT A DENTISTIS. Yesterday evening the Birmingham police wAt" informed of the death of Thomas William Green (30), olerk, el Sycamore- road, Handsworth. Deceaeed had been suffering from toothache and had been ad vised to have a number of teebh extracted. For this purpose he went to the rooms of Messrs Cnve-Brown-Cave and Mountford, of Bennett's Hill. It was deemed advisable to administer an aiuesthetic, and while under the influence of this death occurred. The body remains at the room, where death took place, awaiting an inquest. <0.

I OOLLIEIIY WARNING. After a succession of very disturbed doyr, the atmospheric conditions over the British coal- fields are beginning bo assume a inuch moresebtled appearance. The low-pressure areas are passing away, and an anticyclone seems to be spreading in from the south-westward, so that the barometet- is rising steadily in all districts. It will be advisable therefore for persona einployed in underground workings to take note of any signs of danger from dry dust or from sudden outbreaks of tire tmm

Babies v. Lawn Tennis. SINGULAR APPLICATION. At the County of London Sessions, Cler ken well, yesterday, an application was made by Mr J. P. Grain on behalf of the Committee of Manage- ment of Warrington-crescent Gardens, Kensing- ton, to approve a set of rules drawn up by them. Mr C. Sal ter, who opposed the alteration of the rules on the instruction of several inhabitants, said that one rule laid down that no perambn lators would be admitted in the gardens. (Laughter.) He would show that they were allowed in every other square in London. Mr Grain Except in ours. (Laughter.) A copy of the rules having been banded to the chairman, Mr Grain added that it was also desirable that male servants should not be allowed n, as they might delay the nursemaids. (Laughter.) The objection to bassinettes was that lawn tennis going on in the gardens might cause inconvenience and danger to young children Mr Salter I ask that children may be in the gardens until 6 o'clock. Mr Grain Oh, dear, no I Children are put to bed before that. My friend has had no experience. Mr Salter: Ob, yes I have. (Laughter.) Mr Grain I suggest 4 o'clock as a reasonable time. Mr Salter Why, one baby I know does not like to go out till 4 o'clock this hot weather, and I know several othors of the same view. (Laughter.) Mr McConnell Perhaps I can throw judicial oil on the troubled waters. Cannot a gentleman of the committee representing lawn tennis come (to terms with the gentleman representing the babies 1 (Laughter.) Mr Salter: They would never agree. T, iiigh ter.) Mr McConnell: Then cannot counsel agree as to the hour ? Mr Grain I say 4 p.m. Mr Salter And I suggest air. Mr Grain (after consideration): l'il agree to 5 o'clock. Mr Sa ter No Six is a reasonable hour. Mr Grain Who ever heard of a perambulator being out at that time. (Laughter.) Except in the park, and their nursemaids go there for their own reasons. (Laughter.) Mr Salter pointed out that persons living in the immediate neighbourhood had to pay for the keeping up of the gardens, and therefore it waa preposterous to exclude their ohildren in bassinettes, The Chairman Why was the rule altered ? Mr Grain Because my friend's client persisted in bringing his perambulator there. (Laughter.) Mr Salter There was ne rule to prevent him. The Chairman failed to see any objection to perambulators, or what harm or inconvenience they could cause in the gardens, and decided that a reasonable hour for the exclusion of children in bassinettes was 6 o'clock. Male servants are not to be admitted unless attending on an indisposed person.

THE NEW TORTOISE. THE ZOO'S OLDEST INHABITANT. "Have you seen the new tortoise 1" said Mr C. Bru-tletcf, meeting a representative of the Daily Graphic outside the elephant house on Wednes- d,%y eve-ning. No is there anything special about it?" Come with me and see." Mr Bartlett, it should be mentioned, is the new superintendent of the Zoological Gardens, having succeeded to the post on the recent death of his father, Mr A. D. Bartlett. He was fondling a box of newly- arrived scorpions when I met him (writes the representative), and was evidently on his way to the insecb house. These however were of trifling interegb compared with the more important arrival among the tortoises. There was no need to point the newcomer out to me. It was twice the size of the largest of the others, and if it had fallen asleep an inch or two nearer the entrance to the house we could not possibly have opened the door. It's the biggest tortoise ever brought into the country," said Mr Bartlett as we surveyed the monster after squerziug our way in but," he added somewhat ruefully, it's very thin." What does it weigh ?" I asked. "Only five hundredweight; We've had them heavier than that, but never so big before. How- ever, this one will soon gain in weight here. It seems to have had a good deal of knocking about in its time." It's pretty old now, I suppose I" "Something like 200 years." Two hundred years 2" I repeated incredu- lously. Yes," replied Mr Bartlett in the most matter- of-fact way imaginable. Ib was known where it came from for at least 150 years, and it must have lived a long time before that. Yes, it must be quite 200 years old." And how did it get to the Zoo ?" The Hon. Walter Rothschild has deposited it here. 16 only arrived from Marseilles this afternoon."

WOMAN TO WOMAN." Minnie Cann, a married woman, who walked lame, wrs charged at the Woolwich Polioe Court yesterday with assaulting Honor Thursting, an elderly neighbour of hers, in Gladstone-street, St. George's, In cross-examination the complainant denied having called the defendant "Carrotty Hoppy," in allusion to the colour of her hair and her lameness. The defendant said to her, Why don't you buy a new set of false teotb, and then yon would be able to talk plain." She retorted, Why don't you buy a new leg, and then you will be able to walk straight." The defendant thereupon threw a bag of cherries in ber face, seized her by the hair, and gave her a black eye. Witness's husband was going to interfere, but defendant's husband said, No, let them alone woman to woman." The hearing was adjourned. JW-"

ALBÍÓN MILS AND SOLPHUK HOA?.—Pure, emollient, hygienic, making the skin soft and white, a.nd leaving it in a pure, refreshed, and healthy condition. Luxury for toilet, bath, and iinruery. Creamy lather. Delicate perfume. See figure head of Albion on wrapper. Sold everywhere. 5620 "FOB Titz -,F,rgtis HuLnelis. 1 Thrilliftg Story, "For the Defence," commences in 'the Cardiff Ttm^s and South WAFES Weekly Non on SATURDAY xkoxt.

FOREIGN NEWS. M VIENNA, Friday Morning.—The Czar hafe |B presented King Alexander of Servia with 40,00(1 Berdan rifles and 25,000,000 cartridges.-C-agrol • News. -0-- PRETORIA, Thursday.—The Transvaal Volb. raad met in secret Session to-day. It is rumoured that important despatches with reference to Swaziland have arrived from England. -ikvter. --0-- MADRID, Friday. Senor Canovas, the Premier, has left for Sebastian, and Senor Sagasta. the Liberal leader, has gone to the country. The political meetings in theprovinoe have been saspended.-Reuter. WASHINGTON, Friclay.-It is officially an. nounced that a Presidential Message upon the currency question will be sent to Congress next Friday. After the reading of the Message a Bill 4 effecting the recommendations contained in it will be introduced.- Central News. o PARIS, Friday. A number of newspapers, including the Soleil and the Figaro, state that the pessimistic reports, according to which the King of Siam did not intend to visit Paris, were due to British intrigues, and that it was through the Czar's influence that these proved unsuccessful in their object.-Beut-er. --0- PARIS, Friday.—The Echo de Paris states that M. Cambon will return to Constantinople, but only to present his letters of recall to the Sultan. M. Cambon will replace Baron de Coureel in < London.—Reuter. I "0-- BERLIN, FtidRY.-A St. Petersburg telegram states that the German Emperor andiEmpress will arrive on the 7th of August ki^Kronstadt^RoadSt on a visit to Peterhof, where they will be met by the Czar and Czarina on board the Imperial yacht Alexander. On the evening of the 7th their Majesties will attend a State banquet in the Palace. On the 8th -the Emperor and Empress proceed to St. Petersburg, where they will attend the ceremony of dedicating the new wing of the German Alexander Hospital. A reception of j deputations from German residents in Russia will subsequently be held at the Embassy. In the afternoon their Majesties will visit the Winter Palacewhere there will be a reception of the Diplomatic Corps. In the evening the Emperor and Empress, accompanied by the Czar and Czarina, will drive round the camp at Krasnoje-Selo, and afterwards witness a grand military tattoo. A greall review of troops a" 1 Krasneje-Selo will take place on the 9ih, and on its conclusion their Majesties will be entertained at luncheon in the camp. On the 11th the Emperor and Empress leave on their return to Germany. -Router. --0- PARIS, Friday.-Tho Gaulois states that the report of M. La Poittevin, the examining > magistrate, who has nearly completed his investigation into the fresh charges brought against past and present members of Parliament in connection with the Panama scandals, will request the prosecution of the following :-M., J Hurard, ex-deputy M. Sarlat, ex-deputy M, Antide Boyer, deputy for the Bouohea Du Rhone; M. Planteau, ex-deputy; M. Saint Martin, ex deputy; M. j Levret, senator; M. Alfred Nagnetfe deputy for the Seine M. Henri Maret, deputy for the Cher; M. Gaillard, ex-deputy; M. 1 Richard, ex-deputy and M. Rigaud, ex-deputy. Official returns fron. the reports of the professors of agriculture up to the 15h inst. regarding growing crops show that the condition of winter wheat was good iu 27 departments, fairly good in 37 departments, passable in 12, and middling in %.—Reuter. M

PENARTH WATER SUPPLY. I New Main to be Laid. f Ab a meeting of the Cardiff Water Works I Committee to-day, presided ever by Alderman Sanders, the tender of the executors of Chrtriat Jordan, Newport, to supply cast-iron pipes fOt: new services to Penarth district for £ 2,122 is od, was accepted. The several tJendèn were — £ IL D. Clay Cross Co., Clay Cro& 2,404 16 8 .T. McEwan and Co., Glasgow 2,394 10 0 1 D. Y. Stewart and Co., Glasgow 2,380 5 G <; Staiiton Iron Co. 2,362 5 0 Staveley Iron Co 2,521 5 0 Cochrane and Co., Dudley 2j303 2ft J. and S. Roberts, West Bromwich 2,195 16 0 Charles Jordan (executors of) Newport 2,122 1 8 Thomas Spittle, Limited, Newport. 2ilis IS 9

KILLED BY LIQHINING. I During a heavy thunderstorm which pawed mt over Holbeaob, Lincolnshire, last evening, a S youth named Herbert Marshall was struok by w lightning and killed. fl. lightning and killed. fl.

ECZEMA MOST TORTURING OF SKIN humours is instantly relieved, and speedily and permanently onred by warm baths with CUTICCKA BOAP, gentle anointing with CDTIOUBA (Oint* "tnent), the great skm cure, followed by full dosoe ] of. OUTICUBA RsaoLNENT, greatest of blood | |?purifier8 and humour cures, when physicians), hospitals, and all other remedies fail. More -great enres of tojrturing, disfiguring Eczema are '1daily made by CUTICUEA remedies than by all lotiwz. skin and blood remedies combined. The best physicians endorse "nd prescribe them i chemists everywhere recommend them, and the? j we guaranteed absolutely pure by the highest ? ,Zut riti whose certificates of analysis accoor paujpeverjrpKkage, i •A 1

The Murder of a Singer.j EXAMINATION OF THE ACCUSED. I VIENNA, Thursday Night.-The trial of the men accused of the murder of the girl Ann Szimon in Philippopolis proves so interesting that there is a tight every day over the 130 places in court. The Austrian Consul and his secretary attend each day, and so does the President of the Sobranje, a greitt number of officers, and, strange to say, the young wife of the accused Major Boitseheff. She comes in a striking dress, with roses in her hat, white gloves, and a smile for her husband and her friends. The major is Dressed in the Latest Fashion, I wears the ribbon of a foreign decoration, the medal for bravery, and yellow gloves. His moustache is waxed and turned upward, his attitude is self-conscious aud vain. The indictment was read aloud. Ho laughed at several. passages, but most when the scene was mentioned in which his brother when drunk paid his addresses to the murdered girl, and she defended herself against him with [3 log of wood. When the indictment stated that Boitseheff had looked out for a rich wife and had found her and married her, it was Madame Boitscbefl's turn to simper and laugh. Novelics, the ex-prefect, is the very reverse of Boitseheff. He is broken down and ashamed, and unable to answer the first questions address-ed to him otherwise than by nods. The gendarme Bogdan Waszilien looks |the stolid tool that he was. Boitschelfs oounsel Objected to One if the Jury, I highly-respscted bookseller ofi Philip popolin, but the Court, presided over by M. Lantschieff, decided that the bookseller was uct a man to be discarded. When Boitscheif left the court nfter the indictment had been read, a number of officers crowded round him in friendly walcotne. Boitseheff said aloud. "Even if you are not aUowed to speak to me to-day, to.morrow, or the day after, we shall soon all be together agaiu." Counsel for tbedafenco all objected to the admission of Dr. 'Genadieff to the Bar, who represents the murdered girl's baby daughter. It is to Dr. Genadivff that the chief merit is due of having brought the murder to light. The Court decided in favour of Dr. Genadieff. Bogdan was first examined. He admitted the truth of all he bad previously deposed, onJy he persists in saying that he did not know what was going to happen until Anna Jumped out of the Carriage. I Ex-Prefect of Police Novelics, on being examined, admitted everything, but denied having had a hand in the affair. He asserts that both before and after the murder Boitscheff told him that the Prince aud Princess wished that an end should be put to the scandal at any price. Novelics persists in saying that Anna lived when she was taken out of the carriage, and that Boitseheff throttled her in the road, but the Court assumes that Boitseheff and Novelics throttled her together when she first tried to escape by jumping out of the window. When the papers of Sofia first hinted at the murder Novelics wrote to Boitseheff asking him to get the Prince to hneh up the matter. Boitacl)efflot answer was an order to the ^prefect to write out a police certificate that Anna Szimon had left for Vienna. He did this with the help of the proprietress of the Cafe Chantant. Boitscheff's examination Thrille,d the Court. I He was gay and witty, bad seen nothing, heard nothing, had given no orders, had never worn a civilian's overcoat over a uniform, and on being shown the rings which Novelics had taken off the girl's fingers, said that one of them had been stolen from bim by Anna in the day3 when he was int,imate with her. He admitted to Novelics having asked him to hush up the nff-ur, but denies having said that the Prince and Princess wished an end to be put to the ncandal. On the night of the murder he had attended the Princess on a walk, and had then gone homo. He had never told a soul that the Prince had given orders that the girl should he murdered. If he had wished to murder Anna he could have done so without Novelics. He declared be had never written either to Anna or her father, and had never seen her father. He had paid Anna when- ever he had been near her, and had given her the means of living. On being shown the murdered girl's picture and asked if he recognised her, he said coldly, Ye?, to be sure He admitted having asked Novelics to lock the girl up I He supposed Novelics killed her beoause she tried to escape him when he was taking her across the frontier, Perhaps Novelics thought he was doing him a service. Novelics repeatedly made the sign of the cross while Boitseheff was making these depositions. -Daily News.

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TWO COFFINS FOR ONE CORPSE Singular Proceedings. Yesterday a remarkable story was disclosed at an inquest held by Mr Samuel F. Langham, the City Coroner, at Sf;, Bartholomew's Hospital, respecting the death of Herbert Hammond, aged 20 year! lately residing at 18, Almington-street, Holloway. The evidence showed that the deceased died suddenly on Monday while having his dinner at a restaurant in Cowcross-streeh, and the jury, having recorded a verdict of death from natural causes, the father of the deceased made application for the burial certificate. The Coroner: I must hand that to the widow. The Father: But my son was under age. The Coroner: Thall does not effect the matter. (To the widow): How long have you boon niarried?-The Widow: Nine months and two weeks.—The Coroner Have you the marriage certificate ?-The widow replied "Yes," and produced it, and after carefully reading it the Coroner said it was clear she was the widow of the deceased, and therefore the certificate for burial must be handed to her. It then appeared that both parties independent of one another had made arrangements for the funeral, thus two coffins were at the mortuary, whilst two undertakers were lall the court await. ing a solution of the matter. Both claimed their right to be paid, and suggested it should be done out of the insurance money, but to this the widow's friends disagreed. It was pointed out that the Coroner had no jurisdiction in the matter, and eventually, after a long discussion, it was decided that the widow's undertaker should conduct the funeral consequent upon an arrangement betwixt himaelf and his fellow tradesman.

CARDIFF SUBURBS AND THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. At a irttefcingof the Card if fLighting Committee to-day, it was resolved, on the motion of Alderman Carey, the chairman, to instruct the town olerk to watoh the proceedings connected ;With the notice given by Messrs Downing and Handcock, solicitors, to make an electrical installation for LlandAff, Penarbb, and Cogan, and to report to the committee.

COMMITTED FOR TRIAL, Mary Mooitthy was committed to take her trial at the next Quarter Sessions by the Cardiff Stipendiary this morning on a charge of stealing a skirt and chemise valued at 48 6d, the property of Mary Williams, from the White; Hart Hotel, Bridge-street, this tnorning.- ,Ptisot'tet'.as-found in the, kitchen of the hostelry, "with'the articles concealed under her shawl, and wae given iuto custody.

Olla Podrida. THE SHEPHERD OF THE GEESE. An amusing little strike is going on in the German village of Nohra, near Erfurt. The goose shepherds have rebelled and demanded higher wages. These are the village boys, who assemble the geese to the music of their fife every ummer morning and lead them out into the meadows. The geese follow their guardian in perfect order and long unbroken column, while at evening they return with him, faU out and move in regular debachments, each flock un- attended to their own homestead. The German Elementary Education Laws have weighed heavily on the goose shepherd their numbers decrease, and the survivors look for higher pay.— Daily Graphic. -0- I JTRBAK OF NATURE AT CANNOCK. A rather remarkabls occurrence took place at Bridgtown, Cannock, ou Sunday last, when a tortoise shell oat, belonging to Mrs RughBs,of the Royal Exchange, gave birth to four kittens, all attached to each other. Each kitten has all its members, and is practically perfect in form, but is attached to the others by a piece of skin extend ng from the abdomen. The kittens, which are of different colours, appear to be quite healthy, and when at rest their heads forta the corners of a square. r A CANDID MOTHER. A Worldly Mother in a letter to Vanity Fair says I do not want Society to be read. justed. I want Brown, and Jones, and Robinson to meet my daughters, and I hope, if they are well-behaved young fellows, that they will marry them. Indeed, I will confess that I have had practically to cub Lord because he has no money, and to encourage Mr Smith because he has. All this may sound very mercenary but it is erribly true." _.I"'II.- -v- A FAMOUS INN. The Jack Straw s Castle, at Hampstead, has changed hands this week for £ 34,500. The inn, which is a very old one, is situated ou the top of Hampstead Heath, and has associations con. nected with Dickens, Thackeray, Du Maurier, and Lord Leigh ton. -u AN ENORMOUS FUCHSIA. One of the largest fuchsia, trees in the world grows in the frout garden of a house in Ramsey, Isle of Man. As one enters the garden round by the horse drive, the house which is not 30 yards away is completely hidden by the tree. _L" -v- SAVED BY A HAT. It may not be generally known thab when a person falls into the water a common felt hat may be made use of as a life-preserver, and by placing the hat upon the water, rim down, with the arm round it pressing it slightly to the breast, it will bear a man up for hours. -0- HUMOURS OF THE COMMITTEE ROOM. There was an amusing passage of arniB in a Committee of the House of Commons on Wednesday. Mr Andrew Hutchinson, a farmer of high standing in Perthshire, gave evidence against a clause in the Bill for marking foreigu meat which would allow the beef of foreign animals slaughtered at British ports to be sold as El nglifib.-An Hon. Member You are a SeflVch- man. Do you believe everything you are told ?— Witness: No, certainly not, especially when I come to London. (Laughter.) The Hon. Member: Are there not as many honest men attiodg butchers as there are among farmers ?-Witness: Well, I do not know. I think upon the whole the farmer is the better specimen-(Iaughtor)-thougli I know some honest men among butchers. At the same Committee Mr Hill, whose family and firm have made and manufactured cheese in Somersetshire for a hundred years, gave evidence in favour of the marking of foreign cheese. American and Canadian were often sold as Cheddar," and at the same price retailed as English, though the wholesale price of English was 6411 and of the foreign from 40s to 42s. Witness was at a well-known restaurant in London the other day where American cheese was served to linn as Euglish, and he made a remonstrance. (Laughter.)—An Hon. Member Exactly what they did to me in the House of Cohimons last week. (Laughter.) -0- AN ELEPHANT AND ITS RIDER. A young man employed in Lord George Sanger's circus, which has been visiting Bourne- mouth this week, was riding an elephant through the town in the procession, when he atruok the animal to prevent it from going to a trough of water by the roadside at the pier approach. The animal a few momenta later trumpeted, curled its trunk round, and threw the offending rider to the ground. The young man was placed in a con. veyance, and later in the day WAS reported to be not seriously injured. The elephant was brought to the ground in submission and gave no further trouble. n. POOR JO'S ORAVHTATLD. At the Consistory Court held in the Wellington Chapel, St. Paul's Cathedral, yesterday, before Dr. Tristram, the Chancellor of the Diocese of London, Mr Atlay applied on behalf of the rector and churchwards of St. Mary-le-Strand for a faculty to enable them, in conjunction with the trustees of the Duke of Bedford, to construct a road through the disused burial ground of St. Maryle-Strand, The proposal was to construct a new street communicating east and west between Drury-lane and Catherine-street, This burying ground, now a children's playground, is associated with some of the most striking and pathetic passages in "BleakHouse." Here was buried the broken rake. Captain HawdoD, and here his victim, Lady Dedlock, waa found dead at the iron gate, after her tragic flight from Sir Leicester's house. Poor Jo in bis last illness ade.,iired to be bnried here, near his unknown friend, the captain, who wos wery good to me, he wos." The learned Chancellor, in giving judgment, said the Court was prepared to grant the faculty appropriating the space- asked for to the use of the public in perpetuity^in considera- j tion of two sums of £2.5_aud 2500 being paid, -r- A DIFFERENCE OF NAMES, The English do not call things by the same name as we know them. Below are named a few articles in Jv,q, Amerioati and English styles American. English. Bowl. ISaain. Donkey. Moke. Stioep. Boots. Druggist. Chemist. Ale, Bitter beer. Street) car. Tram. Elevator. Lift. Cuffs. Wrists. Conductor. Guard. Wheat. Corn. Corn. Maize. Pig's feet. Trotters, Candy. Swnets, ,irrat iven Lolly. Undershirt. Vest. Hash. Mince. It would be well for those contemplating a blip I to England to kepp these few common terms in I mind. There are hundreds of other?.—Detroit Prec Press. _n MANY LIVING PICTURE DEVICES. I There appears to be no end to the varieties of projecting apparatus that are being placed on the market. Here is a lisll of a fev which are already being exhibited at the various music halls and places of public entertainment:—The motograph, the anitnatoneope, the theatrograph, the kinematograph, the projeotoscope, the cinetnetosoope, the vitascope, the oinematograph, the veriscope, the animatograpb, the viveosoepe, the eidoloscope, the oinagraphoacope, the bio graph, the rayoscope, the maguisoepe. The Boy and the Scotch Novel. t A FABLE. I One day a bad little boy undertook to write on bis father's typewriter despite the oft-repeated command of the latter to the contrary. Taking the cover from the machine, the boy inserted a pieoe of paper and pounded on the keys with might and main. Jost as the sheet was covered with letters, figures, and punctuation marks his father hove into sight, and the boy expected to receive the punishment he deserved. Then he deplored his disobedience. U Father," said the boy, IC yon need ask no questions. I can tell a lie, and I have at divers times told some bully ones. But my heart tells me that to lie in the face of the evidence you have before you would be chtldisb, futile aud power- less. I have been writing on your machine, and here is my composition." With this the boy handed the sheet of paper to his father, who glanced at it and read the follow- ing gfffcwi567MGD U-s Ggabede (Sbikkkkk.- FGDS) <A%^QM»o»ccoao»oaca XXXXX mm itnmmmtntninnitn rnmffimm tt1- JJt IHJnbFGds X456GPD. %Wg UbtL"?!4gfJtl And there was a good deal more to the same effect. "And didl you really.-do this my, soti,t" asked the father, his voice trembling with emotion. "Yes, father" Then I am indeed thrioe blessed as the father of tne coming writer of Sootch dialect stories." Moral: The typewriter is reBpOtKlble tor mtMh bad literature;

Barry Railway Company. I THE DIVIDEND. I This morning, at a meeting of the BArry A Railway Company's directors, a dividend at the fB rate of 10 per oent. for the past half year was W declared, and after adding £ 7,000 to tho reserve S fund £ 6,805 was carried forward. JK

BURGLAR IN EVENING DRESS. I It is nob often that one bears of burglars assum- > ing evening dress, either faulbless or otherwise, c, when they go out to carry on housebreaking j operations. There is a gentleman living tn Champs Eiyeees distriot, however (writes a Paris correspondent) whose prompt conduct led last night to the arrest of a burglar who was thus clad. The gentleman in question, in ascending to his own flat, noticed that the door ot a neighbour who is in the country was open, so he accordingly j entered the porch or ante-chamber of the place, and to his intense astonishment saw a man dressed in the 1 Most Careful Evening Attire, 9 and wearing a splendid floral sprig in a button* hole of his claw-hammer coat, pulling out the drawers in a bedroom and evidently looking fot J money or jewellery. The watcher hid for a few momenta in order to take in the scene more thoroughly, and he said that the gentleman burglar was rapidly filling his pockets with small objects of value and also with jewels. Having completely satisfied himself the gentleman cautiously left his hiding-place, went downstairs, informed the concierge of what was happening, and the police were soon sent for and appeared. The men of the law waited for a few moments at the bottom of the stairs, and were rewarded by seeing the fashionable burglar come unconcernedly towards them, humming an air from an opera, • and regarding his floral decoration with a satisfied air. Before he reached the street door, however, the housebreaker in evening dress was arrested. It was I In Vain that He Stormed, t swore, and protested that he was a gentleman, The policemen smiled and ran the rule over his j pockets. Then they took him away to the station, where he gave an unpronounceable Solavonic name and his address, which was ■ actually in the fashionable Avenue des Champs Elys^es. Thither went some of his captors-and found that he lived in an expensive bacb6 flat, or celibate's snuggery, beautifully furnished. A search was made there, and brought to light a remarkable assortment of burglar's tools, ae well as a list of parsons whose apartments could easily bo entered and plundered. It has been asoer* tainod, in fact, that the man is a practised burglar, and that he adoptecLfashionable attire in order to defy suspioion. General housebreaking operations lately effected in the Champs Eiygeai and similar districts are now put down to bis credit, and it is probable that his trial will • I Lead to Some Curious Discoveries. t There have been fashionably-dressed burglars before, but they never bad addresses in the Avenuo des Champs Etyseea. Here, however, is a man who not only went out tubbing in full evening garb, but actually lived in a thoroughfare and in a house full of wealthy and aristocratic residents. He was even the next door neighbour < of dukes and duchesses, of prominent politicians, and of distinguished foreigners, There is no exaggeration in this, for the police have given the number of the house wherei n the burglar had his elegant and comfortable rooms, whence he periodically issued forth in order to carry on the nefarious operations cf a !Ðill Sikee, or rather of a Charles Peace.