NEWS AND NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXIV, Issue 47, 23 August 1902, Page 4 (Supplement)

NEWS AND NOTES.

Mr. David Barm, the father of Mr. J. M. Barrie, died last month in his 88th year. Mr. Barrie died at his house, Btrathview, Kirriemuir, adjoining the onemade famous by his son in "A Window in Thrums. " He was knocked down by a vehicle about two months ago, and never recovered from the shook. The Canadian Government has decided to build a strong wire fence along the border of Alberta and the State of Montana. .For years cattle have strayed across this border and given rise to savage disputes between Canadian and American cattlemen.

Vassili Verestehagin, the famous war artist, who is painting a big picture of Colonel Roosevelt climbing San Juan Hill, has gone to Cuba in order to secure exact tints pf foliage to be found t&Bre. Captain W. C. Newman, wiih vis ten-year-old son, left New York on 9th July for Falmouth. They were the sole occupants of a launch which measures 36ft by Bft, and is worked by a 10-h.p. engine,, with kerosene fuel. Captain Newman expected to take twenty days for tne voyage, and carried 600 gallons of kerosene for fuel.

Lord Kitchener, in a speech lately mado in South Africa, alluded to Kerry, iv tv« South of Ireland, as his trirthplwc*. Inland has evidently a specialty fur ta^ugtng forth — whether of Celtic or Saxwu w»w-" British Generals : Lords Ktdterfos W«to* ley, and Kitchener — to say ttfAktaft <«>f t&« Duke of Wellington— h*ne &»** tfefr first breaths iv Irish air. The railway in German &*& VV*#* Africa from Swakopmund th* WswMwk. hns been opened. The atlv\x<*l** «f tVw* man colonial expansion now expect * brat meat trade to be developed with the British colonies in South Africa.

The majority of the f&rmers in Orange River Colony will arrive on, their farms in time for apritig ploughing and sowing, and (say* Tho Times correspondent) it seems likely that the country will not take a great time to recover its normal state. Poultry clubs are being formed in most districts, as the importance of poultry as producing a rapid supply of food it realised.

In a discussion on the Humbert case In the Trench Chamber the Public Prosecutor was blamed for not requiring the production of the certificate of death in the first stage of the sham investigation, in which ensa the whole fraud would have collapsed. M. Mirman reprobated the electioneering placard in which M. Leinaitrs attributed the escape of the Humberts to the Government having used their millions in the elections, but added that th« apathy of the authorities might have provoked such an accusation. During the past five years there has been a decided increase. in the number of marriages in New York between white and coloured people. In 1895 there were V^ such marriages. Last year there were 1846, in which 920 negro women were married to white men, and 926 negroes married white women.

The Emperor Francis Joseph of Aus-tria-Hungary is using his influence to popularise Jhe automobile. A new market for large quantities of agricultural produce, such a« would be created by the general use of alcohol as a fuel for motorcars,, would be a welcome relief to Aus-tria-Hungary and other central European countries which apprehend a serious economic crisis from tha restriction of the sugar industry. The completion of the body of **t United States census work, and the consequent discharge of two thousand five hundred employees, has caused an era of oeemjng hard times at the national capital. Washington is overrun with young men and women looking for positions. A sixteen-inch gun — the largest in the world-— has been completed at Watervliet arsenal, and sent to the United States Government proving-grounds at Sandy Hook . It is stated to oe the most powerful weapon yet devised, and ia expected in some quarters to revolutionise the art of gun-making. The work upon this gun has been going on for years. A press telegram of 2nd July stated' that the health of Queen Wilhelmina. continues to improve. Her Majesty's strength is uicreasing, and she ia able to take longer walks and excursions, profiting by tho fine weather.

The Indian Civil and Military Gazette says that the forecast of the monsoon regarding the Punjab, besides predicting a general shortage, utters ah uncomfortable warning of an extraordinary downpour, almost in the nature of a deluge, which mny be exported at Simla and Mussooree and in the Western Himalayas, probably between the middle of Jcily and the middle of August. This forecast was last month musing grea,t uneasiness. Tt is stated that perhaps' the most notfcblo feature in connection with the foreign warships assembled at Spithead on 26th June was the tendency towards uniformity Tn the several types. The similarity wno especially marked among the cruisers.

The whole of the lower classes throughout a great part of Southern Russia were reported last month to bo in a state of ferment, particularly in the provinces of Kharkoff, Poltava, Kieff, Voronezh, Saratoff, Kherson, Ekaterinoslaff, ' and the Northern Caucasus.

It )n reported that the Ameer of Afghanistan last month married quietly donorhters of the following notables: Mohamad Amin Khun, Commander-in-Chii*f; Mohamad Akbnr Khan, of LaiSura ; TTmm Khan, of Gandul ; Shah lasi; Mohamad Snrwar Khan; and'Gaii Stuuluila Khan, Governor of Herat. Austrian automobile experts regard the result of the Paris to Vienna race a* a convincing proof that the strength' of the motor-car should not be sacrificed to speed, and that for practical use a solidlyconstructed automobile of low horsepower is superior to one of too light construction with the higher horse-power. A St. Petersburg telegram of Ist July •ays :-~During the last few days grave dlfiturDances have taken place atßostoff* on-Don. A large number of workmen broke into gereral factories and com- • pletelv sacked them, smashing the machinery and appliance*. Both in the town and in the village* the rioters were incited and led by strangers to the district These leaders were dressed in fantastic uniforms and wore various decorutions. They described themselves as emissaries of the Tsar.

Russian oil producers and exporters are agitating for cheaper rates of freight for the carnage of their oil. In the opinion of Russian producers, Russian kerosene should be able to compete' with American not only in Europe, mit also in India. Should existing rates be reduced, a severs struggle between the American Standard Oil Co. and the Busswm companies is looked upon in St. Petersburg as inevitable. An official return of incomes subject to taxation in Prussia shows that in the last ten years the number of persons with incomes ranging from 900 marks (£45) to 3000 marks (£150) has increased by 52 per cent., while the number of incomes over 8000 marks has increased by 37 per cent. Persons enjoying incomes of 900 to 3000 marks, with the members of their households, formed in 1901 33.14 per cent, of the population of Prussia, while persons witn incomes above 3000 murks formed on a similar calculation 4.3l per cent. M. Gerault Richard, a well-known Paris journalist, contributes on article to the Petite Ilepuhlique, in which he deplores the prevalence of suicide in the French Army. Scarcely a. week passes (ha says) that does not see a suicide chronicled irom among the French soldiers, who are often driven to take their lives to escape the horrors of the barracks. In addition to this, many young soldiers ore disgracefully bullied by their senjors, this being especially noticeable in those oases in which the recruits are men of gentle birth and eduoation,