NEWS FROM NEAR AND FAR

Evening Star, Issue 13162, 19 January 1909, Page 2

NEWS FROM NEAR AND FAR

It was a hundred years on Saturday since tho battle of Corunna and tho death of Sir John Moore. The British general had determined to make a bold advance from Salamanca to attack Soult, when tho news reached him that Madrid had fallen, and that- Napoleon was marching to crush him at the head of 70,000 men. Moore having only 25.000 men was forced to retreat, and in December began a disastrous march from A.storga. to Corunna, 250 miles distant, through meet difficult mountainous country. Ho was impeded by snow and rain, and was constantly harassed by the enemy. The soldiers suffered great hardships, and ~r-rived rived at Corunna in a pitiable plight. As Soult was in readiness to attack as soon as thi' troops began to embark it was decided to give battle. The tight was mainlv one of infantry, for the ‘cavalry, alter destroying tHeir horses, had gone on board, and owing to the nature of the ground it was also impossible to use the artillery. On the 16th January, 1809. the French attacked. and a tierce battle ensued. The chronicler says that "while animating the 42ml Regiment in a brilliant charge in an early stage of the action, Moore was struck by a. cannon ball on tho left shoulder, and died in the moment of victory. The French, wore defeated, with the loss of 2.000 men, and the dead leader was buried at night, just before the embarkation of hi.s troops." Soult. with a noble feeling of res.peet for his valor, raised a monument to Moore's memory on the Held of battle, and at Home another was elected in St. Paul's Cathedral. file best holds, not only in Condon but throughout the provinces (stated a recent visitor to England who lias just returned to Sydney), are manned by Herman waiters, aid there are 80,000 Hermans employed in this wav in Hreat Britain. ‘‘They are.’’ he Raid, "young, robust, educated men, who hate had a military training, and they are now enjoying the lenpitality and earning the money of the Briton. On the first indication of European tumble they will shoulder 80.000 titles and direct them against the breast" of their present employers. This is scarcely a comforting relied ion. hut they arc cheap." The Hovenimeut regulation restricting the weight of hacks of grain to be carried over the railway to 2001b comes into operation on February 1. and reads as follows; —"Hu ami after the first day of February. 1309, the maximum weight of any rack c iit lining wheat, barley, or oats to he carried by tail shall he 2001b. Any sack of wheat, barley, or oats containing a greater weigh; than 2001b shall he dunged for at four tunes the ordinary late of freight.” The scarcity of house accommodation :n Wymlham has had a curious effect (says the ’ Wyndham Herald'). The newlyapiioiutcal staliormiastor is a married, man. and as there was no hou.se here available he could not accept the appointment, and instead a single man has been appointed. A few weeks ago a man in uniform, wh-j saiii he was Surgeon-major Wilhelm Von Mortens, of Carl.siuhe, presented himself at the military hospital at Nett Biisaclt and informed the officers that he had been sent to inspect the establishment. The "major" spent four days at the hospital, during which he lived at the officers' mess, and accepted an invitation to a shooting party. Next lie went to Colmar, where he made similar representations, but a local tradesman iccognised him as au ordinary working baker, and the "surgeon-major" is now under arrest. A trial, almost as interesting ns that of Dreyfus, will begin at Con.stantip.ople shortly, .save the London 'Daily Telegraph.’ Marshal Fuad Pasha, was banished, and c« affined at Damascus, in 1901. and was sui.v.equcntiy tried and condemned by courtmartial. without a hearing, to perpetual imprisonment, on a charge of attempting an armed insurrection. tic has now been restored to his rank, and intends demanding the revision of his trial. Tile Kaiser has instructed various court ■cllicia!" not to make known unimportant incidents, connected with the, doings of the Imperial family ; tor example, the hunting expeditions of the Crown Prince, or th-? fact that one of the Imperial Princes lias dined with the officers of a certain regiment. Heretofore (the 'Daily Expires.,' says) all such incidents have been published from day to day, and nothing Iran been too trivial for notice. The Emperor lia.s also expressed the wish that in future the Herman newspapers shall not publish insignificant details of the court retinue. Hereafter the Court Circular must lie submitted first to the Imperial Literary Bureau of the Prussian State Ministry, and then to the Pref.s Depattmcnt of tlm Foreign Office, before hong published. In this way the Kaiser hopes- to secure greater privacy. President Rnceevelt recently wrote a letter to Mr .1. C. Martin, of Dayton, Hlno. in which lie declared that "Mr latlft religious faith is purely his own private concern, and not a matter for general discussion and pmlitica! recrimination." The President went on to say that he had received many lot tors exploring diesatmt.rction with Sir I aft on religious grounds. He did not answer any of these letters during the campaign, "regarding it as an outrage even to agitate such a. question with the purpose of influencing a political election. ’ But now that the campaign is over lu declares that to discriminate against a "thoroughly upright, citizen because Ire lieloul'ii to some particular church, or because, like Abraham Lincoln, he lia.s not avowed ins allegiance to any church, is an outrag'against that liberty of conscience which 4. one of the foundations of American life,” Mr Houmved adtl.s th.it. he believer; thcie whl in the future he Presidents of the hj nit-’d States who will he Protestants, Catholies, and very probably Jews. Mr laU is a Lnitaii in. and some of his relatives arc Homan Callmli.s, lire emigration and immigration ronort for 1907, issued by the British Board of 'lrade, shows that both the outward and inward movements, so far as non-European countries were concerned, were unparailejed in volume. The outward total was 604.949. and the inward 295.655. the balance outward, therefore, being 541.516. aa era hist 527.572 in 1906 and 254,469 in 1305. Assuming that.the number of passengers travelling for husinm.s or pleasure w.ls uqu.ii in bnth directions, then I tie 1 net numljcr of outgoing piassengero is ' taken to represent lougldv ‘the nunibor of' actual emigrants, whether of [orewit j British nationality. Of this numbe-I 255.092 were British and 109,857 were I foreigners. As to passengers to and from European countries, cho inward inuvrmci! i amounted to 949.379, and the outward to 835.934. the balance inward lining 115,385' against 134.139 in 1306, although the aggregate inward ami outward flows hist War constituted a record. These latter figures are admittedly incomplete, the provision of statutory returns only having been commenced this year.