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Northern Advocate, 14 February 1912, Page 6

The Emperor William, in addition to his many-sided attributes as monarch, statesman, soldier, art critic, agriculturist, and philosopher, is a keen business man, and his Cadinen porcelain factory does a large trade in the finest china and earthenware work. TheMarylebone Workhouse Committee have been endeavouring to wean the old women inmates from snuff-taking by giving them acid tablets. The endeavour has been attended with a certain amount of success, and is to be continued. A remarkable banner made by a retired naval.officer, Captain Wil~ liam Blakeney, may be seen at the office of the Agent-General for British Columbia, Salisbury House. Some 12ft. square, the banner is covered with patriotic quotations, there being some 8500 letters in it. It will be hung in the Government Buildings Victoria (8.C.). There has just died at Crookbam, in Hants, a lady named Miss Cather-, me Fraser, who heard from living j lips an account of the battle of CuU loden. Her grandfather was on the battlefield, felt the earth tremble at the shock of the opposing forces meeting, watched the futile valor of the rebels, and saw Cumberland triumph. Culloden was fought in 1746.Of the £5,000,000 agricultural loan foreshadowed by Mr Botha, the South African Premier, part will be devoted to the Government irrigation scheme and part to subsidising the farmers' private schemes, presumab*. ly through the land banks, which it is proposed to extend throughout the union.

The official estimates of the strength of the French Army as it was composed last year show that there were under arms 581,491 men, I who could be joined at once by 800,000 from the First Reserve. Cn mobilisation another 1,400,000 would be brought up, and the last line of 1,700,000 makes a grand total i of 4,500,000. Two young Grimsby inventors have patented an ingenious contrivance for use in hotels, which, it is claimed, will do away with barmaids. The machine, which is dial-faced has a list of refreshments printed round it, and, it is explained, all the thirsty individual needs to do is to move a pointer to the required beverage, press a button, and the drink is electrically transmitted to the serving counter. Among the nations of Europe Turkey is the only one which flies no Red Cross in time of war. Though a party to the Geneva-Con vention, Turkey has steadfastly refused to use the emblem of that Convention, the Greek Cross, to protect its sick and wounded in time of war. In place of the Cross the Turkish Army Medical Corps make use of a red Crescent on a white ■ ground. J Miss Philip Morgan, of Brecon, is 1 to be presented with a testimonial in j recognition of the fact that she is the first lady in Wales to occupy the position of mayor. She completed her year of office last month. A thief who must have been an artist in the craft stole all the brass buttons from a police sergeant's coat while it was hanging in a New York police station. It was stated at a meeting at Nor wich recently that King George had taken his favourite dog out to India, and that the Queen had taken with her a favourite Norwich canary. The Paris Motor-omnibus Company is organising a special "theatre" service of omnibuses, which will run to and from the various theatres along the principal thoroughfares. While " playing-Indians," several boys in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, tied James M'Michael, an 11-year-old boy, to the post of a schoolhouse, »and applied a match to his clothes. M'Michael was burned to death. Mrs Dollensen, the wife of the captain of the Rochester barge Chris tie gave birth to triplets—all girls— while the craft was off North Woolwich Gardens. Mrs Sarah S. Cross, of Reno, Nevada, has obtained a decree of divorce from her husband because he snored too much, and she was compelled to occupy a separate room. A taxicab-driver in Paris has been defrauding his colleagues by driving off from the stand in any of the cabs which he knew to be supplied with petroli and leaving his own cab behind each time that the tank was empty.