HOME AND FOREIGN NEWS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1751, 27 September 1905, Page 12

HOME AND FOREIGN NEWS.

OUTPUT AND LABOUR. The London secretary of the Transvaal Chamber of Mines received a cablegram early in August from the Chamber at Johannesburg advising that the total gold output of the mines of the Transvaal for July, 1905, amounted to 401,1210 z for the Witwaterßrand district, and 18,38402 for the outside districts —in all, 419,50502 of fine gold. Total value, £1,781,944 ; an increase of 7188 oz in weight, and £30,532 in value, as compared with the previous month, When tine production was, in all, 412,317 Ob of fine gold, total value, £1,751,412. In July, 1904, the total output was 307,8400 b; total value, £1,307,621. A cablegram from the same source intimated that the number of natives employed in the mines at the end of July was 91,673, the net loss during the month being 2315. There were 386 natives detained in the Witwatersrand Native Bab our Association’s compounds under the system which has been introduced of postponing the distribution to the mines of natives who arrive in a Weak condition until they are declared medically fit for l work. . A MODERN QUIXOTE. Germany’s famous Anti-Semitic ■Count Pueokler has been caught by the legal authorities, and brought before a Court at Glogau. He is charged with insulting several neighbours. The count keeps a band of mounted retainers on his estate, “Kleine Tchirne,” with the object of striking terror into the minds of the Jews. Back of employment led him, however, to undertake Don Quixotic expeditions, which formed the basis of the charge now brought against him. He roved about the country, sent out patrols, and when the subject of his vengeance was reported, he led the charge himself. Oh one occasion he charged a number of persons busy threshing, and forced everybody to hide under the machine to escape his prancing horse, and when no further enemy hove in sight, he gallantly left the field. Oh another occasion he charged with his followers a number of women digging potatoes in the fields, and was again gratified by putting everybody to flight, even the overseer, who attempted to defend himself with a rake. The count explained that all this was a joke, and confessed that in the heat of combat he ..might have made insulting remarks to his adversaries. In this time of decadence, however, he informed the Court, people doi not understand natural man. The President of the Court said he Was afraid something was not quite right with the mind of a man who charged threshing-machines at the head ■of a troop of horsemen, and terrified Women in fields by riding among them Waving a heavy whip, nor could he admit the count’s claim, “I amuse myself by employing warlike tactics. I inaugurate attacks every day, and people among whom I am very popular perfectly understand me.” “As you musti be considered responsible for your actions,” concluded' the judge, “you are sentenced by the Court to a fine of 350 marks.”

THE SCHOOLMASTER AND THE BOOK. Considerable interest attaches to the Roman remains that are now being unearthed in Lapping Woods, Hants, not only on account of their value from an antiquarian point of view, but because of the romantic way in which-their discovery was brought about. It appears that the headmaster of Bediale School, Sheet, near POtersfield, chanced upon a rare old book in a cottage, from a perusal of which he learnt that a Roman city had once stood on the Brookwood estate. Trial holes were sunk, and the searchers have so far been rewarded by the discovery of three very fine tees elated pavements and the foundations of a Roman villa. STOLE A WIFE AND- £SOO. . Samuel Baruch, a Hungarian tailor’s apprentice, showed remarkable audacity: and cleverness (says a Berlin correspondent) in defrauding a hotelkeeper in South Germany of £SOO. Be met, wooed, and won the hotelkeeper’s daughter in -Hamburg, and on the day of his betrothal he took his fiancee for a trip on the river Elbe, to show her, he said, what was his occupation. On the lower part of the Elbe they saw a great number of fishing boats with the initials 5.8., followed by a number. With a sweep of the hand Baruch drew the girl’s attention to- his initials, and declared that the whole of the numerous fleet was his property. The girl wrote on the same day to her father, who, Relighted at his daughter’s good fortohe, immediately went to Hamburg and gave his consent to the marriage. 'After the engagement had been merrily toasted the conversation turned on Business matters, Baruch declaring that all his capital was invested in his enormous fleet of boats, but that if he had £9OO in cash he would immediately buy two more boats, which had been offered to him as a bargain. The next dav the

hotel-keeper handed l the amount to bis prospective son-in-law, it Ibedhg agreed that a deed of mortgage should be drawn up later. Since then nothing more has been seen of Baruch 1 . COBOEOAGO) CHURCH SENSATION. According to some of the New York pa,pens, a great sensation has been created in Denver, Colorado, by the Rev. Prank Oumsaulus, of Chicago, who, speaking at a local Methodist church, delivered a eulogy of Mr Roosevelt, which induced many people who heard him to leave the church. Mr Gunsaulus, amongst other wild things, said:—• “The one man of the world who matches Jesus Christ in seriousness of purpose, in purity of life, is the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.” According to the clergy interviewed, such language represents either “blasphemy, rankest absurdity, or harmless gush.” HUSBAND MISTAKEN FOR A BURGLAR.

At Westminster Police Court recently, Robert Dennis, horse dealer, of Benham, Norfolk, was summoned for persistently ringing the bell of 6 North Terrace, Alexandra Square, without lawful excuse. Mr T. D. Dutton, who prosecuted, said the -defendant some months ago charged his wife, living .at 6 North Terrace, with shooting him with a revolver. The lady was acquitted on trial, the defence being that, the husband, who got into the house in the early morning, was mistaken for a burglar. Complaint was now made that M'r Dennis had been to the house since, and that he rang the hells and "knocked at the door for an hour and a half. The niece of the wife gave evidence, and in cross-examination admitted addressing a postcard to Mr Dtennis on which derogatory reference to his occupation appeared. It was suggested in examination that Mrs Dennis again appeared at the door with a revolver, though the suggestion was denied by the niece. Mr Conway, who defended, said the defendant had only exercised his right as a. husband to go and demand property which belonged to him. The wife ran away from him, and his visit was at a time when he could not be mistaken for a burglar. The Magistrate felt it his duty to see that there was no further breach of the peace, and bound over the defendant to he of good behaviour. THE WRITER OF “AMERICA;” Samuel S. Smith, who wrote the famous patriotic hymn “America” when he was a student at Andover in 1832, was born in Boston on October 21, 1898. He was a student in Boston’s famous old Batin School, where he won a Franklin medal. Then he went to Harvard College, where he was a classmate of Oliver Wendell Holmes, who celebrated him in a poem in which he said : And there’s a nice youngster of excellent pith, Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith; But he shouted a song for the brave and the free. Just read on his medal, “My country, of thee.” “America” was first sung in public on the 4th July, 1832. A TURK AND HIS WIVES. Abdul Kader, a wealthy Turk, with his three wives, all dressed in Oriental clothes, nothing but the eyes of the women. being visible, created a. sensation when they disembarked from a steamer, by going to the most fashionable hotel in New York and demanding a “room for one.” The horrified hotel clerk plainly intimated that the uxorious Oriental had come "to the wrong place, and, further, that even a room for four would be asking too much. American marriage customs were explained to Abdul Kader by an interpreter, and finally, as the hour was late, two of the wives were segregated, and a successful search for lodgings then commenced. The Orientals, passing through the streets in their long whit© and red gowns, attracted much attention, and a small crowd watched them into the first great hotel, whence they quickly emerged. ENGLISH EDUCATION VOTE. On July 1 the Education Vote of £l2j--652,548 was taken, in the House of Commons, and in connection with it Sir William Anson made a statement of the lines on which the Act of 1902 had been administered. In order to keep the local authorities in touch with the schools under their charge, a large additional inspectorate had been created, including a number of women, to supervise infants’ and gilds’ schools. The pupil-teacher system had been largely reformed, and a considerable addition, had been made in the last two years to the number of secondary schools receiving the Government grant. Every endeavour had been macle to cut down all expenditure not strictly necessary for the well-being of the children. On the question of “necessitous” areas,” he said that there must be either a readjustment of rates, or a substantial grant from the Exechequer. He was in favour of giving local authorities the power to exclude from school children under five years of age. In the

debate which followed Sir John Gorst strongly advocated the medical inspection cf all children on first attending school, a suggestion which Sir William Anson accepted. Mi' Bryce argued that the new system tended to over-centra-lisation ; but Sir "William Anson reminded the House that the Act specially empowered local authorities to delegate matters for an inquiry to ascertain what part of the cost of education should be borne by the Imperial Exchequer. On a division a motion to reduce the vote was defeated by 250 votes against 220. WHAT BISMARCK THOUGHT OF MR CHAMBERLAIN. “The Neue Freie Press©” publishes a conversation with Herr Rottenburg on Anglo-German relations. This gentleman made himself an authority on the policy of the Chancellor towards England. The most interesting part cf his utterance deals with the attitude of Germans towards modern English statesmen, in particular Mr Chamberlain. “We cannot bo expected to put Chamberlain in the same rank with Burke, Chatham, Pitt, Canning, or Wilberforoe, and I doubt if such a valuation finds many supporters in the intellectual aristocracy of England.” He continues:—“l was in London when Mr Chamberlain set on foot his great action against the House of Lords. Soon after I went to Fredericksruh and told Prince Bismarck about the meeting in Hyde Park. He smiled ironically and said at length :—* “ ‘What I have always admired in tbe great ESnglish statesmen of former times is their historical sense; thanks to which the development of England has proceeded, speaking generally, by steps not by leaps. Politics no less than nature should adopt the principle non facer© saltus. But a politician who rightly comprehends Elnglish history cannot possibly agitate against the House of Lords as Mr Chamberlain is doing. Even in his methods he is making a mistake. He is working with American means; but however much these may be in place on the other side of the ocean, in England one should not use them. England is fundamentally an. aristocratic land—using the word in a good sense — and whoever loves England must wish that she may remain so.’ To say of Prince Bismarck that he hated England,” concludes Herr Rottenburg, “is simply ridiculous.”

BRITISH DEAD IN SOUTH AFRICA. The work of collecting the remains of the men of the British forces who fell in the war has now been completed, a Johannesburg message records, in spite of the great difficulties necessitated: by the enormous area to be searched. The bodies of several thousands of British soldiers have been exhumed from their graves on the Transvaal battlefields and conveyed' to central cemeteries at Pretoria, Middelburg, Barberton, Potchefstroom, Johannesburg, Standerton, and Lydenburg, and reinterred with military honours. The number of graves opened is 2,480, and about 5,000 bodies have been reinterred. The Government is prepared to supply sketches and photographs of the graves, and an inspector has been appointed to keep the cemeteries in order. Thousands of inquiries have been received from relatives of the dead, and in nearly all cases the authorities have been able to furnish particular® of the final reburial. THE POPE AND ITALIAN POLITICS The “Osservatore Romano” publishes a letter from the Pope addressed to the leaders of the so-called Roman Catholic P'arty of Social Action. His Holiness expresses regret that hie former encyclical letter® should have been misinterpreted as to the suppression of the non expedit. The Pope declares that public opinion has been led astray by the fact that hi® words have been given a different meaning to the one they really bear. His Holiness says that in granting exemptions which were necessary in certain cases he had no idea of abandoning the glorious traditions of the past or renouncing the rights of the Church or the claims of the Holy See. The Pope concludes by expressing his satisfaction at seeing Catholics accept his advice regarding organisation for social action, and urges them to continue in the same course. DEFIANT VENEZUELA. President Roosevelt has been informed through the State Department that the Venezuelan Federal Court has decided to annul the charter of the Bermudez Asphalt Company. Nothing will be done in the matter (Reuter's Oyster Bay correspondent says) until the return of Mr Root, Secretary of State, and the receipt of a report from the United States representative at Caracas. The “New York Herald” publishes a telegram from Caracas, dated the 6th Aug., and delayed by the censor. A representative of the French Cable Company, it announces, said that the company had lodged a protest with the French Legation against the decision of the Court of Cassation confirming the dissolution of the contract. The comp£ ny refuses to recognise the judgment, and is continuing to fulfil the terms of the contract.

LOWERING THE RECORD*. There is no doubt the turbine steamer has come to stay. It is now equalling the records of the crack liners fitted with reciprocating engines. The Allan Line Company’s turbine steamer Viiginian, which left Lough Foyle for Quebec at 4.30 p.m. oil Aug. 4, passed Belle Isle (the extreme northerly point of Newfoundland) at seven p.m.. on Aug. 8 last. That means the quickest Atlantic ocean passage and that the vessel was actually out of sight of land for less than four days. Last June, when on the winter route (which passes south of Newfoundland and is slightly longer), the Virginian’s passage was four days six hour®. It will be remembered thpt the first passages of this vessel, and her sister ship the Victorian, were somewhat protracted, and the croakers made the Worst of it. Since then both ships have been getting into their strides, and the enterprise of their owners in fitting two large vessels with driving machinery which was only in the experimental stage has been fully justified. “We are quite satisfied with results,” Messrs Allan's representative informed a “Leader” representative yesterday, “and we find the coal consumption compares very favourably with that of the old style of engine.” The Virginian has three propeller shafts, a high pressure and two low pressure, all used for “full ahead,” and the two low pressure for going astern also. Of course, instead of the propeller shafts being driven as in reciprocating gear, by the crank shafts and the cylinders, the steam acts directly on the propeller shaft, -which is fittedwith blades or fans. Actually, the shaft is blown round. The Virginian has 11 millions of these blades, fixed and movable, connected with the three shafts. The Virginian’s recent ocean, passage was 2000 miles as compared with 2900 to New York. The turbine steamer’s passage is thus nearly equal to the Cornpar i a’® best over the longer route, five days seven hour® 23 minutes, which is the present record from Ireland. " Tho other Atlantic records are now, Kaiser Wilhelm 11., from Sandy Hook to Plymouth, 3112 miles, five day® 11 hours 5S minutes, though the Deutschland once beat this by 20 minutes. The Virginian has a speed 'of 20 knots, and. was built by Messrs A. Stephen and Sons, Glasgow.—“ Morning Leader.” TRIBUTE TO RUSSIAN OFFICERS. An officer of the Naval staff has made a statement in which he pays a high tribute to some of the Russian officer pai ticipating in the battle of the Sea of Japan. He says : “There were several Russian officers whose conduct in the recent battle deserves to be held high as model and example for all naval officers. Among them the most noteworthy was the conduct of Captain Rodion off, commander of the Admiral Nakhimoff. His gallantry is as praiseworthy as that of Commander Hirose. During the first day of the battle the Nakhimoff was exposed to the fire of our main squadron, ■and sustained serious damage. During the nieht she was made the object of

severe torpedo, attacks, and finally, coinJ»]ietely drifted close to Tsushima. The vessel was sinking, and Captain Rodi on off sent 70 of the- crew to land at Tsushima, remaining on board himself with his chief navigator. “When the Japanese approached the sinking vessel they asked the captain to leave the ship, hut he refused. The Japanese. boarded, the vessel, and endeavoured to drag him into the heat, but he resisted. The vessel was listing badly, and threatened every moment to plunge down into the sea. The Japanese were forced to draw off, and the captain went, below there to meet bis death. Suddenly the ship went down, and our men thought the gallant officer was drowned. But Providence willed otherwise. We found the captain and navigator floating in the water, locked in each other’s arms. They had embraced at what they thought was the moment of death, and were only halfconscious when we rescued them.” STEAMERS ON THE NIGER. Lieutenant Le Blevec, the French naval officer who was entrusted with the constitution of a steamboat service on the Niger, and has now returned to France to take delivery of .a new vessel intended for this service, states that regular fortnightly communication between Koulikoro and Timbuctoo has bean in existence since July 1. /

Timbuctoo is now c-nly 19 .days from Paris for passengers. The distance between Koulikoro and Timbuctoo is" 610 miles, and the journey is eifected in about four days by the two- small steamers Rene Gail lie and Davoust, which carry the mails and a few pas-

sengers. The new boat, the Mage, is to be 125 ft long. . She will take 100 tons of cargo- and 48 passengers. lieutenant Le Blevec believes that ?poo£\ ui si JEOATJ uexpu MlcA jxau he will fee able to extend the service as far as Ansonga, 25.0 miles beyond Timbuctoo. EXTRAORDINARY MOTOR accident.., A remarkable aceident happened on Aug. 5 in the Rue de Rivoii, Paris, when an automobile overturned three vehicles .and. broke-in a shop front. The automobile was, passing down the thoroughfare towards the Place- de la B-as-bille, "ihen it was struck , by the end of some long beams on a waggon. The shook was so violent that the macha.ni-ci-an and a oommencia.l traveller seated beside him were thrown out of the vehicle The ear, left without a guiding hand, continued its course and struck fc a van which it overthrew, bringing the driver to the ground. Still running along, the automobile next collided with a hand Cart laden with chemicals, which was barring its way. The man in charge of the cart quickly found himself under a heap of debris Finally, the wheels of the automobile passed along the tramway grooves, causing the car to Brake a sr-dden turn an to smash in the front of a eafe, resulting in injury to three of .the customers, who were seated at the tables, and who bad to be taken to hospital. COAL AND THE- FOREIGNER, In a written reply to Mr D. A. Thomas, M.P., who inquired what powers the Government possessed to prohibit the export of coal, the AttorneyGeneral, Sir Robert- Finlay, said that coal suitable for use by vessels of war falls under the category of naval stores, the exportation of which may -be prohibited under the Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1879, and the Exportation of Arms Act, 1900. The power conferred- by the earlier of these enactments is general, and no special contingencies are prescribed for its exercise - the power conferred by the Act of 1900 may be exercised with regard to particular countries or places in the .contingency mentioned in the Act. AN ITALIAN MAGICIAN’S “CURE.” A true story comes from Florence which makes v one rub one’s eyes and wonder if this is really the twentieth century. A certain Emilio Conti, a man about fifty, has, among other children, a son 15 years old, paralytic and epileptic, since infancy, and now helpless and idiotic. The poor father in these fifteen vans has gone from one doctor to another, without obtaining relief for bis afflicted boy; so, giving way to the advice of his friends, he consulted a noted charlatan, beloved of the masses, known under the name of the “Ma- - - “Nothing easier,” he replied, to the distracted parent. ; f°Bury the boy so that only his bead is above ground, and beep him thus from eleven until six and jfou will have him quite cured.” In fact, the next morning Conti was up 6a*rly -.digging the required -hole, and at eleven o’clock;:the unfortunate boy was buried in it to his neck. The neighbours, however, got wind of the affair, and begged-and'implored the father to release the boy, but his reply was, “No, no! e It is for his good; you will see he will be well and strong!” This went on for some hours, until a doctor, passing and seeing the crowd, •topped, and soon had his eyes on. the

terrible spectacle. His anger, reproaches, and orders not having the slightest effect, he rushed to the carbineers. They forcibly* rescued the sick boy, who by that time was unconscious, and arrested both the father and the 'Magician.” The lad sustained no lasting effect from being buried alive, and the father is convinced that he is not cured because he was not long' enough in the earth! THE PROCESSION OF DEATH. The Berlin correspondent of an English paper says:— Germans do not profess to be impelled by any humanitarian instincts when dealing with Hereros, who have been insolent enough to rise against the Protectorate troops. But unusual callousness is betrayed in the following extract from an official report on the search for Herero warriors who fled after feeing defeated at Waterberg last autumn: “Lieut. Count yon Stehweinitz, with his men, came across a well-trodden footpath leading across the waterless desert from Olndowon to- a distance of 90 miles. It wasi evidently the read' taken fey the fleeing bands, for the bodies of thousands of cattle bordered the route, and large numbers of skeletons of men and horses bleaching in che fierce rays of the sun showed with awful certainty that the procession of death had passed that way. “Especially where the bush by the roadside offered some shelter from the sun, hundreds of corpses of cattle lay crowded beside and over one another. “In many places deep holes, had been dug in the sand by the feverish hands of blacks in their death agony in the vain hope of finding moisture. Man and beast had succumbed helplessly to the awful torments of. thirst. “Of a truth, it is a frightful judgment that overtook the guilty Hereros here, and no more complete and terrible vengeance for murdered Germans could be imagined than this death procession through the sand-field.” TRAMP' TO THIBET.

A diary of travel in the Far East apr pears in the form of a White Paper issued to Parliament. The traveller writes of this experiences with a lively sense of their romantic nature and with distinct literary skill.

HRs interesting volume, which, consists of SO closely-printed pages, is issued as “China No. 1 (1905). Report by Mr A. Rosie, his Majesty’s Consul-Gen-eral at Chang-tu, on a journey to trie Eastern Frontier of Thibet (with a map).” Mr Hosie journeyed on the great highway which connects Chong-tu with Lhasa, and the distance to the Thibetan frontier was 600 miles. Along this road travel Chinese imperial residents for Thibet and “devout pilgrims eager to look upon tlie face of the Dalai Lliama.” Some of the latter take years over the journey, but the imperial couriers, with relays of horses, are able to carry messages, from Lhasa—to the nearest telegraph office, 1800 miles away, at Ta-chien-lu —in less than 20 days. The road is barred by lofty mountain ranges, which strike terror into the superstitious wayfarers. Mr Hosie describes .everything that be sees, and throws new lights on the country and its people. At Ta-chien-lu, exceeding the Chinese inhabitants, were “the dull red and grey woollen-gowned Thibetan men and women, moving with that free and easy gait unknown to their Chinese neighbours.” The Thibetan ladies,, when clean and well-dressed, as Mr Hosie.saw them in Ta-chien-lu, will take rank with their European sisters. Many beautiful women wore long silk gowns and long redtopped boots, and ornaments of gold. Dark brown eyes, ftnelyrcut .features, an excellent carriage, and sprightliness of demeanor distinguished them. When Mr Hcsie’s car van reached the steep hillside whose ridge marks the boundary between China and Thibet he was begged by the Chinese authorities not to cross the frontier. Thibetan soldier's and an equal number of Ssuchuan Thibetan soldiers were disposed in line along each side of the boundary. “There was perfect silence as, escorted by Chinese authorities, I went up to the boundary stone, but I could see a fixed determination on the faces of the troops to resist any attempt on my part to cross into Thibet.” When Mr Hosie, seeking an inscription, made a movement to look on the Thibetan side of the stone, Chinese officials instantly barred the way. The subsequent movements of the Thibetans Left Mr Hosie with the impression that they were satisfied that they had successfully resisted a British invasion from the east. He returned to the Cheng-tu plain three months aftr leaving it. “REDUCTION” IN LIVERPOOL. Sir E. R. Russell, the editor, and Mr Jeans, the printer and publisher, of.the “Liverpool Post,” were called on in a Divisional Court yesterday to show cause why a criminal information should not be granted against them on the ground of “certain false and scandalous libels” which had appeared in the 'Liverpool Post” concerning the Liverpool Licensing Committee. A rule nisi had

been granted to the justices, and on behalf of Sir E. R. Russell and Mr Jeans, Mr Asquith, K.C., argued that it should not be made absolute. The Licensing Committee, he said, recommended to the justices that certain licenses should be extinguished, and that was confirmed. The committee then considered what compensation should 'be levied upon the surviving licenses of the city to compensate the owners. The libel consisted, of an article, published on July 13th, which started with a quotation from Mr Balfour’s speech on the Licensing Act of 1904, in which ha described the measure as “the greatest contribution ever made to the cause of temperance reform.” The article stated that four members of the Licensing Committee proposed that the full amount leviable under the Act should he fixed, but this was defeated, and that though Sir Thomas Hughes (the leader of _the Conservative party) proposed that it should be threefifths, the committee decided that it should be . half the maximum. These gentlemen would hardly pretend that they were influenced: in the course they took by a desire to diminish the number ,of licenses! in the city, said the article.

The sum which it would be possible to raise in Liverpool was £17,599, whiph would be quite insufficient to carry out even the modest programme the magistrates had laid down. The dominant party on the Bench do not desire to facilitate the work of the “greatest contribution ever made to the cause of temperance reform” —they do not desire to diminish the number of licenses in the city, but rather to hamper and obstruct tho'-.e who are trying to effect without “gross injustice and discontent"” a sorely-needed, reduction, went on the article. The effect of this decision is to have will be to make the rate of reduction actually less than it was under the old order of things—a. result which no doubt was shrewdly foreseen. We congratulate the 'Trade” on the ability and courage of their friends, we had almost said their representatives, on the Licensing Committee. Mr Asquith urged that the applicants, though magistrates, were acting as a purely administrative body, and for 50 years no information bad been granted in a case of such decorus and temperate-, criticism as this. Counsel read an affidavit from Sir E. R. Russell, who stated that he had been for 45 years, connected with journalism in Liverpool, and was deeply interested in diminishing the facilities For drinking in that city, to which so much.intemperance and crime was. due. Sir Edward’s affidavit allied that, the administration of the Licensing Acts had been conducted on partisan lines in Liverpool, and protested: that this was not an attack upon the magistrates several of whom were his personal and

respected friends, hut a protest against a method of administration which, ini his opinion, was damaging and obstructing the cause of the reduction of lit censes. . Other affidavits having been read, Mr Asquith declared that Mr Jeans was not responsible for this article, hut that Sir E. R. Russell did not retract a word. . In giving judgment, the Lord Chief Justice said the rule against Sir Edward Russell must be made absolute. He could only read the article as » suggestion that the magistrates tried to prevent the Act from being carried into effect. He knew the high position: of Sir E. Russell, but he had given no explanation of the words that the result was “shrewdly foreseen,” and the Court had no alternative hut to make the ru|e absolute against Sir Edward Russell, Mr Jeans not feeing included 1 . ThTe effect of this decision is to have Sir E. R. Russell put on his trial befoife a jury. ’TWIXT SHIP AND SHORE. The difficulties associated with air signalling, between ship and ship and between ship and.shore, are well known. The vagaries of lighthouse syrens and bell buoys in fogs are the despair _qf navigators, for- the. volume of sound depends entirely upon atmospheric phe* nomena, which change daily. Precedent is dangerous to the navigator feeling his way in a fog. But if a new method of signalling, to be tested to-day by Trinity-- House, proves successful, in future ships may approach a coast in . a fog—supposing coast and ship to be provided with his apparatus —with confidence. Lately a committee of Trinity House Brethren and representatives of the Adiralty, the Irish Light Commissioners, and the Mersey Dock and Harfeou* Board proceeded from Dover in ;tfe« Trinity steamer Irene, accompanied by the representatives of the Submarine Signalling Company, to test that company’s signalling apparatus, which consists of a bell submerged in the water, and struck at a known station, and a receiver, to be carried' by vessels, which will betray the strokes on the submerged bell to a listener on an approaching ship. The North Goodwin Lightship, baa been provided with the bell, and the Irene carries the necessary sound-re-ceiving apparatus. Briefly, the apparatus consists of (at the shore or lightship station) a submerged bell with a large sound-bowl and a high-pitched note; on ships, tanka on port and starboard sides (containing a solution denser than sea water), in which are placed microphones, which, convey sounds caught to the wheel-h 6 Use receiver. From which side a sound comes can he judged by turning, a switch. If astern the note is muffled, rt has been moved that officers can' io-

©ate fho submarine (boll 'within, an eighth of a point. The United! States Government has several stations testing these bells, and the Canadian authorities have energetically adopted the new system, having thirteen sets of apparatus in the dangerous St. Lawrence estuary. Only last week, caught in a sudden fog, while approaching New York, a great liner was able to ascertain her position from the note of a submarine bell. The e.s. James So Whitney also recently located her course when near the dangerous Nantucket shoals. Many of the Atlantic liners are now fitted with the receivers of this system. WASHING* AIN’T DONE” Catherine Alsopp, a Sheffield washerwoman, hanged herself with a piece of clothes line on a nail in her bedroom • on Aug. 9, and at the inquest the following poetry transcribed by her on a piece of sugar paper was read to the jury: Here lies a poor woman, who always was tired, She lived in a house where help was not hired; Her last words on earth were, "Dear friends, I- am going, "Where washing ain't done, nor sweeping, nor sewing, /'But everything there is exact to my wishes. For where they don't eat there's no washing of dishes. "I'll be where loud anthems will always be ringing, "But having no voice I'll be clear of the singing. f# Don't mourn for me now, don't mourn for me never, **l'm going to do nothing for ever and ever." 1 The jury returned a verdict of “Suicide during temporary insanity.” , “MANY A MICKLE * The Chapel street P.SLA, Saving Club, Blackburn, into which nearly £14,000 Was paid by mdll workers during the year, the money lately, 20 men being engaged in the task. There were over three thousand recipients ; and 9000 sovereigns, besides half-sovereigns and silver, were carried away. The police lent a watchful oversight of the proceedings. Other distributions will bring the total up to £50,000. This money is saved by the workers,, a small sum each week, for the holidays. A STORY OF CRICKETERS.

An interesting anecdote has just been made public in connection with the recent visit of the Australian cricketers to Bristol. A youth named Cox wrote to Darling telling him he had a missionary card, and said that if the Australian players would subscribe he would soon get the whole card filled up. Darling asked him to call on them at the Royal Hotel. Cox did so, and not only received 15s from the colonials, but his Optimism as' to filling the card 'has been justified l . A GAS-DRIVEN SHIP. Unnoticed, the Emil Capitaine took her place with other motor boats in the Motor Yacht Club’s reliability trials on the Solent. Unnoticed, that is, except as one of the new toys of tbe wealthy. This boat, (built by Thornyorofts, demonstrated the complete success of an invention which means a new method of propulsion at sea, of use not only to launches,' but adaptable to great liners aa well. She is the first vessel for ocean service to be fitted with an apparatus for producing gas, and using it as the generator of power in the marine enSe room. It is possible, moreover, ,t she has solved the problem of rening most of the power latent in Coal, for in an ordinary steamer perhaps 70 per cent, of the power generated in the furnaces is lost through the ship’s funnels. Further, a ship driven, by this new means would non require the bunker space of a steamer. The Emil Capitaine (named after the inventor) is built of steel, is 60ft long, and has a beam of 10ft. She was built recently at -Chiswick. She is furnished with two saloons, one fore one aft, permanent cabins, and altogether Is a handsome, comfortable craft, and can keep at sea in all reasonable weather. The propeller works in a tunnel, which makes for in running, and prevents the stern settling low when making a good speed. It is her method of propulsion, however, which is epochmaking. Her machinery consists of a suction gas-producer plant, the gas driving (by a series of explosions, as usual) a vertical engine of special design, having four cylinders each Bjin diameter with llin stroke, and which, running at 300 revolutions a minute, gives 75 li.p. on the brake. The governor of the engine varies the time of ignition, advancing it automatically as the speed of the engine increases. The hopper of the gas generator carries enough coal for a 10-hour run at about 11 miles. The floor space occupied by the machinery indicates the compact nature of the invention—l2ft 6in by 9ft 4in, with a vertical spacei of 6ft Bin. Apart from its novelty, it will appeal to shipowners from the economical side. The? generation of an equal power of eteam costs four times as n.u.;h, oil 6.} times, and petrol 10 times'. The Emil Capitaine was launched 1 in a hurry and

towed round to the trials. She got to work at once, running a ten mile race without a hitch. DECLINED WITH ANGER. The University of Dcrpat, in Russia, recently elected Father John of Ortonetadt and Count Tolstoi among its honorary members. Father John returned the diploma with the following letter: “I categorically decline the honour. I will in no form whatever belong to corporations, even if they are highly esteemed and most learned, which, through regrettable misunderstanding, rank me with the godless Count Leo Tolstoi, the most arrant heretic of our much-tried times, who, in his self-oonceit and arrogance, excels all heretics who have ever been before. At the same time, I am astonished that, the university Senate shows itself so indifferent to a writer possessed of the devil, and slavishly burns incense before him. This is my answer to your highly-esteemed letter.” PROPOSED BRITISH EDUCATIONAL REFORMS. Notable among the matters of general public interest before the Trade Union Congress at Hanley were the proposals concerning education. Chief of these was the insistence upon the necessity of making education a national instead of a local charge, and the unanimous expression that State maintenance is the corollary of State education. The gasworkers asked that all grades of education shall be free, from the primary school to the university, and that the school age should (be raised, and children assisted to remain until the age of 16 by a system of non-competitive scholarships. Much was made of the proposal for free meals in schools, and the gasworkers demanded in addition that “adequate free medical advice should be placed within the reach of all by supported and controlled hospitals and dispensaries.” THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. To a musician named Henry Carey England owes the composition of her National Anthem. It was written in honour of George 11., and was first sung in public by its composer in 1741, on the occasion of the public rejoicings over Admiral Vernon’s defeat of the Spaniards at Portobello* It soon became popular in the theatres, where it was sung wherever royalty made an appearance. It v:.s printed for the firsttime in 1745 in the “Gentleman’s Magazine under the name of its author. It may be added that Carey received suchlittle recognition or recompense for having given his country an anthem, that four yeans later he took his own life in order to escape from, the pangs of poverty and misery.—French Correspondent of “Morning Leader.’'