NOTES FROM SCOTLAND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14243, 18 June 1908, Page 9

NOTES FROM SCOTLAND

! (Fhoh Our Own CoRar.sroNDF.HT.) EDINBURGH, April 23. THE CHANNEL FLEET. Onco more tho Firth of Forth is occupied by the ships of this fleet, most of i which are anchored off Rosyth. It is.eviJ dcntly intended to make their officers and crews thoroughly acquainted with these waters. Jack is as popular here hs he is everywhere else in British Dominions, but ho has been vilely dosed with vile spirits by his professed admirers, and tliero havo been many painful sights in consequence. Yet the people who do these things proclaim themselves to be patriots! TRAGEDY AT CUPAR. The county town of Fife has been the scene of a painful tragedy, which has awakened a largo amount of sympathy. ; The two nephews of Mr Jolmstone, pro- ; vision merchant, came to tho shop at the •usual hour on a recent morning, but found it closed, and rang tho ball of their uncle's house above the shop without getting any response. They informed Provost Williamson, a near neighbour, I and lie sent for Mr liirreil, accountant, • who ja Mrs Johnstone's 'brother. This gentleman got into the house though a bedroom window, and opened the <loor from the inside. The house was pervaded 'by a smell of gas, but its inmates were not to bo seen, though Mr Bin-ell found an envelope addressed to himself which contained pathetic letters from them bidding him good-bye. The bathroom door waa found to be closed, and as all attempts to open it failed, Provost Wil-' Jiameon climbed up by a ladder to the window, the glaas of which he broke. 'Ho tlhen turned back the shutters, and saw Mr and Mrs Johnstone lying, partially dressed, upon an improvised bod on the floor. A doctor was summoned, I but he declared tlhat life must have been extinct for four hours. The gas-pipo in the bathroom was found to be cut. It seems- that both the deceased had sieved much over the death of their only child, ' a little girl, three years ago, and both their letters spoke of this. Mr Johnstone's also gave minute directions re- ' garding the funeral. He was 48 years of age, aid an elder in St. Michael's Church, \i where he assisted in taking u.p tho collection on the previous S'unday. Not- , withstanding a storm of wind and rain, : uie funeral was attended by crowds larger . than have been seen at any other funeral in Cupar within living memory. Tlie foodies were conveyed to the cemetery 1 in separate hearses, and were interred in separate -graves, 6ido by side, and nest to the grave of tho child of the deceased. OVERCROWDING IN SCOTLAND. One of tho weakest points- in Scottish house accommodation is the extremely limited room allowed in sleeping apartments, and no doubt this accounts for the prevalence of tuberculosis and other diseases, This is a. noteworthy fault even in the houses of well-to-do people, while among the poor the overcrowding is shameful. A parliamentary return has just been issued showing that at tho last census there were in Scotland 427,563 •persons, or 9.66 of the entire population, living "more Uian four in a room." The percentage in places with a- population Mow 2000 was 9.80. Tlie percentage was highest in the mining towns, Wishaw heading the list with 27.27, and Coatbridge coming next with 24.70. In the principal towns tlie percentages are as follow:—Paisley, 11.76; Greenock, 11.15; 'Glasgow, 10.92; Dundee, 7.41; Edinburgh 4.72; and Aberdeen, 2.62. Tims Uhey are by no means the worst, proportionately. Even in Shetland the percentage is 14.26 of the -population. OBITUARY RECORD: i The Rev. George 0. Baxter, of tho ■ United Free Church at Cargill, East Perthi shire, died with painful suddenness on April 6. His brother, Mr John S. Baxter, • Brechin, had died on the 3rd, at Cargill ' Manse, and the minister went to Perth on 1 the 6th, and made final arrangements for . the i'unoral, expiring suddenly from heart failure an hour after his Tctnm home. . The Rev. Gcorgo Baxter laboured at Cargill with much acceptance for nearly 40 years, and was 65 years of age at his death. His father, the late Rev. Dr John Baxter, was long a noted minister of Blairgowie. Tho Rev. John White, senior minister of St. John's United Free Church, Carluke, died on the 6th April, in his 92ndi year. He began his ministry to a congregation of eight members shortly after the disruption, and his connection with it 1 lasted for 65 years. It is now the largest congregation in the Presbytery of Lanark. , Mr--Whito was greatly respected, and he received tho honour of a public funeral. Mr Joseph Johnstone Glover, ex-Provost of Dumfries, one of the best-known men in ;■ the south-wost of Scotland, died suddenly on _ April 13, aged 55. Ho was a painter and decorator by trade, but as an eni thusiastic patriot and admirer of Burns he became well-known throughout the ' country. He also did yeoman service in municipal affairs. In 1896 ho was elected Provost of Dumfries, and held that honourable ollice for 12 years, only retiring a few weeks ago on account of a serious malady from which he has been suffering for about 1 a year. He passed away during the night, to the great regret of'the town and district. Mr Glover was a staunch Unionist and tariff reformer. A movement to re- , cognise his public services was in progress at his death, when, about £500 had been collected for tlie purpose of making him a public presentation. He is survived by las widow and a family of no less than seven sons and five daughters. At his funeral all Dumfries was in mourning. Six painters in the employ of the deseased bore the coffin to the hearse, which was preceded by an open carriage filled with wreaths, while behind it walked the bereaved widow and family. Publio bodies , of many kinds were represented, as well as the nobility and gentry of the county, s the whole being headed by four pipers. Shops were closed, and the blinds of private houses were drawn, while the'entire lino of route was thronged by the mourning people. A service was held in St. Michael's Church, close to tho main entrance of which, on the west side, the interment took place. The Freemasons of ■ the Provincial Grand Lodge, who bad previously held a funeral lodge, each dropped a sprig of acacia into tho open grave. The burial place of the poet Burns is in the same churchyard. The Rev. Dr Alexander Kennedy, of i Trinity College Church, Edinburgh, a • prominent minister of the Church of Scot- ! land, died on April 13, aged 63. FortyL one years ago he began his ministry at |. Stewarton, Ayrshire, and in 1880 he was L transferred to Edinburgh. In spite of t the eminently inconvenient situation of > his church, overlooking the eastern part i of the railway lines in the Waverley j Station, he proved a successful pastor. , As an educationist he did notable work : on tho School Board and Heriot Trust. He received the degree of D.D, from ' Edinburgh University in 1903. Three I years ago he met with an accident from , which his health never fully recovered, 5 so that a year later he resigned his j charge. His wife's death three months • ago was also a severe blow to him. I Miss Christina Rainy, sister of the - late Principal Rainy, died in Edinburgh n on April 20, in her eighty-first year. She J. was widely known throughout her church , for her active interest in foreign missions. j In 1886 she was sent to India to inspect . the Church's missionary operations there. and she published a volumo containing an accoimt of her impressions. She also 3 took a prominent interest in education, _ both as ,a member of the Edinburgh j School Board and as joint secretary of ~ the. Association for the Religions Tin--1 provement of the Remote Highlands and it Islands. In connection with the latter ,i she made many trying journeys in the Hebrides,

GENERAL NEWS. A tablet erected in the West Parish Church, Maybole, in memory of the late Sir James Fergnsson, Bart., was unveiled on the evening of Easter Sunday. The inscription describes him as "an i ideal laird, aboundingly generous; an able servant of tho State; and a true friend to this church and parish." Firing by tho heavy guns of warships in .lnvergordon Firth was stopped a year ' ago because it frightened away tho salmon. They havo just been practisng with thoir smaller guns, and as the result the fleets of fishing-boats report that they have not caught a single fish. In Glasgow a much-needed by-law against expectorating on tramcars is being put into force, with the result that there are scores of cases in the courts '. every week. A youth of 17 and a girl of 14 have' j been married before the registrar at i Aberdeen on a sheriff's warrant. This is ; stated to be a record for tho Granite ' City. _ [ A pillar surmounted by a bust is to be j erected in Galashiels as a memorial of Burns. i To allow their clerks to attend the , training for the Territorial army the directors of the Union Bank of Scotland aro giving them a week's leave annually, m addition to their usual holidays, i Mrs Hamilton, of Townend, Kirkcud- ; bright, widow of a former minister of the parish of Kirkcudbright, celebrated her one hundred and fourth birthday on : April 4, when she received many con- , gratulatory telegrams from various parts ' of the world. A year ago his Majesty the King sent her one. She can repiem- ! ber the battle of Waterloo. Her husband died so long ago as 1836. , A floating dock fm- the accommodation i of the many steam trawlers which fre- , qucnt tho port of Aberdeen has just been . launched at Barrow-in-Furness. [ At a mill at Arbroath four cases of , small-pox have occurred, and have all been [ traced to tho 6ame cause—imported flax. , A street bookmaker, who was arrested . and convicted at Glasgow, was found to , have upon him 616 betting-lines, and other [ memoranda showed that the profit on his .■ day's transactions amounted to £72 19s 2d. ) Inl.1 n I .° n was fin ed the maximum penalty of £50. [ The late Mr Adam Lees Cochrane, of . Galashiels, has bequeathed £21,750 for I varions local religious and ecclesiastical purposes. Among other things, ho gives [ £8500 to be divided among 10 of the [ churches, tho interest being given to tlie . ministers to help them to travol during [ their annual holiday, with a view of acquiring a personal knowledge of men ' and countries. The Forfar County Council has discon- . tinned a grant of £200 for instruction in P cookery and laundry work, on the ground that the people of Forfarshire havo lost ' interest in such classes. "- _ _ A new poor-house for Leith, which has just been erected at Seafield at a total J cost of less than £60,000, is said to be the j cheapest building of the kind erected in s Scotland in recent years. ' A total sum of 'about £200,000 will be j available for the Scottish Universities , under tho Carnegie Trust during the next five years. At a Provincial Orders Inquiry, held in' Edinburgh a few days-ago, it was stated l that no less than £450,000 has been spent { under "The Loch Leven (Inverncss-shire) . Water Power Act, 1901," and a further 3 sum of over £500,000 has still to be spent t before the wores are completed. -This is 1 but one instance out of a number show--3 ing what large 6ums are being spent m the j industrial development of the Highlands. 3 According to a statement mado in the b United Free Presbytery of Glasgow last 5 week, 25,000 communicants join the lapsed masses in Scotland every year. I A public gathering was held in Perth 1 City Hals on April 18 for the List time. , It is now to be pulled down and re-erected r upon a larger scale. A message-boy in Edinburgh swallowed ; two half-crowns to conceal the fact that j ho had stolen them. The X-rays showed . them to be lodged in the gullet, and with ' great difficulty they were at length extracted. Lord Kelvin's will bequeathed everything to his widow, -who' has assumed two nephews and her lawyer as trustees. The personal estate amounts to £161,923, and tho heritable estate to £7150. 6 The following personal estates aro also .. recorded:—Mr William M'Nab, of Kelta hock, Forfar, £148,082; Mr A. G. Bin- ', nett, of Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, £49,973 • I Mr T. P. Miller, of Cambuslang, turkey i red dyer, £45,823. r ,-■