OUR LETTERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1642, 12 May 1883, Page 8

OUR LETTERS.

OUK SCOTCH LETTER. (from our own correspondent.)

Edinburgh, March Bth. ' THE SKYE OHOFTERS.

Public interest in the case of these men roceivedafresh impulse justafterllast wrote by thb Glendale crofters who had been summoned by the Court of Session to appear before it for disobeying its interdict resolving to surrender themselves. One of them was absent from the district, serving the usual period of training with the Naval Reserve, but the other three proceeded by steamer — declining to go in the gunboat Jackal— to Glasgow. On their departure from Glendale the whole population accompanied them for six miles, their wives weepinsr the whole way, and the crowd cheering. On their arrival in Glasgow they were taken care of by well-to-do sympathisers in that city, and arrangements mad© for their defence. On February 19th they appeared at the bar of the Firat Division of the Court of Session, in Edinburgh. All the four judges of the Division were on the Bench, the Lord President presiding, and every inch of room in the Court was occupied by spectators, among whom were many ladies. After the taking of evidence, the accused were liberated on bail, and spent a very pleasant time in Edinburgh, seeing the sights of the city, while their sympathisers provided for them in a fashion which was princely compared with the style of living to which they are accustomed. Two days' delay was granted them by the Court, as an act of grace, to lodge their answers, and this was duly done. On February 23rd the case came up again in the Court of Session, when it was sought tohave it put on the Summer roll. Their Lordships, however, refused to "allow such delay, and it was xiltimately fixed to come on tomorrow, the interval being employed in the citation of witnesses, &c. It is generally felt that the ignorant men themselves are more to be pitied than blamed for the position in which they now find themselves ; and that the blame should rather be attached to the designing or rhapsodical individuals by whom the crofters have been misled. At the same time satisfaction is felt that a Government inquiry, pro-

bably by a Royal Commission, into the state of the land question in the Highlands has been fromised by Sir William Harcourt in the [ouse of Commons. This is a very needful course of action, and when the facts — now sso5 so much distorted by passionate statements— are judicially elicited, it will be much more practicable than at present, both to form a judgment in the matter, and to provide a remedy for whatever evils may be found to exist. Wild writing, such as some which Professor Blackie has been indulging in, can only confuse and embitter matters ; and the man who persists in it, be he who he may, should be regarded as a foe to the common weal. Meanwhile times are very hard in Skye and Lewis, from the causes formerly mentioned by me. Some relief has been sent, and more is continually being forwarded ; but it would be idle to disguise the fact that the course of events in Skye, and the language of men such as those to whom I have referred, has checked the compassionate outflow to some extent. However much this is to be regretted, it can create no surprise ; nor will anyone be surprised to hear that the men who have been foremost in agitation have been rearmost; in relief. It is always so. TBADE AND INDUSTRY. It is intimated that the forthcoming dividend of the North British Railway Company will be at the rate of 5 per cent, on the ordinary stock, and 1^ per cent, on the Edinburgh and Glasgow ordinary stock. The rates for the corresponding period last year were 4i and £ per cent, respectively. The Caledonian Company's dividend is 5 per cent., against 4f per cent, a year ago. . • Messrs Ballantine and Rowan, sugar merchants, Greenock, suspended payment "two, or three weeks ago, and their liabilities were estimated to amount to about £100,000. It has since been stated, however, that an arrangement has been made with their creditors, enabling them to carry on the business as formerly. The Anstruther fishing fleet made a graml catch of herrings the other night, 130 boats landing 1050 crans, which realised about £3000. One boat received £130 for its cargo of between 40 and 50 crans, which is a fine return for a single night's work. Temperance public-houses seem to be a paying speculation in Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Cat 6 Company having made a clear profit of 30 per cent, during the past year ; while the British Workman Public-house Company, which caters for a lower class of customers, is payinar a dividend of 10 per cent. The returns of shipbuilding on the Clyde during February show that that industry continues to be in a thriving coudition, the output exceeding that of the same month last year by 4260 tons. The shipwrights have obtained an advance in wages or a farthing per hour, with the promise of an additional farthing in June, Among the shipbuilding events of the month has been the trial trip of the steamer Fulda, built for the North German Lloyd's Company by Messrs John Elder and Co. She is 5100 toua gross register, and is pronounced to be "the largest and finest steamer belonging to the German mercantile navy." The speed guaranteed by her builders was 16 knots, but on her trial trip of 45 miles she averaged 17 '8 knots, or fully 20J statute miles per hour, this result being attained against the tide. On February 27th, also, there was launched by Messrs R. Napier and Sons the third of the, fast cruisers built by that firm for the Royal Navy. She was christened the Phaeton, measures 3065 tons, is to be of great speed, and will carry an armament of 10 6-inch guns, two Gatling and Six Nordenfeldtguns, and 10 Whitehead torpedoes. The Phaeton is not armour-plated, but her machinery iwill be protected by a wall coal Bft in thickness. FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE. Much anxiety prevails among owners of stock in consequence of a serious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle. The disease first made its appearance in Midlothian,' and although energetic measures were at once taken to stamp it out, it has rapidly spread, until outbreaks have been reported from different places scattered over two-thirds of the area of Scotland, and, in spite of all that can be done to check it, the disease seems to be still spreading. In the depressed state of the agricultural interest, such a calamity becomes even more than usually alarming, as the farmers can ill afford to have their animals slaughtered in order to stay the progress of the plague, and dairymen are in even worse case. THE RAILWAY SERVANTS' AGITATION. Although there has happily been no secqnd strike among the rail way employes since I last wrote, there has been a constant agitation going on among them during the past month. After a good deal of inquiry, the directors of the Caledonian railway issued a circular stating their decision with respect to the demands of the men in the employ of that Company, and the following is a summary of the main points in this document : — No change to be made in tba hours of duty or wages of passenger and goods' drivers and firemen ; mineral drivers, firemen, and brakesmen to be paid for overtime at their ordinary rate of -wages, and the last-named to have their hours reduced from 12 to 10 as far as practicable; Sunday labour in the case 'of -ignalmen, passenger guards, &c. to be paid for separately as ordinary time. A, number of minor arrangements for the greater comfort of the men are also promised, and the circular concludes by stating that the directors are taking steps to reduce Sunday labour "to the lowest possible limit compatible with the exigencies of the publio' service." The men are not satisfied with this reply, and have been holding mass meetings to express their dissatisfaction, and to keep the agitation alive until their wishes are acceded to. At the same time they do not appear to be altogether united among themselves, for at meetings held at Glasgow and Hamilton some men were ejected by force, it being alleged that they were there as spies. The North British servants, too, are continuing their agitation, and it is affirmed by the men that the movement is spreading across the Border. It is doubtful if anything further will com© of it, however, as the late abortive strike showed that the obstacles in the way of a successiu general railway strike are such as to render it almost out of the question. I may add that the men who remained at their posts during the strike on the Caledonian system have been rewarded by receiving a day's pay as a gratuity. A few of them have also received promotion. AN OBSERVATORY ON BEN NEVIS. The observations so courageously and disinterestedly taken on Ben Nevis during the last year or two by Mr Clement L. Wragga convinced many of our leading scientific men of the desirability of a proper observatory being established on that mountain. The Government, however, refused to aid in such an undertaking, which was accordingly left to unofficial enterprise. The Scottish Meteorological Society has taken the matter in hand, and through its influence the Lord Provost of Glasgow called a public meeting of the citizens of the Western metropolis to consider tho subject. An interesting paper on the topic, summarising what has been or is being done in r ard to elevated observatories in other lands,

including Australia, was read by Mr MilneHome, of Milne Graden, who stated that upwards of £1400 of the £5000 required for the Ben Nevis observatory had been subscribed. A motion by Mr John Bums, seconded by Mr Houldsnvorth, recommending the proposed ooservatory to public support, was carried by acclamation, and a committee wad appointed to receive subscriptions. Mr Burns in his remarks declared the proposed observatory to be " a matter of national and even European utility," referring chiefly to the practical benefit of meteorological science to all engaged in navigation. TRAGEDIES IN DUNDKB AND GLASGOW. Much excitement was caused in Dundee on February 25th and 26th by a dreadful murder of a little girl by her own father, who made off in order to elude justice. The man in question is named David Urquhart, and is a labourer. He lived in a wretched attic in Hilltown with his wife and three children, aged four, two, and one respectively. The middle one was the victim of his blind rage. It seems that he came home on the Saturday nighb the worse for drink, and found his wife and children huddled on the floor in a fireless room, and without so much as a stool to sit upon. Producing a bottle, he and his wife proceeded to share ita contents until they quarrelled, and the woman fled in terror from biß violence, leaping over the stair railing on to the landing -below, a distance of seven or eight feet. She took refuge in a neighbour's house that night, leaving the children to her husband's tender mercies. He was heard walking about, and knocking a good deal, but as the children made" no noise it was supposed he was chopping|wood. Next morning he went out about 8 o'clock, and his wife then crept upstairs without her boots, but returned directly, screaming out, "Lizzie's killed!" The police were immediately called in, and in a dirty hammock was found the naked body of fee child, terribly bruised and mutilated. Acffording to the statement of the eldest child, the little thing was literally kicked to death by her brutal parent. Active search was at once made for him, and the whole countryside was roused. On the Tuesday morning ho walked into the pplice-offi.ee in a starving condition, and gave himself xip. He said he had walked along the Arbroath road, hiding in farm out nouses, and occasionally begging bread, until he gave up in despair and returned to Dundee to surrender himself. According to his own statement, the deed was committed while he was drunk, and it was not till he awoke the next morning that he became aware of what he had done. ,He belongs to Arbroath, where he has frequently been convicted of assault daring the last 16 years. On February 27th a double tragedy was enacted in a dwelling-house in Gardner street, Glasgow, inhabited by a Mrs Jack. She had as a lodger a man named John K. Robb, who was a clerk in a warehouse until last December. Since then he had been idle and had taken to drinking, in consequence of which Mrs Jack gave him notice to leave her house. Three days after she had done so he came home under the influence of drink, and while Mra Jack was tidying his room he shot her through the head with a revolver, and then shot himself, also through the head. Both he and his victim were removed to the Western Infirmary, but while he died before arriving there, Mrs Jack is expected to recover. The revolver he had used was found to have four barrels still loaded. Here I may_ note that Colonel Majendie, the Government inspector of explosives, and Mr Hawkesley, C.E., 'have both reported that the explosions in Glasgow, described in my last, were caused by " a nitrogen compound." The Corporation has increased to £500 the reward offered for the discovery and conviction of the criminals. It has also received several claims, for damages for injuries received by various persons through the explosion of the gas-* works. THE EARLDOM OF WKMYStf. The personal estate of the late Earl of Wemyss and March in England and Scotland has been sworn as amounting to over £480,000. It is stated (with what truth I know not) that the new Earl intends to pull down Gosford House, the principal family seat in East Lothian, and rebuild it at a cost of nearly £100,000. The mansion has always been regarded as a very unsatisfactory one, but the gardens attached to it were brought to a high pitch of excellency by the deceased peer. Another item that may be noted in this connection illustrates the keenness of the contest for the seat for East Lothian in Parliament, won by the new Lord Elcho a few weeks ago. At the Free Church in Cockenzie, on Sunday week, two children were brought forward for baptism, and the first, whose father was a keen supporter of Lord Elcho, was named " Hugo Charteris," after his Lordship ; while the second was christened " Bannatyne Finlay," after the unsuccessful Liberal candidate. This little episode created quite a stir in the usually uneventful proceedings of the church, as may be supposed. WINDFALL FOR EDINBURGH INFIRMARY. In one of my last letters I mentioned a bequest to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary which was expected to bring £30,000 to that institution. Even this handsome sum, however, has been eclipsed by another bequest of a similar kind, made by Mr Duncan Ver tue, H. E. I. C. S. , of 3 Eton Terrace, Edinburgh, who died about three weeks ago. After bequeathing about £5000 in various legacies, the testator makes the Infirmary his residuary legatee, and the sum thus secured to it is estimated to exceed £80,000, One account, indeed, says it will exceed £100,000. The bequest, however, is accompanied by two conditions — viz. (1) that the money shall be capitalised, and the interest only expended ; (2) that none of it shall be spent _ upon buildings. Mr Vertue studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and after making a large fortune in India he returned to this city, where he lived a very quiet life for over 30 years. He always took a lively interest in the affairs of the Infirmary. He was 84 years of age at his death, and a bachelor. EDUCATIONAL JOTTINGS. Mr G. Ross Merry, one of the masters of the Edinburgh Academy, has been appointed Rector of the Dundee High School, a post once held by the late Rev. F. C. Simmons, of Dunedin and Nelson. The salary attached to it is £600 a year. Mr James Arnot, M.A., writiag-inaster to the Royal High School, Edinburgh, has been appointed clerk and treasurer to the Edinburgh School Board, in succession to Mr Donald Mackinnon, who was not long ago elected as the first occupant of Professor Blackie's Celtic Chair. The salary is £500. A public meeting was held last week in Dunfermline, the Earl of EJgin presiding, in oider to fairly inaugurate the movement for the erection of a new high school for the western district of Fifeshire. Subscriptions to the amount of upwards of £5000 were announced, and it seems likely the scheme will be vigorously pushed forward to a successful issue. OBITUARY RECORD. The death is announced, at Cannes, of Mr W. btirlmg Crawfurd, who is best known in connection with the turf. He was born in IKl'*, his father being Mr William Stii-lir^, of

I Castlemilk, and he was a Deputy-lieutenant for Larnarkshire. In 1876 he married th& Dowager-Duchess of Montrose. Much speculation is rife regarding tho provisions of his will,, as he had a very large amount of property entirely at his dispobal. Mr John Wilson, of Cumledge, Duns, a gentleman well known in Berwickshire, of which he was a Deputy-lieutenant, died there lately, aged 83. Besides taking an active part in county affairs, he was noted as a breeder of shorthorns and Border Leicester rams. Mr William Darling, of Priestlaw, East Lothian, died there on February 15th, in his 95th year. For 40 years he managed Mr Home's estates in Caithness, and both there and in his native county of Iladdington, to which he returned in 1856, he made for himself a high reputation as an agriculturist and stockraiser. His sight and memory were imimpaired up to his death, but through an accident he had been unable to vise his legs for the last seven years. He belonged to a stamp of men who singly confer far more solid and lasting benefit upon their country than a dozen of the agitators with whom the land is being overrun nowadays. GENERAL NEWS. Funds are being collected from the public tomake good the losses sustained by the Dissenting Ministers' Friendly Society through Donald S. Peddie's frauds. The sum of £15,000 in all is required, of which about a third has thus far been raised, the Messrs Coats, of Paisley, contributing £1000. The Crofthead Threadmills, belonging to Messrs R. Orr and Co., and situated at the Neilston station of the Barrhead and Kilmarnock line of railway, have been destroyed by fire, throwing 400 persons idle. The damage is estimated at £30,000, and is said not to be fully covered by insurance. On March 7th, the Clepingtwn Company's 'Jute Spinningmills, North Isla street, Dundee, were to a large extent destroyed by fire, the damage in this case also being expected to reach £30,000. This is the largest fire known in Dundee for a number of years. A lighthouse, signal-station, and foghorn are to be erected on Ailsa Craig at once by the Commissioners of Northern Lights. The branch line of railway connecting Moffat with the Caledonian main line at Beattock has just been completed. Though it is only two miles long, its construction has been discussed for 20 years before becoming an accomplished fact. ' The house in Ecclefechan where Thomas Carlyle was born has been purchased by hin niece, Mrs Alexander Aitken Carlyle, with the view of having it properly taken care of. It is open, as formerly, to visitors, who are pretty numerous. Great competition has taken place for the vacant charge of the parish of Midcalder, the candidates numbering upwards of 70. The Committee, however, selected 10 for the congregation to hear, and so reduced the certainty of bewilderment. The estate of Tillyfour, Aberdeenshire, which belonged to the late Mr M'Combie, M.P., has been sold by auction to Mr Henry Begg, Lochnagar, at tha upset price of £23,000. The estate of Spott, near Dunbar, has been sold privately to Miss Watt, of Speke Hall, near Liverpool, for £05,000. A joint-stock company, witli a capital of £10,000, has been formed in Aberdeen to construct swimming-baths. A site on which three swimming-ponds are to be formed has been acquired on the esplanade (reclaimed ground). At the annual meeting, on February 24th, of the Glasgow District of the Independent Order of Rechabites it was stated that the Order has now nearly 50,000 adult, 20,0u0 juvenile, and 2500 honorary members, and that its accumulated funds exceed £250,000. The Paisley Sheriff Courthouse Commissioners la3t week resolved to erect new court buildings in that town, at a, cost of £14,475. Mr Clouston, the Chairman of the Glasgow and South- Western Railway Company, is about to retire from that post through ill health. 110 has been a director of the Company since 1864, and Chairman since 1879. A great deal of opposition is being manifested to the bill for the formation of a railway from Glasgow to Inverness, through the. Western Highlands. The Caledonian Canal Company, Highland and Caledonian railways, and various landed proprietors are opposing the scheme, as detrimental to their interests. As, however, it would benefit a large extent of country, it is to be hoped such selfish opposition will prove unsuccessful. A married woman in Edinburgh accidentally swallowed her false teeth the other day. She was taken to the Infirmary, but, in spite of the best skill, she died in little more than 24 hours after the mishap occurred.