SCOTLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 54

SCOTLAND.

(Fhom Ocb Own Corkespondbnt.) Edinburgh, February 13. Whereas this time last year Scotland was shivering in the grip of a spell of truly Arctic weather, this year it is enjoying a genial temperature like that of an early spring. We have had literally no ice this winter, and almost no snow, save on the mountains. Mild breezes have prevailed day after day, ooax'n^ out the flowers, and giving the vtndors of fuiM aud other warm articles of clothing a very bad time of it. The farmers have been getting on fast with their ploughing, and masons have been rejoicing in unbroken employment. Still, no one seems sanguine that winter is really over, and prophecies of bitter weather yet to come are freely indulged in. There is every excuse, however, for people who live in Scotland becoming inveterate meteorological pesnmists. But if they prove right in their forebodings, the result will be disastrous, after the early start made by vegetation this year. SCOTTISH DEFENCES. Although the war scare seems to have parsed out of an acute sfcige, at any rate for the time being, a good deal of talk goes on still about tbe necessity for the country being prepared for any emergency. The volunteers in particular are bracing up well, aud steps are beiDg taken in various districts to eneure the prompt calliDg out of retired volunteers also, if need should arise for the taking of such a step. Recruiting continues to be unusually active, the recruits, in G'.aßgow, for instance, having ri«en at a bound |to thrice their ordinary number. Military and naval pictures in the shop windows attract crowds of people, who ate not slow to express their feelings. One hears no boasting, but there is an air of resolute determination which shows that the old British spirit is not dead yet.' As to the possibility of war with America, people speak in terms of scepticism and grieved surprise. Of Russia and France they speak with suspicion, bnt not with bitterness. But of Germany, and especially of the Kaiser, they •peak with indignation and a soreness which shews that there has been some animosity rankling unexpressed and perhaps unrealised. The Kaiser's outburst could not have produced this feeling, especially in Scotland, where he is looked upon with ft kind of grim pity as a young man who does not know how to hold his tongue (a capital offence in tbe eyes of a true Scotsman). That out/burst was the> match, bat the gunpowder was already there. One thing seems certain, and that is that the Scottish people will now insist on more being done for the defence of their coasts. The waking up to the need for this has been rude, but it is thorough. No paltry half-measures will now be put up with. , THE SHIPBUILDING DISPUTE. This, happily, is now ended, though the manner in which tbi« result was attained was not altogether satisfactory. The Clyde engineers by a large majority decided to accept the terms offered them, but the Belfast engineers rejected them. The struggle would thus have continued in both districts, and probably in a widening area, but tbe executive of the union which furnished the strike pay announced that this would be discontinued if the Belfast men persisted in their course, and the latter then gave in. The dispute has caused a great loss of money, and has done the strikers no good. The shipbuilding industry all over the kingdom | is now in an exceptionally active condition, and with tha near prospect of millions of money being spent in strengthening the navy, this ctate of things is likely not oaly to continue but to be accentuated. TRAGIC OCCURRENCE IN GLASGOW. Abbotsford street, a thoroughfare on the south side of Glasgow, inhabited by working people, has been the soene of a fearful tragedy. A house at No. 21 in that street was inhabited by a restaurant-keepsr named George Andorson (aged 57), hit wife (aged 46), and their invalid daughter (aged 22). On the forenoon of Mon-. day, January 20, the daughter, wondering that She did not bear her parents stirring, went to their room to see what was the matter. She was horrified to find them lying in bed dead. The shock so overcame her that she could not give an alarm nor .open the door to a gasntter who cams to do some work in the bouse. He forced hie way in with bis tools, and found the daughter so excited and terrified >° 'to be unable to ooherenUy, He then disCCVered the bodies of her parents, who«e bedolothee were soaked with blood, while the father's right band still grasped a doublebarrelled pistol. Other indications made it J only too clear that he had first shot bis wife and then himself, yet neither his daughter nor any of the neighbours had heard the reports. Anderson formerly conducted a pabiichouse in Queen street, bat became bankrapt, and acted for a time aa a traveller for various firms. He then started in a small' way as a restauranteur in Crowe street, on the south side of the river. He was a sober m*n, but his wife was given to drink, and it is believed that I this was the cause of the tragedy, though he had never been heard to threaten his wife. THE BUBNS ANNIVERSARY. This event was celebrated with the usual floods of speech and drink, and the speeches read rather absurdly to those who peruse them under less convivial surroundings. The tone of apology adopted seems particularly incongruous alongside the adulation with which it is accompanied. The truth is, the thing is intolerably hackneyed, and no one really caresa straw for the speeches. Some advocates of sobriety have been urging that drinking should be abolished on the?e occasions, and that is a i consummation devoutly to be desired. At the same time, the attainment of it would be the deathknell of the anniversary. Banish the ' drink, "the Immortal memory " would not draw many enthusiasts together. It is strange that those who admire Burns for his onslaughts on insincerity, should j keep up this yearly farce, by saying that they meet to de honour to his memory, when what they really want ii an excuse for a convivial evening. This may be heresy, but, like ! most heresies, it is nearer the truth than the orthodoxy /which lives upon sham. At the Edinburgh Ninety Burns Club's dinner, Professor Grierson, who made the speech of the evening, said i "There had been one or two indications recently that the Scottish manner of doing honour to Burns was redounding neither to their honour nor to that of Burns. The amount of whisky that was drunk and of bad poetry that was produced had rendered impatient, not only Englishmen, but even Scottish critic* of refined taste, such as Mr Lang and the late Mr Steveneon.*' The speaker ! went, on to urge that we should think of Burns I "rather less as Robbie Burns the poet of the whisky and the lasses of Scotlsnd, and rather more of him as Robert Burns the poet of the deepest and sanest feelings of the human heart." It ie somewhat reassuring to find that these remarks were received with applause.

TROT7T OVA FOB NEW ZEALAND. The Tweed bailiffs h»T« been netting the 9weßd fit its junction vita the ffle?iot, as well

as the Mertoun Water on Lord Folwarth'a estate, in order to procure trout ova for stocking rivers in New Zealand. Their efforts were not very successful at first, many of the fish caught having already spawned, bat eventually about 90,000 ova were obtained. These were despatched to a hatchary at Dumfries, whence they will bs sent on to your colony.

PROFITABLE WHALING. It seems that the Active, a well-known Dundee whaler, is "farmed "by a number of gentlemen in that city, and at a meetiug held by them the other day a very rosy state of affisira was reported. After paying all expenses, the year's proflb amounted to over £4000, and a dividend was declared at the rate of no less than 360 per cent. ! The master, Captain Robertson, was presented with an honorarium of £50, in addition to his share in the concern. Whalebone was sold in Dundee a day or tiro before at the rate of £2000 par ton. This price, however, has been consider* ably exceeded within quite recent years, as much as £1 per lb having been obtained for a large parcel of this growingly-scarce material. The other Dundee whalers have also been doing well, theugh not up to the foregoing rate of profit. THE CLYDESDALE BANK. The annual meeting of the shareholders of the Clydesdale Bank (Limited) was held in Glasgow on February 5. The directors' report stated that, indepeudent of the balance brought forward from the preceding year, the net profits on the year's transactions amounted to £124,582. A dividend was declared at the . ouatomnry rate of 10 per cent. ; £19,665 was added to the reserve fund, bringing it up to £450,000 ; and a balance of £12,114 was carried forward to tbe succeeding year. The chairman (Sir James King,' Bait.), ia his speech, tx>k notice of the fact that the bills in discount this year amounted to about £200,000 less than they were a year ago. This, he said, was not due to loss of business, but to the fact that year } after year the percentage of the mercantile transactions of the country represented by bills was gradually diminishing. On the other hand, their deposits had grown by £280,000, and there was also an increase in their note ciroulation. The bank had 109 branches besides tke head omoes. ' SCOTTISH RAILWAYS. ! The general managership of the Highland railway, vacant through the resignation of Mr Dougall under circumstances recently recounted by me, has been filled, after considerable delay. The gentleman appointed to the podt is Mr Charles Steel, who ie at present employed in the office of the superintendent of the North-Eastern railway at York. The salary of his new post is £1500. The chairman of the company, Mr Maointosh, of Raignore, having also resigned, Sir George Maopherson Grant, the deputy-chairman, has been appointed to succeed htm, and the Earl of March has been appointed deputy-chairman. The Highland railway has been a c&ref u'ly-managed concern, and has steadily paid a good dividend, but it haß shown a disinclination to move with the times. With fresh blood in the management it is hoped it will show greater enterpriie, as all its rivals are doing. Some interesting particulars regarding the Caledonian Railway Company were given by Mr William Patrick, the assistant- manager, wbile presiding at a meeting of the company's employees in Glasgow on a recent evening. Mr Patrick said that the company celebrated its jubilee on July 31, 1895. It now had 25,000 shareholders. The railway race had brought them increased public patronage, but they did not intend to rest upon the laurels they gained in that contest. The present year would witness the opening for traffic of several important extensions of their 3yßtem — viz., the Glasgow Centr.il Underground railway, the Newton and ! Tollcrosa railway, and the Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire .railway. These unitedly represented 30 miles of railway, and about £4,000,000 of capital. When they were finished, the Caledonian would have 40 passoager stations within a radius of three miles from the Royal Exchange of Glasgow. At the preseut time the company paid as local rates and taxes in the City of Glasgow no less than i £17,375 a year.

I At another gathering of the same kind, held in the City Hall, Gl*«gow, Sir James King, deputy-chairman of the Caledonian Railway Company, gave some figures regarding its workshops. These, he said, cost £150,000 for Irtlt buildings and £SQ,QGO for the machinery. The amount annually expended in raw materials, exclusive of coal, was £250,000. and in wages £?00 ; 000. Tuere being 28W i workmen on the pay roll, tha average weakly wage per head was £1 7s 2d. Every year 900 locomotive!, 6500 carriages, and 75.000 waggons were repaired in the workshops. Arrangements are made at the works by which breakfasts and dinners are supplied to the men at a cost per head of 3d and 5d respectively. There i are also a friendly society (which last year returned a balance of 11 per oant. to the members), » savings bsnk, and, in the locomotive department, a premium fund for giving rewards for the avoidance of accidents. The capital of the company now exceeds 40 millions sterling. After a keen struggle with tbe North British, the C»ledonina had come out victorious as to the total amount of traffic, though only by the narrow margin of £9000 on a grand total of £1,800,000. These figurei), relating to the jubilee year of one of our best-managed companies, may not be without interest- to thos« who ; watch the progress of great industrial I undertakings. A description of the company's new engines, the first of which has already proved its efficiency, hue juab been published. Should 'the railway race bs resumed, these I monster looomotives will doubtless give v good ( account of themselves. Railway experts say i that in the race of 1895 it was the Caledonian | which carried off the highest honours. DISTRESS AMONG FIFE MINERS, Great scarcity of work prevails among the colliers in Fife owing to the stocks of coal not being cleared off as u<mal by the time the Baltio was closed against shipping. The " bings " at the pits are unprecedented^ large, and colliery j owners consequently work, on an average, only three days a week. In some cases the time worked is ouly a day and a half per week. .In consequence of this many of the men and their families are in distress, as they are actually receiving less pay than during the 17 weeks' strike in 1894. There is some talk of starting j soup kitchens in the most necessitous diitrict3, and the Executive Board of tbe Fife aud Siu* ross Miners' Association is also tryiag to get the general body of the men to contribute something towards the relief of the neediest' families. It will be some weeks yet before the Baltic ports will be all open once more. EPISCOPACY IN SCOTLAND. The annual Blue Book of the Representative Council of the Scottish Episcopal Church has just been published. It stages bhat in the 12 months ending 30th June 1895, the church had 315 cougrega'uionß, including missions, and that the membership vr*e 103,291, being an increase for tbe year of 3320. The church's funds exhibit a substantial increase. I may add that the Episcopal miuiiter at Langholm, in a recent sermon, said that from a house-to* boon vi«!*tion just made iv <2K*sgow 16 »p>

peared that the Episcopalians in that city aum« bered 48,000, of whom only 13,000 were con* neofced 'with the churches. Lapsed Presby» terians in Glasgow were said to number 200,000. OBITOAKY BECOBD.

Deep regret has bean aw»keue.l io Lanark* shire by the suicide of Commander M 'Hardy, Chief Constable of that county. He was cross* ihg the Clyde at Glasgow about 1.30 p.m., ia one of the steam ferry-boats, when he suddenly jumped over the etarn of the boat. Every effort was made to "save him, but the tids carried him away, and the body was only re* covered some hours later. In hu pockets were found two dumb-bells, weighing 51b each. The deceased gentleman, who w&s 53 years of age, was a son of Admiral M'Hardy, Chief Constable of Sasex, and one of his brothers is Chief Conßtible of Ayrshire. He served as o> middy on board H.MS. GalaAe* when the Duke of Edinburgh, nude his voyage round the world in that ship. Mr M'Hirdy had held his po-tt sinca 1875 vrith great acceptance, and lasfc summer received substantial proofs of the esteem in which he was held. He leaves a widow, two daughter?, and three sons. His funeral took place at Hamilton, and was very largely attended. A genuine Scottish worthy h&s passed away in the person of David Patterson, a working shoemaker at Duos, who for 50 years was noted as a collector of Berwickshire antiquities, ferae, and insestti, and was alao a doughty theologian. Twenty, years ago, when Dr Macleod, now ol Govan, was preaohing in tha parish church, Patterson created a. sensation by jumping up in the gallery and asking to be allowed to reply to some arguments of the preacher, which he declared to be hostile to P/esbyferianiim. Mr D S. Maophes,^ retired Glasgow stockbroker, was found drowned in tbe eea at Helensburgh, where ha re9:dad. It is believed that he fell over tbe embankment in the dark while on his way to bis house.

Tho Rev. Dr Burns, minister of Glasgow Cathedral, died an January 25, aged 65.' After holdiug charges at Monlrose and Newion-on-Ayr, he was appointed, about 30 years ago, to the cathedral named. There he introduced many charges, and was highly esteemed. Hia wife, who died about a year ago, presented the building with a splendid organ. Mr John Biird, one of the proprietors of the Airdrie AdrertUer, and widely known in the eastern part of Lanarkshire, has died at the age of 58. He went to Airdrie 27 years ago aa a compositor.

The deaths are also announced of Colonel John F. Diokeon, of P.uabri<lg*. a lending Forfarshire volunteer offi ter ; Mr John Frsser, schoolmaster at Torbreck, near Port Goorge, who wss killed through standing on the foot* board of a railway carriage after it began to leave the Fort George station ; and Mr 8. M'Knight, lessee of the Ayr ihip jard and web dock. GENERAL NEWS. The university and municipal authorities Ia Glasgow are taking joint action with a view to the worthy celebration of Lord Kelvin's jubilee —probably about the end of Jane. j The personal estates of the under-meßtioned deceassd persons have been recorded at tb« amount* stated after their n%mea : — Lord Black* burn, £139 965 ; Mr John Giveuleee, manufacturer, Family, £61 090? ex-Provost Brown, Paisley, £40,*56 j Sir R \y. Duff, of Fotteretio Castle, Stjnsh *v-.i, who died while Governor of New South Wales, £23.143.

Collections in aid of tbe starving Armenians are being made in many of the towns of Scotland, both in the churches and by the municipal authorities.

Mr Chubolm Robertson, the miner*' organiser, , who«e name was constantly before the public in eonr.e.'tioa with the coal and railway strikes in Sc^Uaud, was entertained at a banquet in Glasgow the other day, on th* oco%sion of his leaving for the TranayMl, on account of his health. He said that he intended to engage in mining operations there.

The end of th» pier at Cullen, which was erected only two or three years ago, has sunk and cracked. The foundation is sand. It U feared the structure will give way altogether, and the harbour funds arc already exhausted. '

It is proposed to discontinue or remove t4 . another site tbe time-gun at Dundee, as tho firing of it disturbs the patients in the Infirmary close by. The firing of the gun six days a week costs the city £120 * year.

A young man who c»me to Aj?urie from Glasgow ill, wa; fcuriv v 6 5C Suffering from smalt pox, and was sent back to the Belvedere Hospital, Glasgow. The Aberdeen Town Counoil is going to lay out four acres of corporation land at GallowhiU in small plots for working men's garden*. Each plot will be of an are* of about 36 square yards, and will ba let at a yearly rental of from 15s to 17s.

Mr R. M. Wenley, son of the general manager of the B*nk of Scotland, and formerly Examiner in Philosophy to ths University of Glasgow and Lecturer on Philosophy in Queen Margaret College in the tame city, has bsen appointed to the senior professorship of philosophy in th« University of Michigan, United Slates. The prom- tion of instruction in the study of granite statuary is baing considered by the. ! Abetdesn Granite Association.

A boy of 11 was found the other night lying in the High street of Edinburgh drunk and incapable, and had to be taken to the Royal lufirmarjr. Two more Scottish mansion houses have been burned. The one ii Grindon House, neat Eelso, the property of Mr W. J. O>de, and the other Cononsmyth, neat Carmyll\o, Forfar* shire. Both were totally consumed, bat were insured.

Hand loom weaving in Danfermline seems to be rapidly dying out. A cooperative mana* f&cturing society, which was started in 1872 to provide work for hand loom weavers whom steam power had thrown out of employment, is now to be wound ap. Only a score or so ol hand looms are now worked in Dunfermline. In 1880 there were still 120 in operation there. After a great deal of agitation the Edinburgh City Council has at length resolved to cqnstraot a bridge across the North British railway in the line of Jeffrey street. This .will relieve the new North bridge of a considerable amount ot heavy traffic. The total cost of tbe proposed bridge and its approaches at either end iff estimated at £32,000. . Phenomenal takes of white fish, especially haddocks, were made on fcbe east coast of Scotland last week. Haddocks fell in price to 3a pen owt, or 31b for Id. A curious incident ooccirred at Berwick on February 8. A hores and I , cart were brought on to the platform in the Queen's Rooms, and • " strong man " was to lift them in hi* teeth, The horse, however, got scared somehow, and leaped over the piano and footlights, whiclj happily wera empty. ."* A movement is taking shape in Glasgow for holding an international exhibition in that city in 1901. The last exhibition of the kind, held there in 1888, resulted ia a large surplus aft*4 payment of all expentea.

— Great Bdtain no* owns 6212 caoneaft IFftQce 8260. and Ctermwur 6920.