SCOTLAND. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Edinburgh, December 10.

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 55

SCOTLAND. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Edinburgh, December 10.

LORD WOLSELEY IN SCOTLAND. The Field-marshal Commanding-in-chief has been with us for some days past, and has been turning his time to good account. On December 3 he delivered the inaugural address for the session to the members of the Philosophical Institution, Edinburgh, his subject being "Modern Armies and the Influence of War upon Civilisation." Lord Wolseley began by referring to the great military orgauisations on the Continent, which, he said, were a result of the extraordinary advanoes made by science in the last half-century. He maintained that tbe machinery thus created was calculated to exercite »n important and permanent' influence upon the national life and welfare of thoae great States, and' upon civilisation in general. He argued at tome length, and cited Ruakin in his support, that hiitory showed that nations had suffered more through degenerating in time of peace than they had from the evils resulting from war. After pointing out that the greater part of the British Bmpiro had been acquired by war, and that tbe state t>f the world at the preteut moment gives no assurance of a prolonged peace, Lord Wolteley went on to expatiate upon the advantages <f a military training. Among these he enumerated habits of discipline, order, punctuality, a spirit of comradeship, and the faculty of organisation. He believed that it was the feeling produced by their military training that so largely saved Germany from strikes and quarrels between employers and employed. He alto insisted that physio*! training of tome sort was necessary, and should be made compulsory in some form, both for men and women. In tbe concluding part of his address .Lord Wolseley pointed to tbo crushing defeat .of China by a comparatively small State like Japan as au illustration of tbe danger of allowing tbe national military spirit to be killed by the opprobrium which was attached to the fighting man's trade. Yet tho Chinese possessed many fine military qualities, which' he named, adding : " I have no hesitation in faying that, given a free hand and allowed at first to draw npon England for officers and nvlitary instructor!, I would guarantee to raise m-'a couple of years a great Chinese army which it would be hard indeed i'o beat. There is certainly nothing in tbe Eejfc ' that could bent it." These are a few points in a most interesting and instructive address. . Ou tbe following day Lord Wolseley reviewed in tho Queen's JPurk the troops stationed at Edinburgh, together with the mounted officers of the Queen's Edinburgh Rifle Btigade. In the evening he was present at the annual dinner of the East of Scotland ?Tactica^ Society, when be made another interesting tpeccb. Tbe E»rl of Wemysi having referred in terms of apprehension to the extreme youth of the recruits for tbe army, Lord Wolseley pointed to tbo doings of the soldiers in tho Chitral and Dongola. expeditions as proving that there was uo falling off in the quality of Britiih soldiers. On December 8 Lord Wol«el«'y wn? at Perth, where he received the freedom of the city, and unveiled aa obelisk which has been erected on the North Inch in memory of the railing, a contary ago, of the 90th Light Infantry Regiment (Perthshire Rifles), with which his lordship served in the Crimea. He eaid he believed it was the only battalion iv the army which had contributed two commanders-in-chief. Several veterans who had known him in days long ago wera'presented to Lord Wolseley, who greatly gratified them by bii EemembraoMF-of them. They had fought with him in the Crime*, India, China, and elsewhere. THE LATE PROFESSOR BOBBRTSON SMITH. The presentation of a memorial portrait of Professor Robertson Smith, painted by Sir George Reid, P.R.S.A., to tho Free- Church College, Aberdeen, took place on November 23, .in presence of a 'large assemblage. The nonagenarian Principal Brown sent a letter expressing hearty sympathy with tho ceremony. The presentation was made in an appropriate speech by the Rev. Dr Walter Smith, of Edinburgh. Other speeches were made eulogising the character and work of the deceased. It is impossible to read them without recalling tbe very d fferent language that was used regarding Dr Robertflon Smith when he was deprived of bis chair in the same college only 20 years ago. Truly the whirligig of time' brings its revenges. NEW RAILWAY SCHEMES. Much interest is being taken in Argyleahire in a project for bringing a railway to Inverary. An organised attempt was made nearly 18 months ago to get something done by asking the North British Railway Company to eou^ stmot a line from the head of Loch Fjrne to the West Highland railway. The request was refuted, and the promoters then, turned to the Caledonian Company, which has taken the matter up, and is now promoting a bill for the construction of a line from Inverary to connect with the Callander and Oban railway at Dalmally, a distance of 16} miles. The route is uuatteuded by any special engineering difficulties, and the lino would open up a new and piotorerque district to tourists. It would also greatly help the fishing industry in Loch Fyne, in which as many as 500 boats engage at a time. At present the fish has to be conveyed to Greeno*ck or Glasgow in screw steamers of slow speed, and the trade is much hampered by the want of more rapid communication ■nob as a railway would furnith. It is also believed the trade in sheep and cattle would be an extensive one. The district abounds in granite and other valuable stones, and nickel ore is also found in it. It is further believed that when united to the railway systems of the country, Inverary, which has many natural attractions, would rapidly grow in farour, and would become » f arourite watering place. It is rumoured, moreover, that further extensions would eventually be constructed down Oantire as far as Campbelltown, with a branch to Crinan, which would bo a boon to Isl&y. Slowly but surely the iron horso is penetrating even tbe remotest district*, and is doing grand work in opening up and populating the country. A great struggle between the Great North of Scotland and Highland railways for the control of the traffic between Aberdeen and lovesnew it stated to be about to begin shortly, the former company being the aggressor. The inue of the conflict will be watched wKh the greatest interest throughout the northern and north-eastern districts of Scotland. In some respects it is a renewal of the ancient struggji between the Saxon and the Celt. The Caledonian Railway Company is g^H to s&ok powers under the Light Rail«rS Act of 1886 to construct a. light railway fr<S Blv&nfoot, on its m»iu line, to tho Leadhilfl and Wanlockhead, a distance of se»fen or eight miles through a wild and desolate country, There is also talk of tbe same act beiug taket advantage of for the conitrugtion of lines ie Boss, Sutherland, and Caithnesj, but ru definite schemes are yet mentioned. The North British it fighting hard in the la* courts just now to throw off the joke of th<

North-E«stern, which still controls the running of tho trains betweeu Eogland and Scotland by the East Coast ronte as far as Edinburgh, running on North-British rails from Berwick. MISSAT TO THE POET LAURKATB. | The -poefc laureate had an unpleasant and j somewhat risky adventure the other day while fishing in Sprouston Dub, on the Tweed, above Coldstream. He somehow fell iuto the water, f And when with the boatman's help he managed i to get into tbe boat again it was found that one j of the oars had been lost, and the boat was beiDg swiftly lurried by wind and current to a weir, over which the water was flowing with great force. The dripping poefc quickly decided upon his course of action, and plunged into the - stream again. He succeeded in reaching foothold on the edge of the weir, whence, after a time, be was rescued. It was a very chilly performance for a Scottish November day, but perhaps it may yet inspire the poetic muse. Barns would hare turned such an adventure to good account. A SCOTOIHISH TUNNEL. Attention is being once more directed in Bel- ! fast to the project for constructing a railway ! tunnel under the Channel between Ireland and Scotland. Some years ago the matter was discussed at a public meeting held in Belfast, when a committee was appointed to go further into the subject, but it seems to have done little or nothing. By means of such a tunnel the journey from London to Belfast would be reduced from 12£ to 10£ hours. From Belfast to Glasgow would only occupy four hours, and to Edinburgh five Hours. Besides the breadth of the channel— fully 21 miles— a serious obstacle exists in the water being nearly 1000 ft deep for part of the way. It is doubtful if the traffic would pay for the great cost which such an undertaking would involve. ■ With the splendid steamer* now running between Ardcosesn and Belfast it is possible to go from Glasgow, and even from Edinburgh to Belfast aud back iv ] one day, and fc good many tourists take ndvao- j tage of this service duriug the Hummer. Having repeatedly passed through the Severn Tunnel, which is four miles in length, I am inclined to . think that few people' would twice patronise a tunnel more than fire times as long, but would prefer a steamer, evon with tho chances of sea j BU'kncss thrown >n. TIIK UNIVEHSITIKS. The Marquic of Huntly has been elected Lord Rector of tbo Aberdeen University for the third time. His competitor for the honour was Professor A. F. Murison, of University College, London. At tho torchlight procession with which tbe eleotion proceedings wonnd up, three children Were knocked down by tbe horat of a mounted policeman, the animal having been frightened by rooketa let oft by the students. The. number of women students at Edinburgh University thie session is 283, as compared with 231 a year ago. Of these 174 are in tho artt classes, but thnre are 54- medicals and 48 non-matriculated music students, with a few more in various subjects. Ornamental tablets in honour of the late Lord Sandford and Professor Veifcch have been placed on the grand staircase of Glasgow University, and were inaugurated with due ceremonial on December 1. Lord Kelvin presided, and the tablets were baeded over with appropriate speeches by Lord Balfcnr of Burleigh, and Lords Napier and Ettrick respectively, j Other speeches were out short by the din made by the students. THE JIODERATOHS-HLECT. • J As usual tbe moderators for next year's I General Assemblies were chosen at the November meetings of the commissions. In the Established Church the ohoice fell upon the Rev. Dr Mair, of Earlston, Berwickshire, who enjoys an ; honourable reputation, alike as a painstaking and successful parish minister, and as an author ; and an authority on the law of his church. In the Free Church three names were submitted, and > tbe voting proved to be in favour of the Rer. ' Dr A. B. Davidson, professor of Hebrew in , New College, Edinburgh. Though a very retiring man, Dr Davidson enjoys a world-wide reputation as a Hebrew scholar, and his keen intellect and power* of incisive speech have left their mark on the younger mtuistry of the Free Church, no le3» than bis scholarship. It is a curious coincidence that both the modera-tors-elect come from the same district in Abordeenshire, that they were fellow students at Aberdeen University, where they distanced all their compeers, and that they graduated in honours on the names day. The chief prize — j i the mathematical scholarship — for which thoy ; j competed with one another, was wou by Dr ' i Mair. " "the kail-yaird school." I Though cuddea fame has beeu achieved by ; { Messrs J. M. Burrie, S. R. Crockett, " lan j • Maolaren," and one or two minor writers of , what hiu been nicknamed " The K&il-yaird I | school of literature," they are not being allowed [ I to enjoy their honours undisturbed, at least ib j ! Scotland. Of coarse their dialect is swallowed I ! unquestionably by Southron?, who know abont j j as little of it as they do of Gaelio, to which ! some of them, indeed, think it is allied ! But in Scotland it has been keenly and far from . favourably oriticised. The latest occasion of j ! of the kind was at the annual meeting of tbe i i Scottish Text Society, which was held in Edin- j j burgh last week. Mr J. R. I'indlay, of Aber- . j lour, senior vice-president of the society, occn- ; pied the ohair, and in acknowledging a vote of | thanks for bis services in presiding, said that [ they, as a society, ought to protest against the degradation of the Scottish language which . the " Kftil-yaird school" of literature hud! recently ißtroduc»d. It was gutter Scotch ; ■ it was not Scotch. He trusted that | some day they would have a full and com- : ' plete Scottish dictionary which would greatly } i i supplement, and perhaps supersede, Jamieson. i He did not know if it was a thing the society [ ■• could take up, but if the idea could be realised ; i he was sore it would be welcomed as preserving . the real Scottish language, and helping to prei vent tbe decline that seemed to be setting in. j « Mr Findlay's remarks were received with i applause by the cultured aud influential > audience to which they were addressed. • DREDGING THE CLYDE. During the past year two and a-quarter ; million cubic yards of sludge have been dredged I from the Clyde. The material in question , would, it is calculated, make a wall 40ft high f and 20ft thick ail round the city area; or, if i 1 formed iuto » column 50ft in diameter, would | i extend to a height of 30,497 ft;, which is nearly j i 2000 ft higher than tbe loftiest peak of the i Himalayas. 5 DRESS OF HIGHLAND HEGIMEK I^. 1 Once more the alarm has been sounded that 3 the Highland dress is in danger of abolition in i the army. Lord Archibald Campbell, who formerly championed tbe cause of the historic ■Ldress, has stated, in reply to a correspondent, on hearing renewed rumours on the subhe wrote a letter of inquiry to the CotnLord Wolseloy replied that b^^^B^ace dress of the Highland regiments . |TWBtf n(/b be interfered, with, bat that they 3. must have a dre»s for war time suited to the i conditions of modem warfare and the iutroo duction of the long-range rifles. This would involve the substitution, en active service, of a w kharki jacket and helmet for the scarlet jacket a■* and feather bonnet. With this explanation

Lord Archibald Campbell declares himself to bo satisfied. OBITUARY BECORD. The death is announced of a granddaughter I of the poet Burns — Mftrgarofc Thomson, widow of David Wingate, tho miner (not minor, though that ia aho true) poet. The deceased was living in Crossmyloof, Glasgow, at the time of her death. The Rev. James Collier, of Chalmers Established Church, Claytborn street, Glasgow, fell down dead in the street on November 29 while on his way to conduct, forenoon service in his church. Ho bad been suffering from heart disease. Mr Collier wan 51 years of age, and w«s a diligent pastor of a large congregation, composed mainly of the working classes. A well-known and useful citizen of Edinburgh bas passed away in the person of Mr James Tod, J.P., head of the firm of Mould and Tod, printers and lithographers. . He w»s at one time chaitm&n of the Chambar of Commerce, and was a director of many loading charities, besides doing good service in ecclepi&stical and edocetion&l work. He had bien id failing health for three yeara. John M'Fayden, who was convicted of murder at Glasgow in 1860 and sentenced to death, though the sentence was afterwards commuted to penal servitude for life, has died in the General Prison At Perth ; aged 56. ■Inflammation of the lungs was the cause of death. Mr David Robertson, widely known as " the Naturalist of the Cumbraea," died at Millport on November 20, at -the age of 90.. He began life as a weaver, and afterwards became a hardware merchant in Glasgow. In 1860, after 20 years of successful business life, he retired, and took up his abode at Millport, thenceforwardMevotiog himself to the study cf natural hiitory. In marine zoology, iv particular, he made himself a name, and in company with Dr John Murray, of the Challenger expedition, he dredged almost every part of the Firth of Clyde, and afterwards had a marine zoological station established at Millport. Ho is survived, by his widow and two sous, one of whom is a well-known artist. The blacksmith who for 50 ye*rs conducted marriages ti runaway couples at Gretna Greeu, bas ju»t passed away. Curiously enough, the paper* r?o not mention either bis name or his age, though the letter must have bees great. He was commonly known as " the Priest of Gretna Green." GENERAL NEWS. The personal estates of the following deceased persons have been recorded at the amounts stated after their r.amei : — Dr John B. Oowao, Emeritus Professor of Materia Merlica in Glasgow Univereity, £101,767 ; Mr Alexander Mitchell, merchant, Betbaven Terrace, Glasgow, £62,520; Colonel J. W. H. AnderioD, of Bourhouse, near Dunbar, £52,471 ; Mr William Guild, of Mugdrum, Newburgh-on-Tny, £48,271. Mr Guild had made over his estate of Ltndoros to bis eldest son in January, 1895, thus eavtag the succession duty. A warrant has beeu issued for the arrest of Andrew Sloan, teller in the Haymarket (Edinburgh) branch of tbe National Bank of Scotland. He i* charged with defalcations amounting to £3000, and was last seen at afashionable hotel in London. After a considerable delay, a warrant has been issued for the arrest of Arthur Sturrock, the absconded Kilmatnock banker and solicitor. Action has been tiken by the authorities of a trust wcich Sturrock is said to have defrauded. His whereabouts appear to be unknown. The requirement of some knowledge' of navigation by fishermen is being agitated at Aberdeen. In favour of the proposal ib is urged that the craft used are now large and valuable, some of them costing as much as £5000 apiece. Messrs A. Macmillan and Co. (Limited) Dumbarton, have launched a steel screw steamer for the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, to be used for cargo purposes. She was christened the Hawea. Surprise has been caused by tbe announcement that in Edinburgh one-fourtb, and in Leith more than one-third of the houses burn no gas. To encourage tbe occupiers, of the poorer houses to use gas, the introduction of the penny-iu-the-slot meter system is advocated. A lady who had been shopping in Langholm one day last week returned to a shop which she had just left, a varioose vein in her leg bursting. Although medical aid was at once procured, nhe bled to death iv five minutes. Oa the famous farm of Mr James Hope, Eastbarns, Dunbar, there may be seen a nineaore field full of stored potatoes, the produce of 220 acres of land. There are 50 pits, aaoh over 100 yards long, and the entire area of the field is occupied by them. The old clock, datiog from tbe fifteenth oentury, in the steeple of the Old Tolbooth afc Mustelborgh has been damaged by a fire, caused by a gas jet which illuminates the dials of tha clock igniting the adjacent woodwork. A large lunatic asylum for the City of Glasgow has just been opened at Gartloeb, seven miles east of the city. Tho building, which has cost £150,000, i« situated in ground* 340 i acres in extent. It will accommodate 530 j patients, besides a staff of 150. A strange accident has oooarred at Forres. Three hay carts were going along the street when tha middle one struck b lighted gas lamp, fimaebiDg the glass and ignjfting the hay, which was completely consumed,. The horse was rescued with difficulty, tbe smoke being very dense. An accident hospital is being erected at Alloa as a gift lo the town from Miss Forrester Pa ton. The cost will exceed £10,000. Mr William Kerr, of Houdston, Girvan, a well-known agriculturist, in a lecture on ♦♦ Potato Growing" delivered in Glasgow, stated that the welt coast of Scotland^ between ; Ballantrae and Culzean Castile,' was the earliest ! spot for potatoes in the British Isles. What do Cornwall and Scilly say to this ? Tbe Edinburgh Corporation has acquiredtbe cable tramways on the northern side of the city for £115.000, and will take possession of (hem on Ist January.