SCOTLAND. {From Our Own Correspondent.) EDINBURGH, February 2.

Otago Witness, Volume 30, Issue 2353, 30 March 1899, Page 44

SCOTLAND. {From Our Own Correspondent.) EDINBURGH, February 2.

A DREARY JANUARY. (The month just closed has been of a very dismal description. For three weeks it poured daily, and blew a hurricane at times into "the bargain. Then succeeded a week of frost, but the dry weather was subject to the discount of fogs, which, in the west especially, were of the densest kind. In Glasgow artificial light had to be used all day, and traffic on the river .was at times suspended, and in the streets iwas carried on with great difficulty. Several deaths occurred through people walking into the canals in the' fog. One of the steamers for Dunoon occupied 13 hours on the passage from Greenock, and even then ian great risks. Mr F.Faithfull Begg, £oimerly of Dunedin, on arriving at Troon to deliver a lecture on Egypt, found that liis luggage had gone astray, containing his dress suit, the M.S. of his lecture, and the 'elides by which it was to be illustrated. Some good Samaritan supplied him with fcheJd.S. of another lecture on Egypt, with appropriate lantern slides, and Mr Begg managed to use them, and was accorded a Saearty vote of thanks by his audience. The frost has gone again, and further soakings seem to be in store for this dripping land.

COLONIAL STUDENTS IN EDINBURGH. An influentially attended meeting was held in this city on January 28 to consider the desirability of providing one or more residences for students from the colonies and Indja attending the university. Principal Sir William Muir presided, and among >those present were' eight of the professors. :-Mr J. Ross, C.A., the secretary of a similar movement in London, read a statement from which it appeared that last year there .■were in Edinburgh University 22/ colonial Btudents, of whom 83 were from Australasia. It was averred that Edinburgh is the most Imperial university, and few, it was added, would believe that there was probably more Cape-Dutch spoken in the University than Gaelic. Of late years, however, the number of the colonial students ■had been , decreasing, owing partly to the improving of medical teaching at the English Medical Schools, especially at Cambridge, and partly to the increase of residential facilities at other universities, with proper management and guardianship, .which colonial parents naturally desired •for their sons. Mr Ross added : "It may also be said with practical certainty that •if residential facilities are not supplied in they will before long be established in touch with the University of Xiondon, a thing which would be a disastrous blow to the Edinburgh connection.' Resolutions were adopted approving of the .- proposal binder consideration, and appointing a committee to forward the matter in conjunction with the London committee, and to arrange for a joint meeting to be 'held in Edinburgh at a subsequent date. 'Sir William Muir said he felt sure the university authorities wouTd take up the matter with the utmost interest, and support it in every way in their power. Professor Prothero said it was very desirable for efficiency that the numbers attending the university should not go on decreasing. The friends of the university are at last awake to the importance of this matter, but even if the large sum of money required to meet the needs of the case can be found, time must elapse before the desiderated accommodation can be provided. THE BURNS ANNIVERSARY. Far from dying out, the Burns cult in Scotland seems to be growing, to judge from the number of gatherings held this year to celebrate the poet's birth. A brief notice of the chief of these gatherings filled more than an entire page of the Scotsman, and that journal said that their number was the greatest on record. Thsy were held in towns and villages all over the country, from the Solway to Shetland, and it would be interesting if 'Some patriotic statistician could calculate the amount of money expended on the occasion in .xrhisky. haggis, etc. x The teetotallers do not seem disposed, however, to lag be■hind any longer in honouring the poet's memory, even without having recourse to the toddy hitherto . regarded as indispensable on this occasion. At Langholm, for • instance, they celebrated the day on the '24th in their own fashion, and the proceedings were, a success. At Galashiels the 'Burns clubs made no sign, so the Good Templars and the church 1 literary societies had the field to themselves, and they did not fail to make. the most of the opportunity.

AN" ABSCONDING LAWYER. No small stir lias been caused in legal and business circles in Glasgow by the disappearance, under painful circumstance?, of Mr Alexander Younger Peattie, of tha firm of Peuttie. M'lntyre, and* Laird, writers, 175 'Hope street. A warrant for Iris arrest, on a charge of embezzlement of trust funds, was issued on January 21. and at the same time his partners "issued to their "clients a circular stating that lie Jiad absconded, and that they had placed the books of the firm in the hands ot wellknown chartered accountants ior investigation. It is understood that the sum misappropriated amounts to at least £40,000. Peattie was law agent to the late Sir 'James Bain', ironmaster, and at one time 'Lord Provost of Glasgow, and it is stated that the principal defalcations are in connection with his estate. Peattie had a fine mansion at Springboig, near Shettleston, and he paid off his servants and closed the house a few days before he was " wanted. ' •It seems that Ins partners' suspicions had been aroused, and they insisted upon the linn's books being examined. To this he at last agreed, but said that that course would lead to the dissolution of the firm, and left the office in indignation and for the last time. The cause of his embezzlements is said to be the familiar one of unsuccessful speculation on the Stock Exchange. He was not much known to the Sublic, as compared with his partners. lie latter were much respected, and much sympathy is felt for them in Glasgow. Moft of the missing securities are of an easily negotiable character,, and some of

these have been discovered in London, where Peattie had borrowed money upon them before his flight was known. The police have been diligently searching for him ever since it was known that things were not right in regard to him, but thus far their efforts have not been crowned with success, though false reports as to his having been discovered and arrested came successively from Portsmouth and Guernsey.

Another Glasgow lawyer — Archibald Ross, of the late firm of C. K. Clark and Co., 208 West George street — was committed for trial on January 21 on a charge of embezzlement.., The firm named was dissolved some time ago, but Ross kept on the business under the old name.

THE GREAT WHISKY SMASH.

The hopes which were entertained when my last letter left that the affairs of the great whisky distilling and brewing concern of Pattisons (Limited) might admit of a reconstruction of the company have not been lealised. The report of the accountants who were appointed to investigate matters put down the total amount of the liabilities at £920,400, and the assets (subject to adjustment) at £82.793 below that figure. Messrs Robert and Walter Pattison, the heads of the concern, sent a letter to the meeting of creditors at which the reporo in question was presented, declaring that in their view the assets had been understated by £168,000. The British Linen Company Bank and the Clydesdale Bank are creditors to the amount of £112,000 each, but they are secured. The meeting was of opinion that the company should be wound up voluntarily, with a view to reconstruction, and appointed a, committee to take the necessary preliminary steps in that direction. A few days later two of the creditors took action to compel the company to be wound up, and at an extraordinary general meeting of the sharebolaers it was" unanimously agreed tn take this course. At the same time the hope was expressed that some scheme of reconstruction would be kept in view. To judge from all accounts, it would seem as if this hope were not at all likely to be realised. The whisky trade seems to be enormously overdone, and to be living m great measure upon overdrafts and hope. According to the London Standard, the overdrafts amount to the huge 'figure of £10.000.000. and that paper urges a, large diminution in the amount of whisky manufactured. The present crisis has been prophesied for some time, but distillers seemed a f raid of precipitating it by shortening sail, so to speak. Probably they will now feel at liberty to do so. It is said that the over-production of whisky will benefit consumers by cfuising much of it to remain a longer time than usual in store, and so improving the quality. If what one hears be true, there is need for every encouraging circumstance to be made the most of, for the whisky business has dark th/fes before it vet.

'Auui/rs-nvriox of o.vtme.vl.

When Scotland's porridge is in a bad waH' as well as its whisky, nothing further needs to be said to show that its national tastes are seriously assailed. The Scottish Chamber of Agriculture has felt it necessary to make an outcry concerning the danger in which Scottish oatmeal is at the present time, through inferior meal being imported in large quantities from the United States and Canada and mixed with Scottish meal. This both damages the name ot the home-grown article and makes it impossible, to sell the latter at a profit. The adulterators seem to have made the English market their first theatre of operations, probably becatTSe English people are not such good judges of oatmeal as the Scotch. As a consequence, complaints have been received from all parts of England. They have also been made in Aberdeenshire, "showing that Scotland itself is being injured in one of its tenderesL points. The chamber seemed at a loss how to cope with the evil, but at length 'resolved to ask the chairman of the Board of Agriculture to send one of his staff to confer with the chamber on the subject, with a view to seeing what can be done.

HTJN'UKP. IX THE HKHRIDKS.

The Hebrides seem to dispute with the Bermudas the right to the title of " stillvexed," for they seem to be always suffering in some way or other. Now it is from potato blight on land, and depredating trawlers on the coast. Lewis is in a distressed state on account of blight having totally ruined the potato crop. At a meeting of the Lewis District Committee it was resolved to memorialise the Congested Districts Board for Scotland to take steps to relieve the distress, as was dtme in Ireland, by disseminating literature among the crofters, showing how the potato blight may be prevented, as well as by giving a grant towards supplying the necessary appliances, and also supplying seed potatoes where these are required. The committee also adopted a resolution calling upon the Government to provide an "efficient sea police to restrain trawlers from illegal practices, which, it is alleged, are destroying the/local fisheries. Had not the herring fishery la,st year been an unusually good one, the distress in Lewis would have been more serious. As it is it is .severe and trying enough, for the inhabitants of the island are at no time .far removed from want.

THE TYSON* MILLIONS.

The number of claimants for an interest in the wealth left by the late James Tyson, the Australian millionaire, continues to grow. The latest are one Andrew Tyson and his sister, Mrs Paterson. residing at Kelso, and who say that the deceased was their uncle. According to them his forefathers belonged to Cumberland, but he himself was born and brought up in Scotland. When 17 years of age he went to England, and some time afterwards emigrated to Australia. His mother's name, they add, was Elizabeth Coates.

A KKVIVIXO INDUSTRY.

It is pleasant to have to record that the Scottish mineral oil industry, which not long ago was in a most depressed condition, is now in a very thriving state. The demand for its products was never greater, and the entire stocks, both of oil and solid paraffin, have been cleared off, while the market for sulphate of ammonia is also very active. Owing to current contracts, however, the manufacturing companies will not get the full benefit of the improvement fpr two months to come A wui thav bare

also to ' face the recent large increase in miners' wages and the price of coal. It is expected, therefore, that it will be next season before the full effects of the revival will be apparent. Still, this has put new life and- hope into the industry, and work is oeing carried on with a vigour unknown for a long time. It is even stated that many of the companies are at their wits' end to make up arrears and meet the demands made upon them.

AN INTERESTING GATHERING. The handloom weavers, who were once a most distinctive and important part of the population of Scotland, are now a fastvanishing community. Much interest has accordingly been taken in a gathering at Dunfermline on January 16, when 105 old men who had been handloom weavers in their early days were entertained at supper. Their average age was about 72 years. Four of them were between 85 and 90. Some of the oldest men sang and lecited, and one of them, known as " Wee Geordie, ' said to be the smallest man in the town, besides singing two songs, wound " pirns " at a ."-pinning wheel on the platform to an orchestral accompaniment. The Provost presided on the occasion, and made an appropriate speech. The old men seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly.

OIiITUARY RKCOBEU A leading citizen of Perth, SVLord Provost Whittet, died there rather suddenly on January 14, aged 64. He was a publicspirited man, and took an active and useful part in everything affecting the welfare of the "Fair City." He leaves a widow and a family of nine children.

Dr W. H. Murray, Galashiels, died there on January 12, at the too early age of 46. after an illness of some months' duration. He was known and trusted throughout the Borders, and his funeral was one of the largest ever seen in Galashiels, the streets beinp lined by thousands of people. He leaves a widow, two sons, and two daugh-

Mr J. G. Holborn, M.P. for North- west Lanarkshire, died at Leith on January 23, at/c 55. Though a native of Durham, he was brought up in Leith. and raised himself from a very humble position. He had no education, but learned the trade of a tinsmith, became a speaker at temperance gatherings, then a town councillor in Leith, und finally M.P. He was a capital speaker, and free fiom the fads which so commonly lead working men members to make themselves ridiculous and so of no account. He was twice married, and leaves a widow and family. Mr* Robert Macfie, of Airds, Argyleshire, for many years connected with the sugarrefining "industry- at Liverpool, Leith, and Greenock, died on January 22, in his 87th year. He took an active interest in all matters relating to the welfare of Greenock, of which place he was a native, though he had not resided there for many years. He is survived by his widow, and by five sons and three daughters, his eldest sou being Colonel William- Macfie. C..8. Dr Joseph Contp, professor of p.ithology in Glasgow University, died on January 24, within a few clays of his 53rd birthday. He was a native of Paisley. When only 30 years of age he was elected president of the Pathological Society. He was appointed lecturer on pathology in Glasgow University, and on the chair being founded in 1893* he was appointed professor. Through his numerous writings nn that branch of medical science he attained to world-wide celebrity. For nearly three sessions, however, he had been obliged by ill-health to delegate his professorial duties to his assistants. He published a volume describing his travels in Australasia and elsewhere. His widow and two daughters survive him. $* The Rev. Gavin Anderson, minister of the Free High Church. Dundee, for the last 20 yearsT and previously colleague to the late Rev. Sir Henry Monevieff in Edinburgh, died on January 23. His was a quiet but useful life. GKNKRAL NEWS. The report of the Clydesdale Bank for 1898 states that the netvpi'ofit for the year amounted to £151.983. A dividend is proposed at the rate of 10 per cent, (the same as last year), and £35,000 is to be added to the reserve fund, bringing it up to £540,000. A balance of £15,847 is carried forward. Professor James Stuart, M.P. , the recently elected Lord Rector of the University of St. Andrews, was installed on January 23, and delivered his inaugural address. The degree of LL.D. was conferred "at the same time upon several gentlemen, and upon Mrs Millicent Garett Fawcett. The usually quiet town of Duntocher. in Dumbartonshire, has been the scene of a sad tragedy. A Mater named Edward M'Ginley attacked his wife while she was in bed, striking her on the head with a hammer, so that she soon afterwards died. He escaped in the darkness, but two days later his body was found in a mill-dam. The late Rev. George Proctor, schoolmaster at Kemnay, has bequeathed the residue of his estate, amounting to about £3000, to the University of Aberdeen, as the nucleus of an endowment for an astronomical observatory at King's College. It is stated that 12 out of the 16 magistrates on the bench in Glasgow are total abstainers. Mennoch bridge, by which the Glasgow ioad crosses the River Mennoch a mile and a-half from Sanquhar, suddenly collapsed at 7 a.m. on January 16. It was about 30ft above the stream. The inconvenience to traffic will be very great until it is rebuilt.

While'a train on the Caledonian railway was passing the Corsehill quarries, Dumfriesshire, a piece of rock fell, rolled down the embankment, and struck the engine, which was seriously damaged. No one was hurt, however, but the pa&sengers got a good fright.

A new mansion house is to be built at Glenborrodale, Ardnamurchan, for Mr C. D. Rudd, at a cost of £38,000.

Fanners, butchers, and salesmen in Perthshire are combining to insure themselves against losses frtom tuberculosis. A fund ior this purpose is to be raised by farmers paying 6d per head for all their fat cattle slaughtered in Perth, and butchers who buy for the purpose of killing in Perth paying a similar amount per head. While a service was goLug on. in the hall

of the Congregational Church in St. Lawrence - street, Greenock, on the evening of January 18,- a landslip took place from the adjoining cliff, and about 18ft of the wall was crushed in. Several people were injured, but none of them severely. The front of the cliff had been loosened by longcontinued heavy rain. Inverugie Castle, near Peterhead, the seat of the Earls Marischal of Scotland, has ceased to exist. A storm in January blew down part of the ruin, and the remainder being in a condition endangering the public safety, it was blown up with dynamite. Most of the castle was built in 1380, but some of it was still older.

The following personal estates of deceased persons have been recorded : — Sir John Watson, of Earnock, £181,438; Mr James Lamond, S:S.E., Edinburgh, £101,560; Mr William "Henderson, of Bedford, Stirlingshire. £59,633 ; Sir A. C. R. Gibson Maitland, of Barnton, £43,621; Majorgeneral J. A. Angus, Edinburgh. £33.106. It is stated that the rises in wages granted to the Scottish colliers in 1898 represent a weekly increase of £25,000 in the aggregate.