SCOTLAND. THE SEASON,

Otago Witness, Issue 2692, 18 October 1905, Page 66

SCOTLAND. THE SEASON,

W&on. Or* Own Coebesfondent.) EDINBURGH, August 24. 7 'At this time of year public interest centres 4-rgely in- the harvest, field sports, and ■•; Sther outdoor matters, and the weather, .that endless theme' of conversation to the - average Briton, becomes a^matter of national -= Importance. In these parts its principal _' jfclwMofeeristic for a long time has been ~ its dryness. In fact, in Edinburgh and the surrounding districts there has been more K>r less of a drought for a twelvemonth, and grave fears -have been, and still are, expressed as to the water supply of the city folding out. Happily, in another month -jfcber new water works at the Talla will be ,-L 1 opened. The dry season has caused the '-, ; Iwrvest to begin about three . weeks earlier , " jfchan usual, and in- the southern counties -' of Scotland it is becoming general. Unfortunately, heavy gales during the last few • days have done a good deal of damage by shaking the ,ripe grain. Otherwise cereals "' |>rpmise very well, though .'they are light in the straw, owing to the-, dryness bi the - -iseeeon. Potatoes also are. an exceptionally ■ - liealthy crop. At the lanio sales prices have - higher this year, co that, all round, -^ the farmers would seem to be doing well. ' (•■;• "Grouse shooting opened - under 'most j fcuepicious conditions as to weather, and as ? -the birds are numerous %nd exeeptMinaliy • ' iieaJthy/ the sportsmen" are having a good--.^Sime on the 'moors;'-, 'Salmon.' fishing has- ' i>een disappointing, especially in the Tay - mud Earn- and few big fish have / been .' 'caught. Two taken near the mouth' of the ""''Earn weighed 57£lb and 's7lb respectively. ' The herring- fishing, which fell behind in ' , the early part of the season, afterwards re- "" covered, and the total" catch is now up to - last year's figure. The increasing employ- - ment of steam as an auxiliary motive power hy fishing boats has been justified by sue •_ "cess. But for this aid large quantities of fisb, caught at a distance from land in "- calm jveather would/have had to.be thrown overboard again. Fishermen are prover- ■ Inally conservative in regard to theirCjnefchods, but they seem to be now con- ': vineed that they must call in the'" aid oi ' steam or electricity if they are to moke \ a. ' living at all, so that . changes in this" respect are steadily going on in the boats sailing from the larger ports, and the others will have to follow their, example. THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONFLICT. "' The Churches^ ,Bill, which is designed to provide means for ' -bringing to an end the war "between the .[. Tree and United Free Churches, was got ; V- ilirough Parliament before, it. rose. 'for/ the." _. .xecess. ' This result is largely- v duV;' to. the'j ',■ ,&cfc that the English" members took Very ,-/ little interest in the matter^for no EnglishVV v man e^ei" takes the trouble/ to", .understand - <■ fSJottish ecclesiastical "differences: *-, In the. ',', ' 'House of Lords, -Lord Robertson (a legal- \- lord) ' passed ~ some cogent '^criticisms upon 1 i ' fche* bill, but he . declined ,' to move 1 any -*BiendmentsV because.* be said, , that course V -^rould' have the effect, of crystallising opinion 1 ' £ „ bn the Government' side •of the House in ?-. , -favour of dangerous principles. ' The bill, | -, " t ' may" once more , note," .provides for the j :- . appointment of a commission, consisting of fire members, who are empowered to deal with all matters connected with the pw^ Swty affected by . the judgment of - the ouse, of Lords a year ago. Of this commission the Earl of Elgin' is chairman. *" The usual ' August sittings of 'the comlbissiens, of the two churches have been peld since _ the passing of the bill, and, of - course, it "was spoken of in both. In tl'.e/ v- U.F. .Assembly Principal Rainy said it was „ Df great importance .that their, people should jrade.rstand^' .that they must still * wait patiently, and th*t they should absolutely ■ *tudy the 1 things that make for peace, and pxert themselves to avoid whatever might v make wounds deeper. On Dr Rainy's «i--%.inotion the commission unanimously adopted m resolution recording its thankfulness at _tbe passing of the bill. In the Free Church the tone was very *~ different. In, the report of its Law and Advisory Committee the opinion was ex- "- pressed that , the new measure would cause ''much greater" heartburning " than already existed. Mr J. Hay Thorburn, the general -secretary of the Free Church, said that the \ bill introduced a most dangerous precedent ' into this country— a precedent, .which diverted property from the "original purrposes, and- handed it over" to parties de J _ dared by. law' to be incapable, owing to ~ "-their doctrines and views, _of • administering . A "/it; and depriving the lawful body of any »J jright to have , a say , in the disposal', of its '- -.property. Mr Msoneilage,"' of Glasgow,' anJjither prominent Free Churchman, declared [V that the bill was ".a cruel wrong," and "said-. ;..• lie; bjvd.no confidence in the Executive Comfe I mission. , . > . i The 'struggle will now be transferred to , ' the sittings of this body,; and, while Free ' " Churchmen express themselves as if this [ meant that their cause is .hopeless, they x aJso make it abundantly clear that they . - will fight to the last gasp for every sixpence • So. even when the commission has 1 finished its labours and has been dis- ' charged, we who have to live in Scotland '- are doomed to hear the unceasing groan- .■:' ing of men who are beaten, but who, on that account, are less than ever silenced. It -is curious to hear how the church conA troversy crops in the most unexpected ' places For instance, , . I was standing the other day on the pier at Gourock, when a .„ steamer from Campbeltown arrived and .' made fast for a -few minutes. During this - - time the captain, standing on the bridge, "- 'carried on a conversation with an acquaint--"''ance , standing on the pier, and the rich ' 'Highland accent' was a treat to the ears of a Sassenach. Presently, with a tinge of ; sarcasm "in^his voice, tn* 1 captain asked, ,' " And are you still with the Wee Frees?" Promptly ' the answer was 1 returned, in a shocked tone: "I never was with them, . .God be thanked!" From this it would - -appear that there must be contradictions in thanksgivings as well as in all other / -mundane things. MONEY LEFT BEHIND. '■ Severaf large personal estates -left by mdi - _i*iduals who have recently died have been .. Recorded since., my laefc.- Much the. largest of these is that of Sir Robert Jardine, Bart., - »f Castlemilk Dumfriesshire, and formerly .. »f the famous China firm of Jardine, v -Matheson, and Co. The total amount of - his estate, both heritable and personal, has been returned at £2.280,663, on which the total amount of estate duty payable is £34,044— a fortune in itself. The following - i>ersonal estate? also fall to be noted: — Mr R. Robin, meiohant. Howard street, Glasgow, and who resided ai GastlehilL

Hamilton, £314,543; Mr Robert S. Scott, shipbuilder, Green ook, £154,093; Mr Geo. Handasyde Dick, East India merchant, of Glasgow and Strone, £65,536 ; Mr William Babtie, writer, Dumbarton, £46,093; MiGeorge Gordon, timber merchant, of Aberreen, and of Hobart, Tasmania, £36,120 ; Mrs Phin, Edinburgh, widow of the Rev. Dr Phin, of Gailashiels, once a leader of the Church of Scotland, £30,215; Mr John Maxwell Cunningham, formerly general manager of the Clydesdale Bank, £21,902. HIGHLAND DEER FORESTS. A parliamentary return recently obtained at the instance of Mr A. Galloway Weir shows that in the Highland crofting counties, six in number, the total area of land devoted to deer forests is 2,920,097 acres. As compared with the last return, made in 1898, these figures exhibit an increase of / 424,947 acres. Though the increase is not to be despised, it scarcely justifies Mr Weir's impassioned declaration in the House of Commons that "the whole of Scotland will* become one mass of deer forests before long. " There are those, indeed, who prophesy with equal confidence that as electrical industry progresses, and water *power becomes indispensable, many industries will vbe transferred to Highland glens and moors, and in that case the deer forests will have a bad chance of continuance. NATIONAL DEFENCE. j -/ Lord Roberts's recent pronouncement as to the country's -military unreadiness, and his repeated ; appeals that all boys l and young 'men should be taught how to shoot effectively^ are" calling forth expressions of 'approval 'in', many quarters, and especially so from military "officers. Among these js s Lieut.-geinsral Sir Charles' Tucker, X.C.8., the officer commanding the forces in Scotland. In presenting the prizes won at the Scottish army rifle meeting at Stobo, near Hawiok, General Tucker said we were a small nation, and did not want conscription. It was therefore a duty which every man owed to Jiis country to be able to defend it, and this he could not do unless he could shoot well. If a man could not shoot he might as well be in the cemetery. -He was useless; hence the importance of such gatherings as that one, which were not "for pot- hunting, but for training m»sn to shoot. Some 13,000 men had a time of training in shooting during the gathering under 1 notice. x INDUSTRIAL NOTES. / < The Scottish coal industry would appear" to be doing better this year, as the announcement has been, made that during the first seven months of 1905 the exports, of ; coal | from Scotland exceeded ' by 400,000 tons \ the total for the corresponding period of 1904. , _, ' \ wOn the; other hand,'' as a result of the ' of^"the/ books' of the, own%rs .of blast furnaces;' '"-'a reduction has-been of 5. per 'cent.-'- in the wages' of, iron/worfefers/' It 'islho]^d'this'in»y-be but 'tem-, 'pt)rary,V'~as "• shipbuilding ,"is active, -and >J the • Steel Company, . of ; Scoltand has ' just declared ft" dividend '.of 5 per cent. 'The big .combine^, by , which- locomotives y are -now mainly constructed in Glasgow; has received ■some 'large '^orders' from abroad, and ..this is a great ielp io the 'city. Given peace and .moderate- weather ;thef pinch should not be sp severely felt in Glasgow this winter as it "was last.y \ ; -The influx of Poles to the ' mining districts of Scotland continues,^ and gives trouble at times, with the promise of more as the* foreigners , increase in number and \n consciousness of their power in localities they are massed. While a big outcry is made about Chinese gold miners on the Rand- in South Africa, a Polish coalminers' question is steadily growing up in Scotland; yet, so far, no one takes notice of it save the secretaries of the miners' unions, and they have cried "wolf-" so pften about trifles that no one pays heed to 'them until the wolf has demonstrated his presence by .doing a good deal of damage. As a specimen of what is going on, it may bo mentioned that at Stoneyburn, a village not far from Linlifchgow. there are now 400 Poles, who outnumber the British lesidents^by 20. ! Blairgowj'ie and the surrounding district j are now. the centre of an important fruit- j growing industry, strawberries and raspberries being the fruits chiefly grown. Each j year numbers of young women come from j Glasgow, Dundee, and obher places to pick " the berries," and the fields present a scene , akin to, that in the hop fields of England • a little later in the • year. This 'season over 1700 tons of fruit,- valued at : upwards of £29,000, Kad been despatched by rail from Blairgowrie up -to the middle of< August. This quantity is independent of what was kept by the local jam "factories. , Wtiat is" stated to-be the biggest ■ coalwasher in Britain" has just been erected by the Wfemy.ss .Goal Company 'at its garden cdty ,of \Penbeath, Fife.'. The building is , 97ft high,* and is 'built of steel girders ! encased- in brick. 'It can Vash 1000 tons of .coal daily, treating four separate classes of \ coal simultaneously, and has a storage capacity of 4000 tons. Mr Wemyss's private bill, by which he would have been able to construct a -iew dock to relieve Methil, which is badly congested, was thrown out by the Parliamentary Committee owing to the opposition of the North British Railway Company, but in the district this is greatly regretted. The Admiralty has given the North British Railway Company notice to proceed at once with the construction of the brief line from its system to the Rosyth naval base. A little farther west rapid progress is being made with the construction of a line from Dunfermline to Kincardine-on-Forth, via Torryburn, and a line along the coast to Charleston, Limekilns, and Rosyth may follow. OBITUARY RECORD. ( Ex-provost Moneur, of Dundee, one of its most respected citizens, died on August 5 , in his seventy-fifth year. He entered the Town Council in 1868, and was Provost in 1881. He was a member of the School Board from its formation in 1872 until this year, when he retired. He was a most active and liberal supporter of all philanthropic works, and established the Bannatyne Home of Rest, by which thousands of mill girls have benefited; and the Sidlaw Sanatorium for Consumptives, to which he contributed over £20,000. He also established a cancer wing at the Victoria Hospital. In 1902 lie was honoured with the freedom of the city. He has bequeathed over £25,000 to institutions in or near Dundee, besides various sums to the United Free Church. He leaves a widow and one son, and on the death of the former Dundee charities will still further benefit by his liberality and thoughtfulness. Mr Alexander Asher, X.C.. M.P., on© of the most distinguished Scottish lawyers of

' his day, died in Edinburgh on August 5 in his seventieth year. He was born at Inveravon, Banffshire, and was called to the bar in 1861. He speedily made a great reputation for himself as an advocate, and was noted for his thoroughness. Ho was thrice Solicitor-general for Scotland, and was Dean ol the Faculty of Advocates I from 1895 till his death. It is a matter of j general surprise that he never received a judicial appointment. He represented the Elgin Burghs in Parliament from 1881 up to his death. He is survived by his widow, an English lady, but leaves no family. ' The Rev. Dr James Keith, who was parish minister of Forres from 1853 to 1899, has died in his eightieth year. He oele brated his ministerial jubilee three years ago amid many tokens of respect. He took a leading part in educational and philanthropic work in Forres, and 20 years ago received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Aberdeen University in recognition of his botanical researches especially in regard to cryptogams. GENERAL NEWS While excavating the site of a new clock tower near the Black Bay Fountain, at Stirling, the workmen have found human 1 skulls, one or two of which were only 18 i inches below the surface. This was ths> j old place of execution, and it is on record I that horse or sheep-stealers used to be tried | in the forenoon,~executed in the afternoon, and then buried on the spot. The freedom of the ultra-Liberal burgh of Kirkcaldy is to be conferred upon Earl Spencer in October. , A commotion has been created by the announcement of the Ayr Town Council of its intention to have the "Auld Brig," rendered famous by Burns, rebuilt forthwith, unless good hope of preserving it can be given by a competent .authority. Lord Rosebery is among those who have protested against this decision. The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, who owns large estates in the north-east of Scotland and is veiy popular there, has received the ribbon of the Garter rendered vacant by the death of Earl Oowper. The 600 th anniversary of the betrayal of Sir William Wallace at Robroyston, near Glasgow, was celebrated there on August 5. Mr J. F. MilleiS of Myierston, presided, and Rev. David Macrae and othe>r speakers delivered fervid addresses of an ultra-Scottish tone to a large gathering of people. It is intimated that there is no baker in the island of Tiree, though it has 2000 inhabitants, and bread has consequently to be imported from Glasgow. During the week of the Glasgow Fair holidays the polioe made 1653 ' arrests, which is 191 more than last year's total. Most of these were for, drunkenness and dis.orderly conduct, and can only have represented the Wrst, case 6, judging from the newspaper accounts of the scenes which were to* be witnessed.. _ , An -Edinburgh bigamist who married his second wife only a month /after the iirst, has been sent 'to prison for three months. His excuse was that the first wife had taken to drink. Two Oxford students the other day swam across the Sound of lona in 35min and 45min respectively. The" strait is three-quarters of a mile wide, and a strong tide runs ihrough it. According to a Glasgow paper,' at Abbotsford place in that city there resides a worthy couple, each of whom is 93" years of age, wh> have been married for 67 years. Moy Hall, the seat of The Mackintosh, of Mackintosh, was the scene of a large gathering of the dan Chattan on August 7, the occasion being the silver wedding of the laird and the twentieth birthday of his son, the young chief. Highland sports were the order of the day, and Tha Mackintosh and his lady received various gifts from their tenantry. At Trinity College, Glenaknond, Lieu-tenant-general Sir lan Hamilton unveiled a tablet commemorating old Glenalmond boys Who fell in t-he Boer war. He also laid the memorial stone of the new library, which is likewise a memorial of the war. The wanton slaughter of the sea fowl on the Bass Rock, wMoh has been going on for some years, is now to be checked, the islet's feathered inhabitants having this month come under the wing of the Wild Birds' Protection Order. The old oroos of Newton-on-Ayr, which, on account of its obstructing the traffic, was removed from Main street and set up behind thp Council Chambers, where it has remained for 60 years, has just been taken down and re-erected in> River street, between the old and new bridges, and not far from its original site. A disastrous fire occurred at the Forth Paper Works, Kincardine-on-Forth, on August 15. The main building, containing 10,000 tons of esparto and thousands of tons of paper, was destroyed, but the machinery was saved. The damage, which is estimated at £20,000, is coveerd by insurance. The annual open-air service in commemoration of the defeat of the Covenanters at Rullion Green, took place near the battlefield on Sunday, 13th August, when about 2000 people attended. Another gathering of the kind was held at the same time at Harbour Craig, near Oharlops. The 15th August, being the anniversary of the birth of Sir Walter Scott, his monument in Edinburgh received its annual tribute from the local Scott Club. This year the emblem took the form of a lyre composed of immortalles, with sprays of Scotch thistles and white heather and a chaplet of laurel leaves. It is very noticeable that Scott's birthday passes almost without remark, while Burns's birthday each year assumes more and more the character of a national festival — or orgie.