NOTES FROM SCOTLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2782, 10 July 1907, Page 15

NOTES FROM SCOTLAND.

{F&OX OtTB OWH COEMS3POHDEHT.) *. EDINBUBGH, May 2. ROYAL VISIT TO GLASGOW. Glasgow was en fete throughout the greater part of last week in connection with a visit of the Prince ,«nd Princess of Wales, who came to discharge certain public functions. Their Royal Highnesses were the guests of Lord Blythswood, at Blyths.wood House, Renfrew, and arrived there on the evening of April 22, in wet and Btormy weather. Subsequently, however, the weather greatly improved, to the comfort of the many thousands of spectators by whom the streets were thronged. At certain parts barricades were erected to prevent accidents through the pressure of the crowds, and in places there were as many as 12 lines of barricades, extending for a distance of 80 or 90 yards. On the 23rd the Prince and Princess attended the graduation ceremonial at the university, .where they both had the degree of LL.D. conferred on them. They also opened an extension of the university , in the form of two buildings on its western side. One of these is devoted to natural philosophy, ■and the other to the teaching of physiology, materia medica, forensic medicine, and public health. Their cost approximates £100,000. On the 24th the Prince laid the foundation stone of the new Royal Infirmary, which is a reconstruction on the site of the old building, and is estimated to involve a total expenditure of £500,000, of which £280,000 still requires to be subBcribed. The first part of the old building was erected about 115 years ago. The work of reconstruction will occupy from six to seven years, and while it is in progress the work of the infirmary has to be carried on as usual. I should have mentioned that on the 23rd the Prince and Princess had the freedom of the city conferred upon them at a great meeting in the City Hall, and while they were signing the burgess roll the audience ! rose to their feet. The Lord Provost stated j that since 1868 the population of Glasgow had increased from 471,000 to 803,000, while its death rate had fallen from 30.4 to 17.5 per 1000, which represented a saving of no less than 10,000 lives per annum. On the 24th the Prince held a review of Naval Volunteers at Govan, and on the 25th he opened the fine new dock at Clydebank, six miles below the Broomielaw, ■which has been named the Rothesay Dock, in honour of his Royal Higbness'e title of Duke of Rothesay. It enjoys- the distinction of being the first dock in the kingdom to be entirely operated by electricity. The ! -~ royal party proceeded to the dock on the j river — a fact which speaks eloquently of the great improvement which has been effected in recent years in the purifying of J the Clyde. When Li Hung Chang and his I suite took a short trip upon it the stench was so abominable that, Chinamen as they were, they were, compelled to hold their noses. * ..in (..' i *■' >i ■ »•""" ■ 41 ■' •■ Their Royalr 'Highnesses returned to Lbndon on April 27, leaving behind them, as well as taking with them, happy memories of a pleasant and successful visit, unmarred by any accident or other contretemps. DISCOVERIES OF CARTRIDGES. Finds of cartridges, apparently hidden away, at Sunderland and Newcastle, have I been followed by similar discoveries at Glasgow, Leith, * and Edinburgh ; while at Methil, Fife, it was ascertained that ammunition had been shipped away before its existence was known. A few pistols have also been seized. The police inquiries seem to point to the ammunition, which all -came from Hamburg, having been destined to be smuggled into Russia in aid of the revolutionaries there. Its importation and export eeein to have been under the direction of a mysterious person named Denvers, whose whereabouts have not been discovered. A 6 the law stands, nothing can be done to the persons in whose possession the cartridges were found, beyond prosecuting them for storing these in unlicensed places. The finds caused some excitement. GLASGOW DOCTOR SHOT IN THE STREET. Dr John Carswell, a very well known medical man in Glasgow, was the victim in an extraordinary outrage which took place in that city on April 16. Dr Carswell is the examiner in lunacy to the Parish Council, and about 3 p.m. on the day named he left the Parish Hospital in JDuke street, where he had been discharging his duties, when he was shot twice in the left leg while in the act of stepping on a car. A third shot grazed his right leg, and his assailant then fired two more shots from a revolver into tl»e air. The street was very busy with people returning from dinner to their work, so that the man who fired the shots was at once seized and handed over to the police while Dt Carswell was carried back to the hospital which he had just left. The b«Uete were subsequently extracted, and Dr Carswell has since been doing well. His assailant, who was perfectly cool and- offered no resistance, gave his name as William Purves, aged 55, a retired pilot residing in Patrick. He declared 'that Dr Carswell had had him confined in Gartnavel A- 3 ? 1 " 1 " although he was of eound mind, and had thus caused him to lose £400. It was then recalled that in November, 1905, Purves had brought an action against Dr ■ Carswell and Dr Marion Gikhrist for having him confined as mentioned, and had claimed £10,000 damages from oach of them. The action, however, proved unsuccessful. He is now charged with shooting with intent to murder. There have fceen several revolver outrages in Glasgow lately, in one case a man threatening to ehoot a tramway conductor with whom be had quarrelled about his fare, so that many people feel rather nervous. THE RUSH TO CANADA. I make no apology for again referring to this, as it is the most interesting and important movement in progress in fecotland at the present time, and in the country in particular it is attracting a 'great deal of attention. No such emigration to Canada, from Scotland lias been previously known, Since this year began about 13,000 persons have thus changed the land of their abode. One company reports [that they could have carried 50 per cent, more passengers if they could have provided the accommodation. Though most of the emigrants travel steerage, or third class. it is noticed that more of them go second class than used to bo the case from five to ten years ago. It is universally noted that the men who are now emigrating are of a superior class to those who went out in former years, and no higher testimony SB to this could be given than is afforded

I>y the fact that -this year's emigrants are drawn from the specially shrewd and enterprising counties of Aberdeenshire, Fife, and Ayrshire. This is no doubt due to the good reporte received from men who went out as pioneer settlers from these counties, for canny Scots don't attach much weight to any coleur de rose statements which they may read in the newspapers, written by unknown and perhaps interested persons. Many*of those who have gone out are farm servants, who, as a class, complain that their prospects in this country are growing darker every year. A good many farmers' sons, too, are going out to spy the land and gain a little Canadian experience before deciding whether Scotland or Canada shall be the scene, of their lives' careers. These are educated men with some capital, and they have made the best of colonists wherever they have settled down. Very few navy" are now going out to the great railway works in progress in Canada, the 'number of men required having been completed. It is impossible not to feel a measure of regret that Scotland is losing so many of its best men, but, on the other hand, it is well that they are gome out to so fine land so loyal a country as Canada. There they will aid in no small degree in laying the foundation of new States composed of shrewd and hard-working men of good moral character, and on this account we cannot but wish them God-speed. SCOTTISH COAL MIXING. I briefly mentioned in my last that in consequence of the great activity in the mining and export of coal from the Lothians, it was proposed to amalgamate several of the coal mining companies there, with a view to more economical and extended operations. The scheme is now in process of being carried out, three companies uniting with the Edinburgh Collieries Company, and coming under its name. Sanguine hopes are entertained that the new concern has a golden future before it, though its promoters say they have to face very formidable competition from the Fife coalfields, which are being worked with I much energy and skill. On both sides of i the Firth of Forth coal is being mined under the sea, where it i 6 got cheaply. It is estimated that under the Firth alone there is a coal area sufficient to maintain an output of 35 million tons annually for 170 years. Moreover, on land coal is now being worked at a depth which 70 years ago was declared by expert authority to be out of the question, consistent with making a profit. It was then stated that the coal from seams more than 200 fathoms below the surface was "entirely unatainable." At the present time coal is being raised in the Lothians from depths of 250 to 400 fathoms. Most of the coal which, is exported is shipped" from Leith, where the export of coal has almost trebled within the last 10 years, amounting last year to 1,573,876 tons. Another matter which is contributing to the development of the Lothians coalfields is the approaching exhaustion of the upper seams in Lanarkshire. These are both thicker and more easily, and therefore economically, worked than the thinner seams which lie at a greater depth, and which are now being taken in hand. In 1893 Mr R. T. Moore, a well-known Glasgow mining engineer, calculated that the cheaply-forked ccals of Lanarkshire would last only 24 years longer; and in 1904, in his presidential address to the Mining Institute of Scotland, Mr Moore pointed out that his prognostication was being amply | verified. He urges boring in search of I other seams, failing which he says that in about 45 years they wi'l have to be looking out for a fresh supply of coals for G^egow. j Perhaps it may even yet come about in I time that Edinburgh may supersede Glasgow as an industrial centre. The lower seams in Lanarkshire, I may add, are usually worked by electric coal-cutters. In Fife one company alone has a daily output of 9000 tons of coal, most of which is exported to Northern Europe. Sir Charles M'Laren, M.P.. a well-known authority in such matters, has lately published some interesting figures regarding the Scottish coal industry. The Scottish coalfield, he says, extends over 15 counties, and its output is equal to 15 per cent, of the total coal output of the United Kingdom. About one-half of it is produced !by Lanarkshire. Of tho total output 66 ' per cent, is consumed in Scotland, 12 per 1 cent, is sent to Scottish ports for bunkers, I and of the remaining 22 per cent, nearly all ! is exported to European countries, though some is sent to Egypt and South America. The number of persons emp'.oyod in Scottish collieries is about 109,000; and the total wages bill in 1906 was nearly £8,000,000. Most of the coal is obtained at 'depths not exceeding l£OOft, though at Niddrie, just outside Edinburgh, a depth of nearly 2600 ft has been reached. It is a remarkable fact that no coal i 3 found in Scotland to the north of the Ochil Hills, except at Brora, in the County of Sutherland. SCOTTISH MINERAL OIL INDUSTRY.

The enormous growth in the number of motor cars in use has naturally led to a good deal of thought being given to the cheapening of motor fuel, and no doubt before very long there will be interesting development* in that direction. Meanwhile it is already perceived by the producers of mineral oil in Scotland that a groat opportunity has come to them. Their industry has had a somewhat chequered history, and at one time it had a hard fierht for life with foreign producers, though in recent years it has been doing pretty well, owing to the Scottish oil yielding 10 per cent, of wax besides a largo quantity of ammonia. Now motor 6pirit is being made in increasing quantity from the crude shale oil, and manufacturers are sanguine that this business is only in its infant days as ye(. The shale deposits cover an aiea of 10 miles radius from Upha.ll as the centre, though shale has been found 15 mile from that mining village The present aggregate output annually from the various works is 20 million gallons of burning oil, fix million gallons of naphtha, and immense quantities of lubricating and gas oils, paraffin wax, and 6ulphate of ammonia. At the present rate of production it is estimated that there is shale sufficient to last for 700 year«. There i«, therefore, an ample source of supply for the motor spirit inclusry ' NEW SCOTTISH INDUSTRY. The Duchess of Sutherland, encouraged by the 6uccese of the Tweed Homespun Association, which ehe organised in order to provide employment for women and girls in the far north of Scotland, has now set agoing the Sutlierland and Caithness Hand-made Carpet Association (Ltd.), with a similar object. The carpets are made by -• •» si \_t * r • •- v

hand, and are described ac being " formed of tufte knotted by the fingers into longitudinal warps, fixed between two parallel beams. When these have been tied into position, they are bound down by a strong woollen weft, and then beaten firmly by toothed hammers." The process is slow, but the appearance and wear. of the carpets are said to equal those of well-known Turkey and Persian makes. The association has begun operations at Helmsdale. Its founders are the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, the Duke and Duchess of Portland, and Mr Leopold Hirsch. Ita aim is excellent, and it is to be hoped that its operations may be rewarded with success. OBITUARY RECORD. Mr Walter Haddon, of the firm of Haddon and Turnbull, solicitors and estateagents, one of the most prominent citizens of Hawicfe, died there on April 8, aged 65. His business was one of the largest of its kind in the south of Scotland, added to which he held a host of business appointments of various kinds, public and private, and filled them all with conspicuous ability and integrity. He also gave much help to the public affairs of the town and district, where his death has caused a great blank. He is survived by his widow, four sons, and two daughters. Dr William Sneddon, of Beith, died suddenly while playing golf with a Glasgow medico at Gailea, Irvine. On rearhing the third hole he suddenly fell down and expired. His"*" death has caused much regret at Beith and throughout, the surrounding district, where he had practised for over 30 3 T ears, and was much respected. He also held several public appointments. Dr Sneddon waa 60 years of age and a widower. He leaves two sons and two daughters. The Rev. Dr J. G. Cunningham, senior minister of Queen Street U.F. Church, Edinburgh, died on April 5 at San Reroo, North Italy, aged' 71. He was ordained in 1859, and was for some years in a charere at Lochwinnoch. He was then called to Edinburgh as colleague and successor to the late Dr A. Moody Stuart. With this congregation that of the Free Tolbooth Church was afterwards amalgamated. Of late years Dr Cunningham had as colleague the Rev. James Durran, and for some three years he had officiated at San Remo. He I was a man of much ability, was a great linguist, and on account of his genial disposition and pawky humour was -much beloved. He took a special interest in" the Jews, and in all aggressive evangelistic work. Mr Thomas A. Croal, a prominent Scottish litterateur, has died at Portobello in his seventy-fourth year. He long held an appointment in the Post Office, but was ■ best known as Edinburgh -correspondent of several important newspapers in Scotland and elsewhere, as secretary for some years .of the Edinburgh Pen and Pencil Club, and as one of the founders of the Professional and Civil Service Stores. He wielded a facile and wholesome pen. Mr James Ramsay, of Balhousie Castle, "Perth, died there on April 9, aged 80. He was a business man in Dundee, where he made his fortune, but 17 years ago he took up his residence in Perth, where he took an active and liberal share in social and philanthropic work of many kinds. Several daughters survive him. Mr Walter Brock, Dumbarton, head of the shipbuilding firm of Wm. Denny and Bros., and the engineering firm of Denny and Co., died on April 25, aged 71. He had been connected with the firms named since 1871, and was held in very high repute in his profession. He developed the quadruple engine, and helped in prob'ems connected with reciprocating engines, while ho was the pioneer of thr turbine engine oil the Clyde. He received the honour of a public funeral. Quite a number of ministers have died during the month. I note the names of some of them : — Rev. John Barclay, parish minister, Bargrennan, Wigtownshire, since 1847, aged 85 ; Rev. Dr Forsyth, parish minister of Abernethy and Kincardine, suddenly, aged 81 ; Rev. W. F. Goldie. Genior minister of the South U.F. Church, Stirling, since 1868 (10 years retired) ; Rev. George Milne, senior minister of St. Mark's U.F. Church, Glasgow : Rev. James Kennedy, of Grant Street U.F. Church, Glasgow, aged 39. Dr Alexander Macbain, the famous Celtic scholar, of Inverness, died suddenly in a hotel at Stirling, aged 52. He edited the Celtic Magazine for some years, and published many papers and several books, the chief of the latter being his " Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language," issued in 1895. His death is greatly lamented by all who are interested in Celtic studies. GAS MARINE ENGINES. At a. meeting of the Grconock Chamber of Commerce held on April 24, Mr Dugakl Maedougall, Lloyd's represontathe, said that he would like to call artontion to what seemed to him to be likely to bo the engine of the future. He referred to the yas engine, which on land had achieved wonders in regard to utility and economy. At sea a very Ions? step in the same direction had already been taken, and be expected in a few months an experimental steamer would be cruising in the river fitted with a gas engine of 500 horse-power. He bad seen this engine, and believed it to bo almost perfect in construction, and when booming anthracite coal it had done wonders, but as this description of coal was not always readily procurable the designers were endeavouring to adapt the producer to enable it to use" bituminous coal, and he had no doubt thov wo\»ld be successful in this. In a short time, therefore, we might expect to see our beautiful mer covered by steamers propelled by gas engines, the funnels emitting no smoke, leaving .the scenery clear and untarnished. Rapidly ga-s was supplanting staam as the moti\e power in the workshops of the country, and there was no reason why it should not supplant steam in the navigation of the rivers and oceans of the wcrld. The .saving in cost, weight of materials, and coal by the use of such engines a& compared with '■team was extraordinary, and probably he was not very far from the mark when ho estimated this at about 25 per cent. All the officials of the society were helping the designers of these marine engines, and would continue to do so until a perfect machine was produced. GENERAL NEWS. Sir Robert Finlay, ex-M.P. for the Inverness Burghs, is to be presented with his portrait in oils in recognition of his 20 years of service to the district. Crows and wood pigeons have been doing great damage in the border counties for a good while, and complaints have been rife. In Dumfriesshire a concerted campaign against the depredators is about to

' be waged by the farmers and gamekeepers j On April 16, the 171 st anniversary of the battle of Culloden, a large number of people I went to the battlefield, where Mr Theodon? ' Napier, of Edinburgh, placed some wreaths ' on the cairn, and made his customary speech of an ultra- Jacobite description. A new post office, erected at a cost of £6000, in Bridge street, Montrose, was ' opened for public use on April 22. > At a meeting of the Kilmarnock District t Committee, complaint was made of the I cutting up of roads by motors. It was ' averred that on some parts of the road ' between Glasgow and Ayr the cars usually I travelled at a rate of nearly 40 miles an hour. A new wing is to be added to the West of Scotland Technical College in George street, Glasgow. The cost is estimated at £44,000, which is already in hand. I A girl of 14 at a Roman Catholic school in the Cowgate, Edinburgh, has npt missed a single attendance in more than 10 years. . Three other girls in the same class have ' completed six years without missing an attendance. | The Rev. Gordon B. Watt, of the High j Church, Kilmarnock, has accepted a call ; to succeed Dr Paton, of St. Paul's Estab- ■ lished Church, Glasgow, a brother of the I late Dr Paton, the famous missionary to J the New Hebrides. i Mr John K. Grant, editor of the Northern Ensign, Wick, celebrated last year his diamond jubilee as a journalist The other day he was entertained to a. cake and wine banquet and presented with an illuminated address and a cheque for 100 guineas, and a silver tea and coffee service was presented at the same time to Mrs- Grant. j The success of the daily "daylight service" between Ardrossan and Belfast has j led to the launching of a steamer by which a similar service i 6to be carried on be- ! tween Ardrossan and Portrush, beginning on June 15. The North of Ireland is ! rapidly growing in favour with Scottish tourists. j The property at 59 Princes street, Edin- ] burgh, occupied by Messrs Clapperton and Son, was sold by auction the other day at the upset price of £25,000. | It is now proposed to construct a floating dock at Aberdeen in place of a graving dock. The cost is estimated at £64,700. j The Glasgow Harbour tunnel, which was opened for vehicular and pedestrian traffic iin July, 1695, under the harbour, waa 1 closed yesterday. Latterly it had not been ' paying its way. Its authorised capital, in- . eluding loans, amounted to £310,000. I Mr J. O. Kemp, advocate, in supporting an application by a Jewish grocer for a license to sell alcoholic liquors, said that 20 years ago the Jewish community in Edinburgh consisted of only four families. Now the city had four Jewish churches, with four ministers, presided over by a , Rabbi. I With a view to inducing the Hebridean i crofters in Lewis and other islands to cul- , fivate vegetables, the Congested Districts j Board has just sent for free distribution ' among them 250,000 plants of thie description, reared at Prestonpans. ' The Finance Committee of the Inverness County Council is discussing the advisability of urging the Government to enlarge tho Caledonian canal sufficiently to allow , warships and large merchant vessels to pass through it. It is also affirmed that the enlarged canal would greatly aid the industrial development of the Highlands. ! Grouse disease has made its appearance in Central Perthshire. On April 30 there were landed at Aberdeen 677 tons of white fish — a record figure. r Eight boats from Iceland landed 424 tons 'of the total quantity. i The following personal estates of deceased individuals have been recorded: — Mr , Thomas Aitken, Edinburgh, £119,433; Sir ' James Fergusson, Bart., of Kilkerran, who was at one time Governor of New Zealand, and who perished in the earthquake at Kingston, Jamaica, £88,887: Mr George Chrystnll, of Whittinghame drive, Glasgow, formerly of Luse, £54,208; Mr Wm. 1 Breckenridge, timber merchant, Irvine, an ! ex-Provost of the burgh, £51.423 ; Principal Rainy. £5838. At tho annual meeting, at Hawick. of the South of Scotland Chamber of Commerce, the chairman stated that efforts were beintr » made to put a stop to English shoddy goods b"ing sold as genuine Scotch tweeds. Tho Hebridean island of Raasav was exposed for sale by auction in Edinburgh j y««t«»rdav at the upset price of £45,000, but no bid was received.