THE EMPIRE

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 407, 16 January 1909, Page 10

THE EMPIRE

LATEST NEWS BY THE ENCLISH MAIL. The Unitbd Kingdom. London, December-5. An advertisement which ' appeared- In a London morning paper on November 25 has provoked much comment. It rah as follows; To Bridgo Players.—On December 1 noxt, the birthday of our Gracious Queen, will, you give one-twentieth of your bridgo winnings that day to assist in building an extra aisle to St. Paul's Church, Winchester?- It is in a poor but rapidly increasing parish, and has net seating accommodation-for all who wish to attend. If so,: please forward the amount to Admiral Kainier, Wynton Croft, Winchester. ■

. The rector, when .interviewed, said he regretted . tho appearance of . this appeal, and wished he had been consulted before its in-, sortion. 'T should hardly be disposed, ho said, "to accept tho ot. gambling for, such* a purpose as church extension.,, Mr. Francis i Picton Picton, the sqiiiroof Iscoed, Carmarthenshire, has been tho victim of an extraordinary shooting outrage. Mr. Picton, who is a grandson ol' General Picton, who, fell at Waterloo was walking homo when he encountered » farm servant named Bowen, who was carrying a gun apparently 'for the/purpose of shooting rabbits.•_ Mr., Picton remonstrated with the man for shooting on the road, whereupon. Bowen became impertinent, and said he would shoot where he liked. The squire -had not proceeded far . when lie was startled by the report of _a gun, and felt himself shot in the ..neck. Bowen was subsequently, arrested, and charged with attempted murder.. At a meeting of tho Cardiff Chamber of Conimerce, Mr. -S. 'Hern broughtfonvard the question: of afforestation, and said that with the. exception of Germany and America, Great Britaiii . was the user, - of timber in the world; Great Britain had only 3,000,000 acres of woodland,; Germany possessed 34,000;000 acres, and France 23,000,000 .acres of woodland, : whilst 26 per cent, of, Wales Was waste land and 3 per cent, woodland. They, had .3,400,000 acres suitablo for wood-planting, and if this Was done it would give employment to a largo number of people. He wished , to sccurb a portion of the unemployment grant of £300,000 for.tree-planting. There were thousands'" of . acres suitable adjacent to Cardiff, and there was a commercial advantage in. the fact that .when, matured they, had: tho /uso for, the .timber at their very doors. V.r..;- ' Tho total losses which will fall oil . Lord Amherst,- of Hackney, owing to the .'defalcations by the late .Charles ,Cheston, a prominent London solicitor, member of tho council of tho Incorporated Law Society,; and a director of many companies, would, 'it was stated, probably amount to £250,000.' The particular action in which Lord Amherst and other, trustees aro sued by the daughter and 'grandson of tho' lato Mr. .Andrew.: Fountamo, squire of Harford Hall,'. Sjrtiffham, Norfolk, involves a-sum of about .£70,000. It_was contondod by Mr;'.Underhilli on behalf of Lord; Amherst, that the daughter', dealt'with Cheston direct, and that Onestoh paid-her interest. He did not do.'this . .as .Lord 'Amherst s agent, but in order to prevent his frauds being detootcd.. Mr. Buckrhastciv K. 0.,' who also for Lord,;.Amherst, said th«. case against him was not one in which he had been guilty of any moral delinquency. Tho hearing .was ; .i ;.s ' In the King's Bench Division llr. Daniel; Macaulay and his wife sued the Northorn,. Piccadilly;; and ; Bromptoiii Railway for damages for injuries received jriulo travelling on 1 the; company's system during.their honeymoon in London, in 1807. Chi the day of the accidont, Mr. and Mrs. Macaulay had gone from Leicester'-''Square to by, tube, and whilo in tho' lift waiting,to,bo raised to the street a man crashed through tho roof . of the 'lift on to ';both of dead body., ultimately, resting ; on Mffo"?l4caulay. Tho man was in tho servico of t%J'company, but he waß not on"duty..'at the; time of'the

accident, and 011 this ground the oompany disclaimed ' responsibility. Owing to the accident, Mr. Macaulay had • been • seriously injured, and had, 011 account of the. interruption to his businoss, suffered a loss of £150. Tho jury found for the plaintiffs, awarding Mr:- Macaulay £750 and his wife' £200.

In the Law Courts, Messrs. Kynoch, the manufacturers of explosives, recently claimed £4023 in respect of cordito supplied to the War Office. The War Office asserted that the cordite contained porchloride _ of mercury, which prevented the application of certain tests showing how long the explosive would remain efficient, and claimed the right to terminate certain contracts. Messrs. Kynoch roplied that the perchloride was usesd for the purposes of »toriiisation. . In ; illustration of an argument a witness produced a stick qf cordito, much to tho alarm of many of the people, in Court, who did not know how harmless it was. Judgment was reserved.

In view,' doubtless, of the approach of Halley's obmet, the Lords Comimssioners of the Admiralty have intimated that they will, in the early spring, restore the tomb in which the great astronomer's .remains were placed, with those of his wife and daughter, at the old churchyard of St. Margaret's, Lee. Halley died in 1/42. Tho tomb bears an original inscription in Latin, and on. one side the" words have been added"Restored by the Lords Commissioners of the - Admiralty, March, 1854." Another Astronomer Royal, John Pond, was buried beside Edmund Halley in 1836. The remains. of John Flamsteed, first Astronomer • Royal, whom Halley succorded in the office, were interred in the same churchyard in tho;.year 1720, but all,trace of the grave is lost.

Field-Marshal Sir George White made a striking speech at a meeting of the Natiopal Service League in the Hampstead Town Hall. •'lt is," he said, "an open question with me whether we should havo : conscription or not, but the present time is peculiarly opportune for advocating preparedness ■ of' the country for war. This country has voluntarily taken the responsibility of defending the rights and liberties of 402,000,000 people, and for that awful" responsibility; we have a sm&lWr disposable army than little. Switzerland has. In trusting to the navy alone we are running a grave national risk. It is the of every citizen to be armed, equipped, trained, and ready for fight." ■ ' ' .

Hie 'well-known caves of Wookey Hole, in the ; Mendip Hills, near Wells, liavo yielded unequalled examples of 'the remains of prehistoric man and animals/ Hitherto, however, the great river .cr.vcrnhas yielded no-thing-of.'importarice, and* with the consent of the owner .(Mr. Hodgkinson), the Hcndip Research Club ha's undertaken, the. examination of the floor and recesses of the cavern, with the result that the finest : known: deposit, perhaps, 'of. the relics of the cave, dwellers, of the. period which, preceded and coinoided with the Roman occupation of Britain has been brought to light. Practically on the surface fragments of Roman/pottery, human.remains,, and occasional Roman coins in good preservation, have-.been discovered/ Slightly deeper, an interesting series/of bone, bronze, and iron objects were found, mixed; with, pottery and human and ariimal bones in abundance. Purely Roman ware is represented by a Samia'n bowl'and cover, and a; series of other typical forms, and a painted ewer of red ware.. .Fragments of several beautiful objects of glass of elegant design were also- found.

Among the most exhibits: in' the. County' Museum at Taunton lis tho reputed watch of.Richard Whiting,'the !last abbot of Gliistoflbury. .It .is of octagonarfohn, .and of; a ,very s .rare type, 'Tho. inside' of 'one of, the llidp'ii inscribed: " Richard,Whitiflge; 1636." This, valuable relic , was'bequeathed to the; : Sbmersetsh'ire : Archaeological Society, .by the ■late Mr. W.'Jerdone Braikenridg?, of Bath. ■Some of the objects found during tho exca- ■ vations at Maumbury Rings, Dorchester: (the so-called Roman' Amphitheatre)', are also temporarily, on view ; in i'.tho. Great .'Hall of. tho Castle. - They, are' the property,.of' the Drichy of Cornwall, ahd w'ill shortly .bo-deposited in tho Dorset. :J%eu,m'' ,at; The nine pick's, of'reel deer antlers' are'amoiig the .. .finest .specimens,'that have- ever.; been found.'" i v : -:

Canada, y A notable .figure passed out of Canadian pnblio life when Sir Henri Joly de Lotbinierd s; died. He was a.man of,..staittless honour,; of h unfailing courtesy, and much kindness,' and gained the affection as well as the.esteom' of n all sorts and conditions of men. lie was tho J" only Protestant to hold the Premiership of ° Quebec. His eldest son, a major in the Royal P Engineers, is on duty in India. X a The leading railways are giving. out orders 6 for rolling-stock, again. Two, thousand box ,® freight cars for the Grand Trunk Pacific are £ to be finished this year by the Canadd .Car t Company of. Montreal. The Grand Trunk B Company has ordered 1000 steel hopper coal cars. The Canadian. Pacific has ordered 500 t steel box cars, the first of their kind to'be j built in Canada, and at the Angus shops is a turning out about twenty wooden box cars o a day. The Canadian Northern also expects c to give largo orders in a short time. t The Government has commuted to impri- t sonment, for life the sentences of death c a&ssed on ''Crooked Neck" Smith and.: V. 1 ficoli, sentenced to be hanged in Montreal 5 on November 27. Thare iras a presumption J that each had retsou to expect , he would be i himself; killed when lie killed. his victim, f Smith is. a .notorious X*nited States criminal,- ; and came here with his victim, to pick pockets during the Quebec Tercentenary. Lord Northcoto, for 'the last five years ■. Govornor-General; of Australia, recently ar- ( rived in Winnipeg on the Imperial Limited i from the "West, accompanied, by Lady North- \ cote. The party was met by Second - Vice- ] President whyte, of the Canadian Pacific, by i ■whom they wore escorted to the vice-regal : apartments of the. Royal Alexandra Hotel. • The evening was spent at the hotel. . Sub- ,i seqently Lord Northcote was entertained by ■ Lieutenant-Governor M'Millan, and the party left on: the Soo train going east by way of St. Paul. The nature of tho position which . he has "held in the service of the Empire has prevented. Lord •' Northcoto from discussing public questions. For. this reason'lie was ' compelled to decline the invitation extended to him by the Canadian Club of Winnipeg. ', On his arrival/in 1 London he will make his final report as the Governor of Australia, and -whon this has been_ done lie will be. again free to give expression to; his personal ct nvictions. in such a manner as he may, choose.' ' Tor the same reason he also was unable to speak of Imperial matters to the representatives of the; press. Lieutenant H. H. Share, of tho Royal Navy, is accompanying Lord Nirthcote as secretary, 'and was with mm during his stay in Australia. ■ In Manitoba- the/beginning .of the .winter is'one of .tho milestones in the . progress of the business year. Liko the .rest, of the business world, we felt the effect of tho financial stringency of the past'yeai f , but \\e can. congratulate' ourselves that Manitoba felt it in a less damaging' degree than other communities subject to the world-wide influences' of international or inter-commercial: 'relations. ;-.-,.; -; Building enterprise in Winnipeg has' been less than during the last year, mit still of . satisfactory extent and, of dimensions greater than in other cities of similar size. .The Cn's-; toms returns and bank clearings have merely, shown the falling off that would reasonably follow a--period' of great development when the financial situation of the world must ne- ■ cess'arily affect every local situation.. , , Improred properties and centrally , : real estate' in, Winnipeg have, retained; their. ; quoted values,' and in . many' instances and in several localities have increased their market , price. ' . [ ' ■ The financial, situation in the' city .of TSin-i s. nipeg; municipality has'greatly improved, arid the earnest', sober; manner in which civil aM j- fairs a'hd : projects are now is v indi- ! cativo of a' better trend of- public feeling as j- to tho civic situation., . ; j' Tlie demonstration in the French island "of. St/, Pierre,-,Uying,-.off the, south coast; of New- : , foundland, " was .marked {by' some - curious.. fea-; 3 turesf .'A' mob of' one thousand .'men, pretty. I .well the,whole adult population <& the little, b rocky,.'barren island,' .paraded around: -the 1 i j hostile dembnstrati® 9 B^fe?H'B6' , -WT«rni6r , B. :. -aflfl :with X ' hvely-;:aColamatiori r >• the-/- - American' - Consul-.-, i There is no report of ;serioua : : rioting.-or ,'de{structioiv of, so. far. . ; .

■ Iridia.-... Trado depression, which lias been so widespread during the year, does not appear to have had much effect, on Calcutta. Goal con- , tinues in good demand. Jute mills- have madcj perhaps, smaller profits, owing to tlie '• lack of demand from North America, but South America has this year increased its purchasing'orders to a substantial extent, and even at the-present low value of lies- . sians, there is a manufacturing profit. , In spite of the short jute crop which has been forecasted by the iGovernriient, imports into . Calcutta have been, on a liberal scalo and shipments large. It need hardly be said that, the collapse of ' the Crown case in the Midriajbore conspiracy ; prosecution has produced a painful impression \ at this juncture. It is. felt that :tlie local . officials . have : bungled badly in being led-by over-zealous police officials.;. A-curious feature of the Anarchist'trial at Alipore is that the judge, Mr. Beachcroft, was' at the.same crammor's as the principal accused,,' Arabindo Chose, and passed into the Indian Civil Service, at the same examination, below him. Arabindo was subseguently ploughed in the : riding examination;-. It is. a curious, irony of \ fate that brings'them together all thew - years as judge and accused.. ; South. Africa. • „lii view of the falling off in railway re« - eoipts, due to the diversioir ; of trade to Dela- , goa Bay, it is interesting to; note that in the first nine months of last.year the imports of merchandise arriving in South Africa via Portuguese ports totalled £2,97.3,939,:whi1e the imports through British ports amounted to £16,863,524. This year.' 6 imports via' Portu.guese ports have grown to. £3,415,899, while. x thosa via British ports., liavo' dropped' by " rather more than two millions sterling. The increase has been almost entirely ,at the ex- , pense.of ;Natal. In-tlie through traffic to the X Rand, Cape. Colony has rather more than held .its.own; . -iv .X:.--- ■ vi'X ■; .. Tho Natal,Treasury;statement for. thefirst ..' ,quarter of.-the financial'year shows that 1 reX ceipts of revenue amounted to £802,704, aa ' compared with £303,050 for the; corresponding .period; of last iyear. ;• Among' .thein- : creases were:" Port ' and ? harbour, ' £25,558 to^, £34,139; £455,628 to £476,630 ;' ; and . among the. decreases Customs,-from £152,985 to £140,519; excise, from £12,845 to £11,472; fines, and fees, from £13,626 to £12;260); miscellaneous, from £20,877 to £13;546;. aild post and telegraph,"from £44,853 .t0"'£39,495.' ; Tho following are! the current prices of the . necessaries of/life-in NatalFlotirj 14a.;.. 6d;~. to''lßs. per 1001b.. Meat—Beef, Jfesh, ! 2d. : . to\.4d;. p?r lb.; ; 6alt, 3d. to 4d. per lb;; ;mut- . ton, 3d; to 6sd. per lb'. bages,. 6d.';'to 2s:.' 6d." per dozen'; beans,t.Bs.', '. 6d: to 145. : per 1001b.; beans, green, 'ldj to 1 4d. per/lot potatoes, table, 4s. 6d. .to 12s. ;i per'1001b;; ; sweet,-4s: to 6s. 6d.!-per : peas, green, Id. to 4d. per lot; dried, 9s. * per 1001b;; tomatoes,- 3d.',to' Dd;- per lofe. : i ; The discoveries of. tin in Natal promise; to. \ p, be relatively;as valuable as gold,has proved- . to" be in the Transvaal. The tin occurs in several lodes in schist forma-'. . tion:arid hematite, bars and pegmatito veins.' 'j. There is, said to lo an abundanco of good t water for. milling purposes in. the. two' rivers'.' that cut, through the. formation, in'.the "Mel-..' : moth .district, and the working, of the tin; it j is stated,, can be.carried out cheaply. ..' ; The... chief drawback to the locality;' however, ist tho -want of a railway.. .... : . -. - t ,-!■■ Yet another mine amalgamation is recorded V .in Transvaal. Tho Van Ryn Deep -has purchased tho ■ assets of tho Kleinfontei'n . ] Deep . for tho consideration of 529,587 new fully paid-up ..shares,' for which; purpose the. 2' .capital,of -Van Ryn Deep was increased "from. s £f85,000.. to-''£1)750,000.- X Development is; to' be proceeded'with as rapidly as'possible,,"and if .a:200 stamp-mill is to' be-erected/-together' with tube mills. ' I- x Presiding -at , the .anriuapmeeting; of .the y Rand'-' 'Agricultural; Society,'.- Mr.".; Lionel. *, Phillips- said that with liberal support it'. :e ; has been- able during the' year to construct ax a valued at- £3300. -.'Tho society's % assets i ivVre i: £20;000'); ( and ; 'tliB d.eb.t at .tile end', h ;of the ;/^ea¥ u £26oo.i - '-This' J ha'd^already;.;beeii : 1-.; reduced"t6 : ''£looo":.'Mr>-Phillips.';'paid.a , TCarin' j- - tribute-to the GbVernme'nt;. for.,, their' agricultural work. - - .- ... .. ' i "