BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 817, 14 May 1910, Page 15

BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

NEWS SUMMARY. THE ROYAL MAUNDY GIFTS. CEREMONY AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY. London, April 1. Tlio annual picturesque ceremony of presenting the Royal inaundy gifts to a number of old men corresponding to the years of the King's age, and to the sanio number of ol<r women, took place- at Westminster Abbey. There was a very large congregation, which included several members of tho Royal Family. At ono o'clock the procession was formed, consisting of the Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal, the ecclesiastical dignitaries, the lord High Almoner, and the Yeomen of the Guard, one of whom carried tho dish containing the alms. From tho nave tho precession passed into tho choir, the alms being placed on a table at tho foot of tho stairs leading to the sacrarium. At tho conclusion of the first portion of tho service the first distribution was proceeded with, this consisting of an allowance of 355. to each woman and 455. to each man. The second distribution followed after the anthem, and consisted of a red purse containing £1 in gold, representing part of tho maundy, and XI Ills., an allowance in lieu of provisions, and a purse containing as many pence as the King is years of age, and given in. silver pennies, tivopences, threepences, and fourpences. LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION'S RECORD. Forty-eight thousand eight hundred and twenty-one is the total number of lives saved from shipwTeck by the' Royal National Lifeboat Institution,, which is celebrating shortly the jubilee of tho "ranting of its Royal charter by the lato Queen Victoria. The institution has made tremendous strides since its birth on March 4, 1524. The first year's figures provide an interesting comparison with those for 1909:— - . 1821. , 1909. Lives saved. 124 ...... 644 Lifeboats ~.. 12 ...... 281 The total number of lives saved annually fluctuates greatly. For instance, in ISG9 tho institution saved the largo number of 1231 lives, whereas >in the following vear the number had decreased to 754. The rewards paid by the institution last year amounted to. X 13.447, including eight silver medals and clasps, one decoration, fifteen binocular glasses, besides.a number of other rewards.'

THE WHITE CITY. , The Anglo-Japanese Exhibition at Shepherd's Bush is fast progressing towards completion./ The rough plan of • the beautiful garden, modelled after that at the palace of Katsum Rikyo, near Kyoto, has already boon finished, and the two acres of ground near the Wood-lane entrance, which has been given up to the representation, has already been transformed, as if by magic, with hills and ponds, quaint bridges, waterfalls, and trees. Two beautiful examples of Japanese architecture are now ready—one a magnificent copy of the gorgeous Temple gale at Kyoto, made of unpolished cedar wood, with black lacquer panels and gilt bosses. In the other sections, too, work is well forward.

ROMAN SHIP DISCOVERED. A portion of a burnt and mud-buried ship lias just been discovered in the harbour near Christchurch, Hampshire. It was thought at first to bo part of a Viking ship, but further' excavations having since been made and articles found, it is now believed to be Roman. A small incense cup or vnso was among the burnt timber, and this was sent to the British Museum for examination, with thu result (that Mr. C. H. Rend replied that it was of : Ronian.:date. l '- Altogether..more- than twenty.articles—iron, bronze, and pottery —have been found, along with fragments of humnn remains. .The small cup or vase is of-bright red ware, like Samian, and wheel-turned. It is ono of the smallrst incense cups found in England of Roman make, being 2 5-Sin. in diameter and 3!|in. high, while the neck is lin. long. It is of very graceful outline and proportion.

LONDON'S FIRES. / According' to the annual report of the chief officer of tho London Fire Brigade, no fewer than 103 people were burned to death in 1909, ten more than in tho previous year. Mfty-two of the deaths were of children until twelve years old. Tho brigade attended a total number of 3197 fires (forty-ono less than in 190S), and of these sixty-two wero classed as serious. Considerable interest attaches to tho return giving the causes of the fires. The following occupy foremost places in the list:- •'. " Lights carelessly dropped Eiß ' Sparks from fires 231 Children playing with lire.... 202 Accidents with candles 129 Defectivo flues 127 Escape of gas 100 Defective electric circuits ... 95 Upsetting of oil lamps S3 CORONERS' LAW. The second report has just been published of tho Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into tho law relating to coroners and coroners' inquests, and into tho practico of coroners' courts. There aro many recommendations in the report, special importancs being attached to tho following three—Abolition of franchise coroners, payment by salary instead of fees, bestowal on a central authority of a power to make rules of practico and procedure. Other important recommendations aro that coroners should bo retired at G5 years of age, that tho verdict of felo de se should bo abolished; that only barristers, solicitors, or medical men should bo appointed coroners; and that a coroner should bo empowered to accept the verdict of three-fourths of tho jury. Certificates of death should not be accepted unless a doctor states that he has by personal inspection of the body satisfied himself as to tho cause of death. Viewing the body by the jury should bo dispensed with as a rule.

A DEVIL'S ISLAND FUGITIVE. Upon the arrival recently of the Mauretania at Liverpool from New lork a Frenchman was arrested on a charge of being an escaped prisoner from the Devil's Island, the French penal settlement in French Guiana. The man is alleged to be a desperate criminal, and it is Btated that he was sentenced to imprisonment for life for attempted murder a few years ago, and that this is his third escape from prison. Tho Devil's Island will be remembered in connection with the Dreyfus caso, aud with the adventures of Guerin, who, after his escapo thence, was one of the principal figures in a dramatic shooting affray which took placo in London some time ago.

ROYAL ROMANCE. A Royal wedding will probably take place in England in August, when Prince Victor Napoleon and Princess Clementina of Belgium will be married at Farnborough. This arrangement has been made owing to the wish expressed by the Empress Eugenie to be present at tin ceremony. Elaborate festivities will be planned for the occasion. The lovo story of Prince Victor and the Princess Clementine extends over many years, but. until the dealh of King Leopold diplomatic reasons'prevented their marriage. Prio'.v> Victor is a claimant to the French throne, and while '/Princess Clementine was the daughter of the reigning monarch in Belgium, King Leopold always insisted that' such a union would be distinctly disadvantageous to Belgium. Now, however, that the Princess is simply •> cousin of the reigning monarch, (his drawback to the marriage has been removed.

FORCIBLE FEEDING. Considerable interest has been aroused by a letter to the profs from the Earl of L'ytton. brother or Ihc Suffragist. Lady Constance Lvtton, replying to Sir Edward Troup, who, on behalf of the Home Secretary, recently denied the truth of Lady Constanco'e atntonioufcs as to hor treatment yrhsa. confined in Liverpool Prison,

Lord Lytton states Hint ho lioped, by a friendly intervention, to secure an impartial, inquiry, but the Homo Office, refused on the grounds that the prison officials had already been closely interrogated, and that, as they denied the charges, no useful purpose would ua served by granting- his request. t>o amount of denial, he says, can get over the fact that Lady Constance was released from Newcastle Prison as suffering from "serious heart disease," but that when imprisoned in Liverpool as "Jane Warton," a seamstress, she was forcibly fed eight times, and jio symptoms of heart disease, according to the medical officer's report, were disclosed by examination. TUB I.L.F. AND INDIA. .Some excitement was caused at tho conference of the Independent Labour party by a resolution proposed by Mr. Keir Hardic, M.P., of an "1.L.r." for India, and a fiery harangue from Balm Bipin Chandra ]'al, the founder of tho notorious "Bande-Jlataram" native newspaper at Calcutta, which was suppressed by tho Indian Government. Mr. Chandra Pal bitterly attacked the Rajah of Burd»van, a member of the Indian Council, who recently spoke in unappreciativo terms of jir. Keir Htmlie.' "There is no name dearer among the present generation of Englishmen to an Indian car," he said, referring to Mr. Keir Bardie, "than that of the 'Sirdir of the White Coolies.'" A resolution that the conference believed "that before any effective redress is secured it will be necessary to build up an organisation in India having the same objects as the Labour movement in this country" was unanimously agreed to. EMPIRE TRIBUNAL. Before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council—the Supreme Tribunal of Empire—the appeal was heard of a Hamburg merchant named Wertheim from a judgment of the Court of King's Bench for Quebec. The appellant claimed damages from tho Chicoutimi Pulp Company for breach of a contract whereby tho company was to deliver at Chicoutimi, between certain specified dates, 3000 tons of moist wood pulp. The breaches alleged were delay of delivery, deficiency in weight, and inferiority of quality. The appellant sought to recover at the rate of 275.,Cd. per ton, but tho Court below awarded him ss. per ton on 2000 tons, Their lordships dismissed the appeal, but added that tho judgment appealed from should bo amended by being increased by .£2so.—"Standard of Empire."