BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1329, 5 January 1912, Page 6

BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

LONDON SUMMARY. DEVASTATION BY FLOODS. London, November 21. Thousands of an-i* of low-lying land in Kent, Surrey, Yorkshire, ami Sus-ox liavi! been under watiT a> the result: of :i downpour of rain which continued l'or 48 hem's. The valley oi Ilio Midway in particular siiD'on'd grratlv owin 1 ,' to tho vising of tho river, vihicli' in snv«rnl instances c-iit oil villas;'-; from railway communication. At Tuiibridgi! (Kent) the Hood rose to (hi! upper stories of some <if tlia hmisi's, and people wont about in boats to get" provisions. Many points of north-east Yorkshire, which ten days ago cried out l'or water, also sulieren from tho floods. At liarnsley the hank at the. end of the ao,ucdm;l of the Airo and Caldcr Canal Company gave way, and tons of water poureil into the valley below, doinjj enormous damage.

KPIDKMIC Of JEWEL THEFTS. A mysterious theft of jewellery, valued at i:150(l, from the shop of u London pawnbroker, is the sixth case of jewel robbery reported to Ihe police within a few days. Other victims of robbers ami their losses are: Viscountess Musscrcene, a .£2OOO diamond tiara; llarrods Stores, a 412000 emerald pendant; Miss Lilian Braitliwnite, jewels worth-JE-IOOO; Mr. 1-;. L. Lawrence, West End jeweller, .£1000; and Lady Hastings D'Oyly, gems worth .£700.' In the last-named case two men aro under remand at Folkestone. At the Old Dai ley William Lee, described as u most daring thief, was sentenced to three years' penal servitude and five years' police supervision for stealing .£3200 worth of jewels last September from a traveller's brougham in a London suburb.

SAILORS FOR AUSTRALIAN NAVY. The Admiralty is inviting volunteers for the Australian Navy, 1680 officers and men bomg required out of a total for the fleet unit of 2500. The remainder of the men will be recruited in Australia. The men to bo selected will lie engaged to serve in tho Australian fleet for a period of three years. In selecting applicants for the various posts, preference will lie given to those who are within a limited period of the expiry of their respective terms of naval service, so that they may compete for permanent places in tho Australian Navy on the completion of tho three years' service. Tho officers who aro to be lent will draw Australian rates of pay and allowances while in the Commonwealth naval service, but will not receive pay from the Mother Country during such time. .£120,000 PURCHASE. The Earl of Plymouth, it is officially announced, has purchased tho Crystal Palace with its grounds, and will "hold the property until such time as the public have subscribed sufficient money for it to bo bought from him on behalf of the nation. The price which Lord Plymouth will pay on completion will be' <t2t0,000. The public-spirited action of tho Earl of Plymouth has saved the Palace for the natiou, and has prevented the first exhibition building from falling into the housebreaker's' hands and the grounds from being cut up for building purposes. The terms of purchase are understood to be that the Earl of Plymouth, uuder a contract entered into with tho first debenture, holders, has paid tho sum of .£20,000 into tho'bank, and that he will actually complete the purchasebefore October 31 1012.

81-LONDON RAILWAY SCHEME. Tho London and North-Western Railway have announced a groat scheme by winch it will enter into the competition i'or London suburban traffic. The North London Railway is to bo electrified, and electric trains w,ill lo run from Watford to Broad Street Station. Several new stations between London and Watford will bo opened. There is to l>c a new tube railway from Queen's Park Station, forming a'a extension of the Baker Street and Waterloo Liiio, and linking up tho whole tube system with / tho North-Western trunk lines, 'i'nn scheme will make Broad Street the centre of a vast passenger traffic, which will,become greater still when tho .Central London Railway's extension to Broad Street is completed. Watford is seventeen and a half miles from London, and tho new arrangements should bo of valuo in opening up fresh districts and helping to check the overcrowding in some of tho North London suburbs.

UNSINKABLE BATTLESHIP. The great battleship Centurion, which was launched at Devonport on Saturday, is practically unsuitable. An exceptionally large number of bulkheads have been introduced into her construction, and so many are her water-tight compartments ■ that even if she were torpedoed she wonld bo hardly likely to sink. She is one of the most completely armoured battleships afloat, and can firo a broadside of ten guns, tho projectiles sent hurtling through the air weighing some 12,5001b. Her length is 596 ft., and the engines are designed for a speed of 21 knots. She is the ninth British warship to bear the name of Centurion.

A BUDGET CASE. In the Court of/Appeal judgments hive bsen delivered in connection with the appeals brought by the Attorney-General from decisions regarding the issue of Terms IV and VIII by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue under tho Finance Act, 1910. The judges dismissed both appeals, and ruled that the requirements of Form IV,. so far as occupying owners are concerned, were unauthorised and imposed no obligation on the owner. They held (hat Form VIII was really waste paper. It related to no specific land, and imposed no kind of obligation. DREADNOUGHT TRAGEDY. Tho funeral has taken placo at Berehaven of Commander Frederic G. Brine, of tho-super-Dreadnought St. Vincent, who lost liis liio under tragic circumstances. The vessel was battling with a lierco gale which was met on rounding Land's End. and mountainous seas washed fore and aft. Early in the morning the commander was informed that the port-accommodation ladder, still hanging on the ship's side, was ]>eing broken up hy tho sea, and ho immediately went on deck to see if it could l« secured and brought on dock; Less than a minute later, as he was examining the ladder, a gigantic wave crashed on board, and swepL him off the ship in full view of tho crew. Lifebuoys wero flung to him with lightning speed,' but misted him. The commander managed to divest himself of most ul' his clothes in his tight for life. Boats were lowered, but the unfortunate officer was picked up just too late. The commander had only just received news of his promotion to the rank of captain. LOWEST BIRTH RATE. TliP birth rale for England andWalee,' tho lowest on record for the third quarter of the year since tho establishment of civil registration, is recorded in tho returns recently issued by tho KegistrarGeneral for the third quarter of this year. In f.ho t'nitod Kingdom 2"i,G'>s births and..173.105 deaths wen- regHorcd in Ilio'quarter, the natural increase in population being, therefore. IIM,,V>O. Thn birth ralo was 21:: i nor Ihoiismd. and' Uie dentil rute 15.2 per thou.-and of the estimated population (45,311,07K). The births registered in England and Wales numbered 222,(i0t. or 24.1 per thousand of the estimated population C16.1fi5.750). this figure being 2.9 per thousand Itelow the mean rate for thn ten preceding third quarters of tho year, and tho lowest: on record for any third quarter since civil registration begun. The deaths registered in England and Wales numbered 140,95(5, or 15.S per thousand, this rate being 1.7 per thousand above the mean rale in the ten preceding third quarters.

1360 FATAL'MIXING ACCIDENTS. During 1910 there wcro no fewer than 1360 separate fatal mining accidents, involving the loss of 1902 lives—an increase of 325 fatalities on 190 P. The increase is due. lo the disasters at Whitehaven ami the Hulton Colliery, whereby respectively 136-and 314 persons lost their lives. Tho Blue Book which gives theso figures also, shows that the total number of people employed during last, year at mines aud quarries.in the United Kingdom was 1,163,!)20, a net increase of 37.518 ;as •compared with the preceding year. From IS.II lo 191(1, each t|iiimiueiiiiiiil porioil (except thai: for l!)0(i-10), shows a steady decrease-in the loss 'of life per ICOII persons employed. The rate lor the livo years ended l!M0 was 1.-llli, as comnnm'l with 1.301 loi" Him fiyi- years ended 18.15.—"Standard of Empire."

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