BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1472, 21 June 1912, Page 3

BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

LONDON SUMMARY,

NAVAL AEROPLANES. London, May 10. Naval aeroplanes have been coming much to the fore during the visit of the licet to Weymouth. No fewer than six flying machines ha to. been performing ovohttions in the air and making some very fine flights. The greatest interest has attached, perhaps, to the performances of Commander Samson's hydro-aeroplane, which rises into the air from the surface of the water, and can propel itself nlong the water in calm weather. The battleship Hilwrnia has been fitted on the forward deck with a platform from which aeroplanes can make ascents.

Orders have now been given for sixty aeroplanes to bo delivered for the use of the Army and Navy. Although the United Kingdom is still far behind France and Germany in this respect; the announcement iviH give some satisfaction to those specially interested in questions of defence. It is understood that as soon as a sufficient number of naval and military aviators has been trained, forty more machines ivill bu ordered, to bring the total up to a hundred. Among those ordered recently are included six British Deperdnssin monoplanes, five Short biplanes a'nd monoplanes, four ItowardFlanders monoplanes, three A. V. Roe biplanes, one Bristol monoplane, and one Cody biplane. The hydro-aeroplane, upon which naval experts have been engaged, has made rapid progress. As soon as the Government is satisfied that it meets the requirements of the Navy, a large number of machines will lie ordered without delay.

ROYAL EXILE'S HOME SOLD. The Wood Norton and Bishampton estates of the Due d'Orleans have been disposed of, the purchaser being Sir Charles Swinfen Eady, better known as Jlr. Justice Swinfen Eady. The Due d'Orleans is the head of the BourbonOrleans family, and is claimant to the throne of France. The late Due d'Aumale purchased the Wood Norton estate from tho lale Jir. Edward Holland, the last Liberal M.P. for the borough of Evesham, when the Orleans Princes were first expelled from France. On (lis death of tho Due d'Aumale in 1807 the estates descended to tho present Due d'Orleans, whosu father, the Comte do Paris, had pre'deceased his uncle, the Due A Aumale. Wood Norton was in the public eye as recently as October, lftlO, when tho fino mansion became the temporary home of King Manoel and Queen Amelie of Portugal, on their exile from their country.

LONGEST DROUGHT ON RECORD. After the longest absolute drought on record, ono day longer than that of last summer, showers fell in London, nnd other parts of the country on Saturday, May i. Tho rainfall' was small, but it was tho first measurable amount recorded at Greenwich since April 9. There have only been two months in London during the last 200 years with a smaller amount of rain ■ than 0.02 in., which was the aggregate measurement at Greenwich for April. These are December, 17S8, and September, ISOi, in both of which two months no measurable rain fell. The total amount of rain at Greenwich from March 23 till May 4, a period of forty-one days, was 0.09 in. In Cambridgeshire the continued drought has had a very detrimental effect upon the crops. The hay crop has been practically ruined, and orchards are suffering. In the market gardening districts much inconvenience is being experienced, and a vegetable famine is threatening. The supplies are already very short, and water supplies are failing in the Pens.

LOST' ,£4.000,000 WILL. . A sensation has been caused in -North Wales by tho operations of mysterious visitors to the ruins of Valle Crucis Abbey, Llangollen, who are supposed to be searching for the will of Anthony Pritchard, whose vast estate, valued at .£4,000,000, went into Chancery 100 years' ago in the absence'of a will or next-of-kin. 'me wilt was.supposed to have been left in the cus'to'dy'bf a'caretilkef na'rrted Jonjs,' but after Pritchard's death it mysteriously disappeared, and alaimants to the estates have been hunting for it ever since. Some years ago the grave of the caretaker Jones, who appears to have exercised a weird fascination over Pritchard during his life, was twice dug up at midnight, and the coffin, was searched for tho will, Which, however, was tot found. Excavations appear to have been made at the abbey during the absence of the guardians, but whether anything has been discovered it remains to be seen.

REMBRANDT FOR U.S.A. It is stated that Lord Feveishani has sold his Rembrandt portrait of a merchant to Mr. H. C. Friek, of New York, for approximately ,£50,000. The picture was one of the features or the Kembrnmlt Exhibition at Burlington House in 1899. It is a three-quarter length of an elderly man of about fifty to sixty years of age, dressed in a dull, dark blue coat, with a long white neck-cloth with red at the ends,. and a brown hat bound with red. Ho is seated at a table near a window, in the act of composing a letter which he holds with both hands, in the right of which is a pen;.the evening sky is seen through the window. Above the head is a Latin inscription. The artist's signature is on the right arm of (ho chair, and tho dale is 1G59. It is generally known as "The Dutch Merchant," and has besn in Lord Feversham's family for about IGO years.

EXCLUDED FROM COMMUNION. The question whether a clergyman of the Church of England can refuse Holy Coimmmion to a person v;ho has married his deceased wife's- sister is now being considered by the House of Lords. Mr. Banister, a parishioner at Eaton, in Mho diocese of Norwich, married his deceased wife's sister in Canada just before the Royal Assent was given to the Deceased .Wife's Sister Act. When he and his wife returned home Canon Thompson, the vicar of Eaton, refused to admit them to Communion. The matter came before tho Court. of Arches and Canon Thompson was admonished not to repeat his conduct. In order to bring tho matter before' the civil courts. Canon Thompson ttien obtained a rule nisi against tho Dean of Arches, but a majority of the Divisional Court which heard the rule decided against him. The Court of Appeal affirmed this deefsion, and. Canon Thompson foas now appealed to tho House'of Lords.

GHOST STORY IN COURT. In tho course of an application for the presumption of the death of Archibald Scott, heard in Dumfries Sheriff's Court, evidence of a strange vision was given. Archibald Scott went to Australia in 1851, during the gold rush, and v;as lost sigbt of. Mrs. Jane Debenham said that the missing man was her father. All efforts to trace him in Australia had failed. His eldest sister, Sybella, many years ago told her that she was taking a walk with ber father one summer evening, and along the path, coining towards them, she saw her brother Archibald dressed in the same check suit which he used to wear. She was a little behind her father, and in passing Iho figure never spoke, and sho turned round to look and make sure. The figure also turned in passing, and ■ then disappeared. She was certain her brother Archibald had died at the very hour she had seen the vision. The presumption of death was declared.

TRADE IN APRIL. According to the Board of Trade returns for April imports during the month amounted tb J.'(io,'tl4,ooo, an increase of J:5,54(i,000, or 10.5 per cent.; the exports were .£32,887,00(1, a decrease of .£2,805.000, or 7.8 per cent., while re-exports totalled ,£10.081.000, an increase of .£595,000, or 0.2 per cent. The increase in tho value of raw cotton landed was ,£■3,172,000'. As regards exports, the influence of the coal strike is noticeable, and some of the leading industries appear to have suffered considerably. Almost, all the leading articles of export are lower, the chief item being coal, shipments of which only amounted to .C 1.005,COO, representing n fall of or nearly (!G per cent. The next industry in point of loss was that of iron and steel, which, with an exportation of i'2,0C7,000, showed a decline of .£1,041,000. Cotton goods decreased to the extent of .£20:1,000, and woollen bv ,£531.000, whilst chemicals showed a fall of .£135,000, Under tho head of "new shins" there was a. small shrinkage of "Standard of Empire."