NORTH BRITISH NOTES.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 927, 14 June 1877, Page 3

NORTH BRITISH NOTES.

The following items of Scottish news arc contained in the latest letter of the Edinburgh correspondent of the Otago Times : The Free Church has now over 1000 ministers, or more than twice as many as it had at the Disruption. The personal estate of the late Mr A. Keiller, the well-known Dundee manufacturer of marmalade and confectionery, who died at Gibraltar two months ago, has been proved under £203,110. It is equally divided between his two sons. The inventory stamp cost £3OOO.

I mentioned in my last the sale of the late Mr Eobert Napier's shipbuilding yards on the Clyde for £270,000. They were purchased by Dr. Anderson Kirkwood for a client, who is now said to be Mr "W. Denny, of Dumbarton. The floating of the company which proposes to turn Mr Napier's late residence at Shandon into a hydropathic establishment has been very successfully accomplished. The total amount of capital asked for from the public was £35,000, and the amount tendered was £50,000. The sale of Mr Napier's collection of objects of vertn commenced in London yesterday, and will occupy eleven days. Three thousand of the Clyde shipwrights struck on the 4th instant, for an increase in wages of a penny per hour. The total number of men employed in the shipbuilding yards on the Clyde is estimated at 12,000, and they receive an aggregate amount of wages varying from £BOO,OOO to £1,000,000 per annum.

The stoppage of the importation of cattle from the Continent, in consequence of the outbreak of the cattle-plague there, has produced stagnation in the comb-making industry at Aberdeen, where, up to that time, from 80,000 to 100,000 horns were weekly used in the manufacture of combs. In the current number of the " Nautical Magazine " there is an article by Sir Travers Twiss on marriages performed by shipmasters on the high seas, in which the learned writer maintains that such marriages are invalid when performed in English or Irish sliips, but legal when performed in a vessel owned in and hailing from Scotland. The liqxudation of the Western Bank of Scotland is now completed, and the remaining assets and liabilities, amounting to very small sums only, have been taken over by the National Bank of Scotland. The Times in its money article pronounces the report of the liquidators to be a model one. The liquidation has lasted nineteen years, and ils total expenses have been £118,797, of which £48,703 has been paid as salaries, and the balance as law and miscellaneous expenses. During the nineteen years liabilities to the amount of £6,134,405 have been paid off, and

calls made to the amount of £125 per share, yielding a gross total of £2,054,566, of which £877,177 has been returned. There is still a small surplus of about £II,OOO, which will allow a final return of about 15s per share to the shareholders.

Thos. Edward, the "Scottish Naturalist," whom Mr Smiles has rendered famous, was presented with 333 sovereigns in a handsome olive-wood casket, at Aberdeen, on March 21st. The presentation was made on behalf of the subscribers by the Lord Provost. Edward's speech in acknowledgment of the gift was made in " broad Doric," and was of a ve.iy amusing character. Towards the end of it, he discovered that there were reporters present and at work, whereupon lie abruptly stopped, and turning to the Lord Provost, said that if he had known that those "loons " were there he would not have spoken a word. The Lord Provost explained (hat reporters were always present at public meetings, to which Edward rejoined, " I wid lock them oot." Then, turning to the reporters, he said —"This is my first appearance, min,' and if you dinna mak it a' richt, I'll ." The remainder was conveyed by a significant shake of the head. On leaving the platform, also, Edward shook his fist with a meaning gesture at the reporters, who shared the general amusement at Edward's consternation on finding that his words were being taken down.