NOTES FROM SCOTLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 88

NOTES FROM SCOTLAND.

(Ffiost Ora Own Correspondent.) EDINBURGH, January 2. THE HOLIDAY SEASON.

Chiistmas Day in Edinburgh and Glasgow was a fine, braoing day — a great impro\ement upon preceding days of gloomy log and biting east wind. In Aberdeen, however it rained all day, an-d in Dundee the letter half of the day was wet. In the ! two former cities many of the shops were ! shut early in the afternoon, while a number of churcftes held services, and church bells ranpf out merrily, tfiviner quite an. English chaiacter to the clay, which was further heightened by the arrival of thousands of English tourists. There are few now to protest, publicly at an.y rate, at the recognition of this festival, which is steadily making way m Sootland. In Glasgow the thirty-eighth Christmas dinner was Riven to 3000 of the poor in the City Hail, the Lord Provost presiding. The guests, 'among whom old women predominated, seemed to greatly enjoy the fare, which consisted of beefsteak pie, plum pudding, and coffee. All over the country somewhat similar entertainments were provided for the local pool*. At the Post Office tho habitual pressure prevailed, and although precise figures are not yet forthcoming, it is announced that all previous records were broken. At the Edinburgh General Post Office there were employed about 20 men to obliterate the 6tamp6 on letters and post-cards at the rate of 200 letters per man per minute, besides a machine which did the same work at the rato of 600 per minute. A good many apprentices from different trades, besides students and schoolboys, were pressed into the work of sorting and distributing the letters. Nevertheless, in sipte of the energy display od by the entire staff, the ordinary eight hours' day extended to 12 hours for meet of the hands, while there were come men on duty for 24 consecutive hours. In the parcels department the pressure was equally heavy. On December 24 there were 32,000 parcels dealt with at Glasgow, and over 30,000 in Edinburgh. After Christmas Day the weather became much colder, with repeated snowfalls, and though the 6novv is not now lying in the towns, it is doing 6O over most of the face of the country, and is about sin deep on tho hills. New Year's Day was dull, with an east wind, but was dry and 6teady, to the great comfort of the swarms of holidaymakers. The usual crowds, assembled around the Iron Church, and ushered in the new year in the customary boisterous fashion, their shouts drowning the striking of the clock. On thp whole, however, there was rather le6S drinking than U6ual, and it was speoially a relief to see fewer evidences of drunkenness on the part of girls — . one of the most degrading sights to be witnessed anywhere. Reports from Glasgow and the other principal towns are afeo better than usual in regard to this matter, though there is still ample room for further mv provemont. A few church services wer^ held in the cities, but tho attendance a* these was only moderate. The absence of 6erious crime' during the holiday season is tin's year as noticeabie a*r it is gratifying. PRINCIPAL RAINY' S BIOGRAPHY. The Rev. P. Carnegie Simpeon. of Glaagow, to whom the task of writing what may be called the official biography of the late Principal Rainy has been committed, has written to the newsapers stating that the " mass of correspondence" placed in his hands deals almost entirely with public matters. As, however, Dr Rainy's biocraphy " must illustrate other aspects of his life and character besides that of the public ecclesiastic," Mr Simpson would " greatly value some of his letters of a jnore personal description, dealing with general human interests or with .personal religion, such as letters of personal consolation (of which he wrote a very large number) or of counsel." Mr Simpson asks for such letters, or copies of them, to be entrusted to him for perusal and use at his discrpHon. Without this element, it needs scarcely be said, the biography will be so dry that no one will care to road it. save persons whose names I are mentioned in it. Mr Simpson's address 16 3 Victoria terrace, Glasgow, W. SCOTLAND AND NAVAL DEFENCE. Great satisfaction has been caused by Ihe announcements — -first made by Lord Twoedmouth, the First Lord of the Admiralty, when addressing a public "meeting at Duns, Berwickshire — that the Government purposes proceeding as early as possible with the construction of the naval j base at Rosyth. For five years or so this scheme has hung fire, in spite of continual pressure brought to bear upon both the last Government and the present one. The manifest determination of Germany to push on her naval preparations, and the undertaking by her of very extensive naval works on her North Sea coa6t, seem to \ui\ c at least routed our Government to action, and naval o-xperts declare that aheatly far foo much time has ben Jost. For wrap time a caisson has been in process of being- sunk in the eea bod at Rosyth. and it is io go down to a depth lof 108 ft. A bed of stiff boulder clay oxHts at the spot, and borings indicate that it is sufficiently thick to bear tl.e weight of any wall that may be built upon ii for the projected docks. So far as it is at present elaboratod, the scheme proiidps for a lock 850 ft long, givins: entrance to a. basin 52^ acres in area, and a <rra.\ ing dock capablp of receiving men-of-war of the largest =izc. The total length of the quays will Ijp about 6000 ft. They will accommodate 22 warships, or 44 if thp.sp are double-banked. There will br> a rlopth of 36ft of water at all tides. All the works indiea-toH will be capable of easy extension. According to Lord Twopdmouth, they will occupy 10 in completion. It is impossible in the meantime to estimate probable cost. The situation of Rosvth for an undertaking of tho kind rs looked upon a-s an idoal one. The railway and nautical facilities arc of tho best, coal and valuable stone abound close by and ship-repairing-facilities are to be had at Leith, Granton. and other place*. Tho strategic position of tho Foith, in the altered state of political affairs, is of tho very highest importance. The authorities seem to recognise this, and in addition to fortifying Inchkeith they are now replacing the heavy guns at the" fort on Ivinghorn Nees onposite -with more modern ordnance. Sir W. Arrol, ,vho built the Forth bridge, and knows the locality as well as any living man. is enthusiastic about Rosyth, and says that he knows, from his experience at the Forih budge, that no great difficulty will be encountered in carrying out the works. He urgos that Inverkcithing Bay should al=o be acquired, dredged, and "made a

harbour of refuge and repair for the mosquito fleet. No doubt this will be done in time. The bay looks as if it were made for the purpose. On the Clyde also the Admiralty is moving. It has gh en notice to Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, the owner of the land, of its intention to take possession of ground immediately adjoining Fort Matilda, at the western extremity of Greenock. for the purpose of erecting a torpedo factory on it. From this it 16 assumed that it purposes carrying out ita 6cheme for establishing a torpedo range in Loch Long, as I related several months ago. At the present time so much torpedo practice is going on lower down the Firth of Clyde, below the Cumkaes. that the fishermen are making concerted complaint? that their opeiations are much interfered with. I fear they will find that they will just have to make the best of it. There undeniably is an unea.sy feeling abroad, and no one is disposed to 'iut any difficulties in the way of making the naij us efficient as possible. DULL TIMES. Lord Roseberj has informed the tenants on his fi-v c estates in Midlothian and West Lothian that, on account of the bad hai\e«t. ho has decided to allow them an abatement of from 20 to 30 per cent, off their rents for the year. This represents a total reduction of "about £3000. On the Clyde employment is exceptionally scarce in most industries, while in Glasgow the payment of the city poor rates is £7000 behind what it flas'a jear ago. In spite of these facts the men in the shipbuilding industiv are discussing coming out in a general strike — a step which would be simply madnet>«. In Aberdeen there are many complaints of dull tra-cle and insufficiency of employment. The slackness is most felt in the building: and granite trades, and in shipbuilding. FRIGHTFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT One of the busiest bits of railway in Sootland is that which connects Uap.sgow and Paisley, and is worked jointly by the Caledonian and Glasgow and South-Western Companies, whose lines run side by side mo«t of the way. On this section a terrible accident occurred on December 4, at a point about half a mile east of Cardonald, the first station towards Glasgow, coming from Paisley. A gang of nine men were repairing the line, when they were warned of the approach of a passenger train from the west. They stepped out of the way on to the adjoining loop line, when at the same instant an unattached engine dashed into the midst of them. The foreman and one of the men, ,n some way unknown to themselves, got out of the way, but the seven other men were instantaneously killed. The body of one of them was literally cut in tno. The accident occurred in broad daylight, between 9 and 10 a.m., but the survivors say that the cloud of steam emitted from the engine of the passenger train completely hid the other, engine from sight and all was o\ er in a moment. The train was on the main upline, and the unattached engine on the loop up-line. The bodies were at once conveyed to Paisley, where consternation had already been caused by tidings of the accident. Six of the killed belonged to Paisley, and judging from their names, were nearly all Iri.-h. Four of them wore married, and one leases four children. DIFFICULTIES WITH EMIGRANTS. j Though we are now in the depth of venter large numbors of emigrants frcn I the Ci'fAnent ha\e been ciossing Scotland and re-bhipping on the Clyde for America. They are for the most part from Ru^ia, and their dense ignorance of maritime affairs and their pig-headed obstinacy ha\e been i giving no little trouble to those who were • responsible for their shipment. Some 250 Russians who were to sa.l by the Anchor ■ liner Astoria from Sto! cross quaj , Glasgow , ' absolutely refused to go on board, though 70 Maccdon ans did so. The Russians ! walked about all night, and then weut back to their boarding-houses. The A«tona sailed without them, and their luggage had ■ to be brought back from Greenock, whither I 'it had been sent on. The reason for j their conduct is very curious. They could not go by the Astoria because she has ' only two funnel, but they signified their , readiness to go by the Columbia, which has three funnels. It seems that the pictures i 6hown to them by emigration agents in I their native country were of steamers with ■three funnels, and they thought they were ; being imposed upon and subjected to risk by having what they believed to be an inferior vessel provided for them. It seems , that on a former occasion a.~iiumber of Bosnian emigrants who were taken to Greenock refused to go on board the tender , which was to take them out to the liner in the roadstead. They imagined there j was a plot to send them across the Atlantic , in the tender, and a great, deal of talking was required to disabuse them of the idea. . The financial crisis in America has naturally had a very damaging effect upon industry in that country, with the result that a great many men have been thrown out of employment. Most of these seem to be foreigners. Great numbers of Italians have returned to Italy via England, -while hundreds of Austnans and a still larger number of Germans came to Glasgow, whence they were sent on to Grimsbv to re-shit there for Hamburg. One shipload alone numbered 1000, who were sent on in two huge corridor trains. From Stobcross quay to the railway station their luggage was carried in 40 lornes. they themselves following on foot. In Eng- , land the tide of returning Germans 13 j reaching great dimensions — so much so • that it is estimated that by the end of January no less than 189,000 of them will , have repatriated themselves, there being at the present time a great demand for labour jn Germany. I I have omitted to mention that the d.50 Russian emigrants who gave so much trouble at Glasgow sailed a week later in the Anchor liner California, -which lias three funnels. Their stupid ignorance must have cost somebody a pretty penny. BIG STEAMER ASHORE IN THE TAY. The new steamer Ulimaroa, of 3600 tons. built at Dundee for Messrs Huddart, Parker, and Co., Melbourne, andjutended to tub between Australia and New Zealand, had an inauspicious opening to her career. She had left dock for the first time for various teats, though it was a foggy day, and was in charge of a pilot, when she collided with a large buoy mark- * — ~Z« fairway off Broughty Ferry. The ■ouoy waa carried away, and became entangW with the steamer's rudder, causing

her to swing round, and ehe ran upon the beach not many yards from the roadway. As the tide was ebbing 6he remained fast, and eventually was dry for a gcod part of -her length, with 6ft of water at the etern. The unwonted sight attracted a groat many people to the spot.' On thefollowing day a strenuous effoit was made to refloat the steamer. Tho first attempt failed, but ultimately she was got off. and returned to the dock under her own steam, apparently none the worse for her mishap. HOLYROOD RESTORATION. The hope entertainrd that., after all. the £40,000 bequeathed by the late Earl of Leven and Melville for the restoration of Holyrood Chapel might »t ill bo .uailable is now finally extinguished. The Restoration Committee, of whom the Kail of Stair is president, wrote to tho tiu>toi>b appointed under Lord Le\en's will, stating; that the e\ idence obtained 6ho\i<d that restoration i 6 perfectly practicable, and in sing: the trustees to approach his Majesty the King and ask his permission to have it carried out m the manner directed hv his JjOidship. The trustees replied, through thensolicitors, a London firm. ,o the effect that, after taking counsel's opinion as to their legal position, they regretted to say that the fund in question was not a\ailable. and rau-t, they were advised, fall mtc and form part of Lord Lei en's re^iduarv estate. II.M. Office of Works which now has the charge of the building, is doing: what it can for the conservation of the fj.bi ic. but this can only postpone for a compaiativcly short time the destructive effects of time and weather. OBITUARY RECORD. You w ill, of course, have heard by cablegram of the death of Lord Kehin, and will ha\e published an outline of Ins oareer. 1 need not, therefore, dwell at any length upon the e\enfc. His Lordship, though bom at Belfast, was connected with Glasgow from \ery early days, matriculating at its university at the precocious age of 11, and afterwards attracting many students to its walls. Hie inventions were largely of a kind most suited to lielp the interests of a commercial and manufacturing oitv. and his modesty and kindliness made him as much beloved as his scientific distinction caused him to be re\ered. Thougb a poor speaker, and not gifted with powers of exposition, he was the idol of the students. He published more than 300 papcis bearing upon almost all branches of physical 6cience ; while a list of the .honours conferred upon him by ro\al personages and scientific societies, etc, in all ci\ili6od lands, would bo a pamphlet in size and amazing m character. His 53 years' professorship in Glasgow will long form a standard of academic comparison. On December 23 hie remains wevp interred in Westminster Abbey, amid tokens of profound respect and regret. Mr Thomas Annandale, who 6ince 1877 had occupied the important chair of anatomy in the Uni\erMty of Edinburgh, was found dead in bed on December 20. He performed an opciu.ion m the Royal Infirmary on tho preceding day, when he appeared to be in ordinary health. He was a natno of Newcastle, and was 69 years of age. Ho was noted as a surgeon of the first, rank, both in courage and in skill, and he was an able lecturer and writer of papers on surgical topics. His body was interred in the Dean Cemetery. Edinburgh, amid general mourning. It was boine by students into and oat of Sit. John's Episcopal Church, where the funeral service was held in the presence of a larce congregation. Sir Patrick Heron Watson. M.D.. another distinguished Edinburgh surgeon, died the day after Professor Annandale, aged 75. His health had been failing for some time, but the immediate case of death was heart failure. In early life he saw medical service in the Crimean war. Later he was noted as an operator, especially in abdominal cases, and had a very large practice. He \vas also a physician to the King in Scotland. Personally he was one of the kindest of men. Being himself a «on of the manse, he would ne^er accept a fee from a minister. His wife died t-evon years ago. but he leaves two sons and two dauahters. One of the former is an assistant surgeon in Leith Hospital. Deep and treueral regret has been caused by the death! on December 6. of tho Rev. Dr Walter Ross Tavlor. senior minister of Keh inside t'F. Church. Glasgow, in his seventieth year He wa6 a son of the parish minister of Thurso. who " came out" at the Disruption in 1843. Dr Taylor graduated at Edinburgh Um-\eisirv. and was licensed to preacli in 1861. After acting as an assistant at Lochmaben, Dum-frics-shhe for six months, he was called to East Kilbride, to succeed Dr Oswald D\kes. Six \<?ars later he was called to the chaise in which he continued till his death. He found it in languishing circumstances, with a debt of £7500. but he soon cleared off \ this and brought in a very different state of thing 6. After a speech made by him in the Robertson Smith controversy he wa= noted as a coming man in the General 1 Assembly, where his influence steadily grew. In the Union Assembly of 1900 he was Moderator of the Free Church, and as such took a leading part in the ceremonies o£ that historic occasion. _ He also took charge of the convenorship of the Su6tentation Fund Committee for a number of years, and in that capacity rendered great 6ervice in very difficult and trying times. He was a good preacher and a diligent and bekn ed paetor. but he published little, his energies being absorbed in other ways. He was of a buoyant and genial disposition, and possessed a tact and courtesy which are all too rare among Presbyterian ministers, and these qualities gained him popularity and influence. | At his funeral the church wa* crowded, ' and among those who attended were the Lord Prov o s t and city magistrates. Flags were hoi6ted half-mast, church bells were 1 tolled, and in other ways expression was given to the public sense of lo«s Dr I Taylor, since last March, had had a col-lea-gue and successor in the person of the I Rev. P. D. Thomson, who was translated from St. Brycedale Church. Knkcaldy. He is also sujrvived by his wife and their entire family of threo sons and two daughters. Sir George Macpherson Grant. Bart, of Ballindajloch, a leading Scottish agriculturist, died suddenly iij. Edinburgh on December 5, aged 69, He was here for the purpose of attending the Scottish fat stock show. Sir George's estates cover 125,000 acres, and ho was a leading man in the north of Scotland. From 1879 to 1886 he represented Elgin and Nairn in the House of Commons, but retired when Mr Gladstone brought forward his Home Rule proposals. Since 1880 be was accounted the foremost of Scottish breeders lo{ short-horned cattle. For many years he

was convener of Banffehire, and for a number of years he was chairman of the Highland Railway Company. At his funeral there was a large gathering of influential men from the- Highlands and other parts of the north of Scotland. He is succeeded by hie son John, who is 44 years of age. "The Rev. Dr G. 11. Wilkinson, Bishop of St. Andrews and Primus of the Episcopal Church in Scotland, died suddenly in Edinburgh on December 11. Ho was attending a meeting of the Representative Church Council, and ha.d jmt finished an earnest address and sat down, when he collapsed. He was laid on the floor. t.e\eral of the gentlemen present placing thcii costs under him, while others ran for a doctor. A nurse arri\cd fhst. and at once adjusted the bishop, position, but when Dr Playfair came all was over. A bi lef por\ice was conducted by the Bishop of E<lmbuigh in the room, and another next day in St. Mary's Cathedral. The body was then removed to Perth, where another service was held in St. Niman's Cathedral, and the remains were then takon to London for mleiment. Bishop Wilkinson was born at Duiham in 1833. and held various appointments fiom 1858 to 1870, when he became wear of St. Peter's, Eaton squaio. There he did a remarkable work, the church being always overcrowded, and fe\cn curates employed. For a time he was Bi-hop of Truro, but for reasons of health he accepted the Bishopnc of Perth and St. Andrews in 1893, and in 1904 he became primus of his church. He was a man of the highest character and of a spiritual mind, and exercised a wonderful influence for good upon all with whom ho came in contact. Ilis death is deeply lamented. The deaths of the following persons are also to be noted: — The Rev. Dr Georgeton. U.F. minister at Bowling; the Rev. W. C. Wagner, pariah minister, Law ; Mr Charles Anderson, of Fettykil paper works, Leslie, the laet member of a noted Fife family: Mr James Adam, of Touchadam and Polmaise, whose estates have been in the family since the reign of Dawd 11, and who was himself a generous and popular laird. GENERAL NEWS. At a meeting which was appropiiat^ly held in John Knox's house, it was resolved to form an Old Edinburgh Society, with a view to preserving the traditions and old buildings of the city. A committee, with Mr W. J. Hay as convener, was appointed to draw up a constitution and rules. At a Rugby football match in Edinburgh a South African student, in a forward rush, had a leg broken below the knee. Dr Lowe, who has been head master of Henot's Hospital since 1880, is going to retire- next July, and his resignation has been accepted with great regret. He has revolutionised the school on modern lines. At the annual meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland it was stated that the membership at the present time numbers 704. While business was proceeding as usual the other day in the Dundee Sheriff Court, a sensation was caused by a large piece of cornice suddenly falling on the table at which the solicitors were seated. Happily no one was hurt. The village cross at Cockburnspath, East Lothian, is to be restored shortly. The Rev. D. S. Adam, of St. Andrew's L T . F. Church, Greenock, is about to leave for Melbourne to fill a professional chair in Ormond College. In Glasgow a .young woman who kept a newsagent's shop* has been fined £20 for using it as a betting agency. At a co-operative meeting at Musselburgh, Councillor Malhson of Edinburgh, President of the Conference Association, stated that last year, from the profits of the co-opera-the mo\ement, there were given back dividends amounting to £11,000,000. This sum had been handed back to 2,332,000 cooperative members. He added that cooperative funds amounted to £30,000,000. A marble statue of the Rev Dr Thomas Guthrie, the famous preacher and philanthropist, is to be presented to the :ity by his son, Mr Alex. Guthrie, of Messrs Balfour, Williamson, and Co., Liveipool. It was proposed to erect it at the corner of the Bank of Scotland's garden at the head of the Mound, but the bank declined to grant the site, so the talk is now of placing it in the Princes Street Garden-*, facing Castle street. For the post of janitor at a school at Burnbank, Hamilton, there were no less than 467 applications. Another monster bla^t has been firry, at the Furnace Quarry, Lochfyne. The quantity of gunpowder used was llj tons, and about 100,000 tons of granite were dislodged. A motor 'bus making a night journey from Drummore lo Stramaer was charged by a strayer' bull, enraged by the lamp The 'bus was sent intc a ditch, and could not resume its journey for some hours. Nothing is s<ud as to the effect on the bull. Miniature rifle clubs are springing up in many parts of Scotland. In Perthshire, where they are encouraged by the County Council, there are already 15 of them. The Marqui6 of Linhthgow, who has been suffering from blood-poisoning, is now at Pau, and is reported to be improving in health. At a Volunteer bazaar at Alloa the drawings amounted to £2400. The number of divorce cases tried in the Court of Session during 1907 was 200. Dewee was refused in three cases only, while two are still undecided. Dr W. Wright, senior assistant to the City Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow, stated in a lecture on microbes that "in some samples of milk sold to the public there was sometimes more microbic life present than was found jn sewage." The late Dr Wm. Jacks, of the Gart, Callander. has bequeathed £20,000 to found a Frofe^or^hip of Foreign Languages in Glasgow Univeisity. principally for the benefit of education from the commercial as distinguished from the cla<=eical side. A jute warehouse in Constable street, Dundee, suddenlj collapsed, and 300 tons of material were thrown into the street. Two passers-by had a narrow escape. The personal estate of the late Mr Alex. Duncan, Edinburgh, general manager of the Scottish Union and National Insurance Co., has been recorded at £60,329. Make it one of your regular habite to keio Chamberlain's Colio, Cholera, ani Diarihcea Remedy in your home as a safeguard against a sudden attack of bowel complaint. It ie certain to be needed sooner or later, and when that time comeß it will be needed bady; it will be needed quickly. Buy it nowl For sale everywhere, j