The Aberystwith Observer

INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. The .Danish Foikething has been debating the question of literary and artistic property. Denmark, unlike Sweden, sent no representatives to the Berne Convention, and the Danish authors complain to their Parliament that they have no protection against the arbitrary translation and publication of their works in other lands. They are not of the mind of Count Tolstoi, who regards his literary pro- ductions from the standpoint of the Sermon on the Mount. The Conservatives in the Folkething were eager for the protection of the Danish authors, and it was supposed that a great proportion of the Liberals were of one mind with them as to the necessity of some action on behalf of the Danish men of letters. Herr Alberti, of the Left, however, moved a resolution which was adopted and carried by a large majority, and has made it impossible for Denmark to join the Berne Con- vention. He said that he was not in principle an opponent of the protection of literary pro- perty, but that he was an advocate for unconditional free trade in. the importation of the highest foreign culture into Den- mark, and that this importation, should be absolutely conditionless." That is to say, Danish translators are still to enjoy the full and free right of translating any and every English, French, German, or other author into the Danish language, so as to make the literature of these nations as cheap and accessible as possible to the Danish reader. Not a heller will we pay the foreign au thor or playwright," said Alberti, "for the right of translation or for perform- ance in our theatres. This will doubtless satisfy Count Tolstoi. But Herr Alberti is wise enough to see that if the Danes help themselves freely to the literary mpe and dramatic property of other nations, they must allow the translators and dramatic adaptors of other nations to help themselves as freely to Danish novels, poems, or plays if they wish to do so. Hence the Folkething has decided that no Hamlet or Horatio shall be sent as yet to speak for Denmark at the next International Congress of Authors.

QATAR ACT AND ITS CURE. In view of the retirement of Mr. Gladstone, no doubt in some part due to the affection of his eye- sight, it is gratifying to know (says the Optician) that Cataract is one of those serious diseases of the eve Miich are most readily amenable to surgical treat- ment, and of which the subsequent inconvenience can be very fully removed with the aid of proper glasses. N inety-five per cent. of the cases operated on for cataract uo well, the others go wrong either from hfemorrliage into the eye, iritis, or suppuration. Although demand- Ing absolute rest-abstention from the use of the Bye.s-for a considerable period, the operation is not one of that serious character to which advanced ageis any bar. In fact, although the disease is eminently One of the later period of life, its radical treatment wiould not, as a rule, be resorted to until after con- siderable progress has been made towards the com- plete loss of useful vision. During the first period of ripening," in cataract it can bd well understood that j-ision is clearer in a feeble light—with dilated iris. A-ad, in case of emergency, medicinal means can ba employed for the maintenance of such dilatant state of the iris under ordinary conditions of illumi- nation. The proper conditions for reading and Writing during this period are that spectacles should be worn to accommodate for rather over the usual leading distance"—if, of course, this be consistent WIth the size of the type and the acuteness of vision, *hich last is purely a function of the nervous ap- paratus of the eye. Then the room should be darkened; the book or paper should be laid upon a Qesk covered with black cloth, and it should be Wrongly illuminated by a projecting lamp. As to the Colour of the light, if one would treat of this matter JJ'th refinement, it must probably be admitted that j/*ere is some one kind of light which is t^e pst adapted, and which we could determine if the W of the dilatancy of the iris were understood as Well as is that of luminosity (which governs the ex- nation or retinal activity). It must be admitted ^at the spectacles which have to be used following P operation for cataract are not of the most sightly description. The ugliness due to their excessive j^tivexity may, however, be somewhat modified by use of heavier glass, or of a double lens before each eye.

RABID WOLVES. Reports from the interior of Russia notify the ap- pearance of mad wolves in many districts. The rabid are causing much havoc and consternation J^ong the peasantry. In one village live muzhiks severely bitten while essaying to kill one of these IjSts, and in another 30 persons were bitten in two and are now undergoing medical treatment at w °scow. Many other cases are cited in the Russian rress.

.•t'HB inaepenaem uvm utmMmj vrmtN, muHuiues, on e authority of Mr. Newell, that the report so cx- eUsively circulated at Hackney as to the disappear- ance of the Rev. W. Pedr Williams being due to the »ervice upon him of a writ for debt, is quite un- loaded. It appears that neither Mr. Newell nor solicitor had threatened to take such a course. Williams has now returned to England. THE restoration of the tower and spire of the (^cient and beautiful Parish Church of Ashbourne, fpthe Cathedral of the Peak," has cost £ 4600. ioWards this sum only about half has been sub- iribed, leaving a balance of over E2000 still owing. bazaar on a large scale is to be held. A MEDICAL authority says deaths are often occa- °Hed by .persons changing every-day clothes and Pitting on thin black suits to attend funerals q -A-N extraordinary scene was recently witnessed in J^Unty-road, Liverpool. Handbills had been exten- Jely circulated in the district asking for 5000 rotten to throw at shops found open after five o'clock Thursdays, and on the following Thursday a great- to^d gathered at a draper's shop in County-road, d pelted it with eggs. N « CORATJE BEACH, one of the shining lights in dancing world during the latter period of the « °ond Empire, died a short time ago leaving a n0 l°ss than 3,000,000fr., or £ 120,000 ift This interesting fact has been brought out 3 will case that is now before the Paris law courts. British Museum will shortly be enlarged, Vif jt'ons to the building having been for a long time Jkjntly required. An arrangement has been agreed All with the Duke of Bedford, by the terms of hMh the Government will be enabled to purchase L -fe around the Museum at. present occupied by the es fronting Montague-street and Montague- ^TO. It may interest the curious reader to learn oiames of some, at least, of the more celebrated (KJJ! of the last two or three generations who have 8^4 the Library and Reading Room the frequent fijjH of their researches. Among them have been L flames Mackintosh, Sir Walter Scott, Charles ^M>, Washington Irving, William Godwin, Dean (Lilian, Leigh Hunt, Hallam, Macaulay, Grote, Tom Obbell, Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton, Charles Dickens, ^<|in, Jerrold, Thackeray, Shirley Brooks, and Lemon. Lord Macaulay, when at work upon History," used to sit day by day in the King's r/iry. MIB Rev. Henry T. Morgan, M.A., has accepted V living of Eckington, Derbyshire, offered to him Itr. Gladstone just before his retirement from $L death is announced of Lieut .-General Gubbins, Mi '• who distinguished himself in the Crimea; and 'ias .passed away after a short illness at Bishop- Ho was the son, of Lieut.-Colonel Richard > §ns> C.B., entered the army 1845, and retired ^feut,-General in. 1881. During the Crimean jUjwign he.served.,aa aide-de-oamp.to SiirDeLacy V4, and received three, clasps, the Nl^l1 of Honour, the Fifth Class of the Medjidie, k %Lie '^urk'sh medal. Afterwards he served as nt Adjutaiit-Gencral in Malta and was made Hpanion of the Bath in 188L ) i I I 1 P U lG tl 0 ai b ei 1 t] 0 ti t V s a s ( uiuuui VJ.I..Ur.u.L1 1J.U1U 1,,Ut) IJ.lUUõ.u, illUSb IJv spread. It appears that less wheat by 322,000 acres was grown in 1893 than m the preceding year. This has brought the total to belo P two million acres, the lowest figure yet recorded. The average decline of the year is 14| per cent., or nearly four times as much as in the immediately preceding season-a result that ¡' must be ascribed, in part, to an unfavourable seed- time in the autumn of 1892, as well as to the dis- couragement encountered by wheat growers in the remarkably low prices current. Every English county shares in the reduction of 1893. There are relatively large percentage declines in the small wheat areas of the North, as of 46 per cent. in Northumberland and of over 28 per cent. in Scotland—where wheat has shrunk from 62,000 acres to 44,000 acres; but it is to be noted that 304,000 acres of the reduction occur in England alone, 70 per cent. of this falling in the Eastern half of the country. Major Craigie adds: Attention has been for some years directed to the steady development of the acre- age returned as occupied by small fruit of the nature of strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, and cur- rants, and it is noteworthy that the increase of this form of culture has been continued in the past year, Minute as the aggregate of such figures appear in comparison with the millions of acres under corn, roots, or grass, it is yet satisfactory to find that the 62,148 acres returned in 1892 have risen to 65,487 in 1893, the counties of Kent, Essex, Cambridge, Sussex, Gloucester, Norfolk, Hants, and Devon showing the largest increments under this head in the past season. The total acreage returned as under small fruit in Great Britain has increased from 36,724 acres in 1888, when this heading was first included in the returns, to 65,487 acres, or by nearly 29,000 acres in five years. The extent of orchards may also be alluded to in this connection, as again showing a rise of from 208,950 to 211,664 acres."

NEW ASSYRIAN ROOMS AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Another new and interesting series of rooms have just been opened at the British Museum. Many visitors will doubtless remember the dull and dreary Assyrian basement; but memory is all that is now left, for the hand of the artist and sculptor has been at work, and the' Assyrian basement, as it was for- merly, is now no more. In its place we see a large room with beautiful oak flooring, in place of stone. Around the top a gallery has been built, where visitors may walk round and inspect the sculptures from Assur-bani Pal's palace, viz., the famous lion-hunting scene, the bronze gates of Balawat discovered by Mr. Rassam have been arranged in a large case and placed at the end of the room. Inscriptions of Rimmon, Nirani, Senna- cherib, and Sargan are arranged along the walls. On leaving the basement and mounting the staircase, we find ourselves in another room of Assyrian remains. The most notable objects in this section are a series of sculptures representing the siege of Lackish, by Sennacherib B.C. 701 (2 Kings, xviii., 20). Also a scene representing the removal of gods from Babylon, by Tiglath Pileser III., B.C. 745. A mythological scene, probably representing the god of the south- west wind, and a long and beautifully-executed in- scription of Tiglath Pileser, are among the most notable objects in this section. y— "ujjjja!—^

Two new lighthouses, to be constructed entirely of iron, are being made for the United States, to be erected on Cape Charles and Hog Island, Virginia, at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. One novel fea- ture of these towers will be an elevator worked by hand-power, and moving just inside the spiral staircase. REPORTERS, especially amateurs, are answerable for a good many sins of omission and commission, but there are extenuating circumstances when after- dinner speeches have to be reported in a very con- den sed form from recollection. Mr.W.E.H.Lecky was, no doubt, startled to find a paragraph going the rounds that he had mooted the startling idea that "cats may have inspired Shakespeare." The proposition is a startling one, taken by itself, for though every Englishman has heard of Bacon, very few know anything of cats. All that Mr. Lecky really said was that cats obtained a hold over the affections of his Dutch countrymen only second to that of Shakes- peare over the English race. NEW efforts are being made with a view to cure inebrity among women. Lady Henry Somerset is actively engaged in promoting a scheme that is not only novel, but has the promise of success. It is maintained that penal treatment is wholly inadequate to meet the evil, and women who are punished resume their old ways as soon as they regain their freedom. It is, therefore, proposed to open an industrial farm home to which women who would otherwise have been sent to prison may be consigned for such periods of time as are likely to effect a cure. The home, it is believed, could be made self-support- ing. On the assumption that outdoor occupation is the best thing to uproot the chronic love of drink, it is arranged to have for the women such employ- ments as flower growing, poultry feeding, market gardening, dairy work, and bee-keeping. WHATEVER may be the faults of London c^ui en, they are, as a rule, honest men. The property that has been left in cabs and restored to the owners during the past five years is shown by police statistics to represent a value of no less than £ 100,000. NEARLY all our public charities," remarks thy; City Press, "are large sufferers by the failure of the Liberator. Many subscribers have had to withdraw altogether, while others find that, consequent on a greatly reduced income, they can only spare half, or even less, of what they have been in the habit of giving. Especially grievous is the effect the failure has had on charities which gather their chief support from the Dissenting section of the population. Church societies have suffered, but not to anything like the same extent, while those who look chiefly to the Calvinists have escaped almost scot-free,"