Flintshire Observer Mining Journal and General Advertiser for the Counties of Flint Denbigh

A QUESTION OF REFUSE. A Divisional Court, of Queen's Bench has granted a rule calling upon the magistrate at Bow-street to state a case in reference to a dispute between the pro- prietors of a large hotel at Charing-cross and the Vestry of St. Martin-in-the-l ields. The Vestry re- fused to remove clinkers made in the production of the electric light from the hotel, on the ground that they were trade refuse, for the removal of which they were entitled to be paid whereas the hotel proprietors contend that the clinkers are house refuse which the Vestry is bound to remove free of cost. The magistrates had decided in favour of the Vestry, and refused to state a case.

THE LAW OF LIBEL. IMPORTANT JUDGMENT. In the Queen's Bench Division on Saturday, before Baron Huddleston and a special jury, the case of Kelley v. O'Malley and others was resumed. The plaintiff, Mr. Thomas Martin Kelly, the secretary of the East London Sugar Workers' and Dock Labourers' Council, and a member of the Workmen's National Association for the Abolition of the Foreign Sugar Bounties, sued the publisher of the Star newspaper, to recover damages for libel. The defendants pleaded that the words complained of were a bond fi com- ment on a public meeting, and were published bond fide for the benefit of the public, and referred to matters of public interest and concern. Further, they said the words were part of an accu- rate report of the proceedings of a public meet- ing, and that under the law of Libel Act, 1888, the publication was for the public benefit, and there- fore privileged. Mr. Cock, Q.C., and Mr. Blackwell appeared for the plaintiff; while Mr. Lockwood, Q.C., and Dr. Blake Odgers represented the defendant. The words complained of were contained in a des- criptive account of a meeting in favour of Baron De Worms's Bill for abolishing the sugar bounties, in the course of which disparaging remarks made by some of those present with regard to Kelly while he was reading the memorial were reproduced. Mr. Cock addressed the jury in reply upon the whole case, contending that the words complained of were not a fair and accurate report, and were not pub- lished for the benefit of the public. His lordship, in summing up, said a paper might publish a report of any meeting if the report was fair and accurate, and if the subject involved was one of public con- cern, and the publication was for the public benefit. But that did not justify a paper, if they published something which took place at a meeting which had nothing to do with the meeting, and which was libellous. Could anyone suppose that these miserable personalities uttered by persons to annoy Kelly, and have revenge upon him, were of public concern, or the reproduction of them of public benefit ? The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, with £ 5 damages. His lordship gave judgment accordingly. Dr. Blake Odgers applied that, in view cf the small- ness of the damages, the plaintiff should be deprived of costs. His lordship: Certainly not. I will do nothing of the kind. I think it was a very unwar- rantable slander.

THE RESTORATION OF ST. ALBANS. Mr. Chancellor Jeune delivered judgment on Satur- day in the case of a petition presented by Mr. Henry Hucks Gibbs for a faculty to restore, repair, and refit that portion of the St. Albans Catheiral known as the Lady Chapel and the ante-chapel. Lord Grimthorpe opposed on the ground that the faculty which he had obtained covered the restoration of the whole fabric. The Chancellor said he could not come to any other conclusion than that the faculty to Lord Grimthorpe was intended to give him power of repairing and re- storing all or any part of the fabric of the cathedral, just as it had been given to the previous committee. Then came the question — could a faculty, giving authority to do work in a church, be revoked or in- terfered with by a subsequent faculty ? It was con- ceded, and could not well be d n'ed, that work begun on which money had been spent could not be inter- fered with by a subsequent faculty. Why, then, should not this principle apply to the vi hole work authorised by a faculty for which money had been spent? These considerations enabled him to deal with this case. Taking first the Lady Chapel and Pres- bytery, he found that Lord Griruthorpe's was a faculty which validly gave him power to restore and repair. He did not think that the court could issue any faculty interfering with Lord Grimchorpe in restoring and repairing the Lady Chapel and ante- chapel; and he could have no doubt that a faculty to the petitioner in the same terms with regard to the same building, which was what the petitioner asked, would be a revocation of or an interference with Lord Grimthorpe's faculty or powers. It was right to add that even if he bad power to grant to the petitioner a faculty to restore and rep ir the Lady Chapel and Presbytery, he would not be prepared to do so. The petitioner was, however, entitled to a faculty confirm- ing all that he had done beyond repair and restora- tion in regard to the great screen and if he should apply for the inclusion of the further statues that had been ordered there would, he supposed, be no opposi- tion. He did not think the case was one for costs.

WHALING IN A STEAM LAUNCH. A CHAT WITH ITS CAPTAIN. "These are our gun-harpoons, weighing about one cwt. each, and having at their heads a charge oi gunpowder, which is exploded by the breaking of a glass tube filled with nitro glycerine when the weapon hits the whale." The speaker was the Norwegian captain of a Kussian steam whaler, of only 42 tons, lying at Shanghai, and he was addressing a repre- sentative of the North China Herald on board. We fire the harpoons from this gun," resumed the skipper. "The gun is about five inches thick, with a bore of three and a half inches. We use a charge of 24 grammes of powder, which is sufficient for a distance of 15 or 20 fathoms The line is hung on a wire loop outside the gun. When we have struck a whale we make steam after him 80 as to make the strain on the line as slight as possible, and when he is exhausted we can haul him in by means of a patent steam windlass. Another device we have to save the line is to use strops made of indiarubber, two inches thick. The whale being caught we tow him ashore to our nearest station we cannot cut him up and carry off the blubber ourselves on account of our size. What Fort of whale do we fish for ? The right, or Greenland whale. which we expect to find in the sea of Okhotsk. Behring's sea, and p.bout the coast of Kamschatka but as the winter comse on we shall come further south. Whales vary a good deal in size. I caught one off Iceland 92 feet long. The biggest are about 00 feet in length by 67 in girth, and weighing, perhaps, 70 tons. A blue whale such as can be caught off Norway will yield 15 tons of refined oil. Upwards of 300 pieces of whalebone (an article which was worth from £ 450 to £ 500 a ton 20 years ago, but which has now lost much ef its value owing to the discovery of substi- tutes) are often found on each side of a whale's mouth inside, and the pieci s are sometimes 15 feet long. I bave had some long chases after whales one lasted 22 hours. We can count on soon capturing him if we can hit him just behind the pectoral fin. Our vessel is 84ft. long, with a. beam of 17ft. The bags round the deck contain coal; we burn three tons a day. Then we have to find room for four boats and a crew of 12 men. At Aden our deck was only 4 J, inches above the water-line, and during the mon- 2 soon we had to keep everything battened down, as our decks were constantly flooded. We made the journey from Christiania to Shanghai in 57 days' steaming time. Whale-fishiDg is certainly exciting; that relation of mine who invented the patent wind- lass is 80 years old, but he takes a whaling trip once a year to keep his hand in." Then the interviewer parted with the hardy Norseman, who wouldn't shake because his hands were oily.

WOMEN IN INDIA. The Times of India extracts some curious informa- tion concerning the occupations of native Indian women from the statistical abstract relatingto British India for the past year. It will no doubt cause a certain amount of surprise to find no fewer than 17,764 women figuring as II Officflrs of Municipal Local and Village Government," flanked by 6352 of their sisters as "Officers of National Government," and 865 more as Omcels of Independent States and Governments. A career for the strong-minded woman would seem to be at once opened up in India if these figures mean what they say but, alas it is not so much strong minds as strong hands and weak Susceptibilities which are required by these officers of National and Municipal Government. Then, again, the respectable total of 94,251 women appear in these tables as clergymen, ministers, priests, church and temple officers, and only a subtle twist of mind or actual experience can bring the knowledge that the women figuring in this honourable section are confined to the last clause of the definition. As phy- sicians, surgeons, and druggists, however, without any possibility of a qualification of a menial kind, we find 75,239 women set down, and the figures derive collateral moral support from an adjoining table, in which 3464 women appear as authors and literary persons, while 584 are tabulated as artists, 19,631 as musicians, 4345 as teachers, 127 as scientific "per- sons," and, strangest of all to the uninitiated, 40,381 as actresses. The wives of specified occupation num- ber in one part of this table 471,774 (exclusive of 18,863,726 agriculturists), and other wives num- ber only 3,321,360. Where the balance of 30 or 40 millions appear is not so far di-coverable. Mercantile men, as the greater includes the less, embrace also 124,409 mercantile women; but the section de- voted to lawyers includes 10 women only, the sex having a proverbial antipathy to the ethics of Coke, Littleton, and Blackstone; but even those 10 lady lawyers rather come as a surprise. Among the more laborious occupations we find 27,741 women em- ployed in the construction of houses and other build- ings, 358 in the building of ships, 204,331 in the con- coction of drinks and stimulants, 13,799 workers in precious metals and stones, 354,721 in stone and clay, and 5,244,206 simply classed as 11 labourers." Altogether, about 36 millions of women appear in the returns as engaged in some description of classified work—roughly, a little less than one-third of the entire female population, which includes, of course, an enormous proportion of infants and young girls.

BELLE BILTON S ENGAGEMENT. Mr. Justice! Chitty had before him on Saturday a motion, commenced on Friday, on behalf of Mr. Hart, the lessee of the Bradford Theatre, for an injunction to restrain Belle Bilton (Viscountess Dunlo) and Miss Florence Seymour (the Sisters Bilton) from advertis- ing their names as performing at any other theatre than the plaintiff's for a period of eight week? from the 11th of December. The motion also was directed against Mr. T. W. Charles, the lessee of the Prince's Theatre, Manchester, and the Theatre Royal, Notting- ham, to restrain him from allowing the advertise- ments of these ladies as acting during that period at those two theatres. The plaintiff's case was that prior to their agreement with Mr. CbarleR the ladies had engaged to perform at the plaintiff's theatre for theensuing pantomime season, but for some reason they made excuses for getting out of their first engagement. Mr. Maclean, Q C., M P,, addressed the court on behalf of the defendants. Among other points, he contended that Lady Dunlo being a married woman, an injunction could not be granted against her. Her artistic worth was increased by her mar- riage. (Laughter.) Mr. Justice Chitty: You mean the title. Does her husband make an affidavit? Mr. Maclean, Q.C. No, h? is abroad. The arguments for the defendants wore not concluded at the rising of the Court, and Mr Justice Chitty directed that the motion stand adjourned until Friday next. to be treated then as part heard. His lordship intimated that in the meanwhile some amicable arrangement might bo arrived at.

DIC,, ITY, my son, is a very proper sort of thing but don't put on too much of it, or you may be taken for a footman."

THE NEW CRUISER "BLAKE. The largest and heaviest unarmoured cruiser now afloat was launched on Saturday at Chatham Dock- yard, and was named the Blake. The new vessel may be classified as a steel twin screw deck protected cruiser of the first rank. The vessel, which was de- signed under the supervision of Mr. W. H. White11 Assistant Controller and Director of Naval Construe- tion, was laid down July, 1888, and is to be completed for sea early in 1891. Her chief dimensions are: Length, 375ft.; beam, 65ft.; tonnage displacement, 9000ft.; mean draught, 25ft. 9in. As regards swift- ness, she will be superior to everything ailoat, save only a few of the most modern torpedo craft. The Blake will carry one two-barrelled lin. Nordenfelt, seven *455in. Nordenfelt machine-guns, and two 9- pr. 8cwt. guns, besides four torpedo discharging tubes. She will carry 1500 tons of coal, or sufficient to enable her to steam 8C40 knots at the economical speed of ten knots an hour but she will have storage capacity for 1G00 tons, &n amount which, it is computed, will give her a radius of action of no less than 3000 miles at a continuous speed of 20 knots-a speed which, it is hoped by her designers, she will be able to maintain at sea, for, if necessary, several days consecutively. Her protec- tive deck varies ig thickness from 3in. to 6in., equal to the protection which would be afforded by about 13in. of perpendicular armour. Her design includes a heavily-armoured conning-tower, from which, in action, the vessel will be fought, and two second- class Yarrow torpedo boats which are to bo carried on the spar deck, and in which it will be possible to get up steam before they are lowered into the water, so that immediately after having been lowered they will be capable of starting away at full speed.

A CLERK'S DISASTROUS GAMBLING. Mr. Cecil Mercer, Official Receiver, on Saturday issued to the creditors particulars of the bankruptcy of James Eustace Williams, of the Shrubberies, Leatherhead. The receiving order was made on the petition of the Exchange Telegraph Company, Cornhill, E.C., and Mr. Thomas Clayton, a turf commission agent, the act of bankruptcy being the non-compliance with the terms of a bankruptcy notice. To within two yearfi ago the debtor was a bank manager at Messrs. Barker and Co.'s Bank, Mark-lane, E.C., at a salary of £ 180 per annum. After leaving the bank he received assistance from friends, and from August, 1888, to January last was a clerk in the employ of a commission agent in Philpot-lane, E.C. In June last he was appointed secretary to a social club in Cloak-laoe, E.C, at a salary of jE3 per week. It appears that the debtor's liabilities, which amount to £ 80, with assets nil, have been incurred in connection with a guarantee for the hire of telegraph instrument, and in betting transac- tions. The debtor is now living in a furnished home at Leatherhead, his own furniture having been sold under a bill of sale in March last. He attributes his present position to gambling speculations, b tting on the turf, and pressure by the petitioning creditors."

THE PRINCE AND THE DIPLO- MATS. A letter is published by the 1forma, from Cairo, giving an explanation of the supposed demonstration against the Prince of Wales in Cairo. The Times correspondent in Rome says the letter shows that the neglect to salute the Prince on his arrival was not due to disrespect to him or a feeling of hostility to England. It goes on to say, «' it is the custom tha- on the arrival of a Prince the Sovereign who receives him invites the diplomats accredited to his Court to assemble at the station or the palace, according to the circum- stances." In the invitations it is the custom to indicate the dress to be worn. The Diplomatic Agents at Cairo, on the occasion of the arrival of the Prince of Wales, not having received this in- vitation, and desiring to act together in order to avoid any lack of decorum towards the august visitor, met at the residence of the Dean, the Consul- General of Spain, Senor de Ortega, and there decided not to attend the reception, as they had not been invited.

ENGLISH THUNDERSTORMS, It is only a year and a half ago that the Royal Meteorological Society commenced a systematic in- vestigation of thunderstorm phenomena in this country, a subject which had until then been entirely neglected. The circulars inviting the co-operation of voluntary observers had not long been issued before opportunities occurred for testing the value of the information asked for, the few simple facts recorded enabling the thunderstorm committee to trace with comparative ease the direction and the velocity of several disturbances. Observations are still being col- lected and charted ready for discussion, and consider- ng the short time that the work has been in band, there is every reason for being satisfied with the pro- gress made. At the society's first meeting of the season, at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Mr. Marriott, the assistant secretary, read the second report of the committee, which dealt with the Dis- tribution of Thunderstorms over England and Wales, 18.71-1887," a period of 17 years prior to the appoint- ment of the society's committee. The information used has been derived from various sources, the ob. servers in communication with the Meteorological Office, Mr. Symons, and the Registrar General, and the society's own climatological stations. By this means the average annual number of reporters for the 17 years was brought up to 143,and these were fairly distributed tbroughoutthe country. Thestations were arranged according to the divisions adopted by the Registrar General in the quarterly returns of births and deaths, but these divisions, 11 in number, are very unequally divided, Middlesex alone forming one division, while Herts, Buckingham, Oxford, North- ampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, and Cambridge form another, and Monmouth and Wales make one division between them. The data have been tabulated for each month and year in the separate districts 1880, 1882, 1884, and 1872 were the years of greatest frequency, and 1887, 1874, 1879, and 1871 those of least frequency, the most striking feature in the frequency diagram being the see-saw nature of tee curves,years of greater or less frequency alternating regularly throughout nearly the whole period. The Welsh division has the greatest number of thunder- storms in the month of August, but in the other 10 divisions July is the month of maximum frequency. February and December have the least number in all localities. The average yearly number of storms for the 11 divisions is 39, the district comprising Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, and Berks having the highest average, 58-4, and Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Corn- wall, and Somerset next highest with 52-3. Middlesex is lowest with 179 per annu-n, Cheshire and Lan- cashire next with 28 6, and Yorkshire third lowest with 32'7. The southern counties, therefore, are most liable to thunderstorms, and, curiously enough, the four northern counties, Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, follow with 50'1 per annum. The report further shows the summer and winter distribution in each district, the order of maximum and minimum frequency agreeing very nearly with the annual.

AN EARLY ACQUAINTANCE.— Maude Auntie took me to Brighton. Do you know Brighton, Reggie ?" Reggie: Know Brighton! Why, I went there to be bcrn 1" ISN'T it glorious weather ? he said to the man on his left in the tramcar. I will look into the matter and see," was the quiet reply. "I say, your liver is out of order," continued the other. You must take more exercise," That was a rather queer conversa- tion," observed a passenger who had overheard it. Oh, I had to be careful," replied the other. After I had spoken of the weather I recognised him as a lawyer. He was going to write an opinion and send me a bill. I'm a doctor, and so I gave him medical advice,as an off-set."

SOCIETY OF ARTS. The 135th winter session of the Society of Arts was opened last week. The president of the year is the Duke of Abercorn, whose address a large number of members bad assembled to hear. His Grace, how- ever, sent a message through Sir Frederick Bramwell in excuse of absence, and Sir Frederick asked the company to accept the journeyman in lieu of the master. There were present Lord A. Churchill, Sir Owen Tudor Burne, Sir H. Doulton, Sir R. Rawlinson, Sir D. Galton, and Sir O. Roberts. Sir Frederick Bramwell read the duke's address, which com- menced by reverting to the period when the society was founded 135 years ago, a time, the address said, of great intellectual activity, manifested, however, more in the direction of literature than in that of science or even of art. The names of Dr. Johnson, Goldsmith, Sterne, Richardson, Fielding, Smollett, Gray, Hume, and Burke were mentioned as the writers of the time when the society was born; the art of the time was asso- ciated with the names of Hogarth, Reynolds, and Boy- dell, while electrical science was in the merest infancy, Franklin having only just sent up his electrical kite at this time. Ships then were still navigated across the Atlantic by dead reckoning, for the award had not been made for Harrison's chronometer, by which alone it was possible to calculate the longitude. In industry and mechanical invention we were a'most more backward. But the time when the society was founded was a time when industrial activity was commencing, and it was the spirit then existing which led men, sensible of the need which the arts and manufactures of the country had of en- couragement, to found a society with that aim and end. The address then traced the work upon which the society entered and which it carried out, and dealt also with the work which the society has done in connection with international exhibitions, from that of 1851 to the one in Paris of the present year, and it was contended that these exhibitions were beneficial to British industry. At the close of the presidential address, on the motion of Sir Douglas Galton, seconded by Lord Alfred Churchill, thanks were voted to the Duke of Abercorn for his address and to Sir Frederick Bramwell for presiding.

ACTION AGAINST COLONEL WINANS. In the Queen's Bench the case Millar v. Winans has been before Mr. Justice Cave and a special jury. The plaintiff claimed to recover from the defendant, an American gentleman, a sum of j64550 for the maintenance of her child. The plaintiff in 1872 sued defendant for breach of promise, and he compromised the action by the payment of EI500. According to plaintiff he gave a further undertaking to maintain the child. He had, however, never paid anything further, and plaintiff now claimed JE6 a week for 14 years. Justice Cave held that under the terms of the compromise in the breach of promise case the plaintiff had no cause of action, and gave judgment for the defendant.

SCOTCH SCHOOL FEES. From the Scotch Education Department, on Satur- day, a summary was issue"* showing the extent of the relief provided for in the regulations approved by the Scotch Education Department under the minute of Aug. 26 last. The total number of schools is 3128, and relief has been granted as follows To in- fants and standards I.-V., 2261 schools; to infants and standards 100 to all scholars, 668; to infants and standards I.-III., and a proportion of standards IV, and V., 25 and to fee-paying schools, 44 whilst 14 schools did not claim the grant. Out of the total number of schools 3112 have been deaJt with, and in the case of a very small number of schools for which regulations have not yet been approved the proposals are still under considera- tion.

A NEW WEDDING CUSTOM. A very pretty custom (says the Lady's Pic'Orial) has been inaugurated this season by some fashionable brides. Some one, it seems, has hit upon the idea of placing in the bride's bouquet as many blossoms of one particular kind as there are bridesmaids and one of these flowers, on her return from the church, the newly-made wife presents to each of her atten- dant maidens as a souvenir. To one of the blossoms a ring is attached, and it is, of course, suggested that the recipient of this particular one will be the next bride. Whether this is further intended to be a spur to the best man of the occasion I do not know, but at all events the custom, if generally carried out, will make a little merriment for the bridesmaids, who, however attractive they may be, never get more than a small share of attention on these occasions.

Do not fret if you can't get into society. The oyste-r is often present at a supper when be would, perhaps, prefer to be at home in his bed.

AGRICULTURAL RETURNS. THE CORN CROPS. The agricultural returns up to June last have just been issued, and from them it appears that in Great Britain there have been this year under cultivation of all kinds 32,733,357 acres, showing an increase over the previous year of about 48,958 acres, chiefly in permanent pasture, which is stated by the collect- ing officers to consist chiefly of tracts of land brought into cultivation in different outlying and hilly cis- tricts. The total area returned under wheat in Great Britain is this year 2,449,354 acres-a decrease of 114,883 acres, or 4-5 per cent. less than that of the area of 1888, though as compared with 1887 it shows an in- crease of 132,000 acres or 5-7 per cent. This, it is remarked, seems to show an increased tendency towards the conversion of land to the purposes of stock raising. The area under barley in 1889 was 2,121,530 acres, an increase of 35,969 acres over the extent sown in 1888. Oats covered 2,888,704 acres, being 6452 acres or 0-2 per cent. only in excess of 1888, this increase being in England. Eye, beans, and peas have all decreased. Altogether the total area under corn crops in Great Britain is thus brought up to 8,075,100 acres or about 112,600 acres short of that in 1888, a decrease of 1-38 per cent. The average area of the preceding 10 years was 8,563,152 acres, or 488,000 acres more than that of 1889. BOOT AND GREEN CROPS. About 579,000 acres were planted with potatoes, a decrease of 10,900, or 1-8 per cent., on 1888, but the acreage of the present year has only twice been exceeded. Turnips and swedes, which have been steadily increasing in quantity since 1878, covered 1,920,600 acres, being a decrease from 1888 of 23,509 acres. Mangold has decreased by 35,000 acres, and cabbage, kohl rabi, and rape by 12,300 acres, while carrots, vetches, and other green crops together show a decrease of over 90,000 acres. The total area of green crops thus amounts to 3,299,600 acres, a diminution of 172,200 acres from the figures of the preceding year, the several kinds returned all par- ticipating in this decrease. HOPS AND FRUIT. Hops have again decreased as compared with 1888. The Agricultural Department on the 30th of August issued a table giving the acreage in the several counties of England where hops were grown in 1887, 1888, and 1889. The total area returned this year is 57,724 acres, as compared with 58,494 acres in 1888, and 03,706 acres in 1887, showing that the reduction is still going on. In Kent, 35,487 acres were returned against 36,418 last year, and 40,037 in 1887. Sussex has 7282 acres against 7403 acres in 1888, Hampshire 2905 acres against 2972 acres, and Surrey 2101 acres against 2173 in 1888. Hereford and Worcester, however, both show increases since last year, the extent thus cultivated being 6850 acres against 6559 acres, and 2939 acres against 2764 acres respectively. For small fruit, such as currants, gooseberries, &c., there is an increased acreage shown in Great Britain of 5200 acres. The extent of land returned under its culture, whether in orchards or market gardens, amounts this year to 41,900 acres, and the collecting officers again report in- stances of the further disposition towards increasing production in this direction as having been encouraged by the satisfactory character of recent experiments made in some districts to meet the growing demands of large neighbouring towns. ARABLE LAND. The area under arable land is less altogether by 70.700 acres, 16,867,500 acres being returned as compared with 16,938,200 acres in 1888. The relative proportions of the whole area. of cultivated land in Great Britain in this year 48-5 per cent. in permanent pasture, 24-7 per cent. under corn crops, and 101 per cent. under green crops; the remainder being- under clover, flax, hops, small fruit, and fallow land. Orchards in Great Britain show an enlarged area covering 199,897 acres, as compared with 199,178 acres in the previous year, but nevertheless, the quantity of fruit grown in this country is very far below the demand. Importations of raw apples and other raw fruit unenumerated increased very considerably in 1888 as compared with those of the preceding year, and in the first eight months of 1889 as compared with 1888 largely augmented quantities in these descriptions of fruit, taken together, appear in the Customs Returns. The imports under these two heads amounted in 1888 to £ 2,417,445 in value. The acreage under market gardens is this year 69,620 acres in Great Britain, as against 67,383 acres in 1888. LIVE STOCK. Taking the various kinds of live stock in Great Britain for the year 1889, it is satisfactory to find that instead of a decrease there is, as compared with 1888, an increase in the total number of horses and of cattle, and that this advance is accompanied by more noteworthy additions to the stock of sheep and lambs as well as of pigs. There is, it is true, a decrease of 879 in the number of unbroken horses and mares returned as kept solely for breeding, but the deficiency is this year, as above mentioned, made up by the increase of 9918 in the number of agricul- tural horses. The imports of foreign horses into the Usited Kingdom in 1889 showed a decline of 136 only in number when compared with those of 1887, while their total value so compared diminished by £50G5. In the first eight months of this year the number imported has been 10,340, against 8373 in the same period during 1888, the value of those imported being this reare 196,616, as compared with £ 142,716 in the corresponding period of 1888. As re- gards horned cattle there is this year, as already mentioned, an increase, the total number being llÇiW G,139,555. The increase over 1818 is, however, under 10,200, or 0 2 per cent., so that for cattle taken alto- gether we remain practically as we were last year, The increase shown is almost entirely in Scotland, as in England there is searcely any difference, while in Wales a slight decrease appears. Cows and heifers in milk or in calf have diminished in number in Great Britain by 16,805, distributed over the three divisions of the kingdom. Cattle other than milch cows of two years of age and above, show an increase of 19, 554, and young cattle have increased by 7431. Sheep and lambs show in Great Britain an increase of 37.1,871, the total number being 25,632,020. Pigs numbered 2,510,803, against 2,404,344 in 1888, 2,299,323 in 1887, and 2,221,475 in 1886, an increase in 1889 over those years of 4-4 per cent., 9-2 percent, and 13 0 per cent, respectively. Following closely upon the large increases of the last two years a similar advance could hardly have been expected, but the position is maintained. THE IRISH RECORD. With regard to Ireland there is an increase ir the cultivated area of 4689 acres, the whole being now 15,066,941 acres. Corn crops appear to be less by 35,776 acres. Wheat has diminished by 8295 acres, barley has increased by 15,348 acres, and oats de- creased by 43,3o8 acres there is an increase of 1831 acres under rye, and a decrease in pulse crops of 1292 acres. Among green crops the potato acreage is less by 17,356 acres, 787,152 acres having this year been so planted. Turnips show a slight increase over the breadth sown last year, when 294,293 acres were under this crop, while mangold, cabbage, carrots, together with Luc rne and other green crops, except rape, have severally decreased the total of green crops amount- ing to 1,219,549 acres, compared with 1,234,069 acres in the previous year, and showing a decrease altogether of 14,520 acres. The land under per- manent pasture this year was, for hay, 1,516,600 acres, while that of land not intended for hay produc- tion was 9,403,100 acres. The figures for 1888 were respectively 1,094,700 acres and 9,328,700 acres, or altogether 10,923,400 acres. As regards live stock in Ireland, horses have increased from 507,201 in 1888 to 515,188 in 1889. Milking cows and heifers show a decrease of 21,161 or 15 per cent. Young cattle have increased by 24,210, while other cattle of two years of age or above have declined from 918,791 to 910,415 in the present year, thus making the total number of cattle 4.093,9-14, or 5297 less than in 1888. ShEep and lambs taken together exhibit an increase of 162,849, the total number of sheep being now 2,253,018, and of lambs, 1,536,581. Pigs, on the other hand, have decreased in number, namely, from 1,397,800 to 1,380,548 in the present year.

How MANY CALLS?—A story is told in the life of Doct or Robertson, of Irvine, concerning a maiden lady named Miss Kirkwood, who was exceedingly smart at repartee. On one occasion, when a pro- bationer of many years' standing was visiting at the house, he was pacing up and down the floor, while Miss Kirkwood sat busy with her knitting needles. Stopping in his walk, and laying his hand on her shoulders, he said You ar.d I are just alike, Miss Kirkwood you never got a husband, and I never got a kirk." How many calls had you, sir ?" she quickly inquired. "Oh," he answered, I never re- ceived a call at all." "Then," she said, "don't you be evenin' yourself to me."

f NO MONOPOLY. Telegrams from Servia (says the Vienna correspon- dent of the Standard) indicate another aibitrary act on the part of Dr. Vuitch, the Minister oi Finance. The salt monopoly in that country—that is to say, the importation of rock salt from Austria, Hungary, Roumania, and Germany, and its sale in Servia, where there are no salt mines-is in the hands of a syndicate composed of the French firm of Lebaudy, the Deutsche Bank of Berlin, several firms in Pesth, and the Anglo-Austrian Bank of Vienna. It contracted six years ago with the Servian Govern- ment for a term of 15 years, agreeing to pay a certain royalty to the Treasury, and conceding the control of its salt magazines in Servia. No Govern- ment has ever availed itself of this right until a few days ago, when orders were given for the first in- spection. The syndicate maintains that everything was en rfgle, but a telegram says that proofs of gross negligence and violation of the contract by the com- pany have been detected. It adds that the Radical papers call for the cancelling of the contract, on the ground that foreign companies must all be done away with in Servia." The outcome is not hard to guess. The salt monopoly will go the way of the rail- way company.

A KING IN BANKRUPTCY. A monarch-at least in part-thus—is soon about to appear before the Paris equivalent of the Bankruptcy Court. The penniless potentate is King Marie de Mayrence, the first sovereign of the Sedangs. This ruler of a distant country Ðn the borders of the French colonies in the Far East is a native Gaul, whose exploits have been frequently chronicled before, and who was recently rendered more celebrated than ever owing to his row with a Paris cabman, who smashed the Royal opera bat. It appears that the King has been receiving large sums of money from certain business persons who entered into contracts with him for the supply of postage-stamps to the benighted people of his distant dominions. King Marie has been cutting a fine figure in Belgium with the money thus received, and the contractors who are his creditors have begun to lose all hope in the success of his monarchical mission, as he seems to prefer a long sojourn in Europe to a cycle in the Sedang country.

BEARING ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS. A rather amusing case of illicit substitution came on for trial the othtr day in Paris. M. Dubusc, an opulent Boniface, tried to make his establishment extra attractive lately by engaging a low comedian, a third-class divette, and three or four fiddlers to per- form nightly within its precincts. Unfortunately for himself, the prosperous publican contravened the law by not obtaining official authorisation for the trans- formation of his tavern into a music-saloon, so he was condemned to two days' imprisonment. As M. Dubusc was not dragged off to the dungeon im- mediately after his sentence was passed, but allowed bail for awhile, he took advantage of his freedom to hire a substitute to do his imprison- ment. The substitute was an extremely ragged person, who had just left the State fortress at Nan- terre, and, having but the price of a glass or two of absinthe in his pocket, agreed cheerfully to go to prison in place of the Boniface, who promised him 20 francs and a good feed for the job. Boislache, the substitute, however, attracted notice as he wasrnter- ing the prison. After having signed the register as Dubusc, publican," the governor of the gaol eyed h'm up and down, and asked him how it happened that he was penniless and in rags. Boislache here broke down completely in his part, and was marched off between two turnkeys to the nearest police-station. The humour of the comedy of Boislache and Dubusc relaxed the gravity of the magistrate and jurymen before whom the case came, and the Boniface and his needy accomplice were discharged with salutary admonitions.

EATING HORSEFLESH. A Berlin correspondent writes The price of beef, mutton, and pork has increased so much throughout Germany that hundreds of households of the small official class and artisans' labourers cannot afford to see these meats on their tables. Recourse is now had to horseflesh, which is much cheaper, though the extra demand has run up the price of this also. In the month of October 816 horses were slaughtered in Berlin for domestic consumption, an increase of 25 per cent, as compared with last year. At Konigsberg, a town with about a tenth of the inhabitants of Berlin, 330 horses went to the butchers. At Carls- ruhe the increase in the consumption of horseflesh is cent. per cent. as compared with last year, and Dort- mund follows suit; at Cassel it is 90 per cent.; at Bochum and Stuttgart it is 60; at Leipzig it is a little over 60 per cent.; at Brunswick and Lubeck it is over 30 per cant. The increase is also great at Hamburg and Bremen—in the former town the price per pound is now 7d.

THE MARKETS. MARK-LANE. Business was quiet, but there was a steady tone, and the tendency was against buyers. Fresh supplies were moderate. The sales of home-grown wheat at the leading markets of England and Wales during the first 12 weeks of the season were 879,291 qrs., against 615,522 qrs. last reason, the average being 2^6 lid, against 33s barley, 1,458,619 qrs., against 649,793 qrs., the average being 29s lid, against 28s fJd; and oats, 138,396 qrs., against 66,291 qrs at an average of 17s 2d, against 16s lOd per qr. English wheat changed hands quietly at late rates. The demand for foreign wheat was fairly firm prices unaltered. The flour market was quiet, at late prices. Barley was firm. Malting i produce realised full prices grinding was steady, and 3d dearer on the week. Oats were quiet, and inferior sorts 3d dearer; good sorts steady. Maize was a steady market. Prices of flat were about 6d higher than a week ago. Beans were tending upwards. White peas Is dearer. METROPOLITAN CATTLE. The cattle trade has been rather wanting in anima- tion, but has been nevertheless firm, with a tendency adverse to the hUJer. Supplies of beasts were only moderate. The quality and condition of the home-fed stock was satisfactory. Sales were not arranged freely, but the market was firm, and prices tended upwards. Choice Herefords and runts made 4s lOd, and short- horns 4s 6d per 81b. Foreign beasts were in short supply, and limited request, and were about same in value. The sheep pens were fairly supplied. A slow demand prevailed, but full prices were obtained for choice breeds. The best small Downs made 6s (jd per 81b, and heavier sheep 6s 4d. Calves were quiet, but steady. Pigs sold at late currencies. Coarse and in- ferior beasts, 2s 4d to 3s second quality ditto, 3s to 4s prime large oxen, 4s 4d to 4s 6d; ditto Scots, &c., 4s 8d to 4s lOd; coarse and inferior sheep, 3s lOd to 4s lOd second quality ditto, 5s to 5s 8d prime coarse- woolled ditto, 6s to 6s 4d prime Southdown ditto, 6s 4d to 68 6d; large coarse calves, 3s lOd to 4s lOd; prime small ditto, 5s to 5s 8d large hogp, 2s 8d to 3s 8d neat small porkers, 3s lOd to 4s 6d per 81b to sink the offal. METROPOLITAN MEAT. Supply too large, buyers not numerous, and prices all round very irregular. A large quantity of beef and mutton left unsold. Prices Inferior beef, 2s to 2s 8d middling ditto, 2s lOd to 3s 4d; prime ditto, 38 d to 3s lOd Scotch ditto, 3s 8d to Is 0d American, Liver- pool-killed, 3s Od to 3s 2d ditto killed. hindquarters, 2s 8d to 3s Od ditto, ditto, foreqnarters, Is Od to Is 10d English veal, 4s Od to 5s; Dutch ditto, 3s 4d to 4s 10d inferior mutton, 2s 4d to 3s 4d middling ditto, 3s 8d to 4s 4d prime ditto, 4s 8d to 5s 2d Scotch ditto, 580d to 5s 6d New Zealand ditto, 2s 10d to 3s large pork, 3s Od to 3s 8d and small ditto, 4s to 4s 4d per 81b. by the caresse. FISH. Fair supply; low demand. Prices: Wholesale Turbot, lOe to 12s per stone brill, 6s to 8s per stone; cod, 30s to 100s per score; soles, JE5 to XG per box; plaice, 15s to 20s per box fresh haddocks, 8s per box; whiting, 5s to 6s per box mackerel, 16s per pad skate, fis per box live eels, 16s per draft; dead eels, 8s to 10s per draft; red mullets, Os to 8s per dozen smelts, Is to 4s per basket lobsters, 30s to 40s per score crabs, 15s to 20s per pad oysters, 2s to 14s per 100 bloaters. 2s 6d per box kippers, 2s to 3s per box; smoked haddocks, 29 to 6s per dozen. Retail Soles, Is to Is 4d per lb.; turbot, Is per lb.; brill, 9d per lb.; cod, 4d to 6d per lb. plaice, 5d per lb. skate, 4d per lb. fresh haddocks, 3d to 4d per lb. live eels, Is per lb.; dead eels, 8d and 9d per lb.; sprats, 2d per lb. red mullets, 6d to Is each; whiting, 2d to 4d each mackerel, Id each; lobsters, Is to to 3s Gd each crabs, Is to 3s each; smoked haddocks, ~d to 9d each oysters, 4d to 2s 6d per dozen smelts, 0d per dozen; shrimps, Is 6d per gallon. POTATO. The supply of potatoes on sale was moderate. A limited demand, at the following prices Magnum bonums, 60s to 80s; Regents, 50s to 70s and Hebrons, 60s to 90s per ton.

THE MANCHESTER MARTYRS," A demonstration of Irishmen was held in Man- chester on Sunday on the anniversary of the execu- tion of Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien, otherwise known as the Manchester Martyrs." A procession number- ing about five hundred, including representa- tives from the surrounding district of the Irish National League branches, headed by a band, marched to St. Patrick's Church, where mass was said for the repose of the souls of Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien. The majority of the demon- strators wore green sashes, but by the request of the Bishop of Salford, Dr. Vaughan, these were taken off at the church door, the bishop considering that such an exhibition of party colours might offend other worshippers. The sashes were resumed outs ile the church.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. COMMERCIAL FAILURES.—According to E cantilc Gazette the number of failures in England and Wales gazetted last week was 74. The number in the corresponding week of last year was S9, showing a de- crease of 15, being a net decrease in lSSI, to date, of 286. TAKING PRrssic ACID IN HYDE-PABE.—A man. about 40 years of age, was the other day observed to take a bottle from his pocket, drink its contents, and then plunge into the Serpentine. His body was shortly after taken from the water. The deceased had pre- sumably swallowed a quantity of prussic acid, as the label on the bottle indicated that it had contained that poison. TRACED BY BLOODHOUNDS.—Patrick Drohan, an Emergency man, was recently missed from a ipr -m on the Pallisers' estate, near Kilmaethumas, county Waterford. The police, suspecting that a crime had been committed, made a search, but without e.ect until Saturday, when they borrowed a couple of Lord Waterford's bloodhounds. The body of the deceased was then traced to a ditch, some distance from the farm, where it was partially buried. A NOVELTY IN INTERVIEWING.—The Paris a to has started a novelty in interviewing. It publishes an interview with General Boulanger, illustrated by in- stantaneous photographs, showing the various attitudes of the General white under the process. He said he had removed from London because he found it neces- sary to retrench. He finds himself very comfortable in Jersey, and extols the beneficial effects of the climate. He has plenty of friends and visitors, and leads a plea- sant though leisurely life. INDIAN NATIVE RISING.—The Kols have risen in the Chota Nagpore. They are an aboriginal race, and number about a million, scattered among the hills in the Central Provinces. The cause of the riotiug seems to have been agrarian. The Zemindars' property was burned, as well as the public offices. Many persons were killed. The Kols, it is stated, demand a remis- sion of rents and the abolition of the forced labour exac-ted by the chiefs. MILLIONAIRE SHOT lY A POACHES.—Mr. Cunning- hay, a millionaire living at Milton, Massachusetts, dis- turbed an Italian tramp poaching on his estate the other night. In the struggle which ensued the poacher shot the millionare, indicting mortal wounds. MURDERING His Two CHILDREN.—James Smith, a New York letter carrier, went to the house, where his wife, whom he had deserted, was living, took away his two little children, and then deliberately murdered them by shooting them with a revolver. SIR SYDNEY WATERLOO'S GIFT.-The London cor- respondent of the Iiinuinaham 3fni! learns that the person really responsible for Sir Sydney Waterlow s present to the public is his charming young Californian wife, who, when she crossed the Atlantic to England, brought with her an immense private fortune. A WHALE UNDER WATER.—One has been accustomed to read in books that a whale has to come to the surface about every 10 minutes in order to breathe. According to the current there has been no trustworthy testimony as to how long a whale actually can remain undr-r water. But Dr. Kuckenthal reports that, when lately in the Arctic regions, he saw a har- pooned white whale remain under water three quarters of an hour. ELECTRICITY IN AMERICA.—"We are far behind oar American couf ins in the application of electricity to the uses of life. For proof of it one need not go beyond the figures lately submitted by Mr. S. A. Duncan in his Presidental address to the l-nited States National Electric Light Association. There are in daily use 200,000 arc lights, and some 2 million incandescent lamps. Supplying electricity to single building? or stctions of towns there are 57,000 central stations and isolated plants. Then of electric railways there are 53 at work, and 44 in the course of construction, per- mitting 378 electric tramcars to travel over 2:14 miles of railway. The capital employed and sunk in these works is estimated at about fifty millions sterling. A GAMEKEETER SHOT.—Frederick Stephens, game- keeper on the Worcestershire estate of the Due d'Aumale, died on Saturday afterncori fron: the effects of injuries indicted upon him by a gang of poachers last Sunday week. His skull was badly fractured. Three men are in custody on suspicion d bemg con- cerned in the crime, and a farmer against whom a warrant was issued has absconded. SEBYICE BY A LIFEBOAT —The lifeboat Eilprl New- man and John Bentley, belonging to the I--ial Lifeboat Institution, and stationed at Xewburgh. Aber- deenshire, was launched the other day while a gale was blowing from the S E., accompanied by a very heavy sea, and rescued seven of the crew of the DaiiL-h brig Olga, bound from Soderhamn for SunderlaDrj, which has stranded at the mouth of the River Ythan. One man had, unfortunately, been washed overboard from the vessel before the lifeboat arrived. EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE FROM DE^TH.—The other night an old woman known as Peggy Kelly, aged nearly 70 years, wandered into Trinity-street Station, Bolton, in a drunken state. No one appears to have noticed her, but she must have fallen off the platform, for, on the arrival of the seven o'clock train from Rlackburn, she was found on the line in such a position that most of the carriages must havj passed over her. Her left arm was cut olY, and was found a yard away, but other- wise she was uninsured, and it is a mystery how she escaped with her life. She now lies in the infirmary in a precarious condition. THE íOXACO GAMING-TABLES.—The main entrance of the Casino at Monte Carlo was reopened on Sunday after being closed almost all the summer. Numerous alterations in the famous gambling establishment have been carried out. A new wing, to be filled with more tables, stands at the east end, the atrium and smoking promenade are considerably enlarged, and a lift is being constructed to take visitors from the station to tho Casino grounds. There was quite a crowd of players. THE PACIFICATION or CRETE.—The Sultan has granted an amnesty to all persons who took part in the recent disturbances in Crete, with the exception of those who were guilty of offences against the commo-i law. This step is. it is stated, to be followed by other mea5nrf for the complete pacification of the The firt will be the appointment of a Christian to be the new Governor-General after that elections will be held for a npw Legislative Assembly: finally a special commission will be instituted to inquire into the reforms which ought to be promulgated for the good of the island. THE SALARIES OF AMERICAN PKEACIIERS.—I have before me a list of stipends of several ministers in New York (writes the LcnnoD correspondent of the haw Express). Dr. Morgan Dix, the rector of Old Trinity, receives HOCO a year, besides having a beauti- ful house and a number of special a1Jawnccs his principal curate is paid £ 1600, his second curate £ 1200, and the others £ 800 apiece. The rector of St. Thomas's Church gets £3(:"0 a year and a house. St. Bartholomew's pays £ 3500 to its rector. Dr. Creer, and St. George's a stipend of rmno to Dr. Ramsford. Dr. Talmage's income from his tabernacle q,,d other ecclesiastical sources is rated at £ 6000. Dr. John Hall, of the Fifth-avenue Presbyterian Church, who numbers Mr. Jay Gould fimong his parishioners, receives a salary of £ 4000. THI- VETERAN VICEROY TSENG.—The 11 u- P "has a paragraph laudatory of the Viceioy Ts-. ng, who, it says, in spite of his advanced age, shows no diminution in energy and activity, the whole of which be appears to devote to amt'lir,\ting the condition of the and removing abuses. The good Governor-General s spirits have been much effected bv tbe Jafe mis orturcs that have afflicted China, the breaking out of the Yellow River, the floods in other parts, and the burn- ing of the T'ai-hwo Gate of the Emperor s I alace and when he heard the account of the fire at the -empse of Heaven, he is Faid to have burst into tears. HOW THEY DEAL WITH IN 'D)-S.- In Sweden the habitual drunkard is confined, lis food consisting almost entirely of bread steeped in wine. For the first day or two the patient tahes kit-elk to the treatment, as he IS allowe a certain quantity of wine beyond what is absorbed by the bread but in less than a fortnight he gets to loathe the look or the smell of liquor of any kind, and when the patients are liberated, according to the authority in question, many of them become total abstainers.. PAINFUL IN THE LAW COURTS.—An extra- ordinary scene took place in the corridors of the hall at the Law Courts the other day. A well-dressed lady was ejected from the court in which Mr. Justice Kay was hearing cases in private. Her piercing screams and cries for justice disturbed nearly ail the courts in the neighbourhood, and the corridor was thronged with spectators. In the centre of the crowd she knelt down and prayed that fire might be sent down from Heaven and crumble the walls of the courts. The attendants interfered and tbt- unfortunate lady was removed to a and prayed that fire might be sent down from Heaven and crumble the walls of the courts. The attendants interfered and the unfortunate lady was removed to a waiting-room, shouting as shewas conveyed downstair?, I "Justice and Purify your judges