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l-..rd"I'." TERRIBLE RAILWAY…
l-r d" TERRIBLE RAILWAY COLLISION. AN EXPRESS TRAIN WRECKED.—TEN PERSONS KILLED. -MANY INJURED. A terrible collision, resulting in the death of 10 persons, and serious injury to 10 or a dozen more, occurred early on the morning of the 11 th inst. on the Great Western Railway near Taunton. The disaster is the most serious that has occurred on the -Great: Western Railway for nearly 16 years, and it was accompanied by the additional horror of Are, which happily is almost unique in the history of British railway catastrophes. THE SCENE OF THE COLLISION. The scene of the collision, Norton Fitzwarren Junc- tion, is about two miles from Taunton, and two branch lines, to Barnstaple and Minehead, there join the main Bristol and Exeter-roads. The traffic Is consequently very large, and the station was con- sidered an important one. George Rice, a signalman, who has been in the service of the company for many years, went on duty at nine o'clock in the prin- cipal signal-box situated on the south side of the Station, a post which he has occupied for 20 years past. He was, therefore, an exceptionally expe- rienced man, and every confidence was placed in him. Rice was aware that after the ordinary passenger traffic had been disposed of a couple of special trains, conveying the mails and passengers from the Donald Currie South Africa steamer Norbam Castle, would pass through Norton Fitzwarren, but there was nothing unusual in the fact, as in the course of his service he had dealt with hundreds of similar trains. A FATAL ERROR. The first of the two specials, containing the mails and only two passengers, who had left their luggage at Weymouth to follow them later, passed through before midnight without incident, and nothing occurred to distract Rice's attention until shortly after one o'clock, when he had to deal with a slow down goods train. For some reason, which, doubtless, the Great Western Railway Company "will be able satisfactorily to explain, this second "train had to be shunted at Norton in the interval %6tween the passage of the two specials, and the risk was further increased by the fact that it had simultaneously to be got out of the way of an express down goods train bound for Plymouth, which passes through Norton without stopping. Rice shunted the slow goods on to the up line. and the express goods passed through all right. The slow goods train stood on the up line about 100 yards from the signal box, and incredible as it may seem, Rice Admittedly forgot all about it. The men in charge of the slow goods, knowing they were in a position of danger, chafed against the delay, but, as far as is I known, they did not attempt to attract Rice's atten- tion, because they naturally expected every moment I '•to receive the signal to move on to the down line. ^The engine of the slow train was facing the signal- and of course stood right in the way of any up train which might be allowed to pass the box. A fine rain was falling, and the night was very dark, but all signals and lights could be seen plainly. THE BECOND "SPECIAL." Suddenly a dull, rumbling sound broke the still- ness of the night, and simultaneously the electric tells in the signal-box rang out sharply. Rice had received the signal that the second special was near- ing Norton, and, oblivious of the slow goods train, "Which still stood on the up track, he lowered the home signal, which until then bad stood at danger and" formed the only barrier between safety and disaster, and replied "Line clear." A few minutes later the roar of the special approaching at the rate of nearly sixty miles an hour, and the glare of its head-lights told, without other warning, of the catastropaa which was at hand. The driver, fireman, and guard of the slow goods train, shouting excitedly -and setting their locomotive whistles blowing, jumped from their posts, where, otherwise, certain death awaited them, and Rice frantically gripped his levers. THE COLLISION. But it was too late. The special dashed into the goods train with the tremendous momentum begotten of- its great speed, and in another instant the line was blocked with the awful wreckage. Dowding, the -goods fireman, who had scrambled in his fright under a truck standing in a siding, was almost stunned by the mere sound of the coliision. The shock was ?ao terrific as to make the ground tremble and to awaken some officials sleeping at the adjacent station. Both massive engines reared up with the impact and for a moment it seemed that the special train would be hurled bodily over and upon the goods trucks. But this, which would have terribly enhanced the magni- tude of the disaster, was averted, for the stationary dead weight of the long, heavily-laden goods train resisted and sustained the shock of the engine • and three comparatively light passenger carriages, with the result that the locomotive and tender of the latter telescoped into the next carriage. But both engines were smashed and twisted out of shape, and the first and second passenger carriages, wholly WMckod, were piled up into a heap 30ft. high. AFTER THE CATASTROPHE. The instant the collision occurred there arose a con- fusion of unnerving sounds, which those who heard the n will never forget-the roaring and hissing of MCtpiag steam, the frightened shouts of the unin- jured, and the loud shrieks and pitiful groans of the wounded; the pitch darkness of the night, the flicker- ing lights of lanterns, the fiery glow of the scattered embers of the engine furnaces, the dull, red glare of the signal lamps, and the steady fall of a cold rain, aH combined to make up a scene of terror and con- tusion. It cannot be said that help was forthcoming as promptly as could have been desired, but the circumstances were bewildering for the coolest heads. Men were eager enough, after the first dreadful feeling of panic and helplessness, but they were few in number, and in their haste they stumbled over the treacherous rails and slippery sleepers, and ran in v sach other's way. Ere long, however, passengers and officials recovered their nerve, and thenceforward every one worked with praiseworthy devotion and seal. THE CARRIAGES. Their best qualities and strongest efforts were soon seeded, for now came an alarm of fire. Burning coal from the special engine had fallen among the splintered woodwork of the first passenger carriage, pinned beneath or among which were eight or 10 men, moat of whom had been mercifully killed in the first crash. But there was, however, more than one poor wretch Still alive, when the smoke and flame began to rise from the wreck. Their sufferings, however, could, not have been of long duration, and their agonising moans and cries had ceased long before the flame* bad been extinguished. Mr. Kemp, the Norton station-master, arrived on the scene within a few minutes of the collision, and took charge of the workers, volunteer and official. By his direction efforts were first directed to rescu- ing the injured, whose screams guided the rescuers with terrible certainty. Some maddened sufferer seemed to think that gold would give them priority in help, and panted out lavish offers of money as they were approached. Others were inarticulate with :agony, and some were found unconscious. A SHAPELESS MASS. The front carriage was one shapeless mass of iron and wood, beneath which the dead and wounded were yimmd in all sorts of extraordinary positions, difficult 110 reach. The work of rescue was in consequence JIerF slow, for great care had to be exercised in mov- ingbeams and bars, and the appliances therefore were first quite inadequate, although supplemented by gtrong and eager arms. But as the morning wore on the numerous telegrams which bad been early de- spatched by Mr. Kemp bore fruit in the arrival of officials and breakdown gangs, physicians, and our- geons, from Taunton, Exeter, Bristol, and other places on the Great Western system. The telegrams to Taunton met with an exceptionally prompt response in the person of Mr. Robinson, locomotive superin* tendent, who collected all the available m:n at that station and started for Norton on a pilot engine. Most of the passengers in the second car-1 ciage were able to extricate themselves with little jMeittance, and the badly injured were rescued with comparatively little difficulty. They wt re taken to the rfortou Station, and received first attention from J; a German surgeon who had be £ u a" jpitb-them. F PINNED IN THE WRECKAGE. But several hours elapsed before att the occupant* .of the front carriage could be extricated from the wreckage. Themassive remains of that carriage had to be, in fact, literally broken to pifeea to enable the rescuers to .get at the unhappy creatures who lay beneath. When the ftrst alarm of lire was given it weemed as though; the only course would be toilet the flames have their way. But the thought of ltilow-creatfares being slowly burned to death with. out some effort, however apparently futile, to save them was entertained, if at all, only for a moment. As it turned out, the fire was more terrifying than -•efricwifs, and water being abundant at the station, Mftd even nearer the see* the flames were subdued easier and speedier than had been dreamed to be fcosslbte. 'While the fire lasted, howwenthe heat wM very great, as proved by the condition of some of the bodies which were subsequently recovered from the ruins. As quickly as could be the wounded and the dead alike were removed to an adjacent temperance hotel, where the former were most assiduously attended to by Doctors Farrant, Willcox, How, and other medical men, the value of whose services cannot be over- estimated. As far as could be ascertained up till a late hour in the evening 10 passengers were killed, eight very seriously injured, and about a dozen injured in a minor degree. The following is the official list of killed and in- jured supplied by the Great Western Railway Com- pany Killed: John Bradley, Joseph Reid, Louis Cohen, Max Heinmann, Robert Walker, Thomas Smith, M Benson. John E. Morris, Titus Bayley (a Kaffir), and Arthur Carroll. The names of the in- jured passengers are Joseph Bradley, Rickaby, Mackenzie, Hall, Renwick, Gaddes, Raymond, and Benson. All are being well cared for. There were 47 passengers in the wrecked train. NARRATIVES OF SURVIVORS. Among the passengers were two French gentlemen returning to France from a business mission to the Transvaal. One of these furnished the following narrative: My friend and I shared a first-class com- partment. I reclined on the seat next the engine and he on the one facing it. Suddenly I felt that the brakes had been appiied, for my body struck against the back of my seat, and my friend rolled off his on to the floor. In a second or two there followed a still more violent shock, and we were pitched backwards and forwards. Then the carriage steadied. What is it; are you hurt ?" we asked each other. "No," I said; "we better stretch ourselves out again." My friend said, "Something has happened, let us get out." We got out, and then we could see the engine was in the middle of the first carriage, because clouds of steam came from it, and this steam prevented us from seeing the full extent of the havoc. The engine driver, a splendid fellow, who had applied the brakes when he saw the lights of the other engine and so saved some of us, was, I was glad to see, still alive, for he stepped out, of the smashed carriage into which his engine had been forced. The rest of the passengers came out of the hindmost carriages all asking, 'What is it?' and inquiring about this one and that one. There was no panic, however, and a relief service was quickly organised by the railway servants. Ten minutes had not elapsed before there was a surgeon on the spot, and in half an-hour there were three or four others. SEARCHING AMONG THE WRECKAGE. The railway officials and the passengers who were unhurt were meanwhile searching among the ruins of the carriage nearest the engine. Some of these would mention & man's name and say, Where is he ? He must be here somewhere." There was a strange silence about the heap. By-and-bye, we heard moaning, and then one after the other of the wounded and dead were got out. One poor negro was decapi- tated. Others of the dead had no apparent in- juries, as if they had been stunned, and then suffocated by the s'eam. One body had appar- ently been set on fire by the engine. They were laid on stretchers and borne away to a room in the station. Two or three of the wounded seemed to be very badly hurt. As time wore on some very nice gentlemen belonging to the company came and were exceedingly attentive to us passengers. One of them took charge of the women and children and took them to a little house somewhere near. During the many hours of darkness the work of relief was carried on by the light of lamps 'It was only when the morning broke that we could see the full extent of the wreck. Some of the dead men, artisans apparently, bad been p'aying cards when the collision occurred, for the cards were all lying scattered about among the wreckage where their corpses were found My servant had tried to enter one of the compartments of this front carriage, but some of these men refused to let him, saying they had plenty in it. so he had to seek a place more in the rear, and thus escaped death and also injury. One of the dead was a young German named Heinmann, with whom we were very friendly in the cabin. He was travelling alone, but I believe he was married, and had four children There were only about 40 persons in the train, and. as you see, the casualties have been about 50 per cent. We should have had more in train, especially of the first-class passengers, but the sea had been very roueh for a day or two before we landed; many of them bad been sick. and they remained behind to have a good night's rest in the Plymouth hotels. The wife of Quartermaster-sergeant Lewis, of the 6th Dragoons, and her four little children were among the passengers, and though they were in a compartmeht of one of the smashed carriage", it was the last compartment, and they all escaped injury, excepting a bruise on one little boy's bead. MRS. LEWIS'S STORY. Mrs. Lewis says the youneest two of her children were asleep, and the two others only half-awake when the collision occurred. They were thrown violently about, and were dreadfully shaken and alarmed. She felt, she says, so thankful when she found all her little ones alive and well. Even the pet dog which the elder boy was carrying in his arms was unhurt. Her husband was coming home in the Himalaya troopship, and would be in England in a few days, she expected. The regiment was to be stationed in Windsor, and she was meanwhile going to see her mother before proceeding there. Other passengers had tales to tell of marvellous escapes, but, naturally, they were very disjointed ac- counts, and what was of moment in them already appears in the foregoing report. THE SIGNALMAN CHARGED. At the Taunton Police-station the same afternoon, before Mr. Badcock. George Rice, aged 64, a swi'ch- man, was charged with neglect of duty as pointsman at Norton Fitzwarren Station. He was formally re- manded on bail..
THE CHICAGO ANARCHISTS.
THE CHICAGO ANARCHISTS. A public meeting has been held at the South-place Chapel, Finsbury, to commemorate the legal murder and imprisonment of the Chicago Anarchists." Prince Krapotkin and Madame Louise Michel were an. nounced to speak, but Prince Krapotkin was pre- vented from being present by illness. There was a large attendance. Mr. Blackwell said that as that was an Anarchist meeting there would be no chair- man nor any resolution submitted. He read a letter from Prince Krapotkin, who wrote, Tell to the Eng- lish workers that terrible tragedy of Chicago. Tell them how in circumstances very much like to those we have now here, the toilers, the producers of all wealth-those who are re- duced to misery because they create all riches—en- deavoured to reduce the hours of forced labour by a general strike on May 1, 1886. Tell how the American Anarchists, who did not share the illusions, of the workers, foresaw that the rich ones (the ex- ploiters) would take advantage of the strike for slaughtering the workers, and warned workers, and advised them not to engage in the fight, unless pre- pared to fight to the bitter end. They taught the workers that they had produced, and were producing, all riches that they (the workers) can produce for themselves and need not be ruled by a handful of thieves. Struggle—and no armistice." Messrs. H. Davis, H. Malatesta, Morton, and Ya- nousky (who denounced Henry George as a traitor) also spoke. Madame Michel said it was a sign of our times" that death for liberty had become the thing of all others which people would meet together to celebrate. She hoped those who had come there that night would themselves be ready some day to suffer for the same cause. At the be. ginning of every new era in all heroic ages the re- formers were fired with indifference to death, which meant the destruction of the iniquities of the old world. In all legendary traditions was found the fundamental idea of Prompt hous bound to the rock for the crime of desiring light for men. As in the ancient myths the heroes fought with and conquered monsters and dragons, the workers must ttke the power into their own hands and proclaim the triumph of the rights of men, whilst the old worn-out world Was crumbling into cha66, the young new World was forming itself amid ruin and destruction. The length of time that they would have to continue holding such meetings of protest as that depended upon the attitude taken by the Governments of The world. The more Govern- ments oppressed the people the worse they were, the faster the work would go on, for the patience of their human cattle was coming to an end. The more human cowardice Was scourged by tyrants, the sooner would the moment of liberty arrive. For that reason scaffolds and gibbets brought more fruit than ^plat- forms could ever do. It was not only for the Chicago martyrs they met; it was for those of Russia, Gar- many, and «!i the world. It was for the coming martyrs, too, tot it seemed there was a desire to makehaltetolfing one's life in the teeth of cornw", ■oeiety.
THE HAMPSTEAD TRAGEDY.
THE HAMPSTEAD TRAGEDY. tPBTmnt EXAMINATION OF THE ACCUSED. At the Marylebone Police-court, on the 11* h inst., Mary Eleanor Pearsey, otherwise Wheeler, was again brought up on remand, before Mr. Cooke, charged with the murder of Phoebe Hogg, late of 141, Prince of Wales road, Haversteck hill. She was further charged on suspicion with the murder of Phoebe Hanslope Hogg, aged 18 months, the child of the deceased woman. William Henry Holmes, a boy living at 138, Prince of Wales-road, said that about eleven o'clock on the morning of the 24th of October Mrs. Pearsey spoke to him while he was returning from an errand for his mother. She gave him a penny and a note, and told him to take the letter to 141. Prince of Wales-road, and give it to Mrs. F. Hogg. Mrs. Holmes, mother of the last witness, said she was standing at her door when she saw a woman give her boy a letter and a penny on the day in ques- tion. She identified the prisoner as the woman. Mrs. Gardiner, of Crogsland-road, Kentish Town, said that on the 24th of October, when she was cross- ing the Crogsland-road into the Prince of Wales-road at ab )Ut half-past six, she saw the ptisoner wheeling a perambulator, which appeared to be heavily loaded, and was covered over with a. black shawl. Other evidence having been given, Sarah Sawhill, female searcher at the Kentish Town Station, was next called. She said: On October 25 I was instructed to search Mrs. Pearsey. I did so. The prisoner spoke to me. She said, "I met Mrs. Hogg on the Wednesday afternoon accidentally in the Kentish Town-road. She passed me by and took no notice of me. On the Thursday I wrote a note to Mrs. Hogg and gave it to a boy to take to her to in- vite her round to my place on Friday afternoon to tea, as I should be home on that afternoon. The boy was to wait for an answer I said," Did Mrs. Hogg come ?" The prisoner replied, Yes, between three and four o'clock, and while we were having tea Mrs. Hogg made a remark I did not like. One word brought up another, and She then made a stop, and added, Perhaps I had better not say any more." Mrs. Pearsey made the statement before I had removed her clothes and given her others. Detective-inspector Banister said: When the pri- soner and Miss Hogg came to the mortuary, and I remarked that they ought to be aole to give some reliable opinion if they were relatives, Mrs. Pearsey said, I am no relation only a friend." I said to the two of them, When did you see her last?" and Miss Hogg added, She left home yesterday after- noon at about three o'clock." On searching the prisoner's rooms on the 25th of October, I found a cigarette case, identified by Hogg, and a purse 2 containing 10s. 6|d. and a pawn-ticket. I also found a pair of lace curtains in a foot-bath in the washhouse, and some stained rag's. som§ of which Dr, Bond took away, I made a further examination on Thursday, the SOth, with three detective-sergeants, and found a number of articles, which I have handed to Dr. Pepper. In the ashes in the dustbin, in the yard at the rear of the house I found this check button (produced). The deceased when found was wearing a jacket of this sort on it, and one button was missing from the right sleeve. The button I found and those on the jacket correspond exactly. Among the ashes in the kitchen grate we found a portion of a burnt hat or bonnet (produced in a small tin box). In the kitchen drawer I found a six-chambered revolver, and in a tin box three brass rings of different sizes. Several novelettes very much stained and partially burnt were found in the copper-hole. On a bass broom I found a number of hairs. In a pail of water I found two cloths which bad been washed. In the kitchen I found a portion of a lady's dress material and a black apron, which have been sub- mitted to Dr. Pepper. On a fire shovel I found stains and hairs. The fender was very much stained, and there were two hairs on it. I also found a piece of string with hairs on it, a pint bottle of paraffin with two hairs sticking to it, and, in the dresser drawer, a small carving knife and a small, very sharp knife stained with something. I have not produced these knives before. I found- a lady's cardigan jacket as well. Detective-sergeant Nutkins said that he assisted in searching the house at Priory-place. In the front parlour, on the sideboard, he found in a tea-tray a sharp-pointed knife, :and also a tin-box containing nine pin-fire loaded cartridges which fitted the revolver found in the kitchen. In the bedroom, in a black box, he found an envelope (produced) marked "Copys" (so spelt), and containing a bundle of draft letters and notes which Hogg had since identifie I u being in the prisoner's handwriting. Detective-sergeant Nursey said he went with prisoner and Miss Hogg to the Portland-town Police- station, and the bassinette and rug were shown to them. Miss Hogg, said, i" Yes, that is herrs." The prisoner said nothing. In accordance with instruc- tions he went with the prisoner and Sergeant Par- sons to 2, Priory-street. The prisoner opened the door with a key and they all went into the front parlour, and then into the bedrooms, both room doors being locked when they got there. The kitctoan door was also locked. She opened it, and the place was very dark by reason of the dark green blind having been pulled down. Witness pulled it aside, as the string would not act, and he then saw that two panes of glass were broken. The prisoner said, "I was trying to catch some mice, and broke them." The hearthrug was saturated with paraffin, and on the walls were splashes of blood. Witness said to her, I believe you saw her yester- day." He noticed that she appeared agitated, and that she did not speak quite so clearly as before. She added, I know I should have told you before this. She called at about six o'clock, and asked me to take care of her child. She wanted some money, but did not come inside. I told Clara about it, and she said that I had better not say anything about it, as it would seem a disgrace to ask for money." He left Parsons at the house and telegraphed to Inspector Banister, who shortly afterwards came and arrested the prisoner. He (the witness) assisted in the search of the premises. On the 28th of October he cut some hair from the head of the deceased child, sealed it, and handed it to Mr. Bond. Inspector Banister, re-called, said: I tested the perambulator to see if it would bear the weight of a full-grown body, by getting into it myself, being covered over and wheeled about in it. I tested and found that such a perambulator could be wheeled with perfect ease from the street through the passage and into the kitchen. The further hearing of the case was adjourned for a week.
CHRYSANTHEMUM CENTENARY.
CHRYSANTHEMUM CENTENARY. Many, perhaps, may wonder why the Royal Horti- cultural Society celebrated the introduction of the chrysanthemum from the East a century ago last year, while the National Chrysanthemum Society is doing so this year. The facts, so far as they can be gathered from old transactions of societies, appear to be these: In 1789 M. blanchard introduced into Marseilles three varieties from China, but of these only the purple grew. He sent some of these to the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, and there is the proba- bility, though not established, that some were sent to England. This, however, is certain on the authority of Sabine's paper in vol. iv. of the Royal Horticultural Society's "transactions," that in 1790 the purple variety had "been transmitted from France, and after its arrival here the changeable white was obtained from it by cultivation. The flower formed the subject of a plate in the Botanical Magazine for 1796." It is, then, 1790 that for certain was the year in which the chrysanthemum was introduced into England, from which year it has been continuously cultivated, not, however, solely from the purple variety, for Sabine records that between 1798 and 1808 there were eight varieties introduced from China, and in the fourth contribution he made to the Royal Horticultural Society, in 1826, ne mentions that 48 varieties had been received. It is worth noting that the introduction of 1789 or 1790, whichever be more oortect, was rather a reimtroduction, for as far back as 1763 it was grown in the Apothecaries' Gardens at Chelsea, but the cultivation died out. From the re-introduo I ¡ tion the centenary celebrates, the cultivation has teen maintained. !n i658 both the large chrysan- themum and the-pompon were largely grown in Hol- land, which then had a large fleet trading with the East; but there, too, the cultivation died out. In connection with the tendency of the chrysanthemum to sport" and vary, it is interesting to know it Lad been in cultivation in China for at least 10CO years before it was brought to England, and this long cut- tivation with crossings bad made it "plastic" to change-a fact of which cultivators of hybrid forms take advantage with so much success in producing the hundreds, or rather thousands, of varieties we now have.
[No title]
MR. RIDER HAGGARD is about to start for fresh woods and pastures new in search of materials for I another weird romance. He proposes to proceed to Mexico—a land as jet comparatively •« un worked" by British hovelists. ,< ,s;
FIELD AND DAIRY FARMING.
FIELD AND DAIRY FARMING. THE LETTING OF FARMS.—A few weeks ago somi unauthorised chronicler set on foot (remarks the Farmer and Stock-Breeder) a rumour of a very de- preea cg- character with regard to the letting of land. We gave little heed to it at the time, for the simple reason that farms advertised in our columns found tenants with unusual readiness. A midland couches paper, which has been teeming with advertisements of farms to let, has had similar assurance of quick- ening activity in the demand for good land. Never- theless, our contemporary took immediate steps to disprove the report by collecting authoritative infor- mation on the subject. It is evident that good arable farms are more easily let now than for some years past. We could name many that have been let at old rents, and a few for which increased rents have been given. The depression is slowly but surely diminishing in this particular direction, and there could be no better sign of returning prosperity. There is still little encouragement to be derived from corn growing, but they have more cheerful strings to their bow than that. Stock-breeding will undoubtedly receive a fresh and growing impetus from the im- proved condition of things; indeed, it is very pro- bable that the welcome change for the better is a direct result of a scarcity of good store cattle and the inadequacy of foreign supplies as a substitute for home-bred stock. The evidence reproduced in the Farmer and StocJc-Breeder on the letting of farms cannot be otherwise than eminently satisfactory. Out of 43 reports collected from land agents in different counties, 31 are distinctly favourable and encourag- ing, six are satisfactory, but not over sanguine, and only six take a decidedly unfavourable view of the agricultural situation and those which do so either explicitly or by implication show that the farms re- ferred to are those which, wherever situated in this country, are most difficult to let; farms the staple of which is a heavy clay, or with an intractable subsoil, undrained or badly drained, or else out of condition. Many correspondents give good reasons for the opinions they express, but limited space has com- pelled us to omit details in dealing with their com- munications. THE MANURE HEAP. The pivot of successful farming is the dung-heap," says Professor Kedzie, of the Michigan Agricultural College. The most economical general manure for the farm is yard and stable manure. It is a complete manure, containing i all the elements necessary for plant growth and in available form. Special and commercial fertilisers may be used to supplement the barnyard manure, or for special crops and conditions, bn* they must hold a secondary position. I do not decry commercial fertilisers, for they are of great value when properly used, but I am very firm in my belief that for a I general purpose manure they cannot economically replace barnyard manure. Used judiciously to re- inforce barnyard manure, they may well be used on certain crops and on certain kinds of soils; but used indiscriminately in general farming, the result has generally been unsatisfactory. It is for special farming and for the fruit grower and market gardener that the commercial fertilisers promise the best results at present." THE PROFITABLE DAIRY Cow.-Professor Stewart, with reference to the selection of the dairy cow, says that having determined her capacity of digesting surplus food for making milk, look carefully to the receptacle holding it—the udder and the veins leading thereto. The cow may assimilate a large amount of food which goes mostly to lay on flesh and fat; but if she has a long, broal, and deep udder with large milk veins it is safe to conclude that her capacity for digestion and assimilation is active in filling this re- ceptacle. In fact, the udder is the first point to con- sider in the cursory examination of a cow. If it reaches to the back line of the thighs and beyond, well up behind, well forward, is broad and moderately deep, with teats well apart and of good size, skin soft and elastic, it may be inferred with confidence that nature has provided means for filling it. If the adder be a small round cylinder hanging down in front of the thighs, like a six-quart pail, the cow cannot be a profitable milker, whatever diges- tive apparatus she may have. A yellow skin and the inside of her ears to match is almost universally re- garded as present in the cow that gives rich milk, yellow in colour. But after the indications mentioned are found, all other considerations are of minor im. portance, more to be admired as a matter of fancy than for any real value they possess in themselves. Among them are an escutcheon that is first-class, a long, slim tail, and attractive dished face, dropping and small waxy horns and a preferred colour of hair. Look for these, and get as many of them combined in the animal as possible, but let it be after the essentials are found. Let good appearances be coupled with performance, and if the cow be five years old old or younger and will yield 6000 lb. of good milk or more per annum, she may be safely trusted, without regard to fancy points. She must consume and digest the food to make it, and her machinery and the power to work the machinery successfully is the main consideration after all. Still another important matter in selecting a cow, even of common blood, is her pedigree or line of descent. Choose one from a large milking dam, grandam, and great- grandam. This will increase the probabilities of suc- cess in her progeny in breeding her to a thoroughbred bull from deep milking ancestors. A few cows selected with all the business requirements alluded to will lay the foundations for breeding a herd of dairy cows that will prove a source of perpetual delight and profit to the owner; on the other hand, it is a loss of time and money to rear a calf for the dairy from a poor milker. It is bad enough to keep an unprofitable cow for a season, but it is deliberately throwing away good food to breed such a cow, with the proof that the heifer will never pay for her keep. Of course no males should be kept of each crosses for breeding purposes. FEEDING BEANS FOR HORsEs.-Beans are best split or kibbled for horses. I would advise anyone to be very careful (says a correspondent of the Farmer and Stock Breeder) in using new ones, and they would do better by giving a little more for old ones until the new ones have got seasoned in the stack. The present value of good old beans is about 33s. per quarter of 38 stones, and good dry new ones about 30s. per 38 stones, being a lower price for both than has been the case for some years. So that at 3s. or 4s. more money I would always advise the use of old. If new beans are used at all for feeding horaes they should be dry and hard, and one part new with one part old, and the same quantity of oats will not hurt any horse. The harm is chiefly done with new beans, harvested bad, and tough and damp. These, given in any con. siderable proportion, will cause gripe and colic and other kindred complaints in horses, and should be avoided, even if very cheap. The ill effect will, in a measure, be avoided by using a good proportion of bran. Carrots are also a very good thing to give with them in keeping the stomach in order. The present year the beans are, as a rule, harvested well, and are dry, and consequently more fit for use. But last year they were harvested badly and were soft and in bad condition, and before they could be split for sale had to be kiln-dried, if threshed out in the winter, to make them split well and saleable. This no doubt makes them more di- gestible, but if anyone has horses of any value they would do well to give old corn. For a farm horse, say, one part old split beans, one part new split beans, one part old oats, and one part new oats mixed together; and about a pecks given each day when hard at work. To start with, I should give a little larger proportion of old corn, and after a while a little larger proportion of View oats may be given, as old oats are excessively dear just now but I would certainly not give above one-fourth new beans the next five months. If the horse is slack of work during that time a peck or less of this mixed corn would be sufficent, but about a peck of bran should be given. Wbilstatbard work from half a peck to one peck of bran would repay for giving, in saviog doctoring and the better state of the horse.
THE COLUMBUS CELEBRATION.
THE COLUMBUS CELEBRATION. Several Governments having been consulted as to the celebration of the fourth centenary of Columbus's departure "in search of the new world," the Madrid Government, at the request of the American Con- gress, has fixed upon Huelva as the place of cele- bration, this being the estuary (now known as Huelva Harbour) from which the great discoverer sailed. The meetings will be held at the Convent of La Rabida, which sheltered Columbus when he was about to abandon his project in despair and the prior of which Becuredfor him that Royal aid which he had himself failed to obtain.
Advertising
A CINCINNATI fiend advertises for men with fever and ague to shake carpets. GUEST (to hotel keeper): M What is this item among the extras'—weather vane, 4s.?" Hotel Keeper: M Yes, sir; we charge Is. a day for telling wiiich way the wind blows, and it's wonderful how we do it at the price." "e do it at-tile price."
---4 EPITOME OF TOWS.
-4 EPITOME OF TOWS. NBARLY £250,000 worth of uMcta Me pawned in London weekly. IT is said the tourist season brings JE4,000,000 yearly into Switzerland. PARIS can now be reached from London an hour sooner than Edinburgh. THERE are HOW 942 submarine cables. THERE are 30,000 elementary schools in France where boys are taught gardening. SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION oranges are exported every year from Europe to America DR. TALMAGE estimates the wealth of King Solomon at £680,000,000 in gold and JE 1,028,000.3 77 in silver. A TORTOISE which baa been in one family over a century has just died in Chelsea. He would respond to the name of Tommy," and is thought to have been at least 130 years old. THE forests of Russia are stated to cover the enor- mous area of 494,228,000 acres. Stanley calculated the extent of the great African forest pierced by him at only 224,000,001) acres. FLEET-STREET journalism has increased by leaps and bounds in recent years. In 1846 there were 35 newspapers and periodicals published in Fleet-street, three of them dailies in 1890 there are more than 300, and 11 of them dailies. THE Hungarian Minister of Agriculture contem- plates utilising the large sandy plains of the country for the plantation of vineyards. It is proposed to plant about 40,000 acres with vines imported from America, as these have hitherto defied the phyl- loxera. THE newest thing in Paris society this year will (according to Woman) be the appearance at balls and dances of the male guests in coloured coats, instead of the orthodox dress suits. The exquisites of Paris have now found that black is very trying to their complexions! MR. H. M. STANLEY has, so he says, never in the whole course of his life met a woman, from the flat- nosed female of the tropics to the anew. white divinity of New York, who had not a touch of romance; a romance that cheers the cheerless, softens the insen- sible, and renovates the withered. BARON HIRSCH, about whose relations with the Prince of Wales there has been so much talk lately, is worth over 20 millions sterling, which he has made during the past 20 years. Mr.«.« MAGGIE FULMER, of Ottawa, a young girl of 14 years, had for some time been eating starch in order to improve her complexion. The girl is now dead—a victim to her foolish habit. MR. F. WHYMPER tells us that in 1882 there were more than 500 canning and tinning establishments in Eastern Canaj?^ wm uselessly engaged iq shipping tins of lobsters to Europe. J EVERYBODY is not aware that Victor Hugo was an accomplished artist, as well as a poet and novelist. It is rumoured than an exhibition .of the illustrious Frenchman's drawings will soon be opened in London. THEATRICAL gossip has it that Mr. D'Oyly Carte* new theatre in London will cost not far short of £ 140,000. MR. BEALE, the Liberal candidate for South St. Pancras, recommends the establishment of Labour Conciliation Boards. SIR RICHARD BURTON, the famous Orientalist and traveller, was received into the Roman Catholic Church before his death. MR. MUNDELLA is very indignant over the Tip- perary trials. "Never," says he, "has there been such a travesty of justice since the days of Judge Jeffreys." OUR imports during last year amounted in value to JE37,746,236, which, compared with the return of October. 1889, shows a decline of £484,378. FOR the 10 months ending with October, our im- ports amounted in value to 9344,355,2 74, as compared with JB348,306,743 for the corresponding period of last year. DURING 1880 there were arrested in Manchester for drunkenness and drunk and disorderly conduct 6053 men and 2636 women. In 1889 the numbers were 3967 men and 1961 women. THE Queen recently presented a gold clock to the Emperor of China on his 20th birthday, accompany- ing it with a letter wishing him a prosperous reign. The value of the clock is put down at £1500. MR. GLADSTONE is credited with having once said -in, of course, the pre-Home Rule days-that if he had been a younger man he would have stumped Ireland against the member for Cork, and carried the people with him. THE mounted special constables doing patrol duty at Sydney during the animated labour dispute are drawn from various ranks of society. Some belong to the best clubs, some are livery-stable keepers. AU are well mounted, and wear police uniform. IN 60 or 70 years from now, owing to the foresight of Mr. Joseph Chamberlan, Birmingham will be re- ceiving an income from its land and building rever- sions of probably half a million sterling in addition to its rates, and free from all encumbrance. MR. COURTNEY'S suggestion is that County Councils in Ireland should not be elected en masse. His idea is that one-third of the members of each Council should retire every year, so that the election fever would be rendered sporadic and not epidemic. How editors of religious papers love one another The Methodist Recorder refuses to insert an advertise- ment of the Crusader, which retorts that this is human nature; and we never imagined that the editor of the Recorder had escaped the effects of the Fall." I ONCE said," remarks Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, "that there is a cynical want of candour about Lord Hartington. I withdraw the word, and say there is a candid cynicism about him. He probably cares as little about the poor old Church of Scotland as he knows about it." THE story in Gladstonian circles is that Lord Salisbury has resolutely set his face against bye- elections that is to say, as far as these contests are caused by voluntary resignation of seats on private considerations, or by the appointment of Ministerial supporters to office in the gift of the Government. DAVID FRENCH, of Paisley, could not get admission to his house the other night. However, be did not force an entrance, thinking that his wife had gone on a visit to some friends. Finding the door again locked the next afternoon, he forced the door open, and found his wife dead, hanging from a clothes- pole. ALPHONSO XIII. of Spain, not being much skilled in the handling of fork and spoon, ate his chicken with his fingers the other day. His attendant re- monstrated with his Majesty, and said, Kings do not eat with their fingers." The little fellow quietly replied, This King does," and continued his meal in the same fashion. A LONDON journalist relates a fresh anecdote of f, A.K.H.B." The Doctor, so goes the story, was visiting a widow who could not be comforted for the loss of her husband. He exhausted his resources of condolence, but still, like Mrs. Henry Wood's character, If she wailed." Oh, if I could be with him." Whereupon Dr. Boyd at last said, "Be quiet, my good woman, you are much better where you are." FOR several years during the reign of Frederick William I., Peter the Great annually contributed over 100 colossal recruits, culled from every province of the vast Muscovite Empire, to his good brother's pet regiment, knowing full well, as Carlyle puts it, that giants were almost as indispensable to the King as his daily bread, and that to his heart there was no road so ready as that of presenting a tall man or two." WHEN Sir Charles Lyell penned his principles of geology he was careful to accumulate evidences of the gradual rising and sinking of land to counteract the theory then generally accepted of violent eruptions of nature. One of the latest pieces of j corroborative evidence of such gentle movement is from the south-west coast of Australia. The land about Freemantle is rising, and many old colonists state they can remember ground now well above the water-level that used to be daily covered by the tide. THE father of Dr. Chalmers was one evening hav- ing a long debate on some knotty question with his next-door neighbour at Anstruther, as they leant on the dyke that separated their kailyards, when the neighbour exclaimed, Wha's that there at this time o' nicht ? looking to a figure that stood stock still at the head of the Chalmers garden. That! replied old Chalmers, with a grunt of contempt, 11 that's oor daft Tam glowerin' at the stars! THE Lord Mayor's state coach was built in 1757. The panels were painted by the Florentine artist Cipriapi, and the heraldic devices by Academician Catton, coach painter to George IIL The carriage is caryed and gilt throughout. The roof is red and ornamented with eight gilt vases. The upper inter- vals of the body are filled with plate-glass; above each door is a Phrygian cap, and below a trophy of arms; at the lower angles of the body are figures I emblematic of the four quarters of tbe globe; tod { above the back panel are a serpent and a dove. A CHILD five years old died in AUe^haavw Pennsylvania, the other day, from drinking whUky. THREE persons have been killed and others injupedt during an election riot in EstiU County, Kentucky t OUT of 381,626 persons employed on railwava 45 J were killed and 10,359 injured during the year December 31. OUT of 625,229 persons employed in coal andt j metalliferous mines, 1176 lost their Eves, and 4554 were injured during last year. s JAKES KEITH, of Caldwell, Tera«i; is said bw Yankee journalists to be the proud possessor ofX beard seven feet long. He has declined to go iatck the show business. THE style of ladies' evening dress that win mostI» be followed in Paris this season is inspired by thS. garments worn by Sarah Bernhardt, in her %aft piece, Cleopatra. DANIEL ROBINSON was shot and killed by Lee Hurst, in Columbia, Tennessee. The difficulty gz*" out of a misunderstanding about a woman wtxxa both claimed as their wife. A LOFTY house in course of coastructics ia tfeft Kohlmarkt, Prague, fell the other day and tilled aa« injured a number of people in the street. Five dead bodies have been extricated from the debris. and air, injured persons. THE Swedish steamer Kurir, from Idefjord Konigsberg, and the Norwegian barque Rex, from Sunds fraIl for Dunkirk, have been in collision. Thm former vessel sank, and the captain and six of th* crew were drowned. The latter vessel has put istoll, Elsinore badly damaged and waterlogged. THE repeated assertion that the Austrian EMPRESS has been, or is about to be received by the Pope its positively declared at Vienna on good authority tobft untrue. THE Rev. Alexander Webster, of Aberdeen, author of Burns and the Kirk," noticing tone comparison, between Burns and Scott made by Mr. Gladston, sent the right hon. gentleman a copy of his booIIa. and has been favoured with the following acknow. ledgment: Dear 8ir,—Excuse my answering, frooat pressure, very briefly your kind communication. Fae- be it from me to judge or to deny that Burns was religious. I am glad to see that he even acknowledges a Saviour. I am not a fair judge As for myself, It build upon historical Christianity the great world faft of 1600 years. Your view of his social mission is verjf interesting and most ably thought out, as becomes, k presume, an Aberdeen man, and there are some pui* £ gent things in your book with which I am oblige4 heartily to agree.—Years very faithfully, W. E^. GLADSTONE. NOV. 9, 1890." THE Skinners' Company of the City of London have announced their intention of making a condi- tiona! grant of £500 towards the cost of a proposao Dep&rtment of Leather Industries in the Yorkshire College, Leeds. The leather merch^ata gf Leeds hav* SUOSCRI: ti™ lecturer. LEwis THOMAS, a coloured man, was killed IG, Memphis, Tennessee, by an unknown assassin. B% was asleep with his wife when his assailant crushes his skull with an axe. The noise of the blow awefag his wife, but in the darkness she was unable fcqa identify the assassin. WHILE we are about celebrating the centenary of the introduction of the chrysanthemum into Europe^ the secretary of the Royal Botanic Society has hi-, formed its members that this flower was recorded t^ have been fashionable in China some 3600 years agow and that tr>.e dresses of the Chinese Empress and bW Court were embroidered with its blossoms as far as 1795 B.C. JUST before the expulsion of the English Jews 1290, there was a general incarceration of them all over the Kingdom. In the British Museum there is document which informs us of the date and place oa the imprisonment of the London Jews in that yeav_ II In this year," it says, on the Festival of the Cbu- ception of the Blessed Virgin all the Jews of London were taken and imprisoned in the Guildhall." AT the present time, for every 100 tons of gran* he sends to London, a farmer living 1000 miles ialaadL in the United States has an advantage of E30, attel. paying both land and ocean transit, over a farmer living at Stirling, in Scotland, only 420 miles froaai London." I* is the American engineer, Mr. Jeffer^t, who has been saying this. IT is interesting now, in the face of the Stanley*. Barttelot controversy, to recall the fact that the Belgian officer, Captain Van Gele. who returned fa*, Brussels from the Congo about two years ago, spok* thus of camp discipline with the rear-gu*d Tki% English do not understand how to treat the Arabsv Tb"y despise the blacks, and exercise an iron dia-, cipline." AT the General Election the Unionist majority ws* 116. At this moment the strength of partiee ing the vacant seats for Kilkenny and Edinburgh anel St. Andrews Universities to be filled as before by & Parnellite and a Conservative) is about as follows; ParneUites and Gladstones, 296; Conservatives and Liberal Unionists, 373 or a Unionist maioritw of 77. THE new Greek Parliament has been opened bytbw King in person. The monarch began his speech by referring briefly te the birth of his grandson, and ex- pressed the hope that friendly relations would maintained with all the Powers. Among other sub- jects dealt with was a proposed return to the erstes* of election based on the old electoral law. No reference to Crete, nor to the Patriarchate question at Constant tinople. was made bv the Kinc. A CASE is reported from Minneapolis in which machinist's wife, after living with her husband for few years, during which time two children were hnv% obtained a divorce on account of his intemperance-. A few weeks ago, the eldest boy was run over by train, and lost a leg. The parents met again at tsar bedside, were reconciled, and re-married in tbrm days. AMERICAN girls appear to be taking a turn towards domesticity. One of them made her own trousseaft the other day, and the fact was proclaimed in the newspapers across the length and breadth of the United. States. Even the measurements of this heroic creature were given, so great was the interest witit which the great feat caused her to be regarded. English girls of the same class (she was a doctoral daughter) often make the greater part 01 their own trousseau, and not even a local prinfc extols them. FOR some time past, Miss Lucy Booth, the yotmgAsfc daughter of General Booth, has been in very ba4 health, and all hope has been given up other recoven by her medical advisers if she remains in EngiaaoL, They have, therefore, ordered her to the South at France until the end of November, when she will saB for India with Commissioner and Mrs. Booth-Tucker and a party of 50 English officers." THE Duke of Northumberland has probably tile largest kitchen and certainly the most remarkable one in the country, attached to Alnwick Castle. it is more like a series of shops, and covers a big area. The meat department is a veritable butcher's sbop. the corners devoted to poultry and vegetables would stock a good-sized poulterer's and greengrocer's. The abode of pastry would attract more little boye them any shop in the Kingdom. The staff employed la equally as large, the head of each department weighing out" the various condiments of the kitchaa as a shopkeeper would to a customer. A SERVANT girls' union has been formed in Chria- tiania, and already boasts of several hundred members. Its programme comprises fixed working hours, with fixed hours off, better wap,R, and better servants' rooms than they now generally have. A NUMBER of ladies have joined the colony starteft by the followers of Count Leo Tolstoi at Yisbnevo- lotzki, in the Government of Tver. Tbe colonists arts members of tbe upper classes, who live as peasants^ and put Tolstoi's theories into practice. A SERVICE of carrier-pigeons between Zanzibar and the more important posts of the interior is being organised. Preliminary trials have given every satis- faction, and It is intended to establish a chain of powtsr 30 miles apart, between Lake Nyassa and the ooast. It is estimated that a pigeon will cover the whole dis- tance in six hours. THE average day's labour in Belgium is 11 hours, but brewers' men work from 10 to 17 hours, brick- makers 16, the cabiaet makers of Ghent and Brussels often work 17 hours a day, railway guards some- times work 19| hours at a stretch; and in the mining districts women are often kept at truck load- ing and similar heavy labcur for 13 or 14 hours. A '• GRIEVANCE BOOK is now provided at railway stations on Russian lines, in which complaints are entered. This record of wrongs—fancied or rMJ- reaches the central office once a month, when the complaints are investigated. IT is customary, in October, to kill pigs in We* Prussia and to have a regular sausage festivity. A barrel of beer is consumed by the GUESTS, and long tables are arranged in the barns. Different sorts ol hot sausages and potatoes are eaten, and In tha evening a dance takes place. IN Russia the mortality of children is vevv bIIb Indeed, owing to neglect and want of susbeeaws. It Je reckoned that 44 per cent, do not survive th* •evesth year.