Welsh Newspapers
Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles
16 articles on this Page
[No title]
.1 HAIIDUP: "1 wish this was the North Pole, with mghts six months long." Chasup: "Why?" Hardup So that I could tell my creditors to call again to-morrow." WIIY, is it, Marie," asked Squiggs, that you never see advertised gowns for old ladies?" Because," replied Mrs. Squiggs, there would be no sale for them." HE (after a tiff): "Going home to your mother, eh?" She: Yes, I am." He: "Huh! What do you suppose she'll say to you ?" She: "She'll say, I told you so.' MUTÆY HASSAN, the late Sultan of Morocco, was known for his friendly attitude to the Jews in his dominions. On one occasion the bastinado had been unjustly used by the Governor of Morocco Citadel, who afterwards received a severe rebuke from his master. Conduct thyself," wrote Muley Hassan j to his over-energetic officer, "towards the Jews ia I the same way as thou actest towards Mohammedans under thy administration; in civil affairs do justice to them, and in religious matters leave absolutely to their Rabbis the task of deciding them." I
[No title]
J 1 aoFiTrxa by the experience ot the City ana soutli •London Electric Railway, that about to be con- s.rnc..i'd in Paris is taking measures to lessen the noise that accompanies 'the motion of the trains through toe tvibeways. The rails will rest on wooden ties embedded in ballast. To ensure venti- lation, the necessity for which seems to have been overlooked m the parent undertaking, shafts from the top of the tubeways to the sidewalks will be bunt.
THE PRISON FR OF THE BASTILLE.
THE PRISON FR OF THE BASTILLE. After 100 years, and after untold floods of sym- pathetic tears have been poured out alpon the grave of Latude, the prisoner of the Bastille, we are told that the story of his sorrows is a series of fictitious legends. A writer in the Matin has been led to look ap the subject owing to the fact that a portrait of Latude, and a ladder said to be the one by means of which the famous prisoner made his escape, have been added to the curiosities in the Hotel Carnavalet. The Chevalier de Latude, or La Tude, as he called him- self, was, it seems, in reality named Danry, and his narrative is a pack of lies. He was a surgeon's assis- tant who was several times imprisoned for swindling, j On one occasion he sent a mysterious powder to Mdme. de Pompadour, and then made overtures in order to obtain money for denouncing certain imagi- nary accomplices with whom he was supposed to be conspiring against her life. Mdme. de Pompa- dour did not fall into the trap. That Danry was ever a political prisoner is denied.
TIIE HAHVARD OBSERVATORY.
TIIE HAHVARD OBSERVATORY. An historical sketch of the establishment of the Peru branch of the harvard College Observatory, and the investigations carried on there, is contributed to the Harvard Graduates' Magazine by Prof. W. H. Pickering. The Observatory is situated about two miles from Arequipa, and 400ft. above it, on the slopes of Mount Chachani. It is furnished with a very complete instrumental outfit, the most important in- strument being a 13-in. equatorial, capable of being used for either visual or photographic purposes, and an 8-inch photographic telescope. Five meteoro- logical stations have been established by the Obser- vatory. One is at Mollends, on the sea-coast, 100 feet above sea-level. The second is at La Joya, in the desert, altitude 4140 feet. The third is at the Observatory itself, altitude 8060 feet. The fourth is upon the side of the Misti, at an altitude of about 16,000 feet, and the fifth is upon the summit of the Misti, altitude 19,200 feet. The discoveries made at the Observatory are enumerated by Professor Pickering. They include double stars, the lakes on Mars, and the rapid changes in some of the canals and dark markings on the planet at tho time of the melting of the southern snow-cap, the observations of changes of shape of Jupiter's satellites, which led to the conclusion that the outer satellites are not solid bodies, but dense swarms of meteorites, and pointed to a modification of Laplace'a nebular hypothesis, to explain some of the difficulties inherent in it. Peculiar lunarformations have also been observed, and an explanation has been given of the bright streaks seen at the time of full moon. A new class of lunar rills has been found, winding and taper- ing like a terrestrial river bed, and various facts have been determined with regard to what are called variable spots on the moon, which darken as the sun rises upon them, and fade out as it sets. Finally, the remarkable photographs of the spectrum of Nova N ormæ, showing the star's constitution to be the same as that of Nova Aurigie, was obtained at Arequipa. But only a small portion of the work of the Observa- tory is devoted to original research, the greater part of the time being taken up by routine work. Few observatories, however, can show a better record than that made at Arequipa during the three years of the Observatory's existence.
OVER THE DORE AND CHINLEY.
OVER THE DORE AND CHINLEY. A NEW DERBYSHIRE HOLIDAY GROUND. The Continent (says the gossiping Man on the Peak," in his charming Derbyshire notes, which have for years past formed such an attractive feature of the Sheffield Weekly Independent) has been exploited from the North Cape to the Golden Horn, the Holy Land is merely a question of coupons, and the United States, from the Empire City to the Golden Gate, are practically played out. China is but a short pea trip, and Peru a pleasant holiday jaunt. Australia and South Africa are not of much account in the matter of accessibility, and excursions are even contemplated to the Congo and Matabeleland. Globe- trotters who have done or intend to do all these t hings are probably more familiar with the Pyrenees, or even the Peak of Teneriffe, than the Peak of Derbyshire, Mont Blanc than Main Tor, Chimborazo than Kinder Scout. That which is nearest is not always dearest, and the sublimated essence of scenery in its various features and phases, from the boldly grand to the minutely pretty, is neglected for frequently inferior stuff abroad. I am not going to contend that the Peake Countrie surpasses every other part of the kingdom or the world. But I do really and conscientiously think that many people who go to foreign lands for their pleasure see noth- ing to equal some of the scenes afforded by our own country, and that vast sums of money find their way into the hands of the stranger that might more advantageously all round be expended at home. In these few touch-and-go paragraphs on Drrby- shire'snew holiday ground, the districts of Castleton, Hope, and Hathersage, which the present writer traversed by the new line the other day, he does not intend to overdo the thing at the expense of the valleys of the lower Derwent and the Wye, which have long been open to an appreciative public. There i8 nothing finer on the Dore and Chinley line than can be found on the wonderful reach of railway from Ambergate to Miller's Dale and Buxton, though some might, I dare say, make an exception of the morose mountain mass of the Kinder Scout range. Even beyond Miller's Dale, on the old route to Man- chester, the country on either side is full of attrac- tions, setting apart, of course, the limekilns and other evidences of the utilitarian spirit of the age in the shape of chemical works and cotton mills, which lovers of the picturesque may sometimes wish away. Take for instance the beautiful country round Chapel- en-le-Frith, with Chinley Churn and Eccles Pike sentinelling the scene, and a suggestion of the Scout region in the background. Or, again, be pleased to call to mind the, in many respects, romantic stretch from New Mills through Strines to Marple. Between the two stations last-named there are some really remarkable peeps of wide, verdant valleys, craggy, ivy-clad rocks, sparkling water-threads, and cascading weirs. But here we are, back again from Marple, and speed- ing through a black bit of country towards Cowburn Hill. To the right the passenger on looking back- ward will catch a lovely glimpse of the great valley in which lies Chapel-en-le-Frith, the town seeming to cluster round the grey, square-towered church. Then with a scream and a rah-rah-rah-ah-ah," we plunge into the Cimmerian blackness of Cowburn tunnel. After an apparently interminable subterranean run, wo burst into the sunlight again, and crossing the peat-siained waters of the Noe, see spread out on either hand the great green slopes of Edale. To the left the edges and escarpments of Kinder Scout, with whiffs of cloud smoke resting below them, and indented doughs which lose themselves in blue haze, generate a feeling that partakes more of awe than admiration, and to the right the frowning hills which shut out Castleton look down upon the pastoral aspects of Edale, a scene, taken altogether, which is scarcely matched in its way in all England. Then we enter the vale of Hope, with Lose Hill to the right, and Win Hill to the left, and note the pointed spire of the village church, with the village itself set in green trees, sheltering under its aegis, iho rising ground to Brough and Bradwell looming high in the rear. Beyond Hope, the Noe mingles its mountain- tinted waters with the Derwent, here an impetuous stream of the colour of a highland cairngorm, and the pastoral pictures associated with the Hope valley become merged in a country of a bolder and more picturesque appearance. To the left the carriage windows frame pretty vignettes of Bamford, with the tapering spire of its charming church, the whole delightfully situated on the slope of a bold gritstone ridge that run. up to the skyline. The scenery hereabouts contains a thousand and one points of beauty, and in attempting a descrip- tion a writer runs the risk of completely exhausting his vocabulary of superlatives. On past wooded hill- side and cultivated hollow, with the brown fl ood of the Derwent slipping from ledge to ledge, and pre- sently we are in the delectable land around Hather- sage. This highly favoured tillage is gloriously placed above the left bank of the river and commands fine and far-reaching prospects of one of the most umbrageous of all the valleys along the route. In the rear are Higgar or Higgaw Tor, Carl's Wark, and their wonderful surroundings, and there are compre- hensive views of Bore and Stanage Edges and Hathersage Meer. Hathersage Church is a beautiful old edifice, in a prominent position at the upper end of the village, and is justly regarded as one of the hand- somest in Derbyshire. Still careering onwards we come to Grindleford- bridge, which, in its scenic accessories, is one of the most attractive spots in all this lovely locality, Beloved of angler and painter, it is bound to develop its resources, and may be expected this summer to run Hathersage strongly for first favour. But ere we have time to properly admire the beauties of Padley Wood the mouth of Totley tunnel yawns to receive us, and swallows us up, never as it seems to let us see the glad green earth again. But everything has an end, even Totley tunnel, and ere long we are shot out at Totley Bents and hurried through tha verdant mist of Pointon Wood into Dore Station.
CURIOUS PAWNSHOPS. i
CURIOUS PAWNSHOPS. London, continuing an investigation of the pa shop system, describes the.^pawnshops nf-_Geril$j £ j in er t There is a Royal pawnshop interim, there are pawnshops, Ducal pawnshops, county pawnshop city or municipal pawnshops, and private pawnshop- The municipal and private pawnshops may & exist in the same town. The rate of interest fixed by a law passed in 1881 at not more than per cent, per annum on loans under 30 mark8) not over 12 per cent, on larger sums. In Berlin pawnshop is a Royal institution, and is not alw to make a profit. Its surplus goes to charitable P poses. At Hanau no interest is charged on loan? to three marks, if the articles are redeemed wit."irl -ge days. At Hof, in Baden, people are allowed to r money against the receipt of wages. At Weimar Hanau, anonymous pawning is the rule. No na are asked and no address given. Provision is m& Memel for merchants depositing goods in ;g temporary embarrassment. At Bautzen raw w0° received in pledge. At Bromberg military accon ments are excluded from the articles which may & pawned. The pawnshop at Detmold will not reC articlos in pawn from servants without the con of their masters. At Altenburg and one or two o' places no one is allowed to pawn articles of tnor0 0 200 marks' value without the consent of the I Council. Although private pawnbrokers exist & side the municipal institutions, in many latter refuse to do business with the former, oro- hand dealers and pawnbrokers are specially J-Lg, hibited from resorting to the municipal fpawns A salutary regulation against dealing in pawn-ti is frequently enforced. The rrite of interest at-es a great deal in Germany, and is eJ.ag0 small sums loaned for short periods. The is about 12 per cent., and on loans issued &S securities four or five per cent.
--c. LAUNDRIES.. the
--c. LAUNDRIES.. the A Parliamentary Paper has been issued givinS reports of her Majesty's Inspectors of Factories hours of work and dangerous machinery in, an« sanitary condition of, lanndries, and Mr. 0 Sprague Oram, of the Home Office, writing ther to Sir G. Lushington, says he considers it is that laundries should be placed under the Fact. Acts for the purpose of securing the fo'j0^: ameliorations in the condition of those emp 1. Fencing of engines and dangerous mac] -tag 2. Keeping down the temperature of the ir°jt.gd, rooms by proper ventilation or fans where req" preventing overcrowding, and the separation °gare stove from the workers. That where gas iron-^fig_ used they should be such as do not emit offensive 3. Conveying away the steam from the washh°u ventilation or the use of fans. Securing the p conditions of the flooring and nlen'3 the provision of boards or grids to keep the w feet, dry. 4. Regulation of the hours of work, ^,0 ing the usual hours under the Factory Act, hours overtime on 96 days in 12 months, to be after a fixed period to 48 days. Another [uilf' other days to be substituted for the Saturday^^ holiday, so that it may be given to washers, (|10 and sorters and packers on different days, a*1 forenoon or afternoon as suits the special j0lls stances of each firm. 5. As the principal o .h come from nunneries, such places, togetn6 0f charitable institutions, to be visited only ;l of the complaint and under the special instruction by chief inspector, the nunneries to be inspected o ^cge lady inspectors." Mr. Oram suggests tn» neS.6 matters should have the consideration m amending Factory Bill.
OUR LONDON CORRKSPOXimr,
OUR LONDON CORRKSPOXimr, The birth of a son to the Duke and Duchess Of York has been the great event or the past few days, and there has not been a home in the kingdom from which has not gone up the heartiest good wishes for the safety and well- being of both mother and child. The news spread very rapidly all over the metropolis on Saturday night; within half-an-hour of the birth it was known at every leading club, and the intelligence was carried over the whole sown with great speed. Felicitations, of course, began to pour in at once from all parts not only of the kingdom but the world, for the event had more than the interest which always attaches to a Royal birth, seeing that it added an extra security to the throne in the presence of a third direct male heir—the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York being the other two—and this is a circumstance which is probably unique in English history. It has, in fact, been very seldom paralleled in any part of the world, though there was a notevrortby instance not so very long since in Gormany, during the latest years of the Emperor William the First, when there stood in direct succession to the Imperial throne son, grandson, and great-grandson, pre- cisely as there stand son, grandson, and great- grandson to Queen Victoria in the United Kingdom to-day. There can be no question of the stability of the Hanoverian succession now that this latest Prince is descended by two lines from George III., and it seems curious now to recall that our grandfathers, at the time the present Queen was born, were seriously discussing whether the line of Guelph was not destined to disappear because of the want of heirs. In a sense, it might be said that the present family should be called Saxe-Coburg, because the Queen's consort, Prince Albert, was of that lineage. But the Saxe-Coburgs have sufficient to be proud of without claiming this particular name. They have not only given heirs to the British Throne, but they have filled that of Belgium, while that of Roumania is destined .lor one of their descent. Even more striking lhan the connection with Belgium and Rou- mania is the fact that the chosen bride of the Czarevitch, the heir of All the Russias, is Saxe- Coburg in blood, and a grandchild of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes thought that in these days relationships between Royal personages have not the effect they once had, but such evidence as is apparent tends in the opposite direction. Relations are not always friendly, as we know in ordinary life, but the balance is towards friendship, and it is as much so in international Sis in family affairs. Only twenty-four hours after the joyful news of the birth of the infant Prince of York had been circulated through the metropolis, intelli- gence of an appalling kind reached the same centres from France, and caused a universal sensation of horror. The assassination of President Carnot, who for nearly his full term of seven years had filled the chief position in the French Republic, was at first neces- sarily reported as only an attempt; and at one leading club, which is especially favoured with the presence of the mem- bers of the diplomatic world, and where M. Decrais, the new French Ambassador, is frequently to be seen, the hope was warmly ex- pressed that the wound would not prove mortal. At more than one of the great establishments in Pall-mall, indeed, the members remained until the early hours of Monday morning in order to get the latest news, but only then to hear the worst, and that the grandson of the historic Ii organiser of victory had perished at the hands of a sullen and ignoble murderer. How many years ago is it that John Leech first employed his telling, but never unkindly, pencil in Punch to depicting the galloping snob," who made Rotten Row a terror, and who was the detestation of all Hyde-park F The cox- Comb, who rode at a furious pace where he had not the slightest business to do so, was not sufficiently thick-skinned to withstand the constant stream of ridicule which Leech poured upon him, and the nuisance was for a time mitigated. But it never entirely died away, and of late it has received even an acces- sion, with the consequence that several acci- dents have this season occurred, and some of them, unhappily, with fatal results. The suggestion has accordingly been made to the Home Secretary that stricter instructions shall be given to the mounted constables who are always on duty in the Row, so that the cads who ride over ladies and children, and usually upon hired hacks, shall meet their due deserts I in the police-court. But it is only fair to the male sex to note that all the offenders are not men. Some of the worst of them, indeed, are women who would label themselves ladies and, as these are the most difficult to deal with, the wholesome discipline of the stipendiary magis- trate (who should accept no plea for their absence from the dock) is obviously required. The House of Commons just now, in the in- tervals of dealing with the Finance Bill, is showing its accustomed faculty of being able to move a universe and pick up a pin, by passing a bill to provide for the registration of chimney-sweeps and by referring to a Grand Committee a measure for granting compensa- tion, in certain instances, to market gardeners. The Standing Committee on Trade, Shipping, and Manufactures, which includes within I its provisions agriculture and fishing, is just now dealing, in fact, with the Market Gardeners' Compensation Bill, and it Market Gardeners' Compensation Bill, and it might be much less usefully employed. In the London of to-day we are beginning to forget the very sight of a market gardener, though not so very many years ago I what is now the fashionable district of South Kensington was covered with fruit and vege- table gardens, as were at even later periods some now crowded suburbs; but we derive such an amount of benefit from them that we continue interested in all their works. A very singular question has been inci- dentally raised because of the death of the late Lord Chief Justice, of which it is pro- I bable the last will not for some time have been heard. The present Lord Coleridge, as most folk are aware, is a Queen's Counsel, and has long been a barrister of some distinction, and he not unnaturally wishes to continue his legal practice. But no peer has ever been known to practice at the Bar, and it is under- stood that the Benchers of the Four Inns of Court would decline to call out" if he pre- sented himself—though, as the point has apparently never been raised, this must not be taken as certain. Lord Coleridge, in his dilemma, accordingly consulted the Attorney-General as the official head of the bar of England and Sir John Rigby has expressed the emphatic opinion that there is no legal bar to his continuing to practice, and this, there- fore, he will accordingly do. The ultimate I results will be watched with interest both in the Law Courts and at Westminster. I The annual show of the Royal Agricultural Society has drawn an enormous number of visitors to Cambridge this week: and, although the farming interest is so de- pressed, the evidences of this were not plainly apparent on the show ground. M The Royal" has now been in existence for I' over half a century, and it is interesting to remember that it sprang out of a desire to have a non-political party that would unite all I classes of agriculturists. This' feeling was stimulated by the existence in the earliest days of Queen Victoria's reign of a Central Agricul- tural Society of Great Britain and Ireland, which created some political feeling by its efforts to reform the currency laws. How careful J/ &he Royal Agricultural Society has steered ele&r en associating itsolf with party manoeuvres-and 1 '0:. Ii thus crippling its usefulness, is well known, and it has accordingly remained strong, even though its special industry has been long de- pressed. It is a pity that London does not appear likely soon again to see its show. Fifteen years ago, when it came to Kilburn, the rain throughout the week was so incessant that the result was virtual faihire but it does not always rain even in London, and another show here should of a certainty prove a success. It may be a moot question as to whether we are really a musical nation, but the continued and overwhelming success of the triennial Handel Festival, held this week at the Crystal Palace, should assuredly be put to our credit. If the great German composer, who so thoroughly acclimatised himself among us as to almost become a Briton, could revisit the glimpses of the moon, he could not fail to be proud of the impression he still creates. Even his frequent failures in opera at the Haymarket would be largely compen- sated for by his triumph in oratorio at Sydenham, when over twenty thousand listen in rapt admiration to the inspired strains ren- dered by the four thousand performers who fill the enormous Handel Orchestra. The dilettante may not delight in this it is ea3Y for the cheap cynic to sneer at the massive effect; but he must be dull of soul indeed who is not im- pressed by it. A man who could listen to the Hallelujah chorus, as given at Sydenham on Monday, without being touched and even awed u2ast be soulless clay. R.
ACCOUCHEMENT OF THE DUCHESS…
ACCOUCHEMENT OF THE DUCHESS OF YORK. BIRTH OF A PRIXCE. The following bulletin was issued from White Lodge at midnight on Saturday Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York gave birth to a son at ten o'clock this evening. Both mother and infant are doing well. JOHN WILLIAMS, M.D. "FREDERICK JOHN WADD, M.B." JOHN WILLIAMS, M.D. "FREDERICK JOHN WADD, M.B." I About half-past ten o'clock the customary formal notifications were despatched to London, first among them being a telegram addressed to the Lord Mayor. His lordship at once caused a notification of the event to be posted outside the Mansion House, and also communicated the news by special messenger to the Dean of St. Paul's. The Princess of Wales and Duchess of Teck were with the Dohess of York throughout Saturday, as were also the doctors who signed the official announce- ment. Mr. Asquith, the Home Secretary, was sum- moned to White Lodge at seven o'clock by Dr. Williams, and reached East Sheen just before the event. Mr. Asquith was the only Minister in attendance at White Lodge, and at once conveyed by telegram to her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle the news of the birth. In response the Sovereign sent to the Duchess of York her congratu- lations. Dr. Williams, of Harley-street, was summoned to White Lodge soon after three o'clock on Saturday morning, and on his arrival at East Sheen, he sent for Dr. Wadd, who is medical adviser to the Duke and Duchess of Teck's family, and also for the Prin- cess of Wales, who, with the Prince of Wales, has been entertaining guests at Ascot for the race week. The Duke of Teck was also summoned to White Lodge from Ascot. The Princess Wales, accom- panied by the Duke of Teck, left for East Sheen immediately on the receipt of the telegram. On reaching Mortlake Station at four o'clock, they had to rely upon a hired conveyance to take them to White Lodge. The Princess, from the time of her arrival, was present continuously with the Duchess of York. The approach of all strangers to White Lodge was prohibited, and throughout the day a large number of residents waited at a respectful dis- tance from the gates, and when the news of the birth of the Prince was conveyed to the people there was an outburst of enthusiasm throughout the district, and the Lells of the churches at Mortlake and Barnea rang out peals. The Duke of York remained at White Lodge throughout the day. The Prince of Wales, in response to a message from the Princess of Wales, arrived at East Sheen in the evening, and was the first to congratulate his son upon the birth of a Prince. Mr. Asquith, on his arrival at White Lodge from Grosvenor-place, was conducted to an apart- ment where the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Teck and other members of the Royal family were assembled, and in due course the infant Prince was presented by the nurse. At nightfall bonfires illuminated the district around White Lodge, and at East Sheen cheers were raised for the young Prince, and also for the Duke and Duchess of York. Late on Saturday night East Sheen Post-office was inundated with congratulatory telegrams addressed to the Duke and Duchess, the event having been telegraphed to all parts of Europe. Special messages were sent to the Emperor of Germany, the Emperor of Austria, the Czar of Russia, the Sultan of Turkey, the President of the French Republic, and other rulers of nations. At eight o'clock on Sunday morning the Duchess of York and her son were doing as well as could be expected. The Duchess passed a good night. The Princess of Wales remained with the Duchess part of the night; on Monday she proceeded to Windsor on a visit to the Queen. The following bulletin was issued on Sunday even- ing White Lodge, June 24, six o'clock. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York and the infant Prince continue to do well. "JOHN WILLIAMS, M.D. F. J. W ADD, M.B Over 1500 callers inscribed their names on Sunday in the visitors' book, which has been placed in a specially-erected marquee at the entrance to the park. The Royal infant was shown to a select number of callers, including the Duke of Cambridge, Sir William and Lady Harcourt, and the Duke of Abercorn. The Queen inquired when she might visit the Duchess, and the medical attendants expressed the opinion that it would be perfectly safe for Her Majesty to do so on Wednesday, and it was taken as an evidence of her Royal Highness's satisfactory con- dition that the Princess of Wales was able to leave on Sunday morning. A Royal salute was fired at the Horse Guards' Parade at one o'clock in celebration of the birth. On the Sandringham estate, and throughout West Norfolk there were general rejoicings, bells ringing and flags flying. In most of the places of worship in the district pulpit references were made. In connection with the Royal Agri- cultural Society's Exhibition, a special service was held in the show-yard at Cambridge, attended by the Duke of Devonshire, Sir Robert Peel, Baron Dimsdale, and others. The sermon was preached by the Bishop of Ely, who expressed thankfulness that another Prince, who would one day occupy the Throne had been given to the country. At tha conclusion of the service the National Anthem was sung. On the receipt of the news at Windsor the Mayor despatched a telegram of congratulation in the name of the Corporation and borough. The bells of St. George's Chapel and St. John's Church were rung, and bunting was displayed from many houses. There were general expressions of rejoicing through out the country by the ringing of church bells and in other ways. At the Great Synagogue in London a special service of prayer and thanksgiving to Almighty God for the safe delivery of the Duchess of York and the birth of a Prince was held, at which the Chief Rabbi officiated.
NEWS NOTES.
NEWS NOTES. CONGRATULATIONS to her Majesty and the rest of the Royal Family of Great Britain upon the birth of a baby at White Lodge who will one day, if spared, sit on the throne of this wide realm of ours. Congratulations to the Prince and Princess of Wales upon the fresh assurance of the succession which their child's child gives. Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Teck upon the proud new position they now hold as grandfather and grandmother of England's future king. Congratulations, above all, to our popular Sailor Prince, the Duke of York, and to his charming wife, the Princess May, on their happy entry into the joys and responsibilities of parent-hood. What a magnifi- cent reception is in store for them when the bonny baby-boy and his mother get out to meet the admiring public eye! Mr. Eric Mackay, under the pretty title of The White Rose of the Crown," was the first to sing the princely infant's welcoming song. In the Daily Telegraph this was printed, the following being the open- ing lines: Now has the golden year, upon its way, Vouchsafed a blessing, for the Land's delight; And Grief, the bane of earth, has taken flight. The air is thrilled with love, as on the day When York brought home the May, And wedding-bells were clamorous all the mora With messages to men For lo! to England's Crown a child is born, A bud of hope, a rose without a thorn, A lIttle life whose emblem is a dove, New-sped from Heaven above, To be acclaimed now by lute apd pen TIIAT same Midsummer Eve which set all the land aglow with smiling felicitation brought the awful gloom of death, death swift and sudden, into the colliery undermined Taff Valley of South Wales. Hundreds of homes there are desolate, through the taking away of the bread- winner, in one of those appalling catastrophes which ever hang over the heads of those who delve deep down below ground for the winning of the fuel that gives the essential heat in our homes. The colliers — husbands, fathers, sons, sweethearts — went out in the early morning, full of lusty life, to their labour; then in the afternoon came an explosion, muffled and thunderous, shaking the vale, and bringing out the women-folk from the doors of the mountain-side cottages in the haste of a nameless dread. Panic-stricken, those wives and mothers gazed towards the pit's mouth; only to see the awful cloud of thick-ascending smoke belching from the shaft-that fell vapour whose mortal import they know so well, which haunts their dreams at night and brings ever its shadow of fear across the slender joy of their simple path. Then all was weeping and wailing, and anxious hoping against hope as the would-be rescuers strove to save at least some of those in the ter- rible death pit! Little, indeed, was the reward of their heroic efforts and the newly-widowed and orphaned went home to grieve in solitude or in the sympathy of others as sorely smitten as themselves, for the loss of the dear ones who never more will return to their hearthstones, but whose mangled remains are laying, sheet- covered, in one great common charnel-house, awaiting only the last long rest of the grave. 'Twas ever thus, as Kingsley sang, Men must work, and women must weep." But we, whose fires are lighted by the toil which cost the lives of these many poor fellows, can all do some- thing to soothe the anguish of the bereaved wives, mothers, and bairns of the colliers of the Albion pit in the now sorrow-shrouded Taff Vale. L,t the response be in consonance with the direness of the need. Our Queen was the first to show sympathy; let the pity of her subjects be sincere and practical. FRANCE mourns her uncrowned King, Sadi Carnot, done to death by the dastardly dagger of an assassin.' He was a pattern President, firm yet gentle, honest and thorough, compel- ling regard and disarming the carper by his unflinching fidelity to right, holding a fickle, impulsive people in steady guidance by sheer tact and straightforward lead. The seventh prosperous year of his supremity was well on the way all was' quietude and concord in France, save in the breasts of a few irrecon- cilables, whose hands are against every man's. Carnot was paying a gala visit to sunny Lyons he had been fulsomely feted as such worthies are feted by a friendly nation, and was going light-heartedly to the Opera to sit surrounded by an applauding and admiring L, z, auditory through a performance arranged in his honour. But a murderous nobody slew him ere he could gain the theatre, and his splendid life is thus ignobly taken from France at its zenith. The Republic laments him with heart- felt and abiding sorrow she needed him, and only knows now how much he was to her and did for her. Ever the friend of the poor and the upholder of rectitude in every rank of life, astute, just, and clement; he has steered the ship of State which carries the fortunes of France safely when a more brilliant man than he might have failed! And now he is no more, remorselessly stabbed in the prime of his vigorous manhood with his fair fame unsullied and his ruling strength unimpaired. No wonder that France is enraged with the sense- less wretch who struck the fell blow! No wonder that the misguided beings who style themselves Anarchists view with dismay the unquenchable hatred which this horrible slaughter of a great, good man has called forth against them. M. CARNOT was a small man, with a slight figure, and though he looked keen and clever —and was all these things as a matter of fact -there was nothing distinguished or striking about his exterior except his wondrous, un- tiring, and incessant courtesy. His face was long, thin, and sallow; he wore a black beard and moustache—and altogether looked like a quiet Civil servant rather than the ruler of a nation. But throughout all the terrible fatigues of many a long official day—the smile—patient, amiable and open — never once left his face. He must often have been terribly fatigued, but though there were lines on the face of suffering, tension, and anxiety, the smile was always there. It was only a nature pure, exalted, and singularly sweet and un- selfish that could have given such an example of cheerful performance of tiresome and even distressing duties. He looked what he was— an amiable, gentle, high-minded, incorruptible citizen—the inheritor of sacred and lofty traditions of devotion to duty, honour, and country. And Madame Sadi Carnot has ever been a helpmeet to him, and a sympathetic fellow-worker in all his schemes for the good of France. No fewer than forty-nine ladies have this year been taking part in the orchestra at the Handel Festival at the Crystal Palace, a very considerable increase on the number associated with former gatherings. The proportion- nearly one-tenth of the total-is, however, much smaller than at our principal musical academies, where the young ladies almost monopolise the string department. The vast chorus and company of instrumentalists out- number on this occasion all that has gone before at these splendid festivals of masterly music.
"OATCHING THE TRAIN."
"OATCHING THE TRAIN." "I wonder if we shall manage to catch the train' ? coolly remarked an elegantly-dressed young lady, looking at her watch, from the gold chain of which depended numerous glittering charms. I had no idea it was so late-this is such a delightful novel." "Dear me, how annoying!" replied her mamma, hurriedly finishing her coffee. We must catch the next train, or the carriage will not be waiting to re- ceive us Pray ring the hell instantly, Ellen!" John," to the footman who answered the sum- mons, "fetch a cab instantly! Of course Watson has packed everything in readiness for us ? Yes, ma'am." Then do not lose a moment!" John rushed off in search of a cab, and returned in a few minutes. Now tell the cabman we must reach the terminus in less than a quarter of an hour. We will pay him double his fare." Yes, ma'am." The ladies hurry into the cab, boxes are heaped up, and the cab-horse whipped up well. Poor horse It is twelve o'clock—a burning July soon. Its sides are covered with dust and perspiration, its mouth dry, its knees shaking. They pass hurriedly the cattle-trough, where humane drivers are allowing their horses to plunge their nostrils into the cool water, and take long draughts, reviving their flagging strength. The poor cab-horse scents the water, and turns for a moment its head towards the trough, but the cabman fiercely pulls at its mouth, and renews the lashing of the whip. Faint and quivering, the horse staggers up to the railway station; the ladies alight, and give the double fare to the cabman, and rush away, glad to find that they have caught the train! And now the cabman has time to consider the horse's state. It slowly creeps away, and the cabman finds the whip will not'do much. He gets down; for the panting condition of the poor animal surprises him. He has tried it too much in this weather, he thinks. The horse's tongue is seen, white and.dry, the eyes wild and blood-shot. They go on slowly, and turn a corner homewards. The horse slips, staggers, then falls down on its side. It raises its head wildly, then lays it down, never to raise it again I A policeman hurries up, a few passers-by come round, and look with genuine sympathy at the cab- man, who is standing over his poor horse, and, with t tear in his eyes, exclaims: Poor Meg poor old friend This is a bad day for me and my children! I've hurried her, you see, to please those ladies, and if they'd have given me time I shouldn't have lost her. I was tempted by double fare, as they were late." A word to summer tourists. Rise in good time, and make proper prep ration for your trip, and do not distress horses and bribe cabmen because you are indolent and procrastinating.—"M, S. JI. in the Echo.
A LADY BARRISTER.
A LADY BARRISTER. The Gouhardpost publishes an obituary of Fraulein Katharina Muheim, the lady barrister," who died a few days ago at the age of 43. Fraulein Mubeim was originally a schoolmistress who had obtained a high diploma at the Menzingen Training College, and she served with distinction and success for some time as a secondary teacher. She devoted her spare time to a gevere course of legal study, for which she had a re- markable passion, and became so great an expert that she was frequently consulted, first by her neighbours, and then by persons at a distance, upon their law- suits. About 10 years ago she ventured to appear in person before a court of justice in the little agricul- tural canton of Obwalden, pleaded for a client, and no objection was raised against the hitherto unpre- cedented innovation. Had this taken place in one of the great cantons, where there is an influential legal profession, Fraulein Muheim would have been sent out of the court as an intruding laywoman. The naive and simple democrats of Obwalden, however, saw no reason why a woman should not plead if she were capable, and from 1884 to the present year she was entrusted with a great aumber of briefs, and obtained a great local fame and success as a public advocate. "Her jealous male competitors," we are told, insisted that she owed much of her success to the gallantry of the judges, who could not bring themselves to brow-beat a lady as they will brow-beat a man." However this may be, she has doubtless acted as the pioneer of the professional advocate's calling for her own sex. She was a generous, open-handed woman, and a free and ready helper of the poor, both with advice and money.
.-PRESENTS FOR A ROYAL BRIDE.
PRESENTS FOR A ROYAL BRIDE. The Czarewitch has brought with him many valu- able presents for his bride-elect. A few days before his departure for England a number of Russian and foreign jewellers were invited to the Palace at Gatshina, where they brought with them jewellery to the value of 3,000,000 roubles for the Czarewitch to choose from. The Imperial chaplain will instruct the Princess Alix in the tenets of the Orthodox Greek Church. The Chronicle cor- respondent says that the Czar has not yet definitely announced when the marriage of the Grand Duchess Zeriio is to take place. It is believed it will be im- mediately after the Czarewitch's return from Engl arid, about July 27. The King and Queen of Denmark, together with Prince Valdemar and his wife, will be present at this marriage, which is a pure love match.
[No title]
THE Pacific Steam Navigation Company have announced their intention to make La Palice la Rochelle their port of call in France instead of Bordeaux. This means a loss of 140,000 register tons annually to that port. But it is entirely the fault of the authorities. The steamers had to bring up 30 kilometres below Pauillac, owing to the silting up of the Gironde. This entailed enormous expense and delay. Unless something is done very soon other companies will follow suit, and Bordeaux will lose its position as the second port of France. PROFESSOR W ALDSTEIN, of the American School t1 Classical Studies at Athens, has given an account of the excavations made at the Argive Heraum last year under his direction. This iferaaum is one of the oldest temples in Greece, and a portion of its walls, 45ft. long by 3ft. high, has been uncovered. Specimens of bronzes, engraved stones, and pottery were also unearthed. Vestiges of other buildings— probably the houses of the attendants of the temple— and a pillared portico were also found. In a building nf intricate construction near by, a beautiful female- dr, ped torso, three marble heads, terra-cotta plaques, engraved gems, glass scarabs, bronzes, and pottery have been collected, and further excavation on the same site is expected to lead to very valuable results. A LITTLE joke is related at the expense of Miss Belva Lockwood, the well-known American ludv- lawyer. When she was admitted to practice, and was asked by Judge Drake to take the customary oath, just as she was^ putting out her hand to touch the Bible she was startled by hoaring the judge say, in his severest tonea Take off your hat. sir!" MRS. THEODORE BENT may be said to be th; oham- pion lady explorer of the world. Together with her husband she has taken part during the last 10 years in 11 extremely rough expeditions. Their "first journeys were to the less-known islands of Greece. But Mrs. Bent's most perilous journeys have been taken across Arabia and South Africa, where she and her husband travelled at one time through a path- less country till they reached their goal, the Sabi River. Mrs. Bent, who is a daughter of the late Mr. Hall-Dare, of Newtownbarry, County Wexford, is full of Irish pluck and good humour. NEWS comes but seldom from the Andaman Islands, but we hear that Major R. C. Temple, Lite President of the Rangoon Municipal Committee, has been appointed as Chief Commissioner of the Anda- man Archipelago, in succcssion to Colonel Horsford. From the same quarter we learn of returning vitality to the rocky islet known to mariners as Barren Island. This is the birthplace of modern earth- quakes, and its eruption is looked upon with fore- bodings for ill. Another island, known as South Sentinel, also one of the Andaman, has been found to be pregnant with remains which point to a period long prior to the presence of man. Among oi her discoveries, the remains of an elephant have been un- earthed. South Sentinel Island is at least 30 miles distant from any other land, and has but a very thin j top stratum.
LUNACY IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
LUNACY IN ENGLAND AND WALES. The 48th Report of the Commissioners of Lunacy, of which body Lord Hatherton is Chairman, has been presented to the Lord Chancellor, and laid on the table of the House of Commons. The opening paragraph states that on the 1st of January last there were 92,067 cases of lunatics, idiots, and persons of unsound mind recorded m the various returns, statutory and others, obtained by the Commissioners in the usual manner. This number is 2245 in excess of the corresponding number on the 1st of January, 1893, and this figure, according to the Iteport, shows the largest annual increase in the number of officially known lunatics which the Commissioners have yet had to record. The natural observation is made that this large increase calls the more for some special consideration because it follows an increase of 1974 in the preceding year, that being far above the average for the 10 years, 1882-1892, when the increase was only 1300. The ihcrease seems to have been fairly general throughout England and Wales, 42 counties showing an increase, as against an average of 36 counties for the previous 10 -\ears. "But the predominant feature," tlw Report goes on to say, of the figures given is the great increase shown for the county of London, its pauper lunatics numbering, on the 1st of January last., 800 more than they did the year previously* while its average increase for the 10 years, 1883- 1893, was only 308." It is next pointed out that the additions which have taken place have been made entirely to the Asylum population, 826 patients having been added thereto, while the number in workhouses and the Metropolitan District Asyhmis and of the outdoor pauper lunatics shows adiriliull- tion. In the opinion of the Commissioners this increase is undoubtedly serious, and it should press heavily and gravely on the authority charged with the duty of providing for the insane poor of London. The report, however, puts forward some considerations which lead Lord Hatherton and his colleagues to con- clude that the increase is to some extent abnormal. London, they say, has for some years past been behindhand in providing asylum accommodation" Its own asylums being full, and the metropolitan licensed houses, in which it has been maintaining many of its surplus lunatics, full also, the metrop0'13 was forced to secure in various distant institutions for the insane such further accommodation as available. They think it may be fairly assumed tha the difficulties experienced by relieving officers infin^" ing vacancies, the unwillingness of Justices to send patients to long distances from their homes, with the natural objections of the patients' relatives and friends to their being so sent, and, in many instances, the impaired health or weak bodily conditions of tj10 patients themselves, must all have conduced to the retention in their homes of many insane persons who otherwise have been placed in an asylum. The London increase in lunacy in 1889 was 208, for the next it was 129, and for the year after 304. During 18^ beds numbering 800 were added to the Cane-hu Asylum, and the annual increase rose for that year to 447, while during 1893 the London County Asylum f Claybury was opened for 2000, and there followed this year the already named unexampled increase 800. The number of patients admitted into Clay' bury Asylum during 1893 was 2189, of whom 1091 ^er transfers from other institutions. There is tbn reason to think that in the years 1889, 1°J and 1891, and part of 1892, owing to the ca.ljs- £ suggested, many insane poor (not paupers unto 1 receipt of relief by removal to an asylum) and were treated in their own homes. But in and 1893 on a large provision of beds becoming available, such cases were poured into the asyW wards at last ready to receive them, and so the list of officially known and enumerated insane. There is also reason to think that unwise advantagâ was taken of the additional room to fill with old mentally worn out persons places which had bet have been reserved for cases of a curable charac Thus, there were 442 persons 60 years of age1 over sent to London County Asylums during y Claybury receiving 187 of them. Of these 442 23 were reckoned to be suicidal, a condition whieh. course, would render their removal imperative. number described as senile dements was 172.
'-BERLIN'S NEW CATHFDP""ILL.
BERLIN'S NEW CATHFDP""ILL. The foundation-stone of the new Protests dral in Berlin was laid the other day ™ p;ul- cere m on y, in the presence of the Emperoi >.■ ^]ae press, the Imperial Princes, and the Prince o)l¡,.ced Royal House. In the foundation-stone we jagt two copper plates. The first, which was o ^.jl0n year in the foundations of the Dome -1-°' the latter was being pulled down, recoi = cathe' the laying of the foundation-stone of aSia, dral by Frederick William, King ot of 1737, and its construction out of thercilir-i ts tHill. ancient- edifice which threatened to ta ,-0,i in The second plate bore the following in. r^jng ot German: William, German neWbn^ Prussia, laid the foundation-stone tor t 50 J'ea £ 9 I ing of this cathedral, planned more a jwQ0 l7i apo by his predecessors on the throne, ly94."