Evening Express

To-day's Weather. The forecast of the weather throushont the West of Ensrlandand South Wales for to-oar (Wednesday) is kr follows :-8. W. winds, light fair generally, but misty or foggy in places.

Temperature, j Rainfall DATJB. it i — — Max. Miu. jMean.j9a.Bi |9p.m.jTofcal. Thursday. 23j 62 54 58"0 "00 •— Friday 24 66 50 58-0 "16 *16 '32 Saturday 25j 61 45 63*0 "17 *00 *17 Sunday 271 62 49 5S"5 '20 -CO -20 Monday 28! 65 48 56 5 *14 -13 -27 Tuesday 29' 68 48 58"0 '05 -00 *05 Wednesday. 30 1 "CO

Telephone: National, 502. Post-office, 95. Telegrams: Espress," Cardiff.

WHAT WE THINK. The Swansea "Daily Post" is quite right in its fears concerning Cardiff competition over the Glamorganshire Assize. The Swansea Cor- poration. possessing law-courts utterly ineffec- tive for the purposes of assize, situate in the noisiest portion of the town, where steam hooters and boilermakers' hammers maintain incessant music, have had many a warning already from the judges of assize. All that Swansea did in answer was to place a steam stone crushing machine in close proximity to the courts, in the hope. apparently, that a bass kettledrum accom- paniment to the shriller noises .would recommend itself to the judicial ear and make a murder trial cheerful. Then, in the course of time. the corporation saw that something better must be done, and proposed an expen- diture of £10,000 over a scheme to make the ccurts less stuffy and furnish some more sonorous law-chambers where the noises of the street and docks might cavort to greater effect. The history of the corporation's doings, in answer to the judicial complaints, leads us to suppose that part of that £10,000 will be devoted to the purchase of sounding boards to place over each window where the noises enter, so that judges of assize and county- court a'nd harassed magistrates may soon be rendered permanently deaf. Many a time and oft; has business been suspended in the police and assizse courts because the din from the docks without made cojiduct of a case impos- sible. It is quite in keeping with the actions of a corporation which is about to give an electric traction monopoly to a private company, and which has not yet gleaned an elementary idea of the profit of municipalisation, that it should throw a few thousands to the builders for the purpose of making its law-courts more impossible for law. And Cardiff, careful of its credit and position as the great Metropolis of Wales, will be, in the meantime, building law-courts unsurpassed by any in the kingdom. The comparison be- tween the 1 ival towns-a comparison which has resulted in a universal recognition of Cardiff's metropolitan claims—is so disastrous to the town down West that even the assize must soon shirk Swansea. altogether. The holding of assizes at Swansea is already an inconvenience and injustice to the rest of Wales, for the bulk of the business at the Swansea Assize is already- contributed by districts which find Cardiff a far more useful and convenient centre. Al- though matters move slowly, they will come to pass, as the Metropolis deserves.

Powder and Shot. A Swansea man has had a dream. He dreamt the Russians were bombarding the village from the bay, and that the judge of the assize-court sent right out to stop the noise. < The Spaniards estimate the Yankee Army truly by putting a few lines of barbed wire round Santiago to keep the enemy out. The Yanks can talk at their foe through the fence —that's quite sufficient for this war. It is said the Yankees will retaliate upon the Spaniards for that nasty trick of putting barbed wire round Santiago. They will use bird-lime to protect New York. This war is getting positively hot. < < The carnage in Cuba when the Spaniards and rough riders met has taken the aspect of a lady-fight in Tyndall-street, according to the last reports. The langwidge was too terrible, but a bevy of police-court beauties armed with bricks would have wrought greater havoc. < "Twenty—not out!" said a thirsty soul coming from a hotel near Wood-street this afternoon, wiping his mouth after the 20th. "Bowled! said the policeman on the corner as a bicycle bored the thirsty party down. On; special war correspondent has dis- covered the reason why the invasion of Cuba by the Yankee Army was so long delayed. It was not the barbed wire. so they' say, but those beastly Spaniards covered the sea-front with large notice-boards, inscribed, "Trespas- sers will be prosecuted." The arily had to be so cautious. » » » » Complaints about the heat to-day are heard at every bar in town. A horse attached to a light cart was seized with an epileptic fit in Westgate-street, and was only brought round at the lower end of Havelock-street after half, an hour's hard work with restoratives. His seizure is supposed to have been due to his mistaking the new post-office for a temperance hotel. it. "Round the world on a vocal chord" should be Mr. Ffrangcon Davies s variation of "Round the world on a bicycle." He has just returned from America after a successful season. He has been engaged to appear as principal bari- tone at the next Worcester (Mass.) Festival in September. He will go to Berlin afterwards. 7: This is the honeymooning season, and it won't do to forget it. Bridgend folk will be glad to learn that a. marriage has been ar- ranged, and will shortly take place, between Lewis Dillwyn, second son of the late Mr. John Cole Nicholl, of Merthyr Mttwr. Bridgend. and Beatrice Lucy, eldest daughter of Major-general Rice Nicholl (late Rifle Brigade), of The Grange, Whitchurch, Herefordshire. This ordination in St. David's is an event which doesn't often occur even in an eternal lifetime. The last ordination, prior to this month's, that was held in St. David's Cathedral I was 178 years ago, on the 31st of July, 17,20, when the good bishop, Adam Ottley, ruled the diocese. For the next 80 years after his time St. David's was unfortunate in its bishops (with the one brilliant exception of Horsley), being used as a mere episcopal stepping-stone to richer sees, and ordinations commonly took place at Carmarthen or Abergwily. • Here is an item of cricket news. suitable to the season. A Swansea coal merchant has been looking remarkably well lately, and a jovial friend tooV the opportunity of con- gratulating him upon his improved appear- ance. "Oh, yes," was the reply, "you see, I'm gratulating him upon his improved appear- ance. "Oh, yes," was the reply, "you see. I'm doing a lot of cricket with the Oystermouth club." "Great heavens," rushed in the friend, "why, that's the club that could only score one run the other day." "No, no," explained the wielder of the willow, "I'm not with them; I'm with the second eleven," and then, when ,he realised what he had said, he went home and sent in a letter of resignation. < <. Lord Penrhyn'a people never neglect to put the hatpin in when any chances offer. The chief manager has just been able to get a dig home, and the managerial waltz is joyfully brisk in consequence. He recently received a memorial signed by Owen Williams and 75 other workmen respecting the admission of l apprentices to the quarry. In hiB reply, dated » I the 27th inst.. Mr. Young states:—"With reference to the memorial you handed to me on Saturday, the 18th inst., signed by yourself and 75 other workmen, begging that more boys might be admitted to the quarry, I am glad to learn from the memorial that you now perceive that the past agitation affecting this subject 'was foolish and uncalled for,' and as the number of boys now employed has fallen from 260 to 172 I shall have pleasure in arrang- ing shortly for the admission of a further lot of boys." Sir William Harcourt has one quite unique memory of the support he gave in old days to the Public Worship Regulation Act. That was an invitation which he received to visit Lord Beaconsfield at Hughenden Manor, which he accepted, despite the fact that he had gone into Parliament with the announced intention of playing the part of a sort of David to the Goliath of Toryism. The personal kindness then engendered found expression in an article anonymously contributed to the "Times" by Sir William when Lord Beacons- field died. His reminiscences of < hat visit would themselves make excellent reading if he could be induced to put them on paper. Taking I his guest—the member of a family represent- ing the ownership of broad acres—round his minute demesne, Lord Beaconsfield said, "Excuse the vanity of a landed proprietor!" The young politician accompanied his host on Sunday to the village church, and on the way thither was warned that some hints of the High Church movement had penetrated even that sylvan solitude. "My friend, the vicar," said the lord of the manor, "will take what I call a collection, and he calls an offertory; and afterwards what I call a plate, and he calls an alms-dish, will be placed on. what I call a table, and he calls an altar."

CHARGE OF CRUELTY. At Bournemouth on Tuesday James Spong, i gardener to the Dowager Countess Cairns, was summoned by the Royal Society for the Pre- vention of Cruelty to Animals for cruelty to a cat. The cat was shot in the gardens of Lindis- farne, and, after lingering for several hours, died at the residence of its owner next door. The defence was that Lady Cairns had lost rabbits, that other damage had been done by trespassing cats, and that the intention was to frighten the animal and not to kill ik—The Bench dismissed the case, believing there was no intentional cruelty, and that defendant in- tended to kill the cat.

VEGETARIAN VICTORY. The Berlin correspondent of the "Daily News" on Tuesday says:—A very interesting walking match took place here last Sunday over a dis- tance of about 70 English miles. There were 22 starters, amongst them eight veterans, and the distance had to be covered within eighteen hours. The interesting result was that the first six to arrive at the goal were vegetarians, the first finishing in fourteen and a quarter hours, the second in fourteen hours and a half, the third in fifteen hours and a half. the fourth in sixteen hours, the fifth in sixteen hours and a half, and the sixth in seventeen hours and a half. The two last missed their way and walked five* miles more. All reached the goal in splendid conditioJf. Not until an hour after the last vegetarian arrived did the first meat- eater appear, completely exhausted. He, moreover, was the only one, the others having dropped off after 35 miles. The victor pre- sented himself, at the request of several high officers, to the War Minister, who took a great interest in hearing about his vegetable diet and way of living.

WHAT IS A PALMIST? At Brompton County-court on Tuesday (before his Honour Judge Stonor). Mr. Vaughan Powell was summoned for non-payment of a judgment debt, but failed to put in an appearance. The Judge: What is he?—He's a palmist. The Judge: What is that? The Registrar: A conjurer, I think. The Usher: Oh, no. it is a man who reads the palms of the hand. Plaintiff: Yes, that's it, and he has a berth at Sadler's Wells worth £100 a year. The Judge: Then he must pay £1 a month. or be committed.

LEAPED INTO THE SEA. Fear of his skipper drove Mathew Brown to jump into the sea. On Monday the Grimsby justices fined that skipper—James Turrell-£5, or an alternative of two months' imprison- ment, for continuously assaulting Mathew. Complainant said that when he jumped over- board he was rescued by a passing cutter and conveyed to London, where he was charged with attempted suicide, but upon narrating the facts he was discharged by the magistrate at the Thames Police<Court. The Grimsby jus- tices adopted a lenient course, in view of the fact that the Board of Trade would probably cancel the skipper's certificate. 1

THE DETECTION OF POISON. The St. Neots case, has once again directed public attention (says the "St. •James's Gazette") to a branch of the murderer's art which has more powers of fascination upon the ordinary mind than any other. The analytical chemist may spend hours, days, and even weeks with test-tube and watch glass, with reagent and microscope. But if the poison is there its discovery is only a question of time, and in his forgetfnlness or ignorance of this the murderer by poison—whether of himself or someone else—is bound to fail. It is not every prisoner who is as rash as Walter Horsford; but, no matter what care be taken, the dead body of the poison-victim will yield its Secret as surely as a broken watch in the hands of the maker. From the moment when the aid of the analytical chemist is called in, the fate of the accused—if the case be one of murder- is absolutely in his hands; and if he had a secret interest in the prisoner's destruction nothing would be easier than for him to accom- plish it. There indeed would be a crime im- possible of detection, and the idea may per- haps be offered to dramatists and novelists as rather newer than their usual ways of destroy- ing a useless hero or villain. Happily, the analyst, like Nature, Is usually honest.

THE SIGN OF THE BIG CIGAR. At Brompton County-court Mr. Chas. Grandy was summoned for non-payment of £2 7s. 7d. The Judge: Can you prove the defendant's means? Plaintiff's representative: Prove his means? Why he walks about the parish with an air as though the world is treating him well. He smokes big cigars and looks quite happy. The Defendant: The cigars are samples I'm an agent. Plaintiff: He's just become a member of the Fulham Philanthropic Society, and paid a sub- scription. The Judge: What was the amount of your subscription? Defendant: 4s. 6d. for the year. I only joined it to oblige a friend. The Judge: 10s. a month. t

WHERE THE PARCELS WENT. At Hertford Quarter Sessions on Tuesday (before Viscount Cranborne) Francis William Stone. 34, railway guard, pleaded guilty to stealing a letter containing money in April last. He also pleaded guilty to stealing a parcel in August last.—Mr. Grubbe, who prose- cuted for the Great Northern Railway Com- pany, said that in April last the prisoner was entrusted with a letter containing money to pay wages along the line, and on his dishonesty being discovered he was dismissed. When his house was searched a number of pawntickets relating to parcels which had been "lost" in transmission were found, the parcels having been presumably stolen by the prisoner when they were under his charge.—Six months' hard labour.

THE ST. HELENA DONKEY. There need be no fear for the safe conduct of affairs of State in that distant island prison of ours where Napoleon and Dinizulu suffered incarceration, so long as the" 8t. Helena Guardian" continues to exercise its present supervision over local officialdom. We are glad to see," says this papel" which does not scorn to descend to details, that the Govern- ment have at last imported a stallion donkey —.v measure we have advocawd for some years past." Even the Matanzas mule fades into comparative insignificance after this.

LANCE-CORPORAL VICKERY, V.C. Lance-corporal Vickery, of the Dorset Regi- ment, whose bravery won for him the Victoria Cross in connection -with the recent frontier war, and who is now staying at his home in Glamorgan-street, Canton, Cardiff, will return to his native village of Warn brook, near Chard, on the 14th of July, and it is intended to give the hero a public reception.

Bicycle Sweaters and Stockings a, Speciality.— Adams, Hosier, 64. St. Mary-street, Cardiff, [rh.w.

I A Detective's Career. RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY SENSATIONAL ARRESTS. I Detective-inspector William Oidhamstead, who this week retires from the City of London Police after 30 years' service, has had an inte- resting caresr. It was in 1876 that he was en- gaged on the Snelling frauds, when three per- sons were convicted for swindling transactions all over the country, and in the year 1879--after many complaints respecting forgeries on various banks in London and the country- Oldhamstead was instrumental in placing in the dock William Henry Walters, James Maxwell Miller, and Daniel Dyson Noble, each of whom was sentenced to penal servitude for twenty years. Walters had been wanted for ten years. For this matter Oldhamstead received a hand- some reward from the Bank of England. In 1895 a great robb^iy of bonds took place in the City, and Oidhamstead—to use his own words— "was put en the job." First he went to Ant- werp, then to Brussels, and finally to Paris, where he not only succeeded in apprehending two men. but recovered about £20,000 worth of the stolen property. Returning to London he arrested three other men for being concerned in stealing and receiving bonds, and the whole five were dealt with at the Old Bailey. These, of course, are but sample cases of the inspec- tor's work. On November 24, 1894..at 11, Maud- road, West Ham, he rushed into a house which was on fire and managed to save the lives of five children. He was so severely burned on this occasion that he was detained in the hospital for a month. For his bravery he received the medal of the Society for the Protection of Life from Fire. More than once, too, Oldhamstead has been rewarded by judggs and the Com- missioner of Police.

SHOWMAN S FATAL FIRE. By a fire which broke out on Tuesday after- noon in Edinburgh the major portion of a valuable performing stock belonging to Mr. J. Wylie was destroyed. The conflagration origi- nated in the vicinity of the boiler for preparing the food of the animals, and owing to the nature of the building the flames spread with great rapidity. The firemen succeeded rescuing a few of the animals, but only a very small portion of the collection has been saved. Mr Wylie has been engaged for about twenty years in collecting the animals, which in- cluded a beautiful Arab mare, the famous iinure Brownie, and a splendid bay stallion, twelve performing ponies, a stock of collie dog and Yorkshire terriers, trained sheep, Chinese fowls, parrots, and other birds, and a Spanish donkey 15 hands high. The animals were in great request for the variety stage, and the sheep and ponitf at the pantomime season in both England and Scotland. The loss through the calamitous fire cannot tie esti- mated. and, unfortunately, the animals, having been kept in wooden premises, were uninsured.

BITING A HORSE. At North London George John Heywood was charged with cruelly ill-treating a horse, by biting it through the nostrils.—Mr. Godfrey, who prosecuted for the North London Tram- ways Company, said he was informed that this was a method adopted by horsekeepers for punishing animals which were spiteful.—Wil- liam Arundel, a yard foreman, said that on Monday afternoon he heard prisoner abusing the animal, and on looking into the stable he saw him with his arm round the horse's neck in such a fashion as to prevent it biting him. Prisoner had his teeth through the upper part of the horse's nostril. He sent him out of the stable while he examined the horse. He saw the marks of teeth, which had gone, through the nostril, and blood was issuing from the part. Mr. Gregory, F.R.C.V.S., proved seeing the wounds, and said that it would need a very determined bite to do as described, and would cause great pain to the animal. Prisoner pleaded guilty, and in defence said the horse had tried to bite him. Mr. D'Eyncourt charac- terised the offence as brutal and cowardly, and sentenced prisoner to 21 days' hard labour. ————

MURDERERS PENITENCE. George Watt, v ho is lying in Norwich Prison under sentence of death for the murder of his wife, has written a letter to a gentleman who has undertaken the care of his son and intends to adopt him. In the course of the letter the convict says:—"I am as well as yott can expect under the present circumstances. I am heartily sorry to think that I should ever come to this end. but I can assure you that at the time T ccmmitted that dreadful crime I was out of my mind, and had been labouring with pains in my head for weeks before; but I hope God will forgive me and my poor wife. Now I must thank you very much for takinf my boy into your house. I hope that he will be always truthful to you, and do always what is right. and may yon prosper in life. It is very hard for me to think of my children during this trying time. but it was harder for my poor wife, whose life was cut off so short, but I hope that she is at rest, and that I may meet her in heaven. Good-bye."

ODD STORY OF A CHEQUE. The police are investigating a daring attempt at fraud at Grays. Essex. A local grocer, named Pelling. received an ordar for tea by letter. The customer enclosed a £5 note, ask- ing that the change might be sent by cheque. Mr. Pelling sent a cheque for £4. Later a cheque was presented at the Provincial Bank, Grays, for £320. The cashier was suspicious, and sent for Mr. felling, who is said to have discovered that all the writing except the sig- nature had been removed by chemicals and the larger amount substituted.

WHERE WOMEN RULE. We occasionally hear of towns in America and New Zealand in which the woman voter is dominant; 1 ut how many of our women readers are aw-are (asks the Westminster Gazette") of the fact that here in Great Britain "itself there is a large centre of popu- lation in the same—shall we say happy?— con- dition? This ic Carmarthen, where the women voters on the local government register are no less than 63 per cent, of the whole. 1 his is more than double the proportion existing in any other town. and the explanation given 01 it is that the industries of the town have greatly t decaved. and its main dependence is upon its reputation as a health resort. Hence a large number of its householders are vomen who keep lodging-houses. ■

A "MUSICAL" HOnSE. An amusing case was heard by Judge French, in the Bow County-court on Tuesday. James Rosier, a laundryman. claimed £4 from Percy Simmonds, cab proprietor, for damages to a van. It appeared that on March 26 last, a carman in the employ of the plaintiff was driv- ing the van into Upton-lane, when defendant's cab and horse, which had run away, dashed into the van, causing the damage complained oi.—\i r. Haynes, for the defendant, denied negligence, and remarked that it was an ex- traordinary tiling, but at the time the horse ran away a barrel organ and a baked-potato can were making a noise, and this frightened the horse, which bolted.—His Honour: The two combined were too much for it. (Loud laughter.)—Defendant said he had been to a funeral, and stopped at "The Rabbits" to get something in the way of refreshment. The cab was outside in charge of the ostler. The man with the baked-potato can made a shrieking noise with the drawers, and the organ-grinder struck up "Soldiers of the Queen. His horse bolted, and didn't stop till it had gone three bolted, and didn't stop till it had gone three miles. (Loud laughter.) It took him all day before he found it again. (More laughter.) He then heard of the accident.—Mr. Haynes: Your horse is musical perhaps, and couldn't stand the discoid. (Roars of laughter.)—His Honour gave judgment for the defendant.

NEWS GLEANINGS. The fortnightly meeting of the Pontypridd District Council was held on Tuesday, when a communication was read from the Local Government Board sanctioning the borrowing of £6DO for making the approaches to the rail- way bridge at the Berw. Spring Cleaning.—No More Delays.—Carpets effectually Beaten; new patent; up-to-date machinery just put in.—Send post-card, the Original Company. Minny-street, Cathavs Car- diff. Telephone, 741.. 5 The annual meetings of the South Wales and Monmouth District of the Bible Christian Con- nexion are being held this week at Barry Dock, under the presidency of the Rev. J. C., Honey. Sprjng Cleaning.—Windows Cleaned practi- cally. expeditiously, and economically.—Send post-card the Original Firm Minny-street. Cathays. Cardiff. Telephone, 74J. 1 Some members of the Newport and Dock Police visited the steamer Barbara, a large vessel, in the South Dock (Alexandra), shortly before eleven o'clock on Monday night, and' arrested the cook, named Mollard. on a charge of assaulting Mrs. Neiison, the keeper of a lodging-house in Ruperra-street. Dyeing and Cleaning Up-to-date.—Every Description of Clothing. Household Furnishing, &c.. satisfactorily treated.—Send post-card (Company well known), Minny-street, Cathavs Cardiff. 2 Edward T. Jones, of Hoggins Farm, St. Briavels, was ordered by the Chepstow magis- trates on Tuesday to pay 11s. fine and costs for cruelty to eight lambs by packing them closely in a small cart, and thus driving them to Chepstow Market. Spring Cleaning.—Carpets taken up and re- laid or re-arranged by practical men. on the shortest notice.—Send post-card Minny-street, Cathavs. Cardiff. Telephone. Z41. 6 The members of the North Staffordshire Natu- ralists' Field Club and Archaeological Society are now in Pembrokeshire visiting its many places of interest. The visitors' headquarters are at Tenby. Spring Cleaning.—Lace, Ac., Curtains Cleaned and Finished in our well-known style.—The Original Company, Minny-street. Cathays. Car- diff. 3 At Colwyn .(Builth) Petty Sessions on Monday Albert Mason, landlord of the Drovers' Arms Inn, Howey, charged with contravening the Welsh Sunday Closing Act on Sunday. May 29, was fined JE3. t Spring Cleaning.—Carpets Chemically Cleaned. -N'J, fading or shrinking. Moths effectuallv removed: wonderful results. Company well known.—Minny-street. Cathavs, Cardiff. 4 Lord Windsor will preside at the annual gathering of tho Cambrian Archaeological Society, which is to be held at Ludlow on August 8 and four following days. Dyeing and Cleaning by Post, Carriage paid one way. Price sent by return of post; best workmanship; nuftierate charges; eOJIHJany well-known.—Minny-street, Cathays. Cardiff. 7 Average rate of mortality for last week, 15.1 per 1,000. Cardiff, 12.9; Swansea,, 16.9.

A VETERAN TRUMPETER. An inquest was held at Windsor on Tuesday evening by the borough coroner on George Keightley, an ex-trumpet-major of the Royal Horse Guards, who was knocked down by a cab last week, and died in the infirmary on Saturday from a fractured thigh. Keightley was trumpeter in many State ceremonials from the time of George IV., and was trumpeter to the escort of Emperor Nicholas in 1827. He trumpeted on the occasion of the Queer's accession, when the Lord Mayor read the pro- clamation in London. The deceased was 85 of age.

_11.- ————————— Interviewed at Last. MR. WILLIAM BANTER AND THE DARGAI HERO. I Bill Conquers the Conspiracy of Silence Amongst Victoria Cross Men, and Records the Feat. These poor. dumb animal ideas affected by Victoria Cross men must be stopped (writes Bill Banter, in a rage), and I have determined to step in and prove to all the world that modern interviewing in no way depends upon the subject interviewed. Interviewing is an art, like mesmerism, and lying, and war correspondence in the Spanish- American piliow-fight. It admits of modern extension, and is open to improvements made by modern inventors. When Edison tackled wood and wax they seemed the most unlikely subjects to get any language out of. Yet we saw the phonograph. Shall it be said. then, that an interviewer of the Edisonian stamp tackled a man who could speak, but who wouldn't, and went home and got his wife to kick him, and gave up? Men who have tried to make my old friends Vickery and Findlater talk for the newspapers have sent me strange reports. They tell me that, as far as the cross goes, both the heroes are all all right. They are as cross as two sticks. Their deaf-and-dumbness would go far to make Victoria cross if she had asked them anything more than she actually did whilst pinning on those little mementoes of Dargai. That's where all the interviewers made a strange mistake. They were old-fashioned. They missed their hero, and interviewed the baggage-man. And if by chance they came on one, or knocked up against the other, they were just as wise before the talk as after. Both Vickery and Findlater dare to declare that they have never yet been interviewed. Shall this challenge to the press go forth un- answered? No! When our man was sent to interview the piper at the Cardiff Empire this week he came right back and said that he would want one of those V.C.'s himself before he ever tackled Findlater again. Was that a worthy sequel to an interview? Alas! he made the old mistake. He had to wrestle with an old-time conscience, and he shirked the struggle. He thought it necessary first to go and see his subject, and to get his interview from Mr. Findlater's own lips. Would Edison have done that? Would the man who was the first inventor of the talking-machine have stopped at the invention of an interview because the interviewee' was not a machine that talked? I hear the howl "No!" from all corners of the earth. I cannot do better than follow Edison. I have not found it neces- sary to stir out of the literary laboratory for the interview. What do I want to see the piper for at all? I recokon it is what any V.C. in Findlater's place would say, anyhow, with- out forgetting all the modesty that best becomes a man It is what I should remark myself, and, therefore, bears the hall-mark of veracity. "Quite a nice cross that!" I said, by way of opening the conversation. I reverently touched the little badge upon the hero's breast. "Yes, it is a genuine Victoria," said the hero .1 proudly. "Worth about fourpence, bo I hear?'' "My dear Bill! It is worth far more to me." "No matter—keep the change. Those Vic- toria Crosses, I suppose, are getting scarce." } said this just by way of mild suggestion, opening the hero out a bit. like a military oyster. It had the desired effect. "Bill," said the piper, solemnly, "They are scarcer now than ever they were. You have to step so near the grave, you know, to get one, that it's a toss- up whether you get a cross upon your grassy mound or on your breast. I wouldn't sell this cross for—for Victoria's crown." "Nor even for a quiet little public-house and kitchen-garden," I suggested. "No! Not for a street of 'em!" said Find- later, emphatically. I admired his martial ;udour and his unselfish patriotism. "And yet." I said, "the nice white cemetery cros3 to which you delicately alluded must cost more money to produce?" "Maybe, but then one of those crosses gene- rally does for a whole lot of ue. Brave men they are who share them, too--and, as I said, it's just a toss-up whether you share in one or get the other to yourself. Of course, this carries a little pension, but "It's barely enough to keep you out from under the other?" Findlater did not answer. I was treading on too delicate ground, as the man on the end of the- rope'aid when the drop had fallen. Ah!" I said, "You won that honour well and gloriously, my boy, and wear it equally well. It just suid your completion, which is bronze. Now no one yet has heard the story how you won it from your lips," Well. I don't want to talk for any ballv ——" Just so," I interrupted hastily, t. begin at the beginning. Millions of Afridis clustered on the frowning heights of Dargai "Eh?" 'And the littye company of Gordon High- landers wanted to be up and at 'em'— Hold on there, Bili; what are you talking about?" And ill" didn't wait for a balloon, like Andree would, to take 'em up there, either. They were Firdlater bolted for the door. I stopped —myself, and him—I bolted, too—the door. Enough of that—you're not at Dargai now!" I said, You're giving me an interview —don't you forget it." But, Bill "There are no butts here; this ts no rifle range." (This was a joke; I thought per- chance that it might soothe him, though against the Banter Grain.) It did not soothe; it weakened him—much the same thing. "Excuse my firmness," I remarked, "but there is no escape. An interviewer's hotter than the Afridis; if the whole Gordon regi- ment were here they would be interviewed." I told the truth. It was no bluff. I had no doubt. of it.. Well—I surrender, Bill" exclaimed the piper. "Now we shall get on. The story, please! As I understand it. all the enemy were sitting round upon the heights of Dargai- Will you please spdl that, Bill. I don t recollect." „ Yes, I think I've heard that name before. Where could it have been?" returned the piper, with an air of meditative uncertainty. Many an interviewer would have died on hearing that remark. I did not; I put it rightly down to the hero's modesty. "Well—you take the. Victoria hot cross bun!" was all I said; "come now—don't you remem- ber being there with a!l the Gordon High- landers?" "Oh, yes! My old regiment! Let me see— what were we doing there?" "Hurting the Afridis?" "Or they were hunting us, I forget which. Anyhow, we were there, all of us, only the Afridis were in the best Quarters, and were a few more than us in number—just; about ten to one." "Yes?". "We drove them out—that's about all." "But, my dear boy. what about the charge, and your playing them on amid a hail of bui- teta.andtoon." "Ob, yott want to hear that. do you? Well, the boyi were a bit roused, you know; the m:rgei'4 were filling the regiment pretty full of lead whilst we were climbing up to turn them out. You can't stand seeing your comrades shot like rabbits, j you see, without going for the enemy bald- j headed. So I was putting all the steam I I knew into the bagpipes—rushing forward with the boys to get our bayonets at work before we fell—aud I wished that every note of the 'Cock o' the North' was a bayonet or bullet. With the bagpipes in their ears the regiment will go for-anything; I never knew the bagpipes yet to fly before the enemy." I "Bravo!" "I eould feel the 'Haug'hs o Cromdaie' carry- ing death to our foes. for sure enough it was that niggers fell in heaps at every skirl. Eh, mon. if you'd been there!" "Thanks. I will call next time." The soldier had forgotten he was being in- terviewed. He only saw the heights again in front of him. He only heard the war shrieks of the pibroch drown the singing of the bullets as the Gordons dashed to victory. "Ah. then I I was taken off my feet," he cried. "bufc tiis pipes were safe, and they only shirked the louder, and the boys jumped on the faster, with the music in the air all round them. and the ones that fell they spun around and died to the 'Cock o' the North"! I wasn't! with them, but the pibroch was. I tried to reach them as they went un over the heights 1 and mowed the enemy till they tumbled over the rocks in great black waves and heaps." "And you reached them?" "Eh mon! 'The Cock o' the North' did." j "But you were shot in the feet?" j "The music widna wait for that. They couldn't shoot the 'Haughs o' Cromdale. "Supposing you had been shot anywhere else?" "I canna say. I had my share of lead. Many poor fellows had a good deal more. I wasna' shot in the bagpipes, that's enough!" "How do you account for that? Thfe t'hot was flying round you pretty thick." /'Ah! 'Twas the pibroch saved me. Never a bullet that could pierce the skirl of 'The Cock o' the North' as I played it then I" • *»• Apologies will be considered due to Piper Findlater, V.C., for the above, but it's his own fault. Better, perhaps, have let the legitimate and conscientious interviewer, who sticks to ¡ fact, get a word in with him.-Yonrs,

j Cardiff Dog Show. I o — GOOD CLASSIFICATION WITH SEVERAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. "Niblo" Bavies, Leonard, a.nd Other Welsh Pedestrians in the English Championships on Saturday. I notice in the entries for the English cham- pionships for Saturday next that quite a num- ber of Welshmen have entered. In addition to Cooper, Thomas, and Morgan, whole chances I dealt with yesterday, there i3'R. F. Leonard. of Newport, who has entered for the quarter. If he is in anything like form Leonard ought to at least secure a standard time medai. In saying this I am remembering his running at Newport last year, when he won the quarter mile Welsh championship. The standard tima, I may mention, is 52sec. S. V. Davies, Cardiff, now residing in London, has entered for tho half-mile, as also has H. Evans, of Swansea. I don't fancy the Westerner will secure a. time medal, but Davies, if in his best form. might manage to do so. the time required being 2min. 2sec. I note that the Bristol Harriers have two men entered. G. S. Wiltshire for the half-mile and A. W. Tovey for the four mile. I fancy Tovey will get a standard medal, for he is a smart runner. I Speaking of the championships, I eee F. W. Cooper was receiving li yard in the 120 yards —from whom I should like to know—aud. of course, won by half a. yard in 11 4-5sec. That form will win on Saturday next. and I wish him luck. As I mentioned in my notes a few days age H. Cullum. our Welsh champion. will not bit competing this year, but will get fit for tbe Welsh one mile championship, which he hat held for three years. That is a record. j hope that this year there will be a mile cham pionship. as well as 100 yards and 440 yards, which, by the way, the Newport Athletic Club has secured for August 1. I am given to understand that' G. Martin will compete for the two mile steeplechase, and that is the only race he has entered for. If he runs he should win, for he is a splendid jumper, and is at present the ex-cross-country champion. In last year's championship the steeplechase was rather tame. Only two turned out, and those were G. H. Lee and H. Evans, of Swansea, but Evans died away at the finish. This* year it will be more interesting, as there are four- teen entered for the event, and it will be rare fun to see them at the water jump. The Ey Course jumps are not in it with the cham- pionship course. A letter from the Brecon Dog Show secre- tary informs me that he has been successful in arranging for a special train from Merthyr to Brecon. This train will run in conjunc- tion with the 7.55 a.m. Taff train from Cardiff, and will arrive at Brecon at 10.5. The time of entry of dogs into the show, and the judg- ing have been put back to suit this. There is no doubt South Wales fanciers have bean particu- larly well catered for by the Brecon people. and I trust, therefore, they will acknowledge this by patronising the show in strong force. The schedule for the Welsh Kennel Club Dog Show, just issued, shows an admirable classification, and ought to attract good entries. There will be a slight alteration in the list of judges, Mir. Vicary, as I men- tioned a day or two ago, being unable to judge. This means that Irish and fox terriers will be split up—Mr. Sidney Cantle judging fox terriers, and Mr. Jowett Irish. In addition I to several championships, a rare lot of specials have been secured, bulldogs and Welsh terriers being particularly well off in this respect. The golf umbrella, says my Porthcawl cor- respondent, is a novel contrivance, which is to defy wind, rain, and sun. When not in use this wonderful article can Tie neatly rolled up and slipped into a tan-coloured leather case, and placed in a caddie bag. While awaiting her turn to play, instead of broiling in the sun, if there be no Hhade 01\ the links, the "new golf girl" now unfurls an umbrella, which her sisters thought was simply a golf club, the umbrella handle being the same as a. golf club handle. V. W. Yorke, whom the Gloucestershire com- mittee are giving a trial in the Lancashire match, is a son of Mr. J. R. Yorke, of Forth- ampton Court, near Tewkesbury. In addition to assisting the Tewkesbury Club, he has turned out pretty regularly of late for the Eton Ramblers, and is played for his batting. I believe he has one or two brothers, all good sportsmen, who, like himtelf, may be seen out pretty regularly in the season following in the Ledbury, Croome. and other neighbour- ing packs of foxhounds. The other player who made his debut for Gloucestershire v. Lancashire is a young pro. named Paish. He is at present engaged by the Clifton Club. but hails from Cheltenham, where he is a general favourite. He is. or was. a three-quarter above the average, and regu- larly turned out for the Cheltenham Rugby Club until a seasoo or two ago. Those noted bowlers, J. T. Hearno and J. Brlggs, had a gala, day at. Old Trafford on Tues- day. The Middlesex professional did best, and secured the distinction of being the first bowler this season to credit himself with 100 wickets in first-class cricket. On Tuesday morn- ing Hearne's bowling worked out thus:—8 overs, 2 maidens. 15 runs, 6 wickets. Altogether he took nine wickets in Lancashire's first innings for 63 runs. When the Southerners batted, Briggs came very near to equalling this per- formance, the wily bowler dismissing eight batsmen at a cost of 63 runs. In the course of the day 26 wickets fell for 306 runs. The champions of last season are 214 runs to the good with one wicket to fail. Cambridge have been expected to win the 'Varsity match which commsnces to-morrow, but I am not 80 sure of this, for their attad at Lord's last week-cud was the reverse of deadly. Jessop and Burnup are the elements in the team most to be feared, tiiouglt Wilson has already shown that his partiality for the M.C.C. unciosure still remains. Winter gets his runs quickly, and may puzzie ihc Oxonians with his lobs as he did the Sussex players last week —a curious experience for the county with which the wily "lobster," Walter Humphreys, was associated, but let the Dnrk Blues gain first knock en a good pitch and they may need a deal of yhiftirig. Mora than one of the team has scarcely as yet played up .to. paper reputation, but possibiy a big contribution is held in reserve foV- Thursday, and the captain has him- selT blossomed forth with tuc willow. I am not. too glad to eee a principal bowler making great strides in the rival department., as it too frequently mesiis a. falling off with the ball. At the same time, the proper pi nee for Cuniifft to pat himself in just nON is well up the list- as at Hove—unless folic-vin«y ou a Ions outing I know of a recent minor M.C.C. match, played in fii'i London district, -.there the captain sent in first a bowler who hau btuu doing dutj daring the major portion of the home inning and was thoroughly tired. This is aoout- "Gua to vending a v.-icket-kt^'cr in first after a ».ear outing, wilh his bands more or less stiff fror tho work undergone. hnlund tbe sticks, a. m:, take of which CUWlty skippers arc occasiouR.il- guilty uf. WELSH ATHLETE.

THE OLD WAY AND THE NEW During the hearing of an action, in which a limited liability company was concerned at Southwark County-court Oil. Tuesday, his Honour Judge Addison, Q C.. observed that One need not now give his goods over to his wift or make them over to a friend. There was t far easier way of swindling, and that was U make one's business into a limited liabilit. company, the promoter making all his asfeetV his own and aJl his liabilities somebody elae's. People were so np to it now that when a little man found himself in a hopeless way- ol business aad could not pay his debts he did not make over his furniture or sff&ets to his wife—that was the old-faahionad my—but with her and his daughter and office boy—(laughter) —he incorporated himself as a limited om- panjr. The only remedy for the evil was for the "Legislature to order ait iBQuiry before registration was aliovreti.

MR. GLADSTONE S CHARITY. There are some interesting things about Mr. Gladstone in an article by his old friend, Lord Stanmore. in the July number of The Fort- nightly Review." Lord Stanmore mentions among Mr. Gladstone's characteristics his magnificent and tmostentatious generosity. "I do not. think," he says, there can now be any objection to saying that, even at a time when he was a comparatively poor man, he belonged (asdidsoma other personsof distinction) to a private association, the bond of which was the pledge of each member to devote a considA-able part of his annual income to works of public charity and personal benevolence. The names of the members of this associatioh were never published, or even made known to the associa- tion generally, while the amounts they gave were, I believe, known to the treasurer OILY." How unlike the present day—when charity and newspaper paragraphs so often accompany each other.

THE BENEFICENT TAILOR. The sixty-first anniversary dinner of the Benevolent Institution for the Relief of Aged and Infirm Journeyman Tailors was held on Tuesday night in the Whitehall-rooms, Hotel Metropole, Mr. H. Lawson, C.C., presiding. The Chairman, in giving Continued Success to the Benevolent Inslitution," said a man's best friend was his tailor. (Laughter.) It was to his tailor that a young man turned for advice and sympathy, for information, and even for assistance. (A Caugh.) Their's was a very liberal trade, for no other business 'allowed such splendid discounts for cash. (Cheers.) That showed the extent to which they had developed the great secret of modern cûmmerœ-the credit system. The main difference in clothes used to be in the colour and the style, while now it was in cut and fit. 'The old generation disliked very much to change the tendency towards plainness and uniformity. Mr. Glad- stone, whom .not'only the English nation, but the whole world, has mourned, 11ad declared against all abatement of dress. The weiJ- drossed Englishman was the model of the civi- lised globe. (Cheers.! Nothing was more marked than the march of Anglomania. Instead of going to Paris or other foreign capitals for the style of dress, the fashion was taken from Louden. (Cheers.) He would offer them one word of sympathy. In the American- Spanish War no great losses were heard of. but the principal sufferers were the English tailors. (Hear, hear.) They had had to do without the welcome little strangers who ordered suits not by one or two figures but three, up to hundreds of pounds at a time. The ideal state of every trade was that it should have satisfactory funds for its aged and infirm members. Tabors had provided for their members who were past work in homes where every comfort was to he found. (Cheers.) The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm. Mr. Cundy announced that. JE900 had been sub- scribed during the evening, the chairman giving 1£50.

PROMENADE CONCEPT. We are requested to state that the band of I the 3rd Volunteer Battalion Welsh Regiment will play in the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, this I (Wednesday) evening. The programme will be as follows:—March, "Washington Grays"; selec- tion, "I Due Foscari"; polka, "Funniosities"; fantasia, "Maritana"; valse, "Amitie"; Scotch selection, "Robbie Burns."

,I TRAIN IN A DOCK. A train of coal-liden wagons was being run 4along the coal drops at Hartlepool on Tues- day, when, owing to its high rate of speed, the engine could not be stopped, and fourteen of the tracks went over the side into the Victoria Dock. No one was injured. The wagons) con- tained about 1ao tons of coal, which are all at the bottom of the dock.

Fijian Fire Ceremony. PEOPLE WHO WALK ON A WHITE-HOT PAVEMENT. Two New Zealand medical men. Dr. Hocken and Calquhoun, recently visited Fiji, where they had an opportunity of witnessing the now rare fire ceremony of the natives. It is so rare that the power is nowconfined to a single family living on an islet twenty miles from the Fijian metropolis, Suva. These people are able to walk nude and with bare feet across the white-hot stony pavement of a huge oven. An attempt was made on this occasion t oregister the heat, but when the thermometer had been placed for a few seconds about five feet from the oven, it had to be withdrawn as the solder of the covering began to melt. The thermometer then regis- tered 282deg., and Dr. Hocken estimates that the range was over 400deg. The fire-walkers then approached, seven in number, and in single file walked leisurely across and around the oven, causing clouds of steam, and upon the leaves and within the steam the natives sat o rstood. The men were carefully ex- amined by the doctors both before and after the ceremony. The soles o ftheir feet were not thick or leathery, and were not in the least blistered. The men showed no symptoms of distress, and their pulse was unaffected. Preliminary tests failed t oshow that there had been an yspecial preparation. Both doctors, while denying that there was any- thing miraculous about the experiment, ex- pressed themselves as unable to/give scientific explanation.

FAVOURED FIGHTING. On the burgh bench of Dunbar is a magis- trate—Bailie Smith—who believes in fighting. Two boys were brought before him on Satur- day, charged with this offence:- Bailie Smith: "Let them fight." He objected to boys being brought up for fighting. The Fiscal said this case was reported by the station-master, as it occurred inside the gate, where a large crowd had congregated. Bailie Smith: Why should they not fight? My own boy fight. One struck the other, and he was quite right to retaliate. The police, he thought, had very little to do to bring up boys for fighting—The Fiscal: Do ncJt blame the for fighting—The Fiscal: Do ncJt blame the police; blame me. They were in duty bound to bring them up.—Bailie Smith: I will. not convict. at all events—Mr., Notman, assessor: You must convict; they have pleaded guilty.— The Bailie: Well, I will dismiss them. Address- ing the boys, he said; I don't object to you fighting at all. Away you gon and fight it out. Readers may remember that it was from Dunbar that Sir John Cope wrote his historic challenge to the Young Pretender:- "Saying. Charlie, meet me if you daur. And I'll learn you the art o' war. If you'll meet me in the morning.' Clearly in the ancient town the old spirit of the Commander-in-chief still survives.