Weekly Mail

MISLAID LETTER. ) DISCLOSES LADY'S RELA- TIONS WITH MARQUESS. The Marchesa Blanche Mastelloni! Thus announced, an olive-complexioned, quietly dressed young lady stepped into the witness-box of the Divorce Court. She was asking for a judicial separation from her husband, an Italian noble, whom she met in Italy four years ago. In accordance with the immemorial cusTom of the court, the marchesa was asked the name in full of her husband, and then a curious little difficulty arose. The marchesa had forgotten most of her husband's Chris- tian names! "I don't know them all," she said pathe- tically. "They begin 'Franccsco di Sala Sir Francis Jeunc (sympathetically): I see there are eight of them. You have given us the first two. That will (;0. Encouraged by this timely sympathy, the marchesa proceeded to tell the story of her, romantic marriage with P. di S. M. G. T. n. E. F. Mastelloni, as the list of cases called him. It was a.t beautiful Florence that she met the marquess of many initials. Born in Trinidad, of English parents, the marchesa was making a tour abroad to complete her education. The young people fell in love with one another and were married in Florence. For the next two years the marquess took his bride through Italy on a prolonged honeymoon. Then in 1903 his wife brought him to England, and introduced him to her mother, who lived in Little E-aling-laue, South Ealing. Here, in Little Ea,ling-lane, a.t his mother- in-law's house, the marquess took up his quarters, and all went well until the mar- chesa became a mother some months after- wards. While the marchesa was laid up the mar- quess paid great attention to a young lady, a distant relative of his wife's, who was living in the bouse. This young lady, Miss Eliza Gordon, one day. when the marchesa was upstairs, mis- laid a letter. It was a note which she had written to a Roman Catholic priest contain- ing a statement of her relations with the ma.rquess. Instead of posting it Miss Gordon had mislaid it. It was found by another lady, who read it and told the revelations it contained to the marchesa's mother. These revelations the elder lady in turn communicated to her daughter when the latter was strong enough to face the shock. There was a scene. First of all the mar- quess was t.1.ed with infidelity. He stoutly denied it. Then Miss Gordon was called in. Yes. you have been guilty." she eaid to the marquess. On this the marquess, too, confessed. I admit I have been guilty of great fami- liarity," he eaid. "Tith these word" }1O left the room. The ladies heard him packing up. There was a bang of the front door, and the alphabetical marquess had left his wife for ever. A judicial separation was granted.

TERRORS OF THE SEA. SHIPWRECKED SAILORS SEVEN- TEEN DAYS IN BOATS. The crew of the British steamer Kelvin epent seventeen terrible days in open boats last month. The Kelvin left New York on October 5 for the River Plate. The day after leaving port a terrible gale sprang up. The ship took a heavy list to starboard, and, one of the ports being broken, the water got in, and flooded part of the stores. The captain and crew worked hard to get the ship on an even keel. but on October 7 it became evident that she was about to founder. They all took to the boats, which were only provisioned with sea biscuit, as it was unsafe to go below for the undamaged portion of the stores. The men drifted about exposed to the full fury of a West Indian gale, and their suffer- ings were aggravated by the shortness of food and water. They had almost abandoned hope, when they fell in with a schooner, which landed them a.t Puerto Rico. whence they were taken to New York.

NOT ENGAGED TO HIM. There was an amusing misunderstanding during the hearing at Worship-street Polioe- court of summonses (again adjourned) against three men for assault and intimidation arising out of a strike at one of the Imperial Tobacco Company's Factories. A tall, smartly-dressed young woman, named Annio Mens, having given evidence of being struck, a cigar-maker, named Pea.rson, was called in support. You are engaged to Miss Hens, ehP" said the defending solicitor. "Yes," was the answer. "No, no!" exclaimed Miss Hens, in dismayed tones, starting towards the witness. He is mistaken. I am not engaged." If he is not engaged to you I a.m sure he is mistaken," declared the solicitor, gallantly. Let us put it on the deposition that she is not engaged," suggested the magistrate, Mr. Corser. "Oh," cried Miss Hens, blushing, "1-1 don't mean that, but it's Mr. Pearson's mistake. It's—it's not to him." We understand there's a.not.her young man," said the solicitor. Yes. I've never been out with Mr. Pear- son," declared Miss Hens. It would be dreadful for this to be said." I think," observed the prosecuting solicitor, with a sly smile, that Mr. Pearson is a little deaf."

STOLE WORKMEN'S MONEY. At Southwark Police-court, London, John PrcndeTgast, of Crosslet-street, Old Kent- road, was charged with fraudulently con- verting to his own use JE80 entrusted to him on account of the Bermondsey Loan and Investment Society-a. workingmen's organi sataon. He went to Southwark Police-station and made the following statement: — I am secretary of the Bermondsey Loan and Investment Society. I was the founder of the society. My duties were to pay out money, sign books, and take money. The money I took each Saturday I should pay into the bank during the fol- lowing week. Some time ago I had pnenmonia. and pleurisy, and since then I have been out of work nine months. About eight or nine weeks ago I started appropriating small sums of money for my needs at home. I tried to make it up on horseracing, but lost more each time. I have had about £80 altogether. Mr. Coates (the clerk): This money he has stolen belongs to workingmen?—A Witness: Yes, sir. The prisoner was sentenced to three months' hard labour.

CORROSIVE ACID OUTRAGE. While in the Salvation Army Shelter in Edgwaje-road. London, on Saturday evening,! John Collins, 41. a rivetter, attacked an old man, and was put outside by Benjamin Deitz,! a foreman employed at the place. As Collins refused to go away Deitz opened the door with the idea of calling a policeman, when Collins threw a quantity of corrosive acid in his face. He was arrested, and on the way to the station said he was sorry he had not blinded the man. He added that he had been ca.rry- ing the etuff about for a policeman who had caused him to get 21 days for begging. At Marylebone later Collins was re- manded. It was stated that Deitz was badly borned, but that his eyee were uninjured.

STRANGE ROMANCE STORY OF KUROPATKIN'S LOST DAUGHTER. A talented daughter of General Kuro- patkin, believed by him to be dead, is, accord- ing to the "New York World," in America, in charge of Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity. Mans* years a-go, it is stated, the first wife of Kuropatkin was travelling, with the con- i tent of the Czar and of her husband, in Europe, and while residing in Rome, on June 29, 1873, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, g'ave birth to a little daughter. Mother and child remained in Rome for another five years, then returned to Russia for a brief time,! and later on resumed their travels, returning to Russia, at intervale. Ths mother's faith in her own Church, the Orthodox Churoii of Russia, had meanwhile been shaken, and, with the consent of her husband, she and l-ittle daughter became converts to Roman Catholicism. Leaving the national church of Russia, and embracing another faith is, however, a crime in the eyes of the Czar and his Government, and, as her conversion had taken place since the acces- sion to the throne of Alexander III.—a stern bigot in religious matters, and wholly under the religious guidance of his former teacher, Pobyedonoetseff, now Procurator of the Holy Synod—Kuropatkin's wife fell under the severe displeasure of the Government. It was partly owing to this that her stays in Russia after her conversion were never for long. However, her great wealth enabled her to travel in fine styie, and to furnish her daugh- ter with the best instruction under private tutors and governesses. The whole party were travelling in America, (either in the far west of the United States or in Mexico) when the Lady Kuropatkin, who had twice before been striken down with vio'ent illness, fell sick and died. The doctor and a lady friend attended to all that was required, while the children (the daughter at this time twelve) were sent home with the servants and their nurses. Years passed, and the girl rapidly grew to womanhood. She mingled in the highest Russian society, and was repeatedly the guest of the Imperial family at Livadia, their idylled place in the Crimea. Even to-day, after the lapse of many years, the girl remembers perfectly the topography of the chateau and the environments. It is even hinted a.t th.¡,t the present Czar was smitten with her charms. Meantime the girl had been rendered very unhappy by her father's second marria-ge, and finally became morbidly afraid for her personal safety or of being forced into a loveless marriage. It appears that she agreed to vanish for over from St. Pet-crsberg, from her family circle, from Russia, and that a plot was hatched to make it appear that she had met with a fatal accident. The story as given out was that she had accidentally been drowned in the Neva, and, indeed, the unclaimed body of a young' girl was a.t that time taken out of a swift current of the mighty river and indentiiied as that of the daughter. General Kuropatkin was furnished with enough evidence to convince him of the death of his daughter. Since then—in fact. twelve years ago—he has mourned her as dead. And whatever her powerful reasons-whether terror of a detested union with a. man fho abhorred or other dread—the girl has since remained as dead, in joyle.3s exile, without the slightest thread of communication with her family and friends. She had, it appears, sailed for America, where she placed herself under the protection of the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart, whose superintendent-general. Mother Hart- well. has from the first taken a strong and growing motherly interest in the fair Rus- sian refugee, and little by little the desire ripened in her heart and brain to restore her charge to her father and to that high sphere in. her native country to which the girl by right belongs and for which she seems admi- rablyntted.

KIDNAPPED BRIDEGROOM. DRAMATIC END OF A ROMANCE. The supposed kidnapping of a bridegroom, just before the hour fixed for the ceremony, has furnished a dramatic climax to a roman- tic love affair. The gentleman who has mysteriously dis- appeared recently visited St. Margaret's Bay, a little seaside resort near Dover, for a holi- day. He engaged apartments in the town, and fell a victim to the charms of the serv- ing maid of the house. The course of love ran smoothly enough until the visitor announced his intention of going through the marriage service. This came to the knowledge of the gentleman's brother, who immediately took steps to prevent the alliance. The engaged couple thereupon at once agreed to be married by special licence, which they secured at Canterbury. The pro- posed wedding, which had aroused the greatest interest in St. Margarets, was arranged to take place in the parish church at half-past ten on Saturday morning. Shortly before that hour, however, the clergyman sent a message to the bridegroom to the effect that he would like to see him at the vicarage to examine the special licence. On arrival at the vicarage, the bridegroom found his brother and another gentleman, stated to be a. solicitor, in attendance. Eventually the party came out of the vicarage, and the bridegroom was persuaded to enter a carriage-^which was in waiting out- side. The party then drove off rapidly. The bride and a friend eame up just at the time, and there was a painful scene outside the vica,rage..

SCENE AT A FUNERAL. A strange scene a.t a funeral was described in the Southwark County-court, London, by a carman named Titterrell, who was sued by Ernest Elkerton, an undertaker, for 10s., rhe balance of charge for carrying out the interment of the defendant's child. "Instead of conducting the funeral himself," said the carman, "he sent a cripple and a. carman who didn't know anything about horses. The result was that the coach con- taining my wife and the body of the child was turned over in the street. "One of the horses tried to kick the front of the coach out. When he went down the other went on top of him. Me being a car- man, I held the 'kicker' down by his tongue a.nd ear while they got the other off him. "My wife fainted, a.nd a. doctor Jaad to see to her. I was half mad." "After the interment," said the undertaker, "didn t the ooachman inquire, 'Ladies, are you all satisfied?' and they all replied "No," concluded the carman. "Tea," corrected the undertaker. The Judge said there was an implied assu- rance by every undertaker that a funeral should be conducted quietly and decently. Judgment would be for the carman.

[PEERESS'S POOR FUNERAL "But for the plaintiff, her brother, the body of Flora. Lady Muskerry, wife of one peer of Parliament, the grand-daughter of another, might have been thrown into that terror of the French poor—the Fosse Com- mune." So spoke Judge Adams in the action of Skeffington v. Lord Muskerry at Ra.th- keale. County Limerick, Quarter Sessions, The plaintiff sought to recover the sum of £37 10s. for the funeral expenses of Flora. Lady Muskerry, who died in France about a. year ago. This lady was, by deed of August 5, 1904, separated from her husband. Upon her death Lord Muskerry was tele- graphed to, but took no notice of the tele- gram. Her obsequies were on a. modest scale. The entire sum spent on grave, hearse, carriages, religions service, and all wae only £26. A decree for £26 was given.

NURSERY BISCUITS. At Lambeth, during an inquest on an infant aged three and a half months, the mother stated that, thinking cow's milk was too heavy for the child, she fed it instead on nursery biscuits. The Coroner: Because nursery biscuits feel light in the hand you think they are light as a food. Have you never heard nur- sery biscuits are extremely bad for children? Witness: No, I always thought nursery bis- ouits were what they brought up young chil- dren on. The Coroner: Yes, and a good many chil- dren die in consequence. Dr. Freyberger said death was due to heart failure, following on bronchitis. Nursery biscuits were irritating to the stomach of such a young child.

SHOT DEAD BY ACCIDENT. An inquest was held at Boughton, near Maidatone, on Silas West, aged thirteen, a hoo.s.sboy in the employ of Mr. J. Bazley White, a former M.P., whose death occurred under particularly tragic circumstances. Ernest Walker, a footman, was showing the lad a revolver which he had obtained from the butler's bedroom, when he pointed the weapon at the deoeased and laughingly ex- claimed, "Hands up!" To his horror the revolver went off, and the boy dropped dead. The footman was under the impression that he had extracted all the cartridges from the weapon. To a verdict of "Death from misadventure," the jury added a rider to the effect that! legislation was necessary to prevent the eale and indiscriminate use of forearm*.

TRAFFIC IN BABIES CHILD IN THE CARE OF A CARDIFF MOTHER. Tbore appeared in our columns last week an article descriptive of the remarkable career of Hannah E. Johnson, j otherwise Dora, John.stone, under which name she lived at Llanelly for several months last year as housekeeper to a com- i mercial traveller. The last has not been heard of the baby business," for Mrs. Baker, of Evelyn-street, Cardiff Docks, has a story to tell of a baby left in her care. Seen by one of our representatives on Thursday, Mrs. Baker related the following: — "About eightesn months ago I replied to a,n advertisement which appeared in a Bris- tol paper to the effect that a lady wished to have a oaby adopted. I was at that time living at Ducie-atreet, Gloucester. In the course of a few days I received a reply to my letter from a Mrs. Johnstone, who gave her address as the Post-office, Swansea.' DOLLY. Tha baby which Cora Johnstons Is said to ha?e left wita Mrs. Braier. Several letters afterwards passed between us, and on the 9th of September, 1903, I received a telegram from Mrs. Johnstone, from Neath, informing me that she was bringing the baby. She stated that it was her sister's baby—a Mrs. Richards, who was then in a situation at Picton-place. Carditf- f and the reason she brought the baby, she I said, was tiiat it was to be put out at Neath, and, a3 her sister didn't want anyone to know it, she thought it would be best to take it a.way out, of the town altogether. She gave the name of her husband as Captain John- stone, of the ship Invicta, and she left the baby with me, and p3-id me one month's money, stating that sho would write to me again in a few days. Not hearing anything more from her, I wrote to the address which sho g3ve xne, 83, Mansel- street, Swansea, but received no answer. I then sent a. wire to tell her that the baby was very ill, and asking her if she would come and see me. The reply I received was that she had left, and I then communicated with the aliief-constable at Swansea, who wrote stating that there had been such a, i person staying at the addreai given, but that sJhe had left with tihe baby, which she was about to take (so she Raid) to her sister's. S!in&&quently, I went to Patchway Cot- tages, near Bristol, and was surprised to find thaA Mrs. Johns-tone had taken the baby to Mrs. Richards, of No. 3, and the baby, I understand, is now in tihe workhouse. Then I made all possible inquiries to find Mrs. Johnstone, but failed. I wrote to Pictoc- place. Cardiff. where she said the mother of the ba,by was living, but the letter was returned. When she left my house &he told me she would he sending me some clothes in a, few days for the baby, and asked me if I would like to have a lump sum down, say, £ 70 or £100. She said she had got zE70 at home and would like to know what I thought of her offer. She took with b(or from my house a littlo black Persian cat, and took train for Cardiff on the Wednesday, having stayed with me the night. I heard no moro a.bout her until I saw the statement published in the newspapers. I have given all the correspondence I had with Mrs. Johnstone to tho police. The baby is now about eighteen months old, it being about eight months old when I had it. Mrs. Johnstone impressed it upon me with empha- sis that I was not to put shoes or stockings on the child, as the father was a gentleman, and she did not wish his child to wear shoes or stockings. When I was handed the baby it was wrapped in a plaid Welsh shawl, and it had around the neck a string of beads. Per- haps the mother may recognise the little one from these circumstantial details." Asked if she would like to be relieved of the baby, she said, "No; my children are very fond of it, and it is only a, day or two ago I stated to them that probably 'Dolly' would be Fent for, and my little ones told me they would take her out in the go-cart to prevent her capture."

TRAINING OF MIDWIVES. INTERESTING ADDRESS BY DR. WILLIAM WILLIAMS. Dr. William Williams, Glamorgan county medical officer of health, delivered a lecture at the Westminster Palace Hotel, London, on Friday before the Association for Promoting the Training and Supply of Midwives. Deal- ing with tho question which is the object of the association. Dr. Williams said that no one would contend that the annual deaths in England and Wales of some 4,000 mothers in childbirth was not deplorable. This mor- tality divided itself into deaths from septic diseases or puerperal fever and deaths from accidents of childbirth. Quoting statistics for the last twenty years, the speaker con- tended that during this period no improve- ment had taken place, in spite of an enor- mous advance in surgery, the adoption of aseptic and antiseptic measures, Ac. It had been proved without a doubt that during recent years the mortality in lying-in insti- tutions generally-their internal and external demi.rtmenti-had decreased almost to vanishing point, so that one was forced to the conclusion that the unlit-I minishing mortality to which he had referred took place in general practice, and that the conditions under which women were confined outside lying-in institutions had not shared to an equal degree the improvements in their internal and externaJ departments. The rate of mortality from puerperal fever during the period of twenty years ended wit.h 1500 was highest in some of tho Welsh, North-western. Northern, and West Riding counties, and some of the Welsh counties were also among the list of those standing highest for the rate of mortality from I accidents of oh i Id birth. The reason why the rate was highest in those counties, he sug- gested, was because the physical features ( which obtained there often rendered it ditli- cult to procure medical and skilled assistance. Only about one in every ten midwives in Glamorgan was trained, and the untrained were unable to diagnose dangers, and. con- sequently, ha.d no idea when to send for a doctor. The Act made no provision for the training and supply of midwives, and he hoped this would be taken up by the county councils. In Glamorgan the county council had decided to award 21 free studentships annually to deserving young women attend- ing cla-Tsps at the University College, Cardiff. Dr. Williams also suggested including the training of midwives under the term techni- cal instruction.

OUIt TOWNS AND CITIES. POWERFUL SPEECH BY DR. PUGH, OF CARDIFF. In connection with the annual meeting of the Federal Council of the United Free Church of Scotland, the Presbyterian Church of England, and the Welsh CalviniBtic Methodist Church, held at Nottingham, the Rev. John Pugh. D.D.. Cardiff, speaking at a, public meeting, was introduced as the apostle of Church extension in Wales, and gave a powerful address on home mission work, largely consisting of his personal experiences amongst the masses at Cardiff. He thought that one of the great questions to which the Church of Christ would have to address itself was what was to become of the towns and cities of the kingdom. He said his experience taught him that the Churches were not proceeding upon the right lines to reach the democracy, and, going on to refer I to the work of the Roman Catholic Church amongst others, argued that its influence was not an elevating one, inasmuch as at heart it was pagan, remarks which brought a dissenting "No." Dr. Pugh proceeded to state that the working classes were not against Christ, but against clericalism and I ecclesiasticism, and it was only by breaking down that prejudice, by erecting halls for the people which knew no distinction of class, that they could hope to gain the democracy and save the population of the great cities. In Walts they had planted 45 halls in great centrett in twelve years, and if PresbyteriaEism was to become popular and influential with the people it would have to be done on something the same lines. He longed to see the days when the rich Churches would extend their powers in that I direction and so hasten the realisation of a Christian England.

POISONED BY GAS. At Cardiff County-court on Friday (before his Honour Judge Owen) Richard Rope, fitter, Railway-street, East Moors, claimed from Messrs. Guest, Keen, and Nettlefolds (Limited) 15s. 6d. a week under the Workmen's Com- pensation Act. Mr. John Sankey (instructed by Mr. A. F. Hill) appeared for plaintiff; Mr. J A. Parsons defended. On April 14 Rose was employed as a fitter in Dowlais Works, and) was engaged in opening a slide fitted in the gas pipe leading from the furnace to the boiler, when he sustained an accident and! was overpowered by gas fumes, and j .ill! suffers from the results. Dr. Corrigan, who has been in constant attendance upon the applicant, said the man was suffering from the effects of acute gts poisoning. Before the accident he was splen- didly developed and weighed 14st. 71b. Now he is only llst 71b. There was further medical evidence, and in the end the Judge found for applicant for'the instalments na.mef

mill A DEBTOR REPRIMANDED. SCENE AT NEATH BANKRUPTCY, COURT. At Neath Bankruptcy-court on Tuesday T. Williams, furnaeeman, 4, Grove-lane, Pen- rhiwtyn, came up for his public examination. The debtor's liabilities amounted to jE93 4s, 2d., and there was a deficiency of C84 14a. 2d. He said the cause of his failure was "Debts contracted by my wife without my know- ledge." He said his wages were 36s. per week -In his replies to the Official Receiver and the Registrar, Williams became very garru- lous, whereupon his solicitor, Mr. Jeffreys, appealed to him to have a. little respect for the court. The Registrar: It is clear that he has no respect for the court or his creditors. The Official Receiver: You say your wages are 36s. a week. Here, according to the state- ment of your employers, your wages have been over zP,2 a, week. The Debtor: Well, I have had to pay back many weeks for othera who have been on my name. Look here, if you can prove that during the last seven years I have been getting more than 36s. you can have all the rest. The Registrar; Now, you just behave your- self. We shall have to teach you presently. You are exceedingly rude. The Official Receiver: Have you been drink- ing? Debtor: No, I ha\e had no drink this morn, ing—nor no breakfast either. Councillor David Davies, who was a creditor for £20 for rent, then put a few questions to the debtor, and the case was adjourned, the Registrar observing: Perhaps, you will behave yourself next time.

CHURCH SERVICE STOPPED. A DRAMATIC INCIDENT AT NEATH. Something approaching a sensation occurred at the evening service on Sunday at Herbert- road Baptist Chapel, Neath. The first por- tion of the service passed off uneventfully, but just before the pastor (the Rev. T. W, George) rose to deliver his sermon, the secre- tary of the church (Mr. H. G. Pearce) announced that a special meeting of the members would be held on Sunday next to consider the conduct of the pastor during the past week. The pastor, who was astonished at the announcement, said that after hearing Mr. Pearce's statement he did not feel in the spirit to preach. He, therefore, closed the service with the Benediction, and walked out of the chapel. It is supposed that Mr. Pearce's remarks may refer to the Rev. T.'W. George presiding over a public meeting of ratepayers which had been convened for the purpose of reQuieitioning the council to invite Mr. E. Evans Bevan, who was rejected at the poll last week, to again accept the mayoralty. Our representative saw Mr. George on Mon- day evening, but he declined to grant an interview. Inquiries made show that the pastor had no knowledge that Buch an annottnoement would be made. He is grieved a.t the occurrence.

ALLEGED THEFT OF HORSES THREE MEN COMMITTED TO THE ASSIZES AT NEATH. At Neath on Monday Samuel Matthews, a labourer, of no fixed abode, and Arthur Eu-staoe Taylor were charged with stealing a, horse, valued at C7, the property of E Booth, a showman, at Llansamlet, on the 20th of October. Matthews and Taylor were jointly charged with receiving the horse knowing it to have been stolen. They were further accused of stealing a bay ma.re. valued at .£.30, from a field at Raglan Hall Farm, the mare being the property of Mr Jenkin Key. Matthews and Taylor were also charged, jointly with a gipsy, named John Lee, with receiving Mr. Kq-'g mare, knowing it to have been stolen. The three prisoners were committed for trial at the next assizes, bail being accepted in a sub- stantial amount for Lee.

CARDIFF MOTOR-CAR SMASH Judge Owen. sitting at Cardiff County- court on Friday, had before him a case in which the Cardiff Motor Garage Company sued the Mayor, Aldermen. and Burgesaea for £ 50 damages in respect of an accident to a motor-ca.r, alleged to have been caused through negligence on the night of Septem- ber 11. Mr. John Sankey (instructed by Mr. Clement Cadle) al)petrpd for the plaintiffs, and Mr. O. Morgan defended. It was urged that defendants' servants wrongfully and negligently obstructed the highway leading from Cardiff to Ely by leav- ing thereon a. large heap of stones and a bar- rier without providing proper and sufficient lights. In consequence, it was said, the plaintiffs' driver (Nicholls) drove the side of the motor-car against the obstruction. The case being not only against the mayor and corporation, but also against the bur- gesses, Mr. Sankey. at the outset, objected that the gentlemen summoned on the jury were all burgesses, and, therefore, he chal- lenged their right to sit as jurymen. The case was called on later, when the cor- poration insisted upon having a jury. Hie Honour adjourned the case for a month, the corporation to pay oosto.

1 FACTORY ROMANCE FOREMAN AND GIRL LOVER TAKE POISON. "We were tired of life, and we agreed to die together. I bought the poison, and we took it." A dying man, by whose side lay a young j woman already dead, made this statement to the police officers who found him at half-1 past five on Sunday morning in. a passage) alongside a sweet shop in Lordship-lane, Tot- tenham. A broken tumbler, which had con- tained oxalic acid. was found close by. A police sergeant gleaned from the dying man the information that his name was Henry Vaughan, his age thirty-eight, his address 3. John's-place, Market-street, Fms- bury, and that the girl was Lucy Ellen Humberstone, aged sixteen, of 82. Nicholas- street, Hoxton. "Vaughan died four hoars later in the Tottenham Hospital, to which institution he was removed on the orders of Dr. Wainwright, divisional police surgeon. The tragedy is made doubly poignant by the fact that Vaughan is a married man. He was a foreman in the bookbinding depart- ment at Messrs. Waterlow and Sons' printing works in Finsbury, and the girl Humberstone was one of many who worked under his supervision. Sho was a bookfolder, and was a girl of a cheerful and apparently contented dis- position. Her painful death has been a- great blow to her father, who, seen lait night by a. reporter, was scarcely able to speak of the tragedy. I knew nothing about Vaughan," he said, "and it was only on Friday that my sistsr Emily told me of his acquaintanceship with Lucy. She works in the room, where Vaughan was foreman, and she noticed his ATTENTIONS TO LUCY. tihe warned me, and on Friday I went to Waterloo and saw the man. I told him pretty plainly what I thought of him. that I knew he was a married man. and that he had no right to pay any attention to my girl. He took it all very quietly, and I thought the affair would be at an end. On Saturday morning Lucy went to work as usual, but Vaughan did not. Judging by his actions, he must have made up his mind even then what he was going to do. He waited about outside Waterlow's for ll-er, and they went away together. The next thing I heard was that they had been found together in Lordship-lane—my girl dead and the man dying." When he came to this point in his painful story Mr. Humberstone gave way. Recovering himself, he produced a photograph of the poor girl. It was taken quite recently, and show3 her to be a pleasant-faced yonng woman with plump, round features and a rather serious expression. FATAL FASCINATION. I I cannot imagine what possessed her." con. tinued the distressed father. I know she I thought Vaughan was a. single man until she was told the contrary. But I suppose she I must have been completely fascinated with him. I spoke to her very seriously, and I thought the affair was merely a girlish indiscretion which she would quickly forget. She was a weil-behaved, steady girl, but I suppose before my sister Emily spoke Vaughan had got her completely under his control." Vaughan left a written note, intended, pre- sumably, for his wife. In it he said: — This is all through that Emily Hum- berstone. Go to Hammersmith. They will look after you for my sake. Good-bye, dear Nan, good-bye. Think of me as well as you can. Give my camera to young Jack Jevans.—H. C. Vaughan. Vaughan had been married for eleven years. His wife. Hannah Douglas Vaughan, said that ssho had been told of her husband's friendship for the girl Humberstone, and had spoken to him about it several times. The girl's father called last Friday night, but her husband was out. He said that Vaughan's intimacy with hia daughter was becoming a scandal at the works. When her husband came in she spoke to him about it. On the following morning, after breakfast, he left home at five minutes to eight to go to work. He kissed her and eaid Good-bye" twice. She never saw him alive again.

ENGINEER'S SUICIDE. PATHETIC FAREWELL LETTER. James William Thornton, 55. an engineer, of Kuddersfield, was found drowned on Sun- day in the River Calder. At an inquest held later at Ravensthorpe, evidence was given showing that two years ago he failed in business. It appeared, hqwever, that his estate realised 30s. in the J3. He left home on Saturday morning, and on Sunday his wife received from him a letter bearing the Cleckheaton postmark. It read as follows: — Cleckheaton, Nov. 5, 1904. To my dear and loving Wife. Dear Polly,—So many times have I called you by this pet name tha.t I cannot refrain for this the last time. You have been faithful and true to me in every way. I am too full to say much more. What happened on the Wednesday was true. You know, my dear girl, our friends have never looked up in the right way since what nap- pened to me in 1902. and have expected us to keep up in the old way, which we could not afford to do. The parting from you is terrible. The Widow explained that on Wednesday night ho said he was robbed of his watch and chain, and was very much upset. A verdict that deceased had drowned him- self whilst of unsound mind was returned.

EXTRAORDINARY STORY. ALLEGED INCITEMENT TO MURDER An extraordinary story of a plot to gag, murder, and rob a moneylender was related to the Southampton magistrates. A man named Howard Wilson. who described himself as a lithographer, was brought up charged with "inciting to felo- niously rob." The chief witness said he met Wilson, who alleged that he knew a money- lender's premises where there was a. sum of £ 2,GOO. He proposed that they should engage rooms there, and whilst the inmates were asleep to gag. bind, and then stab them. The two could then take the first train to London and make for Paris. The Chief-constable, iu asking for a remand, said that, if the magistrates thought the evidence sufficient, he would charge the prisoner with inciting to commit murder, instead of burglary.

GRANDSON OF A PEER. Liabilities £1:>,053, assets nil, was the short and simple statement of affairs presented at the London Eankruptcy-eonrt by G. G. H. Reade, of the Conservative Club, St. James's. Four years ago he came of age. He had had transactions with bookmakers, and in a few weeks lost £200 on horse races. The loss compelled him to have recourae to moneylenders, in whose hands he had been ever since. In 1900 a.nd 1901 be lost £650 by trying to keep racehorses. Asked why several of his tradesmen's accounts were in the name of the Hon. G. H. Reade, the debtor said he thought that he was entitled to use that name. Hia grandfather was a peer, but did not take the title. His father was simply an officer in the Army. Debtor estimated that during the last two years he had lost £2,000 by gambling. He had been engaged in bill and cheque transactions, a.nd believed that his liabilities in connection with them amounted to £6,670. TIe had also made various purchases of jewellery. The examination was concluded.

BURNING BANK-NOTES. For robbing her employer Caroline Libon, 30, a Belgian servant, was centenccd to six months' hard labour at Lambeth, London. The prosecutor, Mr. Emile Vernon, au artist, said that while prisoner was serving dinner one day in July it was discovered that a safe in the house had been opened, and £ 70 in English gold, 600 franos, £ 10 in bank-notes, and a quantity of plate abstracted. and a quantity of plate abstracted. Prisoner "aid she heard a noise and saw a ¡ man going away from the house, and it was ¡ not until Friday last that the police were satisfied she was the thief. I She was then arrested in the house, and con. feezed. Tho bank-notes, she said, she threw on tho fire, the plate she had secreted, and the money she had spent on jewellery and clothing.

BIG ORDERS FOR BLANKETS. Many mills in the Dewsbnry district are working day and night on orders for blanket3 a.nd army cloth for the Japanese Govern- mcnt. ¡ In all 1,400,000 blankets are required. Im- mense orders for army cloth have alfio been placed in the district, a million yards being required. Orders are now being executed by I Huddersfield, Horbury, Eccleshill, Sowerby Bridge, and Batley firms. A house at Heywood, Lancashire, has secured an order for 120,000 horse rugs. It is estimated that the value of these orders in the West Biding ia not less than I £1.600,000, t

LAUGH & GROW FAT HUMOROUS PARS FROM EVERYWHERE. Papa: On purely social grounds, my daughter, I can take no exception to y°?al Swellman, but H1 other directions I 1,11 ample cause for disapproval, and one of thi first is lack of industry in his calling. Daughter: His caning? Why, IH1.. k0 could he call any oftener wheii there are on1* seven evenings in the week? Farther: I hear, my boy. that you lately told your mother several fal=eliC03j'j This grieves me to the heart. Always tc" the truth, even though it may bring suffering upon you. Will you promise me? Boy: Yes, father. Father: Very well. Now go and see who knocking at the door. If it'a the rate-c° lector, say I'm not at heme. Wagstaff: Good morning, doctor. Arc yO¡; enjoying good health this morning? Doctor: Well,—er—that's about the kind of health a man can enjoy, isn't «• You never knew anyone to enjoy bad hcalt11, did you ? Wagstaff: Oh, yes; I have known eOC» doctors to enjoy bad health—in others. "When I was a boy," said the grey-hairel doctor, who happened to be in a reminisce! mood, "I wanted to be a soldier, but rr1 prrents persuaded me to study medicive- "Ch. well," rejoined the sympathetic- drJ1;- gist. "such is lif-e. Many a man with who1? sale aspirations has to content himself wiM a. retail business." "What a beautiful road this is," said tto fair visitor, "the overshadowing trees are perfect. Don't you just love these grand 0.4 trees?" "No. I don't." replied her host, who wc3 just lear/iing to run a motor-car, "they *•' for ever getting in my way." Mr. Billus (looking over household expenses)- I don't understand this item, Maria.. Wh-r» does this mean-£5 for church expenses i1' October? I have no recollection of payitsf any such sum for the support cf the churoi in that month. Mrs. Billus: Henry, you are iust as mean st can be. That was what my bonnet cost flt the harvest festival. A lawyer, whose eloquence was of tI. spread-eagle sort, was addressing the jn'1 at great length, and his legal oPlèone;1, growing weary, went outside to rest. Mf- B- is making a great speech," said countryman to the bored counsel. "Oh, y¡5, Mr. B- always makes a great speech, it you or 1 had occariÏün to anllounce 1.113.t tvC and two are four, we'd be just fools enou;ji to blurt it out. Not so Mr. B-. He wouft say: "If by that particular arithmetical r,, £ known as addition, we desire to arrive at sum of two integers added to two iut-ege* we should find-and I say this boldly, i.f, and without the fear of successful cont: cliction-we, I repeat, should find by ti* particular arithmetical formula befpre rn'O" tioned—and, bir, I hold myself perfed1 responsible for the assertion I am about 10 make—that the sum of the two given inter; added to the two other integers would J1 four! The other day a certain lady, having heafd a ring and the sound of carriage whee* asked her handmaiden who had called. IV reply was as follows: — "It was a doctor, mum, mistaking the for next. So polite he was, asking my pard)ll for him bringing me up to °1)<;}1 the dof- and such nice manners. When lIe said llJ wae a doctor you might have knocked !Ie down with a feather. I thought he was gentleman!" JUSTIFIABLE. While an excursion train was rushing al011 at a great pace to make up for lost tim. the communication cord was violently puilå. and the engine was smartly brought to i standstill. Running along the footboard, the gualf saw a tripper, obviously a collier, with W head pushed far out of the window. "Was it you that pulled the communio. tion cord?" the guard sharply demanded J* him. Aye, it waa," was the cool response. JJ want to get out an' walk back to suinn*" that Ah've dropped about half a mile dofØ t'line." Why, you fool, bow dare you stop be train for such a paltry thing!" shouted ,}l6 guard, white with anger. The communc** tion cord is only to be used in cases o* emergency." Well, ain't this a case of emergency? tt* my best Sun da' cap." AIRING HIS IGNORANCE. A farmer whÓse knowledge of hairdreslø1 did not extend beyond his experiences at hands of the village barber had occasion to visit London, and, being anxious to do ev«rf| thing in proper style, he entered a West h* hairdresser's establishment for the purpe' of having his hair cut. The operation being completed, the 01>11- ing and pushful assistant inquired if 44 customer would like a shampoo. "Yes, oertainly!" replied the fanner; riff although he had no idea of what shamP0 meant, he was unwilling to show be ignorance. The assistant promptly commenced corf iug; his customer's head with lather, when,;O the consternation and amusement of all, 141 fanner jumped op, and, in a towering r»B< exclaimed: Dang e! If ye put & razor nifc me head, 111 scat theer" HER TEST. A stockbroker was telling the other M how a girl, recently married to a coUeaS* of his on the Stock Exchange, suspected th » her husband had been indulging a little freely in the cup that cheers. She dete* mined to find out beyond doubt whether hi suspicions were well founded. To a friend she confided the source of ht trouble; and from this friend she learnt that it had always been said that a man ev^ slightly intoxicated cannot pronounce wo«» of any length. Whereupon the young .,ie decided that that would be a good plan try- -i# Whan next the friend met the young "jø she was in a. state of great agitation. AsltJ if the suspicions had been verified, the grl burst into tears and said that they had. I handed him this list," she said betwef sobs, fishing from her pocket a paper wbtC she gave to her friend, and which contain* the following words:— Phthisis, photochromy, gnomiometric^ hypochondriasis, parachronism, phlegm as!* dolens, syncategorematic, antinomianiS»« pseudsssthesia." And," she continued, while her fried read the list, "he missed nearly half '» them."

THE JOY OF A SPOTLESS S&H ECZEMA DISPELLED BY VB WILLIAMS' PINK PILLS. To a. little mishap," said a Devonsh^J market gardener to a "Western EcbO reporter, I can trace the heavy trou which for twenty years made me think unbearable. The facts of my terrible eiF. rience, and splendid recovery tbro"^ Dr. Williams' Pink Pills, are those." said Lamacraft, of Upton Pyne, near F.xoter: "While harvesting in the fields neØ<T;i twenty years ago I somehow had my 8,,x grazed by the machine. I took little a° ] at the time, but the sore did not heal a expected, and I was compelled to go to doctor. Then I learnt that the harmless I1 cut had developed into a.ngry Eczema- y spread over my body, and even invaded j face. I do not like to remember dg. suffered then and for many years afterw^f j Medicine I took continually, but evident" wanted something more than ordinary &■ & cine. To complete my misery tho Ecz t settled round my eyes, and I was to* might lose my eyosight. Besides the the itching was one long torment-. When t wearv of medicines a friend asked me to 1 Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale Peop-e' r noticed that the sores looked less angry a I'd taken a few of the pills. My face better, and the Eczema began to die & „0| Then I took a rosier view of life. A3 t new and purer blood from the pills I £ better, I bettor, I went about as if J something to work for. Up to that tlØ till wanted to shun my fellow-men. As 1 StbØ continued Dr. Williams' Pink Pills, 0° Eczema. gradually disappeared, and -1 longer feared tho loss of my sight," Here in another instance, foIlo^rV thousands already published, of the re-*1- £ able curative power of Dr. Williams 0f Pills in an impoverished and vitiated 6tfJJte 0: the blood. When a serious skin disorde such long standing as Mr. Lamacraft's c pln-int, yields to the pills it is not stirP ing that they afford such prompt reli* more ordinary cases of scrofula, anf* blemishes and spots on the face, and complexions. Thousands of once slC. 0l white, Anaemic Girls now show the health in their cheeks, thanks to Dr. Pink Pills: while former sufferers from r* matism. kidney disease, indigestion, complaint, St. Vitus' dance, and the & serious nervous disorders, have testifiOd full tho value of these pills. Look for the name, Dr. Williams' Pink Pills i°r ^ilJ people," if you purchase at a ehop: then obtain tlie pills that cure. If in jjpl' order from Dr. Williams' Medicine Co., born-viaduct, London, who will forward J si* froo for 2s. 9d. one box, or lis. 9d. fof ü/J

OUTLAW'S RETURN. O'DONOVAN ROSSA TO UNVEIL A STATUE. "Coming by the Etruria on November 12," is the calm manner in which O'Donovan Rossa, the outlawed Fenian leader, announces by cable that he is returning to Ireland in defiance of his outlawry. He has been invited to unveil a monument in honour of the Fenians by the Skibbereen Young Ireland Society, the Pig Buyers' Association, and the Cork Cattle Dealers' Association. Not content with unveiling the monument. he is to lecture on behalf of the fund. A sum of £150 has already been raised, and more is coming in rapidly. Nowadays O'Donovan Rosea is little more than a name. but in the intrigues which led up to the Phoenix Park murders he played an important pa.rt.

SERVANT'S SAD SUICIDE. A pictorial postcard, on which was written, "Life is not worth living; I am tired of it," was found on Friday morning in Ferndale Villa, Harrow. As the servant, Nellie Harvey, aged 19, was missing, a search was made, and later her body was found shockingly mutilated on the railway line near the house. The inquest later showed tha.t deceased constantly complained that she was badly educated, and that she would always have to work as a domestic servant. A verdict of "Suicide while of unsound mind" was returned.