The Cardiff Times

CARDIFF BOARD OF GUARDIANS. At the weekly meeting of the Cardiff Board of Guardians held on Saturday, under the presi- dency of Dr Paine, the report of the General Purposes Committee, recommending the adop- tion of plans for the erection of new offices, relief offices, dispensary, etc., on a part of the workhouse site adjoining the existing building" was submitted.—The Chairman moved that this recommendation should be adopted, and Mr F. J. Beavau, after referring to the lack of accommodation afforded by the existing arrange- ments, seconded the motion, pointing out that it was estimated they would save £ 100 a year by the proposed additions, and if this were so the ultimate cost in building, etc., would only amount to one-eleventh of a penny in the £ .—Mr Alexander moved a direct negative. He did not wish to offer any factious opposition, but simply to give expression to the opinion of a large number of people whom he represented, and because he felt the present moment was an in- opportune time for committing themselves to any large expenditure. The great objection to the proposal, so far as country guardians were con- cerned, was the unfortunate position in which a large number of the residents in those agricul- tural parishes were placed. They had experienced nothing like the present depression in trade and agriculture during the past 40 years—(hear, hear)—and it was, therefor* desirable they should avoid placing any encumbranco on the rates. He thought the present offices met their require- ments fairly well, though he did not for a moment offer the slightest opposition to any extension of their premises that were absolutely necessary. He considered the present proposals should be deferred until a more convenient tune.- Alderman R. Cory seconded the amendment, saying that he did so on occ-nomieal grounds and on behalf of the ratepayers, especially seeing that they had not yet. completed their work at the Ely Schools, which he thought would cost them more like £ 12,000 than the estimated £ 8,500. He also asked them to remember that there was a strike on, which might last for another six months yet. (Laughter.)—Mr Norman said he was rather surprised to think there was any opposi- tion to the scheme. The committee had suggested the most economical scheme they could, and the expenditure at its worst was only some JB8,000, or an outlay of £ 203 a year, by which means they would secure a block of buildings creditable to the town as well as centralising their work.—Mr Watkl us, as the mover of the resolution in com- mittee. detailed the circumstances which had led up to the present, proposal?.—Mr Cross, who had seconded the resolution in committee, also spoke in support of the scheme.—Mr Thomas (Oadox- ton) pointed out that the adjustment of the poor- rate came very hard on the agricultural parishes, and in view of the great depression he hoped the scheme would be postponed for some- time- to come.—A vote was then taken, with the result that the amendment or negative was carried by one vote, 23 members voting in favour of Mr Beavan's resolution and 24 in favour of its rejec- tion.

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. At Newport county police-court on Saturday, Walter Baker, rag and bone dealer, was sum- moned for cruelty to a horse at Risoa.—P.S. Porter said he found the defendant working an old black horse at ftisca on the 3rd, and discovered a wound, the size of half-a-crown, under the collar. with that part of the harness working into it. Defendant said he was very poor, and was bound to go out to get a living. The animal was all old tram horse, and according to Inspector Warr, who saw it next day, tt was worn out, and would not, from the wound, be fit to work for 14 days. The defendant was fined for cruelty to another horse on the 15th October last, and was caulioned that the giant strength of the law was three months'hard labour.—The Bench now inflicted a fine of 10s, for which leniency defendant expressed his thanks. At the same Court, Edgar Adams and Alfred Adams, father and son, were summoned for cruelty to a horse at Christchurch. Sergeant Pask said that on the afternoon of the 7th inst. he sawall old brown mare attached to a cart in a field on the Trsberth Farm, occupied by the defendants. The younger defendant shortly afterwards brought another horse to attach to the traces to get the cart, which contained half a ton of swedes. The mare had a very large wound—an abscess, the ser- geant believed—under the near collar, and the collar was rubbing it. There was also a large ra.w wound near the eye, and the blinker was rubbing into it. There were other sores on the poor beast. The father drove up from New- port, and the officer called his attention to the horse also. The father said the mare had not worked for a week,and h:td been under the care of a shoeing smith, The father added that its low, poor condition was due to a chill, which it had I contracted last summer.—Inspeotor Warr, of Royal Society, said he saw the mare next day, and gave a description of what he called a large old abscess on the ammal's shoulder. The mare was suffering from an extreme type of mange, and the parasites had eaten into the skin of the back, and caused wounds. The inspector added that he was sur- prised at a man in defendant's position working such a poor thing.—Tho bench elicited that defendant had ten or 15 other horses, but that they were all out at work. He was in town at the time, and his wife gave his son orders to take the mare to get swedes from Mr Willmott's, about three miles away.—The bench reprimanded the father, and fined him 30s; the lad was dis- missed.

Recollections of a Lendon Detective. BY DETECTIVE-SERGEANT WM. HOLBORN. No. XXXV. If A Child's Amber Necklace," A tall, handsome woman, ladylike in her car- riage, and still quite young, moved into the station-straight into the muster-room—one afternoon, and the appearance of her face at once hushed every voice among us. She had a draggled appearance and was poorly clad, and she led a child of two years or so by the hand but we scarcely noticed that, for it was her face which riveted every eye. Deathly pallor and weakness were stamped on the marble features but there was also a fierce determination and indomitable will visible in the clenching of the white hands and the flashing of the lustrous eyes, as if even at her lowest extremity the hapless woman was resolved to fight. She carried her head high— almost inclining backwards—and her mouth was open as if gasping for breath. At first she moved in with slow, stately strides, and without support, but then was forced with a totter to take the support of the wall to help her to the wooden form at the end of the room. On that seat she dropped feebly and inertly, and then her eyelids dropped ominonsly, and the hand of the child was dropped from her nerveless grasp. I felt sure she was about to faint, and sprang to her side, uttering some words to that effect. The ex- clamation caught the ear of the strange visitor, and her pride again pulled her back. Opening her eyes with an effort she flashed on me a look of rebuke, and slowly said— "No, I shall not faint; bnt I think—I think I am ill, and I came in here." Again the gasping for breath came upon her and interrupted her words. Her clenched hands were pushed out like rigid bolts of iron, and her head hung back as before, while she actually seemed to fight for breath and dear life. "Oh! I am stifling I am choking I" she moaned in desperation, struggling hard to rise to her feet again. "Take me out again—into the open air Air air oh, give me one breath of air The child began to scream in terror, and the condition of the mother appeared so alarming that we fastened to bear her out to the yard from which the Jock-up cells are entered. Even there, with the cool air flowing upon her, and the sun shining down in her face, she got worse rather than better. A chair was placed for her, but she could not rest. She struggled, and turned, and fought with the kindly hands supporting her, all the while moaning out a piteous entreaty for air— the breath of heaven which she had not the power to draw. Then she suddenly struggled up on her feet, and stood almost unaided. on her feet, and stood almost unaided. I am not to die' I shall not die she slowly articulated, with the most awiul determination kindling her glance. "Let me walk! let me walk I have been ill before, but never like this." She made one step, and then was stopped, standing. Her mouth was open, but the power to draw in breath appeared to be gone. Her clenched hands went slowly up in the air till they were stretched high nbove her head, as if in a wild appeal for help, and her drooping eyelids showed the eyes almost turning in their sockets. "My God If I should choke And my child She fell back in the outstretched arms as the words were almost torn from her. Her hands were then drawn in to convulsively tear at the bosom of her dress, as if in her last extremity she imagined that the collar was tightening on her neck and strangling her. The struggle did not last two minutes. Breath would not come to her; the fighting hands left her throat and grasped afc us, and so she pulled herself up on her feet for the ¡ last time. Then the breath stopped; the whole expression of the face changed from the fierceness of deter- mination to one of terrible pain and vivid alarm, and in a moment mortto the fight was over. The woman had died there.—standing—on her feet, under our very eyes I thought the whole was only an hysterical fit, and that a little water 'Ic or sal volatile would bring her back to con- sciousness but when she had been gently borne to a room, and one of the female searchers summoned, it was soon made evident that the strange visitant's troubles were over for ever. I do not at this moment remember any death—and I have now witnessed many— which so profoundly impressed me as that I have now described. There we were—three of us— laughing and joking to while away the few min- utes before going on duty, when the tall appari- tion appeared. It did not seem to us that from the moment of her entrance till her death ten minutes elapsed'; and yet she had walked indig-nified and stately, and bit for her ghastly face she might have been thought good for oiher forty or fifty years of life. ¡ The first impression of our Inspector—and my own also-wis that the woman had died of poison -not taken by herself with the intention of com- mitting suicide, but administered by someone with intent to murder. The few disjointed words she let fall helped to confirm us in the idea, for they had all tinted to a determination not to succumb. All that we had seen of the woman in life had been a resolute fight against death. What more likely then than that she had felt the fear- ful symptoms of poisoning, and in the last des- perate struggle had reached the station to give information against the poisoner. This theory promisediUs plenty of work of no easy description, for the search in the pockets of the dead woman revealed nothing but pawn tickets, and as they each bore a different name we concluded that they were all fictiticu^ ones. Quite a. little history could be read in those pawn tickets. One was for a lady's gold lever, another for a gem ring, another for a gold wedding ring, and another for a brooch and bracelet. There were others for articles of wearing apparel find a pair of earrings and the prices which had been allowed for the several pledges showed that the position of the deceased must have been good before the downward course began. What had tha.t course been? Poverty, dissipation, sin, or crime ? There was nothing left to give answer. The pawn-tickets told part of her life, but, like some penny novels, it left off at the most interesting part, without as much as intimating that it was to be continued. Our theory in regard to poisoning lasted only till the post-mortem examination was over, though the first blow at it w dealt that very day by the police surgeon, who said that the symptoms did not seem to him to be those of poisoning. When the inquest was held, the evidence of the niedicai men was quite decisive, and clearly showed that death resulted from congestion of the lungs, .aggravated by exposure and want, and a verdict was returned in accordance with the evidence. There were indications in the medical report that the de- ceased had not tasted food for two or three days and it swemed to me that at least one question was thus answered—sin at least had not been her calling. Crime was as little likely to have been her profession, and there remained therefore only two suppostitipus causes for her pitiful end— poverty or dissipation. Of the two I was in- clined. to select tha first as the real one. I imagined her to be tlle widow of some man who ha.d occupied a good position, but died penniless, and that she had crept away from the scene of her former comfort, too pioucj to ask for help, and unable t-o work or do anything but slide rapidly down to starvation and death. At least two of the night force bad seen her and spoken to her during the preceding nights, and warned her against sleeping in the street and cue of these even offered to guide her to one of the night shelters for homeless poor, but this man got only a flashing look of indignation for his thoughtful- r ness, and the woman and her child were soon out of sight. Clearly, from all the circumstances, pride, spirit, and determination had not been wanting in th-i woman we had seen die. From the dead it was natural that we should turn to the living—the littlo girl who had been led in before us by the mother so shortly before thf awful death. The child could speak a little in an imperfect fashion, and gave its name as Bessa," or some- thing like that. This was understood to stand for Bessie, and accordingly the little orphan was entered in tho books as Bessie or Elizabeth—sur- name unknown. There wa;, nothing particular about the child but its strong resemblance to its mother. Its clothes were unmarked, but a string of amber beads hung about its neck. No notice was taken by any of us of the amber beads, though they were duly entered in the book as part of the child's clothing. A pauper's grave soon closed over the dead mother the child was retained in the workhouse and so another of the unwritten mysteries of the great Metropolis seemed to end. About that time I began to notice some queer advertisements in the agony colnmns of the leading morning papers. The advertisements always be- gan with the same words—' Bsrtha Calvert'—and were signed *J. C., Sheffield.' The first I noticed ran thus:— "Bertha Calvert, if you have a heart in you, return to your home, and bring my treasure with you. I am helpless. I am at your mercy. Are you net sufficiently avenged ?—J. C., Sheffield." The next was not so tierce, and appeared m a different paper Bertha Calvert, this is killing me. I have been ill, and I am ill, and I may die. In mercy write, or say in this column that you and my treasure are well and safe.—J. C., Sheffield. Theje notices, I fouud, never appeared twice j in the same paper, though one advertisement j sometimes made the round of several oacara. A I week would thus pass before a fresh appeal was framed and inserted. The third was even more piteous — I.ertha Calvert, I do not seek to know where you are hidden, and am willing to let you keep my treasure if you will but give me proof that she is well. I will even give you money to support you both, and forgive the past, and trouble you no more. This suspense is killing me by inches.— J. C., Sheffield." Seine others followed in the same strain, and then he appeared to become frenzied. "Bertha Calvert, you are not a woman, you are a devil. Most surely you will be punished for what you have caused me to suffer if there is in God's universe such law as retribution.—J. C.. Sheffield" The next was still hotter. Bertha Calvert, I plead no longer. I have put a price upon your head and the police upon your track. The law is on my side, and my treasure shall be taken from vcu by force !—J. C., Sheffield." W An mterval of some weeks followed, and then there was a sudden change in the tono. "Bertha Calvert, you are effectually hidden. I admit myself beaten. Will you bargain with me ? Your answer means life or death to me. I will give you every penny I possess if you will give me my treasure. You always declared that you had no love for children. She must, there- fore, be a mere encumbrance to you. Will you give her up then, and let me live?—J. C., Sheffield." A long interval followed, during which I watched the columns of all the papers in which the messages had appeared without noticing either appeal or answer. As a matter of fact no more appeals were to appear—I had read the last. It happened one day that I was speaking with our inspector of the striking and sudden death of the unknown woman, when we got to the subject of the child's name, when I remarked that it wae strange that the child should have remembered only its Christian name, to which the inspector quickly answerf»j — The child did know its surname, but could not pronounce it so that we could understand or write it down. The name it gave was something like Kabblo or Kubble. I never heard of such a name. More likely the real name was Keeble or Keevle." I thought little of the remark at the time, but afterwards, when my day's wo:k was done, and I was sitting smok- ing comfortably at home in the cool of the evening, the words" Bessa Kubb]e" flashed into my mind without prompting or leading from any other thought. They appeared before me much as they might have been imperfectly hsped by a child, and singularly enough I had before me at the moment 0110 of the morning papers, in which I was looking for the familiar words—"Bertha Calvert." There does not at first sight seem to be much resemblance between the two names, but the similarity in the sounds of tho two, allowing for the imperfect utterance of a mere infant, was sufficiently marked to cause me to drop both cigar and paper and start up with a kind of creeping sensation running up my spine, and ending only at the points of the hairs on my scalp. A man, when thoroughly roused and excited, thinks rapidly. A few moments, as it seemed to me, sufficed to flash .before ine all that I have put down, and to convince me that there might be connection between the events. Nothing was more Jike1y than that a child should be named after its mother, and "Besaa." or "Bessie" might in reality be meant by the child for Bertha." I decided to say nothing to anyone of the discovery I fancied I had made, not that I expected any great gain from the investigation, but simply from a whole- some and hard-earned dread of being laughed at should my supposed clue to the strange story turn out to be no clue at all. "Experience teaches" was one of the Latin sayings we used to get at school, but I was a long way past manhood before tho motto was quitt* branded into my Hfe and memory as a safeguard to my actions. The same thought prompted me to go to the publishing office of one of the newspapers rather than apply to the Sheffield police for the address of "J.C." The information was granted at once on the mere showing of my card. "J.C." stood for John Calvert, and the address at the head of the note- paper he had used in sending his advertisements to the nawspapers was Rose Cottage, B- Road." I knew Sheffield pretty well, and knew that the road indicated was situate on the higher part of the town, at the outskirts, and occupied entirely by fine cottages and residences of the better sort, and from this I judged that Calvert was at least not a poor man. I got leave of absence for a day, and went through to Sheffield by the night traiu. After breakfast an(1 a rest I took a'bus uut to Road. Rose Cottage was not difficult to find, for it was one of the prettiest houses in the whole roid, with the name hewn on the stone lintels of the garden gate in front. But as I saw it then the spectacle was saddening enough. The garden and lawn had grown wild, and on the walk the weeds stood up as high as my knee. The rose trees, which had been trained up over nearly the whole front of the cottage, had broken away with the weight of their own blossoms, and hung down, broken, aiifl. draggled, with masses of withered bluriionis daugltHg. in the wind among the weeds below. The blinds were down, the windows ram beaten and dirty, and the brasses of the doer tarnished and dull. I tried the garden gate, found it unlocked, and walked in and up to the door, aud rang the bell. What a start 1 must have given tho mice with that sud- den peal, for there were no others in the house. When I had rung- a ¡:econd time, a servant from the next house came running along to the wire fence dividing the two gardens. "The house is shut up, sir," shesaid, "and the servant was paid off when Mr Calvert went away, as he said he might not come back for a long time, if he ever got back at all." Have yon any idea what he went away for ?" I asked, quite sure from a tone of sympathy in the girl's speech that she knew aU about Calvert's troubles. Oh, yes, sir—it is to look for his wife. She went away quite suddenly, and nobody knew they had even quarrelled till she had been gone some days. She took the little lass with her, too, and it was that that cut him up. Some folks were wicked enough to say he'd put them both cut of the way but it was found that she had taken the night tritin for London the very nidit she left the house." Did they not live happily together 5" "0\1, yes, they did." "Then hew did they quarrel so that she ran aw;¡.y t "Nobody knows very well, but r think it was all ovviri;' to a hasty word that Mr Calvert let fall that night when she went away. He was a little fast, and fond of races and the hke, but a fine fellow, with a kindly word for every one. He had been drinking, I suppose, or he'd never have said a single worct to offend anyone, far less his wife. But if 'twas said in haste it was repented of sore- ly at leisure, for he's a changed man, especially since his illness. His own brother didn't know hun wilen he came herB to see hIm." Was he fond of the child ?" Fend ? That isn't the word for it. He lived on that little lass. Mrs Calvert didn't trouble herself much about the httle thing." Was Mrs Calvert rich when she married ?" Nay, she hadn't a penny—nob even her out- fit. Nobody knew aught about her, except that she was wonderfully proud and queen-like. Mr Calvert had the lwmey-his father had a steel- work here, and made a heap of money, and the two sons got it all between 'em, and had nowt to do but spend it." Did the child ever wear a necklace of amber beads." It wore beads 0ft3n, but I never noticed what kind. Sometimes it had a gold chain round its neck. It had no end of finery." I What was its name ?" Just Bertha, the same as its mother's." And how old would it be ?" "Just two years," said the girl, with a alight glistening of the eyes. I wfs here when she was born. sir, and often I've carried her about. She loved me—that dear little lass—with all her heart," and the girl wiped away tears with the corner of her apron. I "And they don't know where the mother and child are to be found ? Is it not possible that the mother is dead?" "No, sir, Mr Ca.lvert knot's she isn't dead?" Iiow doss he know ? I don't know how, but he knows for certain, and told me so before he went away. He's gone after her now. It's the little lass he wants most. The mother only took her because she knew it would punish him and hurt him." It was clear that the girl's sympathies—as is usual with her sex—lay all with the husband, and so her judgment on this point was warped. It would have been a strange mother who would run away from her home and leave her child behind. A woman such as she described Mrs Calvert to be was just as capable of loving her child strongly and passionately as a man who was rather fast, and fond of races and the like." She could not give me any addrets by which a letter or message could reach Calvert. Nobody knew where he was, and she understood that he was always moving about, and had no fixed abode. Even his brother in Leeds did not know where to find him. Her mistress took any letters, and there was a heap of them lying against his return. I went with her to see her mistress, and got a look at the letters, but the only information they furnished was the address of a firm of lawyers in London, which was stamped on one of the envelopes. I noted down the address and left. I then got as much information as possible out of the police, and gave none in return, and so completed my work at Sheffield. The result was disappointing on the whole, and a call at the lawyers' office completed the collapse of my scheme. The cyould not—or would not -give me Calvert's address, and partly in disgust, and partly in irritation, I resolved to give up the case. Tho worst of those lawyers is that they wish to get everything out of you and give nothing in return. It was a clearcase of diamond cut diamond. The incidents had quite gene out of my mind, when I was one night, or rather morning—for it was past one o'clock—in one of the thoroughfare running down from Regent street, looking for the consort of a clever fellow whom I had taken fourornve hours ago. While I was thus en- caged I saw a gentleman accosted by mort) than one of these fine-feathered pescs, and, though the conversation seldom lasted long, I began to get concerned for thli fine gold chain he wore, and the diamond ring on his linger. He had a worn f^nd haggart. appearance, and appeared very eager tn his questions, but generally got nothing but laugh- j ing and chaffing in reply, though occasionally one of the painted beauties would become as serious as himself, and answer him gravely enough. I followed him for some time, and at length stopped one of the giyls, after she had been spoken to, with the wrJrds- { Well, what is he after ?" "After a woman that's bolted from him." was the answer, given with a coarse laugh. "Good Lord, what fools men are If I were a man now, and a woman ran away from me, I'd let her go and welcome. I shouldn't budge an inch after her— there's plenty more in the world-a blessed sight too many." Tuts, Flo, if you were a man you'd do just as men do. Men will run after women—ay, and away from them too—as long as th-s world holds the two sexes." I left her and followed the man to the end of a narrow lane, and then ventured to caution him. Do you know the risk you run wandering about.here alone I said respectfully. I'm a pol ice-officer j and X know all the quarter, and most of those who haunt it; but I tell you that even I like to have some on') with me." Oh, it would not matter much," he said, with a despairing ring in his ton«iS. I have never been touched yet, and I have been in queerer quarters than these." He did not resent the intrusion, but turned and walked with me, conversing about the girls haunting the quarter, and some of the sad vicissitudes of their brief 1IVP.S. As I spoke of some of these which had come under my own notice I saw that he had become frightfully in- terested and apitated. His sombre eyes glis- tened with tears, and his hands were fervently clasped as he excJaimed- God save her from such a fate Excuse me," he brokenly added after a pause, "but you may be able to help me in this matter. My wife ran away from her home, and I fear there was nothing for her but that life. And I did it! I forced her to it The curse of heaven is upon me What! forced her ?" I cried, recoiling in horror. Yes, I was mad—jealous—suspicious of an old sweetheart whom'she had given up to marry me. I was heated with drink and incensed by some foolish stories I had been 'istening to, and said something about her and her child which made her start from me just as you did just now. Per- haps I taunted her at the same time with being poor and penniless when I married her—I believe X did—but when I had done she drew herself up and said that she would never see me or speak to me again—that we were sundered for ever from that night. I laughed and told her I should be glad to get rid of her, and then went out and had a carouse with some oompanions. While I was pone she took my child and left the town, and I haver been able to trace her. I know that she took ticket for London, no more." Why did you not set the telegraph in motion the m naant: she was gone, and inform the police;" m im- z I I was too proud to give her the satisfaction of knowing that I was concerned, and I felt sure that a day or two would see her return to Sheffield penitent and humbled. But oh, what I have suffered since No mortal being could conceive all I have gone through." "Sheffield?'' I exclaimed with a great start. "Did you say Sheffield? Are you John Cal- vert ?" "Yes. You have heard the story, then, through the local police ?" Not exactly, but I went through to Sheffield some time ago to try and see you in regard to a clue which I fancy I have to your wife and child." A chie Oh, blessed news ?" and his fingers tightened on my arm strongly enough to leave a blue mark for days after. iThey are alive and well ?" He must have read the negative in my face, for his agitation became fearful. The child, the child ?" he gasped. "The child, I think, is well and hearty, but the mother-l think I saw her die." I ought not to have spoken it so suddenly, but his intense eagerness in a maimer forced it from me. He gave a long sigh, and dropped like a log at my feet. He had fainted like a girl, and I had to get assistance and have him taken to the station. The little necklace of ambar beads worn by the child was the first article mentioned to him, and he promptly declared that the child had such an ornament, and i:hat he had bought it in Paris as a present not many months before, when over at the Grand PrÜ; Race Meeting. Next day he went in my company to the work- house, where the child was shown him in its new garb. Nevertheless, he recognised it with a cry of joy, and the child, as delighted as he, cried out- Ori, p i-pa, tate. Bessa home." If any further confirmation had been needed, it was furnished by the uplifting of the pledges by n.eans of the pawntickets found on the dead wife. Calvert received them with tears, and afterwards said to me that he would willinglv have relinquished all he possessed to be ably to recall the hasty words which had driven his wife from her home. After a short stay in London to recover from the shock of these discoveries, Calvert went abroad tr Germany, I think—but not before he had acted very hand- somely by me. It may seem ungrateful to me, after ^jvhat I received, tc say no, but I must record that through it all my sympathies were entirely with that proud-spirited woman, who chose to die rather than listen to the grossest calumny which can be heaped upon a pure-minded woman. NEX.T WEEK THE KNACKER'S STRANGE FIND."

SHOCKING CRUELTY TO POULTRY. At the Newport police-court on Monday— hefore Alderman H. J. Davis (ex-Mayor) and other magistrates--Adolphus Ernest Sims, poultry dealer and exhibitor, Pontyptidd, was summoned for cruelty to four fowls. Ou Saturday, 11th ult., Inspector Wall, of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was at the Newport Railway Station, where his atten- tion was called tc a basket containing four fowls. There was not sufficient. room in the basket for the fowls, and three of them were piled 011 top of the fourth, and the latter, when taken cut of the basket, appeared to be dying. The three other fowls were gasping for breath ali four had their legstied with thin twine, theskin wascut,nnd the legs were bleeding. When the string was cut neitner of the birds could stand. Fred Humfries, a porter, took the birds, together with two baskets of poultry, out of the Monmouth train, and drew the attention of defendant to the condi- tion of the birds in the smaller basket, and defen- dant then went cut to purchase another basket, and it was when returning with the second basket that he found the inspector had ttlready put the poultry into another basket.—Defendant now stated that he had been an exhibitor of poultry for several years, but it was only three months ago that he entered into business as a poultry dealer. The fowls in question were purchased at Monmouth, and defendant stated that it was notuntil the birds were brought to the station that he found there was not suffi- cient room for all in the large baskets, the four birds were put into the guard's van loose, and the railway officials, for their own convenience, put the birds into the small basket. The Bench elicited from Inspector Wall that numerous com- plaints had been received as to cruelty to poultry, and defendant was fined 10s and costs.

INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION. Resolutions by the Cardiff Schotl Board. At a meeting of the Cardiff School Board the following suggested amendments to the WaWi intermediate education scheme were adopted and directed to be sent to the Committee of Council on Education, in whose hands the spheme is at present 1. That the number of representative governors al- lotted to the School Beard for appointment be in- creased from two to five. 2. That as reearJs tho ubjects of instruction in c lauae 64, G reek be placed among the compulsory sub- jects iu the first part of the clause, instead of among the optional subjects. 3. That in the proposed appointment of the surplus fund of litovcJl 3 Charity, whereby 8 per eent. is allotted to Cardiff, the Board are of opinion that the amount should be calculated pro rata to the population. 4. That the words or convicted of immorality be inserted in Clause 13 after the words a Governor who shall be incapacitated to aot- 5. That in Clause 45 tine dismissal of the head-master at pleasure be by three calendar months' notice instead of six. 6. That in Clause 54 the power of expelling scholars be taken from the head-master and vested in the Governors. 7. That Clause 57 relating to Pension Fund be eliminated. 8. That in Clause 58 the limit of age for scholars to remain in the school be extended to 19 years, in the case of both boys and firls. 9. That in tne second paragraph of Clause 64 the woitis as a day scholar," be eliminated.

MR J. H. WILSON, M.P. Charge of Assault. 0, Oil Monday Mr Joseph Haveiook Wilsen, M.P., president of the National Amalga- mated Seamen and Firemen's Union, apijeawsd at Lambeth,in answer to a summons which alleged that on the 18th inst at the Wheatslieaf HaU. South Lambeth, he committed an assault upon Cornelius De Lury, a member of the Gas Stokers' Union. The occasion upon which the offence was said to have been committed was that of a lec- ture. Complainant deposed that at the close of Mr Wilson's lecture he asked to be allowed to put Mr Wilson's lecture he asked to be allowed to put questions. Permission WAS not granted, and the people present requestad him to be seated, some- one shouting, "What about Liverpool?" Defendant rose and accused witness of being» blackleg at Liverpool. W itness called defendant a fraud, and defendant thereupon attacked him, striking him upon the eye and ear. After that witnt-ss was thrown into a y&rd. Crosa-exawiinsd, complainant said the blows were severe. He did not interrupt the lecturer, or use offensive I and disgusting language to the defendant. Complainant admitted convictions for assault. George Frederick Hinton, a labourer, in cor- roborating, said the defendant rushed upon the complainant, aud dealt several blows.Oomplainant had called defendant a fraud, but witness did not hear the same epithet applied to Tillett and Maun. Without addressing the Court, counsel called a witness for the defence. Mr G. Williams, astatiojier, said his attention was called to complainant, whose interruptions of the lecture were constant, and defendant refused to answer complainant's questions owing to his dis- orderly conduct. It was to protect witness from complainant's violence that Mr Wilson interfered. Mr George Hewitt, traveller, who, in Mr Caine's absence, presided, said complainant behaved '31 offensively during the lecture and became abusive at the close. It was to protect Williams and him- self that defendant struck the blow, At this sts,ge of the case Mr Hopkins said he had qopne to the conclusion that the matter was altogether trivial, and he dismissed the summons.

"YOUNG HELPERS'" LEAGUE. Cardiff Habitation. The Cardiff Companions held their working meeting on Saturday in the new workroom which the superintendent has fitted up for them on th». premises of Dr Baruardo's "Ever Open Door" for Orphan and Waif Children at Moira-tetrace^ Cardiff. No more inte»esting sight can be seen i» Cardiff than the Companions at work, some r making pinafores, dolls' clothes, knitting reins, crotchet work, brackets, paper knives, wheelbarrow*. and a multipli- city of articles. The Young Helpers' League is a union of boys aud girls under 18 years of a#je, chiefly cf the upper and middle classes throughout the world. Object—To extend practical sympathy and support towards sick, crippled, blind, deaf and dumb, and ailing children of the waif class under Dr Bam&rdo* care. The secretary of the Cardiff Habitation, Miss H. E. Davies, Stanley House, Cardiff, having explained what took plaee at the meeting on the 18fch inst. when Miss Beatrice Cory pre- sided, read letters of encouragement to the Com- panions, also of promised support from Mrs C. C. Couves, of Croft House, Penarth. and Miss M. A. Taylor, Kiugsmill-terrace, Newport. Miss Edith Handcock, 126, Newport-road, treasurer, announced the subscriptions brought in.

ELOPEMENT FROM NEWPORT. Two master mariners, who, whsp on land, re- side at Newport, have met with a somewhat I similar experienoe during the past few days. Both were married, and had left their spouses in comfortable homes. On returning from recent voyages they found that their wives br#d left their homes. In one case, where there are several children, the lady has yielded to the blandishments of a Newport landman, who is a well-known character. Both the forlorn husbands met a few days ago at the same business establishment whither they had gone for the purpose of disposing of their household goods, the cages from which the birds had flown being no longer attractive. Mutual contidences and sympathies were exchanged.

THE MISSING COAL INSPECTOR. Inquest at Swansea. On Monday afternoon Mr E. Strick held at Swansea an inquiry into the circumstances attending the death of David Williams, a coal inspector at Hill's Mert.hyr Colliery, Olydaoh, residing at the Dunvam. The body, as already reported, was picked up in the North Dock,Swan- sea, on Saturday, and deceased, who was last seen alive at Swansea, had been missing a week. Evidence of identity was given by the son of the deceased, the Rev John Williams, a Congrega- tional minister, of Cwmdu, who said the deceased was 62 years cf age, and that he had been missing since the previous Saturday week. He thought the cause of death was deceased's taking m the dark the wrong turning, having gone down Green Dragon lane in- stead of through Salubrious Passage. De- ceased suffered from short signtedness, owing to his having been in several explosions. He had never seen his father the worse for drink, and he did not think he was the victim of foul play.—Mrs Elizabeth Thomas, landlady of the puke of Wellington, St. Mary. street, Swansea, said deceased and his wife were at her house on the Saturday week previous, and left together. Deceased was quite sober. Later on deceased called again and asked her if she had seen his wife, and called for a glass of beer, but she offered him soda water. This lie refused, and he walked away wishing her Good night." —William Henry Barnes, » fitter, said on the evening in question he saw deceased in Castle-street with a. mark on his arm as though he had fallen.—Evidence of the discovery of the body was then given, after which the Coroner summed up, saying it was evident deceased had mistaken his way, and had taken the wrong turning. All his property was found on him, so his death was evidently acci- dental.—The Jury returned a verdict of "Acci- dental death."

AN ABANDONED BARQUE. On Monday morning the steamer Nigretia, Captain Cawthorne, from New Orleans to Havre, with general cargo, picked up and towed into Falmouth the abandoned Norwegian barque Hakon Jarl, from Jamaica for Goole, with log- wood. The Nigretia put the first mate and some seamen aboard the barque at 5 p.m. on the 23rd inst. 300 miles W.S.W. of Scilly. When boarded she had six feet of water in the hold. It is believed the crew were landed safely elsewhere.

THE editor of the Medical Annual after a. care* ful examination of Cadbury's Cocoa, pronounces it to he both a. food and a beverage of the highest quality 1414 SPECTACLES TO SUIT ALL SIGHTS, as recom- mended by the medical profession.—yainish, 5. High- street, Cardiff. -0 &u3

FORTUNE- TELLING. At the Swansea police court on Saturday, Christmas Lee, a. gipsy, was charged with fortune- telling. It appeared that she visited the Castle Coffee Tavern, where she met Anna Kingdom, whom she offered to enlighten as to her future. A pack of cards was produced, and 6d paid to cross them with, after which defendant told her that two young men had very good intentions towards her, and a third hadfbad ones. Then there was a person with dark hair whom she must beware of, as she would do her harm if she could. She added that one young mnn had "popped the question," and she had accepted him, and defendant premised for another sixpence to give her his name. The six- pence was forthcoming, and she gave the name I of a young man she knew. She also gave her the date of her marriage.—The Bench said fortune telling could not be permitted and the Chair- man expressed wonder that people were so foolish is to believe such nonsense. Defendant would be fined 10s, inclusive.

»wmam—mtmmm PROPOSED NEW MAGISTRATES AT CARDIFF. An Unfounded Rumour. Rumour was rife in Cardiff on Monday that the Lord Chancellor had been induced to omit from the new batch of magistrates the names of all the Labour and advanced Liberal gentlemen whose claims had been brought under his notice. And the runjour was very circumstantial. The Mayor and Messrs Ramsdale, Shaokell, Tucker, James, and other gentlemen were declared to have had the magisterial honour conferred upon them, Wr !? i^e e(lua'Jy positivestatement was vguoh- safed that Councillors Jenkins and Thomas and Dr^ Mull in were among the rejected. It is unioi'tiuiate for the reliability of the*e statements that up to the present moment the local Com- mission of the Peace has not yet even been sent for by the Lord Chancellor's Department, let alone returned bearing additional names.

The first typewriter was invented by 2VI. Progrim, of Marseilles, in 1833, but was a very complicated affair and difficult to manipulate. RUPTURE CURED —J. A. Sherman, Hernia complicated affair and difficult to manipulate. RUPTURE CURED -J. A. Sherman, Hernia Specialist, 64, Chancery-laiie London. Book. 7 stjmos

HEAVY FINES FOR OVER- LOADING. Prosecutions at Penarth. At Penarth police-court on Monday—before Mr T. Morel and Mr J. Duncan—Captain Tre- garthan, of the s.s. Dodo, lying at Barry, was charged under section 24of the Merchant Shipping Act (1876), the vessel arriving at Barry Dock on 28th January with excessive deck cargo. On be- half of the Board of Trade authorities, Mr Vaohell (Messrs Ingledew, Ince, and Vacbell) appeared and Mr J. Just Handcock for the captain. Mr Vachell, in opening the case, stated three feet of deck cargo was allowed under the Act, but the defending captain had on board 3ft. 6iu., or, after making all allowances, there was on board an excessive quantity of 2,000 cubic feet, the real total excessive quantity being 2,062 feet, but there was an allowance of 62 feet made for cranas, &c. That would be 20 tons, not in weight, but in measurement, and the Act provided that a penalty of £5 for anything above 100 feet be im- posed, therefore the defendant had rendered himself liable to the full penalty.—Mr Handcock admitted the offence, and" asked the Bench to take into consideration the circum- stances, which were very material. He admitted the captain put on deek a cargo for the purpese of making a gain, but the actual wMght was 15 tons and not 20 tons as stated by Mr Vachell, and the freightage per ton on the car,;o was 4s 6d. Therefore, the grcss rate earned by the captain was C3 10s, and cut of that amount Is per ton was charged for unloadmg and other expenses were incurred, and' consequently the defendant could not possibly earn more than £1 10 s or £ 2 at the furthest. tie hoped the Ler.eh would take a lenient view of the case and not say the offence was deliberately committed, but say it was an error in judgment.—The Bench had no doubt that a breach had been committed. They did not consider the case a very serious one, and taking into consideration the whole of the circumstances, as set forth by Mr Handcock, the penalty would be £ 15 and costs, or one month. The next case was a similar 0113, in which Captain Augusta Orian, of the s.s. A dour, was charged with arriving from Bayonne on or about the 30 th of January with a deck cargo measuring six inches above the recognised three feet allowed by the Merchant Shipping Act. The total excessive quantity was 1.794- cubic feet, or 18 tons.—Mr Hormby (New- port) defended, and Mr Vachell again prosecuted. Evidence for the prosecution was given by Capt. W. D. Whall, surveyor of the Board of Trade Joseph Spear Howeii, measurer for the Board of Trade, and David Kennedy, Customs officer the last named st ttmg he measured the pitwood which formed the deck cargo of the Adour on the 30th of January and reported his observation to Captain Whall.—For the defence, Dennis Nicholas, chief officer of the Adour, was called, and said he superintended the loading. Forward the vessel was loaded 3ft., and aft less than 3ft. The loading was completed at Bayonne, and he was present durmg the time. Vincent LeyneHec, second mate of the Adour, William Morris, stevedore's helper, of Cardiff, and George H. Lockj assistant stevedore, both the last named assisted 111 discharging the cargo, and stated the cargo was nOI; above the combings of the hatch. —Mr Hormby, in addressing the bench, con- tended that the reason why cargo was taker, away from certain spaces was not piled up as had been alleged, but, as usual, it had been removed from the winches, and was thrown fore and aft. He hoped the Bt-nch, if they considered there was a little excess, would deal with the case as leniently as they could.—The Bench said they were not satisfied with the evidence given, and that the story that pitwood was taken from each hatch and levelled from fore to aft was a good one. tfven if it had been levelled it would be a breach, consequently the captain would be fined £ 15 and costs.

COLLISiON IN NEWPORT RIVER. Narrow Escape of the Crew. OnSaturday Lloyd's agent M Dover telegraphed: This morning Capt Morris and part of the crew of the steamer Oineoria, of Glasgow, Valencia for London with fruit, have landed here. and report ( that their steamer, while stopping to ship a pilot, was run into at half-past two that morning, off Dungeness, by the German barque Lake Ontario, Rotterdam for Java. Adams, third engineer, and Howell, a fireman, were drowned. The remainder of the crew are all safe, the Lake Ontario towing to Dover. Later information shows that the Cincora sank so rapidly after thecollision that the survivors not only lost all their belongings but barely escaped the same fate as their two less fortunate mates. The Cincora was homeward bound with fruit. Lloyd's agent at Gioraltar telegraphs that the steamer Austin Fr;&rs sprang a leak on 18th inst., and was abandoned in a sinking condition on the 22nd. All on board saved and landed at Gibral- tar by the steainei Ahendonna. A telegram from Lloyd's agent at Ferrol states that the steamer Austin Friars is off that port in tow of a Newcastle steamer. Shortly after one o'clock on Sunday the s.s. Catherine Sutton (master, Captain Sutton) left the Old Duck. Newport, with a cargo of coals for Cork. The night was dirty and" dark, and the man on the look-out aboard the Sutton—which was, it is stated, hugging the shore—did not perceive the ketch Flower, which was coming up the river with a cargo of 50 tons of potatoes, consigned to Messrs D. A. Vaughan and Co., Newport, from Barnstaple, and when near the Patent Fuel Companps stage, just above the Alexandra Dock, the vessels collided. The ketch, which was struck in the bows was almost cut in two, and sitnk immediately. The crew of four or five hands managed to get out their boat before their vessel went down, but owing to the darkness the boat's painter became entangled in the screw of the steamer, and the boat was almost overturned it was with difficulty that the men succeeded in getting ashore. The Catherine Sutton sustained but little damage, and the captain deciding to put to sea, the steamer afterwarde resumed her voyage. The Flower, which beloaged to Barnstaple, on Sunday evening turned over 011 her side, and i at mid-tide nothing could be seen of her during Sunday night, however, an effort was made to patch her up preparatory to raising her.

ALLEGED OUTRAGE ON LITTLE GIRLS. Serious Charges ai Llandaff. At Llaudaff police-court on Monday—bafore Mr R. G. Dornford and Col. Woods—a boy named James Edwards, aged 15, was brought up charged with indecently assaulting two little girls named Annie Ehza Griffiths, aged nine, and Edith Levvis, aged six, at Whitchurch, 011 Satur- day evening fast.—From the evidence of the prosecutrix Griffiths, it appeared that she was standing outside a shop in Whitchurch with another little girl 011 Saturday evening about seven o'clock, wiikii prisoner came up and asked ber if she would go to his house, which was about fifty yards off, at the same time offering her 2d. Accompanied by the other little girl, Gertrude Rees, she proceeded with prisoner to his residence, and on arriving there they went inbo th* middle room. He then gave Gertrude Rees one penny and a scrap picture, afterwards giving prosecutrix the sarr.e. Prisoner then sent the gill Rees out- side the room, telling her to inform him if any- one was coming, and locked the door of the room in which witness and prisoner were staying. He then behaved improperly towards her, ana subse- quently towards another girl. Prisoner was remanded for a week, bail being allowed in one surety of 9,25.

SAD AFFAIR NEAR DOWLAIS. The body of a man, apparently about 30 yeara of age, was found on Sunday morning ou the mountain road between Dowlais and Rbymney. 'ihe discovery was made by the driver of the mail cart, who communicated with the police, witlioho result that the body was brought to Dowlais to await identification. It is believed that deceased, while under t.he influence of drink, perished in the terrible weather which prevailed on Saturday Night. Deceased had the appearance of a respect- able artisan. He had 011 a pair of corduroy trousers and wore a black cap. He was about I 5ft. 4in. in height.

'— u. » ■" A SHIP ON FIRE AT CARDIFF. Oil Saturday evening an alarming fire was dis- ) covered^ be raging, in the fore peak of a gte.tmar called the Lady Salisbury, lying iu the East Bute Dock. The lire brigade ot the Bute Dock Police, under the direction of Superintendent O'Gorman, played on the flames from a couple of hydrants, and happily extinguished the fire before much damaged was done. | betore much damaged was done. I

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THE DRUMMOND DiVORCE SUIT. The Drummond divorce suit again camfc before Sir Francis Jeune and a special jury on Saturday, in the Divorce Division. Tb6 petitioner, Mrs Marie Alicia Drummond had sued for a divorce from her husband, -Air John Nelson Drummond, an artist, of London, on the ground of alleged cruelty and adultery j and he met her claim by a counter allegation of adultery on her part with Mr Edward Francis Fox, solicitor, of London, which both Mrs Drummond and Fox denied". As already re- ported, the jury 011 Friday interposed after the petitioner had given her evidence rn the counter charge, and gave a verdict to the effect that Mrs Drummond had committed adultery, and that Mr Drummond was not guilty either of cruelty or adultery. The case was then adjourned the con* sideratian cf the question of damages which Mr Drummond claimed against Mr Fox. When the case was resumed on Saturday. Mr Deane (counsel for Mrs Drummond) said he waa not in court the previous day when the jury stopped the case, but ho understood that they fcund that Mrs Drummond had committed adultery befora and after the alleged coudonatløn. The President: Yes. Mr Dmue Therefore it is found, as I under- stand, that adultery was committed at th. Inns of Court Hotel and other places. Mr Inderwick and I have come to the conclusion that the jury bava found a verdict without hear- ing our case. We had a body of evidence, but the jurv having prejudiced the case Th# President: I do n^t understand that. You must take one course jr the other. If you insist upon y*ur right to call evidence, go on and call it by all means, but I cannot allow it to tie said that the jury prejudged the case. Mr Dfane: We decline to put any farther point to the jury, or discuss the question further. Mr Lockwood, Q.C., for Mr Fox, said the position Mr Fox was in was this-he had not been called. He had been present durinethetrial and was prepared to give evidence and he had wit- nesses to call, and he desired his counsel to be heard. He was perfectly aware he would be within his right to ctli Mr Fox and call witnesses and address the jury, but ho declined to do so most emphatically. He declined to take any further part in these proceedings, or to aefe the jury to come to any other conclusion than they had done. It was only fair that he shvuld say that he reserved to Mr Fox the full right elsewhere to endeavour to obtain a decision which could only be arrived at after he and his witnesses had been heard. The President said counsel would take what course they thought right on their own respon- sibility. He could only say this, that he thought the jury were quite within their rights, after the evidence which Mrs Drummond had given, in saying that they were convinced that Mt? Drummond had committed adultery. He did not think that any sensible man could com. to any other conclusion. If counsel thought that they had evidence which would shake tiuir conviction let them po on with it. If they did not choose to bring that evidence or address the jury the responsibility must rest entirely with thelU. Mr Lockwood said 11.. did not shrink from the responsibility. He declined to address the jury on the question of damages, because if he had it would be an assumption that the charge made against his client was true. Mr Lockwood then retired. Mr Willis, Q.C., for Mr Drummond, then addressed the jury on the question of damages. The President, in addressing the jury, said he was sorry that the evidence had been grven which had been given against Mr Drummond, because the charge against him was not proved, and he could not shrink from saying that if it wa" not a true charge supported as it was by means of detailed statements and evidence lb was a charge which must have been the result of a conspiracy to give false evidence. He trusted he might never hear such evidence on such a charge again. It would not be fair to tb4 jury if he d d not say that in his judgment they had acted l ightly in the course they had takes. As to the charges of cruelty and adultery against Mr Drummond, the whole of the evidence was before them. As to the case against Mrs Drum- mond, It was impossible to sit there and hear her statement and the admissions sho made and some of her extraordinary statements, and not come to the conclusion that she had committed adultery. He thought undet the circumstances they had done what was right 111 expressing their view at that stage. His Lord,, ship then addressed the jury on the question of damages, and the jury retired for consultation. The jury, after a brief absence, returned into court and gave a verdict that Mr Drummond had not committed cruelty, that he had not committed adultery with either of the women alleged, but that both Mrs Diummond and Mr Fox had committed adultery before and after the alleged condonation between the husband wife. The jurv assessed the damages against Mr Fox at £ 4,000. On the application of respondent's counsel, tho President granted Mr Drummond a decree Nt'n for the dissolution of the marriage, with oosto and the custody of the children.

WELSH SUSPENSORY BILL. Resolution by Llanelly Liberals. At a meeting held at the LI an ally Liberal Club on Saturday evening, Mr Joseph Maybery pie- siding, Dr James Arthur Jones proposed the fol- lowing resolution That this meeting of the Liberals of the Borough of Jilajielly have seen with great satisfaction that the Welsh bu.spen,sory Bill has been brought iii anil passed the tivst reading, and they desire ro express their grateful appreciation of the conduct of the Welsh monibers in giving effect to the (uesre of tiieir conitUueuciea upon this important (.uestten and they also cjaatre to place upon record theirgratiiude to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, to the Kenu Secreary, anu the other members of the Cabinet for the hearty and generous ragatier jn which they hare supported the measure and siown genuine sympathy with the Welsh nation. This was seconded by Mr William Edwards and carried with acclamation. Mr Lloyd George at Hatcham. Speaking on Sunday night at the Hatcham Liibpral Club, Mr Jjloya M.P., teferrinc to tne W eisu Suspensory Bill, said the victory of those who favoured religious equality in Wajes was near at band. The Goverument was pledged to Welsh Disestablishment, and the Welsh melrl- bers were perfectly justified in bringing pressure to bear on the Government