The Cardiff Times

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ASSASSINATIONS. f RUSSIAN POLICE CHIEF'S FATE. -=- E Lured To His Doom. —— la ARREST OF THE MURDERER- £ ax ————* f | as St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg secret police, Col •<jnjgbt off, was almost blown to pieces a^ £ Lf~eS. r1 by the explosion of a bomb or but m, The affair is still shrouded in my jojjoWS the facts as known at present gmajl flat Some days ago a young man of St. rv in a remote street in the Viborg name of p, Petersburg. His passport bore v Vosskress- Michael Vosskressensky. Yrvant. It ensky's uncle arrived with a on the L would seem that Vosskressensky w jmowu— Je staircase—for what purpose is inside tvhen a tremendous explosion occ?vYvsskress- QT1 the flat. The flat was wrecked and ter- ru snsky's uncle was killed on the spo un- ribly mutilated that his body was woUnded identifiable. Tim servant was bacuy In the head. vosskres- A. moment after the expk>sic> -nfco the sensky, hatless and coatless, rusn path, street, but a policeman barred over- Vosskressensky drew a revolver, » powered and arrested. „j;narv con- n; It was believed at first that Jf^^er- g rpirators were concerned, and it w supposed ;ained several hours later that police. f 'uncle "was the chief of the secret F" of tie was appointed.less than a year ag g Eteuter. „„ 0f the St. Petersburg, Later. The n4-jce<j into secret police seems to have been who he flat where he met his death. secret vas severely injured was found on jy >olice. Seven passports were u Vosskressensky.—Reuter. Identified-by Linen Marks' ca St. Petersburg later.-A^ £ £ ^0?Colonel of guar s iaborate plot hatched by shortly before wi ording to the morning Pgreawnaky called in J? lis arrival at the flat, Vosskr a be]. inelectricianto ftx aw^ n away saying he ge, « 2 police frequently arrange to g aeet agents at private rendezvous, and it is se] Inured that Vosskressensky was m Colonel th Staff's pay, but was simultaaeo^ly plot- in ins with the revolutionaries. The first clues th f Colonel Karpoff's identity were marks on Lis linen, and initials on his cigarette case.- ^The official statement as to the bomb explo- ion last night is not yet known., and a wide- pread conviction exists that the secret police rere preparing a fictitious discovery of bombs a ] nth a view to deferring the stay of their lajesties in the capital. Constitutional demo- rats will this evening present an urgent in- orpelletaon on the subject to the Dam#,— Leuter. # alb Was the Trapper Trapped P g St, Petersburg, Wednesday (9 p-rn.).—-An xamination of the premises in which the flat UE 5 situated where the outrage occurred shows bat an electric wire ran from the door of the pjj lat to beneath the writing-table at which Col. he [arpoff was sitting at tie time of the expto- CJl ion. The bomb must have been either on the g, oor or fastened to the lower side of the table. ioth of Col. Karpoff's legs were blown off and M urled into the flat below through a cavity lade by the explosion. St In a valice belonging to Vosakresseasky was aund a padded waistcoat, together with an lectrical apparatus such as is occasionally m ised by revolutionaries for exploding bon^ arried on their persons. A auan^ty of £ 0 lite q/nrl chemical compounds has been found m "thASoZ ol Thc accou^»l gij he outrage in the evening papers do noteluci nc Late Col. Korpo £ E's presence m the fla^ and ccording to private information other officials f the secret police were unaware of any ren- |jc [ezvousf or even of Col. Karpoff's co^ectaon nth Vosskressensky. The popularly gn heory that Col. Karpoff was engaged m Jk aanSacture of false evidence is rather sup- T1 lorted than otherwise.—Beuter. Jei

NDIAN OFFICIAL ASSASSINATED b, ——- sa Native-Murderer Arrested. Bombay, Wednesday, 11.40 a.m.—Mr A. M. fa r Jackson, collector at Nasik, Bombay Presi- et lency, was shot dead by a native last night. Bi The murder took place at the theatre at a da jaarter to 10 yesterday evening. Mr Jackson bi vas accompanied by two ladies and Mr Jolly, ill assistant collector.. th The assassin was arrested. His motive is a £ supposed to have/ been revenge, Mr Jackson ye laving recently sentenced a man to penal ser- m ritude for life. Before going to the theatre Mr Fackson was entertained at an evening party jrior to leaving for Bombay to act as a collec- tor there. Nasik has been a hotbed of sedi- tion for a long time past.—Reuter. Bombav,Wednesday vLater).—The murderer jf Mr Jackson used a Browning automatic £ 6istol, firing seven shots in quick succession in with fatal effect. A loaded revolver was 16 [ound in his .pocket. He did not attempt to escape. His name is Ananta Luxman Kanare, agea 18, and for 10 years he has lived with an uncle at Aurangabad, whence he came with the deliberate intention of committing the murder. He says Mr Jackson was murdered because of the life sentence passed upon Savarkay. The prisoner repeats this story parrot-fashion, as one who has learned a lesson, and is un- doubtedly the agent of abler men.—Router.

ANOTHER POLITICAL CRIME Seoul, Wednesday.-Yi Wan Yon. Prime Minister of Korea, has been stabbed fatally— Reuter. » Seoul. Wednesday.—Details of the assassina- Lion of Yi Wan You have now become known. The Premier was riding in a jinrickisha when a young Korean approached, and, drawmg a kitchen knife from his dress, drove it twice into the statesman's abdomen and once into his lungs. The assassin then turned upon the jinrickisha man, whom he also stabbed, killing him instantaneously. He was at once arrested. The Premier was removed to the hospital. The crime is believed to be the result of a poli- tical intrigue, but not of an anti-Japanese character, as Yi Wan You himself has always been credited with fostering the anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea.—Reuter.

;I AMERICA SHOCKED," The Dr. Cook Exposure. New York, Wednesday.—Throughout the United States to-day newspapers give pro- minence to the finding of the Copenhagen University Commission, and brand Dr. Frederick Cook without qualification as,an impostor. On the Stock Exchange the bulk of sympathy up to the last moment was with Dr. Cook, but when the fateful telegram was received from Europe a framed photograph of the doctor, with which the stockbrokers had decorated their quarters, was removed, and the president, addiessing the crowd, declared than Ananias was an amateur compared with Cook." i.the Tribune estimates that the doctor netted some 150,000 dollars by his lec- tures and writings on the "Discovery of the Pole."—Central News.

POWERS AND THE CONGO. Berlin, Wednesday.—Renter's representative learns that negotiations between Great Britain, Germany, and Belgium relating to the regula- tion of the common frontier in the district of Ruenda (Central Africa) are to commence about January 8th at Brussels, though pos- sibly the death of King Leopold may cause a postponement. The previous negotiations were merely pourparlers with the object of inducing Belgium to negotiate on the question. There is reason to believe that the accession of the new King will facilitate this. The late Sovereign was extremely averse from making any concession involving the Congo rights or j territory.—Reuter. 1

9 JUtflAL OF A KING. I IMPRESSIVE SCENE AT BRUSSELS. b ——— d Jarriers Thrown Down. « Brussels, Wednesday.—The funeral of the te King Leopold took place to-day, accord- g to prescribed ceremony, at 10 o'clock, ibinet Ministers, the members of the Senate id Chamber, and the chief State functionaries sembled at the Palace, while other official tdies and deputations took up places assigned them in the procession. Places were set )art in the Church of SS. Michael and udule for the diplomatic body and the judges. le route- was kept by detachments of the rmy and the Civic Guard, extending from e Palace to the church, and thence to Lacken lurch, following the Rue Royale, the Rue des tlais. and the Avenue de la Reine. The setting out of the procession at a Quarter ist ten was announced by a salvo of 100 guns. lere were six pall bearers, namely, the presi- :nt of the Senate, President of the Chamber, inisters of the Interior, and of Agriculture td Justice, Inspector-General of the Civic tiards, and the General Commanding Fourth ilitary District. The colours and drums of the troops accom- mying the funeral car were covered with ape. The procession was headed by a detach- ent of mounted gendarmes, a squadron of .valry with band, a squadron of the Civic uard with band, a battery of artillery, an fantry company, a battery of artillery of the vie Guard, and a company of the infantry of e Civic Guard. Next came a detachment of .e Civic Guard of the kingdom and regiments the Army with their colours, the General aS of the Army, the General Staff of the vie Guard, members of the Senate and Cham- sr, Ministers of State, "merhbers of the Cabi- 't, the clergy, and the King's Household Prince Albert of Belgium followed imme- ately behind the car, and then came the uke of Connauglit, Prince Henry of Prussia, id other foreign princes, the civil authorities Ld officials, and the clergy. A squadron of ,valry closed the procession. the religious ceremony at the Church SS. Michael and Gudule, which was draped black cloth with a silver fringe, th*? cortege t out in the same order for Laoken Church, :uch was reached at 2 o'clock. The Cure of teken met the procession at the porch, and e princely personages and bishops took their ats in the choir. The Archbishop proceeded the church door to receive the body, wheh is borne by non-commissioned officers ol the "enadiers, and accompanied by Seminarites anting the Libera Me Domini." The irdinal pronounced the Absolution, and then, llowed by Prince Albert, the foreign princes, pi nators, and deputies, the car proceeded to tt e Royal vaults, where the body was placed a small chapel, where repose the remains of e late Queen Marie Henriette. The barriers placed around the church were rown down and there was considerable T ashing, The church was beautifully decor- t ed. The body was received by the Cardinal 'chishop of Malines, the Belgian bishops, and pi large number of clergy.-Reuter- M The Morganatic Children. n, >to?HLyH^°^0yBru^s and iris, and woke up the Comte de Plandre. h. ie birth there of her second son took place tl ider the auspices of four great gynaecolo- p< sts summoned from Vienna, Brussels, and ct iris. The first child so resembled the lost g< ir apparent as to seem to Leopold his re-m- ag rnation, in a healthy body free from every bi ipsburg stigma. He was born in the sump- b, ous Villaftanea winter residence, registered b: son of Caroline Delacroix and father un- c town (pere inconnu). A patent of Congo o ate nobility made him a Count. In the regis- itiorl of the second the Vaughan title is Ided to the mother's name, and the too com- on and rather low pere inconnu is altered to tre absent. Another patent of African ability awaited the little stranger, and a mag- Scent gilding for the coronets of both in a ? of 15,000,000 francs drawn up in due Itarial form. The world now knows who Baroness Vaughan I doubt, judging from her appearance, if rtih her parents, who acted as concierges to e French Minister at Bucharest, are Bati- LOllaises. Her intensely black eyes, large and mid, can be of soft lustre, or dart out flame. ley can equally well be ardent or indo- at. The fighting fury of the Christians of jrkey, and the sensuousness of the Oriental, Lth something that tells of an Italian far- ick origin, are in those eyes. Leopold once id to Chaplin, the painter, who was fond of pes tainted with aristocratic degeneration. A mon avis une femme ayant la taille bien ite et plantureuse, une abondante cheveluro, de beaux yeux, est une tres belle personne. aronees de Vaughan comes up to this stan- trd. She had studied at t,he Conservatoire, it too late to shake off an exotic accent that lfitted her for the Paris stage she had gone irough some storms, and she had passed the te of five-and-twenty before she made. seven sars ago, the conquest of the most money- aking king in Europe.

THE VILLA FLORA. Considerable interest attaches to the lady 00 wwn as Baroness Vaughan, who was present the palace when King Leopold breathed fJS st. The King married her in 1908, and In ailed her in the costly villa at Laeken, WhICh ljoins the Royal Palace. She is now 27 years age. and was born in Budapest, where her irents occupied a humble positio in the atignolles quarter. The baroness still has two sisters living in Paris, one of whom Keeps a fruit shop in the Pere Lacbaise quarter. Before she became a Belgian the Baroness lived in Paris with one of her sisters. She is said to be beautiful, and once seriously thought ol going on the stage in fact, studying at the Conservatoire for this purpose. Recently King Leopold presented her with the beautiful chateau of Bellaincourt in the Seine et Olse department. Her two children, Lvjcienne and Philippe, were recently made duke and count respectively by the late King.

Daniel Jenkins was at Aberdarc fined 5s and costs for overloading his brake.

WtLbH UUUIM I ru fb, H0ME:S. 1 lei i tri foi X.—Margam c? (CONTINUED.) — —-— • — co T8 NOTABLE ART TREASURES. ™ on ro AN ARCHITECTURAL PROBLEM. se ar In our last article we dealt with the external ev eatures of Margam mansion and the spacious is iark which surrounds it. Those who, like our- oi elves, have been privileged to visit the interior cc ave enjoyed an experience not easily to be b, orgotten. at The main doorway which gives entrance to D he spacious hall is on the northern side of the d-1 uilding. The hall is of great height and di ridth, and has a finely groined roof, into the w ecoration of which are worked the letters rc !.R.M.T.. the initials of the late Mr Talbot a lie builder of the mansion. The walls are w in THE RUINED SUMMER BANQUETING HOUSE. V< • fo — r — • r ft ierced by finely illuminated xnndows, bearing Ve ie arms of all the owners of the estates from lik ie 11th century to the present. of From the entrance hall wide doors lead into tw a inner hall, from which rises the staircase, wl he inner hall contains some deftly carved mi mopied chairs of a quite ecclesiastical type. in hese face the foot of the staircase. The th )aces to the right and left of the grand stair- to tae are, as shown in our photograph, occu- foi ied by choice pieces of marble statuary, most PI i which were brought from Italy by the late j [r C. R. M. Talbot's father. The Grand Staircass. i is Slilti aii architectural point of view the most da stable feature in the interior is the grand th .aircase, which, considering the size of the sa CHuse, takes up far more than its fair share of of ie space. After viewing its magnificent pro- w] jrtions, however, criticism fails. The stair- gr ise is beneath the central tower, which is octa- fa )nal in forni, and is of stone throughout. Here. as i everywhere else, the style is Tudor, and the tlj alustrading and the decorations of the doors bi sading off the landing are all in admirable A iste. The lighting of the staircase is perfect, hi oraing as it does from windows on either side tt f the tower, which projects far above the oi ,N! eral roof level, and the great height from ci ground floor to the top of the dome lends 10 atly to the grace and beauty of the stair- b] e.. At the top of the first flight of stairs ct re is a gallery, and the walls to right and se are adorned with quaint old Spanish tapes- 01 's, the detail work of which is remarkable, they are not woven but done in tent stitch hand. These were bought by the late Mr R. M. Talbot at Naples. h, Some Famous Old Masters. T t is not generally known that the mansion ol itains a large number of very valuable w rks of art. The late Mr C. R. M. Talbot was p lan of great culture and taste, and what at w ;e impresses the visitor as he strolls from r; 1m to room is the fine taste that has been n played in the selection of pictures. It is a uncommon thing in country mansions to ei a few fine pictures hung amidst scores that p apparently worthless. At Margam, how- n sr, the uniformly high standard of excellence o a, notable feature. They are the selection of 11 e of catholic tastes. The art of many d antries finds place there. Italy is represented o such masters as Titian and Paul Veronese n d Canaletto, France by Greuze, while the ti itch school finds exponents in Rubens, Van- p ke, and Jacob Ruysdael. The walls of the C ling-room and the library are covered p th old masters. The former of these b )ms, which is in the south front, has it magnificent altarpiece by Paul Veronese, o tich is supposed to have been brought from 1 inice about 1780. It is a picture something 0 e 20 feet in height. It may be described as the double decker type.,reptesenting o scenes, for above are heavenly figures, « lile beneath, under a canopy of clouds, are andane beings, engaged, one would suppose, w discussion upon some religious theme. For e photograph of this picture we are indebted the courtesy of Mr T. Mansel Franklen. It rO rms one of the fine series of pictures in his b lotographic Survey of Glamorgan. P Ruysdael and Rubens. c On the wall at. the opposit end of the room a choice and ch&ractei^strf e*a>tnple of Rtrys- wJ, With a waterfall and trees so typical of t, e faflaous Dutch.landscape painter. On the t me wall' are two fine specimens of the work t Canaletto, representing Scenes in Venice, s rule in another corner of the room, near the a eat altarpiece, is another picture by the « mous Venetian, which is of especial interest, t it is a view of the ThanSes and London in ie early 18th century, and old Westminder t nlge is a feature of the middle distance. s notber notable old master in the dining-room v an example of Rubens, depicting a scene in Le legend of Ganymedes, that most beautiful t mortals, who was carried from earth to be the WMNN" THE GRANP STAIRCASE. —— p-bearer oi Aeus. amongvnBireauuirou. u lg wall opposite the windows are one or two II eezy sea pieces by Backhuysen, the 17th atury artist, whose custom it was to go to L in rough weather that he might study the ean in its stormier moods. Vandyke and Titian. th rhe library is the finest apartment in the ja use—an oblong room of noble proportions, de ie well-stocked bookshelves take the place (>( panels all round the lower part of the walls, of lile the ample space above is occupied by en 3tures. The ceiling of this room, which is vi, lite plaster, ia quite a triumph of the deco- se: tive art, and all round the deep cornice is Ce aulded in rows of acanthus leaves. The isence of any colour on the ceiling and cornice ables the pictures to be seen to the finest" issible effect. There are two white marble de antelpieces in this room, and over the centre va one hangs a chaste specimen of the French cli th century portrait painter Jean Greuze, ;picting the head of a girl. The northern end co the room, however, contains a trio of the ost notable pictures of the Margam collec- )n. Over the mantelpiece hangs a large R Irtrait by Vandyke of his Royal master, ne larles I., and his family. It is related of this M cture that Vandyke painted it for his famous af 'other artist, Rubens, to whom he presented Js To the right hand of this striking example "th the great Dutch portrait painter are two Ltians, which present a notable contrast, R ca r ir ae being The Holy Family and the othe Venn?. M In the Drawing-Room. w The drawing-room, which occupies the south- 80 •estern corner of the mansion, is finely deco- w ited in a scheme of gilt upon the palest silver. 'he ceiling and mural embellishments are of uch a nature that no pictures are really ceded, and the two or three which do find lace upon the walls are of family interest. 'here is a beautiful painting of the late Lady si iharlotte Talbot, the mother of the present racious owner of Margam, and others are of fiss Talbot herself and her sister, Mrs y Letcher, of Saltou^. Muck of the furniture of his room is gilt, and modelled m file "curves of he Louis the Fifteenth period. A massive n Boule table, a very typical example of the j.) rreat French cabinet-maker, with heavy gilt jt adornments over the cabriole legs, and with w atyrs' heads along the sides, is among the li reAsures of this apartment, while at the oppo- ite end of the room is some gracefully modelled nodern statutarv in white marble, which adds freatiy to the general effect. This statue, rhich was exhibited at the Royal Academy, ras executed by Milo Griffiths, a Welsh sculp- or of great promise, who died young. The Margam Manuscripts, No account of Margam would be quite com- pete without mention of the large and inter- esting collection of manuscripts stored in the Cuniment Room, which range from a period k little prior to the 12th century up to 1750. -'hese copsist of old Abbey Charters, Papal )ulls« Court Rolls, and family records—and Lumber about 10,000. They have been arranged ,nd catalogued by Dr. Walter de Gray Birch, ate of the British Museum, and they will trove an invaluable mine of information bould the history of the County of Glam- rgan ever be written. It was from some of hose manuscripts that Dr. Walter de Gray tirch obtained much of the information which orms th&ground work of his history of Margam tl Ülbey. ¡ f( An Interesting Problem. « In conclusion, let us refer to an architectural ec troblem. Not the least interesting fragment C ,mong the nuns which adorn the park is that t f what is known as the Summer Banquetttng ec louse, of which only one end now remains. 8( udgixig by the position it now occupies, as C) ompared to that assigned to it in the picture t1 f the old Abbey and Tudor house, the Summer louse was, at some period ot other, removed, tl inless it be, indeed, that the artist who drew d he old picture exercised considerable license n n-his work. The fragment remaining stands to he west of the Abbey ruins, and in the old C licture it is represented as to the. east. It has )een sta ted by several writers as being contera- iorPA-y with the old house. This cannot be the N :ase, for Sir Rice Mansel converted part of g he Abbey into his house in 1562, and the work r< vas carried out in the Tudor style. The archi- Cl A:'Cture of the oid Summer Banquetting House d s in the classic style of the Renaissance, of ° vhich. the earliest known example iit Beaupre Porch, which bears the date 1600, whilst the most generally recognised earliest example is ¡he Banquetting House, Whitehall, which Inigo fones-designed, and which was built between L612 and 1620. The Summer House, therefore, Tiust have been erected at le^st half a century ifter Sir Rice Mansel made his THidor resi- dence. An interesting point suggests itself, aid one, too, which we believe has never sefore been made, and it is that the designs of Beaupre Porch and of the Summer House were the work of the same hand. A compari- son of the two suggests notable points of re- temblancc, though whereas Beaupre presents examples of three styles of Greek architecture, "he Summer House at Margam is, for the most part, Corinthian and Ionic. Beaupre Porch was the work of Gwilym Twrch. the lovelorn Bridgend stone mason, who travelled Europe in tlip late 16th century and returned to his native country to give effect to the classic styles which he had studied in Greece and [taly. What more likely than that Sir Thomas Mansel invoked his aid in the designing of the Summer Banqueting House at Margam t Next Week—ST. PAGAN'S CASTLE.

BALA & FESTINIOG RAILWAY. I Absorption by the Great Western. I The Great Western Railway Company intend to apply to Parliament next Session to absorb Uie undertaking of the BaJa and Festiniog Railway Company, which is/ already worked, managed. and maintained by1 thejn. The capital which has been issued by this ^^Pany comprises £ 238,000 Ordinary Stock, Five per Cent. Preference Stock, *95,9(X) Four per Cent. Debenture S^ock, and the Great Western Company have lent *4,055 on Lloyds Bonds. Under the terms of amalgamation the Great I Western Company will cancel the Lloyds Bonds and also the £ 50,000 Five per Cent. Pre- ference Stock, and £ 194,775 of the Ordinary Stock, which with the Preference Stock is held i by them or on their behalf. As regards the | Four per Cent. Debenture Stock, the Great f?:rn Company will issue a similar of their own Four per Cent. Debenture Stock, and as regards the jM5,225 balance of Ordinary Stock, the company will issue £41,063 Five per Cent. Consolidated Guaranteed Stock, being at the rate of £95 for each JElOOof Ordinary Stock. Deferred certificates are also to be issued to the holders of the Ordinary Stock at the rate of £ 5 for each £ 100 of Ordinary Stock, which certificates are to be exchanged and become Consolidated Guaranteed Stock, and bear in- terest from the 1st of January. 1919. The amalgamation is to take effect on the 1st of July, 1910. .—

On Monday a valedictory tea with reception and presentation was held, at Beulah Chapel, Aberaman, Mr Morgan Parr presiding. The occasion was the departure of the Rev. W. E. Harris and Mrs Harris for Bwlch y Sarnau, Radnorshire. An illuminated address and a purse of gold were presented Mr and Mrs Harris, and high tributes were paid to their work at Aberaman.

A FAMOUS JOURNALIST. j in the. person of Mr Frederick Greenwood there has passed away a veteran writer who made a distinct and memorable mark on the. journalism of the Victorian era. He will ever be l-emnnbrivd for the conspicuous part he took in the British Government's purchase of Mr FredoncK Urrecnwood. the Suez Canm sbwres xrom the Khedive. He became editor of the Pall Mall Gazette at its foundation in 1865, and continued in that capacity until 1880, when he resigned in conse- quence of the change in the politics of the paper. He then founded the "St. James's GaEett& which he controlled for some years before his final retirement from daily journalism.

Mr W. Jones, of Melbourne and the Austra- lasian Bank, London, has forwarded a cheque l for jE70 to the ReV. T. A. Penry to be distri- buted amongst the deserving poor of Aberyst- wyth district.

NANTYMOEl YOUNG LIBERALS. GLADSTONECENftNARY CELEBRATION Speech by the Solicitor-General. ? The Nantymoel branch of the League of < Young Liberals held a banquet at Workmen's i Hall, Nantymoel. on Wednesday, to celebrate I the Gladstone centenary. The function was a creat Bhccess. There was an attendance of 400. The guest of the evening was Sir Samuel Evans, K.C.. M.P.. Solicitor-General. Mr J. R. Evaiis, vice-president of the Nantymoel Young Liberals League, presided. Sir Samuel Evans, responding to the toMt of the Liberal Government, said the Ad- t ministration bad been through a time of very I hard work in Parliament, and they were now » entering upon the fight in the country with j confidence, led by great leaders and a great Prime Minister. The Government had got through a verv considerable amount of valuable- legislation. "He had been in the House of Commons for 20 years and bad seen several Governments, but none eo full of energy as this. (Applause.) Sir Samuel complimented the Nantymoel Young Liberals upon the excel- lent movement of which they had become a part. They bad a cause worthy of working for. He was glad the inaugural banquet of the League was associated with such a great name as that of Gladstone. Sir Samuel then dealt with the achievements of Liberals under Mr Gladstone, and remarked that had Mr Glad- stone now been alive he would be with the Liberal party on the land question. (Loud applause.) The proceedings were most enthusiastic. The hall was profusely decorated with Gladstonian mottoes.

At Abergavenny William Pritchard and Larky McDunnock, labourers, ware fined £ 2 each for trespassing in pursuit of rabbits on the Coldbrook estate. t

;ussia, uapan, ana i\orea. WAR RUMOURS REVIVED. t Paris. Wednesday.—The Liberte learns at the military activity now going on in ° ,pan has for its object the Immediate and finite annexation of Korea. The Russian J* >vernment is being courteously kept informed the measures being adopted by Japan to sure the accomplishment of the object in w ew. The Japanese\ Government anticipates aJ rious resistance on the part of Korea.- antral News. ru It is stated in official circles (says the Morning Leader St. Petersburg correspon- c. :nt) that 50,000 Russian troops will be ad- kneed immediately from Irkutsk to the Man- lurian front iers. These military measures have again evoked msiderablc alarm in Russia. jr For some time past there has been a sort of n, usso-Japanese war scare in progress, and the ;ws of the movement of Russian troops to the anchurian frontier gives a sinister aspect to fairs. It is asserted by the Russian Press that ipan is arming, and the object is said to be Le annexation of Korea. Official communiques have been issued in ussia reassuring the public that there is no ,use for alarm as to Russo-Japanese relations, it these have not tended to allay the nervous- ass regarding impending events. a,

NEW GOVERNOR OF NATAL Lord Methuen, who has been appointed to icceed Sir Matthew Nathan as Governor of j atal, has been Commander-in-Chief in South Erica since 1907, and has spent a good deal of tA s life in the Dark Continent. From the time b hen as a young lieutenant he saw service on — ie Gold Coast in 1873 he has been in most of sowars, big and little. After Ashanti and n gypt he went to Bechuanaland, and had a n tell with Methuen's Horse, which he raised a id commanded. On the outbreak of the war t 1899 he wap appointed to the command of sl L— k ri Lord Methuen. J ie first division of the First Army Corps, anil I Is that capacity met with a number of re) j ?rses, among the most notable being Magers- j ntein. T>vo years later, when the war was c ill dragging on, he was wounded and cap- ired by General Delarey, with whom he had j reviously had several brisk encounters. Lord Methuen was even then quite a favourite ith the Boers, who had a great respect for his ildierly qualities, and he is now very popular" ith all South Africans.

RICH GIFT TO THE NATION. ( The most splendid art bequest to 'the nation i nce the Wallace collection became its pro- 1 erty is that left by Mr George Salting, whose f eath was recently announced. The value of 1 1e collection is -put at something over a s killion sterling intrinsically, but, baring t ;gard to the fact that nothing could « latch many of the component parts, t ie estimate of three or four millions placed i L some quarters upon the collection as a hole is probably not extravagant. Mr Salting ved in a suite of rooms on the top floor of g e I; The Late Mr Geo. Salting. 1 i<> Thatched House Club in St. James's-street I )r 19 years-rooms which he furnished in, a yle of munificence never surpassed, if ever quailed. His flat is within a stone's throw of j hristie's auction-rooms, and he was a familiar gure at all the great sales. A hush would over the rooms when he entered in I ;arch of a bargain, for his duels with Ameri- C m millionaires for masterpieces had won him ie respect of all the dealers. The British luseum buyers did not bid against him, for aere was a tacit understanding that at his I eath he would leave his collection to the ation.

UND FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH. ",The gift of jE256,000 which Mr Otto Beit has ] iven for the endowment of a series of medical asearch fellowships will produce an annual in- ome of about £ 7^00, mmJcient to provide en- owments of £250 each for 30 fellows. A sum < f E250 a year for three years is to be granted j I t with this object to any man or woman of European descent, (jrauu»«: oi University among the British Empire, who is sleeted to a Fellowship. In exceptional cases be trustees have the right to extend the Fel- lowship to a fourth year, but no more.

BIG COPPER COMBINE. New York, Wednesday.—The contract was iefinitely signed last evening for the amalga- mation of the Boston Consolidated Copper Company with the Utah Copper Company. Mr Samuel Untermeyer affixed nis signature on be- lialf of the British holder of stock in the Bos- bon Company.—Central News.

WHOLESALE DEPORTATIONS. New York, Wednesday.—A business repre- sentative of the firm of Armour and Company, of Chicago, who has just arrived here from ArgentiDa, states that the Government are de- porting about 4,000 persons suspected of being anarchists. This drastic action is the result of the recent murder by anarchists of the Chief of pulice in Buenos Ayres.—Central News.

SEQUEL TO NICE MOTOR FATALITY. Damages Against Italian Motorist. Nice, Wednesday.—Judgment was given by the Civil Court of Nice to-day in the action for damages against Signor Castelli, an Italian motorist, who recently ran over and killed Miss Mundy, a nurse on the staff of the Queen's Memorial Hospital 'at Nice. The court awarded the relatives of the deceased the sum of £ 560.— Central News.