Evening Express

By the Way. An American doctor has lately con firmed the belief, accepted in some medi- cal quarters, in the value of the banana as a food for typhoid patients. It is now positively asserted that the banana is both safe and beneficial, the stomach practi- cally absorbing the fruit owing to its nature. It contains only about 5 per cent. of waste matter, 95 per cent. possessing nutritive properties. The Salvation Army i is persecuted in. Switzerland. Not long ago a Salvation Army "lassie" was imprisoned in the castle of Chillon, made famous by Byron. In Neufchatel and Bevaiz cantons the Salva- tionists have frequently been stoned. In Geneva respectable men and women belonging to this sect have been insulted and beaten before the eyes of the police, who refused to protect them. In Huxley's "Life and Letters" two amusing examples of misprints in the proofs of an article he had written for the "nineteenth Century" are given. "You have a reader in your printer's office," Huxley wrote to Mr. Knowles. "who pro- vides me with j<fkes. Last time he cor- rected, when my MS. spoke of the pigs as unwilling 'porters' of the devil, into 'por- kers.' And this time, when I, writing about the Lord's Prayer, say 'current for- mula,' he has it 'canting formula. A small boy was ready to start on a long-promised week's visit to his grand- father's in the country (says "Harper's Hagazinc"). There was an exasperating delay in the appearance of the carriage to take him to the station. The young man worked off his impatience in various annoying ways for half an hour, then sud- denly he was seen to kneel beside a ohair in the corner and bury his face in his hands. After a few minutes his mother said; "Well, Kenneth, what are you doing?" "Just getting my prayers said up for while I'm going to be out at grand- pa's. There's nothing to do here, and I 'speet to be pretty busy while I'm there." With one exception all the appoint- ments yet announced in Lord Salisbury's new Cabinet are held by men twelve years younger, on an average, than their prede- cessors in the office. The exception is in the case of the Home Secretary, where Mr. Ritchie, who is 82, succeeds Sir Matthew White-Rid'ley, who is four years Mr. Ritchie's junior. The French Cabinet has only two members over sixty, and aji average age of fifty, but if the present standard is maintained by Lord Salisbury we shall have a Ministry which will break even the French record. At present the average age of the British Ministry is forty-six years and six months. Among the many stories told at the New College Jubilee, which has been celebrated by old students from among the Congre- gational ministry, one of the best was that told by the Rev. Alfred Rowland. It ap- pears that Dr. Lankester had undertaken to explode the hideous suggestion that the origin of man was the monkey, a.nd, with a view to a lecture on the gorilla, brought to the college three stuffed specimens. At the gate a quarrel ensued between the doctor and the cabman, who demanded four fares! In explaining afterwards Dr. Lankester said: "It was not that I objetced to pay; but it was the impudence of the fellow in insisting that these gorillas, brought for the purpose of show- ing they wero not our relative's, were yet to be treated as paying guests." The Duke of Norfolk, according to rumours current among his Roman Catholic friends, has been solicited to take office under Lord Salisbury, and has made the characteristically self-effacing reply that, where there are so many men who like an office, it is a pity to waste one upon him. If this lie true, some colour is given to a paragraph appearing in Saturday's "Tablet" "Before this page reaches the hands of readers the post of Under-Secre- ta,ry for War may be filled up, and not, perhaps, according to our der-ires. It may, however, be put on record that the name of Lord Denbigh, in this regard, has been under serious and highly approved con- sideration." If Lord Salisbury wishes to give his Romal Catholic supiporters a re- presentation in the Government, Lord Denbigh has hereditary claims to con- sideration, and is, besides, a great per- sonal favourite with the- Queen. Queen Victoria ha.s always been more ov less a matchmaker. She is in favour of early marriages, and if not early, "better late than never" (relates the Chronicle"). There is a good, story of a motherly kind of appeal which she made to the Rev. Cosmo Gordon Lang, the vicar of Porbsea, a clerical friend, who twice a year by special invitation preaches to the Queen. Afterwards she chats with him, more particularly about the poor in the neighbourhood of the dockyard. He dines with her Majesty at least twice a year, generally after the preaching. One night she asked her bachelor guest if it was true that he had ten curates. He sajd it was quite true. "Would it not be a wise arrangement, Mr. Lang," said her Majesty, "if you reduced the number of your curates to seven and took home a wife to Portsea?" The Queen has a very sweet and persuasive smile, and she smiled graciously upon Mr. Lang. "You see, madam," he replied, "if I disagree with my curates we can part; but if I were to disagree with my wife it might end in my having to leave my parish." "A droll, but unconvincing excuse," said her Majesty, and laughingly changed the sub- i ject. Reports emanating from Berlin revive the idea of an Anglo-German agreement in South Africa. The story now told is that Germany is going to sell to England a large portion of its South-west African territory. Whether there is anything in this report cannot be learned, but it, no doubt, originates from the railway agree- ment which was under consideration two or three years ago. By this agreement the Germans were to construct a line from W Ifisch Bay to join the line running from Beira through South Africa. The advan- tage of this line was to give an alternative route to India much shorter than that round the Cape in the event of the Suez Canal being stopped by war or. otherwise. The Germans would, of course, have given the Btish the friendly right to convey military stores as ordinary merchandise over the railway, similar to the right that Great Britain now enjoys over tho Portuguese line to Rhodesia. The advantages of the scheme would not, however, be very great, seeing that the transhipment and railway journey would go far to counterbalance the mere saving in distance. For military purposes, however, the scheme might have been useful both to Germany and to Gititt Britain. I Gititt Britain.

'A PETITION- LODGED. Messrs. Rusaell, Cooke, and Co. have, through their Scotch agent3, lodged a petition on behalf of certain electors against the return of Mr. Arthur Bignold for Wick Burghs. The petition alleges corrupt aud illegal practices against the member and his agents. Mr. A. Ure. Q.C., M.P., and Mr. Neil J. D. Kennedy have been retained for the petitioners. Mr. Bignold defeated Mr. Hedderwick, the Radical candidate, by a majority of 113

THE ATTACH ON THIS SHAH TRIAL OF SALSON. Paris, Saturday.—'The trial of Sail son. the perpetrator of the attempt made upon the Shah of Persia last August, began at the Assize Court here to-day. The examination of the prisoner by the presiding judge resulted in making clear the Anarchist opinions held by accused. Salson declares he kept his opinions to himself. He was a soldier of the Republic, and an enemy of oppressors. He admitted having formed a plan to assassin ate ex-Presi- dent Casimir-Pirier, and also confessed to hav- ing wished to kill the Shah of Persia. He desired to get rid of the former, owing to the measures against Anarchy adopted during his term of office, and wished to assassinate the Shah because he was the hignest example of the power of riches. Maitre Sajasee addressed the court on behalf of the prisoner, who listened to the speech of his counsel without showing any sign of emotion. Prisoner was found guilty, and sentenced to penal servitude for life. He made no remark when sentence was pronounced.—Reuter.

LOOiL BILL LEGISLATION Within the next ten days or so notices of any private Parliamentary Bills to be pro- moted next session must appear in the news- papers. It "does not seem that any new works of an important c'ftracter are contemplated in the eastern portion of Glamorganshire. Rumours have been current to ths effect that the Taff Vale Company will make another attempt to get the Windsor Dock Bill through Parliament, but we fail to fiud any confirma- tion of them, beyond the fact that certain evi- dence has been prepared. This was done last year and in 1898, but no Bill was promoted. The company have expended a large sum of money in improving Pcnarth Dock, and are not likely to embark upon so expensive an undertaking as a new forty acre dock at present. The Cardiff and the Barry Railway Companies have enough on hand in the developing of the works for which they already have Parliamentary powers, and the Shymney Company are never very aggressive. It is probable that any Bills that may be promoted, therefore, will be of a. domestic character.

PILOT YAWL UPSET. SIX LIVES LOST. A sad drowning accident occurred within a mile of the fishing village of Find'horn, near Forres, on Saturday afternoon, resulting in the loss of six lives. A pilot yawl manned by six men had left the harbour to pilot a ship over the bar. always a. dangerous place. The incoming vessel, however, was a ketch belong- ing to the village named the Alert, and got over the bar before the pilot arrived. The pilot boat consequently rowed round the stern of the Alert, and, keeping rather too close in, tihe mizzen-boom of the Alert came into con- tact with the mast of the pilot boat, and the latter was immediately up-iet and ita ux occu- pants thrown into a heavy, swelling sea. A boat was at once lowered from the Alert, but only one man was picked up, though diligent search was made. The man who was picked up succumbed before the village was reached. Five of the men are married, and two leave families of ten children each. All were born and brought up in the village, and by their death practically every home in the village is affected.

TRAGIC SUICIDE IN THE GARW VALLEY. Mr. Charles Phillips, landlord of ths Old Tavern, Cwmtynrheol, committed suicide on Saturday night by shooting himself.

THE LEONID METEORS. Messrs. George Carslake Thompson and G. A. S. Atkinson send us the following memorandum, which they have written up in accordance with a request of the council of the Astronomical Society of Wales: — It is uncertain whether any consider- ahla display of these shooting stars will take place on the approaching anniver- sary of the November shower, but persons interested in meteoric astronomy should be on the alert during tile nights, from midnight to daybreak, of the coming week to detect signs of their neighbourhood. Real service may be rendered by amateur observers who will furnish the data to a/ssist the professional astronomers in their efforts to determine the orbit of this stream of meteorites. A record of the rate a.t which Leonid meteors, if any, are appearing, or, on the other hand, a record that none are to be seen, with a careful note of the time at which the observation is made, will serve to determine the presence or absence of the stream in that part of space which the earth in her orbit is passing at the time of the observation, and, if present, the comparative richness or poverty of that part of the stream. Thus it appears that the record of a watch during which no meteors were to be seen (supposing, of course, the sky to be clear) would be valuable as negative evi- dence. If Leonids occur, the number counted from time to time during an in- terval of a quarter of an hour, of five minutes, or of one minute, according to their frequency, should be noted, and whether the count is made by one observer, or by two or more observers looking towards different parts of the sky, and, of course, a.ny unfavourable circumstances (such as cloudy weather) interfering with the count. Suggestions for organised observations of a rich shower are given lelow. Leonids may be distinguished from other shooting stars by the direction of their apparent flight, which is from the direction of the "Sickle" in Leo, that is to say. the six stars arranged in sickle-like form which appear low in the east about midnight at this season, and move Uv- wards and southwards during the night. Leonids also may generally be distin- guished from other meteors by their swift flight and greenish tinge. In the record of the counting. Leonids should, if pos- sible, be distinguished from other meteors. According to calculations, the night between Wednesday and Thursday, November 14 and 15 is the most probable time of maximum display; but watch should also be kept on one, or, better, two nights, before and after, remember- ing always that it is useless to begin much before midnight. It is suggested that a few observers should divide the nights out between them, so that one or two will always be on watch. The most important point will be to find the time or times when the meteors appear thickest. This can, perhaps, be best done, supposing the meteors to come thickly, .by counting the number that appear during one minute, waiting for four minutes, counting the number next minute, waiting four minutes again, and so on. and tabulating the results. This method will require two observers, one to count a.nd the other with a watch. If one observer only is available, the best method would, perhaps, be to use a ntop-watch. 1,11 take the time during which 50 or 100 or 200 ineteors annear, immediately after the even five minutes intervals. Then the observa- tions would be tabulated as follows: — Nov. J.i.2h, a.m. 100 meteors in so many seconds; Nov. 15.—21i. 5m. 100 meteors in so inanv seconds; and so on. of observations may be sent to the Secretary of the As<ronoJ?.!cal Society of Wales, Mia.3 Hagerty, Higher Grade School, Ua-rdiff.

GLASGOW UNIVERsITY SENATE AND LORD BOSBBERY. The proposed Ixanquct to Rosebery by the Glasgow University students, for the 21st inst., has been abandoned, owing to the difficulty in getting .I!'enat to grant th-, Bnh;.h:1J. in the Untver'i y ja^(iiugn) fnr th. (XX}a.tiou.

NEWPORT TEAM PROVIDES A SURPRISE. SWANSEA'S RECORD GONE. A GOOD STAND BY NEATH AGAINST CAIIDIFF. [By "WELSH ATHLETE."] I must confess to a partiality for remini- scence, and I had my lull of it on Saturday, when the Newport team gave a performance that reminded one of their invincible year—the year of Graham's captaincy—the year that con- stituted, to my way of thinking. one of the most glorious annals that the Uskside team have placed on their books. I will confess that I did not anticipate such a result as that of Saturday, for there was no form to warrant my doing so. Yet I might have recollected that Newport, like Swansea, Llanelly, Cardiff —indeed, most of the Welsh teams-were a team of surprises, and a team that have a peculiar habit of burying records and tangling form. The delightful part of Newport's victory was that it leaves the result of the Welsh cham- pionship in some sort of doubt. It is very dull work when any team is so eminently superior to its contemporaries that the championship of a particular country is a certainty for suoh team at the com- mencement of the season. Such seemed likely to be the case with Swansea this season, for on all form Swansea, was head and shoulders above any team in Wales, and the championship seemed a certainty for them. On Saturday the uncertainty, and, conse- quently, the beauty of sport, came in, and now with Newport at the top of the list, and Swan- sea a good second, we may expect to see revived a keenness in Welsh football that has been lacking of kite, and a revival of the interest in the famous Uskaide team; that. too, has not been what it was in Graham's or Gould's time. It is probable also that Cardiff will take heart of grace from SwanBea' defeat, and their draw at Neath, and try to, in turn, lower Newport's record. Newport. however, are a bad lot to beat for a record. There is an esprit de corps about Newport that I have seldom found amongst any other set of players in the country, and when that esprit de corps is aided by a popular captain such as Lloyd undoubtedly is, then it is terrible hard work to defeat that combina- tion. Still, there appears to be no doubt but that Cardiff are improving tremendously. It is mora than one thinks in theit favour to be able to draw with Neath on the Gaoll Grourd. I bave seen Cardiff and the club supporters go down \Tesy full of confidence of defeating Neath, because all form suggested to them that they would do so, and I have seen preconceived notions shattered very badly. This season, I fancy, the Welsh MetroDolitans were by no means confident, yet they Managed to avoid defeat, and in their present form that. I should say, meant a orcod deal, and I don't suggest that Cardiff will manage to defeat New- port this year-at any rate, the Welsh Metro- politans have apparently very little chance of securing the champion ship, but it will not eurprie me if E. Gwyn Nichols and Co., pro- viding they, can improve their half-back nlav, bring off a surprise before the end of the seaa-on. I must confess to a large amount of surprise at the inability of Llanelly to gain a victory over Pontypridd by more than a try to rul, whilst I are afraid that Maesteg has hardly been given due credit in this column, for a ride able to draw with Aberavon must of necessity be near first class. I am delighted, however, to find that they are justifying the good opinion I formed of them earlier in the season. I shall not attempt to explain the peculiarity of tile Llwynypda and Penarth form. Treorky seems to be going none too well, and hardly uphold their league championship. Either that, or Moun- tain Ash are strongly in the running this year. Penygraag, no doubt, realised all expec tationa by defeating Tondu, but Bridgend must be disappointing their supporters in not being able to defeat a Cardiff junior team, viz., if a ok in tosh. I append' for the first time this season my usual record list of the prin- cipal Welsh clubs up to d,ate:- Per- centage of Score for. Score sc. snm»s P. W. I). D. a. T. P. G. T. P. won. Newport.. 7 7 0 0 13 20 121 0 2 6 100 Neath 8 7 0 1 3 12 48 0 1 3 93.75 Swansea.. 9 8 1 0 21 16 152 2 2 13 88.88 Llanelly.. 10 6 4 0 10 12 84 5 5 33 60.00 Cardiff 7 3 3 1 6 8 54 7 2 38 50.00 I should be glad if secretaries of above clubs would check Ibeeo record* ard Bend in any correction that may be necessary. On receiv- ing records from other prominent Welsh teams I shall be delighted to insert them. If one had taken Newport's form up to the Black heath match it would have been difficult to find the slightest reason for suggesting that they would achieve the brilliant victory over Swansea, that they did on Saturday. The difficulty. I take it. would have arisen, first, in the their lack of class three-qaarters; secondly. in the crudeness of their forwards. When I saw Newport play the Merchant Taylors earlier in the saason, it a,ppeared to me tha,t the Newport forwards would have to show a tremendcuo amount of improvement before they could hope to cope E.uccessfally with anything like a clever forward pack. The unexpected improvement has taken place. Whether that improvement be owing to. the lack of experience in the earlier part of the season, or whether it be that some of those clever old forwards, like Boucher, has been taking them in hand, I cannot venture to say. The fact remains all the T,-tmc. however; the improvement has been mafic, and the improvement is pheno- menal. It is some years since I saw a pack of Newport forwards play in the way that the eight did on Saturday. Tiiey were clever, and put their whole souls into their work. They. never made a mistake in their tackling. and, moreover, they ta-ckled in the old style —round the b:;o3—and every time they tackled a man it was unmenticnnble odds on his going do-wn, Their onen work wan marvellously good, too, I thought, and if they could only have shown more cleverness in the loose, that in, in handling, I could have imagined that it wa.s the old Newport pack who, phoenix-like, had arisen from their ashes. Marje you, the Swansea eight were a. wonderfully clever and vigorous eight; they were fit, and put any amount of itt-eam into their work, but it was once again an illus- tra.tion of the old maxim, that a good big 'un is bound to be hotter than a, good little 'an, ajid. if I am any judge, the Newport eight were: man for man, bigger and heavier than the Swansea eight. They were two magnificent sets of forwards opposing, each fit to play for their lives and each deter- mined and "gamp," but, as I say a.bove, it was a question of superior weight telling in Newport's favour. With such a grand pack of forwards, New- port ought to be invincible this year. if they had only a three-quarter of the calibre of Gould or Nicholls. The halves—Lloyd and Phillips-played a lovely game. Behind a winning pack a pair of decent halves can easily he seen to advantage. Lloyd and Phillips's performance, however, can hardly b' put in that way. Their feeding of the three-quarters was perfect enough, it is true, but, in addition to that, their defence and spoiling tactics were simply superb. Times out of number they beat the Swansea pair when the ball came out on the Swansea side of the scrimmage. They repeatedly dribbled right away from them. and. although the, Swansea halves must be congratulated on stopping both Lloyd and Phillips on several occasions, there can be do doubt but that if the matter is looked at carefully and weighed up fairly. Lloyd and Phillips were infinitely the superior pair. They are the best pair of halves playing to-day, I should say, and the couple playing so well al they did ought to take a considerable amount of credit to themselves for blocking their tactics so often. Doing so well at hrlf and forward, many will wonder how it came about that the New- port, score was not larger than it Tan. New- port's failing was at three-quarter. On the two previous occasions T have seen the Usk- siders play thi", season I have expressed the opinion that they are particularly weak in this department—weak, that is. in attack. Their defenca is irreproachable, for they tackled like tigers, and never make the fatal mistake of going for the hall instead of the man. Trying to intercept a, pass comes off occasionally, but on occasions that it. does not a player is blamed for not takjng man. The man for man rule holds pretty good throughout the Rugby world. There are. of course, occasions upon which a Nicholls or a Gould beats the man that goes for him. but. that is not a, mistake, and the man cannot be blamed for it, because he is beat not from lack of his own judgment,, hut from superior cleverness on the part, of his opponent. If. however, a man misinterprets the tactics of an opponent and thinks he is going to inter- cept a pass and in trying to do so lets an opponent slip by him he is guilty of heterodoxy. Neither the Swansea or Newport three-quarters made that mistake on Saturday. Every time they went for the man, and their tactics always proved correct. With a Gould or a Nicholls on either side the opposition might rot have been so successful. As afore I fancy the Swansea quartette was the best, and their inability to score may be accounted for by the failure of their forwards and halves. At full-back me cannot pr.ssibly do aught but congratulate young Boots upon the brilliancy of his play. Taking the game from start to finish I don't recollect a single mistake of his. Indeed, I think I may go so far as to say that his performance was perfect. He was never called upon for much in the way of tackling, it is true, but his work all round was simply magnificent. He never failed to field the ball, and I don't think that on a dozen occasions throughout the game he failed to find touch, and that, too, with perfect' length, for his punts generally utilised every inch of ground before going outside. His performance stamped him as a back of exceptional merit, a back that, if his form continues, will uphold the best reputation of the Newport Club and claim for him due consideration at ths hands of the Welsh Rugby Union Com- mittee. Bancroft strove manfully to avert defeat. He tricked and dodged the Newport forwards in great style, and times out of number he cleared his lines in what- must have been the most provoking manner to the Newport forwards. But for him the sore against Swansea must have been much lnrger than it was. He probably, however, SdW a strong rival to him in the field on Saturday, saw and appreciated, for nwcroft is ever willing to acknowledge in the heartiest terras the ability of aa opponent. Newport now enjoys a record, and, like Swansea, they will taka tremendous amount of robbing of it, for. to repeat myself, a wonderful esprit de corps exists between them. My Swansea correspondent- writes:—I con- gratulate Newport on their victory on Satur- day, which, I think, shows that eastern foot- ball has been under-estimated this season. At, Swansea credit is generally given to New- port for their victory, which was on their merits on the day's form. The Swansea three-quarters appear to have cut up badly, and those of Newport were as good a>3 ever. The record is gone early, and many people do not, regret it. The Swansea second string got some sort of revenge by decisively beating Newport Seconds the same day. There wa-3 no com- parison between the junior football of the two towns. The game between Neath and Cardiff (my correspondent writes) was one of those disappointing contests, robbed of interest because of the unfortunate and serious acci- dents which happened to C. Powell and J. Linnard. The former retired in the first half with a broken collar-bone, and the latter at the beginning of the second with a dis- located shoulder. Their absence disorganised the Neath team as far as attack was con- cerned. and, of course, made their defence less effective. In the circumstances, everyone thought that Cardiff would gain an easy victory. But., strange to say. the Neath six forwards played a, wonderful game, and time after time beat off the attacks of the Cardiff eight. and rushed well into the visitors' ground. In the scrimmages, too, the Cardiff forwards could not control the ball. When they did heel out the pass- ing of Sweet-Escott was so si oven'y thai the three-quarters were pounced upon before they could do any good. With an unimpaired back division there can be no doubt that Car- diff should have won, and won by a substan- tial score. But Cardiff are not the Cardiff of old. They had much the better of the play in,the second half, but there was not that sting in their attack which one expected to find. The feature of the game was the brilliant defence of the Neath men. Cardiff came very near scoring on one or two occasions, but Joe Davies was ubiquitous. His kicking was, perhaps, not quite so good as Winfield's, but his defence was very fine indeed. He tackled unerringly and fielded the slippery ball with precision. Winfield played a flue game, but he had not near the work to do that Joe Davies had. Probably neither ha nor Ban- croft would have come out of tha ordeal so successfully. Gwyn Nicholls was the saviour of his side in the first half, for time after t.ime he 'stopped t.h.e rushes of the home for- wards and punted powerfully into touch. In the second half he struggled hard to gain Cardiff the victory, but he was badly sup- ported by his colleagues, neither of whom is good enough for Cardiff. Iu fact, the only man of the back division who showed any- thing like form besides Gwyn Nicholls was KosLei 1 at half, and he, ain, had a weak partner in Sweet-Escott. One hardly knows what to say about the home baclca. They were doing very well until circumstances necessitated a re-arrangement, find after that they were souxd in defence. Harry Jones and Bill Jones were, perhaps, the pick. The most prominent forwards in the Cardiff pack were O'Neill and Wheeler, while D. H. Davies and Howell Jones were similarly distinguished on the other side. In the circumstances, Neath were quite "satisfied with, a drawn game. That they would have won but for the accidents is my firm belief. For their return fixture with Llwynypia Penarth, perforce, had to journey up to the Rhondda town with four second team men. The home club were more fortunate, and turned out a full team. Under these circum- stanoes, it need hardly be said that. the call of time saw the Rhondda men go off with a thlrt«»n-point lead. The game throughout was of a miserable character, the heavy noon- tide showers having spoiled all chances of accurate play. Practically all the work was done by the forwards, "nd wa's confined gene- rally to kicking and scrimmaging. D. Sellings was in rare good form, and on half-a-dozen occasions made openings which only the bad state of the ground and the ball prevented from ending in a score. W. Alexander, who was responsible for two of the three tries, was a tower of strength to his side, and aeemed as surefooted in the mud as on dry ground. Kirby was. perhaps, the best man on the Penarth side, though all played a plucky np- hi): game, and stuck well to their task to the end. The match between the tin-platers and the colliers (says my correspondent) further em- phasises the untrugtworfchiness of public opinion. Even at Pontypridd it was felt that only one team would be in it, and that would not be Pontypridd. But this, as was pointed out. on Saturday, I was not prepared to admit, and tho result, a. win by a lucky try for Llan- elly. fully justified the remark. It was the keen, dogged defence of the home team, and, possibly, a few mulls by the visiting wings, which prevented the score being more than it was. Comparing the packs, one would say that the visitors excelled in the scrum, although the home team held the advantage in trickling and aggressive work. At half there was little to choose, although Ben Davies's individual play was a geod way superior to either Chick's or Llewelyn's. The general opinion was that Jones, the home CUR- todian, played a far better game than Richards. But it should not be forgotten that the visiting back's services on the defensive were oftener in demand than those of Jones. On the day's form a draw would, in my opin.ion, have been a fair criterion of the. merits of the teams, for it is generally conceded that "Shajnse" Moore's brilliant run was far more de«erving •f a. try than Davies's.

THE MERCANTILE MARINE FOOD AND ACCOMMODATION OF SEAMEN. A good many complaints have rightly or wrongly been made lately a.bout the f6od and accommodation provided for seamen on some of our merchant ships, and we understand that Mr. Ritchie. who is leaving the Board of Trade for the Home Office, and whose keen interest in the mercantile marine is well known, has had the question under consideration, and contemplated the appointment of a Committee to investigate the subject, a.nd to report whether any amendment of the law with regard to it is neoaBRary or not: The matten is one of very considerable importance, and will, no doubt, engage the attention of Mr. Ritchie's successor at the Board of Trade.

IRISIH LORD-LTEUTENAXCY. EARL CADOGAJT TO CONTINUE. The Dublin representative of the Press Association is authorised to state that Earl Cadogan has consented to continue for a further period to fill the office of Lord-lieutenant of Ireland. His Excel- lency will return to the Viceregal Lodge to-day (Monday). Mr. George Wyndham, the new Chief Secretary for Ireland, has arrived in Dublin.

EPPYNT HILL SHEEP DOG TRIALS. At the third annual competition of sheep dog trials at Cwmoweh (Eppynt Hill) awards were given a3 follows:— Open to all-comers: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd divided between. J. R. Davies, Llanwrtyd: Evan Wil- liams, Eppynt Hill; and Joseph Evans, Breeon; th. Edward Lloyd. Builth. Open to all sheep dogs that have not pre- viously won a prize: 1st and 2nd divided between E. T. Jones, Builth, and J. Jones, Llanwrtyd (Mon.); 3rd,.T. D. Powell, Builth; 4th. Joseph Evans, Brecon. Live-weight competition (sheep 84|Ib.): 1st, Joseph Evans. Brecon; 2nd, W. Davies, Builth.

In reply to a telegram sent by the Mayor of Cardiff on Friday congratulating his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on attaining his fifty-ninth birthday, his Worship on Saturday morning received » of thanks from his Royal HighneB. ¡

Oen. French to Com- mand Johannesburg. Deiarey and Botha Holding Back. PRETORIA, Saturday. General French has left for Johannesburg, with two brigades, to take over the command of that district. General Mahou will command the cavalry brigade. he death of Colonel Le Gallais has caused an universal feeling of grief in the army. He was a gallant soldier, and invariably handled his troops with SUCCCE3. It is a curious fact that he had a constant presentiment of death, and never believed that he would live to see tha end of the campaign. The district around Rustenburg is filled with sniping parties of Boers, mostly belonging to Delarey's commando. Prisoners taken there state that both Delarey and Botha refuse to take aggressive action, and merely remain on the def?nsive awaiting the result of Steyn's and De Wet's effofts.—Press Association War Special. TRACKING TREACHERY, JOHANNESBURG, November 6. A reward of £1.000 ha.s been offered for the apprehnsion of a man named Bell, wh,) is believed to have been directly implicated in the shooting of two men of Compton's Horse at Klipfontein, and to be associated with small parties of the enemy to the north-west of here. —Press Association War Spec'al. PHILIPPOLIS RE-OCCUPIED A BOER BOOK ON THE WAR. BLOEMEONTEIN, Saturday. Philippolis was re-occupied by the British at eleven o'clock on the morning of the 8th inat., after fodr hours' fighting. The question of raising a Volunteer corps has been favourably dil;cU!S8Cd. A policeman was found shot at Thaba N'Ohu on the 8th inst.. His horse and equipment were missing. Mr. Paul Botha, who sat as member for Kroonstad in the late Volksraad, is proceeding to Caps Town to arrange for the publication of a book addressed to the Boers on t.he subject of the war and the responsibility of Ever leaders who 1Jrouht it abont. It is expected to cause a seneation.—Press Association War Special. H A MI I/foFs" MARCH. BRUCE HAMILTON'S CAMP, RUMBERG SPRUIT, Saturday. General Bruce Hamilton's column marohed from Kroonstad tc-day and camped here. Natives report that the enemy are en- trenched at Doornkop, about five miles further towards Lindley. We expect to get in touch with them to-morrow.—Pres3 Association War Special. A SWImTOR LIFE. EERSCHEL, Friday. Farrier sergeant major Campbell, of Kitchener's Horse, who arrived here yesterday, reports that while travelling from Basutoland with wagons he and a companion were held up by Boers near Trol-lip's Stores. Campbell escaped, and, jumping into the Orange River, swam across und-er a heavy rifle fire. Some special police watched the proceedings, but did not reply to the enemy's shots. Boers have been reported at Koosberg, between here and Rouxville, and a commando is said to be moving on Zastron.—Press Asso- ciation War S}}eciàl. RUNDLE'S OPERATIONS. HARRISMITH. Friday. General Rundle, who has been operating in this neighbourhood for soma time past, has now cleared the district for miles around of Boer raiding parties. Natives have brought in reports that 600 Boers have taken up a position on the Mill River with the intention of destroying the railway bridge at Albertina, thereby cutting off Harrismith from Natal.—Central News. THORNEYCROFT'S HORSE. PIETERMARITZBURG. Saturday. Colonel Thomeycroft has arrived here for the purpose of superintending recruiting for his famous corps. Most, of the men have signed on for the remainder of the war, and have been granted a month's furlough. Tliorneycroft's Horpe will be attached to General Frsnch's command next month.— Central News. DEATø OF BOER GENERALS BLOEMFONTEIN, Friday. The Boer General Gravett died at Roo- sonekal, in the Transvaal, on the 26th of October, from inflammation, supervening upon a wound inflicted by a. shell. He was 42 years of age. General Sprayt has been appointed his successor.—Renter's Special. CAPE TOWN. Sunday. In there-cent engagement near Belfast the losses of the Boera included Commandant Prinaloo and General Fourie killed, and General Grobelaar wounded. A number of other minor successes on the part of the British troops are rwpo 'ted from several loca- lities.—Rexiter. A SERIES 0F SUCCESSES CAPE TUWN, Sunday. The troops, both in the Transvaal and in tho Orange River Colony, have been very active during the 1at few days, and have defeated the Boera wherever they have come into con- tact with them. Lord Methnen has surprised Snyman and Verinaak between Ottoshoop and Lichtenburg, inflicting some losses, and capturing several wagons. A tent of the King's Royal Rifle Corps has driven off a Boer attack made upon Philip- polis after ths re-occupation of that place. The Boers retreated in rn directions, leaving three of their number wounded on the field. Onr casualties numbered eight. In a successful night attack made by Briga- dier-general Kitchener near Middelberg a force of Huesars charged the Boers by moonlight, eabreing many of them. They were well sup- ported by the mounted infantry of the Man- chester Regiment, who covered their retire- ment from some broken ground. Reinforce- ments oame up in the morning, and the com- bined troops then completely routed the I enemy. Colonel Plumer has repulsed an attack made by 400 men of Delary's commando. On the 8th inst. two parties of mounted infantry from RhenosteT and Serfontein made a night expedition, in which they suc- ceeded without loss in bringing in two pri- soners, some cattle, and a number of bags of oorn.— Press Association War Special. ALLEGED ENGLISH BARBARITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA. A congress attended by 800 women met on Sunday at Paarli (South Africa), and passed resolutions protesting against alleged bar- barities of the English. RETURN OF THE LONGMAN HOSPITAL. DURBAN, Saturday. The field-hospital which was raised, equipped, and sent fo South Africa at the sole expense of Mr. Longman, of London, is returning to England on the transport Yorkshire. Tho hospital arrived at Oape Town last March in charge of a son of the donor, a lieutenant in the Yeomanry. It followed Lord Roberts's advance with 100 beds, subsequently increased to 150 at Bloemfontein.—Central News. RETURN OF ROYAL MARINES A detachment of Royal Marines, numbering about thirty men. who formed part of the Naval Brigade which accompanied Lord Roberts's force to Pretoria, arrived at Chatham on Sunday afternoon. Many thousand spectators assembled at the railway- station and along the route to the garrison to welcome the bluejackets, and much enthu- siasm prevailed. The Royal Marines Band played the party into the barracks, where the men were given an equally enthusiastic recep- tion. INVALIDED SOLDIERS RETURN TO BRECON. Private Trevor Thomas, of the Volunteer Active Service Compa.ny of the South Wales Borderers, and Private John, of the 3rd Bat- talion South Wales Borderers, met with a hearty reception on their return home to Brecon on Saturday night. Hundreds of people assembled at the railway station, among them being Colonel Morgan, Captain D. V. Rees, and Sergeant-major Le Oaplain. Upon alighting from the train both men were carried shoulder-high to a carriage which waa in waiting, and, headed by a band. a large torchlight procession marched through the town to the Northcote Constitutional Club, whore both men were entertained to a. dinner, after which a short convivial meeting was held. Colonel Morgan presided. The health of the gallant soldiers was proposed by Captain Rees, and enthusiastically received. Thomas is a corporal in the A Company let Volunteer Battalion South Wales Borderers, and has lived in Brecon for some years, where he is well known and respected. Private John is a native of Cilfynydd, Pontypridd. Both were Invalided home.

Reported Death of theEsnprmBowapr St,. Petersburg, Saturday.—The "Novoe Vrejnya". publishes a dispatch from Vladi- vostok k, dated November 3, stating that news has been received there of the death of the Eaipress-Dowager ou China—Reuter. ABERDEEN MISSIONARY KILLED. Information reached Aberdeen Oil Saturday that the Rev. William Adam M'Currach, one of the Baptist Missionary Society's represen- tatives, and his wife have been massacred by the "Boxers" in China. The telegram, which ia dated Chefoo, states that M'Currach and other missionaries were killed on the 9th of August. CHINESE OFFICIALS BEHEADED. A Renter's telegram from Peking, dated Saturday, says that the three officials, Tien Yong, provincial treasurer; General Wei Shun Kon, commanding the troops; and Colonel Kin, commanding the cavalry, who wera sen- tenced to death by a military tribunal for their connection with the massacre, have been beheaded. Their heads were exposed on poles for one day. PEACE NEGCITATIONS—PROBABLY A MATTER OF YEARS. Peking. Thursday.—Although the foreign Ministers state that their meetings have been. perfectly harmonious and that on all points which have been discussed they practically agreed, there is every reason for believing that they have not yet proceeded beyond the most elementary qiiestions even as regards a pre- liminary settlement. I know that one most important subject, namely, that of indemni- ties, has not even been discussed. There appears to be every probability that the nego- tiations arising out of the recent occurrences will become a matter of years, instead of months. GERMANY COUNTS THE COST. Berlin, Saturday—The evening papers state that estimates for the expenses of the East Asiatic expedition up to March 31 next have been submitted to the Federal Council in the form of a third supplementary estimate. Altogether 15?.,770.000 marks are asked for in the form of a credit. The present Biil has appended to it a memorial setting forth the political necessity of the expedition, and givea the strength of the German China force as 863 officers and higher officia.13, and 13.739 soldiers and subordinate officials, with 5.579 hori- es.—R eut tjr. Tho extraordinary estimate includes t.ha sundry 3,800,000 marks for pensions. THE MASSACRE OF MISSIONARIES. The Baptist Missionary Society have received the following message from one of their mis. sionaries. the Rev. J. P. Brace, B.A., dated Chefoo, November 8:- "13hai-Si messenger returned, confirms Tai- Yuan-Fu massacre, Pigotts included. Reports Dixons, M'Guvrachs, Underwoods. Renaut, Ennels left Hsin-Chou for save in hills 29th June. found them armed 21st July. and returned, not daring attack. Official went with &oldie?s promised to escort to coast. Missionaries, already five days without food. came out. 'Taken to Hsin-Chou. imprisoned till August 9th, then killed inside city gate." RUSSIA HANDING OVER THE RAILWAY. TIENTSIN, Friday. As the result of pressure brought to bear at St. Petersburg, Russia is officially handing over the railway to Count Von Waldersee, who will, doubtless, hand it over to Mr. Kinder. Besides Russia, Belgium is also appro- priating land for a settlement.—Reuter.

WAR FUNDS EXHAUSTED The Co'onial Office have communicated te the Lord Mayor of London a telegram from Sir Alfred Milner, stating that he has funds which will support the refugees now on relief for about two months, but that the relief was confined to women and children and decrepit persons. Consequently, there was great distress, espe- cially mong those of the better class whose funds were now exhausted. The Mansion House Fund in London is exhausted, and unless further donations are received the support to tefugees in this country will have to be discontinued. Down to Saturday night the Indian Famine Fund amounted to and the Mansion House Fund for the Transvaal War sufferers exceeded £1,024.000.

CARMARTHENSHIRE FAR- STRANGE CONDUCT. POINTS A LOADED GUN AT TWO BAILIFFS. DEFENDANT ESCORTED TO PRISON. At Carmarthen County Petty sessions on Saturday M,r. J. D. Medcalf and Mr. David Thomas, bailiffs of the Carmarthen County- court, applied under separate summonses for sureties of the peace against Mr. John Lewia Thomas, Green Castle, Abergwili, late of Wann- llanan, a man well known throughout the district. The latter applicant also charged defendant with assault whilst in the execution of his duty. Mr. James John, solicitor, appeared for the plaintiffs, and defendant conducted his own case. The evidence was to the effect that on Sat nr. day, November 3, the two bailiffs went to Aber gwili to serve defendant with a warrant for debt, and they were accompanied by the creditor (Mr. Daniels, Oefngwyn, Llanegwad). who pointed out a horse to them as being defendant's property, and which they should seize. When they were trying to catch the horse defendant's wife came into the field and protested that the animal was her personal property, and not her husband's. The latter then appeared on the scene, and. taking hold of Bailiff Thomas, forcibly evicted him from the field. He then tried to catch Medcalf, but failed, whereupon he shouted, "Wait a bit, you I'll fetch my gun and shoot the both of you." He went into the house, and, coming out with a double-barrelled gun, delibe- rately loaded the two chambers. Then, going towards the bailiffg, he pointed tha muzzle-at Medcalfs breast (about five yards away), and shouted, "Now, then, will you go?" Medcalf moved backwards a step or two, whereupon defendant fired the two charges into the air. He then pat in another cartridge and fired that also, and called upon Romeone to bring him more cartridges. The bailiffs then thought it advisable to leave. The Bench bound defendant over to keep the peace for six months, himself in £100 and two sureties of £50 a-piece in each case, or a total bail of £ 400.—Defendant said he could not find such heavy bail, and he was removed to her Majesty's prison. The assault case was withdrawn.

MR. BALFOUR ON VOLUNTARY SCHOOLS. Opening a Church bazaar in his constituency at Manchester on Saturday, Mr. Â. J. Balfour, M.P., said they all believed in the great neces- sity of maintaining voluntary schools, and held that this duty necessarily involved a corresponding effort on the part of those who supported thÐ schools. They mut. not be cen- tent, with saying thought, the voluntary system necessary and the most expedient ele- ment in the national" education; they must carry into effect the schemes and the theories in which they professed belief. They could not allow this great system to fall into desuetude and decay. In urban districts they had an uphill ba.ttle to fight, and yet it was in those districts that the system made itself splen- didly felt. Resolutions were passed as to the necessity of previous experience for all teachers placed in elementary schools, and rejoioing that, central training schools for pt1pH teachers had been established.

PRIMATE ON TEMPERANCE PROGRESS. Addressing a meeting of the Church of Eng- land Temperance Society at the Westminster Town-hall on Saturday night, the Archbishop of Canterbury disputed the assertion that the services of speakers who on public platforms advocated the temperance canse were better than any other assistance that could be ren- dered to the movement. Whilst speakers were of real value, the threat mass of work still remained to be done by their hearers. The increase in their numbers had made a. deep impression on the nation. In fact. Although it wa.s a difficult task, he did believe the day would come when even Lord Salis- bury would be reached by the fact that their ranks were swelling to the disadvantage ut their ogwouent* I