Rhyl Journal

I A FATHER'S INHUMANITY. SCANDALOUS SEQUEL TO A STARVED WIFE'S DEATH. Richard Bingham Sheridan, a mining agenl, wlio is said to be well-known in (lie City, w;b placed in a very nnfavoui able light when he appeared at the South-Western Police Court charged at the instance of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelly to Children with cruelly neglecting his two sons, Richard find John, boys of eight and nine respectively. The defendant's wife died two years ago, mid at tlie inquest a sad story of married misery was revealed. II appeared that from ID5 to 1897 i Mrs. Sheridan and the children were in a slate of poverty due to the man's drunken and dissipated habits. A sum of £3,50U was brought to hilll under the wife's marriage settlement, and it was subsequent to this that the unfortunate woman was found in deep poverty and on the verge of starvation. Had it not been for kind friends the children would have in all probability followed in the footsteps of their unhappy mother. The evidence given at the police-court showed that the boys wele allowed to lapse into a fright- ful condition of dirt and neglect, while the father absented himself from his residence in Tooting nearly all day, returning at midnight in a state of intoxication. Mr. Garrett sentenced Sheridan to two months' ituprisonmentin the second division, and allowed the society to have the custody of the children, the piisoner to contribute 10s. weekly towards their maintenance. It was slated that lie had an income of 1:75 a year.

THIRTY PERSONS LOSE THEIR LIVES AT PANAMA. The Herald publishes a dispatch from Panama stating that the s.s. Montoya has been burned in the Magdalen a River, and that of 50 passengcis on board only 20 escaped. Senor ltengifo, formerly Columbian Secretary of the Treasury and now Minister to Ecuador, was among the victims.

PICKING UP SILVER. SURPRISING DISCOVERY WHICH LED TO A RAILWAY SERVANTS ARREST. At Worship Street Police Court, a young man wlllled A tbert Edward Johnson.acarmanin the employ of the Great Eastern Hailway, was charged, Oil remand, with having stolen 14 wooden cases. It was explained that the cases were empties which the prisoner sold to a wood dealer in Bonner Street, Betlmal Green, for a sitiii, iiid pocketed the proceeds. The railway company would not have known anything of the mat let but that the buyer of the cases, finding in one of tltem silvcr goods, small epergnes, &c., gave information to file police. The goods were said to be valued at £35. Mr. Corset said that the buyer of the cases had certainly acted honestly in bringing tlte fillll to the iiotice of the police, but in buying the cases was wrong, as he ought to have known they were not allowed to be sold. The prisoner was sentenced to six weeks' hard labour.

6 The finest Coffee Essence that o <5 money can buy is Symington's Edin- b b burgh Coffea Essence. Makes a cup in a moment. From Grocers through- g out the world. 3 d

HEAVY LOCKJAW MORTALITY. There has been over a dozen deaths reported in New York and vicillity during the last: few days from tetanus, the victims almost invariably being schoolboys, mid the cause of the disease wounds 10111 toy pis|()|8) pen-knives, and fireworks during the rouitli of July celebiation. • i \i i"'e .c"se* »»li-t"xin serum was injected into I ie "in, but two of Ihe patients died after n bi let n» My, and the Uiird uow in a critical | condition.

CHILD MYSTERY AT BRISTOL. A child's mummified body has been found 111 the garret of a lodging-house at Grace's Court, Great George Street, Bristol. At the inquest the doctor said that it was impossible to say what was the cause of death. The child had piobably been dead over a. year. It appeared not to have been newly born. A girl named Mary Ann Davis and a Mr. and Mrs. Scammcll were loilgei-S in tlife house. Mr. Scammell was now in prison. When Mrs. Scammell was asked what she had in the garret she said, "Nothing," but later remarked, Whoever has told oil iiie It w as alleged that this spare garret was used by Scammell for shoeniaking. All this Mrs. Scannneli repudiated. The inquest was adjourned.

A YOUNG WIFE'S ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. A matrimonial romance was unfolded at Black, burn Police Court the other day. A young married woman, named Goldberl, charged her husband with desertion. He was remanded on bail. One lIight the husband, seeing his wife being driven in a cab towards the canal, followed, and arrived Oil the canal bank just in tillle to assist in rescuing his spouse from the water, into which site had thrown herself. Both parties appeared before the magistrates, and were given a chance to settle their differences.

PAUPER'S BANKING ACCOUNT. At a meeting ot IheLlanelly Board of Guardians it was reported that an outdoor pauper named Sarah Jones, of Furnace, in receipt of 6s. weekly relief, had X120 in the Post Office Savings Bank. The production of the bank book, showing an increase in the savings since the relief had been granted, aroused the indignation of the board. Fortunately only a few weeks had elapsed since the relief commenced, and it was unanimously decided to compel Mrs. Jones to refund the money she had received from the parish funds.

THE BLACK COUNTRY CINDER MOUNDS. The coiiiitles;, hillocks of waste cinders, from extinct blast-furnaces, which overspread the Black Country landscape, are steadily being removed,andwhat has hitherto been regarded as waste refuse is now being profitably utilised. The Midland Railway Company, for example, have acquired the huge cinder mound, 011 the late site of the fnnHHes of Messrs. Fletcher, Solly, and Urwick, at Willenhall, which contains tens of thousands of tons of cinder, which they are now engaged in breaking up and using for metalling their trunk lines. Ihe cinder heaps in other parts of the district are being utilised in various ways, and will henceforth steadily dis- appear from view. So the "mammoth oyster- shells," as Charles Dickens used to call them, will soon become as extinct as the antiquated blast-furnaces which produced them. The i-estilb will be a clearing of some hundreds of acres of land in the district now not only useless bub hideous, and this large area will be available for building purposes, so that altogether the cinder heaps will turn out to be of great economic value to the Black Country. ONE YEAR'S LONDON FIRES. The net cost of the London Fire Brigade to the ratepayers last year, according to the County Council's annual report, was E197,000. The brigade attended 3,585 fires, of which only 205 were classell "serious." The number of occa- sions on which life was lost was 85, and 98 per- sons perished. The Fire Brigade Committee comment on the large number of false alarms given at the alarm posts by school children or maliciously disposed persons.

W HAT STARTED AMERICAN ENGINEERING COMPETITION? Engineering expresses the belief that it was the bicycle trade that chiefly opened the eyes of United States manufacturers to the rich harvest there was to be reaped in Great Britain by the sale of automatic machine tools. The modern cycle demands in its manufacture the production of large numbers of similar parts it, therefore, calls especially for those automatic machine tools of a description for which American designers have always been famous. We (Engineering) have on several occasions described American machinery of this nature. The Americalls who came to sell bicycle machinery soon found there were other sources of demand open to their enterprise, and they commenced an active canvass in other fields, especially when the cycle trade begun to fall off. In this way English machine-tool makers found themselves face to face with a foreign competition of a magnitude they had never before experienced. Some few manufacturers were wise enough at once to determine that it was only by complete reorganisation of their works that they could expect to maintain the hold they had previously gained on the English market, and they are beginning to reap the reward. Others obviously Qlúèt follow it is the only remedy.

THE MOST NUTRITIOUS. EPPS'S GRATEFUL-COM FORTI NQ. COCOA BREAKFAST AND SUPPER.

TREDEGAR IRONWORKER KILLED. A blower named Charles Lee was killed at tha Tredegar Ironworks during blasting operations. Ilis head and foot were blown off. It is believed; Lee was too long in getting away after the train, of powder had been started. He leaves a widow, and four children. Strangely enough his widow's first husband was killed at the same spot nndec exactly similar circumstances. 3

The Watford police have in custody a lad fmi stealing about E30 iu gold, the property of hia father, a labouring man. He said be had hidden the money under a railway aich» but it has not been found. «

CHILDREN BURNED TO DEATH. Annie Stromal), the five-year-old daughter of a bamboo worker, of Hi, Seymour Road, Etiston Square, was left one day with two younger children. Slie played with matches and paper, and burnt herself, subsequently dying in Univer- sity College Hospital.—Ellen Foord, aged nine, the daughter of a frencli polisher, of 15, Rodney Street, Pentonville, at the request of an elder sister poured some water into a saucepan beside the fire. Her clothing became ignited, she was badly burned, and died in the Iloyal Free Hos- pital. Verdicts of "Accidental death" was returned.

A FAMILY OF SEVETY-THREE PERSONS. There has just passed away, at Eriswell, near Bury St. Edmunds, the oldest inhabitant of the village, Mrs. Moss,in her ninety-seventh year. She had three children living whose ages amounted to 194 years-uamely, Mr. Horrex, of Lakenheath, uged seventy-one Mr. S. Moss, of Eriswell, •iixty-six and Mr. David Moss, of Leeds, aged fifty-seven years. Deceased was grandmother to twenty-seven and great-grandmother to forty-one children, and as far as is known to the family great-great-grandmother to two, making a total of seventy-three individuals.

CITY CYCLING OFFENDERS. During the twelve months ended on Saturday the number of cyclists summoned for offences 3om mi tied in London amounted to 94 compared with 79 during the previous year. Eighty-seven were cases of riding to the common danger, and 37 persons were collided with, as against 73 and 59 respectively during the previous like period. The penalties imposed amounted to f44 2s. 3ompared with £ 33 17s. The practice of giving false addresses remains rife, and nearly all offenders are taken to the police-station and kept there until their correct addresses are discovered. The defendants included a London County Councillor, and amongst those narrowly escaping injury was a City alderman. The persons who got in the way of the riders were 12 ladies, nine gentlemen, eight policemen, four small children, two boys, one girl, and one cyclist. Four drivers of vehicles were fined for running down cyclists.

AMERICAN OFFICER SENTENCED. Cnpl aill Carter, of the Corps of Engineers and formerly United States Military Attache in Lon- don, has been sentenced by court-martial to dis- missal from the service, to live years' imprison- ment with hard labour, and to a fille of 5,000dols. The prisoner was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with the work under his supervision. Mr. McKinley has approved of the senlence.

HYDROFLUORIC ACID TAKEN IN FOOLERY BY A PAINTER ENDS FATALLY. An inquiry was held at Wimbledon as to the death of Joseph Wilson Hollyer, 51, sign-writer, lately residing at 31, Canterbury Road, New Cross. Ellen HoUyer, the widow, said that deceased had not been steady llnring I he past fortnight. In his business he used hydrofluoric acid, which on account of its great strength, being the most powerful acid known, was kept in an imliarubber bottle. He knew it was a deadly poison. Mary Smith, barmaid fit the Prince of Wales' Hotel, said she served deceased and a friend with some stout and mild. Hollyer was quite sober, and told witlless that lie had sOllie glycerine ill an indiarubber bottle, at the same time asking her for a glass and saying he would give her some for her hands. He poured some of the liquid out, diluted it with water, and put the glass to his lips. Remarking that it was too strong he added more water, and a little later witness noticed that his face was very white and "clammy," and his friend, who had been out and returned, fetched some millc. Henry Earl also spoke to deceased's sobriety. Witness left him for a few minutes, and upon his return found that he was very ill. He said he had taken the acid before, but had now taken 100 strong a dose. He ridiculed the idea of sending for a doctor, and said the milk would kill the acid. The coroner said it was difficult to believe that any person could take the smallest quantity of this acid, which was so powerful that it would cat its way through glass. A nurse at the Wimbledon Collage Hospital stated that deceased said he took t he acid for a bit of foolery. He died an hour after hi;, admission. Dr. Brabyn said there was not a recorded death from hydrofluoric poisoning, so he could not say what would constitute the 4iiiallest fatal dose. A verdict of "Death by misadventure" was returned.

IN BED WITH A CORPSE. A revolting story was told at the Newingtou Coroner's Court the other day. The death of a woman whose name is unknown was under inquiry. She had lived for 20 years with Thomas Kidney, a printer's labourer, of 2, Hijlcary Road, Walworth. Both parties were addicted to drink. One morning Kidney woke up to find the woman dead. He went out for a walk, returned, had some food, -tiid later in the day was seen in bed with his face nestled beside the corpse. It was only when the neighbours told the police that any steps were taken for the woman's burial. The doctor who was called said that in his opioipn death had ensued 24 hours or more, decpnijiositlbH having set in. The body was indescribably filthy. Death was due to syncope from gastro-enteritis, accelerated by excessive alcoholism. The doroner said it was useless to censure a man lilil6 Kidney.

FIND OF OLD COINS IN RUSSIA. An important archaeological find of old coins has been made on an estate near Kieff. The coins were sixteen in number, fifteen of them proving to be Byzahtine of the tenth and eleventh centuries, and one belonging to the Western Khalifale. According to the learned Russian archajologist Professor Antonovitcb, the Byzantine coins, many of which are of concave shape, belong to periods ranging from 963, when Nikophor I l. reigned, to 1042, when Constantine XII. ascended the throne, while the coin of the Western Ivhalifate is declared to belong to the time of Khalifa Yakhya of the ] £ hdimondidofi dynasty—namely, about 1033 of the Christian era.

POCKET-KNIFE AS SPUR. At Melksham a young farmer named Bricker, living at lleddington, was sent to prison for a month's hard labour for stabbing a donkey with a knife. Defendant was a competitor in a donkey race in some sports at Seend. The conditions of the race were that no spur or whip was to be used. After the race the withers of Bricker's donkey wife seen to be covered with blood. In reply to a policeman defendant produced a pocket-knife covered with blood, which he had evidently used to quicken the animal's pace.

HOME OF THE CAVENDISHES. Blacklands Hall, Suffolk, which is close to Cavendish Station, and only seven miles from Sudbury, is shortly to be sold by auction in London. Blacklands Hall, which is a mansion in the early English style, was the native place of the Duk es of Devonshire, whose family was founded in 1381 by Sir John De Cavendish, who was Chief Justice of the King's Bench in 1381. The family takes its name from the village.

A Dublin telegram announces the death of the Right Hon. JOIIII Monroe, ex-judge of the Land JudgesCourt in Ireland, who retired from the Bench several years ago in consequence of ill-health.

E-1.000 BoN-us would not bn thought too laiuc an amount to pay for the blessing of health by many wret died sufferers" who day by day and night are tortured with the racking pains peculiar to gout and rheumatism. Relief, however, can be procured ilt a lIlnch les cost by the aid of Holloway's Pills and Ointment. The former are of so purifying a nature, that a few doses taken in time are an effectual preventive against an attack of either. The Ointment should be thoroughly rubbed into the parts effected at least twice a day after they have been sutli- ciently fomented with warm water, which opens the pores and facilitates the introduction of the Ointment to the glands.

LUNATIC'S TALE OF RUDBEUY. A11 English lady of eccentric manners, who arrived iL OsLeiitt from Dover, complained to the police that she had been robbed of Iler pllrse, port- manteau, bicycle, and other belongings. An inquiry proved, however, that she arrived without any of these articles, and :i iiiefl examination showed thai ihe lady was She is now detained a.l a. hospital.

GLEANINGS. Two English people were injured in a collision of two electric trams at llilllllo. Tliirly-iiiiie fi-esli cases of yellow fever and one death have occurred at Key West. The Cambenvell Guardians reporL that the cost of keeping the parish lunatics has risen from £ 13,500 in 1896 to E19,600 in the present year. Arrangements have been completed with the Russo-Chinese Bank for a loan of 1,200,000 taels, for I he construction of the Lungchau-Nanningfu Railway. AbodyofarmedBhitsrecentlyraidedthecoun. try iietir Khergaum. They were overtaken by a force of police and infantry, and lost a hundred men killed and wounded. Wallace Burton,33,of Liverpool-road, Islington, was remanded at Clerkenwell Police-court charged with stabbing Thomas Woodcock,furniture dealer, in a dispute over money. The Brest-to-Paris express went off the rails the other day, and M. Milleraud, Minister of Commerce, who, with his wife and child, was in the train, was severely shaken. A diminutive urchin of twelve, named John Parsons, who unsuccessfully attempted to cut his throat because he said lie preferred death to going to school, was remanded at Stratford. Building has commenced at Manchester (New Hampshire) 011 what will be the largest cotton mill in the world. It is to measure 1,600ft. long, 100ft. wide, and will be four stories high. The car-drivers, Corlettand Kelly,were charged on remand at Douglas, Isle of Man, with the murder of Mrs. Gallswoithy. Kelly was dis- charged, and Corlett was committed for trial. It is reported that General Castro has established a provisional Government at Valencia, and that the troops at Puerto Cabello have been reinforced by 2,500 men. Affairs are said to bo more settled. On a charge of stealing money and jewellery to the value of C160 from Sarah Eppe, of High.street, Poplar, with whom he formerly lodged, a man named Joseph Keech was remanded at the Thames Police-court. The body of a child about two years of age has been discovered in the Thames off Church Dock, Battersea. The body was tied up, the head had been battered, and there was a piece of tape or string round the neck. The annual report of the Brazilian Finance Minister points out that the financial and economic crisis through which the country is passing must be attributed to the excessive amount of paper money issued since 1889. Edwin Lourman, a fireman, was remanded at West Ham on a charge of stealing about 21b. of telegraph wire from the Tilbury and Southend Railway. It was stated that thefts of this kind endangered the whole of the trains. At Brynmawr, a Monmouthshire collier named Albert Henry Robbins was committed for trial on n charge of breaking into a parsonage and stealing valuables, including a silver Communion cup and plate to the value of £100. In connection with the stranding of the Scots- man oil Belle Isle it appears that eleven of the passengers—nine ladies and two children-were drowned owing to the overturning of the boat in which they were being rowed ashore. As a carnival was in progress at Riverhead, Seveiioalis, t tliief broke into St. Mary's Church by smashing a window, looted the building, and escaped unobserved, though the church is within a stone's.throw of the route of the procession. Messrs. Sage, of Grays-inn-road, have won the highest of the prizes offered by the Early Closing Association for the best seat to meet the require- ments of the Shop Seats Act, which comes into force on January 1. Over 200 seats were entered for the competition. A verdict of Suicide during temporary insanity" was returned ot Westminster in the case of Mrs. Florence Martin, the widow of Cap- tain Martin, of the Rifle Brigade. Evidence showed that the lady was suffering from depres- sion and took carbolic acid. In the London Sheriff's Court, Miss Clara Louisa Broxholme, daughter of a lodgiug-hous<i keeper at Southsea, was awarded F.250 damage for breach of promise of marriage against Mh Frank Lewis Potter, an independent gentleman) The courtship had lasted twelve years. In connection with the scheme for utilising the force of the celebrated Can very Falls, the Mysoiji Government has offered to supply mining com- panies on the Kolar goldfields with electric power free of charge for one year. This means a saving of £ 360,000. The cost of the scheme is roughly estimated at £ 150,000. Iu a few months, as soon as the wires can be laid, there will be telephonic communication between Paris and Berlin. The negotiations between the French and German Governments have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion, and a Paris correspondent understands that the convention between the two countries has been signed. Harry Christie, the young clerk formerly in the employ of Messrs. Neiimann and Co., stock- brokers, who is charged with being concerned with a man named Crick in stealing £8,000 worth of Buenos Ayres Bonds, was again remanded at the Guildhall. Crick, who as previously stated, was arrested in Klondike, is expected in London this week. Judge Emdeu in non-suiting a bicycle dealer at Lambeth County-court said he would not give any encouragement to persons who sold bicycles on the hire purchase system. There were already too many young men and women riding about who were totally unable to pay compensation when they did damage to person or property by their carelessness. William George Lloyd, 32, accountant, who gives an address in Birmingham, was committed for extradition at Bow-street Police-court on the charge of theft in Canada. Lloyd was for three years ledger clerk to the firm of Carsley, Sons, and Company, of Montreal, and it is alleged that lie made five fnlse entries relating to goods to. the value of 1,821 dols. The Battersea Vestry unanimously resolved: That a communication be addressed to the Secretary of State protesting against the recent order of the Commissioner of Police on the subject of the removal of dead bodies which are found in, or cast ashore from, tidal or navigable waters, and that the other metropolitan vestries and district boards be asked to take similar action." John Grande, 23, and Charles Barrett, 19, were committed for trial at the Clerkenwell Police- court, charged with the manslaughter of Henry Benbow at Albion-street, Caledonian-road. Mr. Ben bow, a retired Hampstead tradesman, was attacked by four roughs, robbed, and thrown to the ground. The prisoners were identified by two men who witnessed the assault. Eva Marshall, widow, of Circular-road, Totten- ham, was fined 40s. and costs and 60s. and costs at Tottenham Police-court 011 two summonses for keeping an unregistered baby farm. She had five illegitiiiiate children in her charge at a total remuneration of 12s. 6d. a week. Their condition was filthy and one was very emaciated. Defend- ant went to gaol for a month as she could not pay the fines. George Edwards, 64, of Bond-street, Vauxhall, London, was committed for trial at the Southwark Police-court on a charge of stealing an officer's coat and cape from a first-class carriage ab Waterloo station (S.W.R.) When asked by the magistrate what he had to say lie replied that lie had undergone operations and was covered with wadding, lie was unable to get work when at liberty, and would be glad to get back to prison, where he had better health. Edwin Day, of the Railway Tavern, Southend- lane, Lower Sydenham, was filled 5s. and 2s. costs at Greenwich Police-court for travelling ou the Sotitli-Etiterii Railway with a workman's ticket. He got someone to take his ticket. Defendant did not know who was a working man if lie was not—he worked sixteen hours a day. It was contended that workmen were driven out of their trains by men of defendant's class, who were not entitled to use them. FRIENDS-OLD AND NEW. Brown &■ Polson'fj Patent Corn Flour, an old friend of forty years' standing, is unequalled for light and delicate puddings, blanc-manges, custards, jellies, sponges, and a host of other tempting and delicious dishes. But if the best results are to be obtained, every precaution must be taken to ensure that only B. & P's is delivered—or something vastly inferior may be sent instead. lirown and Poison's Paisley Flour, is a new friend of equal promise. By its aid dainty and tempting tea cakcs and scones are easily made, and the delights of the tea-table thus greatly increased. Not only are all kinds of home-baking assisted and simplified, but everything is made light and digestible. "Even a tyro need never fail in baking if Paisley Flour be used." Sole Makers— Brown and Poison. INFECTED MILK. One hundred samples of milk, taken by the sanitary inspector of the Hackney district, have been sent by the vestry to the Jenner Institute for examination. As a result it has been found that 22 of Llie srnil-les were infected, and 17 of them contained microbe bacilli. In consequence it, has been resolved to petition the Board of ictrlture to take the necessary steps to make 011111 -i J'e ( 'ie recommendations of theRo«al Cora- u|l tit. 1 'ait missi, luberculosia. LIVING ON A PENNY A WEEK. An unusual case of proverty was considered at n meeting of the Board of Guardians for Chepping Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, the other day. n'w:\S reported by Mr. Dunham, i-elieviiig oflicer, that a woman at Marlow, who bad applied for an allowance of out-relief, was so poor that, accord- ing to the applicant's own statement, she had been obliged to subsist on a penny loaf of bread per week, and nothing more. The poor woman, iL was stated, cut a slice off the loaf each day, and simply had lie one meal. The guardians authorised the chairman and the relieving officer to investigate the case further, especially as the woman had a disinclination to go into the work- bouse.

FOOD VALUE OF COCOA.' Dr. Obodfellow, of the East London Technical College, expounded the manufacture and food value of cocoa at the International Grocery Exhibition, Islington, to which he is official analyst. When properly prepared, lie said, cocoa is a most valuable article of food. Being a slight stimulant to the jaded system, it was at the same time a nourishing food of the highest value and importance. The modern tendency to interfere with the natural properties and constituents of such a valu- able food was deeply to be deplored. Some manufacturers added starch or sugar in the mis- taken idea that starch properly replaced the fat renitfved in manufacture. Malted cocoa, so much in vogue lately, was merely a fad. Perhaps the most novel departure was the addi- tion of leola, and he strongly condemned the addition of such a powerful dtug to an article of daily consumption.

GERMAN TRADE ENORMOUSLY INCREASED BY ORDERS FOR WAR SUPPLIES. The Germans are beginning to calculate what effect the war between England and the Transvaal will have on their commercial relations with South Africa. Of late years a nourishing trade has sprung up between Germany and the Transvaal, so much so that the German steamship companies have been compellell to extend their lines and put on faster vessels. The present political differences between the Transvaal and England of course put an end to this, though the same political differences benefit Get many in another way. The German trade with Cape Colony has gone up by leaps and bounds, since the prospect of the war. Immense quantities of material for the equip- ment of the English troops, especially all kinds of preserved and compressed provisions, beer, spirits, &c., are being bought from Germans for ready money, and large orders are coming in daily. The export trade with South Africa is facili- tated in every way. The German railways which carry goods intended for South Africa have greatly reduced rates, and a comparatively low freight is charged by the German East African Steamship line. The Germans intend to do their best to retain the market thus secured.

FIFTEEN GIRLS ASPHYXIATED BY GAS. An extraordinary affair occurred at Hugh Stevenson's box works, Pollard Street, Ancoats, Manchester. The works are very extensive and girls are chiefly employed. In one of the upper rooms a large number of girls engaged in placing metal edges upon boxes began to feel sick and faint, and some time afterwards a number of the girls were discovered asphyxiated. An alarm was given and a large body of police- men trained in ambulance work was soon on the scene and carried the prostrate bodies of the girla outside the building, whilst artificial respiration was resorted to in many cases. Some 15 girls were conveyed in cabs and upon ambulances to the Ancoats Hospital. Here three girls in a dangerous state of collapse have been detained. Strange to say, there was no explosion, and no workpeople sustained personal injury. The utmost excitement prevailed in the neighbour- hood.

SIX MILLION OYSTERS IN "BED." The Colchester Oyster Feast hns uow been definitely tixed by the Mayor (Alderman E. J. Sanders) for October 25. On that occasion Lord Wolseley and the' numerous company invited to attend will be called upon to dispose of some 12,000 "natives." At all events, that is the number to be set apart; for consumption, and large though it may be it will by 110 means materially deplete the stock of bivalves for which Colchester is noted. It is calculated that the Colne Oyster Fishery has in "bed" over six million oysters, and the season promises to be the most successful on record. The mayor and the members of the Fishery Board have already duly sampled this year's supply in accordance with ancient custom, and declared them to be of the best. It only remains for the guests at the Oyster Feast to con- firm this opinion in order to give the season;an excellent send-off.

HOUSEMAID'S ADVENTURE. A housemaid named Agnes Knight, while plac- ing iu the grounds of Leigh House, Neville Park, Tunbridge Wells, fell down an old well about fifty feet deep. A gardener descended by means of a rope and found her in a perilous position ott a ledge just above the water level. A chair was improvised, and the girl was drawn to the surface in an unconscious condition. She was conveyed to the hospital, where it was found she had sus- tained much bodily injury, including a broken. ankle.

A "PATCHWORK ACT." At Southwark County Court his honour Judge Addison, Q.C., said hard words about the Work- men's Compensation Act, in dealing with an engineer's claim. A contention was put forward that the boring of three holes and the turning of a pipe by means of a lathe with a little steam power which happened to be handy, in order to put up an hydraulic crane, was not Construction by means of steam or othe mechanical power," within the meaning of the Act. "You must not, in dealing with this Act," said his honour, reason with analogy. This remarkable Act is drawn so fine and so difficult, and leads to so many absurdities, that you cannot argue from reason or analogy, but must take the strict words of the Act." Counsel: Lord Justice Collins has already found that it is the worst-drawn Act in the world. His Honour: I quite agree. It is made up of patchwork, and is most difficult.

GALE INCIDENT AT CHESTER. NARROW ESCAPE OF THE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER. The Duke of Westminster had a narrow escape at Chester. During the height of a gale of wind the huge limb of a lime tree in a garden on the south-side of the city walls was wrenched off nnd fell a distance of about 30ft. into the road. The place is callell (lie Groves, and really forms the bank of the Dee. The mass, weighing about three tons, fell without the slightest warning. Providentially nobody was beneath the tree, but the Duke of Westminster had just driven past the spot.

GIRL'S FALL FROM AN EXPRESS. A girl, nine years of age, the daughter of an American lady, fell out of the express taain from Edinburgh to Aberdeen near Hillside. The train was drawn up at Montrose and one of the engines detached. The child was found lying beside the rails apparently uninjured. She was conveyed to Montrose and medically examined, and not a scratch was discovered.

OOpono—A judicious blend of the Choic est Teas R. Is per Ih. Ceylon Tea, Pure, Fragrant, and Delicious 11f1(1 1, per lb. (jib carriage paid to any address in the United Kingdom, liarber & Co. (Established over a crntury), 7 Lord St., Liverpool, and 103 Market St., Alanchester

A DESTITUTE liAKOXE?/. The case mentioned I he other day of "the destitute viscountess who was forced to make s bills at two- pence a-piece to keep herself from, starving is pence a-piece to keep herself from, starving is supplemented by that of a baronet who lias also ielt the pinch of poverty. The viscountess, it has since *>«•» 1 ascertained, is dead, but the case of (be baionst is „t present i-eceii,ijig the (,lie Beneficent Society. The title is 0|d „„e. Ilisi father was poor before linn. PI^ ,110ther had a small income, and stalled a business in a modest way. A long illness Uhmed up the capital and ruined the business Tile motller died, and Ihe baronet, utterly d estilute, asked tile society to set liiiii up in the eu ttl and colieway lig-iiii. This is what they are doi^g nov ■. _J-

fiESULTS OF TREATMENT AT THE ■NORTH LONDON CONSUMPTIVE HOSPITAL. Over 180 cases of consumption were treated on the "open-air" principle at the North London Hospital for Consumption at Hampstead since January last. Of these 43'7 per cent. left the hospital to return, in the majority of cases, to work, 32'3 per cent. distinctly improved, 7'6 per cent, slightly improved, 4'3 per cent. did not improve, and 3-9 per cent. died. It is stated in the published report that it is a, common occurrence for patients to enter the liospital with extensive signs of disease and to leave after nine or ten weeks with no signs of active disease and an increase of a stone in weight. Practically all early cases improve under the treatment. A proportion of these go to con- valescent homes and nearly all eventually return to work. A large number of the patients who have left the hospital keep up a correspondence with the medical staff and none of those who markedly improved and followed out the hygienic principles taught there have shown any signs of relapse.

EIGHT DAYS WITHOUT FOOD Joseph Turner was found under a hedge upon the Wimblington Road, near Sutton Bridge, bleeding from two wounds in his throat. Turner, who was in a terrible state from cold, exposure, and hemorrhage, told the police,-who had to cut away part of the hedge to extricate him, that he had been lying at this spot for no less than eight days, and during all that time lie had not had a particle of food, and been unable to move away. There was congealed blood all over him, and it is at present doubtful whether he will recover. Turner, who is in the workhouse infirmary, had been a gardener, but recently lost his situation, and after vainly tramping about in search of work, had sought to end his troubles in death.

RIVER VALLEY SINKS. The latest information concerning the earth- quake which occurred at and around Aidin, Asia Minor,is that 11,000 buildings have been destroyed and 50,000 persons are homeless. The earthquake was accompanied by a sinking of the surface of the land—in some parts as much as six feet-ilie whole plain of the Meander having fallen in. Immense chasms have formed, through which springs are welling up and flooding the plain. Some villages have been entirely destroyed.

INFANTS' SLAUGHTER-HOUSE. GRUESOME STORY OF A WARSAW MRS. DYER. During the past few days a horrible criminal practice has been discovered by the police of Warsaw. In the Ritterstrasse lived one Mme. Eva Moslowski, who carried on the business of "making angels" — that is, of destroying children. The sudden death of a child that was placed with her aroused the suspicions of the police, who caused a post-mortem examination to be made, and this established the fact that the child had been starved to death. An examination of Moslowski's dwelling led to:tlie discovery of three half-starved children and one dead child. It is stated that thirty children altogether have been done away with by this woman, who either starved them or gave them an infusion of poppy- heads to drink. The children were for the most part illegitimate, and were left with Moslowski by chambermaids and other domestics to be got rid of. The trial of Moslowski promises some unplea- sant revelations concerning the morals of Warsaw.

NOT ANOTHER BANK HOLIDAY. Writing with reference to the proposed extra Bank Holiday in October, Mr. Thomas Field, lion, secretary of the National Retail Jewellers' Association, states that that body is determined to oppose strenuously any such proposal. They believe, he says, that Bank Holidays are productive of much harm to the average trades- man by dislocating trade more and more each year, and feel that it would be better for some of these holidays to be done away with rather than added to, especially when having regard to the great increase in holiday-making generally since the Bank Holidays Act was first passed.

BAKERS BASTINADOED. HOW THE SHAH TRIES TO PRESERVE ORDER IN HIS REALM. According to advices received at Petersburg, Persia is threatened with outbreaks among the people on account of the failure of the harvest and the dearness of bread, and the trouble is accentu- ated by the debasing of the copper currency owing to private coining by many of the State officials. In order to compose the people the Shah recently caused fifteen Teheran bakers to be arrested by the police and publicly punished in the streets. Twelve of the bakers had the left ear cut off, in three a cord was passed through the nostrils, and all were nailed by the right ear to posts, and received 2,000 strokes of a rod on the soles of the feet. At first the people were satisfied with these measures on the part of the Government but as the baker.3 began to close their shops and as tieverat of them died from the effects of their punishment, disturbances again broke out, and they threaten to become extensive. A number of troops have been sent to Teheran to preserve order.

I NOTICE!!] j 3n case «f jffcci^cnt | Ui'li'MiVl'VliVVli'li'Vli'V. | If you graze your skin: | | If you bruise your leg: I | If you get burnt: j I If you cut yourself: j | ifyou fall downstairs: j I If you pinch your finger: j j If you get a black eye: | If yOU are Stung by a Wasp j If you have a side-slip: j If you sprain your wrist: i If you twist your ankle: < If you break | your heart: j; < TRY } | HOMOCEA j j It Touches the | I SPOT, | anil Soothes the Aching Part, j -v. RHUDDLAN. Services next Sunday.—10 a.m. Welsh. 11 a.m. 0 Welsh, 6 p.m. English.

CYCLING NEWS & GOSSIP. — O — The expected fight in racing circles has beM postponed. An announcement had been made that a well known legislator on the National Cyclists' Union, Mr. F. P. Low, would make a proposal to the next council that amateur and professional riders should be allowed to race together. Now the proposal is withdrawn by its maker, and the battle will not come off. The idea is no novelty, as it was promulgated three years ago, and met with violent opposition and an overwhelming defeat. As a cure for the whole of the evils connected with racing, this remedy is, of course, not applic- able, but it might serve the purpose of removing much sham. as it is impossible to distinguish, ex- cept in name only, between many amateurs and openly avowed professionals. The licensing pro- cess as a means of differentiation, has been a com- plete failure, and its other object, the encourage- ment of a superior social class of competitors has likewise failed absolutely. One of the best inflaters on the market is that manufactured by the Dunlop Co., and which is presented, gratis, with every pair of the First and Foremost" tyres. It is very powerful, and to pre- vent the substitution of an inferior article, the words Dunlop Tyres" are legibly engraved on each inflater. < 0 The controversial question of the value of long cranks has largely subsided, but the manifestation of the ease of such combinations, as !)in. cranks and 90in. gears, has drawn much more attention to the value of easy pedal pressure, than formerly. In fact, the easy proportion of ten times the crank length to give the gear is the secret of the system, seeming less tiring than a common combination, like six and a half and 77, and other similar arrangements. The nine and ninety doctrine has taught men the ten to one theory, and when they reproduce that, with the crank they are used to, they find an even more surprising ease, and wonder they have never used a six and a half and 66 before There is certainly no necessity to go in for a harder than a ten to one gear for any purpose other than racing. The combination used by Edward Hale, who is now on the hundred miles per day grind for a whole year, is Sin. crank and 84in. gear, a ratio of very little more than ten, and if he finds such a ratio sufficient for him a trained man, to accomplish such a task, how much more must the average rider with no such mileage in view be content with extreme moderation in gears. If we turn to the racing arena, we find only one man using long cranks. J. Mills of Brighton, on his nine inchers made but a, poor show even in indifferent company. He got up the other week in the 12 hours race for the Dibble Shield, and ran second, but for this achievement it is important to observe, lie lowered both gear and crank length, and used a combination of seven and a half and 104. ) A couple of London cyclists took advantage of the recent brilliant harvest moon to enjoy an all- night ride. When some twenty miles from home, in the dead of the night, one of them punctured, and in order to do the repair comfortably, instead of remaining by the roadside, they adjourned to the lawn in a front garden of a house by the way. There, they not only put the tyre right quite at their case, but indulged in the luxury of a smoke and picnicked awe. But they were perceived by a constable who suspected them of being burglars, and who arrested them in spite of all protestations and lodged them in the lock-up. Before the magis- trates they were able to demonstrate their true characters as holiday makers, not felonious persons, and were liberated after an altogether unprepared- for holiday. When going by train with "one's cvcle;it is gener- ally the wisest plan to see personally to the placing of tho machine in the van, not forgetting a small coin as a hint to the guard that he should pay a special care to its welfare. But, sometimes, a man is too lordly to worry about these details, and a swell of this sort, touring in Scotland, handed his machine over to a canny porter to put in the train for Glasgow. After taking his seat, he happened to look out, as the train was steaming out of the station, and saw the porter standing idly by the side of the bicycle on the platform. Dashing to the window he shouted, Hi, you fool, why didn't you put my machine in the van It's not me, nor the machine that's a fool, it's yourself," replied the imperturable,porter, you're in the wrong train There grows in Queensland a weed called the Bindei which is really a six-pointed hard wild grass plant with spikes like a cactus of about an inch in length. Whichever way this weed lies, whether it be trodden down or blown over, the spiked leaves always stick up most aggressively, and arc consequently dangerous. Naturally enough, cyclists dread these plants, as their razor- like points will pierce a tyre in a twinkling. To obviate this trouble, however, the Australian branch of the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. con- structed a specially strong tyre which could not be probed by this or similar weeds which grows some- what freely by the edge of some of the tracks in the Colony, and are occasionally seen growing in the middle of the roads to. Keen versus Cooper used to be an attractive announcement on a race bill which would draw together twenty-five thousand spectators, twenty years ago. Since then, Cooper has prospered into a flourishing manufacturer, but Keen,- -well Keen has had the other luck, and a testimonial is being got up for him amongst the old timers, who recollect the sport in the vigour of its earliest youth. Yet any revival of a Keen v Cooper match as a benefit match would not be of much value. Sentiment might draw a few, but a 2-5,000 crowd could not be collected together to watch any cycle event of any description in this country. Interest has absolutely petered out, and the most probable cause is that the spread of cycling makes evervone prefer to be a rider than to watch others riding. It is its individuality that makes for this. One may like cricket, football or polo, and not be able to join with others for a game, and so watch it, but the bicycle is always to hand for a spin, without preparation, without combination with' others, at any odd moments of spare time. So, although it is bad for gates when everyone who likes cycling is away on cycles, yet it is an evidenco that the pastime is more popular than ever. 4

GALICIAN BANK FRAUDS. FOUR GREAT FINANCIERS CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLING £ 800,000. The sensational trial at Lomberg has produced noteworthy revelations of the financial scandal known as the Galician Panama affair. Two of the four accused were prominent publioi men. Francis Zima was director of the Galician Savings Banle, and the greatest financier 114 Galicia; Stanislaus Sczepanowski was a million* aire and industrial prince. These two financial magnates aided by two minor accomplices, coin trived during a period covering many years to falsify accounts of the Galician Savings Bank to such an extent as to defraud that institution of 9800,000 sterling. This colossal swindle was due to the boundless confidence entertained in Zima, who was abso. lutely uncontrolled in the management of the bank. The fraud caused widespread ruin, and robbed thousands of Galician peasants of all their hard, earned savings. Although Zima died while under arrest the charge against him is being tried, so that thq prosecution is chiefly directed against a dead maD,

SWINE FEVER IN ESSEX. There has been a great slaughter of hoga IN Essex, where swine fever has broken out with some degree of virulence. On one farm alone no less than 119 pigs were killed, and slaughtering; has also gone on at live other places. Already; some 300 swine have been killed by order of thq Board of Agriculture.