Rhyl Record and Advertiser

THE KING AT MARIENBAD. I His Majesty the King is enjoying his" cure" 81 Marienbad, says the Daily Chronicle correspondent, and now that the curiosity of visitors is satisfied, his Majesty can move more freely in the colonnades in the morning. He is no longer run after or stared at. The weather is glorious, and the King is mostly out in the air. His Majesty lives as simply, and is doing the "cure" just in the same way as any other visitor. His incognito (Lord Lancaster) is strictly observed. A red book, marked "King's Visitors' Book," is lying at the hotel bureau. Among the first names in it is that of the Due of Orleans, who is staying here. A motor-car has been ordered from Vienna for the King, who intends making longer excursions in the neighbourhood. But his Majesty is doing a good deal of walking, as it is strictly requisite for the "cure."

DEATHS BY DROWNING. Two London visitors discovered at Yarmouth on Saturday night the body of a man floating in the sea near the Britannia Pier. The body was after- wards identified as that of William Anew, a resident. Beatrice Lilly Saville, aged nine and a-half, and Herbert Alfred Saville, aged six and a-half, children of a quay labourer, were drowned on Saturday in the Great Eastern Railway Company's reservoir at Parkeston, near Harwich. In attempting to cross a plank, Sarah Smith, aged eight, of Cotton Tree, Colne, fell in the river Calder, which was in a swollen condition. Artificial respiration was afterwards tried, but without success.

WIFE MURDER AND SUICIDE. Thomas Bateman, an ex-sergeant of the Lancashire Fusiliers, shot his wife dead in the street at New- bridge on Saturday night, and immediately after- wards blew his own brains out. For vears past Bateman and his wife had not lived" together. Apparently to confirm rumours which had reached him regarding the woman, Bateman on Saturday went from Liverpool to Curragh Camp, near where she resided, and he then followed her into New- bridge. The deceased man wrote in his notebook what he intended to do, and also asked that his lather at Crewe should be informed.

FATAL BOXING MATCH. A boxing competition in Newcastle on Saturday night came to a fatal termination. Two Gateshead men, named John Leach (or McBride) and John Cason, both Artillery Militiamen, who had recently returned from the annual training at Portsmouth, were engaged in a friendly contest for a stake of £10 subscribed by themselves. Both appeared much exhausted before the eighth round was reached, and towards the close of that round Leach collapsed. The efforts to restore him were unsuccessful, and a doctor who was sent for pronounced life extinct. Cason was taken into custody.

LADY KILLED IN THE ALPS. Another fatality occurred in the Alps on Satur- day, when Mdlle. Klaeger, aged twenty, a good climber, was attacked by giddiness while return- ing to Kreuzeberg, near the Saentos peak, where her party was unroped. She slipped on a grassv slope, then rolled over a precipice a distance of 300ft., and was almost dashed to pieces below. Lightning has killed a shepherd and three sheep in the mountains above Gruyere. Mr. Barker, an Englishman, slipped on an icy slope and fell twenty yards 011 the Rochers de Xaye, escaping with a broken collarbone and torn clothes.

AN IRISH STATION AFIRE. A destructive fire occurred early on Monday morn- ing at the railway-station at Buncrana, Donegal. The fire was caused by the upsetting of an oil lamp in some living apartments over the refreshment- room. A hose was quickly brought, but as there was no tire plug to which to attach it the fire burnt itself out. The coastguards and constabulary- rendered valuable assistance in getting out the movables from the buildings, which were eventually destroyed. The King and Queen entrained at this station for Londonderry, it will be remembered, during their recent visit.

RAILWAY INSPECTOR KILLED. When a train from Kanisgate drew up at Herne Hill on Saturday night a porter noticed the body of a man huddled up Wy the door of a first-class com- partment. Closer examination shewed it to be that of Travelling Inspector Sims, whose skull had been terribly battered. Xo weapon of any sort was found in the compartment, nor was there any sign of a struggle having taken place. Inspector Sims's cap was lying on one of the seats, and it is supposed that he had taken it off to put his head out of the window. While in that position a train may have come along in the opposite direction, and possibly an open carriage door struck him and .smashed his skull. He was last seen alive at Heme Bay, when he got into the train to return to London.

MR. CHAMBERLAIN AND IRELAND The Irish Times says: "Assuming that the next General Election leaves the nominal strength of parties much the same as it is at present, and it is not likely that the Government will wi-n, many seats from the Liberals, the defection of the Unionist Free Traders would leave Mr. Chamberlain in a minority. H. however, he could count on the support of the 103 representatives of Ireland he would probably be able to carry his proposals. He must, then, for his own sake, prove if he can that the adoption of those proposals would bring a-tangible beneiir to the people of Ireland, and we would suggest that to that end lie should include Dublin and Belfast in the area of his autumn campaign. Ireland may now have the deciding voice in determining what the fiscal policy of Great Britain shall lie for the next half-century. Let her look to it tha", after a full consideration of the circunistanee>, she raises her voice on the side of that policy which promises the greatest good to her own people."

RAILWAY OUTRAGE. George Nind, of Marsdeu-road, Edmonton, who was charged the other day at the Thamesl'olicc-court with assaulting Mr. Edward Hurley Smith, residing at Clapton-park, has hud to pay fur his brutal behaviour in a train. Prosecutor stated t hat on Satur- day he entered a second-class cOlnpar1 ownt at Broad- street Station, on the North Loudon hallway, and prisoner and another man were there. kept saying to w.1ÍIlPSS, "Have YOll. got a Jlg-ht, and because he did not answer prisoner's companion lõaid, "Out him." Nind then came up to him and said, "You are a nincompoop." Witness said, "I don't want to have anything to say to you." Then prisoner with his iist dealt him a violent blow in the mouth, causing it and his nose to bleed. On the train reaching Haekney Station he got out and complained to the guard, who said he could not get the men out there, and he must travel to the station to which they were going. On getting back into the compartment he asked for his stick, when prisoner said, "You have got a cheek to come in here again." 1! e then dealt him a number of blows. At Poplar Station prisoner was given into custody. Mr. Dickinson fined prisoner £11- and £1 costs, or a month's hard labour.

A man named Wolfenden, aged seventy-eight, has died in the Oldham Infirmary from the effects of injuries receive I in crossing the tram line. He was struck by an electric car, and knocked down. A man named Edward Colley, of Rhosmadoc, was struck by an electric car, and knocked down. A man named Edward Colley, of Rhosmadoc, near ivuabon, was crossing the river Dee 011 Friday I night 011 horseback, when a companion, who wa"s with him, was "Horrified to see him disappear into the river. No trace cf the body could be found. Colonel Br00kfield, formerly M.T. for the Ryo Division, is gazetted Consul for East and West Prussia, Posen, and Silesia, to reside at Dantzig. The jMarquess of Hamilton has resigned his captain's commission in the 1st Life Guards, in which regiment he has been for some time seconded. Mr. Knights, n. motor engineer, uf Chelmsford, while motoring from IVlaldon to Chelmsford late on Saturday night run over a woman who was walking with st-lne. farm labourers. The woman died shortly afterwards. On Sunday afternoon the Right Rev. Dr. White- tide, Catholic, Bishop of Liverpool, laid the memorial stone of a new industrial -chooi for uirls which is being erected at a. cost oi £ 10,GOO air Black brook, near Helens. Mr. T. Whitehead, of Enterber, Westmorland, has had a valuable heifer worried to death by his stallion, Swaledale Comet. A lad named John Thomas Abbott, fifteen, of East Witton, who was cycling to Spennithorne Station, collided with a dog-cart. He was knocked down, and it is alleged that the driver of the dog- cart drove on, without stopping to ascertain the extent of the lad's injuries. Abbot, who was found lying by the roadside, has died from his injuries.

FACTS AND FANCIES. POISONED FINGER-NAILS. The juice of the green and growing pineapple is accredited in Java, the Philippines, and through- out the Far East generally with being a blood poison of a most deadly nature. It is said to be the substance with which the Malays poison their kreeses and daggers, and also the "finger-nail" poison formerly in use among aboriginal Javanese women almost universally. These women, says •Science Siftings, cultivated a nail on each hand to a long sharp point, and the least scratch from one of these was certain death. UNSEEN SIGHTS. We never saw— A hatter cap the climax. The hammer for nailing a lie. Powder on the face of the waters. The lock that the key to the situation fits. A higher forehead than the brow of the mountain. The hod that is used for carrying coals to New- castle. The ladder that would reach to the top of the morning. A tailor who had the pattern of the cloak of friend- ship. The brush that a man uses when he paints the town red. The dentist who would undertake to treat the teeth of the storm. BRIAR IPES. The wood from which briar pipes are made is not the root of the briar rose, but the root of the large heath known as Erica arbnrea. In fact, "briar" is but a corruption of the French "bruyere." The briar-root industry has had a somewhat curious history, says the Gardeners' Magazine. Firsts begun in the Pyrenees some fifty years ago, it travelled along the Irench Riviera and the Ligurian coast (taking Corsica by the way) to tho Tuscan Maremma, and lias now reached Calabria in the south, which is at present its most flourishihg centre. By the very nature of the business, when a certain district has been exhausted of all its roots tho industry come to an end there, and the English Vice-Consul at Leghorn states that he has heard the opinion expressed that the Italian branch of it cannot last much more than another ten years. Leghorn has always been the centra of the export of Tuscan briar-root since the Maremma industry came into existence, but as the South Italian briar is of admittedly superior quality, a large quantity of the Calabrian root is also imported into Leghorn for selection and subsequent export. A THRONE WORTH £5,000,000. Amongst the boundless treasures of the Shah of Persia, perhaps the Peacock Throne ought to be accorded premier place. It is probably the most costly ornament that the mind of man has ever con- ceived. The frame is entirely of silver, and above it the gleams of silver melt into gold. It is encrusted from end to end and from top to bottom j with diamonds. The rug on which the Shah reposes is edged with amethysts, and the pillow on which he reclines his Imperial head is fringed with pearls. Some travellers, Burton amongst them. have estimated the value of the Peacock Throne at £5,000,000, A FIN-DE-SIECLE EPITAPH. Here lies a poor woman who always was busy; She lived under pressure that rendered her dizzy. She belonged to ten clubs, and read Browning by sight: Shone at luncheons and teas, and would vote if she miL'ht. She served on a School Board with courage and zeal; She go! fed and she kodakeil, and rode on a wheel. She read Tolstoy and Ibden, knew microbes by name, Anproved of Delsarte, and loved to shoot game. Her children went in for the top education Her husband went 1'1" warù for nervous prostration* One day on her tai lets she found an hour free; The shock was so gieat that, she died instantly. CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT THE BLACK SEA. In a paper read by Sir John Murray to the Royal Society of Edinburgh the other day some interesting, information was given relative to that vast enclosed sheet of water the Black Sea. Its greatest depth appears to be 1,200 fathoms, and a surface current flows continually into the Mediterranean, with an under-current of salt water back again. This under- cuirent, being of greater density than the rest, sinks to the bottom, and in consequence prevents vertical circulation. The result is that the deeper reaches are quite stagnant and saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen, a poisonous gas, which makes any form of submarine life quite impossible below a depth of one hundred fathoms. Water brought up from a depth of three hundred fathoms smells exactly like rotten eggs! STILLING THE SEA. The plan of using floating nets to reduce the force of waves at sea or at the mouths of harbours has been tested, says Science Siftings, by Baron Ben- venuto d' Alessanrlro, an Italian living in Paris. Such nets form a crust over which the waves cannot climb, and under which they become much flattened out. A net is 360ft. long and 50ft. wide, with square meshes of 1!in., the material being water- proof hemp, and the weight less than half an ounce per square foot. This was anchored at the port of Havre to protect some unfinished hydraulic works from a heavy surf. TIIE EnONY OF THE ANCIENTS. Ebnny was known and highly esteemed by the ancients as an article of luxury, and was used bv them for a variety of purposes, says the Jeweller's Weel h/. In India, it is said that it was employed by kiiisrs for sceptres and also for images. On account of its supposed antagonism to poisons, it was used largely for drinking cups. Its use has extended continuously down to the present time, and in England, as well as on the Continent, it has always been held in high esteem by the wealthy for toilet articles and boxes. In France particularly, the manufacture of ebony goods has attained a high degree of perfection. Within a few years its use has increased remarkably, in a large measure, no doubt, on account of its combination with silver. The striking contrast of the dead black of the wood and the brilliant white of the silver has from the outset, commended it to the public. The silver mounting of the ebony gives scope for the taste and originality of the silversmith. The name ebony is given to the wood of several varieties of trees. All kinds are of great density and dark colour. The wood is heavier than water: the heaviest varieties are the darkest. The other grades require a considerable amount of stain- ing to make them black. Ebony is of a uniform colour throughout, and will not shew any deteriora- tion even from long-continued use. Thera are three varieties of ebony well known in commerce. The ebony from the Gaboon coast of Africa is the darkest. The Madagascar ebony is the densest. The Macnssar ebony furnishes the largest pieces. Almost all ebonv is sent in the form of logs to London, and from there shipped to the various countries in which it is used for manufacturing purposes. » THE COALSTOUN PEAR. A curious heirloom of quite unique interest, and to which attaches a singular tradition, is preserved at Coalstoun House, near Haddington, in East Lothian, the ancient scat of the Broun family, but which came into the possession of the Dalhousie family early in the last century by the marriage of George, Earl Ramsay, to Christian, only child and heiress of Charles Broun, of Coalstoun. This is the Coalstoun Pear, and the story told is as follows: About the middle of the thirteenth century a Broun married the daughter of Hugh Gifford de Yester, who is mentioned in "Marmion" as the GitTord Warlock, or wizard. As the wedding party were proceeding to church the Warlock stopped the bride beneath a pear tree laden with fruit, and plucking a pear, gave it to her wih the remark that, good as the lass might be, her tocher (dowry) was better, for while she COtllJ only be of use during her life, so long as the pear remained intact her descendants of the house of Broun would flourish. The pear thus endowed with magical powers was treasured with the utmost care until the time of Charles 1., when one of the ladies of the family, ljfce our first mother Eve with the apple, desired to taste tiie WarIccVs gift, or it may be tg tost his power, and tock a bite of the magic pearT Almost immediately, so the story goes. troubles came, resulting in litigation and loss of land. The pear still shews, it is said, the marks of the lady's teetii. It is in a fossilised condition, not to be wondered at when we consider that upwards of five centuries have elapsed since it was gathered from its parent tree, and it is now kept, safe from all harm within a quaintly-wrought silver box. THE LABOUR OF A SINGLE OAK. Some curious facts are set forth concerning trees in an article by Mr. Frank French in Scribner's. A sincle oak of good size is said to lift one hundred and twenty-three tons of water during the months it is in leaf. This moisture is evaporated and rises to form rain-clouds. All the trees are busy doing the same thing, and the rank ferns and mosses and deep mould of the forest depths, acting as reservoirs for the rain which falls upon them, in their turn feed the springs and brooks. From this estimate of the labour of a single oak, we can gain some idea of the immense force which the forests exert in equalising the evaporation and precipitation and preventing periods of inundation and drought. Manchester In:1rmary has received £13,000 from the Queen Victoria Commemoration Fund of Man- chester, which is a gift from the citizens. The wedding rings of King Alexander and Queen Draga, which were missed from their hands after the assassination of the Royal couple, have been traced to a pawnshop in the city, where one of the officers concerned in the murder had raised some money 011 them.

SUPPER PARTY'S STRANGE EXPERIENCE. A remarkable experience befell a supper party at Coventry on Saturday night. Mr. Clarke and his family, residing in Henry-street, were comfortably seated at the supper table when, without the slightest warning, the whole floor gave way, and the party were precipitated into the cellar below. A young couple standing at the back door, bidding each other good-night, stepped into the kitchen and fell among the wreckage. Mrs. Clarke received injuries to the head and ankles. Her husband was bruised and her daughter was also hurt. The others escaped.