Flintshire Observer Mining Journal and General Advertiser for the Counties of Flint Denbigh

THE CHARGES AGAINST WELLS. At the Central Criminal Court, on Saturday, the hearing of the charges against Charles Wells, of Monte Carlo notoriety, was continued before Mr. Justice Hawkins. The prisoner is indicted, on 23 counts, with having obtained by false pretences from Miss Phillimore, the Hon. Cosby Trench, and many other persons, sums of money amounting in the aggre- gate to over E30,000. Mr. C. F. Gill, Mr. Bodkin, and Mr. Guy Stephen- son prosecuted on behalf of the Public Prosecutor, and Mr. Abinger defended. The Hon. W. Cosby Trench was further examined by Mr. Bodkin. He traced the correspondence he had with the prisoner with reference to the advancing of the various sums of money. On one occasion pri- soner showed him the model of an engine, but he did not understand it. (Laughter.) On another occasion prisoner took him on board a steam launch on which he said he had one of the patent engines, and they went for a trip down the Thames. Witness further spoke of an interview he had with Wells in London, when the latter made over to him three launches. Two of these were afterwards sold by his solicitors. Mr. Justice Hawkins: And what became of the other ? Witness: It could not be found. (Laughter.) Edward Powers, clerk in the Patent Office, gave evidence of various provisional protections of in- ventions obtained by Wells. Most of them were aban- doned. In answer to Mr. Abinger. witness said the pro- visional patents were for preserving mustard when mixed—(laughter)—confectionery for children, sun- shades and umbrellas, and other things. A pro- visional patent could be obtained for anything which did not transgress the principles of morality. (Laughter.) Mr. Justice Hawkins In fact, you take the patentee's sovereigns, and he takes his chance. (Laughter.) If a man came to you, I suppose, with a patent for making eggs out of sawdust, you would accept his fee and grant a provisional protection ? (Loud laughter.) Witness: Ob, yes. (Renewed laughter.) Evidence having been given of the arrest of the prisoner, and of the searching of his premises in Great Portland-street, the case for the prosecution concluded and The further hearing was adjourned. EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENCE. The hearing of the charge against Charles Wells was resumed on the 13th inst. at the Central Criminal Court. Two witnesses who had been employed by the piisoner to execute models of machinery from his drawings were examined for his defence, and the trial was again adjourned.

THE SANDGATE DISASTER. The whole of the offertories at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday were devoted to the fund for the relief of the sufferers at Sandgate, and reference to the catastrophe was made in each of the day's sermons. The Dean of Canterbury, preaching in the afternoon, said it was but recently that they read of an earthquake that destroyed the beautiful island of Zante. A similar calamity bad now happened at their very doors. About 500 dwellings at Sandgate had been rendered uninhabitable and the people homeless. Their furniture bad been wrecked and their means of subsistence taken away. Many of them were shop- keepers who were looking forward to the beginning of the season there for their usual livelihood. Earnestly he urged upon his hearers the duty of helping to bear this heavy burden which had fallen upon Sandgate. Fire and flood were ever at work, and the crust of tbe earth bore upon it the scars of many a disaster, but seldom had they had so great a disaster so close at hand, and he felt sure that ready aid given at once would be received with hearty gratitude. Sandgate presented an, extraordinary appearance on Sunday. The town was invaded by visitors from all parts. Special trains were run to meet the de- mands of the traffic, and it is computed that not fewer that 30,000 visitors entered the town. A thanksgiving service was held by the vicar of Sandgate at the parish church in the morning to return thank s to the Almighty that so great a calamity should have been unattended by loss of life." Offertories were taken for the relief fund. The sympathetic interest shown by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Saturday in visiting the scene of the disaster is greatly appreci- ated by the inhabitants. With the Archbishop were Mrs. Benson and Major-General Lord William Seymour, Commanding the South-Eastern District. The party were met at Shorncliffe Station by tbe Rev. Russell Wakefield, and subsequently, accom- panied by some of the members of the local board, inspected the damage caused in the grounds at Encombe and one or two other places. A meeting of property owners was held on Monday, to make arrangements to begin the work of drainage.

POISONED GLOVES. An extraordinary story comes from Russia. It has reference to the death of General Courrt Vladimir Sheremetieff, Commander of the Czar's Body Guard. We are assured that the General did not, as was ofJiially reported, die from palpitation of the heart. It is stated that he fell the victim of a Nihilist plot. Some time ago the Nihilist Executive Committee decided that Sheremetieff must die, and one of their emissaries managed to substitute a pair of poisoned gloves for the ones the General had been wearing, and which he had put down for a moment. Not observing the substitution, he put the gloves on, and his death was the result.

TIIE present year will have 53 Sundays, instead of the usual 52. Eignteen hundred and ninety-three came in on a Sunday and will go out on a Sunday.

A ROMANTIC STORY. The death of the Dowager Lady Forester recalls one of those romantic episodes which enliven the history of our earlier struggles in India. About the middle of the last century Gaultier Reignard, an Alsacien of humble birth, enlisted as a private in the Switzer Corps of the East India Company's army. nl It is said that his gloomy demeanour won for him the nickname of Sombre, which superseded his French patronymic. He soon deserted from the British service to join that of Sujah-ud-Dowlah, the Nabob of Oude, who with his ally, Meer Cossini, was at war with the Company's government. Though Reignard was more than suspected of having carried out the infamous Patna massacre, he contrived to escape after the battle of Buxar, and marrying a dancing girl, set up a little State of his own at Sirdhanna, near Delhi, his sobriquet having now been orientalised into Sumroo. After Sumroo's death the Begum Sumroo, his widow, fought against Wellington at Assaye, but presently came to terms with him. As she had no children of her own she adopted as heir an illegitimate daughter of her late spouse, and this young lady found a partner for life in Mr. Dyce, the half-caste son of a Scotch officer. The only child of this marriage was Mr. David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, who inherited the Begu m's snug little fortune of half a million ster- ling, and in 1838 came to London, where he attracted no little attention. Two years later the youngest daughter of the second Viscount St. Vincent gave him her hand, but soon repented. A separation speedily ensued, and was followed by lunacy proceedings against Mr. Sombre, who took refuge on the Conti- nent and died in 1851. His widow married 30 years ago General the Hon. George Cecil Weld Forester, afterwards Baron Forester, and survived him seven years. She has now gone to her rest, and a very large proportion of the Begum's gold mohura has been dis- persed among deserving members of the legal profes- sion. I

INSTINCT IN ANIMALS. ) Writing to the Spectator to combat the generally- received ideas as to the instinct of locality in animals, Mr. A. J. Macintosh remarks A cat carried 100 miles in a basket, a dog taken, perhaps, 500 miles by rail, in a few days may have found their way back to the starting-point. So we have often been told, and, no doubt, the thing has happened. We have been astonished at the wonderful intelligence dis- played. Magic, I should call it. Last week I heard of a captain who sailed from Aberdeen to Arbroath. He left behind him a dog, which, according to the story, had never been in Arbroath, but when he arrived there, the dog was waiting on the quay. I was expected to believe that the dog hadjknown his master's destination, and been able to inquire the way overland to Arbroath. Truly marvellous! But really, it is time to inquire more carefully as to what these stories do mean; we must cease to ascribe our intelligence to animals, and learn that it is we that often possess their instinct. A cat on a farm will wander many miles in search of prey, and will there- fore be well acquainted with the country for many miles round. It is taken 50 miles away. Again it wanders, and comes across a bit of country it knew before. What more natural than it should go to its old home ? Carrier-pigeons are taught homing" by taking them gradually longer flights from home, so that they may learn the look of the country. We cannot always discover that a dog actually was acquainted with the route by which it wanders home; but it is quite absurd to imagine, as most people at once do, that it was a per- fect stranger to the lay of the land. To find our way a second time over ground we have once trod is scarcely intelligence; we can only call it instinct, though the word does not in the least explain the process."

OUR FROZEN MEAT SUPPLY. What rapid strides the trade in frozen beef from Australia is making. During the past year the yearly export, now 80,000cwt., has almost doubled. Mean- while, according to Professor Robert Wallace, arrangements are being made at various freezing centres, but chiefly in Queensland, to send it in greater quantities than ever. One Queensland meat export and agency company alone has made preparations to export 30,COO head of cattle, or 200,000cwt. annually. JThe Australian frozen beef has a strong competitor in the chilled beef from the United States, the condition [of chilled beef being much more like home-killed beef when put in the market. Although freezing is not supposed to injure to any extent the finer-grained mutton, yet it is admitted that the complete freezing which is necessary to enable beef to cross the Equator in safety is detrimental to the condition of the larger fibres and blood vessels of beef, resulting in the loss of a certain amount of the natnral juice during the process of cooking.

PW- AUSTRALIA'S FLOCKS AND HERDS. The flocks and herds of Australia are increasing enormously. The former are estimated at 22,000,000 and the latter at 6,000,000 head. Strange to say, Sir James Garrick, Agent-General for Queensland, declares that water is the secret of the constantly- growing numbers, There were large tracts of country where, during droughts, it was a matter of extreme difficulty to maintain stock, but on these tracts it has been ascertained-beyond doubt as to no less than about 55,000,000 acrefi- that there is splendid artesian water, and the result is to relieve from peril many of the flocks and herds which otherwise must perish in times of drought. One large squatter told Sir James that before he discovered artesian water on his property many of his stock certainly would have perished in time of drought; but by reason of this discovery not only was the station able to carry the stock in time of drought, but jto was able to assist his neighbours to carry a large part of theirs also. Sir James Garrick is of opinion that there is owing to this cause practically no limit to the future increase.

A ROYAL CHAPEL. The chapel at Windsor Castle, where Lord Car- rington's infant daughter was recently baptised, is in the private apartments. The pews, pulpit, and other fittings are of old oak. The chapel contains memo- rials of General the Hon. Charles Grey, Sir Thomas Biddulph, and other deceased members of the House- hold. The Queen occupies a spacious gallery, which is just opposite to the pulpit and reading-desk. This gallery is entered through an anteroom, which is hung with a valuable and interesting collection of portraits of the wives of Henry VIII. and some of their friends. The organ is a very fine instrument, which was renovated and enlarge a few years ago, at a cost to the Queen of £ 2000. It is so placed and arranged as to be available both for the services in the private chapel and for recitals and conoerts in St. George's Hall. There is divine service in the private chapel every morning at ten o'clock, and twice on Sunday. The Dean of Windsor officiates, as domestic chaplain to the Queen, a post to which a stipend of E600 a year (paid out of the I Civil List) is awarded. The reader of the present chapel is the vicar of New Windsor. There is nearly always a special preacher at the midday service on Sunday, which is attended by the Queen and the Royal family. Unless the preacher is invited to stay at the castle he is the guest of the Dean of Windsor at the Deanery, but he nearly always receives a "command" to dine with the Queen on Sunday night.

LORD GLASGOW IN NEW ZEALAND. Lord Glasgow found himself quite at home the other day in New Zealand when he went down to Dunedin to take part in the Burns anniversary cele- bration. They have a real live descendant of the poet in Dunedin, of whom they are vastly proud, and the Governor, being very gracious to this gentleman, added much to his own popularity in the Scottish section of the oolony. Lord Glasgow appears to be getting along very satisfactorily in New Zealand he is genial and thoughtful, and has so far evinced no disposition to interfere unduly with the political aspirations and social dispositions of the people. He has been going among the Maoris lately a good deal, and has become quite a favourite with them. They have their old land grievance still, and the Governor is disposed to go carefully into the question for them.

THE Duke of Edinburgh's term of employment as Commander-in-Chief at Devonport will expire in August, and it has just been definitely settled that his Royal Highness is to be replaced in that impor- tant post by Admiral Sir Algernon Lyons, R.C.B. The Duke of Edinburgh will join the Duchess in Germany when he leaves Devonport, and it is ex- pected that next autumn they will take up their per- manent residence at Coburg.

THE HOWARD DE WALDEN SUITS. The trial of the Howard de Walden matrimonal suits concluded on the 11th inst. Lady Howard having been further cross-examined, the deposition of Lady Bolsover was read, stating that she had never' seen the slightest impropriety between the Comte de Madre and Lady Howard. Miss Evelyn Holden, who was with Lady Howard on many of the occasions spoken to by the witnesses for Lord Howard, gave evidence to the same effect. The deposition of the Comte de Madre, denying the allegations made against him, was then read, and Captain Noel Winter swore that there was no truth in the statements re- flecting upon him. The jury found that Lord Howard had been guilty of cruelty, but that Lady Howard was not guilty of the charge made against her. Sir F. Jeune expressed his concurrence in the verdict, dismissed Lord Howard's petition, and granted Lady Howard a decree of judicial separation. The Howard de Walden case (remarks the Daily News) has terminated with a verdict for the wife. She obtains a judicial separation and the custody of her child. The man whom she must still call her husband does not sucoeed in his cruel charges against her. The jury practically stopped the case on Saturday, though one of them showed a strangely robust appetite for more particulars. There was nothing in the evidence, in so far as it affected Lady Howard de Walden. A dog could not have been hanged on bhe testimony on which the titular guardian of her honour sought to consign her to lasting infamy. His curious scheme of account keep- ing in names and dates and occasions would not bear the audit of the almanac. The dates were all wrong. The amateur detective, who recognised features which were impenetrably veiled, and who could see round corners, as other persons are said to be able to shoot, would not go down with the jury. The valet and the maid must find their reward in the purity of their intentions, and, one of them, in the remembrance of more substantial gratifi- cations from a noble lord. We are particular as the adjective, for Lord Howard de Walden's aaracter has need of all the benefit it can derive ti-om the conventions of respect. He deserved to fail on his counter pleas alone. A man capable of bring- ing such charges, on such evidence, would, by fair implication, have been capable of most of the things laid to his charge. The suit is unfortunate in its issue for him, and not for him alone. It can hardly fail to make people think once, and twice, and thrice about his position and his privileges. It will not do to think too deeply about such things, for, like all inquiries into natural justice, they are apt to lead into a maze. A passing thought upon them, however, is useful from time to time. What are the uses of such lives, to themselves or to other people ? It is not merely that those who lead them fail to toil they claim so much sustenance for their idleness, at any rate in the liquid form. They are devoted to absolutely self-regarding ends, and they are too richly established and endowed for their worse than profitless parts. A king's ransom must be capitalised to keep them going in horses, houses, dinners, and all the rest of it. It is as though one conferred an annuity on the bacillus of cholera, and tended its noxious per- sonality with all manner of superfluous offerings. A man of this stamp is made by Nature to live on 3s. a day, and earn it. He should weed the home farm, or dig at the London clay. The toil would take it out of him," and all that was lost to the in- dulgence of his appetite would be saved to society by the making of sewers. But poor mother Nature gets no remedial chanoe with him. There is no way of repairing her first blunder in having brought him into the world. Art has taken up this rawest of raw material, and, with perverse in- genuity, has insisted on fashioning the gentleman out of the born churl, the silk purse out of the sow's ear. In their better moments such unhappy creatures must shake their fists at Fate. They are wretched withal in their demand for a thousandfold share of an aggregate of well-being that will hardly go once round. One feels that this most melancholy specimen of manhood must go on from bad to worse. No kindly law steps in to tell him that he is a moral lunatic, acd to restrict his prodigality to as much as may be necessary for his safe custody, or for his cure. The British Constitution, having accomplished its crowning feat of getting 12 men into a box, has no energy left for the task of putting this one poor creature in his right place. Society will probably have more trouble with him to the end. Meanwhile it is a great thing to know that one human being has been rescued from his cruelty.

> IRON AND COAL. The iron trade of South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire shows a little improvement, and the mills and forges are working with rather more regularity. The export trade is weak. A fair demand is reported from Australia for best classes of bar-iron, but business in this department has fallen off to a very large extent during the last six months. Good inquiries are to hand for angles, sheets, &c., OD account of the Indian Government. The South American trade keeps dull. There is rather more firmness in the home trade. Branded bars in rounds, 4ats, and squares for engineering purposes are in moderately strong request, and second class and lower qualities are in better demand. A steady business is being done in shoe-bars, and tire- flats and half-rounds in steel and iron show good specifications. Cable-bars are in moderate inquiry. Recent orders for ordinary qualities show nothing special. Fair specifications have been given out for the higher qualities for Government and other im- portant work. Chain sizes continue in weak request. Bolt rods and nut iron are in medium inquiry. Cheap kinds of hoops are in good request for export. The tube strip trade is tolerably steady. Steel sorts for special tube purposes are in ready sale, and iron qualities for locomotive and gas tubes remain in pretty even demand. Angles and tees are in improved request for bridge and roofing work. The tinplate and tinned-sheet trade keeps firm. The pig-iron market has a steady tone, and consumers fore receiv- ing fair consignments. All-mine hot-air iron is priced at E3 and £ 3 2s. 6d. per ton other sorts at propor- tionate figures. A fair demand is maintained in the coal trade both for works and household fuel.

EVICTED TENANTS COMMISSION. The report of the Evicted Tenants Commission has been laid upon the table of the House of Lords. The Commissioners propose that the Land Commission should have power to open up an arbitration for agree- ment between the landlord and tenant on appli- cation of the latter, and that, if this fails, the Land Commission should have power, irrespective of the landlord's consent, to sell the farm or estate to the tenant for what the Commission may decide to be reasonable terms. A plan is also pro- posed with reference to the planters by which, if the planter does not consent to give up possession to the original tenant upon reasonable terms, the Commis- sion shall endeavour to And for the evicted tenant elsewhere another farm as nearly as possible corre- sponding to the one from which he has been evicted.

A MINIMUM WHEAT-ACREAGE. Will a British Government in the near future be compelled (asks the Graphic) to regard wheat-grow- ing, not as a commercial speculation, but as a method of national defence ? At present such a day seems very distant, for we have large stocks in granary, and there is a big fleet of vessels heading towards Eng- land and getting nearer with their wheat cargoes for every wind that blows across the Atlantic, or up northward from the Line. Buyers, however, have had such a shock from the fall of wheat-prices—over 10s. per qr. on the year-that future purchases are not likely to be on the scale of the past investments. Were we to find our stores reduced on the eve of a war, the situation would at once become veiy serious yet there is at the present no contact between Government and Commerce as to providing for any emergeney. It is probable that the most satisfactory policy would be one that provided for a minimum wheat-acreage—perhaps three million acres would be a fair extent to take. Bounty in the form of Crown taxes would have to be provided to keep up the wheat-area; but this policy already prevails for the aid of commerce, a person investing in land having to pay heavier taxes than an investor in commercial securities, and obtaining no remission of income-tax on income derived from land, whereas under £ 400 derived from commerce receives a rebate, and under £ 150 a-year is exempt from tax.

THE National Union of Teachers, in response to a request by the London County Council to nominate a representative for appointment by the Council on the Technical Education Board, have nominated Mr. T. A. Organ, B.A., who, as a London Board school- master, has had much practical experience of the work.

I EPITOME OF NEWS. THE centenary fund of the Baptist Missionary Jfeociety now exceeds £ 110,000. It is to close at the end of this month. INVERMARK, which Lord and Lady Dudley have taken for a year, is situated amid the Grampians, 18 miles north of Forfar, and is surrounded by some of the finest scenery in Scotland. Near Loch Lee a glen divides in two parts, and at the junction there stands a shooting lodge, bnilt in 1853 in the picturesque style of English architecture, with a fancy tower on the east front. It overlooks the glen, and is backed by wild and lonely hills. The lodge, which is of granite, contrasts pleasantly with the ancient tower of Invermark Castle, an interesting ruin on the banks of the Lee, streaked with ivy and protected by a dyke. The date of its erection is un- certain, but it has stood some hundreds of years, and was probably the scene of many a wild fray with Highland foragers. For a long time it was the seat of the Lindsays, and it then came into the possession of Lord Dalhousie. The Queen and Prince Albert visited the lodge in 1861. THERE has just died at the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse a man whose history was a romance. This was Brother Anselm, the night porter. M. de Brecourt, for such was his real name, was three times married. His firsts two wives had no children. The third had one child, a daughter, who lived to be nine or 10 years old. One day the father was out shooting, and discharged his gun through a hedge. The unhappy man heard a shriek, and on going to the spot whence it proceeded found his child lying dead, killed by his own hand. M. de Brecourt literally never smiled after the event. THE custodianship of Shakespeare's birthplace is not unlikely to be again vacant. It will be remem- bered that it was held for many years by the Misses Chattaway, two charming old ladies who were wont to discourse on things Shakespearean in a manner that their name suggests. To them succeeded Mr. Joseph Skipsey, the Northumbrian poet, but he found the duties unpalatable, and resigned in about 18 months, when the Misses Beaumont and Harper were placed in joint charge; and now, after 15 months only, they also have intimated to the Executive Com- mittee of Trustees their intention of resigning. It appears that there has been considerable friction between them and a certain official of the trust, and not being able to bear such fardels with the philosophy of a Hamlet, they have determined to make their quietus by clearing out. EILDON HALL, the residence of the Earl of Dal- keith, where the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch are at present on a visit to their newly-wedded son and daughter-in-law, is a modern edifice which stands on the finely wooded eastern slope of the historic Eildon Hills, near Melrose. A hoary tradition, now extinct, held that the triple eminences were cleft in three by the familiar demon of Michael Scott, by re- quest of the reniwned wizard. The locality is rich in Scottish story, and Sir Walter Scott, whose residence of Abbotsford is but a mile or two distant, says, I could stand on the Eildon Hill and point out forty- three places famous in war and verse." The Eild on property was lately acquired by the Buccleuch family by purchase. THE manager of the two large farming stations in Australia has utilised a telephonic invention which might be applied with advantage in rural districts in this country. The" stat.ions" are surrounded with wire fences; and the top wire-when necessary, carried across roads on poles-is converted into a telephonic conductor. By attaching to this wire an instrument which he carries in his buggy, the manager may from any part of the farm com- municate directly with headquarters at the home- stead. The whole cost at starting was only 20s. per mile. DR. CHURTON, coroner for Chester, has received a letter from a New Orleans clergyman saying that a man named Jones recently confessed to the murder of a gamekeeper in Cheshire for which a man named Flood was executed. Jones was now dead, but the clergyman believed his statement to be accurate. ALTHOUGH the Admiralty during the past 12 months have spent £ 24,000 in widening and deepen- ing the channel of the Medway, it is found that tbe large battleships are still unable to proceed from Chatham Dockyard at low tides, and the Admiralty have decided to expend another E12,000 to further deepen the river. THE lamentable disaster at Sandgate has interfered with an historic landmark. In the affected area there was a house which marked the spat where John B. Gough, the famous temperance orator, was born. It was very close to the beach, and at high tide almost touched the water. Some years ago a slab was put up on the wall, with a simple inscription, inti- mating that Gough was born on that spot. The original cottage was pulled down some years ago. Gough. though he made his home in America, never forgot his birthplace, and when he fulfilled engage- ments in this country he always tried to run down to the Kentish coast. On one occasion he laid the foundation-stone of a Gough Institute, for soldiers and seamen, in the village and in his autobiography there are pathetic references to' Sandgate. One of his most graphic oratorical efforts on the platform related to the last glimpse he took of it when he was in the ship that carried him away when a boy to the other side of the Atlantic. THE man who makes his first stroke at golf usually breaks the club lent him, narrowly escapes doing likewise to the head of some one standing by, misses the ball, remembers all the evil words he has heard since childhood, and goes home humiliated and all but blaspheming. Mr. L. M. Balfour seems to have been an exception; when be was a boy at Edinburgh at school he happened to see a fellow-student practis- ing golf. Mr.—then Master-Balfour asked to have a "shy"; he was allowed to do so, and the first drive sent the ball, so it is said, floating away into space with all the style of an old golfing hand. LORD ROBERTS'S approaching departure from India has been made, and very naturally so, the occasion of an expression of feeling, more especially on the part of the native fighting classes, which is of truly Im- perial significance. The brotherhood of the sword, into which Lord Roberts has drawn the warriors of the Punjaub more closely than they have ever been drawn since the days of the Kbalsa is, with all due respect to local triumphs of civil administration, the greatest safeguard our Indian Empire pos- sesses against both attacks from without and dissension within. It is a popnlar delusion that India was won by Tommy Atkins, but it was not. Our Indian Empire was won and is held for ns by the Sepoys, and our real defence in India is the confidence and loyalty of the people, for if the natives chose to rise against us in real earnest as men do when they are cruelly oppressed, they could hustle every white man into the sea in a very short time. This is the reason why our high officials in India are so conservative and prudent in their dealings with the natives, and why they potter about for long weary months trying to find out quietly how far native opinion will stand changes before they venture to make any. TIIE sale of the collections of pictures and drawings belonging to the partners in the firm of Baring Brothers will come at a most unfortunate time for artists. The recent great Murrieta sale still in- fluences, to some extent, the buying powers of both dealer and collector: and here we have theanncunce- ment that. just when the Academy and the other spring exhibitions are in full swing, one of the most important aggregated collections of art-produce in England will be thrown on the market-somewhat to its own depreciation, perhaps, but greatly to the dis- advantage of the artist who looks for his year' income to the great annual fair in Piccadilly. GENERAL Sm MARTIN DILLON, K.C.B., C.S.T., has retired from the army on a pension of £ 1000 per annum. The gallant general entered the army in 18±3, and obtained his present rank last year. He served in the Punjawb, North-West Frontier, Indi, ik Mutiny, China, and Abyssinian campaigns, and has filled several important staff appointments. His re- tirement gives promotion to Lieut.-General M. Walker, V.C., C.B., and Major-General A. Lyttleton- Anneslsy. The step on the major-generals' list will be absorbed. THE Guildhall Library in London has received a present from the Chief Magistrate of the City of Berlin in the form of a handsome volume describing the public monuments and art treasures of Berlin, and giving some account of the municipal life of that city. It contains many fine engravings of old city churches and other buildings. The interchange of j courtesies between the heads of leading municipali- j ties is always agreeable, but apart from these civic amenities, it is a fact that the Guildhall Library is much in need of works on the subject of foreign I municipalities. The Corporation are always most generous in supplying foreign libraries with works and medals relating to London. THE Duke of Cambridge has been staying for a ■Jhort time at Grasse, at the Grand Hotel, whica \8 occupied by the Queen for several weeks duriug the spring of 1891. Among the English visitors now at 13 11 Grasse are the Duchess of Roxburghe and the Ladies Victoria and Margaret Innes-Ker, the Earl and Countess of Harrowby, General Lord Mark Kerr, and Lord and Lady Napier of Ettrick. The Baroness Alice de Rothschild is residing at the beautiful Villa Victoria (which was often visited by the Queen during her stay at Grasse). where Princess Louise and the Marquis of Lome are shortly to be her guests. WE shall be in a few weeks greeting two colonial I representatives of the numerous and widespread family of Smith. Dr. L. L. of that ilk, after spend- ing some 30 years in the Parliament of Victoria, if coming back to his native city of London to take charge bf the Victorian Court of the Imperial Insti- tute in South Kensington. He is the son of the E. T. Smith, who was manager of Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and other theatrical enterprises of the forties and fifties. Dr. Smith has had a practice in Melbourne for close on 40 years, and as sportsman, journalist, wine grower, politician, and medico, played many parts in colonial life. The other Smith, who will be with us in a day or two, is Sir Edwin, one of the wealthiest of Australian brewers. There was some difficulty about getting leave of absence for the famous colonial cricketer, George Giffen, in order that he might join the Australian eleven who will be with us during the coming season. Sir Edwin Smith took the matter up, engineered it successfully, and now he bas come home to see how Giffen and his brother Australians will shape on English fields. THE coming of age of Lord Granville has been kept very quietly. The tenantry at Stone, in the Pottery. district, where his lordship's property lies, bad a festive gathering among themselves to drink success to the son of the Liberal statesman who died a couple of years ago but Lord Granville remained with his mother at Kensington Palace where a dinner party was held in celebration of the event. The young earl has shown no disposition at present to follow the example of his father and grandfather by adopting a political career. THE Hon. Duncan Gillies, to whom rumoar is assigning the post of Agent-General for Victoria, is yet another instance of the extraordinary successes achieved by men who went to the colonies devoid of even the proverbial half-crown. At the age of 20 he was content to break stones for road-mendins, and only gave up that lucrative employment when the gold fever set in. At the Ballarat gold-fields he and his partner Patrick Lalor (who afterwards became Speaker in the Parliament of Victoria) laid the foundations of their future wealth. Scotch acumen and thrift, joined to indomitable ambition, soon gained him a seat in Parliament, where for nearly 40 vears he has been a Speaker who has always held strong views and had strongly characteristic methods of expressing them. In appearance, Mr. GiUies is short and thick-set; he is a man of few words but much firmness. To Londoners he will be highly interesting and not a little-curious. MELBOURNE is being treated to a genuine sensa- tion over the appointment of Dr. Madden to the Victorian Chief Justiceship, in succession to the late Chief Justice Higinbotham. It appears that one Justice Williams, who had been considered the most likely successor, has been so upset by the appointment of another that he has written a long letter to the Press, not only stating his claim to the high office, but attacking the professional standing of his successful rival, of whom he savs: When I was at tbe Bar I was earning as many thousands as Dr. Madden was hundreds, and it wa" only the elevation of the leaders of 12 years ago. of which I was one, that enabled Dr. Madden to push his way to the front rank. When I was practising I had retainers from nearly aU the leading inhabitants in Melbourne. How deeply the iron has entered Justice Williams' soul mav be'seen by e following paragraph, which ends his remark- able letter, I have now been twelve years on the bench doing considerably more than my duty, but in future I will do nothing but my bare duty. So keenly do I feel the insult, that had I left the bar only five years, instead of twelve, I should un- hesitatingly resign my judgeship and return to the bar." WE understand that the nutumnal assemblvof the Congregational Union of England and Wales will, for the first time for some years, be held in London and not in the provinces, Mr. Albert Spicer. the first lay Moderator, presiding. THE Lord Chancellor has written to the members who signed the memorial in regard to the appoint- ment of iragfistrates without the intervention of the Lords-Lieutenant of counties expressing his willing- ness to give them an interview. Lord Herschell desires, however, that a little time should be allowed to elapse before the interview takes place, and the exact date has consequently not vet been settled. THE Countess of Carlisle and her daughter. Lady Marv Murray, are staying at the Villa Sivi, Florence, and will shortly return to Castle Howard, Yorkshire! The Earl of Carlisle is expected to arrive earlv next month from Algiers, where he has been passing the winter. THE personal property of the late Lady William Osborne Elphinstone has been sworn at £ 79.000, and her large estates in Perthshire and Stirlingshire (in- cluding the splendid domain of Tulliallan Castle) pass to her niece, the Dowager Marchioness of Lans- downe, who already possesses the Nairne estates in Perthshire, her seat being Meiklour House, on the Tay. Lady William Osborne Elphinstone was the only child of Admiral Viscount Keith, by his second marriage with Miss Hester Tbrale, the" Queenie" of Dr. Johmon, Lady William was a half-sister of the late Countess de Flahault, who was the daughter of Lord Keith by his first marriage. Lord Keith settled his estates upon the -Comtesse de Flahault for her life, with reversion to his younger daughter, failing whose issue they were to pass to the eldest child of the elder daughter; so the Dowager Lady Lansdowne has now inherited them. When the Comtesse de Flabault was Miss Mercer-Elphinstone she was the intimate friend of the Princess Charlotte, and in 1812 the Duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV.) was anxious to marry her. SrR H. MHYSEY-THOMPSON can boast of direct descent in the female line from the first Henry an3 the first and second Edwards. This is due to the marriage of his father, the first Sir Henry Meysey- Thompson, with a daughter of the late Sir John Croft, in whose veins flowed the blood of all the Percys, the De Cliffords, and the Mortimers, ANTIQUARIANS will appreciate the exhibition of Roman remains from the old Roman city of Sil Chester, now being shown at Burlington House in the rooms of the Society of Antiquaries. The collection contains numerous interesting antiquities found during last year's excavations, and may be seen daily until March 18 on presentation of the visitor's card. VIOLETS are specially plentiful this year, as may be seen at a glance in the London streets, while in Paris there is a perfect glut of the blossoms. Millions have been sent up from the south, but now the growers nearer the capital are furnishing ample supplies. Hyacinths run the violets very close in c favour with the Parisians, while mimosa is the most popular flower for decorating rooms. Most of these blooms come from the departments of the Var and Alpes Maritimes. LORD ASHCOMBE, who has been presented with a massive candelabra by Viscount MidletoD, on bebalf of the county of Surrey, was elevated to the peerage last year. The Bight Hon. George Cubitt, Baron Aehcombe, has been a member of several Royal Com- missions, and is a deputy lieutenant for Surrey and Middlesex. He represented his county in the House of Commons from I860 down to 1892. In 1880 he was sworn a Privy Councillor. r LIEUTENANT-COLONEL DOUGLAS LABALMONDIERE, whose death is announced in his 78th year, was con- nected with the Metropolitan Police from 1850 till 1384. For the first six years he acted as Inspecting Superintendent, and for the remainder of the period he was Assistant-Commissioner. When the Queen visited Napoleon IIL in Paris in the year 1855 he was appointed specially to attend her. Upon his retirement he was created a C.B. THE subscriptions towards the memorial statue to Sir Richard Owen now exceed £ 000, and many of them have come from distinguished foreign savants. MR. RENNELL RODD, whose prompt action on the death of the Sultan saved the situation in Zanzibar, is a man of almost Roman versatility. A diploma- tist by profession, a poet by choice, ravour, and a ruler of men by tbe order of e government, he has done many thuin^ Fn^oero? well. He wrote the life »''h« E."3 hi Frederick at the request «[ tb' h giria'es minor poems are so nearlj on lh<, manj- who