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OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.I

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OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT. Wars and rumours of wars have so disturbod the political atmosphere of Europe during the last ten days or a fortnight that quiet folk have rubbed their eyes with amaze—and some have felt their pockets with regret. For that subtle barometer of rumour, the Stock Exchange, has been largely, and perhaps designedly, affected by the scare and in the general fall of prices which for a day or two marked the Bourses, many innocent people suffered. The tendency towards panic commenced with the receipt of 6he news that the Czar was seriously, if not dangerously, ill; then comes the intelligence ;hat M. Decrais, the French Ambassador to the United Kingdom, had suddenly resigned his post; hard at the heels followed an erroneous report that France had declared a blockade of Madagascar; and it was known that matters between China and Japan were approaching ou crisis of a peculiarly acute kind. When, on the top of all this, news was flashed, not only over this country but throughout the world, that a Cabinet Council had been called, though one in the ordinary course of things was not to be held for weeks, the ten- dency towards panic was accentuated, and for twenty-four hours all seemed unsteadiness. Time has since been given to recover from the shake, but the fact that a panic could so easily be set afoot and so widely believed in has left an unpleasant feeling behind, which it will take some period to allay. 5u iiltle is known personally of the Czar in this country that the news of his serious illness has not impressed the public imagina- tion to the extent that might have been antici- pated. He has visited London, of course, on i various occasions, but never since he succeeded i to the perilous throne of All the Russias and lyet at one period, now not far from thirty years |ago, he excited special interest in England Ibecause of the singular and even romantic cir- becausø of the E;ingular and even romaltic cir- cumstances attendant upon his marriage with a younger sister of the Princess of Wales. Most people have probably by this time forgotten that that lady was first engaged to the present Czar's eldest brother, the then Czarewitch, and that when that Prince died before marriage he expressed a wish that those who to-day are Czar and Czarina should become united. The case was nearly parallel, in fact, with that of the Duke and Duchess of York, and the same happy result followed. The Czarina is known. to be devoted to her husband—so much so, in fact, that her nerves have been well-nigh shattered with anxiety for his safety. She has never recovered from the shock of the so-called accident" on the railway at Borki, which was in reality a Nihilist attempt of special daring, when, with her husband and children, she had suddenly to escape from the wrecked train to the neighbouring steppe, not knowing but that the next moment might be their last. It is no wonder, in such circum- stances, that the Czar should in talk with his nieces, the young Princesses of Wales, have compared their happy English home with what z!1 he called his Russian prison. No surprise will be felt at the news that it is being seriously contemplated at Court, as a result of the recent untoward event during the progress of the Duke and Duchess of York at Leeds, to have the Royal carriages so con- structed that there shall be no chance for madman or malefactor to mount the step. Such a change has been made in France since the assassination of President Carnot, for the landau in which President Perier now rides is not only higher than its predecessor, but the step so folds up after the carriage has been entered by its legitimate occupants that no one can get upon it. The precaution is a simple one, and yet, if it had been adopted at Lyons last June, a historic tragedy might have been prevented, while much annoyance would have been saved if it had been used at Leeds last week. It is not sufficient to say that in this country there is no chance of assassination; there is always a chance as long as there are madmen in the world, and it is only right to take every reasonable precaution against it. y t, Now that the Lord Mayor-elect has been decided upon, and Sir Joseph Renals has been nominated by the Livery and approved by the Court of Aldermen, the thoughts of a good many in the City are turned towards the ar- rangement for the customary pageant on November 9, known as the Lord Mayor's Show. As Aldersgate is Alderman Renal's ward, and as it is usual for the incoming Lord Mayor's ward to make the most striking display, it has taken the lead this week in settling the prelimi- naries for the decoration of such of its streets as the procession will pass through, and it would seem as if this will be of a striking character. But beyond Aldersgate there is movement to be noted, for a desire has been expressed that the City Guilds, or at least a majority of them, should take a prominent part in the procession. If they consent to do so, the pageant will cer- tainly contain elements of a more than usually interesting character, and the display would this year be all the more appropriate because of the marked manner in which certain of the privileges of those Guilds are referred to in the recently-issued report of the Royal Commission j on the Unification of London. A few years ago, whenever there was a dis- A few years ago, whenever there was a dis- astrous railway z, catastrophe, a grim jest was accustomed to be made to the effect that such accidents would not be prevented until a director was compelled to ride in every train. After the experience of the latest collision of the East Coast Scotch express, this theory will scarcely again be advanced, for that train car- ried not only a railway director but two Cabinet Ministers, while the most obvious moral it seemed to teach was that it was no use having even such influential personages on board if mineral trains are allowed to shunt in a fog immediately in front of a fast express. There is another lesson, however, and that is that the safest train in which to travel is that which is provided with one or more Pullman cars. The wheel-frame upon which these rest is so heavy and substantial that it will withstand almost any impact; and a collision which" telescopes even the stoutest railway carriage of ordinary build fails to smash a Pullman. This has been proved in more than one accident of the last twenty years, and never more conspicuously than in the collision near Northallerton. Those commercial men who are straining their eyes for every sign that appears to indicate an improvement in trade are deriving a little satisfaction this week from the latest official return of the number of receiving orders made in the High Court and the several county- courts having bankruptcy jurisdiction in Eng- land and Wales. For the quarter just ended, there were one thousand and sixty of such orders, as against one thousand two hundred and thirty in the corresponding three months of last year, and one thousand one hundred and fifteen in those of 1892; and so far the figures are encouraging. But, if the first nine months of this year be taken, they are not quite so good, for, while they show a slight-a very slight-improvement on last year, they are not to be favourably com- pared with 1892. The fact that there has been an improving tendency during the past three months, is, however, so much to the good, for it is another added to various symptoms in proof that things are not quite so bad as they were a twelvemonth since, and that we may look for a better winter. This is particularly the case in certain of the textile industries, and in one branch the prospects are so bright that there is even some talk of there not being hands enough to do the work that will be required-an idea which, if realised, will decidedly be a novelty in the English trade of late years. What is called the 11 legitimate" athletic season having closed a week earlier, the cross- country season of 1894-95 opened last Satur- day. A number of harrier packs" were accordingly out in the neighbourhood of the metropolis in pursuit of their favourite pastime, but it was largely a practising afternoon, the slow, fast, and veteran diversions of various of the leading clubs being respectively paced by their best men for the occasion. The sport of paper chasing will accordingly speedily once more be in full swing, and great is the promised enjoyment. No small amount of pluck and endurance is demanded from a young fellow who wishes to distinguish himself among the leading metropolitan clubs, and as a test of these qualities cross-country chasing may be recommended. Like all pas- times, it has the danger of being occasionally overdone; but the lover of athletics, while admitting this for every sport, will contend that running, in any case, possesses no elemeIt of brutality, and that is a point very distinctly in its favour. R.

TRADE IN SEPTEMBER.

QUEER EFFECTS OF FESTIVITY.

DEATH OF FODI SILAH.

"ZULU" POTATOES.

THE "COMMON GOOD."

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NEWS NOTES. -

ROYAL VISIT TO LEEDS,

DUCK FARMING FOR PROFIT.

ATTACK ON THE LORDS.

FEMALE FORESTERS.

THE ENGLISH POLAR EXPEDITION.

THE BUTCHER'S BOY AND THEII…

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WHO WERE THE FIRST COMMERCIAL…

THE ROAD TO RUIN.

STABILITY OF SHIPS AT SEA.

SIR RUPERT KETTLE DEAD.

INFLUENZA APPROACHING.

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ROSSINI'S WATCH.

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FLEEING FROM HANKOW.

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