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

INTERNAL HEAT OF TREES. A remarkable series of experiments, with a view to ascertainfng the variations of temperature in trees, has been conducted by Herr F. Schleicherb, of Jena, who publishes the results in the Nctfurunssensehaft- liche Wockenschrift. Herr Schleichert finds that the general temperature of the interior of trees is dependent upon the teni- perature of the surrounding air, but is influenced also by other causes, such as the ground temperature, the temperature of the water ascending in the wood, 'and the temperature of the branches, which are idirectly heated by the sun's rays. The mftde of experiment was the following A hole was bored in the stem of a tree on the north side at a height of Ii metres (nearly 5ft.) from the ground. In the bole was placed to a depth of 12 centimetres "(nearly 5in.) a thermometer, and seated up with wax. A igecond thermometer similar to the first was fastened to a branch of the tree, so that the air cir- culated freely around it. The temperatures registered by the two instru- ments were taken at varying intervals daring the day and compared. The readings of the thermometers for eight days in June, which are published, bring to light a curious phenomenon. While the external temperature showed the itaiial lihaxima in the afternoon, the maxima in the interior of the tree were recorded at midnight and the minima at midday.

SLEEPING ON S2000. A singular discovery has been made at Delph. neat Oldham. The death of a widow named Ellen Taylor results in a small fortune to her nearest relative. A sum of nearly E2000 was found under her pillow ir- a small satchel. The deceased woman was twice married. Recently she had been attended by a sister. She has slept on her money for some time.

DREYFUS'S COUNSEL: CURIOUS INCIDENT. Miss M. Betham-Edwards writes in the Sketch that she has had the privilege recently of spending hours in the company of Maitre Demange, who is enjoying a vacation—the chief recreation of the great lawyer is fishing-at a charming country house," on th ed (fe of the Forest of Bambouillet. Maitre Demange has something of English build and characteristic, avers Miss Edwards, and she records, a curious and highly suggestive incident: The news of Henry's arrest naturally caused immense excitement in this passionately Dreyfusard' circle. As we all sat in Maitre Demange's drawing-room discussing the sub- ject, he said, You shall see we shall hear to-morrow that Henry has committed suicide.' And true enough next morning's papers brought the news;"

"A SIMPLE FACT ABOUT" KEATING'B COUGH LOZENGES. Ask throughout the world, in any country that can be named, you will find them largely sold. There is absolutely no remedy that is so speedy in giving relief, so certain to cure, and yet the most delicate can take them. One Lozenge gives ease. Sold in 13 £ d. tins. LOUD CUBZOS, Viceroy-elect of India, will now re- main at Cromer until the end of this month, when he Will pay several farewell'visits prior to his departure for Bombay in December next. MR. SCOTT, Professor of Geology at Princeton University, has received notification of his election as a Corresponding Member of the British Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science. It is under- stood that the honour has been accorded on account of valuable geographical researches made by Pro- fessor Scott. THE number of soldiers committed to prison last year by military courts-martial or civil power was 1388. As compared with 2470 in 1896, 1654 men were discharged from the army for bad conduct. In 1884 only 940 were discharged. LORD ROSEBERY is to deliver his inaugural address as president of the Edinburgh Philosophical Institu- tion on November 2, and his inaugural address as honorary president of the Associated Societies of Edinburgh University on November 4. To THE DEAF.—A Gentleman who has cured nume- rous cases of Deafness and Noises in the Head after many years' suffering, will gladly send full particulars Of the remedy, on receipt of stamped addressed en- velope. S. Clifton, Amberley House, Strand, London.

THE SOUDAN. rlIEPASHODA QUESTION.—FRENCH CLAIMS FIRMLY IGNORED BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. IMPORTANT OFFICIAL DESPATCHES. A Parliamentary paper was issued on Sunday night by the British Foreign Office on the subject of Fashoda, containing a series of very important despatches and telegrams which embody a detail of the negotiations with the French Government on the question down to the 3rd inst. So long ago as ia December last Sir E. Monson, the British Ambassador in Paris, was authorised by Lord Salisbury to remind the French Government of the views held by her Majesty's Government as to our exclusive sphere of influence in the Nile Valley, as expressed in the declaration made in the House of Commons by Sir E. Grey in 1895, In reply to this reminder, M. Hanotaux, then French Foreign Minister, said that Sir E. Grey's statement had elicited an immediate protest from the French Government, to which that Government still ad- hered. On August 2 of this year Lord Salisbury, sending instructions to Lord Cromer as to the steps to be taken after the fall of Omdurman, wrote that in dealing with any French or Abyssinian autho- rities who might be encountered on or near the Blue or White Nile, nothing should be said or done which would in any way imply a recognition, on behalf of her Majesty's Government, of a title to possession, en behalf of France or Abyssinia, of any portion of the Nile Valley. On September 7 Sir E. Monson reported to Lord Salisbury a conversation he had had with M. Delcasse, the present French Foreign Minister, who expressed the anxiety of his Govern- ment for the avoidance of any local conflict between the Anglo-Egyptian forces and Captain Marchand's expedition, and their wish that the Fashoda difficulty should be amicably adjusted. Lord Salisbury in- structed Sir E. Monson to point out to M. Delcasse that all the territories which had been subject to the Khalifa had passed by right of conquest to the British and Egyptian Governments, and that her Majesty's Government do not consider this right open to discussion. On September 18 Sir E. Monson re- ported that, in reply to a question from M. Delcasse as to whether the British Government held that Captain Marchand had no right to be at Fashoda, he had said that they considered Fashoda to have "passed into the hands of Great Britain and Egypt, and he reminded M. DeIcass6 of Sir E. Grey's decla- ration, to which her Majesty's present advisers en- tirely adhered. M. Delcass6 responded that France bad never recognised the British sphere of influence in the Upper Nile region, and had protested against Sir E. Grey's declaration. In the course of the conversation M. DelcassS also repeatedly said that there was, as a matter of fact, no "Marchand Mission," and that, consequently, there could be no question of an unfriendly act in the sense of Sir E. Grey's declaration. Sir E. Monson felt it his duty to tell the Minister that the situation on the Upper Nile was a dangerous one, and that the British Government would consent to no compromise as to Fashoda forming part of the territories which had S.ssed to Great Britain and Egypt from the Khalifa. er Majesty's Government had no wish to pick a quarrel, but there was no cause for surprise in tneir resenting a step which they had warned France not to take. On September 25 Mr. Rodd forwarded from Cairo the Sirdar's report of his visit to Fashoda, and of his intercourse; with Captain Marchand, who stated toliim in a letter that he had been instructed by his Government to occupy the Bahr el Ghazal up to the confluence of the Bahr el Jebel, and also the Shilluk country on the left bank of the Nile as far as .Fashoda; that he had concluded a treaty with the Shilluk chiefs by which they placed the country under the protection of France; and that he had sent this treaty for ratification to his Government. Captain Marchand also men- tion his fight with the dervishes on August 25, and added that he had sent his steamer southward for reinforcements, but that the arrival of the Sirdar's forces bad prevented a more serious attack. The Sirdar further reported that Captain Marchand declared it to be impossible for him to retire without the orders of his Government. Sir H. Kitchener sept to Mt Marchand a. written pro- test against the occupation of .any part of the Nile Valley by France. The chief of the Shilluk tribe entirely denied having m^e any treaty with tho Frencn, and the entire tribe expressed the greatest delight in returning to their allegiance to Egypt. M. Marchand, -add the, Sirdar, was in want of ammunition and supplies, and nothing could have saved his expedition from being annihilated by the dervishes if we had been &'fortnJght;b;.ter in crushing the Khalifa. M. Delcasse was informed of the con- tents of the Sirdar's report, and, as the result of a meeting of the French Cabinet, requested that a tele- gram (which might be opened if so desired) might be forwarded by way of Khartoum to Captain Marchand, instructing him at once to send one of his officers to Cairo with a copy" of his report already despatched. Sir E. Monson, on receiving this request, observed that it indicated that the French Government would not recall M. Marchand before receiving his report. He therefore asked M. Delcass6 whether he refirsed at once to recall M. Marchand. The Minister, 'after some hesitation, said he was ready to discuss the question in the most conciliatory spirit, but Sir E. Monson must not ask him for the impossible. Sir E. Monson reminded him that her Majesty's Government considered that there could be no discussion on the right of Egypt to Fashoda. Lord Salisbury, on September 28, intimated to Sir E. Monson the con- sent of the British Government to the despatch of the message to a French explorer who is on the Upper Nile in a difficult position," and added that they did not desire to be made acquainted with the purport of the message, but could accept no respon- sibility for the results to the safety or health of the explorer which the delay in quitting his present situation might bring abftt. His lordship added that much uneasiness would be created in this country by a prolongation of the existing state of affairs, and that it would become necessary for the Government to make some publication of the facts without delay. On October 3 Lord Salisbury notified the French Government, through Sir E. Monson, of the trans- mission of the message to M. Marchand, and at the same time requested the Ambassador to inform M. Delcass6 that compliance with his request in this matter does hot imply the slightest modification of the views of the British Government; that whether in times of Egyptian or dervish dominion the region in which M. Marchand was found has never been with- out an owner; and that, in the view of her Majesty's Government, his' expedition into it with an escort of 100 Senegalese troops has no politicaleffect, nor can any political significance be attached to it. FASHODA STREET. The Paris Municipal Council on Saturday adopted a proposal to name a street Fashodo "—a step which our Paris correspondent describes as an appli- .cation of popular pressure on the Cabinet to prevent the evacuation of Fashoda., LORD KITCHENER AND THE SIRDARSHIP. The statements that Lord Kitchener intends to resign the Sirdarship are, totally devoid of founda- tion, as is also the report that the Egyptian War Office would be transferred to Khartoum. Nor have the Mahdi's millions been discovered. RUNDLE ON THE BLUE NILE. Major-General Rundle has taken a force up the Blue Nile to clear out the country between that river and Gedaref. He encountered small detached parties of dervishes in the country between the Blue Nile and the White Nile who were anxious to surrender, but were keeping aloof, fearing the vengeance of the lecal Arabs, whom they have oppressed for many years, and who owe the dervishes a heavy debt of retribution. < THE KHALIFA'S HIDING PLACE. The Khalifa was last heard of at Baha, three days west of Abbah Island, concealed in the foreq t, together with Osman Digna and a small fol- lowing. The mountaineers of the neighbourhood refused to say anything to him. pr; allow him to visit their country, and the surrounding Arab tribes are all hostile to him. It is thought that the Khalifa will try to make westwards, but the greater part of Kordotan looks upon him as an enemy. The Khalifa Ali Wad Helu is seriously' wounded and is hiding in a.village; while the Khalifa Mahomed Es Sherif is reported to be hiding on Abbah Island. It was Abdullahia brother and right-hand man for many years who was killed at Omdurman, and not his son Osman, or Sheikh Ed Din, who is now with him. EGYPTIAN SICK AND WOUNDED. Colonel Young, commissioner of the National Aid Øociety, has presented the Sirdar with £ 300 for the benefit of the sick and wounded among the Egyptian sofiSH:tto-engagPAtn t ne KiuU!nn'$aknpaagn,an<iArurtn< r- sum*'of -fbr-f he" purchase* of articles u'r^ewtiy } sum* of -fbr-f he" purchase* of articles u'r^ewtiy t needed fort lie treatment or the dervish wounded now < under medical care at Omdurman. Col >nel Young informed the Sirdar that the society had been pre- vented only by limitations of time and means of j transport from affording the same benefits to the I Egyptian troops as it had done to their British com- I cades in arms. I FRENCH FEELINft | The more important Paris journals reserve their judgment on the Fashoda papers published by the British Government till the full text is before them. The LihertS declares that Marchand can neither be disavowed nor recalled, but serious negotiations can begin as soon as his report reaches the French t Foreign Office. The Matin says that France will probably not risk a war with Great Britain for the nominal sovereignty of territories a'; an immense distance from her possessions on the Atlantic. A fellow-book on the question is to be presented to the Chambers at the opening of the session. GERMAN PRAISE OF KITCHENER. The North-German Gazette publishes -an official communication contradicting the statement that ¡ Captain von Tiedemann, the German Military Altachd who accompanied the Sirdar's forces during ;he recent campaign, had passed an unfavourable judgment on the strategical and tactical conduct of the expedition. On the contrary, Herr wn Tiede- mann, in his official reports, bestowed upon the con- duct of the campaign, and particularly on the military qualities of the general in command, that praise which, according to the universal opinion of experts, was well deserved. GORDON MEMORIAL. The Lord Mayor of London has received a telegram from the Sirdar setting forth the project of a college at Khartoum as a memorial to Gordon, and inviting the support of the Mansion House on behalf of the beneficent undertaking. Speaking to a representative of the Daily Telegraph on Monday, his lordship stated that the idea of a Mansion House Fund was engaging his best attention, and he hoped that he should be able to see his way to carrying it out. At the same time, however, there were certain difficulties in the way, not the least being the great necessities of the West Indies Relief Fund, which has not at present reached anything like the sum required. The Lord Mayor, who is in strong personal sympathy with the movement, hopes to be in a position in a day or so to give a decided answer upon the subject, and has already had various schemes submitted to him by private persons anxious to demonstrate their desire to forward this cause by offering suggestions. MISSIONARIES FOR KHARTOUM. The officers of the Church Missionary Society have lost no time in making arrangements for the pro- jected expedition to Khartoum. Everything is now in readiness, and only awaits the permission of the Sirdar. The personnel of the party has been decided upon, lnd as was predicted some weeks ago. Dr. F. J. Harpur, of the Cairo Mission, will be in charge. The ather members will include the Rev. Dr. Sterling, who has been recently labouring in Palestine, Mr. Douglas Thornton, who hopes shortly so be ordained, and a native catechist and native dispenser. The medical department of the pioneering mis- sionary work will be developed immediately a site is secured and occupied, for it is felt that a great imount of the initial success hoped for will be dependent upon the practical medical help given to the children of the desert." It has been wisely decided not to send lady mis- sionaries Or nurses until the mission is established.

A FAITH HEALER CENSURED. An inquest was held at Yorktown, near Camberley, Surrey, on Saturday, touching the death of Major C. M. Lester, an instructor of the Royal Military College. It appeared-ltrom the evidenoe that de- ceased, who was suffering from, tubercular peri- tonitis, was attended by two college doctors up to September 5, when a lady Christian seienfcist was called in. Deceased rallied for a time, but again became worse and died on Wednesday of last week. Mrs. Grant, the lady practitioner in question, stated that her treatment was by thought and realisa- tion of power and the love of God. Her Christian science treatment she said was commenced as soon asi she received a wire in London to attend the case, The jury returned a verdict that death was due to tubercular peritonitis, and expressed their sense of abhorrence at the so-called treatment of the repre- sentative of the Christian Scientist Society in not using medical means for tho alleviation pf deceased's Bufferings. FUNERAL OF MAJOR LESTER. Shortly before one o'clock on Monday afternoon the 2nd Battalion Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment paraded at Alderahot to proceed by special train to Camberley and thence to Sand- hurst College to attend the funeral of Major C. M. Lester, 2nd Battalion, who died under circumstances already reported. The deceased was a past Staff College officer. He had been for six years instructor at the Royal Military College, and was well known and universally respected in the Camberley district, where many distinguished officers reside. He had seen service on the Indian frontier. The firing party consisted of four officers, eight sergeants, and 200 rank and file, and, with volunteers, practically the whole regiment (many officers coming off leave for the special purpose), with the band and colours, left Aldershot. for Camberley before one o'clock. The scene at the graveside was a very impressive one.

LADY SPENCER CHURCHILL'S WEDDING. The I<ady Lilian Spencer Churchill, daughter of the Marchioness of Blandford and sister of the Duke of Marlborough, jjeas married on Saturday at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, London, to Mr. Cecil Alfred Grenfellj .nephew ..of General Sir Francis Grenfell. The ceremony was very quiet owing to the recent death of the bridegroom's brother the late Lieutenant Grenfell, who was killed in the famous chargo of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman. The Duke of Marlborough gave his sister nwny, and the Hon. Robert .White (of the Jameson raid fame) was best man. Lady No rah Spencer Churchill (sister of the bride). Lady Helen Stewart, Lady Beatrice Herbert, and Lady Margaret Villiers were the bridesmaids. There was no recept ion after the ceremony. Later in the after- noon Mr. and Lady Lilian Grenfell left for Blenheim Palace, the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, where the honeymoon is being spent. Among the numerous wedding presents was a handsome silver and gold clock from Princess Edward of Saxe- Weinuu*.

PRESIDENT MCKINLEY'S BROTHER- IN-LAW SHOT DEAD. Mr. Georgo Saxton, brother of Mrs. McKinley, was shot at and killed in the street at Canton, Ohio, on Friday evening of last week. A woman has been arrested on suspicion of being his assailant. President and Mrs. McKinley, accompanied by a number of relatives, left Washington on Saturday evening for Canton, in order to attend the funeral of Mr. Saxton. The President, however, will carry out his projected visit to Omaha and the western cities, which he regards as an omcial function. The unfortunate murdered man was the son of Mr. James A. Saxton, banker, and one of the most pro- minent citizens of Canton, Stark County, Ohio. Mr. James A. Saxton had very decided views upon tha education of women, and Miss Ida Saxton, now Mrs. McKinley, after completing her education by travel in Europe, became", a cashier in her fathers bank.' At the close of the Civil War young Major McKinley came to Canton to practise law, and won the lady cashier's hand in 1871. The 'President's house is still at Canton, where the tragedy occurred.

KRUGER IS SEVENTY-THREE. j On Monday Stephanus J. Paul Kruger, President of the South. African Republic, celebrated his- seventy-third birthday, having been born at Rasten- burg on October 10, 1825. It was in 1872 that Mr. Kruger first became a member of the Execu-, tive Council of the Transvaal, under President. Burgers.; Ten .years later he himself attained the Presidency. In 1883 he was elected for a period of five years; and he has remained at the head of affairs ever giiaqg, having been again chosen by the people as recently as Febraary last by the over- whelming majority of 9005 over Mr. Schall Bprger, and of 7104 over the combined poll of both his opponents. Altogether, two-thirds of the electorate voted, and Mr. Kruger's unqualified victory created ■urprise in many quarters. 8111prise in many quarters.

-=.-=-===:=: it i' TTNION tIN)g- for tti SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD FIELDS. Sailings from Southampton eveiy Saturday. Calls made at Madeira and Tenerife. Applyto thi UXJOY STEAK SHIP Co. Ltd., Canute Rd., Southampton, and South.African House.94 to 98.Biahopagate StWithin.Londoa. I I'ItZKGII I THERA PION This .uooeulul and bighl,T II FlkllHrlUn. remedy, as employed in tbs Cont mental Hospitals, by Iticord, Kostan, Jobert, Valpeau, and others, combines all the desiderata to be Booght in a medicine of tbs kind, and surpasses everything hitherto employed for im- kind, and surpasses everything hitherto employed for im- parity of the blood, spots, blotches, pains ai~d swellings of ths joints, kidney and liver diseases, gravel, pains in the back. aerrousnes8, sleeplessness, Ac. Therapion is prepared in three different forms, Noa. 1, 2, and 3, according to diseases for which intended. Ifull particulars send stamped addressed •nreJope for pamphlet to Ml. B- JOHNSON. A -HOLFOHB BQCAHB. LOW DOS. W.O. Haae this Paper. TOOTH-ACHE CURED INSTANTLY BY BUNTER'S — Neuralgic Headaches and all Nerve k|p|)Iflll>■ Pains removed by BUNTER'S liptfVENI* NERVINE. All Chemists, is i^d- ■Hall W llliw SOAP (for the Complexion), { only 4d« A Tahiti* CREAM (Itching, Burning Face Spots), 1/1i. POWDER (Redness, Roughness, Sweating, &c.), 1/- Dutch Bulbs. Great Sales Every Day (Saturdays exceptearb MESSRS. PROTHEROE & MORRIS J-Tj. will SELL BY AUCTION, at their Central Salt Booms, 67 and 68, CHEAPSIDE, E.C., at Eleven o'cloek EACH DAY, large consignments of Hyacinths, Tulips, Cro- ons, Narcissus and other Bulbs, direct from Holland, lotted to suit large and small buyers. 6,000 lots sold every week. Commissions executed for those unal>le to attend. Late packed an 3 forwarded to all pMts. Sixpence remitted in ttampa will ensure supply of Catalogues for Twelve Sales. Auction H" >0108 and Offices, 67 A 68, Cheapaide, London, E.G. I PORTABLE IRON BUILDINGS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. .1, ■ Churches, Temporary Hoe- pitals, Bungalows, Vrork- /0.j}|\ x Sic. &C., packed on Riil, in any part of the King- nflFEl EBlBttimlL Also Greenhouses. Summer* ii e3, l\'»nltry-l:o«ise-, &c. ^uteris £ ,!• 3, PI ins, and Es-imp-'es free. W. C-'Id igent ktoad, London, B.K.

THE BURIAL PLACE OF KINGS. Roskilde Cathedral, in which the remains of the Queen of Denmark are to be laid, is the burial place of all the Kings and Queens of Denmark from the 10th down to the present century. The cathedral is very finely decorated, especially the chapel of Christian IV. A curious feature in it is a stone pillar in the chapel of Christian I., on which are marks indicating the height of Peter the Great, the Czar Nicholas I., and Alexander III., as well as of some members of the present Danish Royal family. Roskilde was at one time the Royal residence town of Denmark.

A BLIND POSTMAN. The management of the Rowland Hill Fund has made a grant of £5 for long and faithful service to a blind postman, who, for a period of 30 years, accompanied by his trusty dog, each morning carried letters from the sub-post office at Terrington to St. John's Fen-end and Tinley Fen-end, two remote Norfolk hamlets. The poor fellow has been com- pelled to retire through the Terringian Office being raised to the dignity of a sub-office. He has played with skill upon both violin and clarionet, and, with the aid of the village blacksmith, once constructed a tricycle. A pension from the Blind Society has been the means of keeping him from want.

SIR WIMJAM RUSSELL, the veteran war correspon- dent, is as keen a golfer at 78 as most men half a century his junior, and infuses into the game all his neval vigour. Like most old campaigners, he has a contempt for weather, and nothing short of a deluge would keep him of the links

I" SENOR MONTBKO RIOS, the senior member of the Peace Commission now sitting in Paris, and the I President of the Spanish Senate, not only enjoys a high reputation as a jurist, but is a great authority on agriculture, and has written El Credito Agricoleo," and several important works on the sub- ) iect.

I- || y s I "PURE CONCENTRATED" I COCOA I MAINTAINS ITS PRE-EMINENOE M a LIGHT and NOURISHING ORINK. zi ordw to a)et I a UOHT and NOURI8H ORllfK. the right viz., Pt:RE-COENTRA TED.

THE Manchester City Counoil have received offers of support from various large towns in their efforts to obtain permission to suppress street cries., IN Queen Elizabeth's reign the espenies of the navy were about JE6000 a year, a contrast to the present huge sum of 425,000,000 sterling spent annually on the fleet. :SOMB of the petrified wood found in Arizona, it is said, is so hard that steel tools will not work it, the petrifications being only three degrees leas in hard- ness than the diamond. IT is said that the Czair of Russia is the only European monarch whose life is not well insured in some thoroughly sound and solvent English in- surance office. „ TOUCHING the Leeds proposal of a half-mua cab ride for 6d., which has been adopted by the Leeda Hackney Carriage Committee, it is pointed out that the cheapest ride in a hackney carriage in any of the iarge towns of the country may be had in Edinburgh. In that city two grown-up persons are conveyed half a mile for 6d. SMOLENSK, in Russia, has a peculiar lottery four times a year. A young girl is raffled for in 5000 one- rouble shares. The winner marries the girl, and receives the money from the lottery as her dowry. The girl, however, may refuse to marry the winner, in which case the money from the lottery is divided between them. 1

OPFT LONDON CORRESPONDENT: When the middle of October is past, the festive season begins to be thought of, and Christmas Day this year will present one striking and unique feature of world-wide interest that is calculated to render it his- torical. The decision of the Government to introduce on Christmas Day the new system of imperial penny postage has more than one reason to commend it, and not the least powerful is the purely sentimental one that the reason dedicated to peace on earth, goodwill towards men, could not be more fittingly cele- brated than by making more easy and effective the means of friendly communication. There is, of course, the practical as well as the senti- mental side to be thought of, and the former is indicated in a circular which the Duke of Norfolk, as Postmaster-General, has despatched to the Colonial authorities, requesting that specific information should be sent to St. Martin's-le -Grand in connection with both the financial and the prac- tical working of the eeheme, when cnce it ttas come into full operation. It will be with interest not only inside, but outside the General Post Office to know the progress that is made. At the outset, there m^y be a pecu- niary loss, for that is always to be expected at the commençemenrof any new apd far-reach- ing experiment; but those who have gone thoroughly into the matter have not the slightest doubt of ultimate and even early pecuniary success. Of the other advantages of the scheme there has never been a doubt. Almost simultaneously with the holding in London of the first conference of provincial branch-secretaries of the Society for the Pro- tection of Birds, a protest was to be heard from Sutherlandshire against any pro- jection being given to eagles, on the ground that they are far too common in that district—a fact which is somewhat start- ling to the southron. The plentifulness of eagles in Sutherlandshire, "xowever, is no reason why people generally should ignore the Wild Birds Protection Act; while the society, which has just been named, has determined to attack, as the three principal things to be over- tome, the ignorance of gamekeepers in regard to the usefulness of certain species, especially birds of prey, the greed of the professional pollector, and especially the use of feathers for female adornment. Perhaps the greed of the professional collector has had more to do with the extinction of rare species than any other eause; for, while nothing is sacred to the trapper because of his ignorance, nothing is sacred to the professional collector because of his knowledge. At any cost he is deter- mined to outdo his rival, ana the cost is some- times the extinction of a species. Those who have already made up their minds to go to the Paris Exhibition in 1900. are somewhat dismayed at the in- telligence which is being brought back from the French capital by friends who have just been visiting there, that the erection of the buildings is being seriously hindered by the strikes of the operatives, of which the daily newspapers have recently been saying so much. According to the plans, the Exhibition of 1900 will be the greatest show the world has ever seen, and will as far exceed that of 1889 as 1889 did 1878, as 1878 did 1867, and aa 1897 did 1855. This is a most promising programme, and, if it can be executed, all the world and his wife will assuredly go to Paris in Exhibition year. Those, however, who wish to see the French capital at its best will certainly do well to avoid paying it a first visit on that occasion, for the hotels will be crowded and dear, and nothing will be quite as it should be. An obviously common-sense consideration of that kind, however, is the last thing to weigh with any who wish to join a sight-seeing crowd, and those who love to Jostled will have full opportunity in Paris in the summer of 1900. In these days, when the amateur photo- grapher is abroad in the land, it will interest all the genus to know that th« German Em- press, who is an ardent devotee to this pursuit as pastime—let its admirers call it what they will—is taking on her trip to the East a com- plete photographic apparatus, and is making provision to record all the interesting scenes and views she encounters on the visit. The saloons of the two Imperial yachts are said to be decorated with specimens of the Kaiserin's work, and it needs no special faculty to assume that these specimens have been fittingly touched up for the position. The professional pho- tographer does not in the least disdain to touch up a negative, and he carries the pro- cess occasionally so far that the irreverent are apt to declare that the picture has been "faked." And, where the professional thus shows the way, the amateur is apt to follow, and sometimes with startling results. A com- posite landscape, for instance, with a cloud from Norway, a mountain from Scotland, a moorland from Yorkshire, and the foreground stream from the fair land of Devon, may be a picture, but it is rather a stretch of the .word to call it a photograph. To the ordinary terrors of railway travel- Ling has been added a new one, and that is that at certain of the slowest-going stations there is apt to be put in force a bye-law made in the pre Adamite days, which enacts that the station door may be closed five minutes before the departure of a train. The earliest inventor of this astounding regulation may be hoped long ago to have been called to some sphere where such astounding talent for doing the wrong thing in the worst way would be fittingly recognised; no # ordinarily sane individual could ever have imagined that in these go-ahead times it would be attempted to be put?into force. But that ia precisely what it has been, and it behoves intending travellers at sleepy stations, therefore, to be wary. Not even the most reactionary railway manager would dream of applying such a rule to Waterloo or Liverpool-street, Pad dington or St. Pancras, King's Cross or Euston, though at such great termini there might be some reason for it. Yet il it will ap- parently go on being employed at Sleepy Hollow, where the station-master ought really to welcome the traveller with out- stretched arms instead of shutting the door in his face five minutes before the train is adver- tised to start. The opening in London this week of the first great chrysanthemum show of the season is a reminder of how wonderfully that flower has come into popularity of recent years. The fine display of all kinds of this autumn garden of towers, coupled with the exhibition of some splendid Oriental chrysanthemums, has natur- ally stimulated public interest in a growth which gives us all a wealth and warmth of flowerhood in the winter, at which our fathers would have wondered, and in which they would scarcely have believed. In the matter of obtain- ing flowers of all kinds during the winter, indeed, London is singularly fortunate. It is not merely that we can get chrysanthemums of our own growing, but that the whole South of France is available for us as a flower-giving ground. It is possible on a murky Decembet day, and in the murkiest of London streets, to purchase a penny bunch of violets, with which to brighten the buttonhole or enliven the dull office; and those who know the effect of the beautiful in flowers upon the spirits and the temper will recognise how much this means. Fruit and flowers alike now come to the Londoner all the year round and practically during every day in the year; and it is no won- der that they are keenly appreciated, being placed in reach, indeed, of the very poorest. Pause is given to the optimists among us by the news which comes from the leading centres of the bicycle-making industry, and particularly l'" from, Coventry, as to the disastrous effects that have been caused by the slump in tho cycle trade which followed upon the bicycle c. boom." For a time the demand was so great that the supply would not by any means keep pace with it, and thousands of workmen left other avoca- tions in order to participate in one where the profits for the time were huge and the wages high. But when the demand had been met the supply went on, and there came a glut in the market which has not yet been over- taken. What was forgotten by the manu- facturers was that a cycle was a high-priced article which the purchaser wished to get lull value for, and which he did not intend to renew once a year. If every cyclist were compelled to buy a new machine each twelvemonth, the in- dustry would flourish as before; but, as such an Act of Parliament is impossible, the awkward nature of the trade has to be recognised. R.

NEWS NOTES. "An explorer in difficulties" is the igno- minious description applied in British des- patches to Major Marchand, the Frenchman Sirdar Kitchener discovered with a handful of followers in Fashoda when he went there to formally complete the re-conquest of the Soudan for the Khedive. No doubt our neigh- bours over the Channel would have liked to move through this adventurer—whom they officially repudiate on pressure, but not unlikely have secretly encouraged in a roundabout way — to a Small position of pretence to a foothold on the Upper Nile. But Lord Kitchener is not the man to be lightly circumvented in any clandestine way, and lie dealt with the situation most tactfully. Mar- chand is isolated, and i bpth himself and his Government are informed with unmistak- able firmness that we cannot recognise any claim on his behalf, however supported, to remain at Fashoda, save on Anglo-Egyptian sufferance. The French Foreign Office have sought to fence with the point, but Britain's meaning has been made sufficiently plain to them. What they do not relish they will have to put up with. MARCHAND himself should be, and no doubt is, deeply grateful to Kitchener for breaking up the dervish power, and pushing on to Fashoda as he did. As the Sirdar says, nothing could have saved the Frenchman and his farcical expedition from annhilation had the Anglo- Eyptian Army been a fortnight later in crush- ing the Khalifa." MEANWHILE, according to the latest informa- tion to hand at the moment of writing, the Khalifa is hiding with a few of his chiefs and others, including Osman Digna, in some obscure forest, waiting for his chance to escape towards the Red Sea coast. The capture of these two tire- some long-time troublers of the Soudan would put a fitting climax upon the Sirdar's magnifi- cent work there. IT is sad to hear that so many of our troops are succumbing to enteric fever now that their work in Nileland is done. They have had a trying time of it, and it is a distressing matter in every way to know that the hospitals at Cairo and otherwhere on the way home should be the death places of gallant fellows who have i borne well the burden of the fight in a difficult campaign, IT is just as well that the Kaiser should keep out of .Egypt under existent circum- stances. A regal pilgrimage with a big retinue could scarcely be other than embarrassing to the Khedive at the moment, and might occasion diplomatic embarrassments with other Powers. THE protest from China against Russia's effusively preponderant military detachment for the protection of her diplomatic establishments in the Celestial Empire is a well-merited snub tc) Mtiscgvite pushfulness in these matters in the Far East. Why should the Czar be repre- sented on a scale far more imposing than the sovereigns of Britain or Germany ? Everything is still chaotic in China, but the opponents of Rjform are clearly not going to be allowed to. do as .they would like. THE Ambassadors of the Great Powers are keeping their feet down, and refusing to budge in any way from the policy of clearing cor- ruption out of Crete. The Sultan and his creatures will have no alternative to the climb- ing down process in regard to the island. LmtD Oirstow, as Under-Secretary for India, has to lament loudly concerning the increase of the plague in India, a circumstance which every- one will regret sincerely. The increase of the pestilence in virulence is chiefly ascribable to the Bombay presidency. The Government is exerting itself to the utmost to cope with this dire visitation by all scientific and other means within its compass, and better results may with some confidence be looked for as the resultant. Our vast Eastern Empire has a fair prospect in other ways, for there has been a good harvest and considerable commercial activity, resulting in a treasury greatly restored from its low famine-time condition. ONE d6eB fiot expect to hear at this time of day of an accomplished officer of the British Army and the son of a major-general, being allowed to die in England without medical attendance of a disease which needs the most careful handling on the part of skilful doctors. Yet Major Lester has succumbed to tubercular peritonitis at Camberley. His friends dis- missed capable medical men, and com- mitted him for a month into the keep- ing of a lady calling herself a "Christian Scientist." She relied on "faith-healing," and after a' month of alternate agony and exhaustion, the major, as might have been expected, died. The coroner's jury expressed a strong sense of their abhorrence of the treat-, ment the poor fellow was subjected to, while the coroner himself spoke even more plainly of the, propriety of confining faith healers in lunatic asylums to prevent them carrying out their absurd and ridiculous ideas. That they believe in their own delusion does not render, them any the less dangerous. One does not look for such gross ignorance amongst persons otherwise intelligent. In the case of charla- tanry in question the lady" faith-healer" admitted making a stipulated charge for her services!

THE CARICATURIST AS CRICKETER. Mr. E. T. Reed, the Punch artist, it a cricketak Some time since he played in a match against an un- known village team. His side consisted of several well-known literary, artistic, and theatrical celebrities —Conan Doyle, J, M. Barrie, Bernard Gould, and the like. The distinguished visitors were badly beaten, but of this history says but little, and they themselves still less. But the genial caricaturist and prehi stdric artist, to his own illconcealed delightand his companions' amazement, actually knocked up a score of two runs I At the conclusion of the match Mr. Barrie. pencil in hand, called upon the mammoth scorer," and asked to be allowed to interview him, which he did with great spirit, and the interview, neatly written out, is one of. Mr. Reed's most treasured possessions.

THE uarnegie nrm win construct its projected shipyard at Clifton, Staten, Island, U.S.A. It is to include a dry dock with capacity to accommodate the largest warships afloat or in building. BRIGHTON School Board have decided to support the memorial of the London School Board in favour of the provision of increased accommodation for teachers in training colleges. •

JURTErS LITTLS vn LlYER PILLS. amn raL saaau rcim. FW*, 4 T OUT TOTRI* LIRA, SSlMhas «a< •naiaa(a«M|«ial., a BEAUTIFUL TEETH tor all wht a» dab oa tb* imb a tew drot* •( SQZ0D0NT d» ia Cow== tbe toma sud spasm n Hum ■■iniftiliii *i wfll. 9o«*a aad poariy w&te tonh. rof aad fragotai breath eojnred. Aak for B&ZODONT. 9f.U -a

FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE. The seizure and sale of M. Zola's goods by a Drocess-server has had its unremarked and less con- | spicuohs counterpart lately in England, and in the law-abiding county of Cornwall. In Paris it was an aiithor, here a painter, and even an Associate of th# Royal Academy. A great many Corn ishmen. object to pay certain Church dues, and Mr. Napier Herny, a settler among them, and a sharer of their dislike, de- cided this year, as once before, to make his protest as public as possible. Last year the distraint was made on some of' his sketches, which were readily, sold at fair prices, while he looked on and smiled, but this year official cunning took a new direction, and I marked for auction the painter's cak dining-ttble.

FLOBEAT, ETQNA. Old Etonians have resolved to suitably honour three of their number who are about to leave England to uphold the honour of the famotis school, and re- present, Church and State in distant lands. Lord Curzon of Kedlestone, Viceroy-Designate of India; the Earl of Minto, the new Governor-General of Canada; and the Rev. J. E. C. Welldon, who has been appointed Bishop of Calcutta, are all Etonians, and it nas been resolved by their old schoolfellows fco entertain them to- a dinner, over which the Ear-lot. Rosebery has consented to preside, in the Cat6 Monico, Piccadilly-circos, on Friday, the 28th inst. Floreat, Etona 1 will be the watchword of tha gathering.