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

NOTES ON NEWS. There is no doubt that the most unpopular tax imposed to-day in this country is the AN UiVfOPvLAR TAX. !tv income-tax. Everybody who has to pay it grumbles about it, and, as the authorities have been a good deal stricter in its collection during the last year or two, and have "roped in" a great many more taxpayers, it follows that there are a great many more grumblers. Amongst the new ? grumblers are a large number of the better-paid artisans and workmen in receipt of a Weekly wage, who, before the passing of the Finance Act of last year, which made it compulsory for employers to send in returns of wages paid to employes, had managed to escape the attentions of the tax-collector. By means of the returns, however, the Inland Revenue authorities have discovered that many workmen, especially in the North of England, are earning incomes of over £160 per annum, and now that the men find themselves assessed thpy are objecting pretty strongly. It is really becoming difficult to dodge the tax-collector nowadays, but, at any rate, we may console ourselves with the reflection that there are other people even worse off than ourselves. Income-tax is levied in Prussia on incomes as small as JE45 per annum. There is something quaint in the idea of an Emperor crying day and night for his old nurse. THE NEW EMPEROR. The potentate who is making that noise in the world is the new Emperor of China, and, as he is not yet three years old, there is some excuse for him. Older Emperors have been known to put themselves out because they could not get things which, quite likely, would not be as good for them as the old nurse might be for the new Emperor. The whole state of affairs in China is most extraordinary to Western ideas. The Emperor, who was never more than a puppet in the hands of the Dowager-Empress, died, and a little later, the Ddwager-Empress died too both of them having been carried into the death chamber in order to die according to custom, while a crowd of courtiers sat in a stricken circle to watch the passing. The Imperial domestic arrangements in China are such that there might have been some trouble about the succession, and one exalted lady is said to have attempted suicide on learning she was not to be the Dowager-Empress. In the general confusion many of the palace officials, Bed, carrying with them valuables, which is a yood old Eastern custom. To end the story, Pekin has gone into mourning for three years, and the colour of the mourning is blue. That seems almost funny, but it is quite probable that, to Chinese ideas, black would be quite as ¡ curious. We have not heard the last of the German Emperor's interviews," notwithstanding what ANOTHER KAISER INTERVIEW. took place in the Berlin Reich- stag last week. Another inter- view, this time with an I American journalist, was to have appeared in a magazine which is published simultaneously in New York and London, but at the last moment the article was withdrawn. Unfortunately, however, a New York paper has published what is alleged to be a digest of the statements which were made by the Kaiser, who received the journalist on his yacht. The statements are even more remarkable and more likely to arouse inter- national bitterness than those which were pub- lished in the now famous interview in the Daily Telegraph." There is a great deal about "the Yellow Peril in it, and the Kaiser is said to have declared that England will lose her colonies through her treaty with Japan. There is mention of a "complete understanding between the Kaiser and Mr. Roosevelt," and a statement that the Emperor William poured a steady stream of reproach upon England for two hours." It should be pointed out, however, that the journalist who actually did have the interview with the- Kaiser has stated that nothing could be further from the truth than the newspaper story of it, and that if it pur- ports to be an account of what the Emperor said, it is absurd and preposterous. True or false, it is greatly to be regretted that it should have been published, for it can serve no purpose except to provoke anger and hatred among the .nations of the world. If not in theory, at any rate in fact, the poverty bar has always been a very real obstacle UNIVERSITY FOR WORKERS. in the way of thousands of young men who might other- wise have enjoyed the advan- tages of a University educa- tion at Oxford and Cambridge. The way is much easier now than it was, and from the report of a committee of Labour repre- sentatives and representatives of the University of Oxford, it will be seen that further facilities are to be provided for the admis- sion of students who have no financial advan- tages. The recommendation of the Committee is that tutorial classes should be established in working-class centres, managed by the work- people themselves, under University teachers. The classes will consist of not more than thirty students, who will pursue a two-year course of study. These classes will be financed partly by the colleges and partly from local sources, while it is hoped that trade unions and other organisations will do their part. Students who pass the course satisfactorily will be admitted to Oxford to special courses. The arrangement is distinctly promising. A chapter in the report shows how it has come about that the Oxford colleges, originally intended for poor students, have come to be, more or less, the monopoly of the richer classes. The Paymaster-General has issued a warning which should be of interest to the many people MONEY IN CHANCERY. who believe that there are untold millions in Chancery," to a share of which they may be entitled. These people study lists of next-of-kin and heirs of unclaimed money, and dream dreams of wealth if they see in the list a name which is the same as the one which they bear. These lists, says the Paymaster-General, often contain gross misstatements and exaggerations, and the public are cautioned against relying upon the statements of persons who profess to be able to recover money from Chancery on pay- ment of fees or percentage. After all, the untold millions in Chancery are not an very many. The Court has a sum of about C50,000,000, of which only a little over CI,000,000 is really waiting to be claimed, and that sum is made up of more than 3,400 separate accounts.

Frederick N. Dowley, chauffeur to Lord Roberts, was at Kingston fined £3 and costs for driving a motor-car at more than twenty miles an hour at Kingston-hill. Lady Roberts was in the car when it was stopped, on its way to Lon- don, going at twenty-eight miles an hour. A postcard has just been delivered in Woreaa- ter which was posted in Corwen, Merionethshire, on September 9, 1904, and it bears, besides the Corwen post-mark of the correct date, that of Ale-xandria 6 11 '08. With the object of attracting American Jews "back to the land," the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society is offering twelve scholarships for the sons and daughters of Jewish farmers who live and work on their parents' farm.

DRESS OF THE DAY. A BEAUTIFUL AFTERNOON GOWN. The afternoon gowns of this present winter season are, I think my readers will agree, prettier, more graceful, and more artistic than they h&ve been for a long time past. Of course,, they vary greatly in point of elaboration, but they are nearly all built on long, lovely lines, and in the majority of cases the trimmings are entirely subordinated to the general effect. The charming gown pictured in our present sketch is an excellent example of the simpler type of afternoon or reception gown. The original, which came from one of the best West-end houses, was carried out in fine mole-coloured crepe-de- chine of moderate weight. The bodice con- sisted of a beautiful arrangement of swathed folds that were draped closely round the figure beneath the arms, drawn round to the left side, and there secured with two beauti- ful tarnished gold buttons. Inside this drapery at the top came a sort of pinafore under-bodice of heavy creamy-white Irish crochet, the top of which was hollowed out and edged with a piping of emerald-green satin. Inside this lace under-bodice came a dainty little gimp of finely-tucked Breton net, which was made with a very high-shaped neckband, edged at the top by a piping of the emerald-green satin, some tarnished-gold A BEAUTIFUL SIMPLE AFTERNOON GOWN OF I MOLE-COLOURED CREPE-DE-CHINE. French knots, and a thick ruching of the net. The feature of the bodice, however, was a broad sash of mole-coloured satin, edged on either side with a border of tarnished-gold French knots. This sash was tucked into the top of the bodice on the left side, taken over the shoulder, tucked into the bodice at the back, brought up again on the right side, taken over the right shoulder, caught to the top of the bodice in front with two tarnished- gold buttons, and allowed to hang in two long ends to below the knees, each end being finished with a band of heavy tarnished-gold fringe. The sleeves were plain, very small, and quite long, coming down over the top of the hand in a deep point, finished with a wee ruching of the net. The skirt was quite plain, very long, and slightly trained at the back. DAINTY AND SIMPLE NIGHTGOWN. Now for our sketch. It represents a very simple nightgown of new and most practical shape, that requires the very minimum of making, and yet looks pretty, dainty, and quite up-to-date. This nightgown should specially recommend itself to the busy woman, for there are no openings to make or finish and no buttons or buttonholes. The nightdress consists of four pieces—back, front, and two sleeves. The top of the neck may be finished with either a slotted beading or a series of small buttonholed slots large A SIMPLE USEFUL NIGHTGOWN OF VERY PRACTICAL SHAPE, INVOLVING THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF MAKING. enough to take a half-inch ribbon. If the nightgown be carried out in some cotton fabric I would suggest the beading, and would finish the top with a little frill of lace. But if woollen material be employed, I pre- fer, personally speaking, the small, strongly buttonholed slots, and should finish the top of the garment with a simple buttonholed scallop with a tiny frill of lace inside it. This makes a charming and most dainty finish, and really takes very little time to do; any woman who knows how to use her needle could manage simple embroidery of that kind. Something to thread the needle through at the neck is an absolute necessity, for the rib- bon serves to draw the nightgown into place round the throat. The sleeves are set into a little band of embroidery or insertion, and are finished with a frill of lace. This design needs six yards of 36-inch material. A COMBINATION GARMENT. A combination garment that is very popu- lar just now is a camisole and wide divided skirt in one. This garment is particularly warm and comfortable for winter wear when carried out in good flannelette, Viyella, or cashmere, and completely does away with any necessity for a flannel petticoat. The camisole and divided skirt should be cut and made up separately, and then connected by a band at the waist, which band may be feather-stitched, may consist of a strip of rib- bon threaded beading, or may be merely neatly machined down, according to indi- vidual taste.

The British Watch and Clock Makers' Guild met in London and strongly protested against gilt, plated, or "rolled gold" jewellery being sold as "gold." Mr. Bulley, of W. J. Ben- son and Co., Limited, said he Jiad passed a jeweller's shop that day and saw in the win- dow, "Bright gold earrings, Is. 6d. a pair." "The condition of Hyde Park is a scandal to London," said Mr. Mead, the Marlborough- street magistrate, echoing the recent remarks of Mr. Wallace, the chairman of the Clerkenwell Sessions. A police inspector said people feared being blackmailed or robbed in the park, and special precautions had to be taken.

NEWS IN BRIEF. Tragedies and Disasters. The body of Miss Gertrude Wing, who dis- appeared from Hull a fortnight ago, was found on Sunday in a canal at Driffield, 25 miles away. James Protheroe, aged 60, a widower, of Swansea, was discovered dead in bed on Sunday, he having been suffocated by gas. Benjamin Ochilton, an elderly Hull man, was taken ill in the Presbyterian Church, Holderness-road. A doctor was summoned, but pronounced life extinct. The crew of the Hull steam trawler Japan have arrived at Reykjavik. The vessel was wrecked off the coast of Iceland and two lives were lost. A terrible motor fatality occurred on Sun- day at Seabrook. Mrs. Hilledge, a Folke- stone lady, after alighting from a public motor, was crossing to see her sister, when she was struck by a passing private motor- car and carried 90ft. She died shortly after- wards. "Death from misadventure" was the ver- dict on Arthur Firman, who died from lock- jaw at Dartford. George Gordon Sowerbutts, 24, was killed at Blackburn by a heavy case of plants falling on his head. At Dover a deck hand named Haig was killed by falling from tihe "deck into the hold of the ss. Hampshire. The manager of a Sheffield printing estab- lishment owned by Messrs. Bridgens and Co. entered the counting-house of the firm and there found hanging and dead the' chief partner of the concern. Accidents. While the Quorn Hounds were crossing the Midland Railway line near Ashby, Leicester- shire, on Saturday, they were caught by an express train. Two hounds were killed and others were injured. When the Zeeland Steamship Company's mail packet Nederland was near the Nore on Saturday night a passenger suddenly dis- appeared, and another passenger reported having seen him falling into the sea in front of the paddle-wheel. George Brice fell into a tank of boiling water at Messrs. Lloyd's paper-mill at Sit- tingbourne, near Rochester, and was taken to the Chatham Hospital in a critical condition. The Creswell (Derbyshire) Co-operative Stores were destroyed by fire. The manager and his wife and family were rescued in their night attire. During a suffragette meeting at Chelms- ford, where the votes for women party have been specially active lately in view of the forthcoming election, a woman in the audience overbalanced herself and fell into a horse-trough. Told in the Courts. Two men named Herbert II ay ward and Jack Tucker, who were fined C3 each at Bournemouth, on Saturday for begging, were found to be in possession of no less than £7 19s. When Mr. Popp was fined once more for Sunday trading at High Wycombe, on Satur- day, the new mayor expressed the hope that the prosecutions would be discontinued. It was Mr. Popp's 366th summons. When the name of a defendant who was accused of discharging fireworks in the street was called at the Hitchin Police-court on Saturday, his mother said she appeared for him. "Where is the boy?" asked the magis- trate. "He is forty-four years old, and mar- ried," the mother explained. Thomas Welsh, a costermonger, was sent to gaol for six weeks at North London on Saturday for stealing 13s.' 8d. in coppers from a gasmeter. It was stated that when arrested he had the coppers in the cap upon his head. The World of Sport. Two rods at Tagg's Island, Hampton Court, on Saturday secured four pike of a total weight of 39l pounds in two hours. A sculling match for the championship of Australia between Ben Thoroughgood and George Whelch took place on Saturday over a three-mile course on the Hunter river. Thoroughgood won by three lengths. Music and the Drama. Sir Charles Wyndham has decided to give a second matinee of "David Garrick on December 3 at the New Theatre, Translated into German, Mr. W. Somerset Maugham's play, "Mrs. Dot," will be pro- duced at the Royal Theatre, Berlin, early in January. Mr. Bernard Shaw's play "The Doctor's Dilemma" had a favourable recep- tion when produced for the first time in Ger- many at Berlin on Saturday. After a 7,000-milcs Canadian tour, during which they sang to 60,000 people in eleven days, the Sheffield Musical Union Choir reached Liverpool on Saturday night. Dr. Henry Coward, the conductor, said that the choir's rendering of the Canadian National Anthem had been praised everywhere, and the Dominion musical combination had adopted the British choir's style. Mr. Martin Harvey is preparing a new play which ihe will produce for the first time on December 7 in Birmingham. Mme. Clara Butt made her last public ap- pearance of the year in London at the Albert Hall. Among the interesting features of the programme was a quartette by Mme. Liza Lehmann, in which the famous contralto was joined^ by her three sisters, the Misses Pauline, Ethel, and Hazel Hook. Military and Naval Between Y.60,000 and £ 70,000 has been ex- pended upon the tô»pdô:!depét %hif>TMeaQ to fit her for service as a depot ship for sub- I marines. í ■i- Corporal A. E. Beattie, Argyll and Suther- land Highlanders, has been selected for pro-' motion to a "commission as a second lieu- tenant in the ititantry. A number of London Territorial Corps turned out on Sefturday ior field operations and route marches. At Osborne Royal Naval College on Sunday the Bishop of Southampton held a service at which he confirmed 50 cadets. I Admiral Sir Gerard H. U. Noel will haul I down his flag from the Undine on December 2 on relinquishing the appointment of Com- mander-in-Chief at the NQre." Colonel V. Dunfee," of the 4th Bkttalib-ii ,¡- City of London Regiment, has retired from Ii the command of that eorps. "May England ever find such sons to serve her in her hour of need," were the conclud- l. .wb.t f ing words of Sir' George White,; V;C.In 4n:"f veiling a tablet to the memory of General j Wolfe in the vault of the parishf chinch of'' Greenwich, the anniversary of the general's burial there. Thei obsolete British warships and cruisers which have been moored in the Clyde have all been disposed of except one. The only un- sold battleship in the Kyles of Bitter -fti th6'^ Collingwood. At one time there were dver"af dozen vessels laid up in the Clyde lochs. News of the Churches. The Archbishop-designate of York preached in the private chapel at Windsor Castle on Sunday before the King and Queen. In the presence of a crowded congregation on Sunday evening twelve Chinamen were baptised at Christ Church Reformed Epis- copal Church of England, Tuebrook, Liver- pool. The Rev. W. H. Stuart-Fox, Gurate of St. Saviour's, Tollington Park, has been appointed by the trustees to succeed the Vicar, the Rev. F. B. Gwinn, who has accepted the living of St. • Andrew-in-the- Less, Cambridge. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has appointed the Rev. Hugh Bosweli Chap- man, vicar of St. Luke's, Camberwell, to be Chaplain of the Royal Chapel of the Savoy, vacant by the resignation of the Rev. Paul W. Wyattu

CHILDREN MURDERED. FATHER'S TERRIBLE CRIME. A man named George Nadin, Hving at Bethell- avenue, Canning Town, on Saturday morning killed three of his children by cutting their throats with a razor, wounded his two other children, his wife, and another woman, and then attempted to commit suicide. Nadin is a seafaring man, and has been em- ployed on cargo boats plying between South- ampton and the Thames. On Saturday morning he and his wife had breakfast together. Nadin then went into the children's bedroom, as his wife thought, to kiss them good-bye before going out. She heard a scream, and Angus, a boy of eight, rushed out into the street bleed- ing. At this moment a Mrs. McCombie, who lives in the house, returned from fetching the milk, and saw Nadin in the passage with a razor cut- ting at his throat. She tried to take the razor from him, and was assisted by Mrs. Nadin. In the struggle Mrs. McCombie was cut on the fingers and Mrs. Nadin on the arm. The two women managed to push Nadin into the front room and locked the door. He still had the razor, and when the police came they found that he had cut his own throat badly. Meanwhile the neighbours had gone into the house. In the children's bedroom they found a four-year-old child, Freddie, dead, and Joan, Bix, badly wounded. Joan and Angus both died. The two surviving children—G eorge, twelve, and Maggie, ten—were found in the kitchen, both wpunded in the throat. THE INQUEST. The inquest on the three children was opened on Monday and adjourned for five weeks. The Coroner said apparently the man Nadin, a seaman in a coasting steamer, was on very happy terms with his wife and family, but of late he had been unable to work regularly, owing to ill-health, which Had made him depressed..

'KING AND THE « CULLINAN* Th Cullinan diamond was formally presented to the King at Windsor Castle on Saturday afternoon. The following, announcement qppeare d., xn Saturtiay's "Court Circular The King and Queen to-day received the Cullinan diamond, on completion of its cut- ting by Messrs. J. Ascher and Co. Lord Farquhar, Colonel Sir Douglas Daw- Bpn, the members of Messrs. Ascher's firm, and those of Messrs. M. J. Levy, and Nephews were present. The diamonds lay in nests of velvet in morocco cases, and a detective sat on each side of the leather bag in which the cases were placed for the journey. When the King last saw the Cullinan it was a dull block of stone, a pound and a half in weight. On Saturday, however, his Majesty viewed glittering brilliants, fit, ornaments for ait imperial crown. Besides the reat Cullinan, which weighs 516 carats—almost five times as large as the Koh-i- Noor (the Mountain of Light).—there are:—A square brilliant of 309 carats, a pendalogue of 92 carats, another square brilliant of 62 carats, a heart-shaped brilliant of, 18 carats, a marquise brilliant of 11 carats, and many other stones. A diamond expert has valued the gems at more than a million pounds.

FAIR PLAY TO PRISONERS, The Court of Criminal Appeal on Saturday, comprising Justices Darling, Phillimore, and Walton, heard a final, appeal in the case of John Jones, aliaa A. Spanier, who appeared to state his objection to a sentence passed on him at North London Sessions, before Mr. Wallace, when he w'as sentenced to hard labour for four burglaries at Fulham. He was afterwards sen- tenced, before Sir Ralph Littler, at Middlesex Sessions, to penal servitude for three burglaries at Ealing. At North London the other three burglaries were not mentioned. Mr. Justice Phillimore, giving. the decision of, the Court, tiaid there was a Home Office instruc- tion to the police to inform the judge who tried a man of any outstanding charges against him, that they might be taken into consideration, and that he might be givenaclean sheet after his punishment. The Court thought that if the chairman of the North London Sessions had had these matters brought to his attention, the pri- soner (if he pleaded guilty) would have received one sentence—penal servitude to date from his conviction at Middlesex Sessions; not, as at pre- sent, from the expiry of the hard labour sen- tence., To that extent, the sentence would be varied.

X OPENING A GRAVE. -¡'1, A plea of guilty was tendered on Saturday at the Kent Assizes by George Tipping and Bert Harris 5 on a charge of causing a grave in the churchyard of Southborough to be opened. Tipping was sexton at St. Peter's, South- borough, and Harris had been employed by him as a gravedigger. It was alleged, that in order to make room for the interment of another body in the grave, the sexton gave orders for the re- mains of EmUy Peach, buried there in 1880, to b removed. Mr. Lawless, prosecuting, said that the Court had been saved a very pairtful inquiry. In favour of Tipping he might say that, though he must have known thorfi was a body in thegrave, he Bought have, assumed that the grave, not having been opened for 28 years. tu remains would have been more decayed than, in fact, they were. The Judge fined Tipping £25, and sentenced Harris to six days' imprisonlnefnt from the open- ing of the Assizes, which meant his immediate discharge. I t H

SKIDDING-'BUS FATALITY. At the jpquest at Southw,ark Coro,ner's.,Court on Saturday relating to the death of Frederick an electric lightitrit was ststed that a. motöl"bl.S collided with "ah electric Standard on which deceased was working. De- ceased was thrown to the ground and died in hospital. Several witnesses .said the motor-'bus sMdded because of the greasy and irregular condition of the street paving. The jury agreed that the accident was due to the skidding of the motor-'bus, but that there was not sufficient evidence to-, eh ox that defects ill the road were the Cause of Ihe skidding.

w ) 1. THAMES MYSTERY. ? James Bassonj, the- lock-keeper at, Chtettsev, recovered from Tumbling Bay on Sunday the body of a handsome woman about thirty-five years of age. I Her pockets were full of stones, and others iyul been placed inside her bodice. She was1 dressed fn a grey cloth cibat and skirt, a motor-hat and veil, and underclothing of superior quality. She wore a wedding-ring, and carried a gold watch, which had stopped at 9.30.

HWe know that Germans—even in exalted positions—sometimes write letters they wish to withdraw," pleaded a solicitor at the Leeds Assizes when a German clerk Was accused oL libel. "It is a subject on which I have no juris- diction." remarked Mr. Justice Pickford. Monks armed with stones and hot water pro- tected the Greek Patriarch on a fpstal. proces-, gion through Jerusalem. His teal,ltitfide unpopular with the native Syrians, whostf el4ii, for reform he opposes. According to messages received in Rome from Riposto, Sicily, five hundred houses in that town were wrecked by the recent cyclone, and several fatalities are reported.

GARDEN GOSSIP. Repairing Lawns.—Where patching or levelling of lawns is necessary, the work should be at once taken in hand, or it must be delayed until danger of severe frost is past in the spring. When left too late, a hard frost will most probably lift newly laid turves and cause much of the work to be done over again. Rips and Haws.—The rose is proverbially a lovely flower, and in our admiration for it as a flower we are apt to overlook its other good points. In foliage and in fruit many roses, especially the briars, are so orna- mental that it is a matter for surprise that they are not more often planted in dells, glens, or other garden sites suitable to their wild beauty. Planting Roses.—Where these are to be planted they should be got in at once as they come to hand. If the land is of an unusually cold and heavy nature, there can be no better time than the present for getting the work of planting done. Choose favourable weather as far as possible when the surface soil is dry. In planting, trim off all damaged roots or any shoots that may have been broken in lift- ing or in transit. Freesias.—The earliest batch should now be pushing up their sprkes. The pots or pans being closely packed with corms, it follows that the roots are numerous and ask to be regularly fed, cow manure dissolved in water being a cheap and effective stimulant. Later batches should have a few sprays of twiggy birch inserted among the plants to support the flower stems when these are being formed. » Arum Lilies.—These are earlier to flower than usual this year, and while writing one's plants are showing several spathes. To have a supply at Christmas it will be necessary to afford a little heat, 50deg. to 55deg., and the soil in the pots being well filled with roots, weak manure water will be found of much advantage in producing a continuity of flowers and deep green foliage. Early Bulbs.-fEarly bulbs, comprising tulips, hyacinths, and narcissi, may now be placed in not too high a temperature, especi- ally the narcissi, keeping them all darkened and moist. Crocuses may be placed in a greenhouse among other plants and watered as required; Cloth of Silver is the earliest, and is much appreciated for its pretty flowers by those who know it. Another batch of Roman hyacinths will need to be placed in & warm structure to come on slowly. Seakale.—A large batch should be placed in heat to provide material for Christmas. l Where the means are not of the best the roots may be laid in shallow boxes among roucixa SEA.KA.tB IN A BOX. leaf soil, and set on the hot water pipes in a stove or other warm structure till the crOWDS, are well started, after which remove the box to a suitable place under a, stage and invert another and a larger box quite over the first, so as to exclude light. Window Boxes.—When these cannot be filled during the winter, we would advise their removal and storage in some out of the way place rather than allowing bare boxes to remain in view. At a small outlay they may be made to look fairly cheerful, even in the dullest time. Small shrubs in pots can be purchased at a low price, and for Some years many of these can be kept in the same sized pot. Yariegated box, some of the dwarf cypresses, cupressus httea,, golden euonymus, variegated hollies, and a few others are suit-, able. Besides these there are ivies, both green and variegated, for hanging over the front of the boxes- Vacant Ground.—As land falls vacant no time should be lost in getting it dug deeply and roughly for the winter. At the same time manure may be worked in, and the sur- face should be left in as uneven a state as pos- sible, so as to encourage the admission of rain and frost. These do much to sweeten and improve the mechanical condition of the ground, with the result that it is easy to get a splendid tilth when we want to commence cropping in the spring. w Digging in Weeds.—If there is already too much vegetable matter in the soil, it is best to burn weeds and all garden rubbish. But in most cases it would, perhaps, be better to dig in the weeds. Green vegetable matter soon decays in the soil, supplying plant food, and also improves its condition, whether light or stiff. It moderates the harshness and increases the moisture retaining capacity of light soils. It also lightens up and im- proves the texture of stiff soils. Unripe seeds, when dug in, decay in the ground, and ripe ones generally drop off when the plant is dis- 4-prbed. Of course weeds with perennial rootfe, -liould,not,be dug in. Celery. Those who have very late rows of this still to earth wp may experience some little difficulty in having the plants properly dry for the work. A favourable time should be chosen to finish off the operation at once. Beat the sides of the ridges firmly and form the,apex of each at a sharp angle to throw off raih as much as posible. -'— Root Crops.—-All the late crops eUch' ,as parsnips, salsify, and ecorzonera may now be lifted, cleaned, and stored for use in sand. Jerusalem artichokes, if the ground is wanted for another crop and has to be dug or' trenched, may also be lifted and stored. Pre- vious to doing so, select enough tubers of a medium size for planting, which may be effected at any time up till March. Arti- chokes are an exhausting crop to soil, and re- quire a greater than ordinary quantity of manure, while any crop which is to follow them should receive a fair supply of manure too Lettuces.'— Empty frame epace should be filled up with any nice, well grown lettuces that are still standing in the garden. Lifted with a nice ball-of soil to the roots the plants need only to be set on the hard bottom in the frame. When frost is imminent, cover well with mats of dry etraw, and admit a slight quantity of air constantly as a preventive of fungus on the leaves. CAbbages.-Previous to the rigour of winter setting in, the ground about cabbages should be stirred, o-nd perhaps a little soil ilrawn to the stems. XJOU^QH coleworte will at present afford a valuabld --Adition to the vegetable supply, especially ■ u3 Brussels sprouts are; late beyond precedent. it may be of advantage to cut through half the roots of these with a sharp spade as an inducement to button more expeditiously. Spiraeas.—These should be potted up at once, placing the clumps in the smallest sized pots.they can be pressed into. A very small amount of soil is needed, provided the plants have an ample supply of water when in full growth. í

■l GALE HAVOC. SOUTHEND PIER CUT IN TWO. Much damage has been done by the gale < which swept over the country on Sunday night and Monday. Southend Pier was cut clean in two on Monday morning by the Thames Conser- vancy hulk Marlborough, which broke from her moorings off the pier head. A breach of a hundred yards was made, isolating the pier head and the bandstand. The damage is estimated at £ 1,000. Several yachts were swamped and damaged. The hulk, with two hands on board, drifted out to sea badly damaged, and was afterwards taken by tug to Shoeburyness. One of the most dramatically exciting scenes of the gale was reported from Holy- head. Called out in the thick blackness of night to rescue the crew of the schooner Sarah Ellen, which was in peril in the bay, the lifeboat, after battling with raging seas, reached the schooner and turned again for Holyhead. For two hours she short-tacked and beat about, and eventually reached the pierhead. The crew called for a rope, but the chance was missed and the lifeboat was driven out to sea again. Later she burned distress signals, and it was feared she was sinking, but at last she reached Penrhos Sands, whence a blue flare signalled to Holy- head that she had gone ashore, but that her crew were safe. At Herne Bay there was an extraordi- narily high tide, and great waves broke over the sea front. At Hampton the water ran. inland for about a mile, flooding the Whit- stable-Herne Bay main road. The postman delivered his letters from a boat. The French steamship Sainte Adresse, anchored off Lundy Island, signalled for assistance. A tug was despatched to her aid, but later the vessel was able to continue her voyage to Swansea. The whole of the Scotch steam and Lowes- toft herring fleet was weatherbound at Lowestoft. At Pakefield, to the south of Lowestoft, large portions of the cliff were- washed away, leaving several cottages in danger. The fishing fleet at Parkgate, anchored in the Dee Estuary, suffered severely. The tide came up with such force that one half of the fleet was sunk and damaged. The steamer Dispatch, while being loaded with potatoes at Belfast, was practically swamped and sank at her moorings. ■ 4. k

DOUBLE MURDER AND SUICIDE. The dead bodies of Mr. and Mrs, H. P. Wakley and their iiifaht child were dis- covered early on Monday morning in the bed- room of a srhall "house in' West bourne-street, Hove, Brighton. The -wife and child were lying in bed each with a bullet wound in the head, and the body of the man was on the floor fclose to a six-chambered revolver, am- munition for which was scattered about,, 'the room. Though; four shots had been fired, nobody in the house appears to have heard any report, but Mrs. Boniface, tlie landlady, who. let two rooms to the Wakleys, states that she was aroused by a tllud"overhead, but sh& took no notice of it at the time. Mr. 'Waldey was understood to be a retired member of the Indian" Polrce. He returiled from India 'six' months ago. Correspondence' found in the room leaves no doubt that the deed was premeditated. It seems that Wakley was worried about money matters.

STRANGE STREET SCJSNE,, Hundreds of people leaving church and chapel witnessed an extraordinary scene in the streets of Merthyr on Sunday. Quite 200 sheep, belonging to local farmers, have re- cently been worried to death on the moun- tain side, and other efforts to detect the slayer having failed, armed watchmen were. employed. On Sunday church-goers was startled by the spectacle, of two armed men galloping headlong through the streets alter a dog which is alleged to be the culprit. One of the horsemen reined up, levelled his gun at a small terrier standing in front of the building, and. shot the animal dead. The police were sent for, and they took possession of one of the guns. The dog was .examined-by, a veterinary surgeon at the re- quest of the farmers whose sheep have been killed.

CASTOR OIL AND EXPLOSIVES. More progress has been made in the science of explosives since 1886 than in all previous years, said Mr. Oscar Guttmann on Monday night at the Royal Society of Arts. This hag; been due in part to the application of modern scientific research to the study of ex-;4 plosives, and partly because of the demands., for explosives 5 made by civil and mining engi- neers. A. great advance was made, said Me' Gattmann, by the introduction of oil or grease in preparing some of "the higherex-" plosives, the oily layer round each particle' preventing friction from causing accidental combustion. One notable explosive of this type, intro- duced in 1906, consisted of potassium, chlo- I rate, resin, and castor oil, the latter sub- stance acting as a safety agent.

WEALTHY MAN'S THEFT. Edward- William Bayley, stated to be the "father of a countess and a justice of the peace, was sentenced on Monday at East- bourne to six months' imprisonment, in tho second division for stealing an overcoat and binocular glasses from the Grand. Hotel. Prisoner was stated to be wealthy and of high social connections. The thefts were ad- mitted, but prisoner's counsel said Bayley suffered from chronic alcoholism, and knew nothing of the thefts. Counsel added that prisoner was staying at an hotel off the Strand at Christmas, 1908, and during the night the building caught fire. Firemen rushed into his bedroom, shouting to him to get up, as the hotel was ablaze, biifc Bayley refused, and only answered, "Let it blaze." The firemen had to carry him out. The Bench refused to act on a suggestion ,for prisoner to go to an inebriates' home.

There was a general slackening in the build- ing of working-class houses in Greater London last year, says a County Council report, the new accommodation being 40,017 rooms, as compared wu'< 52.755 in 190G. Wtihunting with Mr., Fernie's hounds Mrs. Pea body was heavily thrown through her I horse coming down at a fence, and she sustained severe injuries to her face, besides being badly shaken and bruised.