The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

THE SHOW GIRL BY MAX PEMBERTON, Aathor of The Iron Pirate," Red Morn," "A Purita.. Wife," "The Hundred Day* &c. CHAPTER XXXVII. (Continued). [In which we hear of Henry Gastonard at the Pavilion Henry Quatre, in the town of St. Germain by Paris.] It would be impossible. Paddy, to tell you of my own sensations during mese instants of waiting. Depict me standing in the miserable patch of formal garden, at the door of a paltry red brick villa., listening, aa I have never listened in all my life. tremb- ling, I do believe, in the very excitement of my hope. More than once the temptation to (tryout almost overpowered me. I must tell her that 1 had come—must let Mimi know that I waited for her. 1 could have beaten down twenty doors in my rage against delay, smashed the glass of the. window to atoms, and razed the very building to the ground. Upon the other side was this imperturbable Farman, as quiet, as cat-like as ever, listen- ing with bent ear, betraying no emotion; seemingly convinced already of his success. And I must obey him faithfully, wait as he waited, crush my impatience in hands of iron. Oh, I say, it was intolerable, and yet it wa. the truth No one answered to our bold knock; the silence became almost insupportable. A minute wo waited, two minutes, and still there was no sound but that of our own quick breathing. As for the lamp which burned so brightly, we c-ould see it plainly, standing upon the table of the front room and the single ornament of that bare apartment. For the rest, there was no carpet on the floor, no ornament, no picture-but. just the room it- self and the bare wooden table and the lamp Standing upon it. This we might have looked for. but not for the mystery of the silence, the absolute stillness which met US-IEO that one could have heard a. watch ticking in the hand. Were the men warned, then? Had they fled the place? My heart sank low at the thought—and yet it was a thought that crept upon me. I had spoken no word to Farman since we entered the garden of the house, but this new turn was not to be borne, and I could suffer it no longer. A hurried whisper asked him what he made of it—and, a little to my sur- prise, he answered me aloud. •*They are asleep," he said quietly; "we must wake them"—and he knocked so loudly that the hound began to bay again, and I could hear the voice of Oleander cursing him. Plainly, we had no further need of conceal- ment. "Who is asleep? I asked a little brutally. "Did you not tell me that Madame Gastonard was here?" "I believed so," he answered as quietly. "You believed so— well? "I shall tell you presently." His answer told me that he, with all his discernment, could make little of the situa- tion. My own advice had been to force the window of the room, and this he now pro- ceeded to do—but first he lighted a little lantern and laid his pistol on the sill. A disingenuous catch gave way at the first at- tempt, and we climbed through immediately, and went straight toward the inner dooV. Hero for an instant Farman stood irresolute. "There may be some danger," he 8a.id- and then he asked me—"are you quite pre- pared?" I whispered that I was, and he flung tho door wide open, searching the hall beyond with the faint rays from a policeman's lantern. There were signs of habitation here such as we might have expected—a felt hat upon a cane-seated chair, & basket such as women take to market, a stick so heavy that it" was almost a bludgeon, an old mackintosh hanging upon a nail driven into the wall. The floor was uncarpeted and showed mud from clumsy boots—at the far end the door of the kitchen stood open, and a flicker of firelight from the grate still flashed upon its plastered walls. Thither now we went cautiously. But the place was tenantless— though a kettle still sang upon the hob and some dishes stood unwashed upon the table. I often think, Paddy, that nothing is so sure a test of a. man's nerves as a house of unknown perils, which he must search room by room. I am afraid of little in this world. It is no mere boast—for these things are purely physical-but I possess some presence of mind beyond ordinary, and a contempt for many of the situations of danger which tradi- tion has glorified. And yet I swear to you, the sweat ran down my face like rain while I stood by Farman's side in that shabby kitchen and asked him, what next? No longer did I believe that Mimi was here—and yet I was forbidden to sav that she was not here. The evidence of recent occupa- tion. the shreds of coarse food, the empty bottles lying pell-mell in the scullery, a woman's tattered bonnet flung to a corner, a little jug of milk set apart with a few dry biscuits—these were the witnesses to Far- man's good faith and witnesses no logic could shake. As he had spoken, so the truth—that my dear wife had been the captive of these ruf- fian* in this very house, that she might even be a captive still or worse than a captive. For now I shall tell you that an overmaster- ing fear of the worst took possession of me and would not he quieted. I cared nothing for the men or the danger of their presence. Every step, long dragged out and heavy, was ah a step toward a dreadful secret. The upper stories of the house became in an in- stant the chambers of the terrible truth. And above all wat> the torture of the thought that we had come too late, and but for those useless hours at St. Germain might have saved her. This latter brought me to the iiaair of despair. Even Farman took pity upon me. "I begin to think that Madame is not here," he said quietly. "Let us go upstairs —we shall not be long in doubt." I looked him full in the face,, and did not spare him the question. "Is she alive, Farman?" "Why should they kill her? The black- mailer never kills—he has not the courage." I could but shrug my shoulders. "Then their object has been blackmail?" "It could be nothing else, Monsieur." I admitted his reasoning, but it did little to console me. If there were peril of our proceeding this must be the moment of it. For we had to climb the narrow stairway, ignorant of those who were above, and powerless to shield ourselves from their at- tack. How it came that I was up on tlfe first floor before Jules Farman I am not able to tell you. I remember only that I stood on a dark landing listening to my own heavy breathing-, and unable to distinguish other sounds. What light there was came astreak through a narrow window high above us. I could make out the shapes of doors, but they were shut and meaningless. The floor was but a black patch until a warm ray of light shone down upon it from my companion's lantern and instantly declared its secret. An old woman lay there—a shrivelled, white-faced hag of a woman, whooo clothes were little more than a bundle of rags, whose hand still clutched the heavy stick with which, perchance, she had been struck down. And this Jezebel had gone to her ac- count. The mask of death is sometimes un- mistakable. It was unmistakable on Friday night when I came face to face with the old woman, Marie of Orleans, upon the landing of the house at Bougival. I say that it was a dreadful discovery, and yet, God knows, my thoughts in the instant of it were less of this stricken huddled body upon the floor than of the events which had preceded the murder. There is always awe of death, Paddy, however humble the sub- ject, however callous the discoverer. And at c WAS. n 'sn uodn snieijjua eq 3urjq rq.8rw 1U15U! ins JBUI QI[J3nox{) I jfui aoj s(j»i{07nq v tpns at Bjnoq ønopJd aq1 puads pwq ■foUl sn auop 'ipnasajd maqi qjiuaun a A IIHJQ SHijquitun Sln uodn sousaSndA ano jo s^n»uinj)sui p-Eif oltM aIr¡ 1IB Á'.}ares JO jSut ofuim QonBtpjad pars 'SUIOOJ "jajoasr ó)tf moij sptinos XHK JOJ os PIP N. SB Snrua^sTi sntwoa pc nodn SpU<gl{ iua 1ud o) 3nidoo;e JA. ajajj pjoirnBin W Hn '(JNOQT! JP SUIJ^DSRQM XI^BAHI qji-ii osuoq jfjduoj v ni q.8!U jo J{.It!p aql trial intolerable to watch the closed doors and wait for them to open. Why did the men delay? And Mimi-my God, why was she silent? Then a better instinct began to say that she was not here, and this gave me courage. Let me know the fact for a truth, and 1 cared not how many villains were har- boured here. We opened the doors one by one, Farman carrying his lantern. I had a revolver at the cock. But I shall tell you at once that we discovered nothing. There were beds in two of the rooms, and a third had a paltry ameutdement which 6poke of a gentler occupa- tion. But in the main the house remained the same hard and chilling villa that we had imagined it to be—and I vow that there was something beyond all words melancholy in that secret which lay at the heart of it. An empty, barren house and a dead woman's body upon the stairs. So much for Bougi- val—so much for all our plotting and our planning and our bold emprise. The men who had done this thing had been warned. They had fled the neighbourhood, cheated us, and perchance the police. Even Farman admitted as much when he called Ù8 together and deigned, lor first time, to abjure a confidence t "Gentlemen," he said, "I cannot blame myself. The man Bedotte was here an hour ago—I knew that Madame Gastonard was here at sunset. You see what has happened —there has been a quarrel, and this woman has been killed. I would have oome to Bougival sooner if it had been safe to come- but I was afraid for Madame Gastonard while the .showman Gondre was here. We set a. trap for him and he has been taken at Asnieres to-night. The other man, Bedotte, has not been sober for many days. That ie why I came to the house as I did; but, be- lieve me, if what I surmise be true, nothing has been lost by delay, and we shall have good news of Madame to-morrow. I am now to leave the police to do their own business here and to advise Monsieur Lepine of ours. We may return immediately to Paris, for our work is done." And so, Paddy, we left this melancholy house aud returned to the car. 1 can still see the villa, the lamp shining from the lonely room, and the river bathed in moon- light—for the moon was up by this time and all the scene made glorious. It was some- thing, at least, to know that my beloved wife had escaped that mean temple of death, per- chance had known nothing of its secrets. None the less, I clung to the neighbourhood as to some place which should minister to my sentiment, and, determining to stay the bight at St. Germain, returned thither with my companions. They, be sure, were not the men to decline such hospitality, and they sat up with me until dawn, offering a thousand explanations of Farman's conduct, and justi- fying it in no way. What was this man keeping back from us? Why did he, who hft4 served me so faithfully many a day, serve me so ill to-night? Recol- lect that I had but the shabbiest of facts from him. He had told me merely that my wife had been abducted from her house by those who had known her as Mimi La God- iche at Montmartre, and who believed that they could profit by the knowledge. And upon this a talk of blackmail—yet not a word that would enlighten me, no names, no his- tories—nothing but the intimation. This we said again and again as we sat in my room at the Pavilion Hotel and waited for the day. Circumstance had deluded ue. We could make nothing of it. < < < < I had nothing from Farman yesterday, but to-day there came a little note in which, evading other issues, he tells me that the man Bedotte has been traced to Rheims, and is evidently making for Brussels but that the police are close upon his track, and an immediate arrest is expected. "As for Madame," he says, "the opinion is growing that she escaped from the house and need no longer be sought among these people." But of this he will write me further at a lnver hour. And so you see, Paddy, that I am tied to this hotel in as great a state of doubt and perplexity, of hope and longing, as ever mor- tal suffered. I know not what to decide, what to believe. Inconceivable, indeed, that Mimi should not have gone straight to Paris, if this tale of escape were true. A telegram assures me that nothing is known of her, either at the Hotel St. Paul or at Mont- martre and had you in England any news, I doubt not it would have come to me before this. What, then, am I to say? That she has not wished to return to me? God forbid any such thought. I will send you another letter in the morn- ing, as soon as th\ event permits. Should anything happen in london, let nothing delay a telegmm. Of the tvivial affairs, thM-e is a request here from the editor of the "Daily Bulletin that I will write a second letter for him. It would serve no purpose, and I have said so. J-Ls desire to see me privately dictates the wish that you shall be my ambas- sador. Quit the game of golf and the per- ambulators and spend a quiet hour in Fleet- street. The power of the press is a wonder- ful thing, I assure you, but the journalist at lunch by no means terrifying. Ask the good fellow to meet you at the Savoy, and I do not think the state of parties v* ill forbid. How odd it seems to be writing like this I feel it not at all. The shadows crowd upon me. If I could but say, Let there be light!— Yours, dear Paddy, HARRY GASTONARD. CHAPTER XXXVIII. [The Reverend Arthur "arringtOll rebukes his wife, Martha Warrington, upon a trivial account.] The Red Farm, Beldon, Suffolk. Sunday within the Octave of All Saints. Dear Martha,—Your continued stay with my cousins at Cambridge does not seem a great compliment to your husband. John is a very estimable man, it is true; but 1 ask you if it is discreet or prudent that a clergy- man's wife should associate with one who is not ashamed to attend the horse races at Newmarket, and has declared from a public platform that the Anti-Field Sports' League is a society of charlatans. I had expected you to return and tell me more of this dreadful affair in which our cousin Henry is implicated. Is it kind to protract my anxieties? If it indeed be true that his unhappy wife has fled, then I think that tne future need give us little anxiety. I say, God forbid that any harm should have overtaken the poor creature out the human destinies are not in our hands, and we must humbly bow to them. To-day i wrote to Mr. Fogg, suggesting that we had some right to an inventory of the property. The great house at Fawl-ands, now let to Lord borough, contains priceless furniture bought by Henry's fatner, my uncle, and of this a valuation should be made. It is possible that by judicious economy and some prac- tice of sdf-denial-in which I shall invite your cordial help—we might be able to live there ourselves when the present tenancy is terminated. But I shall permit no .worldly aitibitions to hamper my sacred calling, and in this course I must be guided by we Bishop. There is a bee to be founded pre- sently at Bury St. Edmunds, and there should be four residentiary canonries as a minimum. Here your brother's influence with the Lord Chancellor way help us, and I ahould not hesitate to give a series of din- ners in London to promote so wormy an aim. After all, rich men owe something to society, to do their duty in that state into which they were born and we snould be strangely forgetful of our privileges if we were merely to husband this money which the Lord haa put into our keeping. Would you not like to be a canon's wife, Martha? Remember that a Deanery may lie beyond, or even a Bishopric, 1 will not per- mit myself to think of these things. To. morrow I should have an answer from Mr. Fogg, and also, I hope, a letter announcing your return. These sporting people, surely, are no fit companions for a clergyman's wife —Your devoted husband, AaTHUR. CHAPTER XXXIX. fWe hear of Paddy O'Conncll in a letter to Martha Warrington at Cambridge.] Dear Mrs. Warrington,—I am careful, ypu see, not to say' "Martha," lent this leiter should fall into your husband's hands—bad cess to him and he be maki, « a fool of nini- as you say that he vvouM. So it shall iust be 11 Mrs. Warrington," though laugh- ing up my sleeve I am all the time, and you the same, I do not doubt. Well, my dear, I am having the blazes of a time in this wilderness of a place, and all for Eiy friend's sake; though, God knows what use I am to him any more the police- man at the corner, who has hac many a good glass of my whisky, and would like many another. Harry says 'tis to Parii I w go presently, though what for the oil gentle- man himself would be hard put to it to guess. The last news I have from him speaks of the dreadful things we read in the papers this morning. It would lie clear that the little witch is gone from the people that have had charge of her, and that this wicked story of wrong and mystery is no clearer to us than ever it was. But so far as it goes, we must bo content with it; for 1 would no mora doubt her than I would doubt my sister Clara, and whatever she has done has been done for the best-of that I am sure. Did it never occur to you that this pretty child may have a history out of the ordinary. It has been in my mind since the first day or our meeting, and is more in my mind than ever to-day. Who was her father? but, more important to ask, what was her mother's name? Did you never hear tell of the air. and graces of her, the pretty v. aye that were a showman's tent, and the dignity which no man ever humbled? We may have lost good manners in this twentieth century, Mrs. Warrington, but we haven't lost the guod sense which tells us whether our fathers were gentlemen or villains, and this is an instinct we'll keep yet awhile. i say that Mimi Gastonard is the daughter neither of a showman npr a peasant, and if my surmise is not correct, put Paddy O'Con- nell down with the fools. To speak of things better understood, I don't wonder to hear that you were annoyed about the horse-racing. no consolation to have missed those same great races, the Csesarewitch and Cambridgeshire, and you so near to the course. our cousin John evidently knows a good thing, aCnd his win upon the double event must have gladdened your heart. But I'm sorry to hear that h« put but a sovereign apiece on for you, and he might well have made it a tenner. Man is a curious animal, and always niggardly about hie own hills. I shall tell Mr. John that same if ever I meet him. Well, Martha, I miss the piquet we used to play on quiet IÚterDOODa, and that's a eer- tainty. This god-forsaken Hampstead puts pistols in my hands every evening, and takes them out again when the sun shines in the inorming. Just to think that the riding has begun in Ireland, and me, Paddy O'Connell, doomed to a six-shilling hack and a gallop as far as your arms can reach. Yesterday, in Harry's interest, I lunched with a newspaper man at the Savoy Hotel, and was much dis. appointed to find that he drank water. "'Tii a little gas one needs in politics," says I, "and champagne's the staff but he would have none of it. I should tell you that he has big notions of Harry's literary gifts, and wants some more letters out of him. I told him a story or two about the parish priest of Glcndalough, who, when the Bishop told him that golf was sending men to the devil fast, replied that he wondered at it, for they did it mostly on sloe gin. After this, he asked me to write a series of papers on a humorist in the mountains of Ireland." But I declined immediately. "'Vkvould be over the heads of your people," says I, "and that's where all good Catholics should be ia this life or the next." I expect to go to Paris to-morrow or the day after, and will write you when I get there. There is a parcel of books at th house, sent to you by your husband; but you don't seem to have opened them. Will I for- ward them on or give them to the heathen? Advise me by return. And with kind regards, please find mo, yours, as per last, PADDY O'CONNBLL. There was a curate man got hold of me in Hampstead, and took me to a Christian En- deavour meeting. lie persuaded me to put on the boxing gloves, and one of his flock gave me a precious black eye. 'Twas a Christian endeavour surely, and cost me a bandage. Ho I'm only seeing half of this letter, which you can tell your husband if it should fall into his hands. CHAPTER XL. fA Brief Note from Jules Farman in Paris to Henry Gastonard at St. Germain.} 4 (bis), Rue du Quatre Septembre. November 8th, 1905. Monsieur,—I am very well able to under- stand your displeasure, and regret that it should have been incurred. Permit me to assure you that I have not deserved it. Tne circumstances of this unhappy case concern so many others, there are so many threads to this tangled skein that I crave your indul- I gence if all does not march as you would wish it. You heard from me yesterday the welcome tidings both of Madame's salety and of ner content. When the moment comes--and it is hourly expected—I feel that you will be the first to acquit me of the deception which has been practised. Madame believes that you are on your way from England, and will arrive in Paris, it may be to-day, it may be to-morrow. When you are with her. I doubt not that you will readily understand both our desire for delafy and her continued residence. This story, believe me, is put. forward for tho best of reasons—reasons, I repeat, which you cannot fail to approve. Hut something, Monsieur, may be told by m; in the meanwhile, and that I do not h'sitate to write. It is now clear that Mvlame Gastonard was placed as a child at "tho Convent of the Sisters of the Sacred H"art at Fconville, near Orleans. A childish frolic carried her from tHe gardens of the ord house to the woods upon the road to Blü:s, where she fell into the evil hands of the mur- dered woman, Marie Bordon, and was by .:er sold to the travelling showman, Gondri. So, passed from hand to hand, she beco.mes the servant of these rogues, and is lucKY to iitid a home at last with that honest man Caesa- dcre. Her story until the moment of her entry into the Convent School will be told to you by others, I trust, before many dlys arc passed. I have directed, Monsieur, that this mes- sage shall reach you at St. Germain, believ- ing that your continued stay in that town is both wise and convenient. In the meantime, d'T.v sir, be assured of the loyal service of, jour devoted, JTJLKS HENRY FARMAN. (To be Continued.) I —* T It

SCRATCHED UNTIL HE BLED. Bleeding Piles almost sent him mad, till Zam-Buk Cured Him. For two } ca.ru Mr Reuben Eett«, a miner, of 24, W./iarie Road, Pinxtoa, neiu- AlfreUm, Derby, experienced tJio horrors of bkedtng piles. TLen he followed the cdvice of a work-mute and trivd Zara-l>jk, with the result tu:at lie was quickly and miraculously freed from tJto toruumg dis.ase. To-llrag1 his Rtory to an "Alfreton Advertiser" reporter, Mr Eetta &a.id: -"Two years ago I began to suffer from piles, and the pain from the constant burning itch wos at times madden- ij).sr. The- doctor gavo me an injection and special ointment- and medicine, but the pi'ei noe,or got a bit easier. During the daytime the pain was almost uii-bieinaible, but at us soon as I got' warm in bed the itching wax *omt. thiny terrible. 1 wa.; obliged to scratch to try to get a. little ease, 1 usually scratched untM I bled freely. When I sat dmwt or walked aboot. I ndferod agonies 11';):11 thc tormenting pain a.nd itch, wdiile constant bleeding made me so we.ik I h«di <0 give tyi-) wvrk. t. [ tried many ,<-o-called remedies, Lut as month after month went, by I lost all hope. Really, when a irate me to try Zam-Buk, I firzt tlA it was unlets to try a-nything more, but jU;;1; to please him I bought a box and used some the sa-ine nigs'it. Almost immediately after I ap- plied. Zam-Buk I w.is able to get some eoumd fleep, for firr-r tirno for many months. When I awoke the pain TO not nearly so acute, and a further liberal d.-cssng with this grand balm gave me caae during' the day. "1 repeated the Ztvm-Buk dressings regularly and I made wonderiui prog'reee towards a com- plete cure. My friendis wore astonished to see me goTj-j to my work ciieerfully again, and I was not slow to tcli them what was mcf næ. Well, tisc itching and burniJig died away alto- gether a-j I continued with Jiam-Biik, and the piles were gradually lw«ww) aid toon I was quite froe. That was some months a-go, and there lizig not been the ahghlejt sign 0, a return of this terrible complaint since. I shall never for- T^?t the debt I one to Zam-Buk for my woodtw- iuJ CLlre." Trhis unique soothing balm is sold by chemists at Is lid, 2" 9d, or 4s 6d a box, ü. diicct. at tame prices from tJ) Zam-Buik Co., 45, Cow Cross Street, London, E.C. AfJk for Za.m-Buk, and don't, be put off with worthier imitations.

Employment in April was on the whole much about the same as in Marvh. In 416 trade unions, with a net membership of 700,867 making return's, 57,250, or 8.2 per cent., were reported aw unemployed: The perwntage at the end of April last year wis 7.-1. Suffragettes interrupted (he spoeeh of Mr John BurTIH at Camhalton O-IJ Saturday, and the right Hon. gentleman referred to them in severe terms SJS "female hooligans" and "vulgar crceJuree-"

LADY AND SISTER, Mrs A. vv ilkinson, of Nelson, had to have breakfast in bed for months owing to Wind Spasms. She took three boxes cf Jloldroyd's Gravel Pills. Now she writes: "I can get up and make breakfast for the whole family without ill effeets. My sister, who suffered from weak kidneys, took one box, and it. has done her more good than pounds spent on medical men HOI.DROYD'S PILLS are a positive cure foi Backache, Lumbago, Rheumatism, Dropsy (Brights), Wind, Water Complaints, Diseases of Kidneys, Gout, Sciatica, etc. Is ld. all Chemists; post free, 12 stamps HOLDROYD'S MEDICAL HALL. CJeckheaton. Yorks

UNIVERSITY OF WALES. MEETING OF THE COURT AT MOLD. THE TRAINING COLLEGE QUESTION. DEGREE DAY PROCEEDINGS. For the first time in its history the Court of the University of Wales met in Flintshire on Friday, when the annual extra collegiate'' meeting- was held at Mold, under the presidency of the Senior Deputy Chancellor, Sir Isambard Owen. lie was supported by Sir J. Hills-Johns, hon. treasurer; Professor Anwyl (chairman of the Central Welsh Board), Principal Roberts (Aberystwyth), Yicc-Chancellor; Sir Harry Reichel, and Professor Angus, the Registrar. Mr W- Y. Hargreave, vice-chairman of the Flintshire County Council, and Alderman P. P. Pennant tendered, on behalf of tho chairman (Mr J. W. Summers) and the members of the County Council, a cordial welcome to the Court upon fheir first visit to Moid and Flintshire. The Deputy Chancellor briefly replied, and alluded to the fact that at Mold they were re- minded of two of the greatest geniuses of the nation, Daniel Owen, the Welsh novelist, and Mr Goscombe John, the sculptor, who had produced the statue of Daniel Owen in the grounds of that haJ). At the outset the Court, expressed appreciation of the work for education in Wales achieved by the late Alderman Lewis Williams, of Cardiff, and the late Mr Ivor James, the first registrar of the University. The reappointment was notified by the Lord President of the Council of Sir T. Marchant Williams and Principal Sir John Rhys to be members of the Court for a further period of five vears. PUBLIC FUNDS FOR AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. It was decided to support the memorial of the University College of North Wales, to the effect that it is highly desirable that public funds should be expended to a greater extent on the promotion of agriculture and agricultural in- struction in the Principality, and that greater attention should be given to the teaching of agriculture in the colleges. Mr Austin Jenkins, Cardiff, said that the idea of the South Wales College in passing the re- solution was to bring the matter before the at- tention of the Central Welsh Board. Having regard to what Bangor, Aberystwyth, and Car- diff had done for agricultural education, it was necessary that the Central Welsh Board should be urged to move in the matter. Professor Anwyl remarked that the Central Welsh Board pieferred to be mentioned by name rather than by implication, and that agri- culture had been on the syllabus from the very start. The Board were always ready to welcome any suggestions for the development of agricul- tural education. Sir Harry Reichet pointed out that on the Continent the funds for agricultural education came practically from Imperial eourccs. In all countries where agriculture was successful that was the case. Local funds could not stand the strain any longer in this country- It was precisely in those districts where the money was most needed to be expended that there was least of it. availab!e (hear hear). At the suggestion of Mr W. G. Dodd the term "pub'ic funds" in the resolution passed by the South Wale3 College was interpreted to mean "Imporiat funds." INCREASED TREASURY GRANTS. Professor Angus read a letter from the Trea- sury announcing the decision to increase the grants to the University and to the three con- Etituent co'eges by the tota] sum of £ 15,000, that the allocation of that sum inoulci be made after inquiry by a oonunission. The Senior Deputy Chancellor said the news (which had already been widely published) was read with great gratification by all concerned. A3 the result of the Treasury Commission it was learnt on unimpeachable authority that the University of Wak, and its colleges, with their scanty inearL, had succeeded to as great a de- gree as the far better endowed universities and colleges of England, excepting, of course, the old Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. TEACHERS' REPRESENTATIVES. The Registrar reported that the election of re- presentatives of the head teachers in elementary schcols upon the Court of the University had been carried out m the manner prescribed by the Lord President of the Council, and that Miss Hannah Williams, Cardiff; Mr J. E. Jenkins, Swansea, and Miss Annie Rule, Cardiff, had been chosen- Mr J. G. Davies, Neath; Mr J- R. Roberts, Ruabcn, and Miss A. M. Do hoi I, Pontypool, were elected representatives cf the head teachers of intermediate schools. The Deputy Chancellor commented upon the small proportion of the voting papers that had been returned, and the Standing Executive Com- mittee were asked to look into the matter. SIR MARCHANT WILLIAMS AND THE DEP UTY CHANCELLORSHIP. I The Vice Chancellor (Principal Roberts) took the chair while a Senior Deputy Chancellor was being elected for the ensuing year. Sir Isam- bard Owen retired. Sir Marchant Williams said that- for some years lie had moved the appointment of &ome members of the Court in place of the Senior Deputy Chanoellor. His views on this question were known to the Court. They remained what they were in the past, and they would remain in the future what they were now, but on that occasion he was not prepared to move for any- body to take the position of the Senior Deputy Chancellor, in tho hope that by this time next year it would not. be necessary for him to make anv motion in his usual terms. Colonel Pryce-Jones said he hoped the Senior Deputy Chancellor would continue to be re- elected from year to year so long as he was able to ho'd the office, and he regretted exceed- ingly that his friend Sir Marchant Williams should now "lie low" and should threaten that his big battalions would be brought to bear down in South Wa'es next year (Sir Marchant: "Oh, no")- He was g'ad to hear that that was not to be the ca-c. He hoped, too, that when the Court, we-nt to South Wales the friends there would net disturb the harmony at present exist- ing between the three colleges and the Univer- sity (hear, hear). Sir Isambard was declared re-elected, no other candidate being mentioned, and he thanked the Court for the renewal of their confidence- Sir John Williams was reefed Junior Deputy Chancellor, and the following were elected the other members of the Executive Committee: ProfesGor Anwyl, Mr Tom John, Mrs Cad- wa'adr Davies, Colonel Pryce-Jones, Pro- fessor Boulton, Dr. R. D. Roberts. Mr II. Lewis, Professor R. W. Phillips, Dr. Chattawav, Pro- fessor Edward Edwards, Mr Owen Owen (Cen- tral Welsh Board), Sir D. Brynmor Jones, and Alderman Martin. HONORARY DEGREES. It was decided w confer honorary degrees on the following:— The degree of Doctor of Laws upon Sir Samuel Evan?, M-P., K.C., the Solicitor General. The degree of Doctor of Literature upon Pro- fessor Kuiio Meyer, of the Liverpool University, Professor of Celtic Literature. < The degree of Muster of Aits upon Mr John IVdJiinge:1, late Librarian of Cardiff, and now librarian of the National Library of Wales, and tbn Rev. Evan Rces ("Dyfed"), the Arohdruid of Wales. THB TRAINING COLLEGES QUESTION. Mr Henry Lewis (Bangor), wtho was unable to be- present, had given notice that he would call fi;tt.ent.iol1 to proposals far multiplying col- Icgt-s for training ek-jnerrf^y teacher* in Wales and would move a i-esohrtiori thereon. Sir liffiurrbard Owen said that aa influential oonforciKe had. ju&t been held in London, and had conic to a more or less definite arrangement on the immediate question—namely, the situa- tion of tJw training college. established in South Wak». lie had a letter l'rom Mr Henry Lewis to ray that, in view of that conference, lie did not now wisl-k to move in tie matter. It was not possible n.nv, the Deputy Chancellor went on to say, to alter the situation in regard to the two Soudi Wales trailing colleges, as matters had gone, too far before any qust ion was raised, h;t the county councils in question would con- fer with tho authorities of the University Uol- and would use their best endeavours to brin.g the work which w-is being done in the training co-Wages as closely as possible into rela- tion with the work done in tho University Col- leges (applause). Furthermore, tho Welsh mei.-i bexs were asked to do tlieu- best to got the Government to transfer the control of tie Welsh training coll-gef, to the Welsh Department "i the Board of Education, instead of leaving thcue colleges (as they were at present) outside the jurisdiction of the Welh Department (hear, hoar). It was felt to be very desirable that the whole of the control of education in anJ Monmouthshire; sli-ould be urn tod under the Welsh Dc-partmnt The Hev. Dr. Aaron Davies asked u In-thcr it would be in order to move an expression of opinion on the last point of the Deputy Chan- cellor's remarks. Professor Anwyl felt that it was a raihcr large question to eilibial-It upon without being on t'i? agenda. a The Deputy Chancellor thought it hardly came within the compass of the notice of motion. Dr. Aaron Davies: It would be w. II inve all tho branches of education in Wales under tbe same department of the Board. Professor Angus read a letter from Regis- tntJr of the South Wales College, stating a t, as the matter was now being- coiwidered at a friendly conference between various educa- tion authorities and the Cardiff Ooik^e the University Court should be asked not To' pass ally t. Mr Tom John moved that the Court proceed to the next business, an-d this was agreed t,o. DEGREE-DAY PROCEEDINGS The Standing Executive Committee recom- mended tn fit in futur-e admission at the Con "-le- gation held in connection with tho annual col- legiate meeting of the Court be confined to tho hjgher degrees except that graduates who hod obtained brst-ctass honours 111 examinations for mitta-l degrees should have the option of being au "i j then, and that admission to degrees should otherwise take place at ej>ec:al Congre- gations to be held at the seats of the constitu- ent colleges as soon as possible after the close of the degree examinations- Sir Harry Reichel said he thought the proposal -was hardly practicable. Profer Arnoid (Bangor) thought that some change was desirable- Very few of the degree ceremonies had been creditable to the University, that held last November (when Mr Llord George was honoured) was an exception. From year to year the proceedings had been growing more and more intolerably Ion! and were a very great interruption to the business of the Court, and the proceedings had been almost invariably highly disorderly. In some cases the disorder had become a public scandaJ, and it had given a shock to the public of Wales that proceedings at tho t. ni versity could be conducted in such out- rageous disorder. It appeared to the public out- side as though the Univers.ty authorities wero held in no respect by the junior members of the University- Another objection weighed some- what heavily upon the students- At the older universities degrees were conferred more fre- quently, but the Welsh degree cerinony was held only once a year, and the graduates had to incur expense in attending it, and were deprived of their degrees until they attended. It was the policy of the University Colleges to make the cost of the degree as low as possible, but tho low fees charged at the colleges were counterbalanced by the steadily inorea.s.ing fees charged by tho Uni- versity. Sir Isambard Owen thought that Professor Ar- nold had rather exaggerated the disorder. There had been a little friendly chaff, such as was heard everywhere else, but there had not been serious disturbances. At the last Congregation there was no disturbance at all. All the interruptions were humorous, witty remarks, which amused them all very much. The ceremony might be shortened, and he was about to propose at the Executive meeting a means by which that might be done- If there was no formal Congregation held each year for a definite and important purpose the existence of the University would not bo brought visibly before the minds of the country. The report was referred to the three colleges for their comments- TRIBUTE TO MR HERBERT LEWIS. During the luncheon interval the members of the Court were entertaiYied at luncheon by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the County Council- The Vice-Chairman (Mr Hargreave) presided in the unavoidable absence of Mr Sum- mers. Sir Isambard Owen and Principal Roberts replied to the toast of the University, proposed from the. chair. Colonel Pryce-Jones proposed the County Council, and paid a tributo to Mr Herbert Lewis, whose advocacy of a National Library and Museum for Wales had resulted in the establishment of tha-e institutions at last. Mr Lloyd Price. High Sheriff, anil the V:ce- Chairsman responded. Principal Reichel proposed the Flintshire Education Authority, to which 1\11 p. p. Pennant responded. -P--

COLONIAL EXHIBITION PltIZE S. DISTRIBUTION AT CHESTER. Mr Robert Yerburgh presided over a larg4 gathering at the Town Ilall, Chester, last .wee. on the occasion of the essay pr'ze distribution in connection with the Chester Colonial Exhibition held in March last. M-r Charles Wrght, who wa* mainly respond "ib!c- for the exhibition; Said that was a lwoud moment ot his life, as one of the principal objects he had in view when he conceived the idea of ■getting together a number of Colonial repre- sentatives and an exhibition was the education of children in coilnection with our lands beyond the seas. Mr Yerburgh said if they had wanted proof that theeuterprioo which ?vlr Wright started and ca.rricd through so successfully had been, p'roductivc of good, they got it from the reports on tlie coin and the lettei-s of from such a number of distinguished people. He thought everybody would agree that one of. the bes-t ways of conveying itifort.,ioit,ioti to people was by malting us;c of objects which the eyes could see and which brought to the mind most clearly the matters in which the audience were interested. It was much easier to carry away impressions of Australia by seeing what that country produced than by listening to a lecture, however clever the speaker might lie. If they had essays from M.P.'s on any of the Colomies, they would find in many cases a strange defect of knowledge. lie was interested to hear that in tJhe competitive work the girls had beaten the boys, which was very often the ca«e. Whether it was that they had more ap- plication he diid not know, but perhaps in oiiat fact was to be found a strong argument for giving the suffrage to women (laughter). Mr Iloseason afterwards delivered an in teres* t-ing address, aBOOing to the over-populated con- dition of this country a.nd the possibilities open in the Colonies, especially in Canada. Cheers were given for Mr Chas. Wright, who acknowledged the work of t.he local branch of the National Union of Teaehers, and the groat support of his wife and family.

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The British battleship "TemoraJre," one of the improved Dreadnought type, v oinnna- Aoned on Saturday, making six of this eiasxs of warship now in eorn-miseioti.

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