Abergavenny Chronicle

I NOTES ON NEWS. I It is a familiar cry with out-and-out tompulsionista that compulsory service COMPULSORY SERVICB. 1. i ought to A have been adopted at the beginning of the war, or at any rate a very few months later, if We had only taken the plunge at once, say these people, the war would have been over by this time. Without taking "any sides on the matter, there will be no harm in pointing out that there is j something to be said on the other side. Perhaps nobody is better qualified to say j that something than Lord Derby, who was j an advocate of national service long before j the war. In a speech in the House of | » Lords the other day he remarked: "It is said that we ought to have had this Bill a year ago, but I do not know whether it would then have passed with as little fric- tion as it is doing now. The recruiting campaign of last autumn did much to bringing people to realise the requirements of the State." There can be little doubt that Lord Derby is right here. If a Com- pulsory Service Bill had been introduced in the early days of the war it would have encountered much more serious opposition than that offered to the present Bill, which has foun d a public opinion ready for it and convinced that it is necessary. There is a good deal of difference of opinion with regard to the number of men How MANY MEN? 1 .« expected to be obtained for the Armv by the com- pulsion of married men. According to some esti- mates the largest num- cer that can be secured, after allowing for exemptions due to -?arious causes, is two hundred thousand. Other estimates go to a much larger figure, and we shall not know which is the more correct until the Act has been for some weeks in operation. Meanwhile it would be well not to encour- age hopes that the number will be as large as some people consider probable. We may quote again from Lord Derby, who does not believe that enormous numbers will be forthcoming: "Xabour in this country was not the inexhaustible well that some People thought, and when people talked gaily of huge numbers he could only say that they could know very little of the facts. The great bulk of men that we Were going to get for the Colours was not from the unattested married men, but from the gradual combing out of the single men who were already under the Act." Men are still wanted for munition- making, and there are other industries whose claims must be considered. The highly important debate in the House of Commons on the Air Service has A REASSURING DEBATE. set at rest the uneasiness øl which had been created in the public mind by I alarmist all e g a- tions which are now shown on excellent testimony to have had very little truth in them. Many people had believed that things were in an ex- tremely bad way, that our machines were far behind those of the French in efficiency, and that they were hopelessly outclassed by the Germans. As to the administra- tion of the Service, well, if report was to be believed, there could not have been anything more incompetent. It is satis- factory to have the emphatic assurance of Mr. Bonar Law that "all this idea of our bning behind the Germans, and of the air service being muddled throughout, is en- tirely wrong." Mr. Tennant, too, told the House that we have two types of aero- planes faster than the fastest of the Ger- mans, and two other types which are at least as good as their best. Even the Fofcker scare seems to have been grossly exaggerated. In seven months, during which 478 combats took place in the air, only sixty-three occurred on the British side of the line; and in these sixty-three fights thirteen German machines were brought down, while not a single British airman was worsted. Altogether the de- bate was decidedly reassuring, and should have disposed of the scare. Few people have a kind word to say for the threepenny-bit. It is the most absurd THE THKSEPKNNY- BIT AGE." of all our coins. It has, however, attained to a respectable age, and one must suppose that it fills a want, or it would no longer be minted. Probably most of the threepenay-bits in circulation have at some tini3 or other been deposited in the plate or the bag in church collections; and few people on paying or receiving one can resist the impulse to work off the long- since threadbare joke about going to church on Sunday. One may almost say of the threepenny-bit that it is anathema to church officials and a very present help to ordinary members of the congregation. Certainly the church officials have no kindly feelings for the hurrifble little coin. At the London Diocesan Conference a speaker expressed the hope that among the changes brought about by the war would be the passing away of the "three- penny-bit age." There were people, he said, who thought that their whole duty to the Church was fulfilled by an occa- sional threepenny-bit placed in the collec- tion plate. A great many church officials have said jsimilar things before, and no doubt there I ?-I .? i Is IT MEANNESS ? are some people JiKe tha ti. It is possible, however, that the number is not so large as appears to be I thought. One feels pretty certain tnat not; all the threepenny-bits in church collec- tions were put there by mean people who could easily afford sixpence or a shilling; but that many of them, and, let us hope, the larger number, are given by people who give all they can afford, and find a rather pathetic satisfaction in dropping in a silver coin. It may be, too, that some threepenny-bits are contributed by people who can really afford no more than two- pence but add a penny because they do not like to give coppers. It is by no means certain that church collections would increase in amount if the "three- penny-bit age came to an end.

YET QUITE PERFECT. I There exists at Milan, Italy, a clock which Way justly be said to be one of the most wonderful in the world. This masterpiece of human ingenuity is made entirely of bread crumbs, and has naturally a history. A little more than a hundred years ago an Italian workman wished to try his hand at nakmg a clock but had not the means to boT the metal necessary for the construction oithe works, and was at a loss what to do. De».rmined not to be beaten, he conceived the ingenious idea, of saving his bread crunks from day to day, and solidifying them vith the aid of strong salts. At length by means he managed to obtain a very hard natter which could not be dissolved in water, ith which he constructed the clock. It was < perfect one in every way, and is now one f the curiosities of the capital of Lombardy.

SEEING lOTH SIDES AT ONCE. I Fishes and have an advantage Oh'f human beings I. their ability to see on both sides of them. 'heir eyes are set not for looking straight head, but for looking out on each side. Th., jg because they balance their bodies to rrlt or to left, while we balance forward an backward. A bird can watch the tips of oth -vings at once; the pilot of an aeroplae has to turn his head from side to side) see his wing tipe.

MR. BIRRELL'S STATEMENT. i On the second day of the Commission Mr. Birrell made a statement dealing with the growth and character of the Sinn Fein movement. He said Sinn Feinism was mainly com posed of old hatred and distrust of the British nation. The spirit was always there and always dangerous. This spirit of hatred towards England might have been exorcised if Catholic emancipa- tion had been granted earlier and the Pro- testant church had been disestablished for the benefit of the Irish and not as a con- cession to Nonconformist demands. The last twenty years' work had effected a transformation in Ireland Self-govern- ment had been established on the most democratic lines, and the most democratic results had followed. Yet all close obser- vers of Ireland during the last few years could not fail to notice that the Sinn Fein movement was increasing. There had also been a genuine literary Irish revival of prose, poetry, and the drama, which had produced remarkable books and thoughts and a school of men all characterised by originality and indepen- dent thought and expression, quite divorced from any political party and all tending towards latent desires for some sort of sepa- rate Irish existence. It was a curious situ- ation to watch, but there was nothing in it suggestive of results and rebellion except in the realm of thought. Indeed, it was all the other way. For instance, there was the ruthless satire of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on mad political enterprises. Mr. Birrell expressed the belief that this new critical tone and temper among men in all classes, which was often having a disinteg- rating effect on local passions and political beliefs, was the deadly foe of that wild sentimental passion which had once more led too many brave young fellows to certain docm in the belief that any rebellion in Ireland was better than none. I TEE ULSTER EXAMPLE. A little more time, went on Mr. Birrell, and but for this war this new critical temper would have finally prevailed, not to destroy national sentiment, but to kill bv ridieu L insensate revolt. But this was not to be. There were growing doubts about the advent of Home Rule. Then there was the Ulster rebellion, the gun-running at Larne, the Covenant and Provisional Government, and its plan of warfare in Belfast, which had a most prejudicial effect upon the dis- loyalists elsewhere. Catholic Ireland was proud of these men, and said, "What they arc allowed to do we can do." It was also impossible to over-estimate the effect which the advent of Sir E. Carson to the Cabinet had upon the minds of the people in Ireland. If Mr. Redmond had accepted office in the same Cabinet he would not have remained a leader of the Irish Party. There was no doubt German assistance was at the bottom ef the outbreak. The war turned many heads and upset all prudent calculations. Mr. Birrell said after consulting various Irish leaders he came to the conclusion that non-intervention was the safest policy. To have tried to disarm any section would have been very dangerous. Mr. Birrell went on to say that he had never attached much importance to Mr. Redmond's opinion that the Sinn Feiners were negligible. Instead he was sure that thev were dangerous. Mr. Dillon was strongly in favour of non-intervention. What specific warnings of impending trouble did you have?—You have to dis- tinguish clearly between Dublin and the country. So far as the country generally was concerned we had daily reports from the Royal Irish Constabulary from all parts of Ireland, and those reports were of such a character that one could form a correct opinion and a general estimate of the state of feeling in the countryside. The state of feeling varied very much. That went very much according to the action of the local priest. If the priest was an anti-Sinn Feiner, Sinn Feinism died out; but if the priest was in favour of it the movement was promoted. But I had no difficulty whatever in coming to a pretty just view as to the general effect Sinn Feinism had on these Irish Volunteers all over the country. But in Dublin it was different. I always 1elt I was very ignorant of what was going on in cellars like you have in Dublin. I had heard that the Castle was to be taken. Steps were taken to deal with these reports, but nothing came of them, and I should be very curious to hear if anybody knew this thing was going to ha ppen. WAR OFFICE COULD NOT SPARE I MEN. Mr. Birrell said he had very decided views, so much so that he had a conference with the military authorities in London, includ- ing Lord Kitchener and Lord French. The War Office, however, could not spare men to march through Dublin streets, although the soldiers' presence would have had a great effect on the Sinn Feiners, some of whom be- lieved that German submarines would check the transport of British troops. The War Office said- they were very busy training men, and men could not be spared to be trans- ferred to Ireland. The military authorities considered that in case of trouble in any part of Ireland they could move troops from Liverpool as quickly and as safely as if they had to be moved from any part of Ireland to any other part. Lord Hardinge: Many months prior to August 4, 1914, you will agree that Ireland was in a state of internal unrest almost on the verge of rebellion?—Yes. IF THE GERMANS HAD LANDED. Lord Hardinge: One would have thought it was desirable to restrict the import of arms. Can you tell me why the restrictions hNe removed on August 5, 1914, the day after the declaration of war? Mr. Birrell said the Law Officers were of opinion that the Proclamation could not be maintained, and in order to avoid the scan- dal of it being upset it was revoked. Mr. Birrell added that the revolution wus doomed to failure from the start, though it took time and involved the destruction of property before it was smoked out. Sir M. Chalmers: If it had been more successful in Dublin do you think more would have joined in the country? Mr. Birrell said it was difficult to say what the population would have done if there had been a German landing. With arms and ammunition, the whole popula- tion might have joined in, some on one side and some on the other. Mr. Justice Shearman: Meanwhile, the Germans might have landed, and disloyal people were allowed to drill with arms in their hands. Why was not that overt act suppressed ?-We thought it would be diffi- cult to prove that the arming and drilling was in any way associated with the enemy. Replying to a further question, Mr. Bir- rell said that any such action would have had to be taken by the military. It would have required soldiers to stop the drilling and arming, and if it had been attempted north, south, east and west, it would have resulted in bloodshed.

LORD WIMBORNE AS VICEROY WITHOUT POWERS. LORD MIDLETON'S WARNING. Lord Wimborne gave evidence on Monday before the Commission of Inquiry on the Sinn Fein revolt. He said that the position of Viceroy was one of total irresponsibility, as, with the ex- ception of the prerogative of mercy, the powers of the post were entirely absorbed by the Chief Secretary and the Under-Secretary. Ever since the Irish Division left for the Front at the end of the summer he had been of the opinion that the Irish garrison was quite inadequate. On March 23 this year he pressed Lord French to send a division to Ireland for the purpose of helping recruit- ing, though the condition of the country was in his mind. The following week he again saw Lord French, who replied that the War Office objected, as it would delay the dispatch of drafts to the Front by at least a fortnight. Early this year police reports showed that the Sinn Fein movement was growing in numbers and rifles. He then suggested de- portation or internment of the leaders. Sir E. Carson (when he was Attorney-General) gave it as his opinion that to deport a man entirely from Ireland was an extreme inter- pretation of the Defence of the Realm Act. Lord Wimborne then fell back on the sug- gestion of internment of the suspects, but it was pointed out that association with the enemy must first be proved. Subsequently it was thought this had been proved, and Lord Wimborne urged the simultaneous arrest of between sixty and 100 leaders. The rebellion broke out while this proposal was being dis- cussed at Dublin Castle. "I had completed a letter to the Chief Secretary," said Lord Wimborne, "and was in the act of writing to the Prime Minister deploring the delay, when a telephone mes- sage was received that the Castle had been attacked, that the Post Office was seized, and that the insurgents were marching on the. Viceregal Lodge." When the outbreak occurred he wrote a letter to Mr. Birrell, which began: "The worst has happened just when we thought it averted. If only we had acted last night with decision, and arrested the leaders, as I wanted, it might have been averted." The witness told the Commissioners that the Admiral at Queenstown received in- formation of Sir Roger Casement's depar- ture from Germany and that the ship was accompanied by two submarines and might be expected off the Irish coast about Easter. The President: Is it not an extraordinary fact that the Admiral commanding at Queenstown should receive this information and that the Irish Government should not have received that information at all? Lord Wimborne: I think it is extraordi- nary. Replying to other questions. Lord Wim- borne said he thought the majority of the Sinn Feiners when they started on their route march on Easter Monday had no idea they were out for reb-ellion.. He was not satisfied with the efficiency of the police de- tective departments. The Chairman: Do you think an attempt to suppress the Irish Volunteers would have resulted in more bloodshed than has actu- ally occurred?—That's a hypothetical ques- tion. I MR. BIRRELL WARNED. Lord Midleton told how he warned the authorities of the activities of the Sinn Feiners before the authorities. After re- seiving a memorandum from Lord Wim- borne it hardly seemed to him that the steps 'tfcken to deal with the situation were adequate, and on January 8, 1915, he raised the question in the House of Lords. In reply, Lord Crewe said he was doing a bad service to the country in making such matters public. Later in the year he again took up the rubject with Mr. Birrell, and strongly urged that the Sinn Fein volunteers should be disarmed, and not permitted to parade. Mr. Birrell said in effect that the movement was to be laughed at, and not taken seri- ously. To take notice of speeches made by crack-brained Sinn Fein enthusiasts and priests would only hinder the growth of loyalty in Ireland. He had some fear of Dublin, but not of rebellious trouble. I re- member that Mr. Birrell very expressively said to me, "I laugh at the whole thing." On January 20 last Mr. Birrell said in an interview he was convinced theipe would be no armed rising, and Lord Midleton told the Chief Secretary he wae pursuing a very dangerous course. Six days later, Mr. Asquith, in an inter- view asked Lord Midleton to send him a memorandum. On February 25 Mr. Birrell wrote him a confidential letter covering the whole ground, which stated:— "I want to promote, both by action and inaction, the growth of loyalty towards the Empire which has come into being of late years. Loyalty in Ireland is a plant of slow growth. The soil is still uncongenial, but the. plantf grows. I am not surprised when in Kerry, Cork, Galway, and Clare I see signs of disloyalty and disaffection, whereas you seem annoyed and irritated, and feel disposed to cry out for strong measures when headstrong priests and crack-brained people pass resolutions and make speeches ?hi?,b, were they made and passed in Eng- land, would bring down upon their pro- moters not the terrors of the law, but the rage of the mob. Strong measures, when effective are the best of all measures and the Caslst, but if ineffective do no good, but only harm. "We cannot rely upon juries in Ireland. To proclaim the Irish Volunteers as an illegal body, and put them down by force would, in my opinion, be a reckless and foolish act, and promote disloyalty to a prodigious extent. I am more alarmed at the possibility of bombs and isolated acts of violence than of concerted action." Sir Matthew Nathan, in an interview in April, mentioned the names of the most pro- minent agitators in Ireland, and Lord Mid- leton urged him to have them arrested at once and have them deported, which could b.< done without bringing the matter before a jury. He told Sir Matthew that an Irishman is the worst man in the world to run away from. He also warned him that the situa- tion was so bad that even Mr. Redmond was in great danger of his life. Sir Matthew replied that the Government had some diffi- culty in taking prominent steps, but he was quite alive to the fact that he was dealing with desperate men. COURT-MARTIALS STILL AT WORK. A further list of sentences, the results of trials by field general court-martial, were announced in Dublin on Monday evening. In the case of Lynch, whose death sentence has been commuted, it is reported that Presi- dent Wilson had intervened, the man being an American citizen. Sentenced to death, confirmed by General Office Commanding-in-Chief, but commuted to penal servitude as stated: Jeremiah C. Lynch (Dublin), ten years; Peter Galligan (Wexford), five years. Sentenced to penal servitude: Patrick Fahy (Galway), penal servitude for life, com- muted to ten years; Thomas Desmond Fitz- gerald (Dublin), twenty years (ten years remitted); William Partridge (Dublin), fif- teen years (five years remitted) Michael Fleming, sen. (Galway), five years (two years remitted) John Corcoran (Galway), five years (two years remitted); William Hussey (Galway), five years (two years remitted). Sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour: Michael Fleming (Galway), one year. The trial of Mr. John MacNeill, president of the Irish Volunteers, on charges connected wi,th the Defence of the Realm Act, was opened on Monday before a general court- martial consisting of thirteen officers, at the Richmond Barracks. Prisoner was marched in under an escort with fixed bayonets. The Press were not admitted.

[ FARNBORO. MONASTERY'S PIGS. ) Father Bensol Leburn, Brother Oitaire, and William George Cox, of the Roman Catholic monastery at Martin, near Salis- bury were each fined one guinea at Alder- shot under a summons taken out by the R.S.P.C.A. Evidence showed that defen- dants packed two live pigs into a box made bv Cox. The box was forwarded by rail to Hillside Convent, Farnborough, but on arrival at Farnborough Station the pigs were found to be dead from suffocation. Father Leburn said the pigs were ordered three weeks before they were dispatched, and the box was made at that time, but in the interim the pigr; increased in size.

TRAWLER SUNK BY U BOAT. I The Lowestoft trawler Research has been attacked and destroyed by a German sub- marine. The cook, Wilson, was killed by a shell. The skipper and a deck hand were wounded. Those aboard the submarine shouted to the fishermen to get into their boat. but before they could do so the enemy opened fire. The first shell went through the mainsail, and the next struck Wilson, killing him instantly. The survivors got into the small boat, taking with them the bodv of their comrade. The submarine ap- proached the smack and threw something on board. There W2." an explosion, and the vessel foundered.

JOURNALIST ACQUITTED. I George Spicer, Press correspondent, was summoned at Dover Police-court under the Defence of the Realm Act for communi- cating information which might be of use to the enemy. Mr. Vosper, who prose- cuted, stated that on May 1, in the course of a conversation on the telephone to a Press a gency, Mr. Spicer gave certain im- portant information. The conversation was taken down by the Telephone Supervisor, in pursuance of her general instructions. The Bench heard the Telephone Supervisor's evidence in camera. Mr. Ratley Mowll, who defended, contended that this was obviously a Press offence, as it concerned information given by a Press correspondent to a Press agency. Before prosecuting for a Press offence it was necessary to obtain the decision of the Director of Public Pro- secutions. The magistrate upheld Mr. Mobil's contention and dismissed the sum- mons. (

40,650 000 CANDLE POWER. I It tak ys 40.650,000 candle power to light up the outside of the Woolworth Building In New York every night. Six hundred pro- jector lamps, with reflectors covered with Sili,L,r-not mercury—filled with nitrogen gas. each consuming 250 watts of current and delivering 67,750 candle power, are used in this illumination, which makes the tower visible twenty miles away.

S500 FOR AN ARM. I Private Stuart Homer Scobbie, a Cana- dian soldier who, after being wounded at the Front, was knocked down by a tramcar in Kennington-road, London, S.E., and so severely injured that he lost his right arm, has been awarded .£500 damages against the London County Council in the King's Bench Division.

Lieutenant the Hon. B. B. Ponsonbv, Grenadier Guards, younger son of the Earl of Bessborough, is officially reported wounded. Five men who enlisted as privates from Dunchurch, near Rugby, which has a popu- ] all on of about 1,000, now hold commissions. Thirty thousand women paraded in Glas- gow recently as a protest against the manufacture and sale of alcohol during the war and for six months after.

ENEMY SEAPLANE BROUGHT DOWN OFF BELGIUM. The following communique was issued by th«a Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, Home Forces, at 1 p.m. Saturday: A hostile air raid was carried out on the east coast of Kent last night by at least three seaplanes. The raiders made the English coast at a few minutes past two this morning. (he seaplane then turned north and dropped a dozen explosive bombs over the Isle of Thanet. Some windows were broken; other- vit-ie there were no casualties and no other da mage. The two other seaplanes seem to have turned south and dropped some twenty-five explosive bombs over South-Eastern Kent. In one town a few bombs took effect; one soldier was killed, one woman and one sea- man were injured. One public-house was wrecked and several houses were damaged. The remaining bombs caused no casualties or damage. The raiders all made off as soon as their bombs had been discharged. One raider (seaplane) was brought down by a naval patrol off the Belgian roast this morning.

I MR. McKENNA'S MONEY-BOX. I McKenna, wife of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, prc-sented savings bank hook" 400 sc hool children at Walton-on- 400 c-c h ?oD I tbe-Hil. on Saturday. One shilling was paid to the credit of each of the children out of a fund rai-ed locally. Mr. McKenna, in a speech to the children, said that when he was a boy he had a mouey-box-a tin box painted black, with a lock and key. "I did not keep the key," said Mr. McKenna, "but when I put money in the box I shook the box to hear the sound of the coins. "In these days children were very back- ward, for, after all, what is the use of put- ting money in a box? A better place would have been the Post Office Savings Bank. If you deposit it in a savings bank it can be used by the country to help to win the war. By this means children have something at stake in their country."

I DROWNING FATALITIES. While exploring th fantastic rock forma- tion of the River Eden at Stenkrith, Kirkby Stephen, on Saturday, Harry Walton, one of a party of three visitors from Darlington, slipped and disappeared into a deep water cavern called Cow Cam Hole. Mr. Allan L. Rankine, solicitor and burgh chamberlain of Banff, was drowned on Satur- day evening while fishing in the Deveron near the Bridge of Allan. A munitiern worker named Pinker, aged seventeen, of Oxford-road, Reading, was caught in a strong under-current while swim- ming in the Thames on Sunday, in the pre- sence of several other bathers. There is a notice-board warning the public against bathing at this spot, which is the most dan- gerous in the Reading reach, and at which several accidents have occurred.

PRISONERS IN SWITZERLAND. I The Foreign Office states: In connection with the agreement concluded with the Ger- man Government for the transfer to Switzer- land of British and German wounded and invalid combatant prisoners of war whose disabilities do not bring them within the scope of the agreement for repatriation, it may be stated that the decision whether an officer or man is eligible for transfer to Switzerland Tests with Medical Boards on which Swiss medical opinion will be largely represented. The Boards will visit all the camps where British or German combatant prisoners of war are interned, and all such prisoners will have the right to present themselves before the Board. It will not be possible to bring individual cases to the notice of the Boards in any circumstances.

P. B's. FIXED INTENTION. I "I should be glad if I could go to West- minster on Monday and be told that the House of Commons hais been shut up for the duration of the war," said Mr. Pemberton Billing, M.P., at Ramsgate on Saturday. Referring to the recent incident when he was counted out, Mr. Billing declared that it was his fixed intention to call a count every time he entered the House of Com- mons if not more than forty members wene piesent to conduct the nation's business. "Recently, on most important matters." he said, "the attendance lias been small, and it is my intention to try to keep the politicians a~ their job." «.

SIX OF L20's CREW RELEASED. I Six members of the crew of the Zeppelin L20, which came down on the coast of Nor- way, have been set at liberty by the Nor- wegian Government. They are those who were saved and brought ashore by private I beats. In the absence of any provision of inter- national law referring to airships. the Government has been guided by the rules as to sailors shipwrecked in warships belonging to belligerent Powers. The same principle was followed in the case of English cailors from the Weimar and the India.

PRISON FOR OBJECTORS. I The ^ntences passed by court-martial on I three conscientious objectors, Privates Gwilvm Price, Percy Kendall, and Emrys Hughes, who had refused to submit to medi- cal examination, were promulgated at Cardiff Barracks on Saturday before 300 soldiers, only thirty of whom had not been f() the Front. Price and Kendall were sen- tenced to two years' detention, with a re- mission of eighteen months by the com- manding oiffcer, and Hughes to two years, th a remission of fifteen months. ————— o —————

BRITAIN'S WOMEN WORKERS. I Major-General Sir Francis Lloyd, Generel Officer Commanding the London district, speaking at the opening of St. Stephen's War Time Club and Hut for Women and Girls at Rochester-row, Westminster. on Saturday, paid a tribute to the magnificent work which women are doing in connection with the war. "Titere are 7,000,000 paid workers in Great Britain," he said, "and the number of voluntary workers must be enormous.

BURNT TO DEATH ON 'BUS. I  LiiT S?iden- A girl of seventeen named Lily Seiden- licvg, of nCHmport-fitt, Stepney, was fatally burnt on top of a motor-'bus in the Strand, London, W.C., on Saturday evening. A light dropped by a careless smoker set her elothcs on fire, and in a few seconds fhe was ablaae from head to foot. Other passengers beat the flames out, but the girl was so badly burnt that she died in Charing-cross Hospital early on Sunday morning.

FIELD-MARSHAL'S WILL I Field-Marshal Sir C. H. Brownlow. G.C.B., of Bracknell, Berks, left estate valued at £ 114.808. He gave X5,000 to Emg- Edward's Hospital Fund and £2,000 to the Charity Organisation Society. After various personal bequests he left the residue of his property to King Edward's Hospital Fund.

A scheme for electricity mains, estimated by the Islington Council two vears ago to out ?7?o00, will now cost ?10,500 to "carry out. Owing to the bolting of two horses at- tached to a. funeral coach at Sheffield twelve women and children were seriously injured.

WAR NEWS IN BRIEF. The price of seed potatoes has risen it several agricultural centres to the record rate of X9 a ton. Practically all the unoccupied land in the large burial ground at Styal, Cheshire, is being planted with potatoes. Capt. Rupert GuinnelSS. M.P., R.N.V.R., is going on an important naval mii-sion to Canada. A munition worker was sentenced to twe mcnths' imprisonment at Glasgow for shouting in the street, "Three cheers-for the Sinn Feiners," and for using other seditious language. For steering a wrong course, disregard- ing signals, and failing to stop when a shot Was fired over the vessel's* bows, Christian Jacobsen was fined £ 80 at Cupar. A bloodhound was used to track down an Army absentee at Guisborough (Yorks). The anfmal picked up the trail and went to a pigeon flifct three storeys high, where the soldier was found. While her husband, the Ealing shops in- spector, is serving in the Arm- Mrs. Holmes will carry on his official duties. A large meeting of Glasgow business men protested against enemy aliens being allowed their freedom. There are now over 400 female conductors on Leeds tramcars. In a. few we-eks all the cars will be staffed by women. Ealing Town Council has already paid < £ 10.Vj0 in war allowances to the wives and families of 106 of its employees. A caravan dweller named George Patter was fined L5 at Chatham for lighting a bon- fire on the top of a hill. The subscriptions to the Rumanian Five per cent. National Loan of JE6,000.000 amount to < £ 16,000,000. Colonels B. F. B. Stuart, C. H. P. Carter, and C. S. Prichard are gazetted temporary brigadier-generals. Rev. W. H. Measures, Congregational minister of Brentford, has, with the approval of his congregation, decided to enlist in the Army. No men of military age wer-a present at the Richmond (Yorks) hirings. Boys asked from .£16 to £ 20 a year, and girls from L12 to .£16 a year. The little town of Mold, in Flintshire, claims the honour of possessing the first woman chimney-sweep. Her husband, the rightful practitioner, has joined the Army. The order of March 31, stopping all leave in the Dutch army, will be modified on June 1, when 10 per cent, of the men will be given four weeks' leave in monthly batches. "War has revolutionised us. There may be shirkers, slackers, and strikers, but the masses of our wage-earning people are as loyal and self-sacrificing as any in the land," says the Bishop of Liverpool. The Ramsgate Toy Industry, organised by a number of local ladies, including Coun- cillor Miss Janet Stancomb-Wills. is actively engaged in beating the Germans at toy-making, and has secured numerous re- peat orders. A number of gipsy van-dwellers, living at Shepperton, were at Feltliam fined Jcb as absentees under the Military Service Act. and handed over to an escort. Germany has apologised to Spain for "erroneously" torpedoing the Sussex, and has promised an indemnity to the family of the composer Granados, who lost his life in her. Caviar and corsets are two things the importation of which is now prohibited :n Germany. General Botha and Mrs. Botha are to be presented with a silver trophy by the wives of Cabinet Ministers and friends in London in commemoration of the successful South- West African campaign. Stating that perhaps he was guilty tech- nically but that morally he was not, Edward J. Detmold, thirty-two, of Priory-court. West Hampstead. the animal painter and illustrator, was fined £10 at Marylebone and handed over to an escort as an Army absentee. Among the Army's latest recruits are ninety men from the Falkland Islands, who have been engaged in erecting the new long- range Marconi station in that lonely out- post of Empire. The exorbitant price asked by farmers for potatoes in the north resulted in a boycott. The farmers stood it for a week and then gave in. the consequence being an imme- diate fall of 30s. a ton. Many Swiss hotel proprietors have offered free accommodation for the disabled arid convalescent soldiers who are to be allowed to reside in Switzerland to the end of the war. Mr. Tennant, Under Secretary for War, told Mr. King in the House of Commons that Portugal was not a party to the peace pact of the Allies. A Glasgow citizen, who desires to remain anonymous, has acquired Erskine House and 350 acres of ground and presented them t) the Princess Louise Hospital for Scottish Limbless Sailors and Soldiers. Town and district council have been in- structed to furnish the Army Council with particulars of men between eighteen and forty-five suffering from tuberculosis so that they may not be enlisted. Lieutenant-Colonel P. G. Grant, Royal Engineers, is gazetted a temporary briga- dier-general. "You should put a petticoat over the light," suggested the Mayor of Kings-ton to people summoned for exposed lights. The Commonwealth Government are to in- crease pensions of incapacitated Australian soldiers from < £ 1 a week to 30s. a week. Lady Smith, wife of the Attorney-General, was fined tl at Bracklev for having roi- 6haded lights in her house at Charlton. An attested man who had failed to report was fined £ 5 at Woolwich Police-court, to be paid out of his Army pay at the rate of 5s. a week. Girls of the London County Council School, Columbia-road, Bethnal Green, have contributed = £ 25 to the fund for disabled soldiers and sailors (Star and Garter Fund). A woman who was summoned at Kingston for unshaded lights seen through a door- way pleaded that it was all the fault of her dog, which pushed the door open for 1L few minutes. Shell shock, said a doctor at London Ses- sions, causes want of knowledge of the seriousness of one's acts. South Shields magistrates im p ose d a fine of < £ 5 on John Peter Bachke, second mate of the Norwegian steamer Ervik2n, for hav- ing in his possession on board a camera and photographs while the vessel was stationed in the vicinity of certain naval ports on the Tvnc. The War Office have undertaken immedi- ately to return young men Tecruited from the Hodbarrow Mine if furnished with the names of the men and their i c Definite instructions art' to be g;Y,:1: c recruiting officer that no men v,<.kr; at iron ore mines in the Cumberland d;-r ict arc to be recrnitcd. It was stated, by ccr.u^e! ic r-ic Court that the quickest ;O •■•I with neutral countries was bv ,v >■- less, as the Germans red :• jr. to neutral countries in order to appease them. Men who failed to join the crews of steamers in the Admiralty service were sen- tenced to four months' and three months' hard labour at Liverpool. Sir George Croydon Marks, M.P., having been appointed by the Minister of Muni- tions to conduct certain inquiries abroad, has given up his post as a commissioner ior the dilution of labour. A soldier, home on leave at Patt Bridge, near Wigan, was explaining the mechanism of a hand grenade brought as a, souvenir from the Front, when it exploded, k.j.ing him and inj uring two spectators. In these days," sa-id the Bishop ef Lich- field, "when petrol is so dear, I trav-ti by train and always travel third-class. In those carriages you almost invariably cr.r.ic up against some soldiers. Thev are un- commonly good coniT),inv, and th-ev 'r-c-tave like gentlemen."