Evening Express

The Man in the Street. Failing a society to caN for the total abolition of the cuckoo, one has to be satis- tied with the fact that the arrival of the j anxiously-awaited bird has been duly i recorded. There is no mistake about it, and no one need lie awake at night worry- ing in douht. The man who likes to be the first to hear the striking call-notc wrote all about it a month ago—from the previous year's description. The person who really listened to the first cuckoo has preserved an exemplary silence, and since then the postman has been worked almost to death with his burden of epistles addressed to the editor. The majority of them read 'like this: "Dear Sir,—The cuckoo was heard in the parish of Slow- town at five a.m. on Friday. I myself heard it. Trusting I am not trespassing on your valuable space.-I am, very truly yours, John Smithjones." The office boy strained his spinal cord in clearing out yesterday's collect ion, and the wastepaper basket is much too small for the tremen- dous heap which flows over on to the floor of the sacred sanctorum from this morn- ing's mail. Those countless thousands who have also heard the cuckoo and are contemplating the com,posit,ion of a nice literary note in the bestt Addison style when the spirit moves them may rest in perfeot peace, and the world may take it for granted that the cuckoo has really arrived—and that everybody kinows it. As all is well with the cuckoo, it is the right thing to do to look up, between the showers, that summer outfit which proved so attractive a year ago. Straw hats may now be indulged In. Some old-fashioned folk may be slow-going enough to wait until summer has really arrived, but the average man, whose headgear is nuled by the call-boy of the woods and the hedge- rows, will provide himself with the com- fortable thatch of straw immediately. It is good for trade. The self-respecting fellow who spends his 3. 6d. straight- away will have the pleasure of repeating the performance somewhere in July, when the summer is still being expected by people looking out at the vagaries of the weather from flower show tents and crickot pavilions. The straw hat is one of the few survivors of the good old times. Box hats may give way to cloth caps and tweed deerstalkers, but the straw pro- tector is going as strong as ever. The Panama and its imitators are still indulged in by poets a,nd those who prefer comfort to elegance, but for the majority the ,straight-aIl-the-way-round bnm and two inches up with an inch and a half of coloured ribbon will again hold the field against all-comers. After all, there is nothing new under the sun-not even the cuckoo, and probably the Pharaohs donned their S'traw hats when they heard the call-song of the spring bird. Those good Cardiffians who are able to think occasionally of other things out- side and beyond their own excellent selves must often have thought what remarkably good horses are usually to be seen between the shafts of the corporation carts. Whatever has to be remarked about the musical efforts of the tramcars during their somewhat noisy progress about the city, there can be no doubt that the city council are exceedingly well 'served by their faithful four-legged ser- vants. And it must also be said that their purchase usually means the exercise of very much care, with the smallest likeli- hood of the corporation discovering them- selves the proud possessors of a "roarer" or two. Indeed, the city gee-gees are worthy of all the praise that can be lavished upon them, and it is gratifying to discover a department where so much can be said in favour of a public authority who are being constantly hauled over the coals on account of defects more or less real or apparent. Yesterday the health committee, repre- sented by Dr. Robinson (chairman) AJdennan W. H. Itemwicsk, and Dr. Smith, with Oaunesikw -Ohartea Wall as an expert adviser specially called in for consultation, were able-to add another half-dozen magnificent chargers to the corporation stables. But I am not by any means in love with the amateurish system by which the corporation horses are obtained. With the assistance of a veterinary sur- geon, who has to pass as sound all horses that are purchased, the council are in very slight fear of buying a crock. But they have to pay through the nose." This is not business. The members of the corporation would not buy their own animal 's in this way—their purses would not be deep enough. I would, therefore, suggest that the next time horses are! required an experienced official like the city engineer (Mr. Harpur) should be told off to accompany a veterinary sur- I geon to deal first hand with the farmers. The presence of the horse doctor will 1 give the same assurance of soundness in the purchases, and the method should save the corporation JE20 a horse. On a ¡ deal like that of yesterday this would mean a saving of £ 1'20. It is only by proceeding on common sense lines in this and other departments that expenses can be kept down. If the council will persist jn going the dearest way to work in all things—well, the rates must go up. But a few hundreds saved here and there will soon relieve the rates to the extent of a penny or more in the zC, and the ratepayers would gleefully stand it. Besides, it would give the members of the corporation more time for work in other directions. No one has any idea as to the rich possibilities of the English language until he begins to lead the reported pro- ceedings of local authorities. Then he discovers an inexhaustible mine, which only fails when the speakers turn from it in utter weariness, after the manner of the Aberystwyth councillors when they decided that one can have too much of a good thing, even in flowery figures of speech. The annual election of chairmen has been the means of opening the flood- gates of careless oratory in several direc- tions, and the value of relative terms is being weighed up in various directions by men with sore hearts and dejected mien —bruised inwardly because of the cruel references made to them by colleagues, and limp and sorry because of the yield- ing to the temptation to say the nearest word that came uppermost in the excite- ment of debate. Now elections are over, and chairmen selected, it is to be hoped that all this temporary ill-feeling will be taken at its worth-as garbage to be swept on to the rubbish heap and to be forgotten in a jealous regard for the people's interest. Life is too short. Besides, Christmas is coming!

I Disestablishment PREMIER AND COMMISS!ON REPORT! Mr. Talbot (U., Oxford University) asked the Prime Minister in the House of Commons on Monday whether he would give an assurance to the House that the second read- ing of the Established Church (Walesf Bill would not be proceeded with until the House I' had had an opportunity of considering the evidence laid before the Royal Commission on the Progress of the Clraroh in Wales. I Mr. Asquith: I am unable to give the assurance asked for.

) LOCO BOILER EXPLOS!ON. Funeral of Third Victim at Cardiff William Murphy, one of the three victims in the explosion on the Rhymney Railway at Cardiff Docks, was interred on Monday, and there were more mournful scenes at Oardifl Cemetery. iDeoeased was only eighteen yea,rs of age. The undertakers were Messrs. G. Stone and Co., 11 and 12. Working-street, the arrangements being under the personal supervision of Mr. R. Jordan, manager.

I "SONG OF A SHIRT" I A sad story of destitution was told at Westminster on Monday, a reepectably- drosfct-d woman of 56, named Elisabeth O'Brien, of Southwark, being charged with attempting to take her life by throwing her- self into the Thamee. For the last six months defendant had been working at Dolan's, clothing contrac- tors, of Bond-street, Vauxhall, as a tailorese. The hours of employment wore 10 hours a day—from eight a.m. till eight p.m.—with intervals for meals. All this poor woman could earn by continuous work was some- thing leeo than a shilling a day. Inquiry had been made at Dolan's, whose forewoman admitted that as a rather slow worker Mrs. O'Brien had only earned two, three, or four shillings a week—six shillings at most if she made full time. The rate of pay, it wae added, was 33d. for bashing and finishing" police trousers—nearly four hours' needlework; a.nd "a farthing a pair" was paid for putting footstraps on cavalry over- alls; but the women, oil thid hard work had to use an awl, and it took at least half-an- hour. The price for the handwork to make "right out" Territorial riding breeches was 8d. The woman could not possibly make two paire in a day. "Keep a good heart," said the magistrate sympathetically, as he discharged the accused. "We will see wha;t we can do to help you."

AID FROM MERTHYR I A preliminary conference was held on Mon- day at the Town-hall, Mertliyr, with the object of devising means for supporting the Cardiff University College Building Fund. Mr. W. L. Daniel, J.P., presided, and among those present were Sir T. Marchant Williams and Mr. J. Austin Jenkins, the college registrar. It was explained by Mr. Jenkins that meet- ings had been held in various parts of Sonth Wales and Monanouthshire, and that in every district there had been a remarkably ready response, so that the movement was going on apace. It was not true that in October next the whole college would be removed to Cathays Park, for the present buildings in Newport-rood would remain in use for some years. Hence there would be a heavy increase in their financial responsibilities. Sir Marchant Williams, who spoke of the inadequacy of the Government contribution to the maintenance of the college, and urged that there was a moral obligation to pay larger salaries to some of the college staff, moved the appointment of a committee, with Mr. J. M. Berry, J.P., as convener, to make arrangements for collecting subscriptions throughout the borough. This was seconded by the Rev. D. Eurog Walters, B.D., and cajried. It was suggested ff Mr. Jenkins that if a league of old students were formed in the district they might do much to help. Later on it is intended to hold a public meeting with the view of enlisting the sympathy and aid of the general community. I

HOWLED OFF THE STAGE j Th 1 The annual "Encore" competition is a kindly institution, designed to give new music-hall talent a Chance. This year's show took place last night at the Royal Victoria- hall. The competition always provides a rollicking e-veiiing alas! chiefly at the expense of fond hopes ruthlessly slaughtered. The operation of howling an unsucces.s.ful aspirant off the stase was performed three times. The first was a Leyton girl. She had only reached tihe end of the firat verse when insistent cries of pain from the audience moved the judges to jangle the large rail- way station bell which was the signal for the stage "ohucker-out" to do his work- kindly but firmly. The third performer who was treated in this way left the stage in high dudgeon after quarrelling with the band. The "find" of the first half was "Little Agnes Lambuhl, a twelve-year-old mite from Birkeinhead, who is really a comic artist.

PUNCTUALITY IN EXCESS 1 Ob., don't go yet! Why are you in such a hurry?" -,Well, you see, I faithfully p-romised my husband I would meet him in the vestibule c< the Ambiguity a? eisht o^olook." o ?' But itS only bzU-pa6t eight now!"—" Th? I Byefcanndetr."

I FROM ALL QUARTERS The Duke of Westminster has become com- modore of the Sussex Motor Yacht Club. The Marquess of Abergavenny yesterday opened a rifle range at the Brighton Police Club. Senor Don Juan Duboec, Spanish Minister at Santiago de Chile, died yesterday at j Southeea. Lady Xinian Crichton-Stuart will give a small dance on Tuesday, June 8, at St. John's Lodge, Regent's Park. General Sir John French -visited Liverpool yesterday and inspected tne headquarters of the various Territorial units. Mr. J. Lindley Simfth, who entered the prison service in June, 1869, as a clerk, has been appointed governor of Derby Prison. "I am afraid it is very usual for cyclists and motorists to decamp after an accident," the Stepney coroner stated at an inquest. Glanders, anthrax, and hydrophobia, in man were made notifiable diseases within the administrative county of London from yesterday. Mr. Walter Runciman, President of the Board of Education, has become the circuit steward of the Wesley an Methodist West London Mission. It is notified from the War Office that n man belong-ing to the House Cavalry under the rank of non-commissioned officer will in future be described as "trooper." A man who was prosecuted at the Guild- hall yesterday for spitting in a Great Eas- tern Railway carriage was warned by the magistrate and ordered to pay 8s. costs. At Christie's yesterday an unfinished pic- ture by Ford Madox Brown was sold for 10D guineas, while Arthur Hughes's painting, -The Pained Heart," realised double this sum. It was stated during the hearing of a case in the Law Oouirts that a restaurant business on he sonth side of Westminster Bridge had been seriously affected by the fact that tram-cars now cross the bridge without stop- ping. The Home Secreary has appointed a depart- mental committee to investigate the beet means of standardising the apparatus employed in the Abel heat teat ft* explosives, and to examine any supplementary tests that may be submitted. The Army Council has decided that all officers of the Volunteer force, whether they joined the Territorials or not, who were serving on March 31 last and had then com- pleted a total of sixteen years' service, are eligible for the Volunteer long service medal. The secretary of the Army and Navy Co- operative Society states that the Hon. Mrs. Crompton, who was charged with fraud at AVestminster Police-court on Saturday, is no relation of the Hon. Mrs. Henry Cromp- ton.

KAISER AND KING CHARLES BUKHAREST, Friday. The German Crown Prince's visit, which was intended to bear a strictly official charac- ter, was transformed into a great demonstra- tion. He was received everywhere with the respect due to his family and position, and with a cordiality inspired by his own frank and manly bearing. Moreover, Roumanians are delighted with the honours showered upon the:r revered Monarch, and feel par- ticularly flattered at the marks of esteem bestowed upon his Majesty by the great Ger- man Empire. The following is the text of the Emperor William's letter to King Charles of Roumania on his seventieth anniveraa-ry:- Illustrious, powerful Prince, friend des cousin and brother.-I cannot renounce the pleasure of presenting to your Majesty on the occasion of the fete of your seventieth birthday my most ardent and sincere con- gratulations. May your Majesty be convinced that I participate most sincerely jind cordially in the events, .rejoicing equally for your Majesty and for your loyal subjects, and that I always have a particular pleasure in cultivating the relations of frank friendship with your Majesty. I feel at the same time the necessity of expressing on this occasion my most ardent gratitude for the great interest with which your Majesty has testified and maintained for my Army, as also for the great kindness and solicitude which you do not cease to manifest for its regiments. I "Requesting your Majesty to accept the ra.nk of field-marshal in my Army, I share with my Army in the warm desire that God may preserve your Majesty for a long time yet in constant health and strength. I have charged my son, Imperial and Royal High- ness, to present to your Majesty the epau- lettes bearing the insignia of a general field- marshal. "With the assurance of my most perfect esteem and of my sincere friendship, I am, your Majesty's affectionate brother and cousin, WILHELM R."

FORESTRY BURDENS I The half-yearly meeting of the Hereford- shire District of the Ancient Order of Foresters was held at Hereford on Monday the delegates including brethren from couris in Radnorshire, Breconshire, and the Forest of Dean. The District Chief Ranger (Bro. S. Greenhouse, of Presteign) presided. The report of the management committee 61iowed that the total number of financial members ir. the district was 6,437. The funds of the courts now reach the large sum of £ 84,215. The district funds amounted to E4,021, and this, added to the court funds, made a grand total of £88,2.56, the highest yet recorded by the district. A hrother drew attention to the fact that 127,561 days' siokncss was experienced last year by 2,027 members, or an average of 63 days each. In order to prevent malingering it was suggested that. benefit members should pee the doctor weekly. It was thought that one of the great burdens was the increasing "reduced sick-pay." When people became a certain age the doctors put them on the funds and simply made them permanent sick members.—The following fevies were made:- Funeral, 2s.; management, 4d.; distress, id.; subsidiary, Jd.

POISON AT THE DOOR. Love and jealousy are alleged to have made Richard William Porter (21), a, Great Central Railway fireman, attempt suicide at Grimsby on Sunday night. He and a Dutch lodger were both in love with the landlady's daughter, Miss M'C'urricb, a pretty twenty- year-old girl, and as far as can be gathered she gave neither encouragement. Makiig preparations to go out, he had reached the door and bade his landlady "Good-bye," when, suddenly pulling a bottle from h'I.; pocket, and saying "Here goes," he proceeded to swallow t'he contents. Mrs. M'Currieh snatched the bottle a-way, but Porter had already consumed a quantity of corrosive fluid. It caused intense agony, and the dis- tracted man, thus balked by the landlady, rushed to the and swallowed a quantity of cold water, after which exclaiming, I'm done for," collapsed on the kitchen floor. A üonstable was fetched, and, after administer- ing an antidote, brought Porter round suffi- ciently to enable his removal^to the hospital.

DISCORD AND DEATH. At even', ere the sun was set, The sick, oh Lord, around Thee lay. While playing the music for these lines in the well-knowil hymn at the Primitive Metho- dist Church, St. Ann-s-on-Sea, on Sunday evening Mr. Robert Clegg, the organist, was taken suddenly ill. The first intimation the congregation had that anything was wrong was whbn his hands, slipping on the keys, made a discord. He fell from his seat, and yesterday isuccumbed.

IT IS. I Speaking of a-utomobi le"jokes. Yes?" Isn't it about time for the 1909 models to be out?"

WHAT EPISTAXIS IS It would be much easier to say bleeding from the nose," the Tower Bridge magistrate remarked when he was informed that a man had suffered from epistaxis.

£ 1,452 FOR JAPANESE COLOUR-PRINTS During t.he opening day's sale at Sotheby's yesterday of old Japanese colour-prints a teltail of £1,452 was realised, as much as LW being padd for a. single print.

BEDS and Mattresaat reno?ated.-l, Mlnny-st. Cathays. Lime Juice as a. beverage has been wkiajy Irn?_,? e'a by medical men, particularly the famous braad ot .Montserrat, exclusively from cultivated Lim?. I ?K?m = the beautiful W- iMttaa-I&UD&ot th&Vuame.

I London at Midnight VIVID STORY BY MRS PRICE tflJCHES Work of Rescue Among Women A remarkable address was delivered by Mrs. Hugh Price Hughes, the superintendent of the West London Mission's Sisterhood, at the Harringay Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Service, in the Allison-road Congregational Church, Creenlancs. In the course of a striking account of her rescue work she drew several vivid word-pictures of scenes in I West London at midnight. Having described the reasons that prompted the founding of the mission a score of years ago, Mrs. Hughes proceeded: We know that last summer, during the exhibition, there were every night in Picca- dilly hundreds of men who had ccme from all parts of the British Empire and foreign countries; and the streets were thronged with them. And we came to know that in the midst of all this pleasure and amusement there was a terrible market of social vice going on-a market highly organised, a market with prices that rose and fell accord- ing to the season, and & market that was in the hands of a band of unspeakable men and women, whose life's profession it was to supply that market, and to entrap, by fair means or foul—and generally foul—fresh victims day by day. We found out, too, that these degraded men and women—technically called buI;ics-cleverly managed to evade the law by carrying on their terrible trade under some more innocent name." Speech with the women was often difficult, because they were being watched by their landladies or other custodians, and the, greater seclusion of side streets was fre- quently resorted to. We had some extraordinary conversa- tions, and sometimes they took place at two or three in the morning, or in the dead of the night. There we heard the tragic stories of lives of temptation, of downfall and imis-ery, and often of hopelessness and despair. We have found, in the great vortex in the neighbourhood of Piccadiliy-circue, girte who have come from Christian homes in the country—girls who have been governesses, Sunday school teachers, the children of parents who were sorrowing for them and breaking their hearts at home. I can truly say we have found all sorts and conditions of women and girls in the course of our mid- night pilgrimage. And it is 'wonderful how these-irls know that we are their friends." Mrs. Hughes, describing wha,t she called one of the most terrible and pathetic sights—the midnight supper-add:- Yon wou4d see 50 or 6G-there are some- times more-of these girls seated at our little white cloth tables. Some of them are, perhaps, barely fifteen years old, with their hair down their backs; others are older, getting on to 30 or 40 years of age, with all j the misery of their lives stamped on their hardened faces. They a?e dressed in the height of fashion, painted and powdered, with long white gloves on their arms, looking as though they had just come out of a ?theatre. Nearly every one of them is the worso for drink, and Borne are very drunk. Then we begin our supper, and when we come to the singing the women, who love to join in with the hymns, choose their favourites, and display a pathetic familiarity with the tunes." Many of the women rescued by Mrs. Hughes and her sisterhood are placed in comfortable employment, and some are married and the mistresses of happy homes.

I RAILWAY SUPERANNUATION The annual meeting of theIjdlalIlid Rail- way Superannuation Fund Association was held at Derby on Monday, Mr. John Elliott, superintendent of the line, presiding. The report showed that the receipts for the year ended rfamuary 31, 1909, amounted to Xlll,736, an increase on the previous yea.r of £ 830, and the out-payments to E45,686, an incre,ase of £ 4,015. The balance of C66,050 has been placed to the credit of the fund. The interest alone on invested capital for the year amounted to z648,032, or £2,346 more than the out-payments. The aggregate sum now in the hands of the Midland Railwa v Compeny at interest is £ 1,246,642. The number of con- tributing members on January 31 was 10,212 and of superannuated members 553. It was proposed that at the next actuarial valua- tion the benefits of the fund should be placed oa a money basis as against the existing scale, and an amendment was put that the directors should guarantee the fund with the same benefits as are enjoyed by the London and North Western Company's staff. On it being stated that the proposal was engaging the attention of the association the a*meaid- raeat was withdrawn.

WIFE LOCKED IN A ROOM Mr. James C. Nicol, formerly headmaster of the Tubib'e-road School, Willesden, has been divorced by his wife, Mrs. Sarah Grace Nicol, on account of his cruelty and misconduct. Mr. Gibbons stated that the p-a-rtiee were married in 18<;1. The husband treated his wife with great cruelty. In 1893, while on the Norfolk Broads, the parties and peti- tioner's sister were boating. The wind was rising, and the rocking' of the boat was increased by the movements of the husband, who threatened to drown the two ladies if they called out. The petitioner, in her evidence, referring to the Norfolk incident, said that on their return from the excursion her husband locked her and her sister in a I room. He cut off the gas a.nd kept them without food all night. Once he took the l tongs to bed and threatened "to do" for her. For an entire night he kept her awake by reading the Bible. His Lordship pronounced a decree nisi, with costs.

ANOTHER KIND,. I Sir," requested the young man, entering with a suit on his arm, I've brought these clothes for you to press. The man next door mays ycu are a gem at pressing suits!" Well, the man next door is right," replied tihe suit presser: only this isn't a tailor's shop—it's a lawyer's office I

WAR SECRET. A witness sitated in the Law Courts yester- day that during the Russo-Japanese war he had been interested in negotiations which took place between the Russian Government and the Government of Venezuela with regard to the purchase of torpedo-boats.

EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY 1 Tho West London County-court judge decided yesterday that a shop assistant who lives in, and who meets with an accident in his bedroom, is not en,titled to compensa- tion under the Workman's Compensation Aot.

LONDON'S LARGEST SHIP I The new Atlanoo Transport liner Minne- waska, which "s a gross t&nnag? 01 14,500, reaobed Tilbury yesterday on h?r trial trip. She will be the largest vessel using the,? Port of London.

NEW YORKSHIRE COALFIELD It is stat-ed that a syndicate of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire colliery owners have Leased 7,000 acres of land at Barnby Dun for the purpose of establishing a colliery.

PLAGUE OF ADDERS. I T-he tow nsbip ot Amatmatua, about ten milee from Ardg-ay, Ross^shire, is suffering from a plague of adders. In a single day as mainy a.s seventeen have been killed.

KILLED BY AT TOOTHPICK I AHfert Williams, on whom an inquest was held yesterday at Rattersea, died from the effects of swallowing a toothpick.

MINISTERS EXCLUDED. I The Southend Town Council has decided to I exclude ministers of religion f,rom the educa- tion committee.

A 1 Shirt and Collar Dresser**— Ximry-st., Cafehapa j

A THAMES PIRATE. I Daring Convict's Record TWICE BROKE FROM PRISON A criminal's extraordinary career was described at the Central Criminal Court yesterday. Frederick Murray (33), a sea- man, was indicted for a burglary at the house of Henry Hewson, of Crain pton-street, Newington. He was further indicted for wounding Mr. Hewson with intent to murder, and fcr s,tealin.g the yacht Elsie and a boat named Eva off Erith. Murray was known to Hewson, who is a hairdresser, and the alle- gations were that on the morning of Ma-rch 11 he broke into his house, and, besides steaJ- ing various articles, seriously assaulted him as he was lying in bed by striking him on the head with a heavy file. On March 23 Detectives Hearn and Arle went to Sitltingbourne by motor-car and arrested Murray on the highway, under dramatic circumstances. At the man's lodgings the police found property the pro- ceeds of a robbery from a barge on the Med- way, and he was identified also in connection with the theft of a yacht called Elsie and a boat named Eva. In defence Murray said, on oath that he made Hewson'a acquaintance at Dartmoor. Since then they had had several transactions, and Hewson owed him £5() for stolen goods and con.traballod cigars. An Amazing Career M.T. Bodkin said prisoner's real name was Sylvester, and his career of crime dated from the time when he was fifteen years of age. While in prison ait one period he made the acquaintance of an old convict, Stevens by name, who was serving ten years for bur- glary, and in pursuance of a plan the two upon their release purchased a yacht for the purposes of sailing up and down the river committing burglaries. Arrested at Grays, the prisoner was placed in the exercise cage at the police-citation, but by means of a wooden seat he forced aside some iron bars at the top of the cage and got through, ta.king the plank with him. He scaled a 15ft. wall and esca'ped. He then joined the other ex-coinvict. About March, 1900, he was arrested for burglary, and fifteen different cases were traced to him and his ccmpaiiion. He was moved to Dartmoor, but escaped, and was not re-captured for four or five days, during which time he caused an immense sensation in the neighbourhood by stealing food, cloth- ing, Ac. He was finally released on the 7th of November, 1908, and bought a boat named the Silver Spray, being engaged in stealing goods and disposing of them. He had also stolen a number of yachts and committed several more burglaries. When in a yacht oaLled the Enterprise he was sailing down the Thames, evidently with the intention of making his escape from England, when he collided with another vessel, and had to get ashore as best he could. Ten years' penal servitude was the sentence passed.

COMPENSATION LAW. At Aberdare County-court on Monday Mar-! garet Davies sued the Bwllfa Dare Company for compensation in respect of the death of her husband, Thomas Davies. Mr. Kelly (instructed by Mr. A. T. James, Pontypridd) appeared for the applicant, and Mr. A. Proper (from the office of Messrs. C. and W. Kenshole, Aberdare) represented the respon- dents. The point in dispute was a novel one. Deceased met with an accident in September, 1907, from which he had recovered by the following October. In October, 1908, he was ^fatally injured, and the question which his honour had to decide was whether the com- pensation should be calculauM by the earn- ings of the deceased a? fmm the date of hiB recovery in 1907, or by the earnings during a period of three years dating back from the time of the fatality. After a lengthy legal argument his Honour reserved judgment.

PEACE CONGRESS AT CARDIFFI To arrange for the visit of the National Peace Congress to Cardiff at the end of June next a representative gatheri,ng was held at the City-hall on Monday. Mr. H. 8. Perris, M.A., the secretary of the National Peace Council, attended. The congress will last two days, and 500 delegates from all parts of the country are expected to attend. Professor Mackenzie was in the chair. Mr. Perris said that they would try to got a Cabinet Minister to speak. Mr. Lloyd George would willingly come if he happened to be disengaged. Professor Jevons formally proposed giving the invitation for the visit, and the Rev. Charles Daviee (Tabernacle) having seconded, it was carried unanimously. Those present—about 60—were then formed into a reception committee. Professor Jevons and Miss MilneT wert, chosen as joint hon. secretaries. Mr. Schofield. of the I.L.P., promised the support of 700 members.

CHILDREN ACT CASE. I Mrs. M. Fletcher, Tynybedw-street, Treorky, was charged at Ystrad Police-court on Monday, under the new Children Act, with having neglected to provide a fireguard under the provisions of the Act.—The evidence of Police-sergeant Harris showed that defen- dant left her child and another little girl playing in a kitchen where there was an -n where there was an unprotected fire whilst she went out to visit some neighbours. Hearing screams, she ran back, and found both children in flames, her neighbour's child succumbing; after suffering great pain, to shocking injuries a day or two afterwards.—A fine of 10s. was imposed. This is the first case of the kind in the Rhondda Valley. 1

MURDER AND SUICIDE. An inquest was held on Monday at St. Helens on the bodies of George and John Mason, father and son, aged 41 and eight respectively. The evidence showed that Mason had had domestic trouble. Tfhe house was found locked up, and the police, forcing an entrance, found both dead. The father had attempted to cut his throat and strangle himself. Afterwards he connected an india- rubber tube with the gas jet, and put the other end into his mouth. The boy's death was due to strangulation and coal gas. The jury found that the fathea had taken .his son's life, and in respect to the father a verdict of Felo de se" was returned.

MONMOUTH NEW LICENCES. I At a meeting of the Monmouth County Licensing Committee, held at the Sessions House, Usk, on Monday, Mr. S. C. Bosanquet presiding, notices were received from the licensing justices of the Bedwellty Division and Pontypool Division consenting to the va-riations of the monopoTy values proposed by the committee in respect of the Duffryn Hotel, Aberbargoed, from £ 5,000 to L6,500, and the Central Hotel, Llanhijleth, from £5,000 to £ 6,000, fixed at the previous meeting of the committee.

PAGEANT & SCHOOL HOLIDAYS The Cardiff Education Authority has received a request from the WeJsh Pageant Committee that the summer holidays for the Cardiff schools shall commence on August 6 instead of July 30. The reason for the sug- gested change is that the pageant commences a few days previous to the 30th, and that if this date is taken many teachers and others who will be needed to take part in the I pageant will leave the city for their summer holidays. 1111 ——— »

BURNED BY MOLTEN METAL. I A serious accident happened at the Ebbw Vale Steelworks on Monday morning, when two men, named Scrivens and Roberts, were severely burned. Some molten metal fell on them, and they were in snoh a dangerous position that they had to escape by passing under great flames. Iliey were at onoe removed to the Ebbw Vale Hoepital, where they were detained, suffering from burns to the head, face, and arms.

HAULIER KILLED AT RISCA. I William Harris, ahaulier, employed at the Risca Colliery, was killed by a fall of roof on Monday. This is the first fatal accident at the Risea Colliery for eleven years.

DRY CLEA:Nlli9.-1. ]

I Anti-Suffragette IORCANISATION STARTED AT NEWPORT j Following a week after the meeting at Newport of. suffragettes, there was held on Monday at the Temperance-hall in that town a couple of meetings against votes for women. Lady Llangattook had promised to attend and preside at the afternoon meeting, which was intended to inaugurate a county of Monmouth branch of the National Anti- Suffrage League. In her absence, the chair was taken by Miss Prothero. of Malpas Court, who Tead a letter from Lady Llangattook from her yacht at Syracuse, expressing regret at her aRforced absence and conveying her sympathy to the anti-suffrage movement, for what lady would not defend the dignity of her sex, and show her disapproval of the unseemly action of the suffragette party who had brought discredit on their womanhood. I trust that the national protest will not be made too late." Mrs. Archibald Colquhoun (hon. secretary of the Kensington Branch)elivered a long address in support of the cause. The league had been the means of placing the question in such a position that women's suffrage oould not be placed in the programme of any great party without taking the whole country into its confidence. It must be done by an appeal to the country. The position of the league was quite unique, inasmuch as it represented a party of persons begging not to be enfranchised. It was not sufficient to say that because women paid rates and taxes t.hey, therefore, ought to have the vote. The franchise could not be bought and sold. Women lived under the protection of men every day of their life, and were never called upon to help the policeman or bear arms. Women had played a subordinate part in the building of the Empire, and they could not now ask to take a superior part in the government of the Empire. Mr F. J. Newman also addressed the I meeting. No petition in favour of women's suffrage, he said, had been signed by more than 200,000 persons, whereas, after only six months' existence of the Anti-Suffrage League, a petition against the franchise was signed by over 250,000. The Hon. Ivor Guest, M.P., wired to Miss Prothero" I wish you every success in your efforts to start branch of Women's Anti-Suffrage League in Newport and Mon- mouthshire." In the evening there was a large attend- ance at another meeting, presided over by Mr. J. E. Ward, formerly of Newport. international. Suffrage Alliance The International Women's Suffrage Alli- ance opened its annual conference in London on Monday, delegates attending from twenty different countries. Mrs. Chapman Catt, President of the Alliance, occupied the chair. On behalf of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, Mrs. Fawcett wel- comed the delegates. Whenever it had been tried, she said, women's enfranchisement had elevated political strife and improved home life.

TEST FOR EXPLOSIVES It is officially announced that the Home Sec- rotary has appointed a Departmental Com- 'I mittee to investigate and report on the best means of standardising with greater accu- racy than at present, the apparatus and materials employed in the Abel heat test for explosives, and to examine and report any supplementary test or tests that may be sub- mitted. The Committee is constituted as follows:- Major Aston Cooper Key, his Majesty's chief inspector of explosives (chairman); Colonel Sir Frederick L. Nathan, superin- tendent Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham Abbey; Captain A. P. H. Desborough, his Majesty's inspector of explosives; Mr. F. W. Jones, adviser to the New Explo- sives Company and to Messrs. Eley Bros. Captain M. B. Lloyd, of Messrs. Ourtiss and Harvey; Mr. C. O. Lundholm, of Messrs. Nobel's Explosives Company; Major J. H. Maneell, R.A., superintendent of research to the Ordnance Board; and Major H. Coningham, R.A., his Majesty's inspector of explosives (secretary).

UNEMPLOYMENT AND WASTE. ( There is no necessity for anyone to go un- employed in this country if the subject is properly handled. I am quite aware that many who pride themselves on a soft hear-t will join issue with me in my opinions Oill this great national question, but I oa-n prove my statements by facts and figures which are indisputable. Unemployed labour is money running to waste, our national wth leaking slowly but surely from us, and onr legislators stand convicted of carelessness and utter lack of duty every minute tha.t j they fail to grapple with the question.—C. J. Cl-arke in "The Sunday Strand."

COMPULSORY ENLISTMENT I It w probable, I believe (says the London correspondent of the "Birmingham Daily FIest"), that Earl Roberts will introduce into the House of Lords the Bill contemplated by the National Service League for making enlistment in the Territorial Army compul- sory. The measure is at this moment being cast into shape; but I can state that in addition to the compulsory provision it is likely to provide that there shall be four monrthis' training in ca-mip on commencement of service, instead of six months on the out- break of war, as provided under the Terri- torials Act.

FOUND DROWNED AT HIS POST The tug Britannia, sunk on Saturday in collision with the London County Council steamer Bazalgette, when five lives were lost, was raised yesterday in the off North-fleet, afterwards being towed to Gnavee- end. Two bodies have been recovered, that of the engineer, Jeffries, found at his post in tthe engine-room, a.nd of Edward Towe, the second mate. It has been decided to open a public subscniipitionfc in Gra.vesend for the relief of the families of the deceased.

ATTACK ON AN AUNT. At the Old Bailey on Monday Wm. Mueaon (20), painter, was sentenced to five years'penal servitude for the attempted murder of his aunt, Alice Robshaw, at Woolwich. Evidence was given that the prisoner attacked the woman at her house, and said, You have got to die." She screamed, and be forced a stocking into her mouth, seven of Mrs. Rob- shaw's teeth being knocked out during the struggle. Robbery was the motive of the crime.

THE POPE AND IRELAND The Pope on Monday received in private audience Auxiliary Bishop Donnelly, of Dublin, with whom his Holiness conversed most cordially. The Pope made inquiries -with regard to Archbishop Walsh and the condition of the Archdiocese of Dublin, and he also asked for information as to the state of Ireland generally. His Holiness expressed satisfaction at the zeal and loyalty displayed by the Irish clergy.-Reuter.

HUNGARIAN CRISIS In the Lower House of the Hun- garian Parliament on Monday Dr. Wekerle, the Premier. announced tha.t the Cabinet had resigned, as the negotiations with the Austriatn Government had been with. out result. He asked the House to adjourn until the situation became clearer. M. Kos- suth said the resignation was due to the cessation of the solidarity of the Cabinet on the bank question.—Reuter.

OIL STORE BLAZE An extensive fire raged on Monday after- noon in iiigh-sitreet, Folkestone. It ori- ginated at an oilseller's stores, where a painter was at work using a gas blow-pipe. In the basement of the shop were stored 6,'),<) gallons of oil, which the flames soon reached. The fire brigade were unable to cope with the outbreak. Half a dozen buildings were in flames.

r i Thi:' famotM medicine will CLA RKE'8 c:,ö:¡e t[¡I1d ;¡ejlll: rities from whatever czwso aris- ing, k re iiedy for Eczema, 13T Poison, Sores of all kinds, =: 'ID3T iJ???-' Bad LP6?, ?cicfula, Blood Kruptians, Ulcere, Glandular Swellings, &c. Of all stores, &0. M IXTU RE Forty years' success. Beware jmAHJi?n f imitation.

I Shot His Sweetheart I EX-SOLDIER AFTERWARDS COMMITS I SUICIDE A love tragedy arising out of jealousy occurred at Waltbamsitow on Monday after- noon, a young ex-soldier attempting to murder his sweetheart, and afterwards putting a bullet through his brain. The man, named Harry Clarke (23), who had returned from India only two months ago, resided I with his parents at 27, Rensburgh-street, CoppermilLlane, Walthamstow. Since his arrival he had been keeping company with a Walthamstow girl named Ada Pulieu. The girl called on Clarke on Monday morn. ing at his parents' house. At half-past two in the afternoon the young woman ran shrieking into the street bleeding from a. wound in the head, and almost immediately afterwards fell unconscious. The police and neighbours rushed into the house, where Clarke was found lying dead downstairs, shot through the head. The young woman, who is only 25, was removed immediately to Walthamstow Hospital, where she lies in a critical condition. Afterwards the body of Clarke was removed to the mortuary. The police have discovered no letters or docu- ments which would throw any light on the tragic occurrence.

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE OFFICERSI The South Wales and Monmouthshire Federation of the School Attecdaiice Officers' National Association met at Newport.—Mr. Tom Mallett (Cardiff), vice-president of the National Association, warned them of the lethargic condition into which the members had a tendency to drift, and said that more litality was needed to make their association a real, living organisation. Before they gained the credit due to them from the public for their work on behalf of the children they would have to take a keener and deeper inte- rest in the political questions that affected the children, without labelling themselves Liberals, Conservatives, or Socialists. (Hear, hear.) It passed his comprehension that the National Association could allow to pass un- challenged Mr. M'Kenna's proposals in his recent Education Bill for non-compulsory attendance in the contracting-out schools. They knew the stupidity of such a proposal, and they should have let the public know t,hat such am enactment would have been absolutely detrimental to the children and to educational efficiency. (Hear, hear.) It was on political questions such as that and the feeding of the children, medical inspec- tion, &c., that they should bring all the force of their unique knowledge to bear, for no officials or persons came into such close touch with the lives, habits, and environments of the poorest class of the people as the attend- ance inspectors did. (Hear, hear.)

LIFE SAVED BY SPEED. How a breach of t.he law Slavd, a life was described at the Godalming Police-court yes- terday, when Francis Purgavie, chauffeur to Calomel Cottell, of Kensington, was enun- imoinied for having driven a motor-car at a greater speed than twenty miles an hour. Colonel Cottall told the Court that at the time he was taiking Mr. Sampson Handley, the well-known surgeon of Middlesex Hos- pital, to see hiiri cousin in Hampshire, and to perform a.11 operation on him for empyema, following on appendicitis. He told his chauffeurs to drive at between 22 and 23 miles an hour, and it was possible that they mig'ht luave been going 25. It was, added the colonel, a very serious case, in which an operation had to he performed at once, and by going at that increased speed his cousin's life was saved. The chauffeur was fined £ 1 and cost a.

'DON'T CARE IF I GET 20 YEARS' At Readiing yesterday Albert Lewis SorreH, a well-diresisei man, described as a brewer's agent, was sent for trial on a charge of wtiilfu'lly setting fire to a bedroom at his •residence. The evidence was to the effect that, after having quarrelled with his wife on Sunday evenihg over some money mat- ters, prisoner went upstairs, and, obtaining two binge bottles, one containing petrol and the other kerosene, siprinikled rllglS and bed- ding with the oils, and deliberately set fire to them. The police and the fire brigade were sumimomed, a.nd the flames were even- tually subdued, but noot before much damage had been done. Tihe priou-ner when arrested said: "I had a few words with my wife. Ome twng leading to another I threatened to burn them out. She -defied me. I admit pouring kerosinie and petrol on the mats and lighting them. I don't care if I get twenty years.

LIBELS ON POST-CARDS. I Oait-herine Bailey, a. single woman, was charged at Newark, Notts, yesterday with criminal li'bels upon Cancan Marshall Wild. The solicitor for the -prosecution said that Canon Wild woe for 28 yeexis vicar of Newark. He resigned last year, and was now living in retirement at Derby. The offence complained of was the sending of libellous postcards to the canon and his friends in London, Bristol, Bournemouth, and Derby, and it had been going on for seventeen years. The solicitor for the defence said it was horrible that a, genial gentleman such as Canon Wild should be persecuted by these pestilential documents. He bad advised Miss Bailey to express her regret. He could only suggest that she was not in her right mind when she wrote tihem. The Bench decided to bind -defendant over to be of good behaviour, stating that a- lunatic asylum woul,d ,be the best place for her.

THREE MEN AND A CASH-BOX I The City police are investigating a. remark- ah1.e robbery effected by means of a. trick in broad daylight at the shop of Messrs. Watts, Piayne, and Co., tailors, ^Icon-square. About noon on Saturday a man, entered the shop and asked Mr. Wartits iff he would ohange some cheques. He received a reply in the negative, and left. A little later another man -walked in and asked for "change for a sovereign," which was not given. After another interval a th-i. man entered and informed the manager that he had dropped some money down the grating. The manager .went outside to eee the place where the coins were supposed to have fallen, a,nd while the search was in progress a locked cash-box containing wages was quickly removed from the shop.

PARLIAMENTARY PIED PIPERS J The text has been published of the Rats' Destruction Bill, which was recently pre- sented by Sir Charles M'Laren, supported by Sir John Brunner, Mr. Munro Ferguson, Mr. Ilay, Sir G. Parker, and Mr. Warner. In the memoandum prefixed it is stated that the Bill is supported by the Incorporated Society for the Destruction of Vermin, and is founded on similar lines to the legislation now in force in Denmark, Hong Kong, Ber- muda, and other places, having for its object the prevention of the vast destruction of foodstuffs and other property caused by rats, which amounts to many millions of pounds every year.

MILL FIRE AND DYNAMITE. I At tbiree o'clock yesterday morning flames were seen issuing from a cotton mill at Mazamet, in the department of Tarn, where a strike has been in progress for some time. In a few minutes the entire building was ablaze, and the heat was so intense that the windows of fifty yards away caught fire. The lasses are estimated at over £ 8,000. While the fire was in progress dynamite cart- ridges exploded in the vicinity of two other factories.

ALLECED PRISON BREAKER. I At. Bishop's S-to-itford yesterday Hairy White wae charged with fraudulently obtaining bicycles at Sawbridgeworth and Hoddesdon. It was stated that he was wanted on similar charges at Dun-mow and Saffron Wa-lden, and, further, that a warran,t was out for him at Colchester for breaking out of the military prison after savagely attacking and disabling a warder. He was remanded.

CARPETS BHATEN.—1. M inny-street, Cathaya. ttSt COMPARISONS ARE ODJOUSi" But, hlpplly, there 18 none to compare with ENGLAND'S GLORY MATCHES. Tlioy axe unquestionably the Best, Cheapest, and most EeliaUe extant, and Quite English you know. Made at Knytas<t'« Glory" Ma to* Work*. Gloucester. e4ait u

Divorce and War. HUSBAND FOUGHT, WIFE NURSED. William Henry Wakefield, of Grangeove* Sands, sued yesterday for the dissolution 0: his marriage because of the misconduot at his wife with Mr. Frederick Gric. There was no defence. It was stated that Mr. Wakefield had been co-reapouderrt in a divorce ciiit, and after- v?ards ma,rried the lady, the present respoor dent, at Westminster, in 1839. They lived at Granga-over-San-ds till the Eolith Africao Wor broke cut. Then Mr. Wakefield joined the Imperial Yeomanry, and went out to South Africa-, taking his wife with him. While he went to the front the wife remained at Stellen.boscih. where she established a small hospital. The husband heard rumours about her con-duct, but the wife denied that they were true. Returning to England, the husband learned tha.t his wife had previously visited a House of Certain Character in Cape Town and that she used also to drink. There was a separation in December, 1901, the husband allowing her £40 as long as she remained abroad and £ 30 while in England, the idea being that if ahe went a.way she would not molest her husband's family. Once she went to Gctajiige-over-San-ris, saying she was penni- less, and begging her husband to allow her to remain with him. He did so, and she admitted misconduct. In September last he received the following letter from his wife from the Hotel Russell Dear Bill,—Enclosed is my bill, and I think you will find in it all the informa- tion you are needing. Please send the money and fix it up. The bill was made out in the name of Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield." At this time, with her allowance from her husband and her income under the marriage settlement, Mrs. W.& fiel-d had about JEVOO a year. A decree nisi waa granted.

OUTWITTED BY A TRICK. With the aid of a Venetian antiquary, who dressed himself as an Englishman and pretendèd to speak no Italian, the police have recovered the famous Madonna of Giovanni Bellini, which was stolen early this month from the church of the Madonna dell' Orto. Charged by the thieves who had com- mitted the robbery to find a purchaser for the picture, the Bintiquary informed the police, and then, disguising himself, went to an appointed spot in a beautifully- decorated gondola rowed by gondoliers in sumptuous costumes. A detective, dressed as a tourist, witnessed the scene from afar with field-glasses. The thieves handed over the picture in a canvas bag in exchange fVr J520 in ca^h and a cheque for £ 1.980. They were followed by the police after the antiquary's departure and arrested.

TOREADOR CORED TO DEATH A bull fight in Madrid yesterday ended in the goring to death of a toreador in full sight of the audience. The last bull to enter the ring proved very fierce, and as a.; matador, named Gaona, was trying to fix the banderillas the animal struck him down. Gaona was stunned, and was in imminent damger of being gored, when a toreador, Lagartijilla. essayed to fix the banderillas in the maddened beast, but lost his equili- brium and fell. The bull rushed at the toreador and struck him with his horns near the jugular vein. A terrible wound was inflicted, and Ijagartijilla died from hemor- rhage in a few minutes. The spectators were aghast at the 'horrible spectacle and many foreign ladies fainted. For years Lagartijilla had foUowed his calling in Mexico, and on the morrow lie was to have met his old mother, who was going to Madrid to live with him.

IF PAPA WERE FRENCH We are told men, at all events Frenchmen like us to spend a great deal on our personai attire (writes Lady Phyllis in "Th< Bystander.") They know so much about it and are tremendous critics, and we, tht dutiful wives, the devoted sisters, the affeo tionate do it all to please then, What a OMnfortaJMe theory! And when spring arrives, and the shops look so tempt ing tif you've a scrap of the woman in you they must be tempting), and Ihe bright sun. shine finds out the weak spots in our half- worn winter attire, and the hats are ?o delightfully bedecked and garlanded with flowers, one cannot help wishing that all one's masculine relations were Frenchmen,, for somehow they often look at these matters quite differently in England.

DRESS COAT OF IMPERIALISM. There are periods and places where a dresa- coat is actual torture and a hideous, inar- tistic enormity. To sit, for instance, and. meditate upon the Sphinx is an iron shirt- front and sw-aAlow-tail:s-as I have actually seen a man do—is to achieve the sublime and the ridiculous at one fell swoop. But the wearing of the dress-coat of civilisation "oecoimes a veritable and a splendid touch- of character when some lonely young fellow, fresh from Eiton or Harrow, puts it on, night after night, in the sweltering Bands of the Soudan, or in a. fever-stricken in West Africa, or in a lonely forest outpost in furthest India.—"likiek and White."

THE BLACK HUNDREDS. M. Proussakoff, secretary to Dr. Dubrovin, president of the Union of Russian Men, liaJ made some startling revelations in the course of t-he trial of the Viborg murderers of M. Hertzenstein, a member of the first Duma, whom the agent3 of the Black Hundreds assassinated in 1906. He stated that the Union had a secret terroristic organisation, and tha.t Dr. Dubrovin had requested him to find a person, preferably consumptive, willing to dealare himself guilty of the murder for the sum of 15,000 roubles. It would be provided that the Union would arrange for his escape from his prison and send him to the Argen- tine.

COUNT KILLED IN MOTOR-CAR Count Gustav von Ballestrem, eon of an ex. Prefrddent of the Reichstag, was killed in a motor-oar aecadent in Upper Silesia on Sun- day. The courub was travelling with the Baroness von Fuersteaiiberg and the latter'a three ohHdœen. The car ha.d been stopgjpd for examination of a brake. WMIe the count wa? leaning over the side to see what was the matter, the oar suddenly started, and dashed into a dtitoh, burling the count head foremost againet a tree. He died in hospital without regaining consciousness.

PRINCESS ROBBED OF 132,000 A German Princess, travelling on the Riviera^L/ugano Railway, has been robbed of a travelling bag containing money and jewellery to the value of £ 32,000. Valuable family and diplomatic documents were alse in the bag. A reward of £1.200 has been offered.

RUSSIAN POLICE SCANDALS. Major-General Gerassimoff, the ohieof of the St. Petersburg State police, has been incri- minated in consequence of the discoteriei during the Lopuchin iiiveztisationS foi beloneinc to a arimin)al organisation.

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