County Observer and Monmouthshire Central Advertiser Abergavenny and Raglan Herald Usk and Pontypool Messenger and Chepstow Argus

THE "PARADISE LOST" MS. j MR. PIERPONT MORGAN SAVED FROM A BAD BARGAIN. According to a Chicago newspaper, Mr. Pier- pont Morgan has offered £ 10,000 for the "original MS. of Milton's Paradise Lost. This statement probably refers to the MS. of which so much has been heard within the past week; and if the reported offer be true it is probable that Mr. Pierpont Morgan will change his opinion when he has read the breezy warn- ing from Dr. F. J. Furnivall, one of the greatest authorities on our Early English literature, which was published in Saturday's "Times." Dr. Furnivall declares that this much-vaunted MS., concerning which he remarks many people "have lost their heads," is a mere scrivener's fair copy of the different scraps of the poem which were taken from Milton's dictation. This is the MS. which is being boomed, he adds, as if it had been all written by the poet's own hand. When Milton composed "Paradise Lost," he was blind and couldn't write, so he dictated it in bits to any relative or friend who was at hand to take it down and then these pieces were fair-copied by some scrivener and sent to the press. There is no proof that the present MS. was the one so sent. It is not likely that Milton i ever touched this fair-copy. He couldn't see it. It contains none of his revisions, for he couldn't write any. The MS. is valueless, save as a curiosity. It ought not to fetch £ 100.

DUKE RECOVERS LOST WAR FUNDS. The Duke of Saxe-Meiningen has claimed the £ 3,400 in French banknotes discovered a short time ago by a butcher named Bidaine, of Arlon, in Belgium, in a saddle which he had purchased from a French soldier during the war of 1870. The Duke read of the discovery, and has now confirmed the conclusion which he then formed, that these were from the store of eighty-five bank- notes which he had sewn up in his saddlebag as funds to draw upon in case of need during the war. The saddle disappeared one day while he was in the field with the army. —■

I CUTTING OFF A MAN'S EAR. The Court at Nivelles has just sentenced a woman to three months' imprisonment and a fine of P,12 for cutting off a man's ear. The wife, who resided with her husband at Joudrain, had a lover, who desired to break the relationship in order to marry a girl in the vil- lage. Exasperated at the idea of being thrown over, the woman took her husband's razor, and in the darkness lay in wait for the man. She attacked him, the razor cutting away his ear.

I BOY KING'S BRIDE. The Infanta Maria de la Paz, wife of Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria, will arrive in Madrid in January, accompanied by her daughter Princess Maria del Pilar. A marriage between King Alfonso and the Princess Maria del Pilar is being planned. The Princess, who is barely 13 years old, is a full cousin of the King, her mother being a sister of the late King Alfonso XII.

Captain Baker and Lieutenant Grant, cf H.M.S. Flora, have been severely reprimanded by the court-martial appointed to inquire into the stranding of that vessel off the coast of British Columbia. A Circular from the Porte to the Ottoman Ambassadors abroad states that the Macedonian Comm'ittees are trying to organise fresh dis- turbances, and that Mahommedans have been ill-treated by Bulgarians during the great fast in the month Ramazan. The Queen has sent C20 to the promoters of the annual dinner to the London Sandwichmen, which is held at the new Lambeth Baths. Five hundred spelter hands who struck at Port Tennant, near Swansea, for the abolition of Sunday labour, have gone back to work on the employers' terms for the payment of over- time at increased rates. A soldier named Peter Guffy dropped dead through excitement at an Aldershot army foot- ball match on Saturday. While a Leicestershire man named Thomas Mills was cycling alongside a traction engine his bicycle slipped, and being thrown beneath the wheels of the machine he was crushed to death.

THE TARIFF OOMMISSION. I NAMES OF MEMBERS. I The following statement was issued on Thursday night- by the Tariff Reform Leagae, with regard to the work, scope, and composition of the proposed Tariff Commission, to which Mr. Chamberlain referred in his speech at, Leeds on Wednesday night: — "It has become evident that, should the elec- torate endorse Mr. Chamberlain's proposals for tariff reform, a lengthy period would intervene between the necessary investigations into the' many intricate problems which presented them- selves and the actual introduction of the tariff. This period would tend to inactivity and even disorganisation in almost every trade, for busi- ness men would naturally hesitate before com- mitting themselves to arrangements which might prove to have been made unwisely. Evidently, therefore, in the event of a Government pledged to tariff reform coming into power, it would be of the utmost service that the preliminary in- vestigations should have been made, and that thus the work of inquiry should have been so far completed as to render the process of arriving at exact conclusions much less lengthy and much less difficult. This work of ascertaining the manner in which the many conflicting interests may best be harmonised will be undertaken by the Tariff Commission. In any event, the results of the investigations of such a Commis- sion cannot fail to be of the utmost value to business men and to the nation. A complete list of the members of the Commission, which will include representatives of India and of our great Colonies, will be published as soon as it is fully constituted. THE COMMISSIONERS. I The following are so far the members: — Mr. Charles Allen. Mr. Allen is a nephew of the late Sir Henry Bessemer, and is associated with the heavy steel trades. Mr. Charles Booth, F.R.S. Mr. Booth is a partner in the firm of Alfred Booth and Company, of Liverpool, and is an authority on the social condition of the English people. Mr. Richard Burbidge. Is managing director of Harrod's Stores. Sir Vincent Caillard. Sir Vincent has been president of. the Otto- man Public Debt Council, and financial repre- sentative of England, Holland, and Belgium in Constantinople. Mr. J. J. Candlish. Is the principal partner in a glass manu- factory at Seaham Harbor. Mr. Henry Chaplin, M.P. The well-known country squire, apostle of High Protection, and ex-Minister of Agricul- ture. Mr. J. Howard Colls. The principal member of the firm of Colls and Sons, builders and contractors. Mr. William Henry Grenfell, M.P. Mr. Grenfell was private secretary to Sir William Harcourt, and is a member of the Thames Conservancy Board. Mr. F Leverton Harris, M.P. Is a member of the firm of Harris and Dixon, shipowners and coal factors. He is parliamentary secretary to Mr. Arnold- Forster. Sir Alexander Henderson, Bart., M.P. Sir Alexander is head of the stockbroking firm of Greenwood and Company, chairman of the Great Central Railway, and a director of the Manchester Ship Canal. Sir Alfred Hickman, M.P. Sir Alfred is an ironmaster and colliery owner, and ex-president of the British Iron Trade Association. Sir Alfred Jones. The head of the shipping firm of Elder, Dempster, and Company, president of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, and presi- dent of the Liverpool Shipowners' Association. Mr. Arthur Keen. Is chairman and managing director of Guest, Keen, and Nettlefolds, Limited. He is also a director of Bolckow, Vaughan, and Company, and chairman of the London City and Midland Bank. Sir William Thomas Lewis, Bart. Chairman of the Sliding Scale Committee and also of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Miners' Provident Fund. He is agent to the Marquess of Bute. Mr. A. W. Maconcchie. A meat preserver and packer in the business of Maconochie Brothers, of Millwall and Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. Mr. W. H. Mitchell. A member of the firm of Fison and Com- pany, of Burley, woollen manufacturers. Mr. Alfred Moseley. A diamond merchant, who has conducted Commissions to inquire into the industrial conditions and educational methods cf the United States. Sir Andrew Noble. Vice-chairman of Armstrong, Whitworth, and Company, Limited. The Hon. Charles Parsons. Is proprietor of the electrical and engineer- ing works of C. A. Parsons and Company, Heaton, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Sir Walter Peace. The Agent-General for Natal. Mr. C. Arthur Pearson. One of the principal proprietors of "Pear- son's Christmas Extra" (printed in Holland) and of the "Daily Express." Sir Charles Tennant. Head of the chemical firm of Tennant and Sons, president of the United Alkali Com- pany, and chairman of the Union Bank of Scotland. Mr. S. J. Waring. Is head of the furniture firm of Waring and Gillow. T "It will be seen that the Commission consists of practical men, and that it has been composed, with regard to locality as well as to the adequate representation of the principal trade interests of the Empire. The Commission will take as the basis of its inquiries the proposals which have been submitted to the country by Mr. Cham- berlain. Members of all trades will be invited to come before the Commission and to give their opinion upon the various points which affect the industries in which they are engaged. They will be asked to attend irrespective of their views upon tariff reform. They will be supplied at least a fortnight in advance with the main ques- tions which it is proposed to put to them, in order that they may be able to prepare exact statements in reply. Members of the Commis- sion will, naturally, have the opportunity of examining witnesses on their replies to the general questions which have been asked, and of raising other points of interest. Information given to the Commission by witnesses will to regarded as confidential when so desired. It is anticipated that an immense amount of most useful information will be gathered by means of inquiry forms. These will be sent out not merely to business men, whose opinions upon questions affecting their trades are considered of value, but also to those engaged in commerce in all parts of the Empire, who, owing to con- siderations of time or distance, cannot give their testimony personally. There will thus be obtained a. very complete expression of opinion from members of every trade on the points which affect those interested in it collectively. "The Commission will utilise in all possible ways existing trade organisations and institu- tions. Their co-operation will be invited, and they will be asked to make recommendations as to those who should come before the Commis- sion. The Commission will elect Sub-com- mittees in cases where it seems necessary to do so, and will, when desirable, invite persons who are not members of the Commission to join these Sub-committees. Thus it will be possible to deal with complicated issues concerning any particular trades by means of representative Sub- committees capable of considering intricate questions from the point of view of the expert. sl The Commission will have at its disposal the entire services of Mr. W. A. S. Hewins, until quite recently director of the London School of Economics and Professor of Economic Science and Statistics at King's College, who has resigned those posts in order to act as it secretary. Mr. Hewins will be assisted by a large and competent staff of experts, statisticians, and indexers, and will further have at his disposal the resources of the Tariff Reform League, under whose auspices the Commission will conduct rt« operations. The preliminary work of organisa- tion will be completed very shortly, and it is intended-that the Commission, which will meet twice weekly, shall begin its sittings about the middle of January. While no information of a confidential character will be published, regular statements will be made to the Press as to the progress of the Commission. All communica- tions should be addressed to the Secretary, Mr. Hewins, Tariff Commission, 7, Victoria-street, London, S.W." The following have signified their acceptance of Mr. Chamberlain's invitation to serve on the Tariff Commission: Mr. J. Henry D- irchenough. Mr. John Arthur Corah, Mr. R. H. Reade. Sir John Turney. Mr. Birchenough is the head of the well-known firm of John Birchenough and Sons, silk manufac- turers. of Macclesfield, Cheshire. He is a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, member of the council of the Statistical Society, and director of the Imperial Continental Gas Association and of the British Exploration of Australasia (Limited). Mr. Birchenough is president of the Macclesfield Chamber of Commence and was the special trade commissioner of the Government to South Africa. Mr. Corah is one of the leading figures in the hosiery trade. He is head of the Leicester firm of Messrs. Cooper, Corah, and Co. Mr. Reade is chairman and managing director of the York-street Flax Spinning Company (Limited), of Belfast and is also on the Board of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Company. Sir John Turney is chairman and managing director of Turney Brothers, leather manu- facturers, Trent-bridge, Nottingham; chairman of Hall's Glue and Bone Works (Limited) and of the Raleigh Cycle Company. He had been three times Mayor of Nottingham. Sir John is a member of the National Liberal Club.

EMPIRE REPRESENTED BY BATTLESHIPS. The new battleship Hindustan—one of the heaviest in the British Navy—was launched at the private shipyard of Messrs. John Brown, Ltd., Glasgow, the ceremony being performed by the Duchess of Connaught. She is the first warship christened by a member of the Royal family in a private yard. At the luncheon following the launch, Lord Sel- borne, First Lord of the Admiralty, pointed out that the new battleship belonged to the King Edward VII. class, the idea of which was to group round the Sovereign the component parts of the Empire. We commenced with those two great colonies that had done so much for us, fighting side by side in South Africa, the Dominion and the Common- wealth. We then passed on to that wonderful colony smaller than the ether two, and which sent no fewer than ten separate contingents of men. He meant New Zealand, and then that gem of the British Empire, that territorial Koh-i-noor, Hindu- stan. The three last ships of the class would be the Africa, and then coming home they would have the Hibernia and the Britannica.

KING'S PRESENT TO A REGIMENT. The King has presented a goat from the famous herd in Windsor Great Park to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. It will be sent to Llandudno in the course of a few days.

FIRST MOTOR-CAR REGISTERED. Earl Russell's Napier is the first car registered under the new Act in the county of London. It will bear the identification mark A 1.

AVENUE OF MISTLETOE. Hampton Court Palace Gardens possesses at the present time a particularly fine supply of p mistletoe, for among the scores of lime trees in the avenue in front of the main building there is hardy one without several large bunches in its branches.

ONCE A ROYAL SERVANT. A man found drowned at Barnes, and buried in a nameless grave as no identification was then forthcoming, has now, through his widow recog- nising the clothes, been identified as Bendall, for many years a servant in the Royal household at Windsor. He had recently been discharged.

INSURGENT LEADER IN LONDON Boris Sarafoff, who, as the intrepid leader of the Macedonian insurgents, has for years past lived in an atmosphere of hairbreadth escapes, is now staying at a Bloomsbury boarding-house. M. Sarafoff, who is 30 years of age, is a man of medium height and build, with clear-cut features characterised by an expression of strong deter- mination.

THIEVES STEAL WOOLWICH CANNONS. Six cannons, of much historic interest and value, have been stolen from Woolwich Rotunda, by, it is believed, thieves who intended to melt them down and sell the metal. One of the guns was a brass fawcon," made in 1661; another was a three-pounder of 1776; a third a swivel one- pounder of George III.'s time; a fourth a two-inch gun. dated 1769 a fifth a bronze one-pounder, 1727; and a sixth a brass two-inch gun from Borneo, without date. "*—*

THE SCHOLARS' SPOIL. The scholarships which have just been awarded to successful competitors in the recent examina- tions at Cambridge Colleges are worth altogether more than £ 7000. Among the largest amounts at individual colleges are £ 1380 awarded by Trinity and £ 780 by St. John's.

BEQUEST TO MR. ANDREW CARNEGIE. M't. Andrew Carnegie has been left £1000 as an exceutor of the American will of Mrs. Elizabeth Schenley (nee Croghan), of 14, Prince's-gate. Mrs. Schenley's English estate is valued at £ 859,583, and the value of her property in Pittsburgh is estimated at £ 2,000,000. The mass of the property is distributed among her seven children.

ATTACK ON A MAIL CART. An attempt was made to rob the Newport mail cart on its way to Cardiff early on Saturday morn- ing. Three men, armed with cudgels, darted at the cart. One caught the reins, and another aimed a blow at the driver, missing him and smashing a lamp. The driver, however, was able to get away in safety.

HEROIC SOLDIER'S SACRIFICE. I Private William Benson, of Manohester, aged 19 and a smart young soldier of the 2nd Royal Lancashire Regiment, has been burned to death at Blackdown Barracks, near Camberley, under shocking circumstances. Just before midnight on Friday a fire broke out in a room in which Benson and four other men were sleeping. They were all got out safely, and Benson assisted in the work of extinguishing the fire. On Satur- day he was missed from parade, and subsequently his remains, burned to a cinder, were found on the scene of the fire. Owing to its terribly charred condition, the body could only be identified by the teeth.

Towne: "It's funny. Borroughs is for ever preaching to his friends about the necessitv of saving their money." Browne-: "Well? Towne: "Yes, he's the last fellow in the world who should preach that." Browne "Not at all. The more his friends save the more he has the chance to borrow." Chippy: "I was not at all up to the mark last night-tried to say something agreeable, but couldn't do it somehow so at last I bade them good-bye." Jones: "Ah, then you did manage to say something agreeable after oil i"

I OBITUARY OF EMINENT PERSONS DURING 1903. King Death has been busy in all ranks of the distinguished during the year, and the most prominent of those who have joined the great majority are here noted seriatim in order of their demise, the date not being mentioned for the sake of economising space :-Senor Segasta, Spanish statesman; Lord Pirbright; Dean Howard, of St. David's; M. Goubet, inventor of the submarine Cardinal Parocchi; Admiral Tennyson d'Encourt; M. de Blowitz, French journalist; Mr. Quintin Hogg, of the Poly- technic movement; Augustus J. C. Hare, the author; Admiral Saumarez; Planquette, the composer; Dr. Sewell, Warden of New College, Oxford; Dr. Ferrers, Master of Gonville and Caius, Cambridge Sir George Stoke, Master of Pembroke. Cambridge Lady Henry Gordon- Lennox "Edna Lyall" (Miss Ada. Ellen Bayly); Sir C. Gavan Duffy: Charles Lauri, the panto- immist Field-Marshal Sir J. Lintorn Simmons the Archduchess Elizabeth; Vice-Admiral Bowver Bishop Lyttelton, of Southampton; Mr. J. H. Shorthouse ("John Inglesant"); Mr. H. C. Leigh-Bennett, M.P. Dr. Walford Green (ex-Wesleyan President) Dr. Bradley (late Dean of Westminster) Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P. Mr. C. Godfrey Leland ("Hans Breitmann") Dean Farrar, of Canterbury; Major-General Hector Macdonald; Yung Lu, Chinese statesman; Prebendary Kitto- Major-General Macintyre; Right Hon. R. W. Hanbury, Minister of Agri- culture; M. Paul de Chaillu, explorer; Signor Ardite, musician; Arthur Shrewsbury, the celebrated cricketer; M. Blouet (" Max O'Rell") Lord Dupplin; Sir John Hutton; Viscountess Midleton Prince Julius of Glucks- burg Sir Allen Sarle Mr. J. L. Hanney, ex- London magistrate; the King and Queen of Servia (assassinated) Cardinal Vaughan Sir J. Pease, M.P. Lieutenant Dan Godfrey, the famous military bandmaster; Lord Colville of Culross; Mr. W. E. Henley, poet and critic; J. McNeill Whistler, artist; Sir P. Edlin, ex-judge Pope Leo XIII. Lord Ravensworth Mr. B. L. Farjeon, novelist; Sir John Rigby; Mr. D. W. Nicol, M.P. Sir William Marriott, ex-Judge-Advocate-General; Admiral Cator; Phil May, black-and-white artist; Lord Heytes- bury; Dean Price, of Bangor; the Most Noble the Marquis of Salisbury; Rear-Admiral Dexiison Count Deym the Bishop of Brechin the Duke of Richmond and Gordon; Professor Falb; Sir Michael Herbert, diplomat; Judge Martineau Admiral Sir A. Buller Sir W. J. Colville Mr. J. C. Horsley, R.A. Right Hon. W. E. H. Lecky; Countess Spen Professor Mommsen; Lord W. Cavendish-Bentinck; Princess Alice of Hesse; Hon. G. C. Brodrick, Sate Warden of Merton; Lord Rowton; Mr. H. S. Scott ("Seton Merriman") Mr. J. Penn, M.P. Prince Soltykoff; Sir J. Blundell Maple, M.P. Right Hon. C. Seale Hayne, M.P. Mr. Jasper More, M.P. Sir J. Robinson, of the "Daily News"; the Earl of Stair; Sir Frederick Bramwell Herbert Spencer, the metaphysician Lord Stanley of Alderlev, Baron Arthur de Rothschild, and Lord Abinger (sud- denly, in Paris).

A swan was the chief dish at a well-known local gathering—"Ye Olde Swanne Banquette, holden at Ye Wherrie Hostelrie, on ye banks of Oulton Broad," says the "Eastern Daily Press." The King has approved the appointment of the Right Hon. Sir Herbert E. Maxwell, Bart., M.P., t.o be Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Wigtown in succession to the late Earl of Stair. The captain of a tramp steamer, bound for the Philippines with twenty-four locomotives on board, was warned of the Chinese pirates of those seas. He fitted the locomotives with fire- engine hose by way of artillery, kept steam in their boilers, and passed safely through the pirate-haunted waters. A widow suggests that a mourning postage stamp should be issued-that is, a stamp that will harmonise with the black-bordered sta- tionery used by those who are in mourning. She evidently thinks that a red stamp do,s not look well, nor is it appropriate, on an envelope with black borders. A Post Office official sug- gests that the next request will be for "a white stamp for brides, bearing, perhaps, cupid rampant!" Miss Martin, of Louisville, some years ago married Robert Crow. After his death she married and divorced John Sparrow. he was similarly unfortunate in her matrimonial rela- tions with William Robbin, and on Saturday she was "joined" to David Buzzard. The Sheffield Royal Hosj>ital received a gift a few days ago of silver coins, totalling £ 5 18s. 6d. It was found, however, that a hole had been drilled through each coin, rendering it net negotiable. As old silver the coins realised £ 2 6s. 4d. The cinchona tree, from which we get quinine, grows only at an elevation of 7,000 to 10,000 feet m the Andes. The Rev. and Hon. Algernon Robert Parker has announced his intention of shortly resigning the Rectory of Malpas, Cheshir which he has held for six years. At Cuyuni, South America, one Burke last week held a lamp near the bung-hole of a rum cask. The cask exploded and Burke was killed. A lady well Jaiown in New Mills, Mrs. Eliza- beth Chapmaji. has just died at the age of 91. She was the widow of a doctor, and lived with her son, who is a doctor. Her family is a long- lived one, her father dying at 87, her mOler at 86, and her father-in-law at 100. One person who will be directly affected by the Duke of Norfolk's approaching marriage is his brother, Lord Edmund Talbot, who is at present heir presumptive to the dukedom. Lord Edmund is an officer of the 11th Hussars (the Cherubims) and a very keen soldier, who served as D.A.A.G. under General French in the late war. After three unsuccessful attempts to enter Parliament, he was returned for Chichester, but later he relinquished the seat in preference to going on half-pay, as the regulations would have demanded. Lord Edmund is quite like his brother, but better looking, and vith a remarkably firm jaw and chin. In a very real sense the chaplains to the King are appointed by himself, and are not the nominees of a Minister of the Crown. Canon Sanday, who fills the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Adams, the only clergyman who held the Victoria Cross, is precisely the type of ecclesiastic his Majesty delights to honour. A remarkable scholar, the Lady Margaret Pro- fessor of Divinity at Oxford finds favour in the King's eyes alike for his notable efforts to pro- mote peace in the Church of England and be- cause of his great attainments. There is a no- tion that the interest which Queen Victoria took in Church matters is not shared by her suc- cessor. But this is a mistake. The King keeps himself as thoroughly well informed respecting Church controversies and the movements of the clergy as his mother did. There is one party which is never likely to be represented among his chaplains. His Majesty abhors extremists, and, whatever their proclivities or abilities, re- gards them as a source of weakness to the Church. The popular tradition that London contains more Irishmen than there are in Dublin, and more Scotsmen than there are in Edinburgh, has recently (says "Men and Women") received its death-blow from the hands of the census enumerators. So far is tradition hopelessly wrong that the percentage of Irishmen and Scotsmen in the metropolis is only about one in every forty of the 'population. As a matter of fact, there are some 20,000 more foreigners resi- dent in London than persons of Irish or Scot- tish birth. Irishmen and Scotsmen would have to be six times more numerous than they really are to make tradition square with hard fact. The great feeder of London is the provinces, about one person in every four having been born out of London. The Colonies have only sent 33,350, or little more than half of Ireland's contingent. Nine hundred and fifty-two per- sons in London are not able to state the exact place of their birth, having been born at sea. The only consolation left to traditionary belief is that London may be safely said to still con- tain more Jews than are living in Jerusalem. Indeed, the East-End alone could produce a greater number of them than Palestine's ancient capital.

LORD MILNER AT THE HELM. PREPARED FOR ROUGH WEATHER. Lord Milner is once more at the helm after his holiday in this country. He arrived at Johan- nesburg on Saturday, and was accorded an en- thusiastic reception. Addresses were presented from most towns in the Transvaal. A special meeting, attended by seven thousand persons, was held in the Wanderers' Hall, which was decorated for the occasion. Lord Milner said that the fact that this was was the first oc- casion when the local bodies, popularly elected, acted together, was a milestone on the road of Constitution, making the task before him less arduous. The times were times of difficulty, and that was why he had returned to lend a helping hand. As he was the captain, he did not intend to resign during a period of rough weather. He was quite prepared to face the buffetings in store for him without losing heart or chang- ing mind. Lord Milner promised to speak at an early date about administrative affairs regard- ing which, he said, misapprehension and dissatis- faction appeared to exist, some reasonable and some unreasonable.

A LITTLE MARTYR. REVELATIONS AT A TORTURE TRIAL. A woman named Anna Freber, who kept a lodging-house at Zwei, Bruecken, has been tried for torturing in a terrible manner the daughter of one of her tenants. The man, Herr Buchols, was kept at his work all day, and he placed his two girls, aged two and four years respectively, in the care of the woman. For the youngest child the woman had great affection. On the other hand, she simply de- tested the elder girl, who died of ill-usage. Herr Bucholz became alarmed over the rumours circulated as to the cause of his child's death, and informed the authorities. An autopsy was ordered, and it was established beyond roubt that the woman had pricked the child's lips and mouth with pins, and made her swallow boiling liquids. The state of the in- ternal organs showed that alcohol had been poured down the little one's throat. The woman has been sentenced to ten years penal servitude. The police had great difficulty to prevent her from being lynched by an infuri- ated crowd, which incessantly shouted "Death to her!"

"There is no such thing as luck," said the sturdy self-reliant person. "I can't contradict you," answered the patient sufferer. "All I can say is that if there is I haven't seen it." A tactful woman is a woman who can live within her income without seeming to.

I THE FAR EAST. I I JAPAN'S ATTITUDE. I Owing to rumours of the assembling of mili- tary transports at Hiroshima there has been a sharp fall in Japanese stocks at Tokio. The Japanese Foreign Minister on Monday visited, the Russian Minister and requested that the Rus- sian Government should reconsider its reply in certain essential points. A St. Petersburg journal declares that there can be no question of Japanese interference in Manchurian affairs, and that it is difficult to see what concession Russia- can make to Japan with regard to Korea. The "Times" New York correspondent quotes an article in the "Tribune" as typical of American opinion, which he says is unfavourable to Rus- sian proceedings with regard to Japan. Wi reference to a reported remark by Lord Roths- child that the United States could further the cause of peace by pressing for the opening of the Manchurian ports, it is observed that the Wash- ington Government has never ceased to do this, but that Russia does not appear to believe in ful- filling engagements except at the cannon's mouth. The "Times" Paris correspondent draws atten- tion to the fact that while the Czar wants peace Russian policy is making for war.

I TIBET. MISSION AT RINCIIENGONG. The British Mission arrived at Rinchengong on December 13. The Tibetan general, finding the mission deaf to entreaties to halt, has re- tired to Phari, and it is believed that if the Tibetans oppose the ,advance at all it will be at that point. The "Novoe Vremya" of St. Peters- burg says that Russia will not forget that she has undoubted rights and interests in Tibet. The "Novosti," however, says that the British Mis- sion is of secondary importance, and purely local.

I SURROUNDING THE MULLAH. A telegram from Massowah to the "Tribuna." states that the rising of the Durtbo tribes is en- tirely unconnected with the Mad Mullah move- ment. In regard to the operations against the Mullah, important movements are now developing. The Sultan Osman has left with an army to take part in the final movement in connection with which he will occupy the water holes near Lhorn. The Sultan of Obbia has also started for his as- signed position, while the Abyssinians are march- ing towards Modug. The Mullah is therefore threatened with attack on all sides.

I HUNT FINED FOR TRESPASS. For following a fox into the Italian gardens at Blenheim Palace on Saturday, the members of the Heythrop Hunt were mulcted in a sovereign each by the M.F.H., the Hon A IJrassey. Cap in hand, he demanded and obtained from every horseman the sum named, threatening to take the pack home if it was not paid.

I BABY HEROINE. SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL SAVES AN INFANT BROTHER. Lizzie Smith, of the tender age of six years, rescued her baby brother, aged fifteen months, from a burning house at Kettering on Saturday night. The children had been left alone in bed when a paraffin lamp burst, and the bed was set on fire. The child struggled from the bed to the door with the baby in her arms, and groped her way down- stairs in the suffocating smoke, reaching the street In safety. The children were uninjured. The little girl was seen by a Press representa- tive on,Monday night. When he called, he tele- graphs, she was showing to several admiring little friends of about her own age a pretty doll with golden hair and dressed in blue, which the fire brigade of Kettering had presented to her. With a chili's sweet simplicity she described how the baby's cries awoke her in the night. The mother being out. she first got up and opened the back door to let the smoke out. It was so dense that she went back for the baby, and carried him safely downstairs. The bed was then in flames underneath. She said she was not afraid, but afterwards, when the tension was over, her mother said she cried. She had to climb on the kitchen sink to reach the key, and had never tried to open the door before. The baby is very heavy, and Mrs. Smith said it was a wonder Lizzie had been able to carry him downstairs at all. It was the first time the chil- dren had been left alone in the house. The mother added, "Lizzie was a brave little girl, and was as black as a sweep with the smoke she had been through."

I MILITARY TRAGEDY. On Sunday evening a gunner belonging to the Sheerness District Establishment Royal Garrison Artillery, named Frederick Lane, shot Corporal George Purvis, R.G.A., in the thigh, and after- wards committed suicide. Purvis was lying on his cot in a room in the barracks when he heard a man say, I am as good a man as you," and at the same moment he received a shot wound in his thigh, fired by Gunner Lane, who was standing near the side of his cot. Purvis sprang up and closed with his antagonist, who, however, thrust him aside and ran out of the room with the rifle in his hand. A gunner named Pilkington barred his way, but Lane struck him over the head with the rifle and then made for the bath- house. He escaped into it, and some men who had turned out fastened the door. Attempts were then made to induce Lane to surrender his rifle, but he refused, and threatened to fire at the first person who should enter the bath-house to take it from him. All other efforts having failed, it was decided to turn the fire hose on the man through the roof, and whilst this was being carried into effect a rifle report was heard, and when the bath-house was entered Lane was found lying on the floor with a bullet wound in his left breast. He died a few minutes afterwards. Lane, who was 29 years of age, was born at Bed- dington, Surrey, and enlisted in the army in October, 1894. Purvis died at the Military Hos- pital, Sheerness, on Monday night, death being due to shock to the system following the wound. The muscles of the thigh were torn by the bullet. Purvis was unmarried. The only motive for the affair that can be suggested is that Purvis had occasion to speak to Lane on Sunday morning about the non-performance of some duty.