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ARSON CHARGE. MITCHEL TROY COTTAGE FIRE, Motor Party's Surprise. UNDER SHERIFFS NARRATIVE. At Monmouth Police Court on Wednesday Nathanial Morgan, of Mitchel Troy, a well- known resident of that village, was charged with feloniously setting fire to his own dwelling house, at Mitchel Troy, on December 14th. Mr Herbert Williams, solicitor, Monmouth, de- fended. Major Griffin was the chairman of a full bench of magistrates. The landlord of the village publichouse said defendant called for a drink on the night of the fire, and then departed for Monmouth. Under Sheriff's Narrative. One of the chief witnesses called for the pro- secution was Mr John Moxon, solicitor, New- port, an, Under-Sheriff for the county of Mon- mouthshire. He said that on Tuesday night. the 14bh December, he attended apolitical meeting at Monmouth. He left Monmouth at 10.40 in a motor car for Newport. Superintenent Parker: About what time were you passing Mitchel Troy ? Mr Moxon It would take us from six to seven minutes to get there from Monmouth. 1 was accompanied by Mr Campbell, aParlia- mentary candidate for the Swansea District, I and my wife. Witness said that when tiiey got to within a short distance of this particular cottage he saw what he thought was the big head light of a motor car meeting them. Sub- sequently, to their surprise, they found it was not a car but a cottage on fire. Rather more than half the roof had gone, and fromabout the centre of the cottage to the south-wdlt end was on fire. With a stick they broke the ground floor left-hand window, and pushed the blind up with a stick, and saw that theroom was in perfect order. He then threw a big t stone through the window on the lefthand upstairs front window, but there was to re- sponse. Mr Moxon said they then went to a cdtage further up the road and asked the oecijpant if there was anyone in the burning house. The answer was, There is a blacksmith and two children in it." They returned to the bailing house and first of all broke in the left land door. This led to a kitchen, but there weP no signs of anyone on the premises on the grdund floor, and he saw nothing there which aroused any suspicion in his mind. They burstln a door facing east and he directed the light up the stairs, and at each tread he noticed one foot-mark only of a tarry substance. At the top of the stairs there was a landing wit) a large number of newspapers and bits of linoleum crumpled up, probably standing tP a height of from two to three feet. He remarked upon this to Mr Campbell, and he made a ter- tain reply. As the result of what he 4id witness looked to the right, which led into the bedroom, and saw tar all over the floor. T1:W entered the bedroom sufficiently far enoughSto see there was no one in the room. Thte were no bedclothes on the bed. Other- wise the furniture in the room appeared to pe undisturbed. They were both standing in h 'tn-inch of tar, with which the floor \^s saturated. The room was full of smoke a*l the rafters were burning within about 6ft]f them. There were several people about whfr t,hey got downstairs again. Mr Moxon adda that they reported what they had seen to policeman on the further side of Raglan. In reply to Mr Herbert Williams, witnep said he could not tell the exact distance thef were from the cottage when they first saw tip light. Defendant was arrested by PoHee-sergeajf Jones and Pohce-sergeant Bamie, and tl1 officers produced articles of furniture, sayiitf they were saturated with tar and had beef found in the burning building. Mr F. W. Gibaud, of Bristol, fire IcnO assessor, said that defendant had policies upof- the property with the Sun Insurance Conr j»any for £ 300, and with the Law Union ani Crown Insurance Company for £ 600, Defendant's sister gave evidence for tfaf tefence, and said that tramps had had acce £ Jo a hay loft adjoining the house and she !»eard a gate bang leading from the hay loft an hour before the discovery of the fipe, 1-- Defendant was committed to the Assizes At bad being allowed.

bhastty Russian Crirat FOR fNSUKANCE MONEY. MURDERER PGSETAS HIS VICTIM, Paris, Wednesday.—1!R» newspapers to-dsf publish at length the story of an extraordT lary Russian crime, brought to light by th* suicide in Paris yesterday of the criminal—# Russian engineer named GKnle* itch—ahrto^ immediately after his arrest. The charge against Guileviteh was one of ,nurder under peculiarly horrible cxrcunr stances. It appears that he took out am insur Mice pohcy on his own life for the sum of 100,000 roubles, nominating as the beneficiary n case of his death a student named POd- iesky, who acted as his secretary in St. Peters' fturg. On October 16th he proceeded to carry into effect a fiendish plan by murdering Podlesky, tod so mutilating the corpse as to render iden- tification impossible. The scalp was removedi And the nose, eyebrows, cheeks and chin cut Rray, after which Guilevitch assumed his fictim's clothes, and took poesession of his papers, intending to represent the body as his dwn, and by means of the stolen- papers to identify himself as Podlesky, thus proving his tlaim to the insurance money. Certain inquiries made later by the police of iioscow revealed the truth, and Guilevitch led from Russia, with detectives hot on his a.il. i, Several days ago he was discovered to be in t Paris and a trap was laid for him, into which *he eventually fell. An appointment was made for him at the branch of the Banque Interna- tionale de St. Petersburg, and on his arriva there yesterday he was immediately arrested. On being searched, he was found to have in his possession a sum of 21,400 francs in bank notes. Guilevitch was removed to the Surete Generale, pending communications with the Russian authorities, and at 10 o'clock last night requested permission to wash. This was granted, and profiting by the momentary inattention of the police officer who was with him, he swallowed a capsule of cyanide of potassium, which caused almost in- Stant death. Fear of the knout and Siberia had made him desperate. It has been ascertained that the Parisian police heard on Monday that the Russian papers were publishing the story of his crime, together with details of the steps being taken to race the murderer. Fearing that these papers might come under the notice of Guilevitch and so put him on his guard, they succeeded in buying up in advance all the copies destined for Paris. Russian papers received here yester- day mentioned the ghastly affair and named Guilevitch as the murderer.—Reuter.

LONDON MOTOR FATALITY. Works Manager Charged With Manslaughter. Harry Leonard Allen, works manager for a motor-car company, of Addison-road, West Kensington,was again brought before the magi- strates tin Wednesday on the charge of man- slaughter of Christopher Reid, an employee of the Hornsey Borough Council. It is alleged that Allen on Sunday night, December 17th, drove a motor-car recklessly in Archway-road, Highgate, and knocked Bei4 down, killing him instantly. The car, which it) a Rolls-Royce, belonging to Muriel Countess de la Warr, also knocked down and smashed & tree. At the inquest held on Reid a verdict Of Accidental death was returned. Richard Adam Robinson, an electric tram- driver, said that on Sunday, the 19th, he VVIis driving his car along the North-road. He heaM a shout coinitig from the direction of the rear of the car, and be stopned. As he did so the motor-car dashed past him on the near sidJ Someone asked him to Tally Ho but the i naqtor passed too quickly. It was travelling quite 25 miles an hour. The accident occurred Immediately after the car went out of his sight. Allen, in the witness-box, said this particular car had been sent in for repair, and it was his duty r.o takp, the car out to test it. When he passed the tram-car he saw Reid a short dis- tance in front of the car, and witness shouttd and blew his horn. He applied the foot, and then the hand brake, and the back of the car in skidding round struck Reid. Allen said be was going 18 miles an hour. His attention "WaS attracted for a moment to the tramcar, as he -was afraid someone might come from the back of it. Witness denied that his car )W travelling at over 20 miles an hour, despite the 1.ct that his car skidded 20 yards, knocked Ciown a tree, broke a wheel, and sustained other ,AL-uiaage. The accused was committed for trial.

•PRESIDENT'S ASSAILANT. Paris, Wednesday.—The waiter Mathias, who assaulted President Fallieres last year while the latter was out walking, and who was sentenced to four years' imprisonment anct ordered to be kept away from France for fjve years following, was yesterday, at the Presi- dent's instance, pardoned and released-— Central News. I J\

A GREAT JOURNEY. From the Niger to the Nile PERILS BY SWAMP AND SUDD. Boiled Leather as Food. A TERRIBLE CHIEF. I Reuter's representative met Dr. Karl Kumm, who landed Dover on Wednesday evening on the conclxision of one of the most interest- ing and important journeys undertaken of late years, and one which will occupy a high place in the annals of African exploration. Dr. Kuhuq is the head of the Sudan United Mission, an organisation whose staff consists largely of University graduates with represen- tatives froia South Africa and America, and which has already established a line of posts through the less-known parts of Nigeria bor- dering on Central Sudan, and has penetrated as far into the interior of Africa as that region where British, French, and German posses- sions meet on the edge of Sahara. Accompanied by a number of missionaries who were to be left at various stations en route, Dr. ljumm started on his great journey, the main object of which was a tour of inspec- tion of the field operations, in the autumn of 1908. When on the completion of his purety mis- sionary work he found himself 900 miles in the heart of Africa, he determined to push on through little-known and entirely unexplored regions with the ultimate object of reaching the Nile. The object of this subsequent expe- dition was to investigate the advance of Islam among the pagan tribes of Central Africa, and to do this successfully he followed the border line between Mahommedanism and paganism. His experiences during the latter part of his expedition were a constant struggle with climatic difficulties and circumstances of the most adverse nature, the whole recalling in many particulars the days of Stanley and the earlier pioneers. For a prolonged period the absence of news caused apprehension, which was dispelled by the receipt in October of a brief telegram through Heater's Agency announcing Dr. Kumm's safe arrival at Wau, in the Bahr-el- Ghazel. For three months previous to that date the experiences of the explorer who in addition to his own caravan bad to care for a number of Mecca pilgrims who were with him were appalling. Ploughing through swamps three feet deep the sufieringsof his transport animals were so at that the beasts either died or had to be abandoned. Starvation too stared the travellers in the face and Dr. Kumm having distributed his personal food among his starv- ing peopie the expedition was ultimately re- duced to living on leaves and even boiled leather. With the arrival at Wau the difficulties were by ho Qieans over, for Afterwards there fol- lowed a prolonged advance through stretches of swamp, where blocked by sudd and tor- mented by mosquitoes the c-xplorer's experiences were far from pleasant. But with pluck and persistent optimism the explorer eventually met with success, and early this month Reuter's telegram announced his safe arrival at Khartum. Results Summed Up. Dr. Knmm summed up the results of his journey as follow :— 1.—The opening up of a new high road across the Sudan. 2.—Obtaining valuable information about' the frontier line between Islam and paganism. 3.—St«ps taken to intercept and cut off the last greathigh road for the slave traffic. An incident of great interest was Dr. Kumm's meeting with Senussi. The geo- grapbicq results of this remarkable journey will be laid before the Royal Geographical Society-at an early date. Dr. Kumm brings with him a fine collection of butterflies (many of them new), a mineral collection, plants, and ethnological speci- mens, a new giraffe, a new buffalo, and specious of gold, silver, tin, and copper, of tbe two farmer of which he found considerable depoeifci He made prismatic compass ol>- servafcws right across Africa, and also observa- tions, altitudes and meteorological observa- tions. From Senussi Country to the Bahr-el-Ghazel Dr. Kumm followed a new and absolutely unknown route. In October last he sent home through Reuter's Agency the first detailed account that had reached this country of the fall of tyadai, the last stronghold of Moslem fanaticism in the Central Sudan. In con- versation with Reuter's representative, Dr. Kranm said, It is an interesting thing that in threfe cases the apprehensions expressed by representatives of three Governments with regard to nae were not realised. The Germans told mfe that I should probably be killed at Maruajn German Adamawa. The French on thse SlW warned me that I should not be able to through the Senussi country, and the Britis at Wau pointed out the very great difficuW I should experience on reaching the White Nile owing to swamps. Yet in each case I tot through safely. M%ua, the largest centre in Adamawa, is a notoriously hostile centre, and no German official has been able to live in the city. Only a littles while before my arrival a German captai^ had been shot. When I reached the place the chief and his leading men rode out to me^t me and treated me with the greatest hospitijity. "Mt meeting with Senussi, too, was very different from what I had been led to believe likely. Senussi is to-day doubtless the most powerjol independent Central African chief, and is gaid to be inimical to Europeans. The Prenel Government officials in the Sahara believid that an attempt to press through his counter would at least arouse suspicion and certahfty meet with failure. With the excep- tion Of one French lieutenant I was the only Europ to cross his country. A while ago a Frenc Government expedition had been cut up } by ÍIJl, and two French traders had been killed t few months previously. Meeting a Terrible Chief. I vas received with every show of perfect friendiness. We were in severe straits, for I had Hst all my oxen and also my best horses. Senust afforded me every assistance, provided me with an escort and carriers, and supplied me with food. He is a dangerous man, and possesses a very large number of modern rifles, probably several thousands. 1 had many interesting conversations with him, and found him to be intelligent and well informed. His palace is strongly fortified and is situated at thehead of a great and beauftful gorge in capital town of Naeli. Some of his people are troglodytes living in the surrounding caves. On account of his former misdeeds he is in con- stant terror of the French, more especiaUy since the fall of Wadai, and I attribute his frieu(Aines& to me to his desire to secure a place of refuge in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in case he is ferced by the French to leave bis country. S4nussi has devastated the whole country round about 200 miles. and one continually comes across ruined villages, the results of slave faiding. I remained for eight days with fJenui. Fighttog the Flood. TAe worst experience of my journey was on. 0 River, the main northern tributary of tbe Mobanghi Congo. When I arrived on the >ank of this river towards the end of the rainy Reason the stream was in full flood. The food IfIlPplt for 200 people who were with me had opme to an end, and for five terrible days and lights we were endeavouring to cross. We ttied every means and at last succeeded in gettidg everything over to island in mid- stream by means of a bridge that we built of cifeepers. Imagine my feelings when on getting to this island after a terriWe period of wort a sadden tornado, causing a. great rise of the ri^er, carried away our bridge and left us stranded. The river was 15ft. to 20ft. deep with a tremendous current running between rocks. After a further period of anxious effort we Qoally managed to get another creeper brida between the island and the opposite bank and hauled the women and children to a place of safety. At Maudjofa on Shari, in French territory, the cbief, accompanied by thousands of woviltu came out to meet me. This valley is from a zoological point of view probably the least explored part of Africa. There are very large herds of elephants and lions. Rhinos, hippos, and antelopes abound. Here I got new kinds of giraffe and buffalo. Position Desperate. After crossing the Kotto River, to which I hav(! already alluded, our position became desperate. For 36 hours it rafined incessantly, and the grass-12 to 18 feet Wgb,-bmame al- 1.b,Ó8t impenetrable. We followed old elephant tracks as far as we could, but these mostly ran north to south, while our direction lay east- vvord. Game there was none, and it was heart- feMing to see the womOen and children, whose grey, wrinkled skin covered nothing but bones. 'l')Ð sunken eyes of the mothers with their \}#>ies in their arms became a nightmare. All tnf rice, breakfast foods, floui, etc., was dis- tributed, but it was all too little. Antelope elps, which had been used as sleeping ts, now boiled and eaten. Leaves and roots, containing practically no nourish)nept, were the only food supplies, and yet when we inched into Keffi. Genji, the first Government 1) in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, I had only ae 'laity buried one man, though the greater port of my people had to be left there, being ble to proceed further. I had lost all my frollaport, all my oxen, and eight Horses by tJJat time." The explorer says he is in perfect health. press Assofciation Special Telegram. ('

WELSH COUNTRY HOMES. I Xi.-St. Fagan's. ITS HISTORY & ASSOCIA TIONS. Charles I &the Men of Glamorgan St. Fagan's Castle, the pretty Welsh seat of the Earl of Plymouth, is but four miles from tbe heart of Cardiff, and yet it forms the centre of a little village which, for primitive setting, picturesqueness, and rural charm has few equals among the hamlets of Morganwg. It is true that the iron horse has cut its way along the river bank, and that the roar of the flying Cunard Ocean exress may be heard there, but in the centre of the village, where the Castle and the grey old Church salute each other across the roadway, the near proximity of the THE EXTERIGR FROM THE N.W.. SHOWING FISHPONDS AND GARDEN. ("^S.W.D.N." Photo. railwav does not count. This Droduct of civilisation is so securely tucked away in the valley bottom that, while it confers its privi- leges, it does not obtrude. Nature has lent her kindly aid to make the village beautiful, and the Earl of Plymouth, himself a keen devotee to the picturesque, has taken good heed that the march of civili- sation should not he allowed to mar its native loveliness. The Uitlander has never obtained a foothold in St. Fagan's, for practically every one who lives there is in one way or another connected with the estate. The gentle influence of the Earl and Countess has told its tale, and St. Fagan's may be accounted a model village. The home of Lord Plymouth occupies the eastern ridge of a little valley running to the Ely river from the N.N.W., and from the castle the beautiful gardens descend in terraces, with a south-westerly aspect, to the fish ponds at the foot of the glen. Though the grounds and castle are deftly hidden by lofty trees almost on every side, yet they are in the midst of the village, and form essentially a The Main Entrance as seen from the Drive through the Arch in the ancient outer wall. (" S.W.D.N." Photo.) part of it. The same remark may be applied to the family at the castle, between whom and the inhabitants of t he village the kindliest relations always exist. A Story of Eight Centuries. St. Fagan's castle presents the interesting picture of a Tudor Manor House standing in- side the outer wall of an old Norman fortress. These present buildings show tangible evidence of the site being occupied for eight centuries, and carry. one back to within a few decades of the first coming to Glamorgan of Robert Fitzhamon and his knights. There are re- ferences in the Iola manuscripts to St. Fatran's when Meyrig, the son of Howe], was its lord. Whether, there was a castle there in these days or merely a manor house is problematical, a The Gardens showing Terrace Statuary and Look-out Tower. (•' S.W.D.N." Photo,) but it appears pretty certain that in the first half of the 12th century a Norman castle was erected there, and that its builder was Sir Peter le Soore because, to quote the quaint phrase of Rice Merrick, when Fitzhamon divided the land of Glamorgan among his knights, the manor of St. Fagan's and Peterston was unto him appointed." The outer or ward wall of this le Soore residence remains, and you pass under it as you approach the present house from the main en- trance. The le Soore's were typical medieval warriors, and they seemed to have lived some- times at St. Fagan's and sometimes at Peter- ton. It was at is latter castle, however, that Sir Matthew le Soore in 1402, was be- seiged by Glendower. The encounter had a tragic ending, for Glendower took the castle and cbopt off his head." This Sir Matthew was a contemporary of Ivor Bach, and Dafydd ap Gwilym. The story of the ownership of St. Fagan's from the 12th to the 16th centuries is related by Rice Merrick in picturesque style as follows The heires males of the Sores enjoyed their lordships until H 4 his time and then died without issue, whose inheritance fell between diverse. St. Fagan's became the Veales and soe continue until the issue male fayled that Alice Vele married David Math- ewe by whom shee had foure daughters be- tween whom the lordships of St. Fagan's, Llis- womey descended, whose posterity sould the same and at this day John Gebon doctor of the Lawes owneth the same." This was written I in 1578. The Veales appear to have held it in the first place utider the Ie Soore family be- cause one Ligon de Vele was lord of St. Fagan's as far back as 1320. They retained it until 1475,,in which year Alice Vele, the sole heiress, married David Matthew, of Radyr, The Builder of the Tucior House. It must have been about the middle of the 16th century that the estate passed from the hands of the Matthew family, for Leiand, who About 1513. refers to the fact that Matthew Gibon lived at Kentrebane in the Paroch of S. Fagan." Merrick, as will be seen by reference to the paragraph previously quoted, states in 1578 that John Gebon owned St. Fagan's. This John Gebon was an 1,T- and a Justice of the Peace. He it was who bought the place from the Matthew family ana who in early Elizabethan days built the picturesque old manor house, the gable ends of which still form such a notable feature of the residence as viewed from the Great Wes- tern railway line Prior to the era of the Gebon or Gibbon possession the old castle seems to have fallen into a half ruinous state for Leland remarks that The Castelle of S. Fagan standeth on a little hille and a part of it yet standith." Three generations of the Gibbon family lived at St. Fagan's, the last being one Morgan Gibbon. The male issue of the family then expired and a daughter married Sir Win. Herbert of White Friars (or Grey Friars), Cardiff. St. Fagans being a part of her dowry, thus passed into the hands of the Herbert family. This Sir William Herbert was the Constable of Cardiff Castle, and it is interesting to note that he was probably the son of the builder of the old manor house, the ruins of which still stand behind the houses on the northern side of 'Queen-street, Cardiff, and which may be seen from the North-road by the bridge over the feeder. St Fagan's did not, however, remain long in the hands of the Herbert family for they sold it in the year 1616 to Sir Edward Lewis of Van. Of this famous family we shall hear more in subse- quent articles. Stirring Times-Visit of Charles I. St. Fagan's remained in the hands of the male li.ie of the Lewis of Van family for over a century and during tbe first part of their occupancy it was the scene of at least two very notable events in the history of Mor- ganwg. Sir Edward Lewis appears to have been a man of substance and refinement, for he greatly improved the mansion, and traces of his work still survive in the finely carved oak chimney pieces in the entrance hall and other rooms and in the large lead tank which stands in the front of the house. Both of these, reference to which will be made later, bear his arms. During the era of the great conflict between King and Parliament which ended in the grim scaffold scene outside the banquet- ting house at Whitehall, the old manor house at St. Fagan's witnessed strange sights. On a summer afternoon of July 1645 it saw the weak and irresolute King of England holding a parley with the men of Glamorgan, who had grown discontented by the intolerable rapacity of Sir Charles Gerard, who was at that time the Major General of the King's Forces in South Wales. The King was then staying, a& mentioned in a previous article, with Sir Philip Morgan at Ruperra. The men of Glamorgan were invited to meet their monarch at Newport, bttt they refused tc. go, and so King Charles, alfter dining at Cardiff, proceeded to St. Fagan's, whither he was accompanied by the Duke of Richmond and a regiment of horse. In the village the men of Glamorgan, numbering four or five thousand, headed by the leading gentlemen of the district, were drawn up in battle array, winged with horse and having a reserve." They made no bones about making their monarch clearly understand that the price of their remaining loyal was the removal of the governor and. garrison, of Cardiff Castle and the cancellation of another E7,000 which Sir Charles Gerard had demanded of them. King Charles, in characteristic man- ner, made many promises, but his word held little weight, and this was plainly told him. At length, King Charles, who at that time could not afford to offend his supporters, agreed to remove the obnoxious governor and garrison, and Sir Richard Bassett of Beaupre and a Welsh garrison were substituted. The Battle and the Blood-Red Ely. Three years later, however, the peaceful little valley of the Ely, from Ely village to St.. Bride's was the scene of a terrible battle, in which-so say the chroniclers—the carnage was so fearful that the Ely ran red with blood. This was the most eventful day in the history of St. Fagan's and though the castle itself do" not appear to have figured largely in the fierce combat, one can hardly refrain from at anyrate a passing reference to it. There were many bloody battles fought during the cam- paign between the Royalists and. the Parlia- mentarians, but few were more sanguinary than this St. Fagan's fight. By this time King Charles was a prisoner but the Welsh Royal- ists, 8,000 strong, under General Laugharne and Sir Henry Stradling, determined to make another effort to stem the tide of Parliamentary successes, marched on Cardiff. Colonel Horton, who commanded the Parliamentary forces in Wales, was in Breconshire, but hurried south by forced marches with 3,000 well trained veter- ans. On May 4th, 1648, he crossed the Tall, at Llandaff Bridge, and marching to Si. Fagan,s, speedily recognised its strategic advantages and took up a position there. The Royalists were by this time marching up the road near St. Nicholas, but on hearing of Horton's presence, General Laugharne with- drew his force down the vale towards Fonmon. Cromwell, in the meantime, was coming on from Gloucester at all the speed he might, and General Laugharne, hearing this and seeing that he had everything to lose by waiting, re- turned to St. Nicholas on Sunday, May 7th, and early on Monday set forth down the side of the hill towards St. Fagan's. Horton awaited his coming in line of battle with his cavalry in the big field behind the rectory, still known as the Cae Meirch. The impetuous Royalists began the, attack and Horton was gradually forced back by sheer force of numbers. Horton retreated slowly on the hill to the north-west of the village, and succeeded in holding this until the Royalist attack had expended much of its strength. Then the Roundheads, by dint of a wild charge, threw the Welsh into disorder and subsequent headlong flight. The battle lasted scarce two hours but awful havoc was wrought and over 2,000 Welsh Royalists were captured, including Major-Gen. Stradling of St. Donat's. It is said that as a result of the battle there were 70 widows in St. Fagan's village. In the Eighteenth Century. It was early in the 18th century by the marriage of Elizabeth, the only daughter of Thomas Lewis of Van, with Other, the thinl Earl of Plymouth, that St. Fagan's Castle passed into the hands of the Plymouth family. The latter resided there very seldom, and all a. result the castle was allowed to fall into dis- repair and it is related that part of it was for some time used as the village acbooL The sixth Earl of Plymouth died without male issue, and his daughter Harriet married the Hon. Robert Clive. the second son of the Earl of Powys, and soon after his death Lady Harriet had the abeyance of the barony terminated in her favour and became Baroness Windsor. This was in 1855. Their eldest son, Robert Clive, married Lady Mary Selina, Bridgeman and the Baroness gave them St. Fagan's Castle as a residence. Mr Robert Clive was a man of culture and during his lifetime the former beauties of the place were restored. The house was finely furnished with old oak and china. They also did much to the gardens, completing the terraces and fish- ponds which to-day form such notable and pic- turesque features of this fine old residence. Their son, the present noble owner, has well main- tained the trooitions of his parents, for both the Earl and the Countess of Plymouth have taken the most cultured interest in St. Bagan's and, while prf serv ing all the old character- istics of the, uansion and gardens, have carried out lany notable improvements and extensions, concerning which mention will be made in our next article. Next Week-ST. FAG-A" fi.

RUSHED BY NATIVES. Pw-is, Wednesday.—The military comman- der of the Lake Chad district reports that on November 25th three hundred warriors from Becku attacked the camp of a Kanem camel corps, situated fifteen miles north-east of Mao. I The French force lost 20 riflemen wounded or niissing, and one lieutenant wounded. The e-amp was burned and all the animals were killed or wounded. This. it is explained, is one of the incidents inevitable in the action taken by France on the confines of the desert to pro- tect peaceful and settled inhabitants against I nomad brigands. Immediate stens were taken to reinforce the posts in the Kanem district.— Reuter.

LORD KITCHENER'S TOUR. Townsville, Queensland, Thursday.—Lord Kitchener arrived here to-day and was wel- comed by the Mayor and a number of repre- sentative citizens, The Field Marshal received an ovation from the large crowds which had gathered to meet him.—Reuter.

-—— A DREYFUS DENIAL. I Paris, w 'dnesday.-Major Alfred Drayfus has issued a denial to the statement that he I had an altercation ending in blows yesterday with a member of the Camelot Du Roy organi- sation on the Boulevard Sebastopol.-Feuter. J

AN ARTIST'S REVENGE. Rome, Wednesday.—The painter Signor Nicola C letti, failing a little time ago to secure re-election as President of the Municipal Coun- cil of Benevento because nine councillors voted againpj him. hit upon a novel method of obt a ining revenge. He painted a large picture representing the opposing councillors m atti- tudes which plainly suggested that they were engaged in robberies and frauds at the public expense. The councillors promptly took action for defamation of character, but the painter proved that the insinuations conveyed by his picture were perfectly well founded, and the nine councillors have all been con- demned.—Central News.

TARIFF OCTOPUS. American Labour War. Tin platers' Heroic Struggle. FIGHT AGAINST MAMMOTH TRUST. Appeal to U.S.A. President. The great strike of the American sheet and tinplate workers of the United States, many of whom are Welshmen, in defence of the right of combination, and against the demand of the Trust to employ none but non-Union men, is at the close of its sixth month, and notwith- standing all the efforts of the Trust the tin- plats workers, who have been to some extent replaced by Syrians, negroes, &c., are firm in their refusal to give up their admitted only means to ensure fair conditions of labour. It has been stated in these columns that a conference under the auspices of the Federa- tion of Labour of the United States and Canada was recently held with a view to organi- sing Labour against the power of the Trust. Further information shows that this conference was presided over by President bamuel Gompers, who himself,under an injunction, is to serve a term of imprisonment, and is only out on bail pending an appeal. At the conference the machinists, street railway employees, carpenters, sheet and tinplate workers, were represented, and the object of the meeting was to consider the situation at the sheet and tin- plate mills of the Trust. The resolutions adopted declare A crisis in the aftairs of Labour has arisen. The United States Steel Corporation has declared war on labour. In its secret councils this corporation has decreed that the only obstacle to its complete sway—organised Labour—shall be crushed. This soul- less cot-poration represents nothing but dollars, knowing neither body nor soul. Its god is the almighty dollar. In view of the great wrongs perpetrated by the United States Steel Corporation, not only against the workers but the whole public generally, we recommend that a committee be appointed by this conference to wait upon the President of the United States, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and such members of either House of Congress as may be deemed advisable for the purpose of laying before them the grievances from which Labour suffers at the hands of this corporation, and that the committee demand a thorough investigation as to the legality of the actions and the existence under the law of the United States Steel Corporation. How Workmen Were Deluded. In order to make the United States Steel Corporation—the Tru-,t-what it is, namely, a mighty machine for its own profit, to trample upon the rights of workmen, to infringe upon their liability as citizens, with the power of re- ducing wages at its will by simply putting up a notice, American workmen had been de- luded to vote for tariff protection for every one of its subsidiary companies on the strength of promises that. given tariff Protection to the steel rail, sheet, tinplate, and other industries there would be found ample employment, high wages, and excellent conditions. Let the British worker, now witnessing costly efforts by interested dukes, landlords, and brewers to delude them in the same way, re- member the fate of the scores of thousands of employees of the American Trust, and not forget that the imposition of protective tariffs would give birth to similar Trusts in Britain. Mr Arthur Chamberlain at Bolton in Septem- ber, 1903, said Give us Protection and we manufacturers will show you something in the way of Trusts, rings, and syndicates that you little dream of. The Free Trade policy has alone protected the people of England from the proceedings of Trusts and rings. Relieve us of foreign competition, and you will have an experience Su will not enjoy. Protecfron would change e whole course of business. I can make more money in an evening in the House of Commons by arranging for the taxation of my opponents' necessities and for the main- tenance of a free market for myself than I can make by honest industry in a month.

£1,400,000 House. I' PALATIAL RESIDENCE OF AN EX-SENATOR. The magnificent Fifth-avenue Palace of ex- Senator W. A. Clark, the finest private resid- ence in the United States, is (says the New York correspondent of the Standard) now ready for occupancy, after having taken seven years to construct, at an aggregate cost of £ ly«XX £ 00. Mr Clark, who owns some of the richest mines in the West and possesses an income of £ 2,500,000, will move into the house with his fainfly after he has given up his present Paris residence. The house overlooking Central Park is seven stories high, and contains 121 rooms, including 30 bathrooms, a Turkish bath, swimming pool, picture gallery, theatre, statuary hall, ball room, conservatory, and roof garden. There are paintings to the value of &AODAW in the picture gallery, and rugs of the value of EM,000 are scattered about the house. An unusual feature of the residence is an enormous quantity of bronzes used for decora- tive purposes inside and outside the structure. The aggregate weight of the bronzes exceeds 400 tons, and all were modelled after original designs at a cost of £ 100,000. On various parts of the exterior are 120 car- touches of bronze, weighing more than 200 tons. Magnificent tapestries and beautiful marbles abound on all the floors. Uke a Royal Palace. The furniture is of Louis XIV., XV. XVI, and Empire styles. Experts searched France from end to end to obtain original pieces. The Empire ceiling of an old chateau was brought from France for one of the rooms of the house. In the basement is the swimming pool, into which flows a perpetual stream of filtered water. The Turkish bath, sufficiently large to accommodate seven bathers, and built with Oriental extravagance, is also in the basement. Near it is a refrigerating plant, which besides having a capacity of six tons of ice is able to cool the entire house in summer. The public will be admitted once a week to the house, as if it were a royal palace, for the purpose of viewing Mr Clark's fine art collec- tions. The mistress of the house, adds the corres- pondent, was married to Mr Clark in 1905. She was Miss Ada La Chappelle, daughter of a Canadian doctor who was an intimate young manhood friend of Mr Clark. When the doctor died he was not wealthy, and he left his young daughter in Mr Clark's care, as her guardian. Miss La CbapeUe grew up with Mr Clark's household, and she showed an early liking for music. Mr Clark sent her to Paris to have her voice trained, at which time he was a widower. Since their marriage Mr and Mrs Clark have made their home in Paris, where a son and a daughter have been born, but now their Fifth- avenue mansion is completed they will make New York their permanent residence.

SECRETARY FOR AGRICULTURE. The post to which Sir Edward Strachey has been appointed is technically a new one, and brings the Board of Agriculture into line with the other great departments of State. Sir Edward, has of course, represented the Board in the House of Commons for some consider- able time, its President, Lord Carrington, being I Sir Edward Strachey. a member of the other House. So far as Sir Edward is concerned, the announcement means that official standing has been givenhim in the Commons. Sir Edward is a typical county member, and since his election in 1892 he has applied himself with vigour, to the ad- vancement of all practicable schemes for the improvement of agriculture, and the encourage- ment of thrift among the agricultural classes.

John Cornwall and John Howells were finei 15" each at Aberdare for stealing coal, valued 6d, the property of the Bwlch Colliery, Hiv wain.