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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1916-7-13, Page 6HIS REDEMPTION " Yes, I'm your grandfather, lass. A poor specimen, maybe, but seeing that neither you nor me have any other relations in the wide world, I thought I'd tramp along to North- ampton and find you. Don't be afraid. I've not come to beg for money, al- though I'm little better than a tramp. I can earn my own living yet in one of the boot factories. Molly Breed stared at the ragged, unkempt old man who had thus pro- jected himself into her life. She had understood that her mother's father relied with the lad, because a new underemanager at the factory had been paying her attentions: " IIe's coming round to -night to see n e " said the girl. " Make him wel- come, granddad, just for my sake, won't you ?" " Of course I will," he agreed, but with a doubtful note in his quavering voice. "Your love-malcir(g is none of my business, lass, and if this new lad pleases you better :why, you must have him, I suppose." "He's not the sort of person you' call a lad,'" corrected the girl laughing. "He's a gentleman, yo know. He tells me he had a commis sion in the South African War, and i very learned." " They're wanting old Army me just now," mused old David. Mol. did not reply. told him but little of her love affairs, yet he saw at 'once that the brand- .'ONDON'S NEW}�I.E T OPHIES new engagement -ring which Tamlin tw had given tc her had ' disappear ed j y "7, I ;42 from her finger. Then, to his treN 5;/Sf mendous delight, he saw that the dig- carded ring of Bert Eddy had replaced ` P, it. Then he heard that Molly and Bert 3�� were to be married almost at once, ro°Y it and at last she came to the bedside with a plain gold band upon her finger. " You've not given me up just be- cause I was a convict ?" he said to her one day, and she shook her head , slowly. u " You saved me, granddad --you - saved me," was her only answer. s Somehow it seemed to David that the girl was keeping something from n him. Of course, he knew by her own Moll • words to hbn months, before that after her marriage with Bert he would need to find other quarters. And "other B quarters " meant the workhouse, for eihe was now beyond any sort of em - a' ployment. But when at last he left the hospital _ he was astonished to find both Bert of Eddy and Molly waiting for him with, u a smart little governess car. It's good of you, but I could have h walked there myself," muttered the e' old man, smiling grimly as he thought of the drear life at the workhouse which he had known more than once n before. "This isn't the sort of jour - n ney that people want to hurry along ; but, anyhow, well drive there." d But the car was driving beyond the workhouse, and presently stopped outside a neat little cottage overgrown a with creeper, and decked already with pert fragrant flowers which seemed to _ nod a welcome to the little party as they walked sowly throrlgh the gate- way. " Where's this ? Where have you brought me ?" guavered David, look- ing rather helplessly into Molly's smiling face. Molly put her arm protestingly a- bout him, steadying him as he shambled along the path. "" It's our home, granddad," she ex- plained proudly. Then, in a whisper : "It's our home—and yours !"—Lon- don Answers. was still alive somewhere, but she Punctual to his time, the "gentle had never supposed that he would find man " called that night. And at hi her out. Now that he htd appeared 'first sight of him the old man's fac he was scarcely a reputable -looking whitened and his hands quivered in object. But Molly was not critical ; kind of helpless passion. " Why, granddad, what's the mat ter ?" cried Molly, with something anger in her voice, " Why don't yo shake hands with Mr. Tamlin ?" " I've no call to shake handswit and somehow it makes me feel a him," was David's surly response. 1.1 choking in the throat to think that was scarcely able to control his voice you're my mother's father. Anyhow,1 which had risen to a childish treble come along in and make yourself at "But maybe," he went on, " I ca home !" have a word or two with Mr. Tamil Th: tramp shuffled into the room, before he goes. gladly put down his hat, and greedily But Molly flushed angrily an ate the meal which the girl's landlady : turned away. brought for him. " Take no notice of him, Philip,' For a time they talked, awkwardly she said almost scornfully. " He's at first, and then with growir(g can- bit queer sometimes.' dor, of the father and mother of whom " I'm a bit queer, am I ?" mutter the orphaned girl knew so little. _At ed the old man, when he found him last the tramp shambled to his feet self alone. " Well, I'm not the onl and seized his battered hat again. queer fellow in this house to -night "W Well, I'm going," he said. "You And I'm going to settle with Tamli won't want me about respectable before he makes a fool of the kindest lodgings like these. I'm on'y a tramp, hearted lass in Northampton." y'know." An hour later Tamlin and the of "" You're not a tramp any longer," man found themselves alone, for Tam Molly cried, a sudden determination, lin had himself asked Molly to give waking in her mind. You're my him a few minutes in private with her granddad, and you're gel*to live granddad. The two men faced each here with me. Or, perhaps, if things other defiantly. " Philip Tamlin," quavered old David, "the last time I saw you was when I left Dartmoor. You were num- Old Daid's eyes sparkled. He ber two hundred and eighty then." dropped his hat, returned to the chair, i " And you were number sixty-five; and made a feeble attempt at combing snapped Tamlin. "" I suppose Molly his straggling, silvered hair. And doesn't know what a beauty her old two sparkling points of Eight, that i granddad is ?" might have been tears, were in the "" Ive lived honest and respectable ever since my one big mistake," the old man answered. "And since I finished my time and came to North - she gripped her kinsman's hand worm- ly. "You're the biggest surprise I ever had !" she admitted. "I thought everybody belonging to me was dead, y • n a go well, and you're able to get work, we'll set up housekeeping together, just like kinsfolk should" DOUGLAS FIR ' Attains Its Largest Size in Southern British Columbia. old man's eyes. " Molly, lass," he said huskily, "I've tramped all the way from Lon- don hoping that when I found this ampton to find my granddaughter I've granddaughter of mine she wouldn't lived respectable and honest. But you be too proud to own me. But I didn't —why, even the very convicts at Dart - want to push myself on to you, and moor knew you for the most violent, rd be ready to go on the tramp again godless, and foullest-tongued of men. if you wanted to shoulder me off. If you shan't have Molly, rascal and you let me live with you I 11 get work, convict that you are 1" and I'll bring you no sort o' disgrace.' ," With a lack of command over his A case of the pot calling the kettle feelings that surprised her, he was black, isn't it ?" laughed Tamlin. crying childishly in his delight. The girl's hand reached out and touched his shoulder. " Granddad," she said, " a girl who's been so much alone as I have been is only too glad to make the most of that I was at Dartmoor she shall know her relations when she does find them. We'll just settle down together, and from my own lips that her granddad if it's only for my dear mother's sake, I'll take care of you until—" She stopped abruptly. Old David brushed the tears from his eyes, and a quivering smile touched his lips. " Until you get married—eh ?" he responded. " Well, I might have known there'd be some lad who's fond of a girl like you." Molly flushed. Until I get married your home's with me," she concluded, smiling brightly." " There, it's a bargain 1" try and expose me to her and she shall and her lips pressed upon the old know that dear old David, her sainted man's withered cheeks. grandfather, spent twenty years in * * * * * * Dartmoor prison ! Come, what do you A month later, Molly Breed and her say to that, old man ?" grandfather were sharing a tiny 1 David's head dropped to the sup - house at the south side of the town. !port of his quivering hands. The lit - The old man had obtained some job- I tle world of love and hope which he bing work to be done at home from I had tried to build was crumbling and one of the leather factories ; the girl 1 falling about his head. The dearly - was earning good money in the bot- won respectability was snatched from toming department of the machine -him. Either he must let this rascal made boot trade. Work was plentiful, f marry the granddaughter who had be - for the war, while it threw its grim friended him, or she must know that shadows abroad, bestowed occasional both men had been imprisoned felons 1 favors, and one of them was flung "Let me think 1 Give me a moment to those connected with the produc- tion of serviceable boots. The army needed all the good boots it could get. Every other night came a big, hon- est -featured young leather -worker, Bert Eddy, whose engagement -ring Molly had now worn for nearly twelve months. The old man watched the progress of the courtship with quiet dismay. This little home was an un- expected haven of his old age, and he knew from Molly herself that her marriage would close its doors to him. " That's only fair, seeing that I'm nothing but an old tramp of a grand- father,'' mused the old man. And his gnarled fingers clenched as he added beneath his breath : " Something worse than a tramp, too 1 I wonder what Molly would think if she knew that the granddad she's harboring has spent a big part of his life in penal servitude ?" He drew his breath sharply at the thought, and returned to his work. Then the unexpected happened, A new -comer to Northampton attracted Molly's admiration. Ile was a tall, good-looking man about six years her senior, and there was something a- bout him which fascinated the pretty Machinist. Dimly, although he had never seen the new -comer, the old man knew that something was awry' iWith the collet- ship of. Molly and Bert Eddy. Pre- aently Bert stepped calling altogether, and Molly admitted that she had guar. " Come, man, you've got to be reason- able. There's only the workhouse or the gaol waiting for you if you let Molly know where you lived most of your life. And I threaten you, hear and now, that if you let her know was there with me." The old man shuddered at the words. Either his little haven of comfort was to be snatched away from him, or his granddaughter must innocently marry a man whom he knew to be the biggest blackguard at large] " Come, be reasonable," urged Tam- lin. " You keep quiet about my past and I'll keep quiet about yours. More- over, Pll see you ave a home of some sort for the res f of your days. But tryti to stand b e ween Molly and me, to think!" he begged. But before Tamlin could answer Molly had re- turned to the room. " Why, what ever's the matter ?" she cried, looking sharply from her lover to David. " What—" David striggered to his feet, grip- ping the edge of the table for his sup- port. His eyes looked bloodshot, and his shrivelled face was twitching with agony. " Molly," he breathed, " you must never marry this man. I know him. I know him for one of the vilest characters in all England 1 And he's a liar. You mustn't mary him 1" Molly stood speechless, staring from Tamlin's face, flushed with pas- sion and conscious guilt, to the ail, ver -haired, tottering old man whose arms were upraised whilst he de- nounced in the same words himself and the intruder. "Melly," he said brokenly, "that man and myself were convicts to- gether in Dartmoor'!" Then it seemed• to him that the world grew suddenly dizzy and that the room was whirling about him. He felt that he was falling—fallir(g— * * * * * * It was no mere attack of faintness which had struck down the old man. The Northampton people referred to it as a " stroke," and old David was in hospital for weeks afteewards. Twice every week, as often as she was allowed, Molly came to ltim, She nL The province of British Columbia has presented to the Kew Botanic Gar- dens a grant flagstaff of Douglas fir, to replace the old 169 -foot staff, which lasted fifty years. The new pole is 216 feat long and weftyhs 18 tons. It was shaped and creosoted in Van- couve, conveyed by steamer to London, and floated up the Thames to Kew. Poles of Douglas fir are highly valued for ship's masts and flagstaffs be- cause of their straightness, durability, strength and resilience. The timber is also largely used for telegraph and electric -railway poles and bridge and trestle timbers. The Forest Service regards Douglas fir as •perhaps the most important of American woods. Estimates of the available supply range from 300,000,000,000 to 360,000, 000,000 feet, board measure. The tree is most abundant, and attains its largest size not far above sea level in Southern British Columbia and in the region between the coast of Washing- ton and Oregon and the western foot- hills of the Cascade mountains. There the trees, crowded close together, rise to a height of 300 feet ; indeed, lum- bermen report trees 360 feet high, with trunks 11 feet in doameter, free of branches for 200 feet, and with hardly any perceptible taper up to that height. Douglas fir usually grows rapidly. It produces many cones and the seeds germinate freely. According to Sargent, the seedlings 'spring up as thick as grass where the forest has been cleared by fire. In the struggle for existence the weakest are crowded out, until finally there arises a crowd of pole -like stems des- titute of branches and foliage except at the top. Germany has planted large experimental forests of Douglas fir, which, the experts say, is likely to replace the larch in Europe as a timber tree. TRITE SAYINGS. Prosperity has been the undoing of many a man. Some men never get ahead because they are always behind. Put yourself in the other man's place before you condemn him. Some men lay everything that goes wrong on their wives. A wise parent doesn't discuss other people's failings before the children. It's a hard matter to deceive the world. You are sized up for just what you are. Don't stir up a quarrel over triffles. Friends are too valuable to be thus easily lost. The youth who knows more than his father will learn a lot if he lives to be an old man. If you are the possessor of an auto- mobile, take your less fortunate neighbor for an occasional spin. If you don't want your boy to learn to smoke, set him a good example by not using tobacco yourself. A ne'er-do-well, in a short time, can run through a fortune that took his parents a lifetime to acumulate. Don't place all the blame on the other fellow's boy. Maybe your son isn't so perfect -as you think he is. If a fraction of the money that is :1 put in costly monuments was used to make the living more comfortable, it would be a wise move. 1 r No matter if the other fellow hasn't done the square thing, don't try to' o forrommoustgalovratmami E6i :ES w��}�' A E IDEAL FOR and WO TS Imposing array of captured German guns on review at the Horse Guards' Parade. VIVID STORY OF A FRENCH CHATELAINE HOW THE GERMANS DESTROYED A BEAUTIFUL HOME. Mme. Huard Tells of Their Destruc- tion of Her French Chateau. From the pen of Frances Wilson Huard, the American -born wife of Charles Huard, a noted French art- ist, and at present official painter of the war to the Sixth Army of France, has come one of the mast intimate and vivid stories of the war. Mme Huard saw little of the war, hardly any act- ual fighting, but she has the gift of telling in simple words what she did see and of suggesting unseen horrors that surrounded her. When war broke out she was left alone in her fine chateau some sixty miles north- east of Paris. She was attended by only two or three servants. Almost before she had time to escape the great German invasion swept toward her. At last she abandoned her chateau, only a few hours before the German advance guard reached it, and escaped in a cart with a few person- al belongings. The sound of the guns was never out of her ears as she fled, and it remained with her when the tide turned and she returneki to her chateau. Her description of the scene that met her eyes is one of the finest passages in the book, "My Home in the Field of Honor," and portions of it are well worth quoting. Von Kluck's Work. Some account of the German treat- ment of her chateau appeared in th' press more than a year ago, and readers will remember the incident of the American woman fondly trying to protect her desk containing nothing but some packages of love letters by spreading an American flag over it Speaking of her home when she en- tered it after it had been in the pos- session of the Germans for a few days, she says: "How can one de- scribe it? . . . Above all, I would have it understood that the chateau was first occupied by General von Kluck and his staff. The names crayoned on the doors of my bedrooms in big, red letters bear testimony— as well as some soiled underlinen and a glassentuch marked v.K.—and num- erous papers stamped with the Imper- ial seal. These latter are all orders or reports belonging to the Third Army Corps, and were left behind in the precipitation of the flight." It is pleasant to think that Mme Huard has her trophies of that occupation as part payment for the wholesale looting of her home that was conducted by the Germans The Work of Beasts. She continues: "As I now am able to see the matter in a cooler frame of mind, I realize that not only was effi- ciency carried out in warfare, but in looting—for it seems that everything that we possessed was systematical- ly classified as good, bad or indifferent —the former and the latter being carefully packed into huge army sup- ply carts, which for five long days stood backed up against our doorstep, leaving only when completely laden with spoils. Then what remained was thrown into corners and wilfully soiled and smeared in the most dis- gusting and nauseating manner. A proof of the above-mentioned effici- ency can be given in a description of my husband's studio, where I found all the frames standing empty—the canvases having been carefully cut from them with a razor and rolled forconvenience sake. Useless to men- tion that tapestries, silver, blankets and household as well as personal inen were considered trophies of w That to me is far more comprehensible than the fact that our chaetau being nstnlled with all widen sanitary cone veniences, these were purposely ign- ret, and corridors and corners, Patin window curtainn and even beds were sed for the most ignoble purposes." get oven ; it never pays. Just go ahead and do what is right, 030, Sickening Traces of Drunkenness. "Everywhere," she writes, "were sickening traces of sodden drunken- ness. On the table beside each bed (most of them now bereft of their mattresses) stood champagne bottles and half -emptied glasses. The straw - strewn drawing -room much resembled a cheap beer garden atter a Saturday night's riot, and the unfortunate up- right piano was 'not only decked with empty champagne bottles but also contained some two hunrdred or three hundred pots of jam. ,poured down inside, glass and all, probably just for a joke. Oh, Kultur! I think that and the fact that most of my ducks and small animals had been killed and left to lie and rot, were the things that most angered me, and very time the guns boomed I prayed ardently for revenge." How France Feels. Mme. Huard found her little rose- wood desk mercilessly jabbed with bayonets and the contents strewed from from one end of the village to the other; while the Stars and Stripes had been unspeakably defiled. The story she tells could be duplicated so far as facts aro concerned, by the owners of a thousand chateaux in France, and the still uglier stories of lust and cruelty are a matter of offi- cial record. How anyone can read them and imagine that France would now or at any future time consent to any peace that was in the nature of a draw it is difficult to imagine. And should France insist that when the German hordes are driven across they sown frontiers; they shall be made to feel some of the horrors they have inflicted upon her non-combatant citi- zens we need not wonder. a HAS WAR TROPHY MUSEUM Paris' Newspaper Shows Souvenirs Sent From Front One of the best collections of war trophies to be seen in Paris is dis- played in the reception room of the Echo de Paris, at the corner of the Place de l'Opera. Most of the arti- cles have been contributed by mem- bers of the newspaper's staff with the army or by poilus desirous of showing their gratitude for com- forters and food hampers sent them by that journal. There is a fine lot of Officers' hel- mets, saw bayonets, rifles and shell baskets. One curious exhibit is a playing; card, the five of clubs, picked up among the cinders of an enemy bivouac fire. Bavarian pioneer picks and spades, complete Bets of officers and privates' uniforms (with the mud and war stains carefully removed), and all aorta of shell fragments, cart- ridges and bullets make up a very in- teresting show. When Mr, Asquith, Lord Kitchener Mr. Lloyd George and other British Ministers were staying at the Hotel de Crillon during the international confer*inee in Paris they admired the fine collection of German weapons and uniforms on view in the hall of the hotel. It is made up entirely of ob- jects picked up by the 125 employees of the hotel who joined the French forces in August, 1914. Among the exhibits are a battered military bicy- cle, a pair of airman's fur -lined top boots and a couple of Chian lanes, ALWAYS RESTFUL AND COOL „vs" 1Rs Wad By eti MEMBER OF THE FAMILY OCD rsv ALL. 00)00 SHOO DEALERS arOMERHEMEMBEWHISMAMEMELEWArga ACROSS THE BORDER WHAT IS GOING ON OVER IN THE STATES. Latest Hanpenings in Big Republic Condensed for Busy Readers. Harvard conferred degrees and an- nounced gifts of $1,844,283 for year. Bereft by an operation of the sense of smell, a St, Louis man is suing for $60,000. Two hundred of the employees of the Ford Motor Company in Detroit have enlisted. Robert F. Hoxie, a Professor of Political Economy in the University of Chicago, committed suicide. Grasshoppers are attacking the crops in Oregon, and farmers are pre- paring for war on the pests. Smallest moonshine still, raided in Georgia, made from two tin cane, lard bucket, and three feet of pipe ; capa- city one gallon, Unpardonable sin is drunkenness, a Georgia judge officially declared in charging jury, which started its work with prayer. Princeton University's historic old Commons, for forty years a campus landmark, is being demolished for a Gothic dining hall. New York capitalists have arranged to finance a project for working an extension of the famous East Rand gold reef in South Africa. Sixteen Americans, who said they left Constantinople owing to a scarcity of food, arrived as passengers on the Danish steamship Oscar II. Governor Fielder, of New Jersey, calls special session of State Senate for Tuesday to appoint commission for relieving congestion in asylums. Henry A. Howard and Ray E. Jones were convicted in the United States District Court at St. Louis, Mo., of conspiring to counterfeit 2 -cent post- age stamps. Treasures in gold and his wearing apparel were placed in the coffin in which the body of Eli Dimitro, 46, king of a gipsy band, was buried, near Pittsburg, Pa. Hindus resident in the United States are protesting against the provision in the Burnett immigration bill which excludes them as a race from admis- sion to this country. ' Acting as. bartender in her hus- band's saloon from early morning to midnight was drudgery to Mrs. Ger- trude Hupfer, according to her divorce bill, filed in Circuit Court in Milwau- kee, Wis. Lieut. Robert Fay started for At- lanta Penitentiary to begin serving his eight-year sentence for conspiring to blow up ships leaving American ports with munitions for the Allies. Mrs. John A. Wolf, wife of the big- gest oil and gas land owner in Black- well, Okla., field, died from heart trouble due to the excitement of an- other remarkable gas well being found on her husband's land. Home is Best. Willie Jones was playing with the Robinson children next door. When luncheon time came Mrs. Robinson asked him if he wouldn't like to stay. " No, thank you," said Willie, " I think I'd better go home. My mother will be expecting me." . " Suppose I telephone over and ask her if you may stay," suggested his hostess. " Please don't do that, Mrs. Robin- son," said the boy earnestly, " We've got cocoanut pie for dessert to -day and your cook told me you've only got prunes." - Not Qualified. "I want to be excused," said the one of which has evidently seen a worried -looking juryman, addressing considerable amount of service. Other l the judge. "I owe a man $6 that I picturesque items lire wine bottles {borrowed, and as he is leaving town and gragments of the Zeppelins ' for some years I want to catch him brought down at Badonviller it 1:914 before he gets on the train, and pay and at Revigny early this year, him the money." "You are excused," replied the Judge, in icy tones. "I don't want anybody on the jury who can lie like Mechanical Prayers that," Mechanical devices for repeatir(g prayers are familiar in the East, but they are outdorte, in saving labor, by the " prayer flags " of Thibet, These, as described by J. C. White, in the National Geographic Magazine, are suspended on long lines, sometimes reaching across a river, As long as theyare moving in the breeze they are supposed to be recording prayers for the benefit of those who put then up, An Old Trait. Uncle Eben—X just had a letter from my English cousin. Ile was in the trenches. He says epee day his company was orderod to cargo, and the first thing ho konw he ran into lot of barbed wire, several mines and o. hundred German batteries. Aunt Nancy—Just like George— never loops where he's going. RUSSIA BENEFITS _. BY BAN ON DRINK INDUSTRIES DEVELUPING IN CZAR'S COUNTRY Economic Condition Vastly Improved ,And Crime is Greatly . Decreased. The economic condition of Russia is attracting the attention of financial magnates in countries other than those engaged in hostilities, and it is certain the end of the war will find her in a vary differentposition, a change for the better since 1918, which is largely attributable to the prohibition of alcohol, writes a Lon- don correspondent, The sudden departure of M. Bark, the Russian Minister of Finance, for London and Paris, is the talk of financial circles in Petrograd, The Russian Minister of Finance usually comes west for money. But the third Russian war loan is just nearing con- clusion and the results are quite sat- isfactory. The Government Will get $1,000,000,000, $6,000,000 being paid into the imperial exchequer a few days ago by a group of banks which undertook its realization. The term of subscription have been extended, for lately the United States a.:d China have begun to subscribe large amounts of money. This sum was considered sufficient to carry on the war, for some months. The official explanation of M. Bark's visit is that the item of credits for payment of orders made by the Rus- sian Government abroad ended on October 14. It seems, however, that a number of orders were executed, so the Russian Government is compelled to ask for an extension of the date for payments. There is little doubt that other more importenl questions will be discussed, and eopscialry as to how far Russia can reckon on the fin- ancial assistance of Great Britain if the war is prolonged. Closer Alliance is Sought At this moment both official and private initiatives are directed to one aim—the establishment of the closet possible relations between Englaed and Russia. That Russia after the war will pre- sent a most desirable customer can scarcely be doubted. The Ministry of Finance has just published a compere dium of reports received from the tax collecting chambers and officers all over the empire as to the effects of the war on Russion trade, commerce and the economic situation generally. From this report it is seen that, forced in many ways to rely upon her self, Russia has developed initiative and adaptability to a degree never dreamed of before. From a purely agricultural country she is fast de- veloping into a manufacturing and in- dustrial one. - There is a great demand for all sorts of textile and jute manufactures, as well as those producing chemicals, drugs, and different things necessary to the army. The capital has been concentrated in these productions and at the same timejactories have been adapted to the new requirements. Prohibition Has Helped Empire The prohibition of alcohol, accord- ing to the unanimous verdict of all reports, has done much in assisting to- eliminate the economic crisis. Be- sides this it has also contributed to uplifting the social and moral status of the people. In the governments of Petrograd and Moscow crime has de- creased amazingly and the detention rooms at police stations are empty. The Tamboff tax collecting chamber reports that the number of prosecu- tions in courts of all kinds in the government decreased during the first nine months of the war, in some by 17 per cent., in others by 62 per cent. In the government of liazan crime decreased for the first ten months of the war by one-third, and the attor- neys attribute this chiefly to the aboli- tion of alcohol. According to official figures for the whole of the government of -Perm the number of criminal offences for the eight months of war as compared with the same,period 1913-14, has decreased by 36.8 per cent. 'In Moscow the num- ber of criminal offences during the first four menthe has decreased by no lees than 29,5 per cent. The num- ber of fires, which is a chronic calami- ty in Russian villages, has decreased in some places by 22 per cent., some even by 50 pet cent. At the same time, the well-being of the people has increased all round. Especially in the villages peasants and their families are beginning not only to dress well and wear boots, which they have never done before, but to think generally about comfort, a thing hitherto altogether unknown, -.h British Farmers Help, During the Franco-German war British farmers subscribed ' about 1162,000 for providing Beetle for the ttricken French peasants. After for- ty-five years, English agriculturalists are again helping the small French farmers, and, through the medium of the Agricultural Relief of Allies Fund (16 Bedford Square, W.0.), have sent seeds and implements of the value of between £4,00 and 26,000 to France, and subscribed 265,0'10 in money ear- marked for distribution, when the time comes, among the farmers of Bt41(gium, Serbia, and I'olend es welt