Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1900-08-17, Page 1ular. Auguet 11 then-. ahead, to keep • it cost then to eight go. go" all :le mut •.r early a neve ate power ; pin out. lep worn ew faded evned o fl eat- class. 7 lOW on p they're .e !,aeed and quick- ) better When t, at this west buy- Peciel off- eiving in ISTS iTS 111 y ,atstly ae tng their helm that tet better in for. MS afeetareeeete nt 'last Lon .1.;ears in Lt ttun- I eVittie, JaflL ,t Lade 'lore, in me. NV ELS F - M f.f rende in , vieite • Franeie dding Quitc a •Ujfl Oil has' EV oely re. rruw oe, eau very eeti to hie uy. eeet, air-11511de, die,' on 'H. lie place elmetery. 'ay will .1 ?Jellies ll sad ni a great vemill be Year, of %V. by all iu , The ret U1 ing rowing. - of the acre er the As. been re - many •led the jeing, of Lee. -- Mr. reel young !re Iftirne in ate that a a half le! own in. 6 THIRTY-FIRST YEAR. WHOLE NUMBER, 1,705. NEW STOCK JLE5 It is not that you feel yourself a iv - ticalar person or persons th complete attire being clean good material in the smile. ' natural desire to have the k well and 'becomingly dresse tural tomostpeople. - it better tha ou insist ell cut, an 1 I ere is sn wedge that This feelin IP? We are much interested in the well dies our business, This week we worth of new woollens. y cloths of all descriptions fo • order. These cloths, togeth,ar hand, will make one of the 3no stocks in the West, and we -e most happy result. ,You ,wil and all that we ask ks an exa We are sure of Satisfying yo 'ing of pe opened u woollens, aking up with. our t complete ooking for ant a suit ation .of t 111 • At the tail end of the Summer season specials. A point to reme offering new goods, as we thoroughly cleaned up, and Anystrawhat, men's or boys, in the - Dice suit of sumther underw ties cleared at three for 25 knockabout suits for men, viz It will be worth your while ,s that is, if you are in any nee We offer a dozen pure linen collars for • without merit of its own. 11 There are cheaper -waterproof coats o one wo are asking; $3 for, but • better value._ School will be soon starting, and the leave..her purchases until the to the front again this seaso est, but certainly the best sc] • town; Wemake these ours lined throughout, and Sell a recommend. these goods as there are suits, caps- and • See us, gig & •Clothiers and F On the Wrong Side of the Street, STRONG BLOCK, n1 ho aa are offeri is, that w ys keep buy new se for 25c for 50c • Three s 3.50, $4 a ting one this style this als the market e have ye e mother la,'t moment, with, not t tocil pant ,,o1 veis, sewn wi 500, 650 a d being • reli bl ts to be filo doll any p r- pon y ur having iply, the you are is na- ple • suit too tail ard his e s • its 000 ean to bp ring to a all, ock. g a few, are here ur stock ood cashi •summer eciars in A d $ f t of a' is ha,n t to 50. ese, uit, not the see oes, •not We -are e 1cLeap- in the. h 1 nen, 75e we; hen ight of. •rnishe s SEAFO T TkE CANADIAN • Commene,ing MONDAY, 'JUNE 11th, ti • flyer, the " Imperial Limited," will run DAIL. couver, inakinf,; the run in 96 hours. Leaves To -C. P. R. boats Will leave Owen Sound Tu - days, commencing May lst, for the. Soo:and F issued at this office for all woints West, leither boats. Also liCeall tickets. via Montreal and E1de .Telegraph and Money order business respectfully , J. MACD C. P. R. AGENT C. BETHUNE, Agent for Mercha Fire Insurance Co C_LO PAC! Canadian Paci c overland ' 1 etween-Totont and Vhn- nto'n't 1.p. ni.: days, Thursdays ind. atur- rt William. :Through t ckets 11 rail or via olur nagn Gent Dempster Stean ship lines. oli 11 eaforthi and Berlin M tual ies. TUCKERSMITI1 TOWNSHIP FINANCES. TO ,THE I ATEPAYERS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF - TT:GM:RS:MTH : UENTLEMEN,-Iit accordance with instruc- tions from the council of the municipal- ity, I has e .critieally and carefully !exam- ined the .somewhat voluminous Cor es- pOndence furnished you by the .Provin ial municipal auditor, anent the finance of he township f Tuckersmith, and herewi h a b - mit a con ensed and summarized statem nt -of the wh le affair, such es , will give •ev ry person int rested a full understanding of he results ot he investigation. ' The following are the ite s of complaint of the petitionIng ratepayers upon which the . investigat on WBS based the petition being dated Aril ,10t,h, 1960 ' , lst,-T at at the time of the demise of the late , illiam McConnell, wo during his term of o rce occupied the dual position' of li, township lerk and trea,surer, . the bo ke were Nun in such shape .as to almost p� - elude the iossibility of an audit,and if Bitch was attem ted or made, it certainly was not published s required -by section 265 of the Municipal kct, and it is the firm belief !of your petiti ners that large sumo of money were lost iy the, municipality during his -term of o "ce. •. 2nd, -T at your petitioners 'do not adrhib the sufficie • cy or correctness of " the audits they have ,een privileged te see on rare essions, no do they consider them of any importane4 whatever as a safeguard to 0e - vent defal ations on the part of our mini- cipal treasurer; or as a check to prevent,i1- legal expe diture by our issuniaipal couneil. Further, pur petitioners de net consider the manne in which the abstract of audit is published s anything short of an evasion of •the spirit 2 nd intention of section 265 of the Municipal Act; a few copiesbeing printed and dietri • uted to , certain privileged rate- payers, w ile the great majority of rate- payers do not know that such a thing had taken plac 1 3rd, -T at the tovinship, having $17,683 set apart by by-law tor educational par - poses, and it has come to the knowledge I of . your petit oners that considerable sums of said fund have been and are still loaned contrary t the provisions of the act, being loaned on °tee and mbrtgages on real estate i to upward of two-thirds and even the 611 mimed v lue of certain properties, and further, ar earages of interest are allowd ,e to accumul te without being accounted for or placed i the yearly statement as a col- lectable ass tt, and further that .reductiOns ininterest or the benefit of borrowers have i! been made before their undertakings w th the corpora ion had matured; it Is elle ed that this re uction was made without even a resolution of the council authorizing the same. 4th, --Th t your petitioners most re- spectfully r quest that the' attention of the Commission be: directed to the drainage ac- count of th township, more particularly or the last thr e years, and it is alleged by in- terested pa ties that more money wraised for certain ork than said work cost, and the balanc atands unaccounted for. We also call the attention of the Commission to the railway account during the term . Mr. McConnell vas treasurer. 5th, -Ma• it therefore please your Honor to issue a 0 mmission to enquire into finan- cial affairs •f the said township of Tucker - smith, etc. IN REPLY. Mr. T. t. Williamson, the accountant who made he investigation, in his report to the Provincial Municipal auditor, makes re. ply to the bove complaints of the petition- ers as folio «s lst,-Wi h regard to the first paragiaph • of the said •etition, relating to the conduct • of the finan ial affairs of the corporation by the late Wi • McConnell, during his lengthy terrn of offi e as township clerk and treas- urer, I hav to report that the time at my disposal ha not been sufficient for any com- plete investigation into the matter. I have made a mo e or lees Cursory examination, and I find • • A. That he [AIM of $3,520.63, being funds of the corp ration, which had been deposit- ed by the,d ceased in his •own name in the Canadian -B: nk of Commerce, Seaforth, was withdrawn therefrom by the administrator of the estat , and handed over to the corpor- ation durin the year 1888. 13. That speodal audit of these matters was made 'by Messrs. William Elliott and G-eorge Baird, jr., who rendered a report thereupon to the reeve and council, dated the 25th day of January, 1888. " C. That although the said report was ad- mittedly incomplete, the said special audit- ors did not (so I am informed) consider it advisable that the auditahould be resumed. D. That, as 'a result of the said audit and report, the sum of $500 was paid to,the corporation hy the estate of the deceased during the year 1889. E. That, even if investigation should prove that further amounts were due to the corporation, it is not apparent that such sums could be recovered. • F. That the corporation has barred its right to make any further claim by the Teasing of a certain resolution at a regular meeting of council, held on the 21st day of January, 1689, of which the following is a copy: "That the treasurer bet Instructed to receive the sum of $500 from the admin- istrate'. of the estate of -the late treasurer, • William McConnell, andto grant the said administrator a receipt in full of all claims against the said estate, made by this coun- cil, namely, a receipt for the sum Of $8271n.d4,2_." In view of these fats I do not heel.- , tate to suggest that it would not be in the interest of the township to inaugurate an- • other examination of the lengthy period during which the deceased held office. In 'concluding rny remarks on this periodeit is only siinple justice to record that -I do not at present see sufficient evidence to prove that the $500, received by the deceaeed on the first day of April, 1887, was in reality lost to the corporation. 3rd, -The second clause of the petition throws. doubt on the sufficiency of the 4n- nual audits, and alleges that the publication of the annual printed statements has not been on a. .sufficiently liberal scale. YOur reply. to this prayer was to order a complete audit of the books. This audit I have now completed from the death of the late Mr. McMillan treasurer, and it may be well that I should, for the satisfaction of yourself and the reeve,' council and ratepayers, brief- ly detail the steps I have taken to prove the correctness or otherwise of the accounta as produced. - 4th, -The income of the corporation is composed of twee, interest on mortgages, school grants, debentures, licenses, etc. With regard to these the procedure has been as follows : Erich amount has been traced as far as possible to its original source, in order to prove that the correct amount has been, received and accounted for. Taxes, -The additions of each assessneent reit since 1889 have been checked, so as to prove that taxes have been levied on , the SEAF trositor. Til, FRIDAY, AITGUST 17, 1990. correct as ss. ent. From this amount the totals of t es n each collector's roll have been prov1 an the cash book and bank ac- count hay bee examined to'prove that all these monies aye been collected and ac- counted fe . schedule apended to this report -give all these particulars in detail, and this -se ed le might fitly be preserved by the trea ure and added to, year by year, by the aud tor:. With re ard to , interest on mortgages, thie matter ha been gone into most care- fully, and sch dule apended gives the par- ticulars of he tanding of each mortgage in force at th pre ent time. . 5th,-Wilr regard to _disbursements, every voe er laced.in my possession, bear - year, has ee carefully audited. These ing on the Tri d 'from 188 to the present vouchers ar v ry numerous, probably ag- gregating nt les than 3,500 to 4,000, many of which 1 ha t be handled more than once. $th I may say a on e at, con idering the large number of ouc ere involve and the lengthy period covered by the investigation, I was gratified to !find everything in such good or- der. The hook and vouchers show plainly that great care and trouble have been ex- pended on ta e , and although various die- crepencies • av been discovered, it is my decided op • ion that not one of these die- crepeacies ear evidence of any intention to mislead. is regretable that they were not-observ:1 b the auditoria in their yearly examinatiols, e that the Y could have been , rectified wile 11 the cireumstances were fresh in the me ory of the !treasurer. These discrepenci a ar referred tb specifically and In detail inqa s parate sheet. With regard to the alleged nsatiefactorly distribution of the yearly prined statements, this is surely a matter th t t e reeve and council ought to see that th re a e no grounds given for com- plaint. E h r tepayer who desires to have a copy ou ht to receive one. The fullest publicity will b get the fullest confidence. 6th, -Th third clause of the petition re- fers to the chool fund of $17,683, and al- leges that comnderable portions of same have been •d still are invested contrary to the ,provisi ns of the act. ' I can not find that any of the monies of the fund are in this condit •n at present. I have prepared a complete statement of the _ school fund, which show3: ( ) How the inlvestnient stood in 189; (b all repayments and re -invest- ments since; (c how the investments stand 3 now. Thee wi I be found on page 11 of the township 14 dge . I find that monies to a smell amou t h ve been lent in the paet on the security of promissory note, but that no loss has accruedto the corporation and no monies are so infrested now. As regards he proportion which the o -ab present j:. sureties bea to the amounts invested, I am the opiion that these are sufficient toft protect the corporation. The only mortg ge hich might be questioned is No. 4 on the liet in the schedule. The se- curity for this loan consists of property in a neighboring township, as to the assessed value -of which have no direct information, but I am in or ed that the value of the se- curity is ati the present time sufficient to secure the Ian.' Although no loss has ac- crued or se ms ikely to accrue, it may be s questioned he .her the negotiation of this particular inor gage loan showed evidence of the samet oa e and prudence which the other inves me tt at present in force show. It muet not be forgotten that the lands of Tnokeramitb aid surrounding townships are ajmongs th most valuable agricultural land in th Do inion, and that every good farm posse ses a solid market value, not liable to klea y fluctuations, as are the values of other ecuritiee upon which loans are regularly m de. With reg rd o the arrearages of interest, these aro:3,d tail d in the schedule referred to. It ma be' enbioned that the neglect to place ar ear ges in the statement does not imply t at any loss is' being ineurred. These amounts re- justly entitled to a place in the published Het of assets, and the au- ditors should be instructed to place them _. there. , •.. , -With regard to the reduction of in - tercet, it ill be neceesary, in order to melte the p sawn clear, to enter sornewhab into detail. The schedule of the mortgages appended, to which reference has already been made, ontains : (a) The dates at which they were gowned ; (b) the dates at which interest wa reduced; (c) the dates up to which inter st lies been paid. This inform- ation is co rac , to the best of my belief. Each of them rtgages boars endorsements of all monies p id, whether for interest or on account of p inciple. It is desirable that the treasurer sl ould compare this schedule with these end raements, so as to satisfy himself that th schedule is correct in every Particular. : T e first authority to reduce ibtereet was c nveyed by a resolution of council, pateed on the 27th day of Decem- ber, 1889, pf hich a copy follows here: "That the in erest on certain mortgages held by thil c rporation agaipsb the lands l described elo , and now bearing interest at the rate pf s wen per cent. per annum, be reduced to tix er cent. per annum, this re. ductibn to lbe reckoned as taking effect March 1, 1889.' (Norm -Here follows a list of the mortga es, the names, the lots and the amount, o i which the above reduction is to be made, nd the resolution proceede) : " That the tre surer be instructed to exact intereet cor esp • nding with this resolution, and be also instructed to refund to those who have paid later st at seven per cent, since March 1, 1889, the excees paid over six per cent." . , (isloae.--,Th report quotes another reso. lution- of cbina il, passed on the 25th of March, 1889, a hich gives authority for the reduction of in'erest on another mortgagee and special iaut ority is given to the treas- urer to settle interest and costs on this mortgage for a specified sum, and a special notice to the tr asurer to this effect, signed by the reeve and clerk, is recorded.) The subsequ nt reduction of interest was, I learn, dedde upon at the first meeting of council, held in the year 1896, but the min- utes bear no r cord of the matter. I was informed by t e township clerk that the matter was dis wised at the said meeting, but that it Was cobsidered that the follow= ing clause (2) O by-law No, 7 of 1890 gave control of the investment of the school fund intc the 'ands of the treasurer, sub- ject to the se ction of the reeve, and the council, the ef.re, did not ge beyond a verb- al recomme da ion that the interest be low- ered. It is to e regretted that this diecus- mon was no re orded in the minutes. The following is the clause of the bylaw referred to: "The saia sum so set apart as an edu- cational fuad s all be invested by the treas- urer of this to .nship, in the corporate name of this munici ality, in such securieties as the law allciws nd in no others, and using such safegurdz as the law provides. Pro- vided, hoWeve , no in -vestments shall be made witheut he sanction of the reeve of this tovvnsbip, and every invescment shall be reported to he council at its first sitting next thereefte " As to the nec salty or desirability of mak- ing this reduction the statements made to me are somtevh t conflicting. It is certain that for several years previous to 1896 no inveatmente on Mortgages had been effected, I 1 • Books and Supplies FOR PUBLIC AND HIGH SCHOOLS, COLLEGIATE INSTITUTES, SEPARATE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGM. THE NEWEST EDITIONS AT LOWEST PRICES., LE X . WINT ER, 12 t TH. 4111111111111=1111111111111111111MMINI a• d the late treasurer, who was in control, in orms me that loans would have been rei paid, had not the rate been lowered. As te th question of authority conveyed by the ab ve quoted clause of said by-law, that is a m tter which the township solicitor could de iide better than the auditor. Except for th: two conditions imposed, there is no ap- pa ent limit to the control given to the tr. aisurer. Certaintly if the monies had ben repaid, no one could question his an- t rity to invest it at the lower rate of in- te est, if he found it necessary. This power se ms almost to contain the other power to re( uce. The whole matter appears to turn u on the question as to whether the ex- tr &surer was satisfied that the reduction W aneceeeary, and as to the influence upon hi et the verbal recommendation of the co mil of 1896. The ex -treasurer is evi- de tly still quite convinced in his mind that th reduction was necessary. th,--Clause 4 of the petition refers to th drainage accounts of the township. T • ese I have examined into, and find that th:y are fully recorded in the township le • ger, under the headings of the various dr ins. Considering that the cost can only be roughly estimated at the date of the as. sment the amounts collected do not ap- pe r to be excessive, and as each balance ap- pe re a credit of the drain for which it was le ied, there can be no difficulty in redistri- bu ing any monies which may not be re- q u red. he brief reference in this paragraph to the railway account, during the term of th• late Mr. McConnell, may be considered as eplied to in the -first paragraph 'of this re ort. of Tu et la pe n concluding thia report it seems not out place to congratulate the residents of kersmith townehip upon the satisfactory te of its finances, upon the fertility of its ds, and ehe general well doing and pros- ity evident on every hand. have thus given above the complaint of th petitioners and the reply thereto of the au itor, omitting from the latter only such pa te a* would expose the private business of ndividuals with the corporatien, if pub - lie ed, which all will admit, would not be ad isable. In each instance, however, where this is done, the substance is given in a note. There now remains but the is chedule of discrepancies, discovered I in bo ks, with remarks on each," and which is ref rred to in the report. To publish this in nything like detail would not be inter- est ng or profitable to any one. Extending ov r the whole period investigated, there we e but ten of these " discrepancies " dis- co ered, and none of them were of material im ortance, being simply errors in book- ke ping, such as occur almost daily with mi .t business men, the two most import - • having been discovered and rectified be lore the books were handed to the audi- to as he himself states. The net result of all these discrepances, as shown by the au itor, is that the township is due the tate tre surer the sum of $22.47. As all these do uments will likely be filed in the ar(hives of the municipality, and can be re- fer ed to at any time by those desiring fin.- th r particulars, it will not be profitable or me to quote from them further than the fbl- lo ing two items, and with which I clew th report. The auditor says : "As men- tio i ed in the report to which this is at- tac ed, the financial books of the corpor- ati n have been kept with evident care'but th system upon which they have been kept is 1 some respects faulty and incomplete, an does not afford opportunity to check th accounts properly as the work proceeds. No» that the new books, recommended by th Government, are in use there ought to be no difficulty in keeping everything ele tr.a" gin,-" Very many of the orderaop the tre surer are not receipted by the paye ebut by some friend who undertakes to han the mo.ey to him. These receipts are i ade- clu te as corporation vouchers. Ther4 can be no doubt, of the great convenience to pa ees if any councillor will undertake to del ver to them what is due, and, as there is no vidence that injury to any one has re- sul ed, the system will probebly continae. Un er less tenable surroundtngs it might be lia le to abuse. It is simplyito stamp [each order after the words, " Rec ived the bove am unt," with the words, " in trust for," an then write the name of the payee. - The na e of the actual receiver of the eash wo Id then follow, and the whole receipt wo Id read " eceived the above amount in trust or f John Robson tJohn Jones." ! This would clearly record the fact to all time that the monies had been ac epted " in trust" on behalf of the payee." Ali of which is respectfully su•mitted, Yours, etc. M. Y. (Ade N, • Canada. -About 200,000 pounds of • aple ugar were destroyed by the burnin •of a arge warehouse in Quebec one night I et we k-. -Hon. George W. Ross, Pre ler of Qa- tar o, accompanied by Mrs) R ss, lef for the Parry Sound district on Sa urday for a couple of weeks' rest. -A destructive hail !item destioyed crops in an area of two by ten iles in the Moose Mountain dietrict, Ma itoba on Thursday of lest week. -The Department of Agriculteire, at Tor- onto has received informatiOn t 'at a 1$20,- 00Cbeet sugar factory will shortl be erected at Niarton. Over 600 acres in thie district are now planted with sugar :beet. -At the annual meeting of the Odd - fellow'' Grand -Lodge, held lad we4k in Hamilton, Mr. 0. L. Lewis, of Chatham was elected Grand Master and Guelph was selected for the place of meeting next year. -It is understood that Mr. L. C. Mc- Intyre, of Parkhill, has been appoint4d as- sistant store keeper and steward a the Hamilton Insane Asylum inthe place cf the late Mr. Peter Graham. -Hon. Mr. Dryden, Minister of Ag icul- ture, returned from Chicago recently, where he was in attendance at the Shorthorn sale of stock conducted by Mr. J. I. Fl tt, of Hamilton. He stated that the result ef the sale wae most satisfactory, between 80 and 70 lots being disposed of at a total of some $64,000, the average being the highest at- tained at any sale in recent years. The stock was a splendid lot of cattle, the excel- lence of which was appreciated, as shown by the keen competition. -Mr. Thomas Samuel, one of the oldest citizens of Montreal. died at St. John's, Newfou dland, on Friday last. He had gone to St. John's on a business trip. Mr. Samuel had the direction of the entire linen thread trade of Canada. -At the auction sale riShorthorn cattle, held last week in Chicago, by Mr. J. I. Flatt, of Hamilton Mr. Thomas Robson, • M. P. P., of East Hamilton, offered $2,500 for one animal, which wentto. a United States breeder, at $2,600. - A Quebec paper announces that 20,000 pairs of stockings, 20,000 pairs of shoes and 20,000 portable houses are being made in Quebec and Levis for the use of the Britisb army in China. • -The Pharmaceutical Association of the Province of Quebec, have declined an offer from the similar association in Ontario for a reciprocity of diplomas allowing Canadian graduatea to practise the profession in Que- bec and vice versa. -Some 70 varieties of grasses, the ma- jority of which are nutritious, will form a portion of the exhibit which will inform vis- itors at the Induetrial Exhibition at To- ronto'upon the fertility of the Thunder Bay district and its adaptability to agri- cultural pursuits. --Professor Goldwin Smith, of Toronto, met with an unfortunate accident a few days ago. He was visiting the Royal Can- adian Yacht Club -house at the Island, and while ascending theateps leading to the ver- andah, slipped and fell, fracturing his left wrist. - -A young woman named Miss Helmig, hailing from Peru, Indiana, fell under a Wabash train at St. Thomas station, on Saturday, and had her foot crushed. She was removed to the hospital, where it was found necessary to amputate two toes. She was on her way to Niagara Falls. -Laura Rondeau, a young lady of Ot- tawa., aged 20 years, died laat Friday from prostration by the intenee heat. Miss Ron - dean was seemingly quite well in the morn- ing, but during the heat of midday com- plained considerably, and shortly afterwards suffered complete collapse. 'Medical aid proved ineffectual, and towards evening she passed away. -Ex-Premier Greenway, of ManiLoba, received a cablegram from England last week, offering him $3,000 for the three head of thoroughbred cattle which he had on ex- hibition at Winnipeg fair. This is the high- est price yet offered for thoroughbred stock in that country. Raising thoroughbred cat- tle evidently pays the ex -Premier better than politics. - William Gowdy, grocer on the Elora road' between Guelph and Elora, had his store robbed on Saturday morning, The •safe was opened. A gold watch and a cou- ple of gold case filled watches were taken, together with a collection of coins valued at $30, a gold chain, etc. Twenty dollars in bills and silver in the till was not discover- ed. -The number of convicts in the Kingston penitentiary is not so high as usual, on ac- count of the ticket -of -leave system in vogue since last fall. Many prisoners have been granted their liberty under the new Act, and, as far as can be learned, those liberated are fulfilling the conditions under which they were released, and are trying to lead better lives. • -The public school board of Chatham Jas appointed Mr. J. W. Plewes, of Wal - hamburg, to the position of principal, of the Chatham Central school and the Kent county Model safeool. The vacancy occur- red through the suspension of Principal T.C. Smith. It will be remembered that Smith broke open the packages of examination papers, and taught the questions for en- trance exams to his class. -Mr. R. B. Macklam, clerk of division court, Brighton, Ontario, died Saturday morning from injuries received teem a two- year-old bull the previous- night. Mr. Macklam was milking a cow and the bull was bothering him. He attempted to drive the bull away when the animal turned on him, knocked him down and bunted him. Mr. Macklam was hurt internally and died at 5 o'clock the following morning. He leaves a wife and six children. -Last Saturday evening the 15 -year-old daughter of Patrick Quinlan, a Douro farm- er, near Peterboro, was seriously, if not fatally, burned while lighting the kitchen fire. Being alone in the house, she rushed out flaming to the barn, where her father and mother were. She was horribly burned before the father, who was also severely burned, extinguished the burning clothing. Meanwhile the house had taken fire, and with its contents was totally destroyed. The girl is not likely to recover. -This is what the Glengarrian of Alex- andria, says about Sir Wilfrid Laurier : " Tha coinneamh mhor gu bhi aig Fran- gaich Cheap Breatunn us Nobha Scotia ann Arichatair a' ohoigeamh lath deng dhe'n mhios so. Am measg nan daoin' inbhea.ch elle tha gu bhi aig a'• choinnemab sin tha Sir Wilfrid Laurier promhair Chanada. Mu'n till e air ais do Ottowa, bidh dha no tri choinnemhan aige ann an Nobha Scotia. Tha, sinn an dochas gu'm bi Sidni air aon de na h-ait-eachan anns an labhair e." Who will give us a translation of the above -A despatch from Battleford, North- west Territory, dated August 12th, says : The prospective grain yield is variously estimated by experienced farmers as fol- lows : Wheat, 42 bushels; rye, 45 bushels; barley, 50 bushels, and oats, 75 bushels per acre. These figures are conservative. No injury from frosta has occurred, and, not- withstanding a little too much rain, the prospect is that the crops will all be her - vested before frost visits the district, for the season is two or three weeks earlier than the average. Cattle are in excellent con- dition. -During a severe electrical storm in Man- itoba, one day last week, the residence o Mr. Robert Thompson, of the Pilot Mound district, was destroyed by lightning. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were on their way home at the time, and moat of the contents were saved. During a similar "term on 'the fol- lowing morning, a stable belonging to Mr, Malcolm McKellar, of the same district, was struck by lightning. The building and contents were consumed, including five farm horses belonging to Mr. McKellar, and a driving horse belonging to Rev, Mr. Far. quharson. -D.A. Adams, who was arreated at Bran- don, Manitoba, last week, on a charge of at- tempting to poison his father, Sheriff Ad- ams, of Birtle, Manitoba, was born in Shakespeare, Perth county, about 26 years ago. His father emigrated from Scotland about the year 1870, and married in Shakes- peare, where he carried on a butchering business for five .or six years, and had worked up a good trade. lie subsequently removed to'Manitoba, and has been engaged in butchering, hotelkeeping and other occu. pations in Birtle. About ten years ago this son, who is now in jail, ran away from home McLEAN BROS., Publishers. t Si a Year in Advance. and worked his way on the boats to Ontario,. While here he had the reputation of being a " pretty fast boy," but news from the west of late was to the effect that he had reform- ed and was doing better. -Mr. Edward C. Senkler, Government Gold Commissioner in the Yukon, was in Toronto a Pew days ago, on his way to Ot- tawa. He gives a very encouraging account of the development of business in the Yukon. Tranaportation facilities • have been much improved, as is shown by the fact that he made the trip from Dawson. City to Toronto in fifteen days, stopping over three days at Vancouver. Dawson City is now 'within eeven days' travel of Vancouver. Mr. Senkler was formerly a resident of Toronto and used to be a noted football player, having been captain of the Osgoode Hall champion team in 1891-92. -Charles Rieter and Minnie Galvani, two Italian cyclists, who propose to go around the world in three years and must be back in Florence on the 25th of December, 1902, to win a wager of 50,000 francs, arrived in Montreal on Saturday. According to •the rules of the wager, they had to start with- out a -cent and are compelled to live on whatever money they can earn during their trip. They started on the 25th of July • of last year and have been making their ex- penses by giving wrestling and fencing ex- hibitions in the various places they visited. When this journey is completed it will amount to about 75,000 miles. Of this, 25,000 have already been covered. • -News was received in Toronto the end of last week from William Johnston, M. P., for South Belfast, that he had had a. cable announcing the death of -his wife. Mr. Johnston was at the time in New Yerk. He was to have visited Toronto next Fri- day and a bigreception was beipg organized by the Orangemen in his honor at the pavil- ion. The death of Mrs. Johnston has neces- sitated the cancelling of all engagements, _ and the member for South Belfast has left for Ireland. , This will be •a great disap- pointment to the Orangemen of Toronto and other places in this country. -An Otee.wa despatch of recent date says : The revenue and expenditure on no count of coesdlidated fund for the year 1899- 1900, according to the statement of the Fi- nance Department up to the end of July last, shows a surplus of $10,076,986 44, The .. expenditure on capital account for last year appears as $8,659,374.01, including South African contingents, $1,445,349.01, so that there is every reason to believe that the estimate of the Finance Minieter will be realized, and that there will be over a mil - hon of last year's surplus go towards the reduction of the debt Such a result has only been effeeted twice before in the history of Canada, • -Eddy Brothers' eaw mill at Bay City, Michigan, has been one of the leading manu- facturing industries of that State. It has recently been torn down and the machinery and plant removed to and re -constructed at " Blind River, :Georgian Bay district, This firm owns large tracts of pine timber in Canada and have kept tlaeir mill in Bay City partially supplied with logs towed across the lakes. The embargo placed on . logs by the Ontario Government, prohibit- ing them being towed to the United States, has effectually closed the mills, and its owners have been forced to engage in the manufacture of luinber in Canadian terri- tory, in order to utilize their timber bold- ing. -A writ for damages for breach of prom- ise has been issued against George King, of Hickson, Oxford county, near Woodstock.. The plaintiff, who thus seeks ballet for her wounded feelings, is a respected resident of Woodstock, and is 74 years of Age. Her one-tirne wooer is one of the Wealthiest farmers in the county, and is abou80 years of age. The marriage was anni unced to take place a couple of weeks ago, but through the influence of the King family, the rnatcte.waa broken off. When the would- be bride learned that she had been jilted, she at once instituted an action foadamages. She hereelf is a. wealthy widow. -Mrs. Stevens, wife of . Win. M. Stevens, a well known resident of .Ottawa, we seri- ously burned 0. few mornings ago. While she Was curling her hair in the bath -room, a, lighted lamp, which was on a shelf, in some way slipped te the floor. It is thought that Mrs. Stevens made an endeavor to piek up the lamp, and that in .'doing so the flames caught the upper part of her garments, In a moment she was a mars of flarnee. She ruehed down tairs and into the yard. Mr. Stevens attracted hy her ecrearns, hastily procured emit° blankets, and with thcee and cold water succeeded in putting out the fire. Mrs. Stevens' whole body was very badly burnede and ehe has since died. -Mr. George McGregor and Miele Julia Sharpe, both employees of the Flavelle Mil- ling Compa.nY, at Lindsay, were returning home about' 10 o'clock last Friday night, after spendiog the day canoeing. When approaching the lending piece near home, by some unaccountable men a the canoe up3et, precipitating the occupants into the water. McGregor, who is an excellent swimmer, at once made efforts to save his companion, and succeeded in bearing her almost to-shore'when, in the struggle, 'Alive Sharpe broke from his grasp and sank itt about eight teet of water. McGregor, • thoroughly exhausted, again tried to find the young woman in the darkness, hue without avail. Shortly afterward the body was recovered and taken to the home of her lather. -The late Mr. John Hallam, of Toronto, who died a couple of months ago, left an estate which is being probated at -$271,732. The' estate is made up as follows: Book debts, $96,471.01; real estate, 72,583;$ stock-in-trade, $135,220; stocks; $22,394; mortgages, $8,216 67. In addition to this there is $10,276 in realeeistate in Winnipeg. The beneficiaries are the widow of the de- ceased and three daughters and two sons. The income from the estate is to go to the wife during life, After her death the estate is to be divided among the children the daughters getting $25,000 and the sons ;40,- 000 each. The residue is to be divided - equally among the .3hildrert, In case of the death of all; the children before the age of 21, the property is to go to the Sick Chil- dren's Hospital. • -An unfortunate and most unpleasant ac- cident happened on Monday of last week t� Mr. John Watson, of Stratferd. He was going fishing ;and was driving a somewhat spirited horse. In some manner one of the fish hooks beeame fast in the animal, which began to ent up, and while Mr. Watson was endeavoring to quiet it he received a, severe kick in the face. The wound was a deep one and required s-veral stitches to close it, -Maria Goetz, wife 'of Mr, Theo Litt, died at her late hem at Sebringville on Friday, August 3r4, in the 72nd year of her age. Death was due to a stroke of paralysis she sustained some time ago. The deceas- ed wrie born in Enginheien, Aleaee, Gert many, and came to Canada in the early years, settling in the neighborhood of Sebringville, where she lived up to the time of her death.Feur sons and three daugh- ters mourn her demise.