16 FEBRUARY 1889, Page 2

The Parnell Commission has reached the question of the disputed

signatures at last, Mr. Soames having been examined on Thursday as to the letter in which Frank Byrne is asserted to have acknowledged the receipt of the £100 from Mr. Parnell by the help of which he effected his escape from Dublin when under fear of arrest. Mr. Parnell has denied that he ever gave him such a cheque, and Mr. Justin McCarthy has declared, we believe, that it was he, not Mr. Parnell, who gave Frank Byrne a cheque just before he left Dablin, in exchange for other small cheques. The authenticity of the letter is therefore in dispute. Mr. Soames is, of course, under cross-examination as to the sources from which this letter and the other letters attributed to Mr. Egan and Mr. Parnell were obtained.