NEWS OF THE WEEK.

DURING the week the condition of the Indian frontier has been most critical. For several days it seemed probable that the Afridis, by far the most formidable fighting tribe on the Afghan border, would rise, and their appearance in the Khyber Pass was awaited with no little anxiety. The last news, however, seems to show that this danger, and others of a like kind, have to some extent passed away. And not only are the indications of disaffection somewhat less. What is more important is the fact that we have an army of thirty- seven thousand men, well equipped in every way, and led by officers of tried capacity, massed and within striking distance of the border. There are seven thousand five hundred men in the Tochi Valley, twelve thousand in the Swat Valley, five thousand five hundred at Rawal Pindi, and twelve thousand in reserve at Peshawar and Kohat. The frontier is thus absolutely secure. Even if the most pessimistic prophecies now come true we shall be in no danger. The rapidity with which the force now on the frontier was mobilised reflects the greatest credit on Sir George White, and shows the splendid efficiency of the Indian Army as a fighting machine.

Though we hope and trust that the more immediate danger has passed away, we do not wish to deny that we have yet a good deal of trouble before us. Practically, the tribes are " up " all through a district which has been described as "the glacis of the Punjab,"—a mountain district, roughly speaking, some six hundred miles long and two hundred miles deep. Though, if things go well, the tribesmen may not now show any very serious fight, and though many will return to their villages impressed with the belief that the time of the infidel's destruc- tion has been postponed by heaven, it will not be an easy busi- ness to restore peace and order in the bill country. Remember that even a small disaster, if it were a real and complete disaster, to our forces, would set the whole district in flames again. Even a petty disaster, then, we must not have. We have little doubt that if General Elles ten days ago had not heard the firing near the Shabkadar Fort, and had not galloped on and turned a retreat into a charge, we should now be in great difficulties. As far as the Peshawar district was concerned, that was a most critical moment. General Biles deserves very great credit for taking the responsibility he did. We note that in an interview with Lord Roberts published in Friday's Daily Chronicle Lord Roberts, though by no means pessi- mistic, expressed very grave doubts as to the conduct of the Ameer. The men of the border, he said, would never have dared to attack us unless they believed that their action would meet with Abdurrahman's approval. As to the loyalty of the Indian Army, Lord Roberts was perfectly satisfied. "You may say that I have no fear whatever about our own native troops."

The peace negotiations have been stopped by Lord Salis- bury's very natural and proper unwillingness to agree to the proposal which makes the withdrawal of the Turks to the strategic frontier depend upon the payment by Greece of the indemnity. It is very doubtful whether Greece can pay, either with or without an international control being estab- lished over her finances, and Lord Salisbury is, therefore, only doing his duty by the Christian population of Thessaly when he declares that the question whether they are to be ruined and rendered miserable shall not depend upon the power of Greece to raise a loan—for that is, in effect, the proposal which is being pressed by the other Powers. Europe, when she relieved Thessaly from Turkish rule in 1831, virtually guaranteed them from Alahommedan control for ever. To restore Turkish rule, perhaps permanently, would be a monstrous injustice. Meantime the negotiations are, as we have said, at a deadlock, and there are rumours that Lord Salisbury has threatened to retire from the Concert,—a course of action of the utility of which he is the best judge. A Con- stantinople telegram to the Daily News of Friday states that no final decision will now be come to till after August 30th, the Sultan's accession day, as Abd-ul-Hamid professes to believe that the public discontent which will follow the peace might find easier vent on that day. Of course, that is only an excuse. The Sultan is beginning to realise that the longer the negotiations last the better for him. While they are pro- ceeding he holds all the conquered territory on his own terms.

On Wednesday M. Faure, attended by the Foreign Minister, M. Hanotaux, and a large suite, and bearing with him a variety of costly presents—including magnificent French doll's for the little Grand Duchesses—left Dunkirk. A few minutes after the President's departure from the Paris station a bomb explosion took place in the stall of a flower vendor at the corner of the Boulevard Magenta and the Rue Lafayette, without, however, hurting any one or even destroying the stall. The bomb, which was crammed with heavy nails, was a cast-iron tube 4 in. or 5 in. long and I in. in diameter. It is believed, says the Paris correspondent of the Times, that the culprit was the same man who threw the two previous bombs, either as a silly practical joke or from a desire to excite uneasiness without committing any real mischief. The experts think, however, that if the tube had not been slightly cracked unknown to the criminal, the explosion might have done con- siderable mischief. Meantime Paris is far more excited over the breakdown in the splendid new cruiser, the Bruix,' which formed part of M. Faure's naval escort to St. Petersburg, caused by the fracture of the piston-rod. The Dupuy de Lome' has been sent to take the place of the damaged ship, but the Parisians are as angry and indignant as a fussy woman when something happens to the victoria before a smart garden-party. They seem to think the accident will spoil the éclat of M. Faure's visit.

Dr. Stoiloff, the Bulgarian Premier, has not yet apologised to the Austrian Government, but he has made a statement, which throws a curious light upon the recent action of Prince Ferdinand at Constantinople. Bulgaria, he says, first set its hopes on Austria and then on Russia. These hopes were, however, not realised, and Bulgaria found that it could expect no help from Europe. Therefore it was obliged to take advantage of its relation as vassal of Turkey. This policy led Prince Ferdinand to Constantinople. Turkey, says Dr. Stoiloff, has a great army, and will, in case of war, support Bulgaria. "The Prince prefers to kiss the hand of the Sultan rather than humble himself before the Ministers of the European Powers." In plain English, Bulgaria has determined—for the present—to stand by Turkey, and will not throw in her lot with those who are looking forward to the partition of Turkey. This certainly adds confirmation to the story that Russia and Austria have come to an agreement under which Russia will get Roumelia, and Austria Salonica and the greater part of Macedonia. But under such an arrange- ment Bulgaria gets nothing. The dissolution of Turkey cannot, then, be of any advantage to Prince Ferdinand. Under these circumstances he has most to gain by sticking to the Sultan. That is a position which it may some day be worth somebody's while to bribe him out of. At any rate it is better than quietly acquiescing in the Austro.Russian agreement.

The visit of the Duke and Duchess of York to Ireland is proving a great success,—like all other such visits, for the Irish people have a natural genius for "welcoming," and also an instinctive love for Royalty. The reception by all classes in the streets of Dublin was not merely courteous and pleasant, but distinctly enthusiastic,—something, in fact, perfectly different from that decent and cold civility which the Nationalist leaders of opinion evidently looked for. The Duke and Duchess reached Kingstown on Wednesday morning, and since then have been " doing " the sights of Dublin, including the opening of an exhibition of Irish textile industries. Later they are to visit at Killarney and other parts of the South.

The duel between Prince Henry of Orleans, son of the Due de Chartres and: first cousin of the head of the French Bourbons„ and the Count of Turin, second son of the late Prince Amacleo of Savoy and nephew of the King of Italy, took place at 5 o'clock on the morning of Sunday last in a small wood at Vancresson, in the western environs of Paris. It is difficult for Englishmen to take the matter seriously, and to refrain from smiling at the highly surgical report drawn up by the seconds ; but all France, and also all Italy, regards both combatants as heroes and the elaborate punctilios of the duel as most interesting and most creditable to all concerned. According to the official "note," the contest lasted twenty-six minutes and comprised five assaults, or, as the gentlemen of the prize-ring would have said, five "rounds." In the first engagement Prince Henry was hit in the right breast by a sword-thrust, "which apparently did not penetrate farther than the subcutaneous cellular tissue." But penetration of the subcutaneous cellular tissue can never satisfy wounded honour, and so the combatants went at it again. In the second round the Princes came to close quarters and had to be separated. In the third the Count of Turin. was hit in the back of the hand, but this again was merely a case of the penetration of the subcutaneous cellular tissue. There was nothing for it, therefore, but to proceed with the duel. Upon the combatants resuming their positions it was noticed that Prince Henry's sword was bent. The engagement was stopped and the sword changed, and this counted as another round. In the fifth round Prince Henry received a counter-thrust "in the right-hand lower portion of the abdomen, whereupon the engagement was stopped."

It only remained for Prince Henry, while the surgeons were dressing his wound, to stretch out his hand, with appropriate words, and for the Count of Turin to shake it. Prince Henryis now lying in his father's house with a nasty -wound in his stomach, which every one naturally hopes will not lead to-complica,tions. The Count of Turin at once returned to Italy. Lest any element of the ridiculous should be wanting from the proceedings, we are told that when the word of command, " Allez; Messieurs!" was given, "the two Princes rushed so vigorously at each other as to disquiet and surprise the seconds." M. Leontieff, Prince Henry's second, is indeed reported to have said, "It was terrible." To our mind -this vigour was the only bright spot in the proceedings. Duelists who do not mean business are ridiculous. Did the seconds want them to behave like fencing-masters ? We must add that, though the better French journals have written about the duel with great discretion, some of the newspapers have had the bad taste to hint that the Count of Turin did not play fair, and that he wore a steel cuirass under his shirt. We need hardly say that there is not the slightest evidence for this atrocious accusation of dishonourable conduct. The house of Savoy does not often produce genius, but it has never bred mean-spirited cowards.

The opening meeting of the British Association, which is being held this year in Toronto, took place on Wednesday. The President, Sir John Evans, dealt with archa3ology and eth- nology and so with the antiquity of man. Into the vexed ques- tion whether archwology is or is not a science we will not follow him, for after all it is but a question of words. Far more interesting was the passage in which Sir John Evans dwelt. upen the extraordinary fact that an unbridgeable, or at any rate unbridged, gulf separates palwolithic from neolithic man. As far as we can read the history of mankind in the remains yet discovered, the men of the old Stone Age appeared on the earth, chipped their flints—leaving "the bulbs of percussion" as a fruitful source of war among the experts—and then disappeared for ever. This was in the night of time, when the world was geologically a very different place from what it is now. Then came the men of the new Stone Age. The earliest of them used flints also, but in how entirely different a way the cases of every museum testify. They lived, too, in the world as we know it now. Some of them are with us to this day in savage countries, and from them we all descend. But between these men and the awful ape-like creatures who made the great flint axes found in the drifts no connection has yet been traced. Will the missing link ever be found, or was man, as it were, twice started on his long march upwards ? It is, perhaps, the strangest fact in all his strange history, and deserves the closest attention the men of science can give it.

The Times of Wednesday gives some curious facts as to the increase of wealth and prosperity in Argentina. In spite of the invincible idleness, or rather what schoolboys call "slackness," of the native population, Buenos Ayres is becoming one of the great cities of the world. The population has grown from three hundred and fifty thousand in 1837 to more than seven hundred thousand in 1897. Every- where solid, substantial buildings have taken the place of the old one-story edifices, and the town is now, thanks to an ample water-supply and an excellent system of drainage, one of the healthiest in South America. The people are also advancing in civilisation, and the standard of life is rapidly becoming European. The provincial cities are also gaining fast in population and in the amenities of life, while the extension of railways has enormously helped to produce civilised conditions. The major part of the country is the paradise of the engineer who wants to build swiftly and cheaply, for it is a dead flat and the lines may be laid straight for a hundred miles. It is deeply to be re- gretted that all this progress brought about by the European immigrants should lie at the mercy of the lazy, improvident revolution-loving natives, who may any day damage it, if not beyond repair, yet most seriously. The political difficulties of Argentina would be great in any case, but the curse of Federalism makes them almost intolerable.

The annual Co-operative Festival was opened at the Crystal Palace on Tuesday. One of the chief features was the ex- hibition organised by the Labour Association, a body which advocates co-operative production upon the basis of the workers sharing in both management and profits. This branch of the co-operative movement has recently made great strides. According to a return issued by the Associa- tion, the number of societies has increased from one hundred and twenty-seven in 1895 to one hundred and fifty-two at the end of last year. The sales, which amounted in 1895 to 21,859,876, went up to 22,164,802 last year, and the capital (share, loan, and reserve) increased from 2915,302 to 21,077,716. A sum of £112,991, against 294,305 in 1895, represented the profit on trading. It appears that the greater part of the development of last year took place in Ireland, where the number of societies increased in the twelve months by twenty-two. Mr. Ludlow, than whom the co-operative movement has no truer or more loyal friend, made an excel- lent presidential addrees on the subject of co-operative recreation. "He thought that the co-operative movement ought to be ere long, if it were not already, large enough, and strong enough, and rich enough, to have some great permanent playground, or even playgrounds, of its own." That is an idea both sound and original. We have dealt with it at length in another column.

Unless there has been some practical joking in the matter, we have at last got news of Herr Andree's balloon. On July 20th, in lat. 800 47', while between the North Cape and the Seven Islands, the captain of the Hammerfest fishing- vessel Aiken ' (according to a Renter's telegram from Christiania, published in Wednesday's papers) shot a carrier- pigeon which bore a telegram and a letter to the Aftonbladet, of Stockholm. The telegram ran :—"Passed 82 degrees latitude with good voyage northward.—ANDRI:E." The date was not legible. The news was passed on from vessel to vessel, but the despatch was not given up by the captain of the Aiken,' who, however, is said to be greatly interested in Herr Andree's exploit. The news is generally credited, though ." a pigeon expert" expresses in Thursday's Times his doubts as to the story. The Aiken ' is not expected at Hammerfest till the end of August.

On Monday the gold medal of the Cobden Club for dis- tinguished services in the cause of Free-trade was presented to Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Lord Farrer in his presentation speech pointed out that if the Cobden Club believed that Sir Wilfrid Laurier's action was intended to set up a system of Commercial Imperial Federation, under which the goods of foreign nations would be excluded or discouraged, they would not have acted as they had done. It was because they believed that his efforts tended in another direction and would produce Free-trade that they were there that day. Canada did not ask us to abate one jot of our Free-trade prin- ciples, or demand preferential treatment. She made as large a step in the direction of Free-trade as her present circumstances will permit, and desired to treat the rest of the world as she was now treating us. We meet her offer by removing, not by imposing, a restriction. We desire not less trade with Germany and Belgium, but more trade with Canada. That is a clear and exact statement of the position. We trust it will be taken to heart by timid Free-traders who have an uneasy notion that in some way or other things have been drifting in the Protectionist direction. Sir Wilfrid Laurier's speech in reply was a conclusive proof that he fully deserved the honour of the Cobden Club's gold medal. There were parties, he said, who hoped to maintain the British Empire upon lines of restricted. trade. If the British Empire was to be maintained, it could only be upon the most absolute freedom, political and commercial. "The more the Empire is free the stronger will it be." As long as the Colonies produce men of such statesmanlike views as Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Mr. Reid, no one need despair of maintaining the Empire intact.

On the same afternoon Sir Louis Davies, the Canadian Minister of Marine, gave a most interesting address at a meeting held in the City under the auspices of the London Chamber of Commerce. There was at one time in the Dominion a sort of desire, or premonition, that the future of Canada might be bound up with the future of the United States. Every vestige of that feeling had now passed away. " He would venture the statement, speaking as a Canadian who had lived all his life in the country, that there was no public man of any standing who would affix his name to a statement in favour of annexation to the United States." Canada had become a true nation and did not want to be merged in her great neighbour. At the end of his speech Sir Louis "Davies explained the state of things which will exist in regard to Belgian and German goods till the denounced treaties expire next year. Till then Germany and Belgium will share in the 121 per cent, advantage accorded to England. After that England, because of her Free-trading with Canada, will get a 25 per cent. reduc- tion, and other nations no reduction unless they lower their duties on Canadian goods.

The Daily Chronicle of Monday last contains a telegram about the Nestorian Christians which, if confirmed, is very curious and interesting. It states that the whole Church, numbering some four hundred thousand, has resolved to adopt the doctrine and discipline of the Russian Orthodox Church. The ground of this action is the belief that the Russian Government will be more likely to protect them if they join that Church than if they remain what religious Russians would call schismatics. The Nestorians live on the borders of Turkey and Persia, and number subjects of both Empires. We rather hope the news may prove true. The Nestorian° will not suffer doctrinally, and will certainly have a good claim for Rassian help when and if Abd-ul-lefantid turns his attention-to , them. It will be remembered that there isanEnglish mission

to the Nestorians under the special patronage of the Arch. bishop of Canterbury. We do not think, however, that the devoted men who have been working among the Nestorians need feel any great regret. The position of a small Christian Church in the heart of Western Asia is necessarily so pre- carious that any step in the direction of increased safety is to be welcomed.

The Times of Monday contains a very interesting account of the progress which has already been made with the Uganda Railway. Already sixty miles of line—metre gauge —have been laid from the starting-point at Mombasa, and in addition a good deal has been accomplished beyond the present stopping-place. The greater part of the work has been done by imported Indian coolies, who, well paid and well treated as they are, have proved excellent navvies. They are for the most part Mahommedans from Northern India. They stand the climate well, and could, it is specially stated, be relied on to fight should they be attacked by the Masai or other hostile natives. As yet, however, no difficulties of this kind have been encountered. There is something very fascinating in the thought of the long, narrow line of rails being so steadily pressed on from the shore of the Indian Ocean, through the feverish coast belt and up the arid and desolate kill region, to its goal on the fertile shore of the great inland sea out of which issues the Nile. No doubt the progress is slow, but as the Scotch laird said of his plantation, "It grows while we're sleeping." Actual experience of the work inclines the authorities to believe that the 23,000,000 voted for the line will not be exceeded.

We are glad to see that the merchants of Belfast do not mean to let the question of the Irish tunnel drop. The Report of the deputation which waited on Mr. Ritchie to ask him for Government aid to make the preliminary inquiry has just been presented to the Belfast Chamber of Commerce. They think that the trifling expense of the preliminary inquiry ought to be borne by the nation, and that such an expendi- ture is no more unprecedented than the expenditure on canals and light railways in Ireland, "which are not expected to pay the interest on their construction." They end by suggesting that a small Committee shall be appointed to further their object. We entirely agree with the practical wisdom of the proposal to make the tunnel, and trust that in the end the Government may se their way to grant the money for the preliminary investigations.

Sir Isaac Holden died suddenly on the morning of the 13th inst. at his house, Oakworth, near Keighley, at the age of ninety-one. His prigin„his honourable and useful life, and his method of gaining money all made the great wealth he acquired a ground for respect and popularity. His father was a working miner, and the boy had to begin active life at .ten- He had, however, the real thirst for knowledge, and his father —a Wesleyan—though poor, did his heat to get some schooling for his son. In spite of the many obstacles in his path, Isaac Holden acquired knowledge rapidly. Even while working in a mill he managed to pick up some Latin and bookkeeping.-e-In these days he would have climbed the ladder of learning with ease, and would have reached a Balliol scholarship by seventeen. —At twenty-one he became a teacher of mathematics in a school at Leeds, and he continued his schoolmastering for several years, gradually increasing the number of subjects he wan capable of teaching. ' While in a school at Reading be invented the 'Lucifer match. He did not, however, patent the invention, but published it to his class. Another person then patented the discovery, and obtained the benefit. Other inventions were, however, destined to make Isaac Holden's future. In 1830 he entered the service of a woolcomber, at once began to make improvementa in the machinery, and soon became the head of an enormous manufacturing business with establish- ments at Bradford, at Croix, near Roubaix, and at Rheims. These workanowemploy four thousand hands. The papers have been full of stories of Sir Tgaai) Holden, and especially of the methods by whiph he produced longevity, for in the last resort nothing interests the world more than how to prolong life. It appears that plenty of fresh air, and a fruit and meat diet, with hilt little or no farinaceous foods, were his chief miles of health. He smoked a good deal, and drank a little alcohol every day.

Bank Hate, 2 per cent. New Consols (21) were on Friday, 112i. •