23. The impending amalgamation was announced of the London and Westminster and London and County Banks.

25. M. Louis Blériot successfully crossed the Channel by aeroplane ("Blériot XI.") from Baraques, near Calais, to a meadow behind Dover Castle, leaving at 4.41 A.M. and arriving just before 6 A.M. He thus forestalled Mr. Hubert Latham, whose attempt on July 19 had been frustrated by an accident to his machine and who was preparing to start on the same morning. Mr. Latham's next attempt (July 27) was unsuccessful, his aeroplane falling into the sea when within a mile of Dover harbour owing to the failure of the motor.

26. The York and Welsh National Pageants were produced respectively at York and Cardiff.

The foreign troops left Crete. (See Foreign History, Chapter III.) 27-31. Attempted revolution in Catalonia, following the fighting between Spanish troops and Moors at Melilla. (See Foreign History, Chapter IV.)

28. The destroyer Ferret successfully charged and broke the harbour boom at Portsmouth.

Office.

The Imperial Defence Conference began in private at the Foreign

At Goodwood Race Meeting, the Goodwood Plate was won by Mr. P. Nelhe's Lagos. Time, 4 mins. 23 secs.

The steamer Waratah of the Blue Anchor line, bound from Australian ports to London, was believed to have foundered on this date between Port Natal and Cape Town; prolonged searches were made for her without result; about 300 lives were lost.

29. At the Foreign Office, Sir E. Grey unveiled a statue of the Marquess of Salisbury, sometime Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary.

The Rev. H. A. James, D.D., Headmaster of Rugby, was elected President of St. John's College, Oxford, in succession to the Rev. James Bellamy, D.D., resigned.

The Chair of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh, vacant by the death of Dr. D. J. Cunningham, was filled by the election of Professor Arthur Robinson of Birmingham University.

The Goodwood Cup was won by Mr. H. J. King's Carrousel. Time, 5 mins. 7 secs.

30. Mr. Lloyd-George at Limehouse. (See English History, Chapter IV.)

30-31. Earthquakes in Mexico; Acapulco destroyed. (See Foreign History, Chapter VIII.)

31. Naval Review by the King in Cowes Roads. (See English History, Chapter IV.)

The Tsar visited the French President at Cherbourg. (See Foreign History, Chapter I.)

AUGUST.

2. Visit of the Tsar. (See English History, Chapter IV.)

2-6. Cowes Regattas. The King's Cup was won by Mr. M. B. Kennedy's White Heather; the German Emperor's Cup by Herr Huldschinsky's Susanne (on time allowance); the R.Y.S. Cup by Mr. Kennedy's White Heather, defeating Sir T. Lipton's Shamrock; the International Challenge Cup by Mr. Stothert's Mariska.

4. The Shaw Savill liner Maori, bound from London to New Zealand, was wrecked at Slankop, near Capetown; thirty-three lives lost.

5. The Parliamentary seat for North Sligo, vacant by the death of Mr. McHugh, M.P. (N.), was filled by the election, unopposed, of Mr. Thomas Scanlon (N.).

Centenary of Tennyson's birth celebrated at Oxford.

7. It was announced that Lord Kitchener of Khartoum had accepted the post of High Commissioner and Field-Marshal Commanding in Chief in the Mediterranean in succession to the Duke of Connaught. It was understood that the latter had recommended the abolition of the post.

- A motor launch blew up in the Solway Firth; the owner (Mr. Ferguson), his wife, and one other person died of exposure; two lives saved.

8. A collision took place on the steam tramway line from Paris to Arpajon near Longjumeau; twelve persons killed, thirty injured.

9. The final report of the Whisky Commission recommended the restriction of the term "whisky" to spirit produced from malt and grain, but not to spirit made by the pot-still process. The Commission could not recommend the requiring of declarations as to material, processes of manufacture, or age. It declared that the term "brandy" was properly applicable only to potable spirit made from fermented grapejuice, and discountenanced undue interference with the blending of whisky.

The Alps were crossed by Captain Spelterini in the balloon Sirius; he reached a height of 5,600 metres.

9-17. Hot weather throughout England. In London on August 12 the temperature reached 85°.

10. The King left London for Marienbad.

A L. & N. W. express from Huddersfield to Stockport was derailed near Stalybridge; the driver and fireman were killed and seven passengers slightly injured.

12. The Annual Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy stated that on January 1, 1909, there were under care in England and Wales 128,787 persons certified as insane, or one in 278 of the population. The increase on the figures for 1908 was 2,703, a slight excess over the average. They recommended, in conformity with the Report of a Commission of 1908, segregation of weak-minded females so as to prevent their becoming mothers, and the provision of restraint and care for

criminals who, being mentally defective, were unfit subjects for punishment.

12. A battery of London Territorial Artillery while on the march in the early morning towards Rollestone Camp, near Salisbury, were run into during fog by a Daily Chronicle motor-car; ten men were injured, one died.

The Italian balloon Albatross, ascending from Turin, was stated to have reached a height of 38,715 ft., or 2,215 ft. greater than any previous record.

14. Appointment announced of a Royal Commission to consider measures for the promotion of closer trade relations between Canada and the British West Indies.

15. The Cunard liner Lucania (laid up) was burnt out in the Huskisson Dock, Liverpool; no lives lost.

17. The Registrar-General's quarterly return showed that the birth rate in England and Wales in the second quarter of 1909 was 26.6 per 1,000, the lowest on record.

18. The Greek flag hoisted at Canea in Crete was formally cut down by a party of men from the warships sent by the protecting Powers. (See Foreign History, Chapter III.)

21. It was announced that the Government would contribute 20,000l. towards the cost of Lieutenant Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition.

22. Attempted burglary by five men at the premises of Messrs. Mappin & Webb, Queen Victoria Street; the burglars were arrested on leaving, and three were sentenced, one to eight and three to ten years' penal servitude, at the Central Criminal Court on September 11.

22-29. Rheims Aviation week. On the 25th M. Paulhan remained in the air 2 hrs. 43 mins. 23 secs. and covered 131 kilometres; on the 26th Mr. Hubert Latham covered 154 kilometres in 2 hrs. 18 mins. 9 secs., both flights being only cut short by the exhaustion of the petrol. On the 27th, however, M. Henry Farman covered 180 kilometres in 3 hrs. 4 mins. 56% secs. and continued his flight for 10 kilometres after the time-limit. He thus won the Grand Prix of 2,000l. On the 28th the Gordon Bennett Cup was won by Mr. Curtiss, who covered 20 kilometres in 15 mins. 50% secs. On the 29th M. Blériot covered 10 kilometres in 7 mins. 473 secs.; Mr. Curtiss won the speed race, covering 30 kilometres in 26 mins. 40 secs., Mr. Latham the prize for height (155 metres).

23. By an explosion at the gas-works at Geneva, fourteen persons were killed and thirty injured.

25. The British Association Meeting opened at Winnipeg. The President, Sir Joseph Thomson, delivered an exceptionally remarkable address on the structure of matter as elucidated by recent discoveries in physics.

At Siena and the neighbourhood there were shocks of earthquake; at Buonconvente one person was killed.

26. Cholera was announced in Rotterdam.

28-30. Heavy floods, due to the overflow of rivers after a cyclone, took place in the States of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Mexico; some 1,200 persons were killed in Monterey alone, and some 15,000 in all rendered homeless.

29. Count Zeppelin's airship Zeppelin II. reached Berlin from Friedrichshafen, after stops at Ortheim, Nuremberg and Bitterfeld.

SEPTEMBER.

1. Arrival at Lerwick of the Danish steamer Hans Egede, with the announcement that Dr. Frederick Albert Cook had reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908. Dr. Cook was on board, and proceeded to Denmark. (For details see the section on Geography, and post, Dec. 21.) Lord de Clifford killed in a motor accident near Brighton.

The Ontario Parliament buildings burnt at Toronto; many archives and historic pictures lost.

2. Announcement that Professor C. J. Holmes had been appointed Director of the National Portrait Gallery in succession to Mr. Lionel Cust.

-The Regius Professorship of Anatomy in Glasgow University filled by the appointment of Mr. T. H. Bryce, Lecturer on Anatomy in the University.

3. At the Parliamentary bye-election for West Clare, vacant by the death of Mr. Halpin (N.), Mr. Arthur Lynch (N.) was returned unopposed. For his previous career see ANNUAL REGISTER, 1907, Chronicle, July 10.

The steamer Duchess of Kent, with 400 passengers from Ryde to Portsmouth, run into by the Government chartered steamer Transporter, and beached at Southsea; no loss of life. The Wreck Inquiry Court found (Nov. 5) that the pilot of the Transporter was primarily to blame, but the Duchess of Kent had proceeded at excessive speed.

4. The King returned to London from Marienbad.

Review of 11,000 "Boy Scouts" at the Crystal Palace by General Baden-Powell, founder of the corps.

6. The appointment announced of the Rev. Henry Russell Wakefield to be Dean of Norwich in place of the late Dr. Lefroy.

Commander Peary telegraphed to New York from Indian Harbour, Labrador, that he had reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909. Further messages, received Sept. 8, impugned Dr. Cook's claim and began a heated controversy. See above, Sept. 1.

6-11. Trade Union Congress at Ipswich. (See English History, Chapter III.)

8. At Doncaster, the St. Leger was won by Mr. Fairie's Bayardo; Lord Carnarvon's Valens was second, Mr. Astor's Mirador third, and the King's filly, Minoru, fourth. Time, 3 mins. 8 secs.

8-20. Brescia Aviation Meeting. M. Rougier reached a height of 645 ft. or 198.50 metres, a record.

9. The Report of the Select Committee appointed March 19, 1908, to inquire into the law relating to the imprisonment of debtors, stated that the business of money-lending rested on the power of committal, and recommended the abolition of that power in money-lending cases and under judgments for sums due in respect of gaming transactions, which were frequent, despite the Gaming Acts. The statutory limitation on debts should also be reduced to three years.

10. A Poor Law Commission Report by Mr. Cyril Jackson and the Rev. J. C. Pringle on the effects since 1886 of relief to the unemployed stated that a large proportion of the class were unskilled casual labourers, not often of bad character, but neither very competent nor very industrious. It was unfavourable both as to the effect of the Unemployed Workmen Act and as to that to be expected from afforestation. The great need was a better organisation of industry and improved education.

Lord Rosebery at Birmingham. (See English History, Chap. V.) At the Central Criminal Court Guy Alfred Aldred, who had taken over the printing of the Indian Sociologist after the conviction of its previous printer (July 23), was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment as a first-class misdemeanant for a seditious libel appearing in it. 12-20. Boulogne Aviation Meeting. No records were broken.

13. Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole for 1910 announced. The 150th anniversary of the death of General Wolfe commemorated at St. Alphege Church, Greenwich.

The 200th anniversary of the battle of Malplaquet commemorated by addresses from eminent Frenchmen on the battlefield.

A motor boat set on fire by an explosion in the Solent: the occupants jumped overboard; one lady drowned.

14. Blackfriars Bridge reopened, after widening, by the Lord Mayor, who afterwards drove the first tramcar across.

15. The steamer Umhlali, from London to Natal, wrecked near Capetown; one child lost in taking to the boats.

15-19. Bicentenary celebrations in honour of Dr. Johnson's birth at Lichfield. On the 15th an address was delivered by Lord Rosebery, who said that Johnson's literary fame did not rest mainly on his works, of which only "two supreme poems" and the "Lives of the Poets" were destined to an enduring reputation. The speaker sketched Boswell and his work and Johnson's character, describing the latter as "John Bull himself"-the literary John Bull-and noting his readiness in composition, his love of paradox, his pleasure in society, and his profound Christian faith.

16. At the Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire at Sydney, N.S. W., a resolution moved by the London Chamber in favour of preferential trade was carried by 81 to 31 on an individual vote, and by 60 Chambers to 8 with 11 neutral, the last named including Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney.