The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 9

THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, SATTTRDAT. MAY 2 1913. TO-DAY'S ROYAL WEDDING, S0UTHP0RT SHRIMP FISHERS. THE REOPENING OF PARLIAMENT. MIDLAND COMPETITIVE MUSICAL FESTIVAL.

GREEKS AND BULGAES FIGHTING. best; the thick green of the Tiergarten, through which the procession passed on its way to the Brandenburger Tor, was broken only by the white marble of the Sieges Allee and the blossom of the May trees. Even the gauntness of the Lehrter Bahnhof, the ugliest of Germany's not too beautiful railway stations, was almost hidden under a wealth of palms, pine branches, and the English and German flags that alternately decorated its walls. Within the station itself, where, besides the members of the Court and the diplomatic corps, few besides we English corresnon- m5re DISSATISFIED SOLDIERS. NEW DEMONSTRATIONS IN FRANCE.

The opposition evoked in the French aimv by the Government's Three Years Service Bill i -no signs of decreasing Later messages from Rodez, in the south, where a demon stration was made on Thursday, shows that a melee took place in the courtyard before the demonstration was suppressed. Our Paris correspondent says that the Ministers intend to begin an anti-trade union campaign on the ground that the unions have inspired the demonstrations. He also reports an interview with M. Anatole France, in which the famous author severely attacked the Government for its reactionary policy. M.

ANATOLE FRANCE ATTACKS MINISTERS. (From our Correspondent.) Paris, Friday. The members of the Government seem to be losing their heads in consequence of the military demonstrations. They are a policy more worthy of a despotism than of a Republic and calculated to intensify the popular resentment at the retention of tho class. Tho Socialists hold every years at the Mur des Federts" at Verb laChaise a demonstration in honour of tho Communards shot at that spot iu 1871.

This annual demonstration has been tolerated by successive Governments, and for several years has been quite peaceful. It to to "bo held next Sunday, but M. Barthou lias prohibited it because it was proposed to give it the additional character of a protest against three years' service. The police have also received orders to tear down posters hostile to the proposed change. To these measures is added an attack on the freedom of the press.

A telegram dispatched to his paper by the correspondent of your contemporary the. "Daily Citizen" on Monday night, simply giving an account of the military demonstrations, was stopped by order of the Government on the ground that it contained news prejudicial to the safetv of the State." Anti-Trade Union Campaign. It is also plain that the recent incidents are to be made the excuse of a campaign against the trade unions. M. Barthou and the Minister of tho Interior hav had long interviews with tho chief officials of the criminal investigation department, who may bo expected shortly to produce one of thoso ready-made plots wheh they always have in stork and which are Royalist, or Bonapartist.

Socialist or Anarchist, as required. Already one or two documents, the apocryphal nature of which is so obvious that their publication must be ilue to tho more clumsy investigations of the military authorities, have ap. peared in the Nationalist press. M. Etienne, replying in the Senate yesterday to a Royalist supporter of tho Government, M.

de Lamarzolle, said that the Government was "almost sure" that the promoters of tho military demonstrations wore not to be found among the demonstrators because they acted on instruction to behave as good soldiers in order not to be discovered, to obtain authority over their comrades, and to win their stripes so as to make their detestable propaganda more efficacious." This means that soldiers noted for their good conduct but known to have advanced political opinions are to be singled out for persecution. Tho recent case of the soldier Rousset, to say nothing of the Dreyfus affair, has shown what may be expected from military justice." No Evidence of Connection. So far as my inquiries have gone I have every reason to believe that the Syndicalist and Socialist organisations had nothing at all to do with the military demonstrations, whien they regard as a grave tactical error. Those who canvassed for signatures to the Socialist and Syndicalist petition against the three years' "service were expressl- instructed not to ask or allow soldiers to sign the petition, the instruction being printed daily in the "Humanite and other papers. Meanwhile further demonstrations are reported.

At Rodez a large number of soldiers attempted to leave the barracks and march in procession through tne town, preceueo dv the band, but the intention was discovreed and the demonstration was prevented. At Orleans there have been two demonstrations inside the barracks, in one of which a very large number of soldiers took part, and there have been similar demonstration in the barracks of the artillery at Bourges. At Troves. Rouen, and some other towns, the authorities have been obliged to stop the weekly rrtraite vxilifaire instituted by M. Millerand, on account of the demonstration against three years' service which it occasioned on the part of tho inhabitants.

Condemned by Intellectuals." The policy of the Government is strongly condemned by a large section of the intel lectuals." I happened last night to be in the company of about 30 men of letters, artists, and others, many of them well known, who while regretting the action of the soldiers condemned much more strongly the action of tho Government. One verv distinguished man declared that M. Etienne's reply to M. De I amarzelle, quoted above, was an example of "cynical cowardice." The" Humanity publishes this morning an interview with M. Anatole France, who declares his strong opposition to the Trhee Years' Bill, which, in his opinion, would weaken instead of strengthening the country, and points out that the existing military law has never been properly applied.

As to the military demonstrations reported, as he remarks," "from nearly all the garrisons," M. France says: "The responsible authors, the only persons who are responsible and ought to be punished, ate the members of the Government. What is happening can surprise nobody gifted with powers of observation and reflection. The present events are the necessary and inevitable result of the brutal, clumsy, and- useless action of the Government." After saying that the Ministry, though calling itself Republican, is inspires by reactionaries hostile to democracy. M.

France exclaims Can you expect that in a democracy such arbitrary and unjustifiable proceedings should provoke no agitations? Where do our politicians live if they are so ignorant as this of the spirit of the country, one might even say of human nature? So long as a retrograde Government proposes to organise the national defence under the inspiration of a financial, clerical, and reactionary oligarchy, so long as a Government takes "the advice and receives the snpport of persons of that kind it will never be wil-linerlv obeved by the people, who in a de mocracy are the sole force on which it is pos sible to relv. All the measures taken to con- solidate the national defence will be vain if they are not in harmony with the true senti- meats of the workmen and the peasants. It may therefore be confidently asserted that it is the Government itself that is plunging the country into a disorder for which it alone is responsible." After Bavins that he had spoken in this sense a fortnight ago to a member of the nresent Cabinet. M. France added that his fast word to the Government would be: "In the name of tho pubho safety clear out! THE STUDY OP BACH'S MUSIC.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) Birmingham, Friday Night. Birmingham is much the most important centre that has adopted the competitive musical festival, and this year there seems every promise that the extensive scope on which the Festival was started hist year will be more than maintained. Although the number of classes has been diminished for convenience in working, there has been a far more than corresponding increase in the number of entries. The Festival has not only adopted the severest standards of the best Northern festivals, but has gone in for some features beyond them. Both last year and this a resolute effort has been made to make tho study of Bach's music more general by introducing it into every advanced class of the competitions.

This effort cannot be successful-without raising the technical standard of performance considerably, and it also brings forward entirely new aspects of musical interpretation. In some respects Bach is a decidedly uninteresting composer for competitive work. It docs not tend to the elaboration of a thousand details of expression, as competitions in themselves are only toe apt to do, nor can musical sensibility alone divine the meaning of Bach's music. The constant repetition of words and the formal development of tho music make points of expression incongruous. Music in this formal style can only be removed from tho obvious by some subtlety of pervading expression, and in Bach this expression is general Iv derived from some defi nite intellectual idea, sometimes only distantly associated with the actual words.

The style and expression of ecclesiastical settings were during the contrapuntal period more often than in modern music, influenced or even fixed by tradition. In any case a definite act of the understanding is necessary for a true interpretation of such music, and in Bach the mental process needed for it may be considerably involved. A Helpful Adjudicator. There was not evident in much of the Bach singing to-day any sure signs that the performers knew what the composer would be at. It was a great advantage, therefore, from the educational point of view, to have an adjudicator of such experience, learning, and taste in this tvpe of music as Dr.

R. R. Terrv. of the Westminster Cathedral. In his remarks and judgments he kept the severe standards of the music itself, and bv no means yielded to the temptation to buoy up competitors by falsely consoling praise.

He put forward with great lucidity ideas helpful to a fine interpretation and in his technical remarks, botli on the pronunciation of the Latin text and the performance of the music of Bach's "Magnificat," from which the ducts and trios were drawn, he gave most helpful mtormation. while pointmir out lor the con solation of the imperfect tho usual failure of such verse sections in ambitious concerts, and the greater difficulty in blending the higher notes of female voices. He refused to give a pri.e at all for the singing of tho trio Susccpit Israel, because the effect oi the singing was not fully satisfactory in any case, although there was much creditable sing ing, and that by singers whose performance in other things proved natural ability. But Bach's music must bring home to the most amateurish that success in it is not to bu had without great effort. Most voices which have not undergone severe training have Haws or resonance somewhere, and thcs flaws are quite sufficient to destroy the blend of complicated part-singinc for solo voices.

Dr. Terry ventured to attribute to English singers more than others a habit of strangling the tone. A verv little of this defect will destroy a florid trio by Bach. Are wo to conclude that Bach is not for the amateur, or not, rather, that the arts trj- us, and either develop the seriousness of our attitude to life constantly or find us lacking somewhere in the end? But all this Bach singing in the solo classes us only preliminary to an attempt to give Bach's "Magnificat" complete bv the com peting choirs and the most successful groups ol solo singers, accompanied by the orchestra of the Midland Institute, in the evening. A partial success in this endeavour would have been a notable development or the competitive system.

Tho singing of the separate choirs in the test chorus ''Fecit potentiam was but incomplete in. effect, the running passages having little energy to stand out- as their place in the chief subject demanded. The combined performance of the "Magnificat" turned out to be thoroughly genial both tne cnorus-singmg and in the work of the soloists chosen from among tho competitors. The orchestra also proved quito a -redit to the Institute, and the venture altogether showed that the competitive movement has not necessarily reached its furthest development, but may have much greater achievements in store. The one disappointing thing was the omission of the ladies' trio Israel." In the soprano class M.

Harlow, of Mr. Higson's Sain Choir, who won last year, repeated her triumph, but her singing was much more admired. It had a rich natural expression, which was set off well by a romantically beautiful and little known song. Sibelius's "It was a dream." Another Manchester singer, Miss A. Aspinall, in the contralto class, displayed also a most promising voice, though her style does not seem as yet quite worthy of it.

She was awarded a special prize for the quality of her voice. S. L. THE PUTUMAY0 HORRORS. AX IMPORTANT CAPTURE REPORTED.

Information has been received in London (writes a correspondent) that the Bolivian police have succeeded in capturing Amando Normaud. who occupies a prominent place-in Sir Roger Casement's list of "the worst criminals of the Putumayo, all of them charged with atrocious offences against the Indians." Sir Roger Casement says of Armando Nor-mand, in his "Preliminary A Bolivian, I believe, of foreign parentage, largely educated in England. A man of whom nothing good can be said. The crimes committed by this man are innumerable, and even Peruvian white men said to me that Norm and had done things none of the others had done. He has about 1.700 due to hiin by the Company, which he declared he would draw out and then denounce.

the Company for its treatment the If anyone on the Putumayo deserves punishment this man should lie made in example He was under sentence of dis- missal, and would have left Chorrera by the with me, only I objected to travel with him, and begged Senor Tizon to send him by anothei vessel. 1np rflflrt s- Rmrfll. gives details of the horrible crimes alleged aEajnst Normand, It was reported yesterday tliat the Duchess of Connaught had had a good night, and that hex improvement was maintained. INSURANCE ACT AMENDMENT. I (FROM OUR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT.) Westminster, Friday Xight.

Parliament reopens for the second half of the session on Tuesday next, when the first order on the paper is the motion for appointing a new judge for the King's Bench Division. It is hoped to take the second reading of the Lord Chancellor Appellate Jurisdiction Bill on the same day. On "Wednesday the second reading of the Mental Deficiency Bill and that of the Milk and Dairies Bill are both down, but it may bo doubted whether more than the former of these can be got in one sitting. On Thursday the House will go into Supply on the Foreign Office Yots, and on Friday the Scottish Home Rule Bill, which has been prepared by a Committee of Scottish Liberal members, will come up for second reading. An important division is expected on this, and a Nationalist whip has already been issued in preparation for it.

Tho Government's present intention is to take the second reading of the Irish Home Rule Bill on Monday week, but it is possible that this arrangement may bo altered and the Stuart Samuel Indemnity Bill given priority. In an article before the recess I dealt with the three chief subjects of political interest in the coming month the time-tablo for tho Homo Rule and other bills that have to be repassed under the Parliament Act, the Irish Land Bill, and the steps which are being taken to draft the Government's Education Bill. The Newmarket election and the discussion in the press have since given prominence to another Government measure which is promised tho Insurance Act Amendment Bill. The report of the Committee which has been hearing evidence in Ireland on the extension of medical benefits there is expected to report immediately tne uouse resumes, and when its report is iu the hands of the Treasury the new bill will be able to assume its final shape. far as can be at present predicted, it will deal with three points, and three onlv: (1) It will regularise the additional pavment 10 doctors nuuie in a Supplementary Jistimate at the end of last session.

(2) It will extend medical benefit to the towns in Ireland, and will make certain provisions towards the cost of granting certifi cates for sick pay in the country districts mere, winch is at present borne bv the dis peiisary doctors. M) It will deal with the grievances of the casual labourer, probably by directing employers of casual labour to pay their contributions in a lump sum, and so avoid the injustice by which a worker's employer on Monday pays his insurance contribution for tho wees. xnere win also be a Provision for a reduced scale of benefits in the case of thoso casual labourers whose, employment is not, continuous enough to give them cards with sufficient stamps to entitle them to the full benefit. But beyond that it is not likely that anything will be done Ibis session. The time V.

altcady precious, and any amending Acts which have the chance of passing this year must bo on an agreed basis. There will, however, be opportunities in the course of Supply for debate on points of administration about which there has been criticism in the course of tho last few montlis. PRINCE'S THEATRE. "THK WILD DUCK." As with Ibsen's plays generally, criticism of The Wild Duck has been concerned more with the ideas behind it than with its positive action, and tho performance last night was valuable in giving this prominence. It is one of the plays of which the parts are simple and the whole baffling: Sir.

Archer has assigned it to a. mood of dejection and scepticism. Yet it is possible to find reassurance in its most admirable character: in Gina Ekdal Ibsen is plainly on the side of the angels the stolid ones who have nothing meretriciously ethereal about them. It is not one df Miss Kenmore's great parts; in the first three acts she has not to do much more than keep in the picture, but later she says some plain, fine things finely, and always she subdues her temperament to a perfectly ri.L'ht conception of this faithful, dogged drudge. Mr.

Leigh Lovel is less successful, and though his ineffectual refinement of manner might give some plausibility to the part, there was a great deal of talking and posturing that was not quite acting. Mr. Lovcl is a devoted and sincere artist, and he had some excellent moments, but he and Mr. Stanley Yourke, as Gregers Werle, were chargeable with some dreary passages. Their parts are extremely difficult ones, no doubt, if are to be brought within tlie credibilities.

Ibsen's interests are invetcratcly in ideas, and in many of his d-iak-trues wc feel that the sympathies and even the antipathies are not quite human. Character and emotion are far more flexible than ideas, and so there is- a stiffness of relation, and even in this subtle plav a lack of subtlety. It suffers greatly from its central character, so admirably devised to make all the points, for Hjalmar is an egoist that could only inspire disgust, an impostor that could never impose Though comedy may heighten the effect of tragedy as in the fifth act when we wait for the pistol sliot the exaggerations that would give gusto to comedy are wromr in tragedy. itjaunar nas about the same relation to life as Mr. Mioawber has his "I think I've eot that load of debt off my hands is pure Micawber, Dut mat great comic figure would never do if the point were really Mrs.

Micawber's devotion, and Master Wilkins shot himself as Hedvie does. And here almost everv character is cheapened in its relation to Hjalmar. Grcgers, with his apostrophes to the depth of his friend's mind, becomes conspicuously a fool, and Gina, aamiraoie creature as she is, seems lika tin? convention of the faithful wife worshipping! an unworthy husband that convention so lone preserved by the women with clear brains and contempt in their hearts. Of course, there is a tremendous irony in the concentration of all these solicitudes on Hjalmar. It may Be said, too.

that Gregers is an innocent recluse, Hedvig a sentimental girl, Gina a furtive refugee. Xo doubt these people are symbols, or partly symbolic, but symbolism is a poor exchange for humanity. It is a faulty, perplexing, haunting play, with deep, arresting things in it, and the iragic last act was the most moving. Miss Dai.y Race played Hedvig very well indeed, and suggested the deepening seriousness of her devotion. The most astonishing invention in the play the garret in which the Bkdals hunt, and one was curious to know how this came off in a per- formance.

Anrl we felt the fascination of it; it was impossible that Hjalmar should go on touching up photographs when this wild and mysterious place was calling him. It is a symbol in the play, and a symbol to us of the I strange and vast things that call to us in Ibsen's plays. It may he that in this one he turned to j. 1- ir 1. iT, i sialist.

he wanted to put Relling's case better than Relling could. But even in "The Wild Duck" Ibsen is very much more than "the thirteenth at table." A. N. M. I THE CAUSE OF THE OUTBREAK.

A STRUGGLE TO RETAIN AX INDUSTRY. There is a little tragedy in progress among the shrimp fishers of Southport the tragedy of an old-world, local industry which is striving to hold it3 own against changed conditions and the competition which a highly organised outside world is thrusting upon it. Twenty years ago the small colony of fishermen at the Marsh-side end of Southport was a flourishing community. The aristocrats of the colony the "senders," who pot the shrimps and despatch them abroad all over the country could pay the fishermen 2s. for a quart of picked shrimps.

But the foreign shrimps from the Dutch coast anrl other places chiefly from the Dutch coast, though even Fleetwood is counted "foreign" br these stalwart old fishermen began to tell against them in the market, and the rate agreed ou at present is la. 4d. per quart- It was the dropping of this rate by two of the senders t- Is. 2d. which was the immediate cause of Thursday's little outbreak at Marshside.

A cart of foreign shrimps was overturned by the fishermen and paraffin poured upon its contents a method of dressing well calculated, as a grey-haired, unrepentant fisherman cheerfully ob-served to me yesterday, to "give 'em a tastv flavour." "POTTED SOUTHPORT SHRIMPS." But that lowering of the rate was only the immediate cause of the disturbance, and yesterday the two offending potters had agreed to. return to the old price. The real grievance of the fishermen lies in the fact that all the Marshside "senders" Tegularly import large quantities of tho Dutch shrimp, stew and pot them in Marshside, and send them out as "potted Southport shrimps" or at any rate under a label bearing a Southport address. The men think this is the cause of the lowering of their rates of payment. They can see that the public buy these shrimps under the impression that they are caught in the South-port waters jwssessed of the traditional excellence of the Southport fish.

And they argue that jf the potters were compelled to label the foreign fish as imported shrimps the unfair competition would cease and the good old days return. A QUESTION OF rROLIFIC GROUNDS. But what the hard-hit fishermen do not realise is the fact that the competition from cheaper fish would still persist, whether they were potted in Marshside or in Manchester as any amount of the Dutch shrimps are. They see with bitter clearness that their average earnings a week during the last year have been about fourteen shillings, but they do not see that the prices paid to them depend ultimately on the amount of shrimps there are in the market in relation to the demand. Some of the fishermen talk of a definite stand for a return to the two shillings rate of some years ago.

But if the potters, as one of them assured me, can now only get Is. 6d. per quart from the dealers to whom they in turn supply the shrimps, the only result would be that no Southport fish could be used at all, and the foreign shrimps would have the market to themselves. For, given the same quality, it is hardly likely that the public at large would consent to pay a considerable increase in price for a mere guarantee that the shrimps had been caught in Southport waters. And as to the length of time taken in transit, the shrimps which left Holland on one night can be simmering in the pots of the Marshside "senders" by the following evening.

It should be added that they are not always potted with such promptitude. It is acknowledged that foreign shrimps are sometimes kept, with the aid of boric acid or in air-tight tins, for as long as twelve months. One can understand the fishermen's grievance when these are ultimately sent out as Southport potted shrimps." IS THE SHRIMPING-GROUXD FAILING? But there is still another unpleasant fact to be faced. The shrimps themselves seem to be leaving Southport. It is admitted by both fishermen and senders that the pools are silting up and that the catches are nothing like so large as they were some years ago.

I was told (our representative writes) by one old fisherman of nearly seventy that in two days' shrimping this week he had caught two pints of fish which yield at the present rates a total of Is. 4-d. for his two days' labour. And the potters say that the fish which they receive from Southport are never sufficient to supply all the requirements of the dealers to whom they send them. To 'supply this demand they have to fall back on the foreign fish.

For the fishermen catching fluke is a more profitable business than catching1 shrimps. And when fluke are in the South-port waters "fluking" they go. and the "sender" can whistle for his shrimps. It seems a pity that this little local industry phculr. be so hard hit by the complications of the great world outside it.

For years the sliriinpfishing and potting lias been carried on by the self-contained Marsliside colony. The o' the ties which unite it are shown by the same surnames which crop up again and again Wright Rimmer and Ball account for half the population. (I was told by the curate that he had no fewer than 63 separate Wrights on his visiting ist.) The quarrel between senders and fishermen is almost a family affair; the dozen or so senders nearly all have close kin among the 150 fishing folk. The little community hold firmly to the old formula of "keeping themselves to themselves." The put off from the Southport shore at all hours of the night and morning for their fishing, but return to their white thatched cottages without ex-en turning aside to inquire into the world of Lord Street and the trim residences of retired ease. THE LATE LORD ASHBOURNE.

The funeral of Lord Ashbourne will take place in Dublin on Wednesday. The body will be taken to Ireland on Tuesday night. The first part of the funeral service will be held in St. Stephen's Church, Upper Mount Street, Dublin, and the interment will be at Mount Jeiome. A memorial service will be held in London at St.

Peter's, Eaton Square. No inquest is to be held on Lord Ashbourne, whose death followed a seizure in Hyde Park on Thursday. DROWNED IX THE RIVER WEAVER. Last night the body was recovered from the river Weaver, near Acton Bridge, Northwich, of George Harrison, aged 15, son of Thomas Harrison, of Weaverham. The boy had been employed at the Weaver Refining Works, Acton, and disappeared at noon on Thursday.

It was sueeested that he had gone to Liverpool on a steamer which calls at the works. Inquiries at Liverpool disproved this theory and dragging operations were begun yesterday. The body was recovered a few yards from the spot on the river bank where the youth had his dinner on Thursday. Canon Baruett had a slightly better night an Friday and a quieter day veeterdaj. ALL READY IN BERLIN KING GEORGE AND BRITISH COLONY, To-day in Berlin Princess Victoria Luise of Prussia will be married to Prince Ernest of Cumberland.

It is to attend this weddins that King George and Queen Mary and the isar or Kussia are now in the German capital. Yesterday the King and Queen visited the JJntish and there received a loyal address from the British colonv. In his reply the King expressed the friendliest feel ings towards Germany. Several nuhlie uiuuug llidll a number of representatives of German cities, waited on the bride v-esterday to exnress their good wishes and present their wedding gilts. A gin of silver vessels containing salt and bread to bring good luck was sent from a Brcslau school.

The Princess sent a telegram of warm thanks to the donors of this srift. FERVENT DESIRE TO PRESERVE PEACE. (Renter's Correspondent.) Berlin, Friday. This morning tlse German Emperor and the T.sar made a motor-car excursion to Cliarlottenburg Castle. King George spent some time during the morning at the Royal Sehloss in Berlin examining tlio wedding gifts to Princess Victoria Luise and Princo Krnest.

Later the King and Queen Mary visited the British r.m'oa-ssy and there received a deputation fnim the British colony in Berlin, who presented a loyal address. In reply His Majesty said I heartily thnnk you for your assurances of loyalty and devotion on behalf of the British community in Berlin, and for the good wishes you offered the Queen and me in such friendly terms. Wo are specially pleased that we are the guests of tho Sovereign of this great and friendly nation in order to celebrate the union of two young lives, widen we earnestly pray may be fraught with all possible blessing. I am interested to find the many different races of my subjects enjoying hospitality and advantages of citizenship of Berlin. By fostering and maintaining kindly relations ami a good understanding between yourselves and the people or tins your adopted home you are helping to ensure the peace of the world, the preservation of which is my fervent desire, as it was the chief aim and object of my dear father's life.

I sincerely trust that happiness and prosperity may you nil in your vocations and careers. At the Embassy luncheon Sir AY. E. Goschen. British Ambassador, presided at the head of tho long table.

Counters Granville facing him at the other end. King George and Queen Mary sat at the middle of the table opposite each other, His Majesty having on his right Fiau von Bethmann-Hollweg, the wife of the Imperial Chancellor, and Madame Polo do Bernabe, wife of the Spanish on his left. Queen Marihad T)r. von Bethmann-Hollweg on her right and the Austrian Ambassador on the left. Covers were laid for f52.

Among the guests were Herr von Jagow, Foreign Secretary Prince I.iclinowsky, German Ambassador to Great Britain, all the Ambassadors accredited to the Berlin Court with their wives, Admiral Sir John and all the members of their Majesties' suites, the members of the Embassy staff, the wives of all the German 'ffieers attached to their Majesties during their stay, and the British Consuls General in Berlin and Frankfort. Princess Thanks School Children. At the Castle the bridal pair received depu'; tations from Berlin and other Prussian cities. They came to present wedding gifts. Berlin gives a magnificent Tabriz carpet, and the Congress of the Prussian Cities a wonder ful old carved Dutch wardrobe.

Among other gifts are an Oriental carpet from the Saltan of Turkev, a silver eagle for the table from tho Duke of Genoa, old Roman silver vases from the King and Queen of Italy, an old Frisian grandfather's clock from the Queen of Holland. An offering of bread and salt in silver collars lrom a Breslau school, to bring luck to the new household, drew a warm telegram of thanks from the Princess. During the day the Tsar received Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg, the Imperial Chancellor, in an audience lasting three-quarters of an hour, and presented him with a silver casket set with precious stones. King George has conferred the brand O-oss ot the A ictorian Order on tho Imperial Chancellor. A cala performance at the Opera took place this evening, the programme consisting of the first act of "Lohengrin." which was the choice of the Princess Victoria Luise.

The theatre was beautifully decorated with festoons of red, pink, and white carnations right round the circles. the parquet was a blaze of uniforms, while eircles were filled with ladies. When all the members of the Imperial and Royal party had taken their seats the Emperor cave The signal to begin. The place of honour in the centre of the Koval box was occupied bv Princess Victoria Luise and Prince Ernst August. The Em press sat on the bridegroom's right, and then came King George, in the uniform of his German dragoon- regiment, and the German Crown Princess.

The Tsar, in the uniform of the German Hussars, Queen Mary, and the German Emperor, in the uniform or the bodyguards Hussars, were on the other side. No National Anthem was played. HAPPIEST POSSIBLE WELCOME. GENERAL GOOD-WILL IN BERLIN. (From our Correspondent.) Berlin, Mat 21.

Brilliant sunshine, a dazzling host of flags and garlands, the glory of many-coloured uniforms, and an enthusiastic crowd of spectators all combined to give the happiest possible welcome to the Royal English guests on their arrival in Berlin this morning. Already by ten o'clock the route from the station to the Royal Palace was lined with companies of the various infantry guard regiments, the customary monotony of their blue uniforms broken by parade trousers of spotless white and full-dress gold helmets with waving horsehair plumes. Behind the lines of troops was a patient crowd of sightseers, in many places as much as twenty rows deep. The lime trees of tjae Linden were at their LONG STRUGGLE IN MACEDONIA. KING LEAVES ATHENS FOR THE SCENE.

The news of Thursday that Bulgaria's relations with her allies were strained almost to breaking point was confirmed by yesterday's telegrams. Greek and Bulgarian troops are, it appears, fighting for the valley of tho river Angista. The latest messages from Salonika say that nothing is yet known of the results of the conflict. The Angista is a stream which flows from tho north-east into the Strama, near where that river discharges into the JEgoan. To the east and south of the territory, between it and the sea, lies some hilly country which' the Bulgarians hold.

From there, according to Athens reports, the Bulgarians have attempted to cross the valley into the Greek zone. The scene of ihe conflict is about midway between Seres and Drama. King Constantino has left Athens for Salonika. He will go on to the front and there attempt to reach an arrangement that will prevent a recurrence of the present trouble NKUTKAL ZONE ENTERED. (Reuter's Correspondents.) Athens, Friday.

Strong forces of Bulgarians with artillery violated the neutral zone by crossing tho bridge at Vulchista over the river Angista and entering tho territory indisputably occupied by the Greeks. A violent combat began, and is still raging, the result being unknown. The Hellenic Government has vigorously protested against tho violation of tho agreement arrived at regarding this neutral zone. It throws all responsibility for the affair on the Bulgarians, and demands the withdrawal of troops. If the Bulgarian authorities do not give orders to this effect it is feared here that tho conflict will assume serious proportions.

It is semi-officially stated here that the reports to the effect that orders had been given to Greek troops to attack Kara! a and other points occupied by the Bulgarians are not. true. The Hellenic Government is confident that the recent conflicts with the Bulgarians, although serious in themselves, will not have any unfavourable results. King Constantino, who has left for Salonika, will go to the Gulf of Rendina, where he will discuss the situation with the commander of the First Army and will endeavour to arrive at an agreement with the Bulgarians for the establishment of a neutral of considerable extent in order that fresh trouble may be avoided. Salonika, Fridat.

Tho fighting between Greeks and Bulgarians which started yesterday in the neutral zone is still in progress. The result is not known here. NO BULGARIAN LOSSES. (Reuter's Correspondent.) SoriAj Friday. An official statement sa3s that on Wednesday evening the Greeks opened fire on the Bulgarians stationed between the bridges at Vulchista and Kuchuk, at a distance of about two hundred yards from the left bank of the river.

Tho firing soon extended to other posts in the district, tho Greeks being desir ous of driving tho Bulgarians out. Slmrtlv afterwards, however, firing ceased without any losses having been sustained on the Bulgarian side. The Bulgarians hold the Angista height. The Greek commander seeks a settlement of the incident. ALBANIAN CHARGES AGAINST.

GREECE. The delegates of the Albanian Provisional Government who are now in London have addressed to the Ambassadors of tho Great Powers a memorial in which they ask that urgent representations should be made to the Greek Government in order that an end may be put to the disastrous activity of the Greek bands in Southern Albania and" the innumerable vexations which the Hellenic authorities are inflicting on the Albanians." The memorial, amongst other charges, alleges that the Greek authorities have compelled Albanians to take part in demonstrations of rejoicing over the Greek occupation of the country. Any opposition has been met with arrest and. imprisonment. A graver accusation is that a Greek band, numbering 150 and led by Deli Yanaki, in April last forced 72 Albanian notables to leave their villages and depart for Janina to attend a meeting arranged by the Hellenic authorities.

Since then nothing certain has been heard of them, but a telegram received very recently asserts that they have all been murdered. The names and villages of the 72 are given in the memorial. THE A I A P. DETAILS ARRANGED. Telegram.) New York, Friday.

I have reliable information that all essential details have been arranged for the America Cup races in 1914 between boats 75 feet in the water-line. Reuter's New York correspondent sa3s that it is learned unofficially that a (satisfactory understanding has been reached between a committee representing the New Yori Yacht Club and the Royal Ulster Yacht Club, which is arranging an America Cup contest in the autumn of 1914. The competing yachts will, it is. stated, be 75-footers, and the races will be sailed under the new rules of the New York Yacht Club. The Rev.

D. B. Davies, of Walmersley Road, Bury, has accepted the pastorate of the Tenterdeu Street Baptist Church. Bury, which has been vacant for a considerable time. Mr.

Davies was foimerly pastor of the Bury Road Baptist Church, Haslingden. rPSalonika nN rendina 2.0 rv lAnl. 11 1 llJL same A loud cheer heralded the approach of the Crown Prince and Princess. The Prince wore the uniform of his English regiment "The Prince Albert's Own Hussars, differing only from his German regiment, the "Death's-head," by the cherry-coloured trousers and the typical English chin-strap, alwavs a source of wonder and amusement to the Ger-man onlooker. Tho Princess, whose charm and grace have made her fnmnr; throughout the whole of the Empire, wore a dress and hat of old rose caught up at the iMa T.nn.

L- side. by his naval adjutants, and dressed, in honour of his guests, in the scarlet uniform of the English Royal Dragoons, and shortly afterwards followed the Kaiserin, in a robe of "mignonette" green, with green tulle, and a large hat of green ostrich feathers. With her wore the chief figures of this week's festivities, the Princess Victoria Luise and Prince Ernest August. The Princess herself, beaming with happiness, and looking even more slight and girlish than usual, wore a dress and hat of white and a white lace cloak, with a collar of pale blue, tho favourite colour of her future husband. The Prince, whose exuberant spirits seemed in no way suppressed by the dignity, of the occasion, woro the bright scarlet and blue uniform of hie Hussar regiment, with its romantic Hungarian cloak slung over his shoulder.

An English Demonstration. Punctually at 11 30 the Royal train drew up in the station, and the King stepped out of the saloon, to be kissed heartily on both cheeks by the Kaiser, who then assisted the Queen to alight and presented her with a largo bouquet of orchids. After greetings had been exchanged between all the members of the two Royal Families, and the various ladies and gentlemen in attendance had been introduced, the guard of honour marched off with their famous "goose" step, and the procession moved down along the station to the awaiting carriages. The way was led by the Kaiser and the King, who was wearing the uniform of a Prussian general, with the broad orange band of the Order of the Black Eagle. As the procession reached the entrance of the station the English onlookers broke into cheers, astonishingly loud for the me jvaiser, accompanied smallness of tho group, and both King and rvaiser nodded a startled but beaming recognition.

Immediately afterwards came the Kaiserin and the Queen, the latter in a dress of delicate heliotrope -blue and a large hat with clusters of lighter heliotrope flowers. No unpleasant incident of any kind marred the proceedings. It seemed," indeed, as if either tho spring weather or else the general good-will had even softened the hearts of the Berlin polico. In the streets themselves the crowd was treated with surprising gentleness; in tho station an incident happened almost unheard of in so orderly a city as Berlin. Just before the arrival of tho Roval train two suburban trains drew up in the station.

Tho station authorities tried, of course, to hurry the passengers away. But these fortunate peoplo would hear of no such thing. Xot only did they refuse to move, they actually stormed tho" two trains themselves, and from the roofs of tho carriages men and women alike sent down a rousing cheer to the Kaiser, who nodded and smiled in reply. Another incident, which happened as tho procession Was leaving the station. showed the police tolerance.

The car in which Princo Ernest and his bride wero to return was closed, and the Princess demanded at once that it should be opened. The hood stuck and caused some little delay. In a moment a host of photographers had sprung from nowhere, and amid the cheers of the crowd the laughing couple wero' subjected to innumerable snapshots. Both the arrival and entry were in every way aguccoss. The responsible officials are to be congratulated on the perfection with which their organisation worked, and the inhabitants of Berlin deserve hearty thanks for the welcome which greeted the King and Queen all along the route.

The Lord Mayor of Manchester yesterday despatched a telegram as follows fo the Kaiser On behalf of my fellow-citizens and myself I desire to tender to your Imperial Majesty our warm and sincere congratulations on the auspicious occasion of the marriage of your beloved daughter Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria Luise with His Royal Highness Prince Ernst of Cumberland, and "to express our fervent hope that happiness and long life await the illustrious bride and bridegroom." CHINA'S LATEST LOAN. SMALL A IMPLICATIONS REJECTED. The London portion of the Chinese Joan has been largely over-subscribed. A total of 3,000,000 was taken up before the prospectus was issued, and of the remainder subscribers for very large amounts will onlv secure bonds for 4 or 5 per cent of the amounts they asked for, while the applications of small investors, who are a numerous body, will be rejected entirely. The bonds are still at a premium of 15s.

per cent, and London financiers have been very keen to get as many as possible, for the purpose of realising profits. THE MIKADO'S ILLNESS. TEMPERATURE STEADILY; RISING. (Reuter's Correspondent.) Tokio, Friday. The first symptoms of the Emperor's illness were those of fever, the temperature then being 101.3.

Yesterday evening the illness was diagnosed as pneumonia. A bulletin was issued by the Master of the Household late in the evening, stating that the patient's temperature had touched 102.9. His Majesty is lying at the Aoyama Palace, and Dr. Muira and Dr. Aoyama are in attendance.

A bulletin issued at four this afternoon gives the temperature as 103.4. HOLYHEAD ROWDIES' MISTAKE HARMLESS LADIES CHASED OUT OF THE TOWN. Two ladies without tickets sought to gain admission to the hall in which Mr. McKenna spoke at Holyhead last night. They were suspected of being militant suffragists, and xcpra set uoon by a crowd.

iwho netted them through the town. After tome difficulty they i escaped in the direction of Trearddur Bay, a small place two miles distant, followed by some two hundred persons. It was afterwards learned that the ladies were perfectly innocent of any desire to create a disturbance, being visitors staying at Trearddur Bay who were anxious to hear the Home Secretary. The hall in which. Mr.

McKenna spoke was surrounded by constables and plain-clothes officers. No disturbance took place inside,.