The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-05
CROSS CHANNEL
 SERVICE PROPOSED Great Scheme of AeropIane Promoters In London KISSING THE BOOK 1t Is Claimed That the Practice Is ln- sanitary and Out of FashIon-scot- tish Landordshlp Is In
 Dsfavor.
By PHILLIP EVERETT.


 the road to success. and that seems to be the chief assets of the promoters of a cross-channel aeroplane service. If their optimism is Justified before we are a year or two older we will be booking first return by the air to Paris, and get ting there and back in morning.
 So hopeful of success are the men be- hind this scheme. that they talk con- f1dently of taking luggage in the future. and of sailing in any sort of weather.
 The scheme is in the hands of . syndi- cate, who hope to have 1t completed by next April
 One of the prime movers of the idea is a French count, well known in financial circles on both sides of the Atlantic. The difficulty, hitherto. has been to hnd machine capable of carrying the pro- posed four passengers, not including tho pilot.
 No such machine has been on the mar sket, but the syndicate is now expcrf- menting with nc wtyps of machine. known as the Reaper"
 Twenty minutes, 1t is hoped, will repre- sent the average time of crossing.
 The Law Journal is in high feather about the passing of tho system of kissing the book
 Everybody. 1t says. with any regard for the dignity of our courts will be glad
 
 cally become a thing of the past.
 One change in the bill introduced in tho House of Lords is, it thinks, to bs regret ted. As the bill left tho House of Com smons the witness was required, after the Scottish fashion, to take the oath with up- lifted hands.
 As amended by the House of Lords tho bill provides that "the person taking the oath shall hold the New Testament in his uplifted hand.
 One can sympathize with the desire to preserve the place of the Bible in the ceremony, but the House of Lords has given effect to this desire by . compro- mise, that has neither utility nor histor- .fcal associations to recommend 1t.
 The simpler method of the uplifted hand which has proved to be at once dignihed and effectual in the Scottish courts, is preferable on more grounds than one
 It's special merit Is that it tends to de- stroy the outward signs of religious diff ferences in the court of justice, where since they have no bearing upon the issue to be decided. they ought to be empha- sized as little as possible.
 The eminent position which Nanohss- ter occupies in tho industrial world of today is no doubt largely responsible for the fact that 10 little is populsrly known of her claim to interest as the site of an important Roman fort and center of civilization.
 The citizens of Manchester. however. are giving every aid and taking lively interest in the work of bringing to light the evidence of tho buried past In the second annual report of the Manchester and District Branch of the Classical as- eociation of England and Wales on the excavation of the Roman fort, the ed- itor draws attention to the fact that it is not every great city that is able, by merely peeling off the accumulations of centuries, to, expose to view, under the very shadow of it's railway vfaducts and amid the roar of it's traffic, the rel- acs of vanished empire, to lay bare the very streets trodden by men. who have been present at its own beginning and to pick up objects left there by them nearly two milleniums ago" Yet that fs fin sober truth what was done 1n Man chester in 1907.
 The work of the excavators has been rewarded with gratifying success. Indeed Mir H. L. Jones, whose work at Caer- went Is well known, expresses the opfn1 Ion that "the excavations were worth carrying out for the sake of the finds alone, as tangible record of the h1s- tory of one of our great cities"
 Many of those Roman relics illustrated in the present volume are of great beauty and include ''Samia" bowls decorated and plain, objects in close. signet rings of silver and bronze and inplemsnts-
 The growing indignation in Scotland with regard to Scottish landlordism was clearly reflected in the vigorous Gpeeohes which were delivered at the resumed con- ference of the Scottish Liberal associa- ton at Ayr.
 The delegates unanimously passed rss- olution declaring that small holdings a-x;4 af avA %oi ip 1f~ kH be fixed by land court as proposed by the small landowners bill of last year. were imperatively called for. Mir J. Hamilton said he could not diff ferentiate between men and principles. They should fight with the gloves of and show they were determined to have land court. If necessary they would ret arms and fight against the landlords If they cared to meet them.
 A resolution was submitted by North Argyll, declaring that a forestration of land suitable for small holdings should be strictly prohibited, and that facilities should be granted for land reclamation by small holdings should be strictly pro hibited, and that facilities should be granted for land reclamation by small and moderately sized holdings.
 MT. Murdo Mackenzie. who appeared in Highland garb, seconded If they could not dins a remedy constitutionaliy, they they should not hesitate to break tho present laws.'
 The motion was adopted unanimously.
 e- -
 It is not generally known that the Grand Duke Michael. the uncle of the Czar of Russia, who was exiled for talk ing as his morganatic wife the grand daughter of Russia's famous poet Push- kin, has recently received an intimation from the Czar that he might return to Russia. But to his credit, he refused to accept the invitation unless his nephew would consent to receive his wife, better known as the Countess Torby at court.
 The members of the House of Romanoff are not distinguished for their steadfast- ness, and the fact that the Grand Duke Michael has spurned the pardon which carried with it the restoration of all his titles. rank in the army and as much of his vast estates as are connscated should make him more popular than ever with the English.
 Considerable resentment has been man. ifested in orthodox Jewish circles at the reintroduction within the past week or 50 of the Boy Rabby Craze" There is a general feeling that in permitting child of tender years to conduct divine service. the whole proceeding degenerates into a sacred concert centering around the personality of diminuitive cantor of summers.
 Apart from this, the very fact that ad- mission to the services could not bo ob- tained except on presentation of q priced ticket, lent to the function commercial flavor that was more objectionable. It