The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-26
LETTERS THREATEN
KING GEORGES LIFE
Some Traced to Youth, Who
Is Under Arrest
DIVINES PESSIMISTIC
British People Who Would ScOrn to
Steal a Shilling Yearly Defraud
Railways Out of Thous-
ands of Pounds
DIyINEs PESSIMISTIC
BY PAUL LAMBETH

BY PAUL LAMBETH
London. January 25.-(Special)-"rh Thrice
happy low lie down9-or as Macready
would have il, "Lowly clown'-"Uneasy
lies the head that wears a CROWN
George Y, most harmless of crowned
heads, has recently been the recipient
of insulting and threatening letters, sew
eral of these demanding large sums to
hush scandalous secrets to exclusive
knowledge of which the writer's lay claim.
Scotland Yard is busy rounding up the
authors of the threats and blackmailing
schemes.
One or two have been traced to youth,
Percy William Collins, now under arrest.
His manner before the trial Judge would
suggest that Collins is a sort of polite
lanatic." He is being examined mentally
and will likely be sent to an insane asy-
lum. When he heard the judges order
that he was remanded for trial, he in
formed the court that "the case was
neither logically proposed or faithfully
maintained 1.-THE state will likely have
to maintain YOU observed the judge.
From such indignity may the Lord de-
lser me-" retorted Collins.
Though the affairs of the world would
seem to have taken on a brighter hue,
the venerable dean of st. Paul's 0Snown
as the Gloomy Nam says darkly that
the devil has a trick of pretending to be
dead when occasion serves. The Rev.
Josiah Perkins leading British Method
ist preacher, agrees that his satanic ma
5esty is surely playing possum.' lie
haV ca
wicked that they have given up hope of
reforming themselves.
Why, 1T is asked. do so many British
people, who would shudder at the thought
of larceny or fraud, or "billxing'' a cab
man, consciously or unconsciousy &C.
fraud railway companies to the tune of
many thousand pounds a year? That
these frauds are perpetrated on an enor-
nous scale is beyond all question. They
are effected in three ways: Many season.
ticket holders use their tickets after they
have expired; others use them for dis
tances for which they are not available;
others pass the barriers saying Season =
or nodding silently who have no season.
tickets at all. Some idea of the extent
of the season-tcket fraud can be gauged
from an interview with Mr.. AllX, head of
the Northeastern railway ticket inspec-
tion department at York, These are some
of the figures he gave for his line alone.
Irregularities reported 1910 $4,000.
Passengers without tickets 1911, 10000.
Sums recovered $150000 to 100000.
with such a loss of revenue Mr..
Allix explained "the company are bound
to take steps to protect themselves in
the matter The difficulty in the way
,a do cebo
PLANTATION that he had left his pass at
home is that in hundreds of cases where
the passengers name and address were
accepted 1T was found that a false name
and address had been given"
Women's voices, they say, are growing
louder. Lady Milly Manners says, so an
aeronaut, who has made tests. finds that
a womans voice is audible In a balloon
at two miles. while a mans only reaches
a mile. This is an alarming development
in a world where it Is affirmed that we
are being driven insane by the curse OF
noise And now some foreigner has in
vented new music machine guaranteed
TO penetrate a distance of six miles Six
miles, Won't life be a treat with music's
latest wiles, Six miles! This is news We
greet with-siclI miles
The eradication of the big game Of
Rhodesia as means of combating
sleeping sickness is ADVOCATED by Dir
Yorke. who recently investigated the
scourge in behalf of the Liverpool Schoo
of Tropical medicine.
The expedition found that sleeping sick
ness was spreading with alarming rapid
ity. Experiments in the Luwonga valley
showed that of $50 different kinds of wlt
animals examined. including lions, ele
plants, rhinoceroses, anteopes, cts, 81
per cent were infected. The chief reser-
Voir of the disease was in the blood oil
the big game, and he urged their remova
from the haunts of man and domestic
animals.
In the heart of Pembrokeshire there Is
lady, of independent means who few
years ago retired from the world. OF ;ht
three entrances to her pleasant villa two
are effectively barred, and the other
might as we'll be barricaded for any sigr
of life or response to knocking. In hel
hermit like existence the lady's sole COM
panions are two cats, to which she is
said TO be affectionately attached.
AT the postoffce there is a pile of un.
delivered letters addressed to her. Foui
Times a day, in accordance with the regu-
lations, these letters are taken out by the
Jostman who is obliged to go through,
the ordeal of knocking, knowing before
hand that he will get no answer The en-
Nelopes are covered with the postman $
writing mo answen" and some are worn
trough by much handling.
To the eloquence of a lady member
who has been advocating the better treat
ment of tramps, the Winchester board of
guardians has succumbed Complaining
that the short nigntshirts supplied to the
1ramps were not enough protection for
their legs in the draughty corridors of
the workhouse, the member argued that
they ought TO be made longer ana the
guardians have decided to add six inches
10 the length Of the garments. The mem
Der also advocated with success the SUBJ
stitution of straw-stuffed American cloth
pillows for wooden blocks in the tramps'
sleeping ward. and as a result no more
heads Will be sent TO the block at Win
chester.
Uses of Whalebope