The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1908-08-29 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

THE PASSING WEEK.  A barman in a Douglas Hotel, named Andrew lielso, died in Noble's Isle of Alan Hospital on Sunday, as the result of a peculiar accident. A week ago ha made a wager that be could swallow an egg whaler and in doing so swallowed a set of false teeth including the framework. Ile was operated on, and the teeth and frame were recovered separately. Mortification, however, bet in, and he died as stated.  A Leeds boy named Harry Johnson. while playing on the banks ol the Bolton and Bury Canal, at Agecroft, near Manchester, with two cousins. was accidentally pushed into the water, which is seven or eight feet deep. A young man appeared at the time strolling along with a large black retriever at his heels. He took in the situation and pointed the drowning boy out to the dog. The retriever plunged in, seized the child by the collar of his jacket, and swam with him to the bank. There the boy was lifted out, and quickly recovered from the immersion.  S • • •  At Lancaster, on Saturday, Itizhard Gelder and Agnes. Gelder. aged fortyfive and thirty-six respectively, were remanded, charged with the manslaughter a Annie Cookson, the adopted child of a navvy. A neighbour deposed to hearing the child screaming "Don't, don't," on the occasion of repeated thrashings; and a doctor, called in when the child was dead, found her one mass of sores, bruises, and incised wounds. She was only half the normal weight.  S II • •  A dust explosion. which occurred in the oilcake works ol Messrs. John ilibby and Co.. Formby-street, Liverpool, injured six men and wrecked the building.  U • • ir  A boy of nine years of age, Robert Alexander Leslie, s.on of a tailor at South Shields, committed suicide with a razor on Saturday. Ills father had found fault with him. _ _  S • • •  A great battle has taken place in Morocco between Alxl-el-Aziz, the Sultan of Morocco, and Mulai Hand, his brother and rival. The latter completely routed the Sultan's forces, and is now practically ruler of the country. Abd-el-Azin was on the way to Marrakesh to punish Mulai liafid, when the latter made u night attack on him and drove the Sultan's force from the field.  io • •  Last year the deaths in France numbered 20,000 more than the births, which have fallen from 32 per 1,000 to under 20 during the lust century.  • • *  King Alfonso arrived in London on Monday night, and joined the Queen of Spain In the isle of Wight the next day.  In the annual report of the RegistrarGeneral of Ireland a further decrease is shown in the population during the past year of 14,671, while the loss from emigration amounted to 39,0132. The statistics concerning the birth rate ben,' favourable comparison with most uther countries. _ _ -  In a wood at Seal Chart, four miles from sevenoaks, on Monday evening. Mrs. Luard, the wife of Major-General Charles Edward Luard, of Hightham Knoll, was found murdered on the balcony of a summer-house belonging to Mr Horace Wilkinson. of Frankfield The lady had apparently been twice fired at with a revolver, and the first shot had been sufficient to cause death. The second ohot was delivered from behind, very close to the ear, and before she bad fallen. There were traces of powder around the wounds.  * 8 • •  Mr. Lloyd George, on the occasion of a luncheon in Hamburg. referred to the agreement on the shim' load lines which had been settled there a year ago, and said why not settle the load line of nation s in the same way. so that the ships of Slate should not be sunk by the burden of armaments.  • • • •  Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, K.C.8.. chief of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, from 1861 to 1891. died at Folkestone ou Tuesday, aged 78.  • • •  ' The annual return of tho lives lost in British seagoing merchant ships registered in the —'nited Kingdom shows that in 1907 - increase of  The "News" comment relative to the lack of support on the part of local people in connection with the carnival of last week, was emphasised by the observation which came from Mr. Edward Case at the distribution of the prizes the other evening. I" I only wish," he said, "that in referee r to loeal events a larger number—of—K.:* competitors had turned out." There does