The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1908-09-12 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

THE PASSING WEEK.  The Registrar-General report's that the annual rate of mortality in 76 great towns in the United kingdom last week averaged 14.6. Lccidou um; 13, Devonporc 10, Bristol 13, Birnangham 16, Birkenhead 17, Liverpool 19, Bootlc 15, Manchester 17, Oldham 21, Preston 15. Leeds 14, Sheffield 16. York 10, Cardiff 15. Edinburgh 15, Olaagow 14, Dublin 21, and Belfast 13. , a • • •  Sir James Crichton-Browneb in his presidential adcresa to the Assoc,d.tion of Sanitary lnspemors" Congress at l'i.verpool, dealt with a variety of subjects ...interesting to sanitary scie,ntists. lie sa ld they had reason to hope that tubercu far diseases in this country would be aboliscl in another thirty years, hut in view of ; knotty points to be solved, the Royal Corn mission of six years ago shmtld be re.appoi ated, with additional powers. lie emphastiecl be danger of the house fly as a carrier cd disease, and condemned what he described as cesspool literature, which discompose 4 and debilitated the mind, and prepared', the way for hysteria, moral parakvsis, slid nerve degeneration.  S • • •  An official denial was issued from Washington en Tuesday afteraoon of a sensational report published by the " New York World," according to which Am sateropt was made last Saturday to assassinate President Roosevelt at Oyster Bay. The idiots which gave rise to the story. according to the official version, were fired in an adjiicent held, where target practice waa nocee ding.  A terrifying incident occurred. on Tuesday at a banquet given by Cardina'. Merry del Val, the Papal Secretary, to a number of notable members of the clerimal party. The attests were at table when a Arl'olent thunderFtorm occurred, at the height of which lightning entered the dining hall. According to one account, Cardinal Merry del Val was in the act of serving some fish vt;th a silver knife when the lightning Amok the dish, hurling the knife from his Emulence's hand and carrying the dish off the table.  S . • • James William James, the five-year-old son of a Sheffield gardener, died on Tuesday Might in the Sheffield Royal Infirmary. His father, who, it is alleges. attacked his son on Monday in a lit of frenzy, is now at Sheffield Workhouse Hospital in a delirious condition. When arrested on Monday he informed the police that he had struck the boy several times with a spade before stabbing him with a penknife.  A desnatch from San Francisco reports a great shipping disaster. A large steamer stranded during a heavy gale on Alna Reef, about 100 miles north of San Francisco. The vessel broke up almost immediately, and every person on board was drowned.  A coffin made of match boxes is surely a rarity, and vet the mortal remains of Mr. William Biadulph Cross. who died on Saturday afternoon at his rtsidence, 33, Crook-street, Chester, at the advanced age of 84, were interred therein in Chester Cemetery on Wednesday afternoon. The coffin is of the ordinary shape, and much patience and skill have been bestowed upon it. It took Mr. Cross ten years to manufacture and it is said that he occasionally lay in it to see how it fitted.  The "Yorkshire Post" states that a remarkable catch fell to the rod of an angler named Charles Smith, while deeply absorbed in his sport on the banks of the Barnsley Canal, near Old Mill, on Monday. A young woman named Martha Ann Smith, aged 90, with the object, it is supposed, of taking her life, entered the canal at a point not far from where Smith was fishing, but he was so engrossed in his sport that he did not oh serve her. His attention was at length attracted by some men, who shouted to him that a woman was in the lister. Smith could not see the woman, whose body had gone under; but he at once cast his line at the spot where be saw bubbles coming to the surface, and his hook becoming entangled in the dress of the woman, he succeeded in pulling h.,v to the side and getting her out. - - -  S • • • A pathetic double suicide was discovered on Tuesday evening in the East-end of Glasgow. A wood carver,named Andrew Faulds, aged 34, and his wife, 39, were found in the single-apartment 'house, 708. S_pringlieldroad, with their throats cut. The man's windpipe had been severed with a razor, while a breadknife was in the hand of tbe woman. Both bad been dead some time, and sitting beside the bodies the police found a child of four and another of eight months crying bitterly. • • a •  The late Mrs. Sarah Flower, of Stratfordon-Avon, has left estate valued at .04.851 gross. She has bequeathed .£12,000 for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Association. and also her house, Aronbank, grounds about three acres in extent, and landingplace. • .• • .  The opening day of the Trades Unions Congress, at Nottingham, was in large Measure devoted to routine business. A civic welcome was offered by the Mayor. and late in the afternoon the President (Mr. D. J. Shackleton. M.P.) delivered his address, in which he dealt with various measures connected with the interests of the industrial classes. The business has been continued during the week. . • • •  It appears that the victim of the Amerit.un trunk murder, Mrs. Chester Jordon. was born in Liverpool, and afterwards resided in Birmingham and Manchester before leaving for Canada.  King Edward returned to London on Saturday. looking greatly benefited by his stay at Marienbad.  A world's aeroplane record was established at Fort Myer on Wednesday by Mr. Orville Wright, one of the brothers who have gained fame by their aerial experiments. He ran his aeroplane with the utmost precision and control, and remained in the air 37 minutes and 3} seconds. • • • •  Chester Town Council on Wednesday discussed the 9.400,000 Dee improvement scheme. The questions raised bad reference mainly to the allocation of the cost and the probable proportion of benefit to the different counties concerned. It was derided to take independent expert advice before definitely committing themselves to the scheme.