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BA SE LG. EIMOtt ....cvvusvndsy.. President Rs A. Guild ... Managing Director p and Sec.-Treas. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Dail, ( on ) One year, delivered in city. ....... gre year, if pald in advance .. es . ix and three months pro (Semi- Weekly Edition , One year, by mail, cash ........ One year, if not paid in advance. . One year, to United States .......$1.5 Six and three months pro rata. 3. rata, ) Attached is one of the best 'job printing offices in Canada. TORONTO REPRESENTATIVE H. E. Smallpeice "$2 Church St. U. 8. REPRESENTATIVES New York Office 235 Fifth Ave. Frank R. Northrup, Manager. Chicago ribune Bldg. TH Ager. SPIRIT OF INDIFFERENCE. The reliring movement in the Coun- 6il continues. This shows that the aldermen are conscious of their im- pericctions and very willing that: the Givie legislative body should be strengthened without delay. On the outside, and among the electorate, the evidence of activity is not so marked: This is simply inexplicable. No one mow questions the need of a better Council, and yet the desire fof change with the _catepayers is not at all manifest. They have not been seized with the seriousness of the situation, or if so have not awakened to the necessity of action. A lower order of things, with higher taxation as the penalty of = public indifference, would teach lessons never to he forgotten. The people - are - inviting punishment by their indifference to. the public weal, and they may bring about the weckoning they deserve all too soon. --m------------ AFFAIRS OF EGYPT. The changes in Egypt, so far as its goverment is concerned, are promis- ing of peace, and ut/a most, critical juncture in its history. Abbas II, who became the khedive; the fominal ruler, or the ruler with pestrictions a8 to his power and authority, has destroyed his usefulness. He .is one of the many who have been misled by the Germans, and in his abandon ment he will be without much. sympa- thy. the war broke out, he passed, like the sultan and his colleagues, under Ger- man influence, and found himself in opposition to the British government, and in a mood to do it mischiof. It shows how rapidly 'events move, and how the diplomats of the great powers work, that at the time Abbas II was meditating rebellion against the British goverhment and its pro- tectorate--- against Britain, and en route to Egypt to lay the plans for revolt, he was quietly deposed, and a successor found in his nephew. Ab bas, shorn of authority, and in peri] of his life, raced back from Egypt, or its confines, to seek the protection of Ausiria and Germany, and is wel- come to all the comfort he can get from the emperor and kaiser. They may promise him much or little. For the time he is a man without a coun- try, and Francis Joseph and William, fighting for their lives and thrones, will understand him best. The new khedive, Abbas Hilmi, is a son of Ismael Pasha, wno reigned in Egypt from 1885 to 1879, and the British government must have some assurance that he will do better thao his father or he would not be named His father was He borrowed and He sold to Britain his shares in the Suez canal avd by that not gave control of the canal to bri tain. France objected at the time, and order was effected when, by an ar- rangement, England and Fravce were represented in the government of Egypt and receivers for the Suez ca nal. Ismisel Pasha was forced, because his hostility, out of office, in 1379, In Constantinople, at the time | j the war broke out. { praise of British law, British ish direction, appears to be the one great concession which was "absolutely" necessary, and the assurance of it has had the desired effect. mbit EDITORIAL NOTES The friends of Mr. Eilber, M.P.P., want to see him in the cabinet. They do, eh? His name suggests that some one should investigate his ante- tedénts. Ontario doesn't need the services of any one of German extrac- { ton. -- Uf -Canfied, the great gambler, whom Jerome put out of business, and who died recently, it is said, to his cre i dit, that he gave large sums to the churches," "And they took the money without questioning the source -or colour of it. Would the Ideal Man have worshipped -at his shrine ? The attempts to create discontent among the French-Canadians, by | Doutassa, will not succeed. He has 229 | shot his last sholt. The French-Ca- nadians are mercurial in their fpel- ings, but they are not wholly incon- sistent. , They see how foolish they would be to follow Lis leadership. : -- Bourassa lauds the freedom of the United States. He should remové to b a $3 | where, under' the Stars and Stripes, he will be better and happier than Canada. 1f he made the change no one would be "stupid enough," to use his own words, to ask him to return to Canada. This country has no use for agitators of his kind. in The Mail recalls the kind words ex- pressed by Dr. Dernberg, . during a visit to England a few weeks before He was feted in l.ondon, and he was vociferous in his enter- prise, British statesmanship. He was playing the spy then, and he did his part well. The editor of Le Devoir set out to become' a great French leader in -Ca- nada, supplanting Lemieux, and all the rest Laurier, of And he has failed. His dickering with Borden for places in the chbinet Gouin, them. for his followers, and the collapse of the whole nationalist movement ended his dictatorship. Ald. F. S. Spence, of Toronto, has been called a "knocker." Well, he has knocked some things that needed it but he has boosted same 'other things, and on the whole he is one of To- routo's ablest men." The man who never objects is not the best man for a city. If he doesn't sicnally he is no good. knock ocea- Ihe Toronto News makes much of the fact that the liberal party pro- fited by the Orange Lodge desertion of the conservative party. The liber- als have never regarded the: Orange Lodge as a political institution, and #0 has neither used not abused it. It would be well for the News if it gould say- the same for its party. [he Surgeon-General of the Public Health Service of the United States is emphatic in his declaration against * the, pollution of the water lakes. This pollutién is a menace to the millions who use the water for domestic in our purposes. The danger is conspicuous, but the removal of it batiles the United States and Canada for the present. Kingston Events Twenty-Five Years Ago J. B. Murphy purchased fifty tur- keys on the market to-day. Johnston Brown purchased Kemp's hotel, at Sydenham. : Kingston's "kiddies" dre anxiously lavaiting the coming of Santa Claus. Kingston had a severe thunder and {ig :tning storm to-day. No Father's 'Eart, Lor don Tit-Bits You're not nin?" I'm not that." "'S'pose a duke like you don't mind losing arf an 'our." "Look 'ere, Bill, our timekeeper's daughter was married yesterday, and I tell you if 'e's there to time this men' e's no father's 'eart." 'urryin' to work this mo Like Pre-election Promise. Bal dmore Nows. Won't you-get me an automobile derr?" sald the young married wo- ma, ; "But the expense, husband. "Oh! you know you promised io keen nothing from me after we were meiried!" ' wife!" replicd the Hog Cholera Was Costly Windsor, Ont, Dec. 21.--It estimated by gévernment inspectors that the hg cholera outbreak in Ev ex county has to date cost the farmers over $10,000, With 4 con- tinuance of the'vold weather, it is believed that the ep'demic Will soon be completely stamped out. News From Ol London. Miss Elsie Pense bas "arrived in Loadon from India, und is now with Coionel W. D. and Mrs. Gordon. Colonel J. H. V. Crowe, formerly commandant of the Royal Military College, has returned from India, and Ys . {is now employed at the war office in Loudon. . < Ald. J. 8. R. McCann, of Fron- tenac, is the fourth alderman who fms resigned from the City Coun- cf! Eleven Germans Montreal on Does the road way? : Yes, to the very end. . Will the day's fourney take the wuole = long day? i From morn to night, my friend. wind upkill all the But is there for the night a resting place? ' A roof for when the slow, dark hours | "begin. May not the darkness hide it from | my face? You'cannot miss that inn. Shall I meet other wayfarers af; night? . Those who have gone before. Then must 1 knock or call when just! in sight? . ¥ They will not keep 'you standing at that door. Shall I find comfort, travel sore and | weak? Of labor you shall find the sum. Will there be beds for me and all who seek? w | Yes; beds for all who come, --Christina Georgina Rossetti. THE RABBIT FENCE. z Australia's Barrier Is 1,200 Miles Long and Jeslously Cuarded. | From Condon to Hopeiown, cleai | across the continent of Australia ! runs a fence of woven wire 1,200 miles long, and the single purpose of | its construction is to guard the fer tile farm lands from the havoe | making rabbit pest. The entire east. ern part of the continent is overrun with rabbits, but the western' state, the "Golden State," as it is proudly called, is practically free from them | thanks to this seventh wonder of s; fence. Upon the intactness of this | barrier depends the prosperity of every farmer in Western Australia and it is guarded with the eagerness and the care that a beleaguered state takes to prevent a devasting army from passing its boundary. Imported into the country by some immigrant, who doubtless hoped thal they would live and thrive, the orig- inal pair--for rabbits are not native to Australia--have multiplied into a countless horde, hardy, omnivorous and bold. In vast armies they scout along the fence seeking for some en- trance hole, and often travel hun- | dreds of miles to one ocean end of the fence trying to find a place of passage through from the inhospit- able regions to the fertile farms. The most amazing precautions are taken by the "Golden State" to maine tain the effectiveness of its barrier. Range girders guard it for its entire length and keep it in a perfect state of repair. Ingenious trips are in. stalled at every railroad crossing, and wherever a road passes through, rabbit-proof gates are built into the fence. A heavy fine is the penalty for any one who leaves a gate open. Sometimes a "willy-willy," or cy- clone, levels whole sections of the fence, and then it must be rebuilt with all possible speed. Often this occurs in the desert country, through ! which a part of the fence runs, and | then the posts and wire must be cart- | ed on camels from where the rail! road ends. The expense of mainten. ance is large, but the saving to the, fertile farms repays the outlay many ; times in bountiful crops. / A Really Poor Author. When Dr. Johnson was a resident | of Grub street he made the acquaint- ance of a poet named Samuel Boyse, whose poem on the Deity and.other works had earned him high praise. | Boyse could not go abroad to seek' work because his clothes were in| pawn, so he lay abed with his. arms | thrust through two holes in the ine sective blanket, which was the only | covering, writing and starving. | Johnson raised enough money to get! his clothes for him, but two days] later Boyse was in bed again, eating | a stew of beef and mushrooms pur- | chased by the repawning of his suit. | "I might as well eat while I may," he said, "for I must some day starve, whether I will or not." Valuable Pictures Hidden. Visitors to the National Gallery in / London, who are disconcerted to find | blank spaces on the walls where famous pictures usually hang must blame the Zeppelins, All the pictures which are considered most valuable ! have disappeared into some' bomb- | proof shelter. Others, which are usually "skied," have in some cases been lowered to take their places. One result of this precaution seems to have been to decrease the number of students and copy makers. Those who were engaged in copying some of the gallery's masterpieces have had to put their work aside until the end of the war. An Ancient City. Rbodes still survives, a medieval city in all its defensive war gear of tower and curtain and keep. It is the city which the Knights of St. John erected in the midst of the Byzantines after they had been driven out of Jerusalem in the early fourteenth century. Probably few travelers realize how well preserved the tremendous fortifications and dwellings are, Exit the Bellman. i The town's bellman is a function- | ary who has come down with the history of various ancient commyni- ties for hundreds of years, but Stir- ling (Eng.) Town Council recently. resolved to abolish the office. It was decided to ask that thé bell be returned by its present holder, and it he is employed by third parties to make announcements that he pro- Yide a bell for himself, A Bank Privilege. The coffee-stall opened in the Bank of England for the refreshment of the refugees recalls a little-known privilege of the bank---no less than the right to sell beer without a li- cense. This privilege was allowed the bank by the Charter of Incorpor- ation, dated July 27th, 1694, and the directors, if they chose, could open a public house in Threadneedle street Capt. L. Whelan, Aberdeen avenue has left for New York, to spend | Christmas with his daughter, Mrs. J. B. Clarke. ree E. E. Leach, of Toronto, is visit-- ing his parents on Johnson street. SOLEMNITY THIS YULETIDE 4 Saddest Christmas the Old Land Has Known In Many Year, 'It will be solemnity, rather thas merriment, that will make the ob- sorvance of -Yuletide in the : Old Country this year. The Toad which the nation is called on. to bear, however bravely and wuncomplain- ingly it may be, and, indeed, is, borne, is terribly, awfully heavy. | Thousands upon thousands of homes throughout the land have already been rendered deselate by this ti- tanic war which is Keeping no fav-! tos for the great, but is taking its toll--its tremendous terrible toll-- alike from castle and from cottage, Athwart the doorway of hundreds of thousands of other British homes lies, dark and deep and dreadful, the shadow 'of an anxiety too an- guished for words, almost too tense for tears. However confident tie British people is in the righteousness of { their cauge, however proud to real- ize that, in this 'hour of testing, their hearts have been proved not vnworthy of their father's, however ure of the war's' ultimate outcome, - ' a "Happ¥ Christmas' --in the ordin- ry, mundane sense of these words ~--will be impossible to most of them. There will be, one cannot an altogether unwonted sol- emnity in the manner in which this year, amid the griefs and alarms of war, entire nation will observe the gh festival of the Prince of Peace's birth doubt, the For the Troovs. Every soldier at the frent and every sailor at sea will receive a gift from the fund raised by Prin- cess Mary, and also another gift of a i of woolen socks, a woolen body-belt, from "Queen Mary and the .women of the empire." The admiralty and the war office are put- ti forth every effort to send to and Flanders all the ng possible for the use ors and soldiers Par- * the troops in Flanders, cold is. of a damp and odden kind peculiarly dangerous to health and the lives of the lads nn the necessity for x much of tive One hon art that the outh- quately cope with cent want. But private i« gs from the front show that theic fear en this score The of tobacco for 1h troovs is generous. The British . ment refunding the duty on tobacco sent to the men on tive ¢. and the French gov- ernment allowing it to be im- rorted duty gar t fund organized bv the Gazette has done a lot to ¢ ' the soldiers and soldiers in hos- pitals in the British Isles may be supplied with tobacco at duty free And a movement is~#én foot 'a extend this concession to the men in training in camp at home. «1 he tfrenck i the me supply ac servi is free of ¥ neads of front. Sailors NO LIMIT TO SAVAGERY. ---- Lesson to ltaly States. London, * Dec. 21.--The Westminster Gazelte, writing . on the coast raid, Raid's and United i says : "But let it be Ireely conceded that exploits are possible to any power which chooses to take the risk and has no regard for the conven- tions which limit the savagery of war. If Germany was at war with the Uni ted States, or if she chose to declare war at short notice, it would be quite possible for her to open the cam- paign by bombarding the skyscrupers New York or throwing shells on the numerous undefended towns of the North. American coast. , No possible navy can do more than make theses adventures a hazard, for an omnipre ent patrol of the seas is an impossi bility. This country will know how to sustain its own case, and will do 0 by more effective methods than ap peals to anv neutral tribunal, but it es without saying that the neutral nations, and especially those which, like Italy and the United States, have large stretches of board, must be deeply interested in the challenge which Germany has thrown down to all accepted interpretations of the rules of war." these BLINDNESS FROM GUNS. Mary Garden Reports Singular demic In France. New York, Dee. 21. came home Saturday from France eat Christmas dinner with"her mother at the Ritz Carlton. to France in two weeks to resume her Epi. Red Cross werk among the war vie- | tims Miss Garden asserted that an epide mic of blindness has resulted from the concession of heavy guns in artillery duels on the French border 'One of the hospitals with which 1 am connected," said Miss Garden, "is. given over almost exclusively to the new 'war disease," as the men's blind- ness in called. Many war victims are suffering from frozen' feet, too, according to the pri ma donna, U. S. ARMY BILL ADOPTED. No Provision Made For a Larger Ar- | my Or Reserve Washington, Dec. 21.-Carrying prac tically everything the war department asked for, the army appropriation bil} was agreed upon by the House Mili tary' committee. No protision was made for a larger army or reserve. | Around $2,000,000 was provided for ammugition in line with the depart wment's palicy of bringing its reserve up to 9 per cont. The bill carries 3101,000,000, » cut { of ¥3,000,000, but practically the same amaunt appropriated last year. The commitlea voted to grant about $100,000 for use in the aviation branch of the army. "This will pro- vide another squadron of ight air machines. : k i ------ 3 Botha Takes Holiday. Cape Town, Ded. 21.--General Louis Botha, premier of the Union of South Africa, considers that the rebellion apart from the romnding up ot a few stray hands, is at an end. a short vacation on his farm beford undertaking a campaign aguinst German South west Afries. undefended sea- | Mary Garden | to | She will return | Accordingly, be has gone for The largest stock-of Men's and Boys' Clothi ing and Furnishings between Tor- onto and htreal ~ No store buys cheaper ~ No store sells cheaper than Bibby's Limited. We buy for cash. We sell for cash. We have but one price and that price is marked in plain figures. Now then, if for no other rea- portion of your trade. son than a pure matter of dollars and cents we feel we are entitled to at least a Bociety Bramd CLOTHES gun metal checks. ial values. a A A A SAAN A A AN a et At AN BOYS' SUITS FOR $5.50 Sizes 28 to 33. New Norfolk style, good honest tweeds, good making, neat patterns, dark browns, greys and A BOYS' SUIT FOR $4.50 Sizes 24 to 28, new Norfolk style, button up close at neckor with lapels, new patterns, fine quality,.extra spec- oa BIG BOYS' OVERCOATS Sizes 30 to 33, for $5.00. Splendid values, new two-way military collars, heavy, warm, durable tweeds. MEN'S NOBBY ULSTERS FOR All new styles, choice fabrics, ex- pert tailoring, $18 and $20 values, ul- sters, shawl collar coats, Balmacaans, ete. A AAA A A Pi. 5, HNN BOYS' OVERCOATS Sizes 21-2 to 7 yrs. FOR $2.75 Smart styles, good quality tweeds, all colors, Russian style, reefer style, ete. BOYS' OVERCOATS Sizes 21-2 to 7 years $4.50 A At A Regular $6.00 values, belted style, military reefer, new Chinchilla cloths, brown, grey, red and blue. MEN'S BLUE SUITS FOR $15.00 Sizes 33 to 44. Hand tailored from a pure Indigo imported worsted, new- est cut, ready to try on, finished to your order in two hours' time. { MEN'S SHOES FOR $350_ "" Splendid values, sizes 51-2 to 91-2. Goodyear welts, fine quality calf skin. Bibbys 3 comm CHRISTMAS GIFTS AT BERLIN. Children's Presents Arrive From Am- erica To-day. Jerlin, via The Hague. Dec. 21. Af ter long trip from America by way of England, France and Italy, the gifts for German children from the "Christmas ship" Jason arrived her Saturday. A massed choir of school children sang Christmas carols as the | presents were carried into the town { hall, where they were distributed. | Ambassador Gerard and representa tives of the government took part in the ceremonies incident to the arrival {and distribution of the gifts. the DIED ON WAY TO TORONTO. Ledoux, Prominent | Man of Winnipeg. | Winnipeg, Dee. 21.--Harry * Ledoux, president of a large. tobacco commis sion house here, was stricken with | apoplexy on a train near Winona, { Minn., and died Saturday morning He was on his way to visit his daugh ter in Chathcm Academy and also on | & business trip to Toronto. He lived { for twelve years in Montreal. He Iwas forty-feur years of age. | 3 3 ol ag A Careworn Kaiser. | fe | Harry Tobaceo "People who have lately seen the! kaiser describe him as grave and | careworn, and lopking much elder." { says the London Pall Mall. "Hi | lin "they Say, is almost wivite, and {bis former zoldierly bearing and ajr uv! bustin, activity are much sub- idved. 'Lis imperial majesty would | searcel we expected to be bearing ti with the old gayety at such as the present. { "Anxiety must, indeed, be weigh- jing beavity vpon him. All the rnl- ers in hwrope are feeling it, but the {Kaiser has most fo lose in the { sruegle. , 'hh was 'a German writer wi) | once said of him. 'He is 'the only monarch iz Europe who dare not {fad beaten troops back into Li: vapital.' " {+ A Dutch cartoon by Raemaekers entitled "The Holy We«," showing | a smiling Russian giant und an ans- {ious-lovking tiny Turk, who is be- {img pushed forward by a firecs- 'looking "Mahomet" kaiser. The Turk is saying, "He is too big, t wlieh wilhelm replies, "It doas:* matter. Allah 4s the greater, au! 1 am his prophet.™ % fa tine of works in Torento during the pasi year amounted to $19,998,188. od | i 1-2 The expenditure of the department] Announcement ? As I have decided to vacate my present premises in the early sprie of 1915, 1 am now prepared to mak reductions on any monument ths I have in stock. If it is your fin tention of purchasing it would be to your advantage to buy mow. J. E. MULLEN Cor. Princess and Ciergy Streets %" Phone. 1417. Kingston. SKATING TO.NIGHT ARE YOU READY?! IF NOT, SEE US. OBILE SKATES---Ask any hockey player what skates to buy, nnd he will say "Automobile." . : IRE IS A REASON--We are the sole sgents for Kingston. Hockey nnd skating is r zpecinit nd we have the finest line of boots in (he city, We only awk you to look them over before you buy and you won't be sorry : Open Every Evening. Skate Sharpening a Specialty. . are the best