The Board of Trade announced, February 17th, that in January imports increased $78,145,000, principally in raw materials, including $30,000,000 in cotton. Exports increased $50,515,000, chiefly in manufactured goods, of which $25,000,000 was in cotton textiles.

Canada's new mace for the Dominion House of Commons, to replace the one destroyed by fire last year, is the gift of the late Lord Mayor of London, Sir Charles Wakefield, and the Sheriffs, Alderman A. Touche, M. P., and Mr. S. G. Shead. It was recently on view at the Goldsmiths' and Silversmiths' Company's showrooms, Regent street, W.

Three of the ten men left by Sir Ernest Shackleton on the Antarctic Continent in May, 1915, perished, according to a wireless message received from the rescue party, February 12: A. P. Spencer Smith, Captain Mackintosh and V. S. Hayward.

An important suggestion was made by E. T. John, M. P., to the Executive Committee of the Birkenhead National Eisteddfod and agreed upon unanimously, that a Pan-Celtic conference shall be held in Birkenhead during the Eisteddfod week, to which representatives from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Britanny shall be invited.

St. Asaph, the smallest city in the United Kingdom, which had a population of 1,833 at the last census, has given 400 men to the colors.

Brig.-Gen. Walter Long, twice mentioned in dispatches in the present war, was killed in action late in January. The General was a son of Walter Hume Long, member of Parliament and President of the Local Government Board in the late Asquith Cabinet.

In order to secure an adequate fund for the provisions of aged and infirm ministers, the associations for North and South Wales have appointed committees who are organizing collections throughout the churches. Members of the Llandinam family have given $60,000 to the pensions fund, half for North Wales and half for South Wales.

The Irish-Canadian Rangers of Montreal, who have been touring the principal cities of Ireland, received a royal welcome wherever they visited. Their reception in Cork and Limerick was particularly cordial.

Sir Joseph G. Ward, Minister of Finance of New Zealand, speaking in London, protested in behalf of Australia and New Zealand, that they were determined that the captured Pacific islands should never be returned to Germany.

The Belgian relief steamer Lars Kruse, of 1.460 tons and under Danish register, was sunk by a torpedo or mine near the Belgian coast, February 5th. The vessel carried a cargo of wheat from Buenos Aires.

European War Diary-XXVII

Bul

January 24-Allies bring down eleven German aeroplanes on the western front. gar battalion, crossing the Danube delta, trapped and annihilated by the Rumanians. January 25-British Labor Conference votes three to one against peace at the present time.

January 26-German vessels attempt to shell the coast of Sussex. British take 1,100 yards of Turkish trenches before Kut-elAmara.

January 27-British win strong point near Le Transloy. French check German attacks at Hill 304, near Verdun. Fifty-eighth birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm. British announce extension of the mine area in the North Sea. January 28-British steamer Laurentic sunk. French advance at Les Esparges near Verdun.

January 29-British take two and a half miles of trenches on the Tigris, southwest of Kut-el-Amara. Greek Government salutes

the Entente flags.

January 30-Most severe winter in France since 1803: thermometer at 14 degrees in Paris and traffic stopped on rivers and canals. British launch heavy attacks over frozen ground south of Bapaume.

January 31-German note on ruthless submarine warfare delivered in Washington. French break German lines in Lorraine, near Leintrey. Russians take heights of Jacobini, Bukowina, with 1,158 prisoners.

February 1-Russians force back Germans on Riga front and in Rumania.

February 2-In raid at Gueudecourt, British capture many Germans.

February 3-The United States Government breaks diplomatic relations with Germany. President Wilson addresses Congress. American steamship Housatonic sunk. British advance south of Tigris-Hai junction in Mesopotamia.

February 4-British advance one-half mile on a mile front near Beaucourt.

February 5-Russians repulse Germans on Riga front. Steamship Eavestone sunk.

February 6-British take 1,000 yards of trenches near Grandcourt. British liner Port Adelaide sunk.

February 7-British take Grandcourt. Russians advance on Riga front. British liner California sunk.

February 8-British take strong hill-top positions near Sailly-Saillisel, advancing on both sides of the Ancre River.

February 9-American Ambassador Gerard is detained in Germany.

February 10-British aeroplanes shell Belgian coast. French airmen bombard Karlsruhe.

February 11-British take strong system of trenches on 1,200 yard front southeast of Serre with 215 prisoners; force Turks back a half mile at Kut-el-Amara. Ambassador Gerard arrives in Switzerland.

February 12-American schooner Lyman M. Law sunk in the Mediterranean. United States refuses further overtures for German

negotiations. Italians take trenches with many prisoners before Gorizia. British gain 600 yards north of Beaucourt.

February 13-British surround the Turks at Kut. Fire destroys Piraeus, the port of Athens. White Star liner Afric, 11,999 tons, sunk.

February 14--Count Johann von Bernstorff, German ambassador, and other Germans, sail from New York on the Scandinavian liner Frederick VIII via Halifax.

February 15-Germans admit withdrawal from important points between Serre and the Somme under British pressure. Ambassador Gerard and party arrive safely in Paris.

February 16-New British loan closes with $5,000,000,000 subscribed. Germans announce a small advance in Champagne, south of Ripont.

February 17-British at Kut-el-Amara capture 2,000 Turks. In advance on both sides of the Ancre, British capture heights dominating Miraumont with 773 prisoners. Also capture important positions southeast of Serre.

February 18-German submarines, between February 1 and 18, sunk 121 ships (78 British, 7 belligerents, 2 American and 34 neutral), a total of 245,437 tonnage.

Mr. Robert Munro, the Secretary for Scotland, speaking in Inverness, on the war loan, Friday, February 2. said that was the first time he had addressed a public meeting since he became Secretary for Scotland, and he rejoiced that the meeting should take place in his native Highlands, whe e he had spent a happy youth, and where he still had very many good and loyal friends In supporting the war loan, they would support the British Army, and what an army it is! Its Creds will echo through the long corridors of time, and when he and they lay beneath the sod future generations will tell and re-tell the glorious story, tell how the British soldier was a man in whose vocabulary the word fear was unwritten, a man to whom valour was a birthright and victory his watch word, a man who laid his life gladly upon the blood soaked altar of duty, and so add lustre and fragrance to the proud traditions of our When he thought of these things, he (Mr. Munro) was reminded of the words in the 82nd Psalm

race.

"I said ye are Gods, and all of you are children of the Most High, but ye shall die like men and fall like one of the princess."

What an epitaph, Mr. Munro exclaimed, for a Highland soldier!

The Rev. David Roswell Wylie, son of the Rev. Dr. David G. Wylie, has received a call to the First Presbyterian Church of West Hoboken, N. J. Since his graduation from Princeton Theological Seminary last spring. Mr. Wylie has been in charge of the chapel of the North Presbyterian Church, Cortland, N. Y.

Other times, other wars, are recalled by the death at Cambuslang of one of the few surviving Crimean Veterans of the old 42nd Highlanders (Black Watch), Sergeant David Russell, who took the Queen's Shilling over sixty years ago as a sixteen year old recruit at Stirling Castle Depot. His first experience of the grim realities of war was when his regiment was despatched with other battalions to quell the Mutiny in India. During two years under India skies, the famous "Black Watch" lost many brave men, but Sergeant Russell was among the fortunate to live to come home, with the Lucknow Medal as a momento of his services in India. All honor to these heroes of a past generation!

The need for female labor is becoming more urgent each day, the latest appeal of the Minisrty of Munitions being for 8,000 women for the munition factories. The work is undoubtedly a strain on the unused female muscles, but everything possible is done to preserve the health of the women during working hours, and there are few, if any, "slackers" among the women of Scotland at least.

Fifty pounds was paid for a snuff box which formerly belonged to Lord Nelson. The generous donor of the snuff box stipulated that the proceeds of the sale should be handed over to the Cameron Highlanders' Comforts Fund. It was purchased by a number of naval officers, who intend presenting it to the United Service Club.

With the death of the Duke of Atholl, on January 20th, there has passed away one of Scotland's largest land owners, and, may we venture to say, "land grabbers." The Atholl Estates cover some 200,000 acres, the half of this having been made over to the heir, the Marquis of Tullibardine, on the Jubilee of the late Duke as head of the House of Atholl in 1914.

We have greater hopes for Scotland in the advent of the new Duke, the Marquis of Tullibardine, whose ideas are more in line with the "people" than were those of his father. In 1899, Lord Tullibardine married Katherine, fourth daughter of Sir James H. Ramsay of Banff, the clever daughter of a clever family, and three months thereafter, having volunteered for service at the outbreak of the Boer War, was attached to the 1st Royal Dragoons. During the Boer War, "Tullibardine" raised and commanded the well known "Scottish Horse," and took part with this regiment in both Eastern and Western Transvaal.

Since the outbreak of the present war, "Tullibardine" has done much in strengthening and training the old regiment, and was

entrusted with the raising of other regiments-to form a mounted Highland Brigade, of which he was appointed Brigade Major. Part of the Brigade served in Gallipoli under Lord Tullibardine in 1915, and were among the last troops to leave the Peninsula.

In such times as the present, vast opportunities lie in the hand of the new Duke to retrieve the reputation of his ancestors as "land grabbers," and to be the pioneer of such land reform as would make his praises sound from pole to pole. He cannot take one acre of his vast estates with him when his turn comes, but he can leave an honored name and a grateful populace.

We are pleased to notice that in spite of war time, the anniversary of our National Bard's birth has not been quite forgotten. The statue of the poet in George Square, Glasgow, is beautifully decorated as usual, for which, we believe, the Burns Club are largely responsible. Let us fervently hope that ere another anniversary, the poet's own words may in actual fact be true, "That man tae man the world o'er may brithers be!"

On January 25th, the Edinburgh Scotsman celebrated its Centenary. So January 25th, marks at least two notable events. The Scotsman represents that characteristically solid type of newspaper dear to the heart of Scotland, and we wish it "Long life and prosperity!"

On the 18th of January, the statue of William Ewart Gladstone was unveiled in St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, by Lord Rosebery. In one of his characteristically inspiring speeches, he recalled how in 1880 in a house, now demolished, in that very street, Gladstone was dining, when the news of his political victory reached him. How the vast crowds assembled, and how he had to make a speech to the frantic enthusiasts. He was seventy years old at that time, which indicates his strong personal influence. In finishing his speech, Lord Rosebery said. "These great men form the pedigrees of nations; their achievements are their country's title deeds to honor. The dark mass of humanity passes to the grave silent and unknown. It is these men who stand forth and mark the march of generations. Here stands one who embodies honest faith, honest toil, honest devotion to duty. Let all who pass look up and remember that we rear then this statue, not merely as a memorial of him, but as an inspiration." The statue is the work of Dr. P. MacGillivray, R. S. A., and is a magnificent piece of work.

The members of the London Robert Burns Club entertained on the 25th January, five hundred Colonial soldiers of Scottish descent.

“I

Lord Derby, Secretary for War, in addressing them, made the following complimentary remarks, which were much appreciated: conclude," he said, "that all present are Scotch, and therefore, being in a hopeless minority, I have to admit to you on this occasion that the Scotch are infinitely superior to anyone else. If I were in Lancashire I might not speak so confidently, especially as I know that in the early days of recruiting for His Majesty's Army, I had the greatest difficulty in keeping Scotch recruiters out of Lancashire and keeping the recruits in Lancashire because the attraction of the kilt superseded any other attraction I could offer. You are in one way-and I would say this even in Lancashire-a great example to all the rest of us poor Britishers. You carry your Nationality with you wherever you go, and will carry it generation after generation. This advantage gives you in your Scotch regiments whether they are formed in Scotland, or in the great overseas Dominions, an esprit de corps which is absolutely invaluable. It is a spirit which is growing up not only in Nations, but in all the countries of the United Kingdom."

The question of housing the Rosyth dockyard and other workers is becoming quite a problem. Preferences are divided between Dunfermline and Edinburgh, but the difficulty of accommodating the men is a very real one. Edinburgh is willing to do everything possible to fall in with the Admiralty requirements, and a Committee of the Corporation is meeting to discuss the matter in all its bearings. It will mean a considerable increase in the population, whichever town has the housing of this small civilian army. "A Metropolitan newspaper," The Bulletin remarks, “in a casual reference to Burns, ' questions if he is really a National poet, seeing that he is not read or understood by the 'large Celtic element in his native land.'" The inference is that the Gaelic folk and the descendants of Gaelic speaking Highlanders do not understand braid Scots. It cannot be overlooked, however, that the linguistic change in a not inconsiderable Gaelic area was from Gaelic to the dialect of Burns. Really, what next? England is surely big enough to contain sufficient talent to brag about without trying to encroach, as she so often does, on the talents of some other nation and claim them as her own. They rather flatter us than otherwise; still, "Honor where honor is due," sounds better.

The deeds of heroism performed by our Scottish soldiers-officers and men-are so numerous as to make it impossible to mention them all, but the following are so outstanding as to be an inspiration.

Private David Ross Lauder, Royal Scots Fusiliers, has just gained the V.C. for the following heroic act: Private Lauder threw a bomb which failed to clear the parapet and fell amongst the bombing party. There was no time to smother the bomb, and Private Lauder at once put his foot on it, thereby localizing the explosion. His foot was blown

off, but the remainder of the party were saved, through his bravery.

Lieutenant William Law, of Bathgate, has been awarded the Montenegrin Silver Medal for bravery, and is one of the first of a British unit to receive this honor.

The D.C.M. has been awarded to Corporal Moir, Gordon Highlanders, who although wounded, pushed forward the telephone wire under heavy fire, and captured, single handed, forty prisoners.

Another D.C.M. hero is Lance Corporal J. McKie, Scottish Rifles, who, when his company was held up by machine gun fire, pushed his way into the hostile trenches and then bombed his way along to the machine gun, which he put out of action, enabling his company to enter the trench.

Yet again, Private J. Dunlop, Scottish Rifles, although himself wounded, carried a seriously wounded officer into a safe place under heavy fire, stayed with him all night, and then assisted him to the reserve trenches.

There are dozens of other similar and equally heroic deeds, but these will suffice to assure us that Scotsmen are playing their part in this great struggle, and upholding the traditions of which we in Scotland are so proud.

GRACE DARLING WILSON.

64 Terregles avenue, Pollokshields, Glasgow.

At a meeting in the Sorbonne, Paris, to celebrate the heroic deeds of French women in the present war, a warm tribute was paid to a young French woman present, named Marcelle Semmer, who has been decorated for rare gallantry with the War Cross and the Cross of the Legion of Honor. The speaker recounted the exploit which made Marcelle Semmer famous. It was after the battle of Charleroi, when the French troops tried to hold back the Germans on the Somme, but, being few in number, had to retire across the canal at Eclusier. When they were safely across, this young girl of nineteen, under fire from the enemy, opened the lock, then threw the key into the canal, thus preventing the Germans from crossing for nearly twenty-four hours, and making the retreat of the French possible.

Major General Frederick Funston, commanding the Southern Department of the United States Army, the captor of the Philippine chief, Aguinaldo, died suddenly, February 19, in San Antonio, Texas, in his 51st year.

The interned German ship Liebenfels was sunk in Charleston (S. C.) harbor, the night of February 1st, in an unsuccessful attempt to block the channel to the Navy Yard.

The Cunard Line steamer Laconia, 18,099 tons, was torpedoed without warning by a German submarine and sunk off Bantry Head, Ireland at 10:50, Sunday night, February 25. Of the 294 passengers and crew, 281 were saved. Two American women passengers were among the lost.

Clan Badge: Ivy (ladh-shlat, Eithsann). The Septs and Dependents entitled to use the Gordon Tartan are: Adam, Adie, Edie, Huntley.

The arms of the clan is: Blue, three gold boars' heads couped; crest, in a gold ducal coronet a stag's head and neck front face proper, gold horns with ten points; motto, above the shield, bydand, below the shield, Animo non astutia.

Though the origin of the name and family of Gordon has often been debated, the weight of evidence favors the assumption that the ancestor of the house came from the manor of Gourdon in Normandy about the time of the Norman Conquest, and that he or a descendant was one of the feudal settlers encouraged to come to Scotland in the days of Malcolm Canmore and his sons. Early in the twelfth century, at any rate, according to Chalmers' Caledonia, the ancestor of the race is found settled on the lands of Gordon in Berwickshire. A tradition runs that the first of the name to cross the Tweed was a valiant knight, a favorite of Malcolm Canmore, who having killed a wild boar, which seriously distressed that district of the Border, obtained from the King a grant of these lands, to which the King gave his own surname and, settling there, assumed the boar's head for his armorial bearing in commemoration of his exploit. For three centuries at least the heads of the house were most closely associated with Border history, and when at last they removed their chief seat to the North of Scotland, they left scions of the race like the Gordons of Lochinvar, afterwards Viscounts Kenmure, and Gordon of Earlston, to carry on the traditions of the name in the south. In the Berwickshire parish, a little north of the village of West Gordon, a rising ground now covered with plantation, but still called "the Castles," and showing the remains of fortification, is pointed out as the early seat of the family. The original Huntly The original Huntly was a village now vanished in the western border of Gordon parish, where two farms are still known respectively as Huntly and Huntly-wood.

In 1309 Sir Adam de Gordon, in return

for giving up certain temporal claims, obtained from the monks of Kelso leave to possess a private chapel with its oblations here. It was this Sir Adam de Gordon who along with Sir Edward Mabuisson was sent to Rome by King Robert the Bruce in 1320 as the bearer of the famous letter to the Pope drawn up at Arbroath by the Scottish barons, to declare the real temper and rights of the Scottish people as against the claims of the English Edwards. And it was the same Sir Adam who, in recognition of his services, appears to have of Strathbogie in Aberdeenshire, which had received from Bruce a grant of the lands previously belonged to that king's enemies. Strathbogie was one of the five ancient lordships or thanages which comprised Aberdeenshire, and covered an area of a hundred and twenty square miles. In 1357 Sir Adam's grandson, Sir John de Gordon, obtained a confirmation from David II of King Robert's grant of these lands, and he or his successor obtained another confirmation from Robert II in 1376.

The chief interests of the family, however, were still on the Border, and in the following year the Earl of March, with whom was Sir John de Gordon, having burned the town of Roxburgh, and the English Borderers having retaliated on Sir John de Gordon's lands, the latter crossed the Border, carried off a great booty, and when intercepted by a force twice the strength of his own, in a desperate affray, overthrew Sir John de Lilburn at Carham. In the following year, after another fierce conflict, Sir John had a chief hand in defeating and taking captive Sir Thomas de Musgrave, the English Governor of Berwick. Finally, he was one of the knights who took part with the young Earl of Douglas in the famous encounter with the forces of the Earl of Northumberland on the moonlit field of Otterbourne, in 1388, and there he fell.

Fourteen years later, in the days of King Robert II, took place the great battle of Homildon Hill, in which again the leaders on the two sides were an Earl of Douglas