Best general average for speed (100 to 600 miles), by F. Hub, Philadelphia, Penn. Record, 1,223.79 yards per minute. Long distance record, 1,253.17 miles in 13 days 51⁄2 hours, by bird owned by Fred Bowers, Fall River, Mass, 1898.

Long distance record, 620 miles, by bird owned by H. A. Lippincott, Philadelphia,

RULERS OF THE CHIEF COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD.

Gen. Julio A. Roca (President, 6 years). ] October 12, 1898

Francis Joseph I (Emperor).
Otho I (King)..

Leopold II (King).

*José Santos Zelaya (President, 4 years) | December 1, 1896

FOREIGN COUNTRIES-AREA, POPULATION AND INDEBTEDNESS-(Continued).

THE BRITISH ELECTIONS.

The British Parliament was dissolved September 25, 1900, and writs were issued for the election of a new House of Commons during the following thirty days. The Ministerial majority, which had been 152 in the election of 1895, had fallen to 130 when Parliament was dissolved. At the close of the elections in October the Ministerial majority was 132-a net gain of a single seat counting as two in a division. The following is a comparative exhibit, the member for Stockton, who had changed sides during the session of the last Parliament, being accounted a Unionist and the seat as a Liberal gain: PARLIAMENT, SEPTEMBER 25.

The Government gained 38 seats and the Opposition 36 seats. The Government lost four seats in Wales and one in England, but gained seven seats in Scotland. The Nationalists held their ground, losing two seats and winning two. The Liberals won six seats in the English counties, but lost five in London and the boroughs, and with a gain of four in Wales and a loss of seven in Scotland were two behind their former voting strength. The following is a comparative exhibit of the strength of parties in the old and new Parliaments:

The Nationalists had one English seat and eighty-one Irish seats in the last Parliament, and the figures are the same for the new Parliament. The Liberals had one seat in Ireland in the last Parliament and they have retained it. The Government appealed to the country at the close of the campaign in South Africa, taking advantage of the patriotic feeling excited by the war. The elections were based on a registry two years old, with a maximum of about 6,600,000 enrolled Considerably more than one-third of the electorate did not vote. Of the 670 members, 244, representing a registry of 2,368,475, were returned unopposed. Of these 163 were Government candidates, 59 were Nationalists and 22 were Liberals. cast in the contested boroughs and districts is shown below:

names.

The vote

The highest majorities in the Queen's Parliaments have been the Liberal majority of 128 in 1868, the Liberal majority of 186 in 1880, the Conservative majority of 123 in 1886, and the majorities of 152 and 134 which Lord Salisbury has commanded in 1895 and 1900. The following is an analysis of the professions and occupations of the new Parliament:

PERSONNEL OF THE NEW PARLIAMENT (Continued).

Steamship and ship owners and builders 18 Army officers

Solicitors, in or out of practice..

24

Naval officers

59

4

670

The oldest member of Parliament is eighty-two and the youngest twenty-three. The number of military men of all services is 135.

THE CANADIAN ELECTIONS.

The general elections constituting the House of Commons of the IXth Parliament of the Dominion of Canada were held on November 7. The House is made up of 213 members. Of these, three were elected by acclamation on nomination day, a week before the general polling. A fourth got his seat between nomination day and election day through the retirement of his opponent. Of the 209 remaining seats 204 were contested on the day of the general elections, leaving five seats to be filled on later dates in the year. The complete returns are as follows:

Thus the Liberal Government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier returns to power with a majority somewhat diminished. In the last Parliament it had a solid column of 130 behind it. Its great gains in Quebec did not quite make up for its heavy losses elsewhere, chiefly in Ontario. On the other hand, the front ranks of the Conservative Opposition suffered severely in the elections, the following being defeated at the polls: Sir Charles Tupper, Hon. George E. Foster, Hon. W. H. Montague, Sir Adolphe Caron, Hon. Hugh J. Macdonald (son of the late Sir John)-all of whom were members of the Government that was defeated in the elections of 1896.

The Australian Commonwealth bill was the handiwork of the ablest men in the colonies and was perfected in detail after many conferences. The question of federation was first proposed in 1852, and a Federal Council was formed in 1886, but as it was purely a deliberative body, without authority to legislate, it failed to satisfy the requirements of colonial unity. In 1890 there was a conference of representatives of the seven colonies of Australasia, and in the following year a convention adopted a draft bill for submission to the various parliaments of the group. In 1895 a conference of the Premiers of five Australian colonies proposed a second convention of representatives elected by popular vote and empowered to frame a Commonwealth act. The constitution which was drawn up by this convention was submitted to a popular referendum and amended in several details. After another series of conferences it was resubmitted to the people of the colonies and approved by substantial majorities in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. Western Australia suspended judgment, but subsequently joined the confederation. NewZealand is not included in the scheme of federation. The Commonwealth bill, while following the general lines of the British North American act, was essentially an Australian constitution, adapted to the characteristic conditions and progressive tendencies of the colonies. It was submitted to the British Parliament for the sanction of the home government, and delegates were sent to England in 1900 to urge its adoption. A controversy arose over the limitations imposed upon the right of appeal to the Privy Council. There were conferences with the delegates and with the Australian Premiers, and the Commonwealth act was finally approved by the British Parliament with a few changes of phrasing. These alterations have not affected the principle that the constitution will be interpreted by Australian judges and that the jurisdiction of the Privy Council will be restricted to imperial interests. The Commonwealth act establishes a Federal Parliament, government and judicature, but reserves for each colony the privileges of home rule. The Governors of the federated colonies will be appointed by the Crown. Lord Hopetoun has been commissioned as the first Governor-General, and the new constitution will go into operation in 1901, when the Duke and Duchess of York will visit Australia.

ASSASSINATION OF KING HUMBERT.

King Humbert of Italy was shot through the heart at Monza, Italy, on the evening of July 29, and died in a few minutes. He had been attending a distribution of prizes at a gymnastic competition and had just entered his carriage with his aid to return to his summer palace when he was struck by three revolver shots, fired in rapid