A public meeting was held about the middle of May, at Exeter Hall, in aid of the victims of the Liberator smash. The secretary, in the course of his remarks, said that the fund collected for assisting the victims amounted to <£40,000, and he had re ceived as many as 2312 applications for re lief, all of which had boen most carefully inquired into. Seven hundred and six of the applicants were men, and 1599 women, 1413 of the latter being widows. Nearly 500 of the applicants were over 70 years of age, and 66 were 80 and over. The aggre gate loss of these people amounted to <£657,502. Some 62 of the victims had come to what was believed to be an untimely end, most of the deaths being brought about by shock. Seven, he regretted to say, had found their way into lunatic asylums. How many they had been the means of rescuing from an un timely end the great day alone would reveal, but they had evidence that their aid in many instances had been the means of saving life. Not a single applicant whose distress had proved genuine had been turned away empty. They had relieved altogether 2067 persons, a large proportion of whom were found to bo on the verge of destitution. In 1431 cases a second grant had been made, and in 503 a third had been voted, while, in a few, a fourth had been mado. In this way, <£14,147 had been disbursed. He was pleased to be able to state that arrange ments had been made whereby the 500 vic tims who were over 70 years of age would

receive amounts equal to the dividends in their lost investments as, long as they lived. Then there were 300 persons a little under 70 years of age, all very pitiable cases, for whom permanent relief had been pro vided. He hoped that this meeting would revive interest in the fund, for further aid was most urgently required. To relieve all the cases of absolute distress, another <£60,000 was wanted. An old gentleman with flowing white beard told lioW he had been induced by the statements of ministers of religion and others holding influential positions to put the whole of his savings as a working smith into the Liberator companies, and had by the failure boen left almost penniless. 