The Sun. — London, England, 1871-01-18 00:00:00

KNICKERBOCKER SUITS, 9 6J. to 403. ETON SUITS, 15s. to 40s. B R. GIITON SUITS, 18s. to 48s. IDItESS SUITS, 255. to 635. 1 4 1 MOSES and SON supply every description of 4 . clothing, ready-made, or made to measure, for all ages, all occasions, and ail classes ; also Hosiery and Drapery, Hats and Caps, Boots and Shoe; and complete outfits for all climates. All Goods marked in Plain Figures. Any tide exchanged if not worn or injured. List of Prices, with Rules for Self-measure, Patterns, and Fashion-sheet, gratis and post-free. E. MOSES and SON'S Establishments are closed every Friday evening at sunset till Saturday evening at sunset, when busi es& is resumed until Eleven o'clock. The following are the only addresses of B. MOSES and SON LONDON. CORNER of MINOMES and ALDGA,TE. NEW OXFORD-STREET, CORNER OF HART-STREET. COWER of TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD and EUTTON-ROAD. COUNTRY BRANCH. RADFORD. YORKSIIIRN. ITALIAN. OPERA BUFFA COMPANY, (LIMITED). --LYCEUM THEATRE. THIS EVENING {Wednesday), January 18th (for the second time in any country), the New Opera, ALI BABA (written ex pressly for this Company). Boxes on the grand tier, £3 35.; stall tier, £2 12s. 6(1.; upper circle, £1 lls. tkl.; orchestra stalls, 10s. 6d.; grand tier dress seats, 75.• upper circle seats, 45.; pit tickets, 2s. 6d.; amphi theatre, is. THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE.- Sole Lessee and Manager, F. B. Chatterton.—Morning Performances every Wednesday and Saturday, until Saturday, February 25th, inclusive.—T 111 S EVENING (Wednesday), will be produced the Drury Lane Grand Comic CHRISTMAS ANNUAL, written by E. L. Blanehard, entitled the DRAGON OF WANTLEY and Harlequin Old Mother Shipton ! with New and Characteristic Scenery by William Beverly, whose personal services are now exclusively devoted to illustrating the produc tions of this Theatre. The general action of the Pantomime arranged by, and the whole produced under, the direction of Mr. Edward Stirling. Characters in the opening by Messrs. Fred. Yokes, 11. Moreland, Charles Steyne Fawdon Yokes, H. Naylor, Seymour, Firth, Meade , Webber, F. Wright, Master Ransil: Misses Victoria Yokes, Jessie Yokes, Rosina. Vokes H arr iet Coveney, M. A. Basquerville, A. Hamilton, H a ll , Florence Harvey, De Grey, Ross, Tunbrell, Elphinstone, Har court, Lee, Leslie, Mills, White, Burpitt, Rivers, Russell, Hastings. The Harlequinade will include those popular Pan tomimists, forming a Double Company, F. .Ewins, and W. H. Harvey, Clowns ; Paul Herring a nd J. Mor is, Pantaloons ; W. Fawdon Yokes and filtonette, Harlequins ; the Misses Rosina and Jessie Vokes, Columbines ; Miss Lizzie Grosvenor, Har lequina. B. Slowman; Imitator of Birds, &c. Mr. H. Collard, the Pocket Sims Reeves. Master Dassie, the Chickaleary Boy. E. D. Lyon, the Short Footman. Lawson and Garton, the French Tierrots. Master 11. Rawlings, Clog Dancer. La Paqie, the Baby Velocipedist. The Masks and Costumes from Designs by Vandyke Brown. The Music Composed and Selected by Mr. W. C. Levey. The Dances and Action of the Ballet, and the general business of the Children's Scenes, Invented and Arranged by Mr. John Cormack. The Comic Scenes and Tricks, &c., arranged by Mr. John Cormack and Messrs. Evans and Harvey. Doors open at Half-past Six ; commence at Seven. Box-office open from Ten till Five daily. Private Boxes, 1,2, 3,4, and 5 Guineas. Stalls, Vs. Dress Circle, Ss. First Circle, 4s. Balcony, 3s. Pit, 2s. Lower Gallery, ls. Upper Gallery, ad. THE DRAGON OF WANTLEY ; or, Harlequin Old Mother Shipton, will be produced To-night (Wednesday) January 18, and positively withdrawn on Saturday, February 25. Places can be secured from the first until the last date. MORNING PERFORMANCES every WEDNESDAY and SATURDAY ; therefore, to prevent disappointment, an early application for seats is respectfully requested. Box-office open from Ten till Five daiIy.—THEATRPE ROYAL DRURY LANE. lORNINTI- PERFORMANCES of the Grand Pantomime, entitled the DRAGON OF WANTLEY, every Wednesday and Saturday. Children and Schools at re duced prices to the following parts of the Theatre ;—First Circle, Dress Circ le, OYAL DRURY LANE. and Stalls. Box Office open from 10 till 5 daily.-- TH rpHEA.TRE ROYAL, HAYMARKE T. j_ Fifty-first Night of a NEW FAIRY COMEDY. —nus EVENING (Wednesday) at Seven, O'Keefe's Musical Piece, THE POOR SOLDIER, with selections from the original music. Patrick, Miss Fanny Wright? No r a h, Miss Fanny Gwynne• After which, at arquarter to Eight o'clock, a new Fairy Comedy, in Three Acts, entitled THE PALACE OF TRUTH. Characters by Mr. Buckstone, Messrs. Kendal, Everill, Clark, Braid, Rogers, Mesdames Robertson, Chippendale, C. Hill, Fanny Wright, and Fanny Gwynne. Act I. Garden of King Phanor's Codntry House. Act 11. Interior of the Palace of Truth. Act 111. The Avenue of Palms. Followed by UNCLE'S WILL. Mr. Kendal and Miss Robertso n. Concluding with the Farce of THE SPECTRE BRIDEGROOM. Box otce open daily from 10 till S. • PRINCESS'S THEATRE.—SoIe Lessee, Ben jamin Webster. Managers, B. Webster and F. B. Chat terton.—TlllS EVENING, at seven, PEEP 0' DAY, by Edmund Falconer, terminating with the celebrated Quarry Scene. At 8.30 an entirely new grand spectacular extravaganza, entitled LITTLE GIL BLAB ; and How he Played the Spanish D(j)euce. By H. B. Farnie. The music by Frank Musgrave ; the ballet, groupings, &c., by J. Milano ; the new and magnificent scenery by Mr. F. Lloyds and assistants ; the costumes after drawings by Gustave Dore. To conclude with HE'S A LUNATIC. Mr. J. Clayton.--Box Office open from Ten till Five. A DELPHI THEATRE ROYAL.—SoIe Pro prietor, Mr. BENJAMIN WEBSTER ; Managers, Mr. B. WEBSTER and Mr. F. B. CHATTERTON.—THIS EVENING, at 7, a new Drama, in One Act, SMOKE. Mr. Billington, Mr. Ashley, Mr. C. H. Stephenson, Mrs. Billington, and Miss Furtado. At 8.15 ONE TOUCH OF NATURE. Mr. B. Webster and Miss Furtado. To conclude with THE MISTLETOE BOUGH. Mrs. A. Mellon, Miss Elise Holt, Mademoiselle Debreaux, 31(111e. Camilla Dubois, Miss I ellew, Miss M. Cooper, and Miss Bella Moore, Mi. Brittain Wright, Mr. John Rouse, and Mr. Odell V"AUDEVILLE THEATRE, STRAND—. Lessees— Messrs. H. J. Montague, D. James, and T. Thorne.—THlS EVENING, at 7, CHISELLING, Mr. David James ; after which TWO ROSES (19iith night), by James Albery.- Conclude with ELIZABETH. Supported by Messrs. H. J. Montague, David James, and T. Thorne, &c. ; Mesdames A m y Fawsitt, A. Newton, and Nelly Power, &c. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs. SWAYBOROUGH This Evening, at 7, ON AND OFF , LI V ING AT EASE. Messrs. Crouch, Turner ; Mesdames Ada Swanborough, E. Button, and F; Hughes. CUR-DE-LION, Messrs. Terry, Fannon, Fenton, and Turner ; M(Iti31110 Amy Sheridan, E. Button; Santley, Lee, Goodall, &o, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1871 E. MOSES and ON'S - NA - TINTER OVERCOATS, 19s, io £5, B OY'S OVERCOATS, 7s. 6d. to 455. El MOSES and SON beg to remind the public • that the cheapness of an article depends entirely on its rinality. :lila they venture to sly that their prices wit! compare favourably velthlhose of any other ::.) we I I! ealglatld, ADAM and SUN'S S I- • OXFOR D GOAL'S, 178. to 503. CAMBRIDGE COATS, 199, to 50s. KERTCII JACKETS, 156. to 426. SUTHERLAND JACKETS, 19s. 6d. to Ms. BUSINESS SUITS, 28s. to 60s. MOSES and SON'S easy and accurate system J• of self-measure enables them to execute orders by post with the guarantee of a faultless 1 MOSES and SON'S FROCK CO Vr.S, 245. to 635. "DRESS GOATS, 255. to 60s. ORNlisill TROUSERS, lls. ticl. to 21s. DRESS TROUSERS, 12s. 61 to 2C hi. MOURNING SUITS, 28s. to £5. - L1 MOSES and SON invit r special attention to their large stock of GEN fLEMEN'S DRESSING ROBES, at 18s. to 20 Guineas ; the assortment is unequalled for variety of materials and designs, and neatness and elegance of finish. T 2 MOSES and SONS 144 • BOYS' CLOTHING : OYALTY THEATRE. -TO-NIGHT, ALL JANUARY 18.- Seventh time of an original Comedietta, by It. Reece, in Two Acts, entitled DORA'S DEVICE. At 7.30, DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND ; at 8.15, DORA'S DEVICE ; concluding with WHITTINGTON JUNIOR and his SENSATION CAT. 11, ADAME IUSSAUD'S EXHIBITION, Baker street.—On view Portrait Models of the etc-Emperor and Empress of the French; and Prince Imperial. Also, Marshal Bazaine, Marshal Canrobert, General Trochu, &e. &c. — Admission, ls. ; Children wider Ten Years of age, 6d. Extra Rooms, Gd. extra,. Open from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m. MA fi n ti A ve ll t lE on TU vi S e‘ S y A p U ort D ra 'S it xI EXHIBITION, eIs 0I the i ß n g ak r and Crown Prince of Prussia, Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern. Also Count von Bismarck and Count von Moltke.—Admission 18.4 children under ten years of age, Ott. Extra rooms, Gd. extra.— Open from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m. 11 MANUFACTURING AND COOPER, MANUFACTURING STATIONERS, 192, FLEET-STREET (CORNER OF CHANCERY-LANE), LONDON (E.O ). niE PUBLIC ,UPPLIED AT WHOLESALB PRICES, AND JARRIAGE PAID to the COUNTRY ON ORDERS OVER 20e Per ream. e. d. Pine Cream Laid Note; a cheap paper..... . Superfine Cream Laid Note ; much approved ... 4 0 Superfine Thick Cream Laid Note ;e - sPecially recommended 6 6 Extra Superfine Double Thick Cream Laid Note .... 7 0 Straw Paper, "Patent;" adapted for rapid writing ............. 2 6 Large Commercial Note Papers as., 4s. its., and 6 0 Foolscap Papers, blue or cream.......... 105. 6d., 12s. 6d., and 14 6 . . . . . Outsides Foolscap Letter Paper for scribbling plain, 45.•, rnled ditto, 4 6 Tinted Lined Note five quires for is. 6d., or 5 6 Stew Vellum Wove "Club House" N ote, live quires for 2s. 6d. Superfine Cream or Blue Envelopes, 4s 6d, 5s 6d, & 6s 6d .. Large Blue Wove Commercial Envelopes, 4s 6dl . per 1,000 Cheap Buff Colour, for circulars, &0., As. . COLOUR STAMPING (Relief) reduced to is. per 1 100. Polished steel dies sunk by the best artists in the trade at about half the prices charged by tho retail houses. An ILLUSTUATED CATALOGUE, containing full descrip tion, with prices of Account Books, Copying Presses, inkstands, Stationery, Cabinets, Postage Scales, Despatch Boxes, Travelling Writing Oases. Desks. post free. Established 1841 'FOHN GOSNELL- and CO.'S CHERRY TOOTH PASTE is greatly superior to any tooth powder; gives the teeth a pearl whiteness, protects the enamel from Oec9.y, and imparts a pleasant fragrance to the breath. Price Is. dd.— Red Bull Wharf, 103, Upper Thames street, London. NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE. GUA AMAItELLA restores the Human Hair ri k _ to its Destine hue, no matter at what age. J NO. GOSNE LL and CO. have at length, with the aid of one of the most eminent Chemists, succeeded in perfecting this wonder ful liquid. It is now offered to the public in a more concentrated form, and at a lower price. Sold in bottles, Is each; also 55., 7s. 6d., and 15a. each, includ lag brush. Red Bull Wharf, Angel-passage, 98, Upper Thames-street, Lon ion, E.C. THEATRES, AND AMUSEMENTS. ITALIAN OPERA BUFFA, LiroEum--„Ali Baba. DRURY LANE—RuIe Britannia. Dragon of Wantley. COVENT GARDEN —Lottery Ticket. Sleeping Beauty. ADELPHI—Smoke. One Touch of Nature. Mistletoe Bough. HAYMARKET—The Poor Soldier. The Palace of Truth. Uncle's Will. The Spectre Bridegroom. VeunEvlLLE —Chi s elling. Two Roses. Elizabeth, or the Invisible Armada. OPERA CoMIQUE —t Blue Devils. Found Drowned. The Lottery Ticket. STRAND—On and Off. Living at Ease. Coeur-de- Lion. ST. JAmEs's—To Oblige Benson. War. Bombastes Furioso. OLYmPic—Poppleton's Predicament. Nell and (Bur lesque) Paul and Virginia. ROYALTY—Dora's Device, Whittington Junior and his Sensation Cat, and Diamond Cut Diamond. GAlETY—Operetta. A Christmas Story. Alladin 11. QuEEN's—Charles 11. Richelieu. GLOBE—Rights of Woman. Delicate Ground. The White Cat. Rely on my Discretion. HOLBORN—Ticket-of-Leave Man. Jezabel. PRINCE OF WALES'S. Queen Stork. Ours. Locked In. PRINCESS'S—Peep o' Day. Little Gil Blas. He's a Lunatic. ASTLEY'S—Englishmen in Paris. Little Tom Tittlemouse. SURREY—Farce. My Son Jack. NATIONAL STANDARD—Farce. Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross. SADLER'S WELLS—Sinbad the Sailor. EGYPTIAN HALL—Poole and Young's Panoratho of the Franoo-Prussian War. AMPHITHEATRE AND CIRCUS 4Holholll)—Scenes in the Arena. ST. JAMES'S HALL.—Christy Minstrels. Every evening. ALHASIBRA—New Musical Entertainment, "*Superba..' POLYTECHNIC—Professor Pepper's War Lecture. After noon and Evening. PALMS RoYAL—Perfonning Gorilla. MADAME TUSSAUD'S (Bakor-street) —From 10 a. in. till 10 p.m. is.; extra room , , 6d. (41, 1 11j r t'r f , *, ui PEACE. In a remarkable letter from the German lines round Paris a correspondent of the Daily News' a strong German sympathiser, expresses his convic tion that the subjugation of France by Germany is impossible, if the former fight on : To compare great things with small, did the reader ever chance to ignite a box of lucifer matches, and then try to stamp out the fire ? When he is at work in one place there is fizzing and sputtering in another the sulphur sticks to his fingers, he moves them to the corner where the sputtering and the fizzing is, and just where he has left there breaks out a similar bewildering and irritatinc , ebullition. This is on a small scale, the history of a hostile p occupation of a c ountry determined to resist to the very end, and to dare everything for the sake of giving the invader no rest. No country can stand such a strain for long. Scotland, Spain, Prussia herself, supply examples of such invincible resistance. The writer ha 3 arrived at this conviction reluctantly and against his sympathies; and he adds that the German leaders are of the same opinion. Thero can, indeed, be no doubt that Germany would be delighted to make peace. Everything points to the folly of continuing the war. But, then, the one party desires to have what the other will not give, and so the struggle goes on, and may yet continue long. ARMY REFORM. " Rumour is busy with a project which causes con siderable disquiet to Army Reformers. It is said that a Committee, or Board, is to be formed, nominally to assist the Secretary for War, and to ensure the harmonious working of the Horse Guards and the War Office. But the real 'object of this proposal, it is further hinted, is to enable the Commander-in-Chief, and the system which he practically controls, to tide over the disaffec tion which is openly expressed towards both." The Daily News, which prints this remarkable state ment, does not guarantee its accuracy; but it would hardly give it currency unless there was some fire behind the smoke. There can be no harm in making it plainly understood that such a trick would deceive nobody, and would have no ,effect beyond discre diting its originators. The demand for reform (with or without increase of strength) the army is not mere shuffling o f a d m i n i s t ra ti ve cards.thbe 11 Undoubtedly by a doubtedly such devices have been tried before, and it may be well, therefore, to anticipate a repetition of them. THE MILITIA. Lord. Airlie considers that by our present mode of dealing with the Militia we cut ourselves off from the agricultural labourers, who ought to be one of its main sources of supply. They are engaged by the half-year ; and it cannot, there fore be expected they will sacrifice the chance of four or five months' wages. If instead of the Militia being called out for a month each year, for five years, every man who enlisted fur military service were required to undergo six mouths' training this obstacle would be avoided. So long E UIN , LONDoiN WE DNESDA Y, JAN UARY 16, 1 0,1. as we call out Militia for twenty-eight days' training only per annum, it is inevitable that there should be a great waste of power and a useless expenditure. The artillery sergeant instructors deteriorate for want of practice. One of these men is now keeping a co-operative store at Woolwich ; another is working in a flax mill; and this at a time when our deficiency in artillery is notorious. Lord Airlie proposes that at the end of the six mouths training, as many men as are required to fill up vacancies in the line should volunteer into it, ant the others should return to their usual avocations, but being liable to be called out for service under certain con tingencies. They would form the reserve battalions of the line, and might be mustered twice a year without interfering too much with their ordinary work. Any scheme of military reform must, in Lord Airlie's opinion, take the power of appointing militia officers out of the hands of the Lord Lieutenants of counties, and vest it in some one directly responsible. which they might wish to keep private. It' is i nportant that such practices should receive no sort of oflicialsanction, and it is well that an attempt to send county court notices by such means has been checked. Registrars, it seems, have lately been for warding county court processes to each other by bock post, but the 'I reasury has ordered all registrars to send documents in closed envelopes. The hint is required for some of our County Court Judges, one of whom, in adjourning a case, directed that the notice of adjournment should be sent to the interested party by post-card, so as to save half the postage. An officer of the Court pointed out that as the postages of the Court are paid out of the Consolidated Fund by the Treasury, nothing would. be saved to the litigants, but the Consolidated Fund would save a halfpenny at the expense of the Post Office. It has been remarked that in a village shop, which is often the local post office, a terrible amount, of gos sip might arise from the sight of a legal notice. There is plenty of legitimate business for post cards to do, without unduly revealing private concerns. USE OF THE SUNFLOWER. It is not generally known that our eommonEng- lish plant, - the sunflower, posses many valuable properties. Its cultivation is extremely useful in marshy lands, as neutralising malaria; and scientific men have recently called atten tion to this fact. In Russia and Germany however, where it is largely cultivated, it is turned to more immediate profit. Russian husbandmen discovered that the seed contained 40 per cent. of a sweet oil which is only second in value to olivo oil, and a considerable profit is derived from it. German farmers, learning this, have taken. up the cultivation, and employ the oil as a lubricator for delicate machinery as well as for household pur poses. The great increase of complex machinery makes the supply of this kind of oil a matter of impor- tance. Every part of the plant is, however, utilised. The broad, strong leaves are turned into manure, trom the sturdy stalk potash is made, and the residuum becomes oil-cake for feeding cattle. Such are the various uses of the sunflower. It is a singu larly hardy plant, growing readily in India as well as in Russia. Our English agriculturists might profit by the hint, and turn it to more account. WAR A OUTILANCR. Count Bismarck's circular in reply to the charges of brutality preferred against the German troops must be esteemed the lamest of the State papers coming from his accomplished hand. He does not deny the accusation against the German soldiers, but retaliates by charging the French with equally bad behaviour. This is a very poor excuse. Two blacks do not make a white. The fierce hatred now displayed by the French against the Germans would never have risen to such a degree of intensity had not the conduct of the Germans degenerated after Sedan. Surely it is the province of the victorious party to set the example of mercy. Most of the atrocities on the French side have been committed by the peasan try, for whom the Government cool t not be respon sible, and ho take to secret murder as the only means of revenging their deep injuries; whilst the crimes attributed to the Germans were the work of regular troops under the most rigid discipline. DISTRESS AT VERSAILLES. It is pleasant to notice a movement which has been set on foot for the relief of the great and grow ing- distress among the non-combatant population in and about Versailles and the rest of the environs of Paris. Archbishop Manning, the Rev. Dr. Brock, Mr. Alfred Tennyson, and Mr. Ruskin are amongst the leaders in this new charitable undertaking, in which the clergy of the Church of England likewise most cordially join. The need for assist ance is great. The inhabitants of the district round Paris have antlered tar months of that incessant devastation-which is the inevitable accompaniment of a siege, however mildly conducted. Destitution pre vails all round the capital. In some places it is appalling. The movement will do a good work, and it is not unlikely that it may pro eed further when its immediate object has been accomplished. SERGEANT HOFF. Some excitement has been produced in Paris by the discovery, or supposed discovery, that the notable Sergeant Hoff was a Prussian spy. A short time ago he became very popular on account of his exploits among the enemy. He wont out at night, and returnel declaring that he had shot two or three Prussians, and brought their helmets to exhibit as trophies. He disappeared at the battle of Champigny, and his mistress, a Frenchwoman, whom he left behind, has disclosed some suspicious circumstances in connec tion with h;m. His accusers declare that his real name was Henze], and he was a lieutenant in a Bavarian regiment. People now -remember that the expeditions which gained him so much credit were carried on in rather ft strange fashion. He started with several companions, but generally returned alone, saying that his friends were shot. Thcee who returned without him report that he always carried on his business alone. He made them stop at a particular point, and went by himsolf on what seemed to be the dangerous part of the under taking. A shot or so would be heard, and Hoff would return with the usual trophy of success. When he fired shots in the presence of others, they were always without sueceas., This daring individual, who exhibited a dexterity worthy of a better cause, is said to have met his late at the hands of those whom he betrayed. A detach, ment of Free-shooters of the Seine say they could not mistake hi i identity, and that they took him prisoner a few days ago at Bezons, recognised him, and shot him. Sergeant Hoff's name will figure prominently in the annals of the spy system which the Prussians have carried on with such extraordinary success during the present war. It would, however, be interesting to know whether all these romantic adventures are true. There seems to be some doubt on the point. HABITUAL CRIMINALS ACT. The Ordinary of Newgate, in his recent report, alludes to the difficulties which are put in the way of discharged prisoners obtaining work by the Habitual Criminals Act. He does not think it was ever intended that a person who had only committed a slight offence should be photographed, and a description of him sent to the police, and feats that injurious results will follow from this indiscriminate practice. No one should be treated as an habitual criminal, unless he has given conclusive evidence to that effect by having been frequently in prison, or by associating with thieves. Those in charge of prisoners can readily furnish such tests of character, more especially if the prisoners are care fally classified. The consequence of the police following closely upon the steps of the discharged prisoner is that the unfortunate man can gain no em ployment, and his attempts to lead a reformed life are quite unavailing. The Ordinary is in favour of a scheme for letting offenders come gradually to the enjoyment of complete emancipation. The Dis charged Prisoners' Aid Society does much, but cannot meet all the requirements of the case. Industrial hemes are greatly needed for those who have no respectable friends to go to, when discharged from prison on license. Their labour might pay for their maintenance, and what was over be saved for their benefit at the expiration of the license. Others might emigrate or be sent to different parts of the country where there is a demand for labour. It may be remarked that though it is undoubtedly an un fortunate thing that prisoners cannot find employ ment, most prisoners for whom the Habitual Act was intended, never sought any work, nor coul dthey be induced to do it. RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. A locomotive engineer calls attention to the insuffi cient supply of sidings as one great cause of railway disasters. Where the traffic is heavy, and the trains numerous, a complete rearrangement should be adopted. In some places separate lines might be made to connect several sidings together, and the number of communications with the main line might thereby be reduced. Refuge sidings, upon which goods trains could he placed when the line has to be cleared, should be provided upon a much more comprehensive scale than has yet been adopted. Few railways in this country, says this authority, arc , provided with sufficient " lay-by " sidings, and it frequently happens that the only way of clearing the line for a passenger train is by shunting the goods trains from one main line to another, thereby block ing up the opposite line of rails, and totally impeding the traffic on the other line until the train shunted for has passed, and the train shunted has resumed its proper line of rails. POST-CARDS AND COUNTY COURTS. Among the manifold advantages of post-cards one drawback was at the very outset apparent. Heedless or unscrupulous persons might make them a means of insulting their correspondentsby sending.matters on post - cards open to general inspection If s 4tl Is It• HER MAJESTY. OSBORNE, Jan. 17. The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, accompanied by Prince Arthur and Princess Beatrice. The Queen went out this morning, accompanied by Princess Louise. THE ST. PANCRAS GUARDIANS. The guardians of St. Pancras display a morbid although not unintelligible dislike to inquests. It is not likely to be shared by reflecting people generally. It is not yet forgotten that the inquests on Daly and Gibson led to the revelations on which the labours of the Workhouse Infirmaries Association were founded, and were the direct moving cause of such legislative improvements as have since been effected by the bills of Mr. Hardy and Mr. Goschen. The real griev ance appears to be that at recent inquests some very unpleasant evidence has been made public as to the ne glect of the sick at night ; it is, however, much better that the guardians' feeling should be hurt, even to this ex tent, than that we should lose the benefit of the light thrown upon workhouse interiors by the coroner's lantern. A death may be perfectly " natural " and yet attended by circumstances of aggravated cruelty. An inquest is held on every case of death in prisons. The dying inmate of a workhouse is hardly less helpless and dependent upon public authorities than the dying convict ; and there is no valid reason why greater precautions should be taken to ensure adequetely humane treatment for the one than for the other. Pauperism is a great offence ; but a sick pauper is not necessarily a great criminal. The coroner's inquest is by no means a useless safeguard, and it might perhaps be well if it were applied more instead of less extensively.—Pall Mall Gazette. Mr. Stansfeld, M.P., is at Halifax. On Thurs day evening he will address a meeting of his constituent. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mrs. Lowe are visiting the Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury, at Hatfield. The vicarage of Scampton, near New Mahon, Yorkshire, has become vacant by the death of the Rev, Simon Sendall. Mad. Agnose Schebest, once a very popular dramatic singer, and afterwards the wife of Dr. Fr. Strauss, died lately at Stuttgart. It is reported that the people of Boston (Massa chusetts) have decided upon holding another " Monster Musical Festival" in June, 1872. The band and chorus are to number 20,000. The hall to be erected for the occasion, is to accommodate 100,000 persons. A. marriage is said to be arranged between W. H. Walrond, Esq., of the Grenadier Guards, eldest son of J. W. Walrond, Esq., of Bradfield, Devonshire, and grand son of the late Lord Bridport, and Miss Pitman, only daughter and heiress of the late W. Pitman, Esq., of Dunchidedock. The First Lord of the Admiralty was visited pro fessionally on Sunday and Monday by Mr. Robert Ellis, at Bedwell-park, Hertfordshire. The medical report pronounces Mr. Childers' general health to be somewhat improved by the country air and repose. But it expresses the opinion that a complete abstinence from all official duties for at least a month would be of the greatest value to him, and decidedly advance the prospect of his complete recovery. The Belfast correspondent or the Pall Alall Gazette telegraphs that the Belfast land sessions opened on Mon day, before Mr. John Hastings Ottway, Q.C., chairman of the county Antrim, when the first case under the Ulster Tenant Right custom was disposed of. The claimant was a widow named McKeer, residing at Bally carry, county Antrim, and the respondent was Joseph Bigger, of Belfast. His worship granted 2450 as com pensation, the claimant to remain in possession of the farm till November, 1871. AMATEUR DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT IN AID OF THE POOR OF NOTTING HILL.—A successful amateur dramatic entertainment in aid of the poor of the district was given at Notting Hill on Mon day evening. Though the weather was unfavourable, the Ladbroke Hall, Ladbroke-grove, was well filled. Three pieces were put upon the stage, being " The Loving Cup," " Turn Him Out," and " The Happy Pair." These were presented in a manner that was thoroughly appreciated by the audience, and if in some instances there had been a little more preparation in the parts and in others a little less obtrusive straining after effect, the performance would have been deserving of still higher praise. As it was, it reflected much credit upon those engaged in it. MIDDLESEX SUICIDES.--fn analysing the statistics of inquests held as Coroner of Central Middlesex, Dr. Lankester points out, in his seventh annual report just prepared, that the proportion of suicides to the popula tion in England and Wales is 1 in 12,000 of the popula tion, while the proportion in Central Middlesex is about lin 13,000 of the population. The figures seem to spew that of all causes of death suicide is the most constant. The proportion in which the sexes commit suicide is nearly everywhere the same. It may be stated that the proportion of male to females is as five to two. The ages at which suicide is committed are for the seven years nearly the same. One in twelve are young people under 20 years of age ; a larger proportion amongst people above 60; and the remainder, nine-tenths of the whole, equally divided amongst people from 20 to 40 years of age. A further analysis of the cases shews that, as a rule, women prefer taking poison and drowning them selves. Of the twenty-three cases of female suicide in 1868-9, six were from poison and ten from drowning. Women seldom cut their throats or hang themselves, whilst of the sixty-six cases of male suicide, exactly half chose these methods of self-destruction. Men are also more given to jumping out of windows and from the tops of high places.—British Medical Journal. TIIA CKERAY'S AMERICAN OYSTER.—iII London he had been very curious in his inquiries about American oysters, as marvellous stories, which he did not believe, had been told him of their great size. We had taken cane that the largest specimens to be procured should startle his unwonted vision when he came to the table, although I blush at the remembrance of it now, we apologised ih our wicked waywardness to him for what we called the extreme smallness of the oysters, promising that we would do better next time. Six bloated Falstaf fian bivalves lay before him in their shells. I noticed that he gazed at them anxiously with fork upraised, then lie whispered to me, with a look of anguish, " How shall 1 do it?" I described to him the simple process by which the free-born citizens of America were accustomed to accomplish such a task. He seemed satisfied that the thing was feasible, selected the smallest ono in the half-dozen, and then bowed his head as if he were saying grace. All eyes were upon him to watch the effect of a new•sensation in the person of a great British author. Opening his mouth very wide, lie struggled for a moment, and then all was over. I shall never forget the comic look of despair he cast upon the other five over-occupied shells. I broke the perfect stillness by asking him how he felt. "Profoundly grateful," he gasped, " and as if I swallowed a little baby."—" Our Whiveriny Gulle in the Athentie Monthl y. BROKEN CABLE LINES. Great disappointment is felt at the prolonged' delay in repairing the two broken Atlantic cables. It seems, however, that it arises from no especial difficulty in the case itself, but entirely from the stormy and unfavourable Mate of the weather. A fine calm day is a sine gna non for repairing a submarine telegraph, and it is quite p6s slide, off Heart's Content, that a .fine day may be waited for the whole winter through in vain. Dense and blinding fog, tempestuous seas and raging winds, are the rule at this season, and the atmosphere is sel dom clear for many hours together. Those best quali fied to form an opinion think it likely that the desirei opportunity will not be obtained before the spring, though when it does come the splicing will be quickly effected. Both the 1865 and 1866 cables are believed to have been broken by the dredging apparatus of — the fishing vessels, and it is, there fore, proposed, in future, to have a very lit.nit intermediate line- between the shore end, which is always enormously thick to resist the 'Sing and the breakers, and t 1.19 slender cable for the deep sea. The repair of the two cables will most likely be fol lowed by a substitution of a strong connecting link, and the deep sea cable I etween the Newfoundland shore end. At the present moment telegraphic commu nication with India is temporarily interrupted, owing to a fault in the Falmouth and Gibraltar cable, but this, it is hoped, will soon be remedied. PRESENTATION TO MISS CARPENTER. The people of Seinde have just shewn their appre ciation of the valuable services which Miss Carpenter has rendered to the Indian empire by her exertions in promoting the progress of female education. They have presented her with a tablecloth most elaborately embroidered- in gold and silver. The design of the whole is beauti ful, and has been carried out with great skill in all the details. . 3 1. a inscription worked in the centre of the cloth in silver letters contains the words, " Presented to Mary Carpenter, from. Scinde," while verses in Persian characters surround the border. The cloth was contained in a silver box, and accompanied by a splendid engrossed address. Many signatures were attached to it, including those of six native female teachers, and the address itself bears strong testimony to the value of the work which Miss Carpenter has performed in India. THE GOVERNOR OF BOMBAY AT KATTYWAB. Sir Seymour Fitzgerald has been making a tour in Kattvwar, and has held a grand durbar at Rajcote, at which all the principal chiefs of the State were present, besides the political, military, and civil , officers. All the due formalities of a great State reception were observed, the four chiefs of the first rank being receivLd with salutes of eleven guns each, and after the presentation of an address (in English) and his Excellency's reply, each of the chiefs was presented to him, and gave the usual offering of embroidered cloth, &c. A more interesting ceremony afterwards took place at Rajcote, when the Governor opened the Raj koomar College, an educational institu tion for the young princes of Kattywar. This is an establishment which has long been wanted, for the sons of the native chiefs are brought up in the midst of their courtiers, seeing and learning nothing of the outer world in which they are to rule. Sir Seymour Fitz gerald, in his speech at the Durbar, impressed upon the chiefs the importance of providing a good cvl uca tion for their sons. The college is a ncblo building, constructed of the white sandstone of Rajcote. The young students will have the opportunity of develop ing their physical as well as their mental powers there ; and the Governor brought this point especially under the notice of the fathers. The Erpeeciles delivered at the inauguration were full of interest, and the whole affair passed off most brilliantly. A. TRADE IN FORGED NOTES. A most extraordinary story comes to us from New York, which speaks but indifferently for American national honesty. Some swindling firms formed The ingenious design of trading in forged notes, not in the ordinary way of passing them, but by getting paid by dupes for their manufacture. There was a fraud within a fraud, and it proved very profitable to the inventors, who sometimes received £BOO a day. The plan was to obtain the names of likely dupes in all parts of the country, and to send them circulars, stating that the forged notes defied detection, and that orders for them, made out as if for cigars, were to be sent to the offices of the firm in New York, when the required amount would be returned by express. The price was five dollars for every hundred dollars' worth of notes. When the money was received, boxes of rubbish were sent in return, and of course the dupes were without redress, as they could not tell the story. The police, happily, got a clue to the affair, and invaded the offices of the firm, where they found some startling revelations. Sacks containing 10,000 letters, from all parts of the Union, have Wen found, and many of them have been published, names and all in the New York papers. One of them is from a member of the Tennessee Legislature, another from the keeper of a State prison, a third from the agent of an express company who offers to assist the swindlers, and a fourth from a resident in Georgia, who is confident he can pass off a number of notes among the negroes. PROGRESS OF CANADA. A letter from Toronto to the New York Times says that those who were acquainted with Toronto thirty years ago must be amazed at its present trans formation. The city how contains sixty thousand inhabitants, and can boast of possessing some of the best buildings and stores that are seen on the American Continent. The town of London has exhibited mar vellous celerity of growth. Fifty years ago it was a wil lerness out of which a town was hewn that now has a population of twenty thousand. tauOf a, the Dominion capital, has improved considerably sinc3 the seat of Government was fixed Viere. Much has been done by manufactures to increase the progress of the oiuntry, and the rani I multiplication of machinery affords employment to numerous artisans. Tire demands of the country are so great that the Govern ment has hastened the improvement of the inland navigation. It is propised to enlarge the St. Law rence and Welland Canals, . and also to construct the Coughnawaugha Canal, which, by connecting the , waters of the Hudson and the St. Lawrence, would form a continuous route for large vessels between Chicago and New York. The Government will be likely to sanction this scheme should it meet the appro val o 1 the Canal Commission which has been appointed. A general feeling of confidence prevails with regard to the future prospects of the country, and this has • done much to check the desire for political change which was apparent some short time since. The people are not anxious for a change so long as the 1 country is prosperous, but when there is a state of depression the Independence movement flourishes. WORK FOR THE LORDS. At this season of the year when so many appeals are made to the charitable, it is perhaps not inopportune to call attention to a deserving class of men who seem to be reduced to a painful state of destitution, and on whose behalf, so far as we are aware, not a voice has been raised, not a purse opened. We allude to the House of Lords, of which august body no less than four members have lately appeared in the Bank- -uptcy Court. For a long time, as is well known, the infortunate Lords have found work very slack, and from io fault of their own have been compelled to stand idle, while others, perhaps not more capable but only more fortunate than themselves, have had no lack _ _ of employment—indeed, have worked so hard that they have asked permission to remain in what they term a state of " relaxation" during a period such as rarely occurs in the world's history, viz., when half Europe is in flames. It is difficult to point out any form of charity that would be acceptable to the Lords. Their habits have been such that an ordinary soup kitchen established in 'Westminster for their relief would perhaps not be popular, although a pottage a turtle might possibly overcome their natural re pugnance to accept charity. Some kind-hearted persons maintain that the most charitable course to pursue with regard to destitute Lords is to take no notice of them, but it is impossible to see them reduced to such straits without at all events making an effort to help them. — Pail Mall Gazette. MR. TREVELYAN, M.P., ON ARMY REP ORM. The following speech was delivered by Mr. Trevelyan at the public meeting held at Birmingham on Monday night, on the subject of Army Reform. The honourable gentle man said : During the course of this movement nothing has been more marked than the cry for a " National army," a prhase which indicates the in stinctive feeling of the people that their present army is not, in the true sense of the word, " national." General Trochu, speaking of the French army, says : " Under Louis XIV., and till the Revo lution, the army continned to live in the middle of French society, with an isolated existence of an exclusive character. It was the army of the King, the Royal army, which inspired the nation only with a passing interest, which lasted while a war lasted, and then ceased. If the army beat the enemy, people praised it. If it was beaten, they " lampooned it." In the same way the dis tinction between the " constitutional" Militia, the " popu lar" Volunteers, and the " Royal" Army has deeply injured all three forces. The distinction was curiously brought out in the House of Commons in 1868 by a dis tinguished officer, who said that "it was the pride of the army that they were the servants of the Crown. He hoped the army of this country would be always the Royaf Army." I hope so too, exactly in the same sense that the Militia, the Volunteers, the Navy, the Civil Service, the County Court Judges, the schoolmasters, and the staff of the Post Office are the servants of the Crown. But by keeping up a distiction between the Line and the Militia, you foster ideas which, I am fully convinced, are at the bottom of one-half of the evils which the whole nation is now deploring, without knowing how to remedy. You will never make service in the army popular till you enable a man to be a soldier without ceasing to be a citizen. You cannot do this without introducing short service. You cannot introduce short service without localising your army. Men will not join in sufficient numbers to enable us to defend the country cheaply and securely unless they are allowed to enlist for not more than a year in a regiment which is quartered close at hand to their home ; and decent men will not join unless you . place at the Horse Guards a set of officers who will encourage, instead of tacitly discouraging, the dismissal of the thousand or twelve hundred hopelessly bad characters who render the service uncomfortable and disreputable. We do not require more than 70,000 infantry soldiers for our Indian and Colonial service ; therefore that number are all whom we shall require to enlist for a period of seven years. Every regiment should henceforward consist of three battalions. Each battalion should consist of four large companies of from 180 to 200 men, officered by five officers. Modern warfare imperatively demands that the unit of battle should be much larger than our company, and much small than our battalion. I will not weary you with the proofs of this opinion, the result of much study and inquiry in quarters where information was to be had. The Prussian companies, somewhat under officered, are 250 strong, with 5 officers. In action everything depends on the captain, and 200 men are about the number who can well be in the hands of one officer. Well then, a regiment should consist of three bat talions, each containing about 750 men and 23 regimental officers. One battalion should consist of long service men and should be for foreign service. The other two should be for home service, and each company should comprise non commissioned officers, and a certain number (say 10 to 20) privates, all of long service ; while the ranks should be filled by men enlisted from the neighbourhood in which the regiment is permanently stationed, who, on first joining, should be drilled continuously for a year, or for the nine months which are not harvest or hay-making months ; and who, after their con tinuous drill was over, should be liable to a fort night's annual service at the time of the yearly man oeuvres, which should henceforward become a national institution. Good pay, and a handso me retaining fee, would fill up the ranks with plenty of fine young fellows. The regiments should be c ommanded by army colonels and major, and the companies should each have two or three permanent army officers, supplemented during the annual manoeuvres, when the whole battalion should be called out, and in war time, by men of the class of our present militia officers, who befere they earned their commissions should serve for a year at the headquarters of the regiment six months at least of which should be passed in the ranks. At the rate of twenty-three army officers to a foreign battalion, and 13 to a home battalion, our present number of officers of the foot guards and the line would suffice to command exactly one hundred and ten regiments, or 330 battalions, containing 237,500 rank and file. These should be supple mented by a certain definite number of volunteers, all men of military age, and ready to submit to military discipline and obligations, commanded by officers who have given the State a guarantee that they are fit for their posts, and organised into battalions, attached each to a particular regiment. The regiments of this new army should be attached each to a particular locality, and a par ticular brigade, and the brigades again, to a particular division. We should keep exactly as many generals as we want to command these brigades and divisions, and to do service at foreign stations, and no more. In the new army rank should mean service ; and when a general was past service he should retire on an adequate pension. We must have no more unattached officers of any rank what soever, and no more half-pay, except for people who are temporarily invalided. By amalgamating the militia and the line, in the manner described, I do not hesitate to say that you will improve both. And you will greatly raise the standard of morality in the army. When your young soldiers are all being worked hard at learning their profession by officers who were not ashamed to take an individual interest in each man ; when they all look forward to return to citizen life in full time to marrY, the Contagious Acts, about which we hear so much, will go the way of the punishments of flogging and of brand: ing. The instant abolition of purchase is most important for the interest of regimental officers themselves. The feeling about in the nation is such that if we went to war, our first reverse (and we cannot expect unbroken success) would bring the whole system down with a run. Now, the well-known o p e r a tion of a war is to lower the price of commission almost to nothing. After the Crimean War , the interests involved might have been bought uP for what was comparatively a song ; and it deeply to be lamented that our statesmen were s° shortsighted, and their military advisers so wedded to what existed that the opportunity ,then afforded W ay allowed to pass by. If owing to the resistance of itscer • military men (and, if the army was allowed to speak e mind, they would not turn out to be as they now seem), ce question of purchase is deferred til l the next war, offi, will have most substantial reasons for regretting they did not further the efforts that are now being naaue for its extinction. Fifty-five of the more than eight hundred wen employed in the two establishments of the Gloucester Waggon Company, at Gloucester, are now on strike. The districts west and south-west of the metropolis were visited on Tuesday morning, about eight o'clock ct . with a violent hailstorm , accom p anied by thunder O of lightning. Snow has since fal l en in London, though n in any considerable quantity. A medal has been struck in commemoration of th e siege of Paris. It is deSigne d exclusively for those tipersonof s who have not deserted the capi andring the me danger. The medal is of bronze, bears on one sid e g ' s d grou p representing Paris driving bac k the enemy, an °as° the other the words " Frenc h Republic." A space h i been left in which each cit izen can have his name inscribeu. CAN I AFFORD IT ? —Pay your Stationer 6d. for a Map of the World gratis in all Letts's Office Diaries. etrss 6d. and ls. Diaries give most value for your money. Housekeepers' and Ladies' Diaries are much improved. Let 1 4 ° luvisiblo Ink for Postal Cards, 6d. per bottle. THE EUROPEAN WAR. The SUN is Published Every Morning at EIGIT P O'CLOCK, with SOME HOURS' LATER NEWS than any other paper. This edition will always contain the LATEST N EW.S of the WAR, and of all other events. It w P 3 ai to 4, r e hi 14 ti,