The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-05-27 00:00:00

MINS anb entlS.

THE PE-TITION.

"Moss wimple, et Reseda, ridi,arar ars !" The
bubble has burst, and Richard is himself again! The
Tories have ceased from troubling, and the Liberaln,
to all intents and purposes, an, at rest! In other
words, I can assure my readers, on the best authority,
that the much talked of petition against the return of
Mr. Harris fells iluosigh foe wont of funds.
The reason assigned foi. this collapiie—want of
funds—leads me to believe that the devil luis been
found to be not quite as black as he has been painted •
that is to say that the alleged cases of bribery on the pert
of the Conservative., although, I have been assured,
'twenty times worse than what turned poor Mr.
Waring out," have proved rather of a shakey than a
shade}, character.

P-•
Still, if there is any satisfaction to those who have
so actively promoted this petition in the fact that they
have rendered the winning party extremely uncom-
fortable, there can be no doubt they have luid their
reward for the money they have expended. The
forced hilarity of some of the chiefs of the Tory side
has been to those who can see the difference between
"Marks and Faces" really laughable. It has
reminded me of the mock-luippiness which the unfor-
tunate wretch who was going to swing at Tyburn must
have felt when the waggon which contained himself
and his coffin pulled up at a publichouse in order that
he might have a " refresher." However, as I have
already said, the matter may now be looked upon as
virtually settled, and my Tory friends may go, but
they must sin no more. Verb. Sap.!
I sincerely regret to have to announce the death of
Mr. John McCalla, of the Station Hotel, at the early
age of 47. The deceased fortnerly belonged to the
Royal Artillery, and had received two tue, one for
taking part in the Chinese War of 110, and the other for
long service (about 19 years) and good con uct. He
was a native of Wigton, in Scotland but? I believe, of
Irish extraction. He was of the Catholic persuasion,
and was buried on Tueetlay in the quiet little church-
yard attached to the Convent at Stape-hill, near Wim-
h,ne. The services et the Church to which he
belonged were conducted by Father Arsinius, but the
Proceedings were quite in keeping with the peaceful
character of the surroundings of the scene. Beyond
the members of the deceased's family (his widow and son
and daughter)and a few old inhabitants of the village,
the only other mourners were Mr. Merrick, of Poole,
and Mr. Ashton, of Bournemouth, both retired army
men, who thus paid the last and only respect they
could to an old comrade. On the coffin were placed
several beautiful wreaths, notably, one sent by the
Bicycle Club of Bournemouth, a second by Captain
Stone, a third by Mr. Long, and a fourth by Mr.
Potter, of the S.W.R. The deceased was a man •,f
whom it may be said that if he made many friends he
never made an enemy, sod an ,Ild pensioner. who
tilted to serve with him in the same one( any, tells me
of the affection which " pour Mac' had won among
the men. I only trust the hope expressed in the words
attetched to the obituary notice to be found inesnother
cohnnn way have beep esause.ri.