The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1877-07-17 00:00:00

NOTES OF THE WEEK.

- -- -
The Rfluttiticr tells a good story :—" An
invalid lady living at the West End was greatly
disturbed the other evening by uproarious
mirth in the servants hall. Having in vain
rung repeatedly for her maid, she at last made
her way to the basement Here is the spectacle
that presented itself to her horrified eyes.
Cook, with 'The Priest in Absolution' in her
fat hand, was catechising the page-boy from
that delectable manual, and the shrieks of
laughter the lady had overheard upstairs pro-
ceeded from the remainder of the household,'
male and female. On enquiry, she discovered
that each servant had to play the part of
penitent in turn, except the cook, who always
discharged the duties of father confessor. Why
this exception ? Because "cook knows what
the book means better than any of us." It
seems from this that there must be some con-
nection between Ritualism and cookery ; perhaps
the link of sympathy joining the two may be
traced to the fact that both dabble a good deal
in hot water.

The return of the burial places in England
and Wales, moved for by Mr. Orborne Morgan,
M.P., in June, 1875, has just been issued. It
contains 467 pages ; but the main facts which it
establishes may be briefly summarised. Instead
of its being the case that the churchyards are
being rapidly closed, it appears that in only
1411 have burials been discontinued; the total
number of consecrated grounds closed being
1500. On the other hand, 12,263 churchyards
are still in use, as well as 583 other consecrated
grounds, or a total of 12,845 burial grounds
which would be affected by either Mr. Osborne
Morgans Bill or Lord llarrowby's clause. So
far from cemeteries taking the place of the
churchyards, only 639 cemetries, having uncon-
secrated ground, have been provided under the
Burials Acts, for a population of nearly twenty-
three millions- In Wales only forty-seven
churchyards have been closed, and there are
958 still in use. There are only twenty-five
cemeteries in Wales ; of which fourteen are in
Glamorganshire and Anglesey, the other counties
having but one, two, or more. The return,
therefore, completely disposes of the assertions
that the Dissenting grievance is not only small
in itself, but is constantly diminishing. It
shows that only about one-eighth of the conse-
crated burial places have been closed, and that
those which are still in use are as twenty to one
compared with the cernetries provided under
the Burials Act-

We apprehend, says the Figaro, that hence-
forth newspaper proprietors will decline to
receive shares in payment of their advertising
accounts. It may be taken for granted that
when a Company is unable to discharge its
accounts in cash, it is very unlikely to discharge
them at all. We are, therefore, surprised to
learn that, in common with the proprietors of a
Whitehaven journal, between forty and fifty
newspaper proprietors inserted an advertisement
of an enterprise called the Clitiroh and Empire
Insurance Company, receiving in payment
sufficient shares to cover the amount of their
claim. In any ease the prospect of getting paid
for the advertisements was decidedly remote.
We presume, however, the newspaper proprietors
in question were willing to take the chances of
realising their shares. What, we are sure, they
were not willing to do, and little expected to be
called upon to do, was not only to afford room
in their papers for the advertisements on the
possibility that the shares tendered in payment
might some day be worth having, but also to pay
the Church and Empire Insurance Company the
price of the !bares. Yet if Yica-Chancellor
Hall's decision, by which the proprietor of the
Whitehaven paper has been ordered to be placed
on the list of contributories to the company, be
maintained, forty or fifty unfortunate newspaper
proprietors will certainly have to cash up. It is
trite that they can sue the Church and Empire
Insurance Company for the amount of their
claim for advertising, but, apparently, the result
of such an experiment would merely add to their
loss. It is possible that the finding of Vice-
Chancellor Hall may be reversed. But, however
that may be, we think it will henceforth be
difficult for managers of public companies to
obtain the publicity they require to further their
interests in exchange for shares which are probably
valueless, and the possession of which may here-
after entail actual pecuniary loss on the credulous
owners.