The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-08-05 00:00:00

etnerat Ntbm.

NEW WAY OF REPAYING A DEBT.—A convict at
Toulon lately addressed a letter to the executioner of
that place, requesting a loan of 301. which he engaged
to pay by murdering a warder, thus affording the
executioner an opportunity of being paid more than that
imm by exercising his calling on him the borrower.
This singular missive did not reach its destination,
being stopped at the poison post-office.
A FOOLTISH ittYSTIMATION, —An advertisement
lately appeared in • Berlin paper headed " Carp-
powder," recommending all proprietors of ponds who
desired to multiply that fish (which is highly prised
in Germiuiy) to send a ducat for a box of the famous
powder. A gentleman from Pomerania, being lately at
Berlin, sent his servant to the address indicated with
• ducat, but instead of returning with the box the
servant btought back the following letter :--" You
will pardon me, sir, for baring mystified you by my
advertisement, but had wagered that the announce.
meat of the Hale of my secret, however aboard it might
be, would not fail to procure dupes. Yogi are the
sixth who has asked me for a box of carp-powder."
THN HIALTE Or THE RON. Has. THIIIIISA YELVia.
TON. —Thu general public who sympathise so deeply
with this much injured lady will be happy to learn
that she is now recovering from toe shock she received
by lord Ardmillian's decision. Bo much improved has
her health been daring the past few days that she
hopes to be &lib., in order to its perfect restoration, to
proceed to Cannes.—Catedonion Mercury.

TABTH IN COSTUYI EIGHTY YNAIIB AUG.—The
Duchess of Queensbnry's clothes pleased me best. They
were white satin embroidered; the bottom of the petti-
coat brown hills, oovered with all aorta of weeds, and
every breadth had an old stump of a tree that ran up
almost to the top of the petticoat, broken and ragged,
and worked with brown thermie, round which twined
neaturtians, &o.; the robings and facings were little
green banks with all sorts of weeds; the leaves were
finished in gold, and part of the stumps of the trees
looked like the gilding of the sun. I never saw a piece
of work so prettily fancied, and am quite angry with
myself for not having the same thought.

'EI UNGERFORD SUSPENSION BRIDGE. OpeI;SBODS
have at last been commenced for the removal of this
light and h.raceful bridge, which has been the admira-
tion of visitors to the metropolis for the last few years.
Workmen are now busily employed In taking down the
perpendicular suspending irons and other portions of
the works. In order to aosemmodate the stream of
traffic) between the Strand and the Surrey aide of the
river a temporary wooden bridge has been erected, ex-
tending from the south side of the new Charing Cross
Railway Bridge to some distance along the works, over
which passengers now pass to that portion of the sus-
pension-bridge still remaining.
Satz or SommerArros.—We understand that Mr.
Frank Crossley, M.P., has purchased from Sir. S.
Morten Pato the mansion and estate of Somerleyton,
near Lowestoft, Suffolk. We believe that one of the
objects of Mr. Crossley in making this purchase is to
provide, in conjunction with his brothers John and
Joseph. by a charge upon the Somerleyton estate, for
the endowment of the "Cross'ay Orphan School and
Borne," 6kircoat Moor, near Halifax—a splendid insti-
tution now in course of erection at the cost of
the three brothers. In this institution it is in-
tended to accommodate about 300 orphans
of both sexes, a considerable portion of whom will be
wholly maintained and educated, and ultimately placed
out in situations. We believe it is also intended that
this purchase shall in like manner provide a permanent
endowment for the 22 almshouses which were erected
by Mr. Frank Crossley in 1865, and also for a similar
number of almshouses now in the course of erection by
his brother Mr. Joseph Crossley.
A Rats Ghana—The following may be depended on
as a rain glass: I have used it for months. Get a sum-
mon pickle bottle such as is sold in every Italian ware-
house; fill it with any kind of water, to within two or
three inches of the top; plonge the neck of an empty
Florence oil flask Into the pickle bottle. Before rain
the water will rise two or three inches in the neck of
' the inverted flask—often in three or four hours. It the
' weather is settled for fair the water will remain, not
more than half an inch high, for days, in the neck of
the flask. It never fails to foretell rain ; and to-day,
July 15, rose as high as the rim of the pickle bottle, in
the neck of the flask. It may stand in or not of doors,
In sun or shade, and the water never needs changing as
long as it can be seen through. Mine is now green
through long standing. The oil-flask must be cleansed
before the neck is plunged in the water. Soda and warm
water will clear it of oil—Tsomas &TILLIE, Rose
Cottage, Kennington Cross.
GOLD IN WRLER.—From some published statistics
of gold mining at Dolgclly, Merionethshire, Wales, it
appears that 5,726 ounces of gold have been obtained
from the quartz rook since the beginning of 1861. The
value of the gold raised in that period, and at the place
named above, is £25,090, obtained at a cost of £2,000,
exclusive of a royalty of one-twelfth, which goes to the
Crown. At Clogan, in Wales, 142 ounces of gold have
lately been extracted from 840 lbe. of quartz, and it is
stated that gold producing veins could be profitably
worked at different places in the Principality. A
number of gentlemen connected with gold mining in
different countries visited Wales, and reported very
favourably of the gold-bearing prospects of the localities
which they examined.

LIVERPOOL AND THE CONTEDERATE NAVY.—Liver-
pool would appear to be a kind of Confederate dock,
judging by the vessels, new and old, which have left
the port for the South since the commencement of the
civil war in America. The Oretn, a new iron vessel,
intended for the Confederates, left the Manny some
time since for Nassau, where she arrived safely. How•
ever, while attempting to fit out for net., the Admiralty
Court seised her for an infringement of the Foreign
Enlistment Act, and the last advices from Nassau left
her in the hands of the. British commander on the
station. Another new iron vessel, with the rather
mysterious name of "290." left the Birkenhead docks,
on Tuesday morning, and proceeded to sea' and on
Wednesday she was discovered lying to off Tucker,
awaiting the arrival of the Hercules, steam tag, from
Liverpool, with a complement of fifty men. The
"290" is a rather nire-looking steamer, and her desti-
nation is either for Nassau or Havanna. She may pro-
bably take a preliminary cruise in the Atlantic). This
circumstance, together with the sailing of the Con-
federate steamship Merrimso, Captain Rowe, from
Plymouth Sound (where she has been lying since the
7th of June), may probably account for the departure
of the Federal man-of-war steamer Tnscarora from
Southampton early on the morning of the 30th, which
will, no doubt, do her best to prevent either of these
steamers reaching Southern ports. The Tuscarora Is •
splendid sailer, and carries • powerful armament.
tdsuoinar, TABLET TO THE LATE LORD IdeoattLAY.
—Since the burial of the great historian near the Poet's
corner of our national mausoleum a rieoe of paper only,
with the words "Lord Macaulay's grave" written upon
it, served to show where his remains were denoaited.
A tiblet has, however, lately been placed over the
grave. Unlike those recently let into the nave of the
Abbey, to perpetuate the memory of Kr. R. Stephenson,
C. 8., and Dr. John Hunter. it is devoid of all orna-
ment, and bears the following simple inscription
"Thomas Etabington, Lord Macaulay, bora at Rothly
Tempts Leicestershire, October 25, 1800. Died at
Holly Lodge, Counpden Hill, December 29, 1859. His
body is buried in peace, but his name liveth for ever-
more."

-1-I;Tnlwc2risr. LEGIUD.—One night a maid in the
parsonage of Wreokholm, before covering the lire, made,
as was her custom, the sign of the cross. Somebody
laughed beside her. She turned round to pee who it
WV, but her oompanions were all salter. The noise
came from a stone in the chimney which the sexton had
dug up when making anew grave. The parson, wanting
a hob, appropriated it. Next day they made inquiries
about the flagstone, and old people in the village related
the following story :—Three hundred years ago a pions
man named Melchior was parish priest of Wreckholm ;
every night before going to rest he retired to the church
to pray, oaring neither for bad weather or cold. Bob
his wife wss not of the same opinion. "Coming in at
two in the morning, end getting into bed like an icicle
on a winter's night—l've no patienoe with him ! Good
Father Petra' never indulged in nigh vagaries." But
, here her onnscience struck her. Father Petra!' was the
I last Roman Catholis priest and a celibat, while

Melchior had done womankind agood servioe—waa the
father of eighteen children—she his third wife, and if
he had'nt married her she might have been an old maid
for ever. 80, repenting her severity, sbe eall d her
servant Lars, saying, "Disguise yourself as a ghost, to
frighten your mast ir when he goes out to night, and
I'll give you a jog of beer." L irs dressed himself in a
white sheet, and placed himself in Melchior'spatli. On
seeing the ghost the pious man began to pray, and while '
he prayed Lars sank slowly into the ground. "Who are
you?" asked the pareon. Receiving no answer he prayed
ones inure, when sinking to the waist, the man cried
out, "Master, it is I, Lars." "Too late," exclaimed
Melchior ; your heart, from which proceeds your sin, is
already underground ." then, giving the wretched serv-
ing-man a crack on the head with his prayer-book, he
sank beneath the earth—turned into a fliptone. The
peasants erected a cross on the spot, and there it still
stands. The parson's wife wee of the noble family of
Ikorne (squirrel). She was buried in the churchyard of
Return', yet her corpse cannot turn to dust, though her
coffin and winding sheet have long since mouldered
away. Not only she herself will not decay, but the
arm of her brother which lay next to her coffin became
hard as stone, while the rest of his body fell to powder.
You may be sure that when the family (not my friend's,
a former priest's) hear I this tale, the sepulchral flag-
stone was sent beck to its own place that very day before
nightfall.
AVITRALIAN SOVKRZIONS. The Commons' select
cominittee, on the subject of legslisiog the circulation
in the United Kingdom of sovereigns coined at the
Sydney branch of the Royal Mint, report that this
coinage is increasing and was &boat 000,000 in the
first quarter of the present year. These wins are
of equal fineness and weight with the Tower Rill
sovereigns, and the Master of the Mint is equally re-
sponsible for their; yet they have the privilege of
circulation in certain colonies only. The only difference
is that, the alloy being more of silver and less of
copper, the Sydney sovereign is not considered so
durable as the English; but there is no sufficient in-
ducement to cause the systematic introduction of light
Au!tralian. coin into our home circulation. The
_ .

limited privilege Oi-circUlation--is, ot course, a dis-
advantage to the •Australian coinage. Die Committee
proposes that an end be put to this distinction, and
recommending that the existing Sydney gold coinage
be withdrawn from circulation, and that gold coin be
issued from the branch mint there, having nearly as
possible the same alloy as that of London, and having
correney whereever gold coin minted in London is
current; that it have • mint mark to distinguish it;
that it be kept at such an amount as to prevent any
undue inducement to the importation into the United
Kingdom of gold in coin rather than in bars; and that
the charge for the branch mint should be provided for
by permanent appropriation by the Legislature of New
South Wales rattier than by an annual vote.
IttemnY SICEVID.—A n M.P., of very foreign aspect,
taking a cab, was mistaken, having also a Dundreary
accent, for a stranger and an alien. Cabby was
Fenemtudy tendered two shillings for a shilliug ride, and
immediately saw his opportunity. "Hulls, Mnssoo ;
what's this for?" " Zet is for you," answered the
gentleman, in broken English. " Five shillings is the
fare—a crown, was the cabby's reply. "Ahl so much
well, zen, give me as money beck." It was handed lamb
unsuspectingly, and the gentleman taking a shilling
from his pocket handed it to the cabman, with the
remark, in plain vernacalar enough, "There, you
blackguard, there is a shilling, your proper faro"—are.
marl that so overwhelmed poor Jehu that when the
gentleman bad ascended the steps of the house he was
visiting, the last thing he saw, as he entered the door,
was Cabby, still standing, too petrified to speak, in the
poiliti3n he was in when he received the fatal shilling.—
Globe.

HEBRZW OATHS.—At & coroner's court, held at the
London Hospital, before Mr. John Humphreys, on
Saturday afternoon, the following scene °marred be-
tween the jury, which was composed of individuals of the
Jewish persuasion, and Mr. 1). Hyman Lyle, the house
surgeon to the institution, relative to the manner in
will,* the latter, who is also of the Hebrew faith, took
the Jewish eath. Some of the jury, it should be stated
had brought ft Bible printed in Hebrew in the year
1062. Mr. Dyte, having taken the oath on an English
Bible with his hat off, was proceeding to give his
evidence, when several of the jury said, " You are
a gentleman of the Jewish persuasion?" Mr. Dyte.—
Tee." A Juror.—" And yet you take the oath with
your hat not on, and from an English Bible bound up
with the New Testament, although there is a Hebrew
Bible here?" Several 'Jarmo"— 'lt is no oath. We
don't believe you."—TheCoroier.—"ls the oath you
have taking binding on your oonscience ?" Mr. Dyte.
"Certainly Sir." The jury.—" It is no oath. We
don't want to hear him." The Coroner.—" The Act of
Parllament is clear upon that point, gentlemen, that a
witness is to be sworn in the form that is binding on his
conscience. Pray go en with your evidence, Mr.
Dyte." Mr. Dyte resumed his evidence, when the
jury with great animation, nailed out, " We don't went
to hear your evidence. We don't believe you. Yon
are not sworn." The Coroner.—" The gentleman has
stated that the oath is binding on him, sod I, for my
part, believe his evidence." Mr. Dyte. .-" Allow me
to explain. Ido not believe thpt a Joie= oath is leas
aacred in its obligations bemuse a man has not a hat
upon his head when he takes it. Ido not see *hat
difference it makes whether the Bible is in English or
In Hebrew, for the truth is as much in one language
as the other, nor is the Old Testament of lam autho-
rity or value because a New Testament happens
to be bound up with it. The oath I have
taken is, I repeat, perfectly binding on tee."
The jury, being doubtless oonelliated by the
witness's manner, and silenced by the clearness of
his explanation, then allowed his evident* to be taken.
At the coaclusion of the proceedings the members of
the jury declined to sign the inquisition paper personally,
as they were not allowed to write on the Sabbath matters
pertaining to business or law, thongh it was
alluwable for them to write in Hebrew upon other
affairs—such as charity, friEntlfihip, &a. ; the difficulty
was obviated by Mr. Powenesby writing in their names
with their assent.—Exprest.
THR LATH EARL CANNING. —The will of the late
Earl Canning, KG., has been proved by the surviving
executors, and the personal property sworn under
£210,000. By the will, which bears date the 1911 of
March, 1844, the whole of the personalty is directed to
be invested in the purohase of an estate, to be held in
trust hr the late cmntess for her life, with remainder
to his own issue ; and, in default of such issue, to his
nephew, the second son of the Marqnis and Marchioness
of Clanricarde. The countess died in India before his
lordship, and, there not having been any issue of their
marriage, the estate to be purchased, therefore, devolves
upon Lord Hubert de Burgh Canning!who has assumed
the name of Canning in compliance with a direction in
the will to that effect) for his life, with remainder to
his issue in strict settlement.

Cass.—On Wednesday two men
were mowing a field in the occupation of Mr. J. Lamb,
of Brailsford, and on opening the door of a small build.
lag which is surrounded svith grass they found • poor
man lying in one corner, covered with an old bedcover,
in a weak and exhausted state. He gave the name of
Jerry Robinson, a labourer, from Birmingham turned
70 years of age and said be had been in the Derby
Infirmary. Three days after he came out, feeling ill on
his way to Ashbonrn, he searched for some place to lie
down. Wandering along an unfrequented lane he
found the above-mentioned building, end had been
there ever Binee, subsisting wholly on water, which he
procured, on his hands and knees, from the cattle-feet
marks around the door when it rained, and from a
' neighbouring ditch. The man's story seeins correct,
and, if so, he most have lived on water for more than
six weeks. He wan conveyed to the Ashbourn union.

A BRITISH SHIP ATTACKCD HT SAVAGEB..—MORDIR
OF THE CRlCW.—lutelligence has been received
under dale Vsiparaiso, June 18, that the ship Anne and
Bliss, bound from Boston to Honolulu, which arrived
at that port on the 6th of June, reports that in her
passage) through the Straits of Magellan she was
attacked by twenty canoes filled with armed savages,
who boarded the vessel, and a fearful hand to hand
combat ensued, but it was not nntil eight of the crew
were killed that they succeeded in beating them off;
the decks of the ship was strewn with the fellows'
dead bodies. From being so short handed, the ABDO
and Eliza was with difficulty brought into port.