The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-01-09 00:00:00

Iscdbntüu"intriligtnte,
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

His CAREER COT SIIORT !—At the Hampshire
quarter sessions the criminal career of a youth, named
Row, aged nineteen, was cut short for a time by his
being sentenced to seven years penal servitude. After
several convictions he found himself in a reformatory,
whence he was released on the ground of ill health. He
made his way to an uncle's, a jeweller living in ,
London, and, tinder pretence of selling watches to
assistants at the Standard 'Theatre, where he alleged
Ow hail an engagement, absconded with several
I valuable watches. The next heard of him was at
: Salisbury, where he slept for a night, and where his
general behaviour, and the tale of trials which he toll,
led his host to believe him to be a very religious young
man. He managed to steal some articles of jewellery,
and when taken into custody for the theft he was
paying a private visit to the master of the refortnatory
in which he had been placed, and had arranged for a
nice gold watch to be left at a neighbouring railway
I station.

AN EVENTFUL CAREER !—The biography of
Thomas Smith, a ticket-of-leave man, as given the
other day at one of the London police-courts, though
brief, is more iestructive than many volumes. in
fourteen yearn Smith has been nine times convicted,
and sentenced to terms of imprisonment, which, added
together, make thirteen years and nearly four months.
The record is as follows :
six weeks, 1854 eighteen months, 1855; three months,
1557 ; two months:lBas ; four years, 1505, six mouths, 1502;
another six mouths, 1862 ; three months, 1863 ; and six years'
penal servitude, 1863.
. . .

The magiatraie. obac.rved, with much. aimplicity, that

,
"he could not understand how such a man was at ,
large at all." It is clear that if be had been kept in '
gail for the whole fourteen years the difference to him
would only have been some nine months' liberty,
ebj.,yed in scattered intervals of a few days at a time, '
awl the difference to the public three quarters' extra
maintenance, minus the saving represented by the pre-
vention of at least a score of robberies. He has now
b-en committed for trial, with a dozen recent bur-
gimlet' to his charge.
GENERAL GRANT AND THE OFFICE SEEKERS.
—A laity, wishing to obtain employment in the United
States"Freasury,made rejleated application to the trea-
surer, which she backed up with lettersof recommenda-
tion fromileneralGrant. The lady became angry at the
last interview, and just then the ~eneral arrived. He
vl scarcely entered the door when the lady flew to
him and -paired forth her grievances. "Can't vii
find a situation for this lady, Mr. Spinner?' asked
rant. Spinner turned to tile General, and, Yankee
like, answered his question by asking another.
"General, if a man came to you with a whole cart-
load ~f the very best recommendations, and asked you
to appoint Min a captain in a regiment of infantry
which wait already supplied with its full complement
of officers, what would you say to him ?" " I should
tell him there was no vacancy, I think." "That is
precisely the case, General, in this instance." " I see,"
said Grant; "it is impossible, and you are certainly
right." So the lady did not find a situation.
SCOTSMEN IN Rotim—ln the course of an ad
dress delivered by Hr. Cumming on Friday night he
told a sto, y of the fate of the Scotch church in Rome.
' The Anglicans had a church there, but it was outside
. the city walla The Scotch, however, established a
, church within the walls of the city, a minister was
; appointed, and everything went on well that is,
without material opposition. But the instant the last
retiring footsteps of the French battalions were heard,
• a message wan sent frsm headquarters intimating to
r the poor Scotch minister that he must pack up his
traps and be off within twel,a hours. A respectful
request was sent to the authorities to ascertain the

reason of this unexpected step, and the reply was that
there was no reason. The Duke of Argyll, a member
of the Scotch church, happened to be in Rome at the
time, and his good offices were secured. His Grace
went to the authorities and ably represented the case,
but the only answer he could obtain was non possum us,
which in more enlightened language means "We
can't afford it." They had now is church outside the
walls, in a granary over a pig-stye, and were doing
better than when thay lived in the sunshine of suc-
cess.
A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.—The
Manchester justices, at their quarterly sessions on
Tuesday, unanimously decided to support the move.
ment which isnow in progress throughout the kingdom
for a revision of the licensing system. In a report
presented by the clerk the statement was made that
the yearly number of prisoners apprehended and
convicted in the city of Manchester has increased from
4,468 in 18.19 to 13,581 in 1868. The report says :—A
majority of those prisoners are committed for offences
arising in beerhouses, or for outrages consequent on
habit's generated by the facilities and inducements to
intemperance held sit and afforded by the present
system of granting licences for the sale of intoxicating
liquors.
REWARD FOR HUMANITY.—The Board of Trade
have determined to present a binocular glass to Captain
Rumball, master of the American brig Diriym in
acknowledgment of the humanity shown by him in the
rescue of the mate and five seamen of the John I),, neon,
of St. John's, N. 8., wrecked in a hurricane in Novem-
ber last. The only survivors on Board the John Dam
can (the rest having been washed overboard) were nine
seamen, who had been in a most distressed condition
for twelve days, when they were taken off the wreck
by the American ships Rabboni and Dirigo
DISGUSTING MEANNESS.—T., tan a dog's hide
with his own bark—Judy.
A MEDICAL PErsomEnos.—Recent events have
proved that, after all, " Bright's disease" can be
cured !—Jut(h.
BURNING or A SHIP.—The English ship (te, a s
Horne, Captain Spence, from Antwerp, bound to
Liverpool, laden with compressed Inles of hay, caught
tire at Spithead about one o'clock last Saturday
morning, The fire team obtained the mastery of the
ship, when the captain slipped the cables, got sail upon
the vessel, and ran her ashore upon the beads under
Rastas Hospital, at high-water mark, with the inten-
tion of scuttling her. Nothing could arrest the
progress of the fire, and about 6 a.m. the masts went
over the vessel's side. Previous to daylight the
burning ship presented almost as striking a spectacle
as did the Eastern Monarch, which was destroyed by
fire in nearly the same position at Spithead some years
ago. The Ocean Home belonged to Messrs. Duncan
and Shaw, of Liverpool, and was partly insured. All
her crew got on shore from her in- safety, but the
captain has lost all his clothing and instruments, and
the other officers and crew the greater part of their
clothing. The hull of the ship is burnt down to
within five feet of her copper, and is entirely burnt out
inside.
NEW YEAR'S DAY IN BERLIN.—The New Year
has been ushered in with the traditionary but most
objectionable Berlin custom of a little disturbance in
the streets, not deserving the name of a riot, but just
sufficient to keep the police alive, and place them
under the painful necessity of breaking a few people's
heads (writes the correspondent of the Daily Nrics).
The principal actors are of the class of apprentices,
and one is tempted to suppose that they must be con-
nected with the hat trade, as the article ((f apparel
called in English a chimney-pot, and in German a
cylinder, forms the chief object of attack. Besides the
facetious amusement of bonneting all persons whose
appearance denotes an offensive respectability, the
discharge ((f firearms and maroons, and the screaming
out of "Prmit Nenjahr," are the means adopted for
snaking night hideous. The tinter den Linden is the
favounte scene of these ebullitions of youthful hilarity,
and in former years, when the King was less popular
than he is now, the space between the royal palace
and the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great was
the favourite resort. This year, however, the pre-
caution was adopted of drawing up a long line of con-
stables across the Unter den Linden, just opposite the
Charlotte's Strasse, and no persons were allowed to
pass it. The crowd in the neighbourhood of the
Friedrich Strasse was all the greater in consequence,
and the fun was fast and rather furious; but no
arrests were made, and that no more serious conse-
quences ensued than that a few persons spent their
New Year's day in bed with a nightcap of diaculson,
and a preference for cooling drinks to more exciting
beverages.
AN AMERICAN PRIZE FIGHT—Abe Hicken, of
Philadelphia, and Pete M`Guire, of Peekskill, N. Y.,
two well-known roughs, had a prize fight for 1,000
dollars a side in the vicinity of Stump's wood, on the
line of the railroad, near Perryville, two days before
Christmas tiny. After five rounds, Hicken broke
M•Guire's jaw and gained the fight. A large crowd
of sporting men and roughs from Philadelphia and New
York, with the principals, were on board is special
train, which named through Washington, and
remained on the ground until the affair was over.
A RESCUE.—The lifeboat Brad
.1..01, on putting
to sea on Monday, off Goodwin, discovered a French
schooner lying on to the sands. To get at the schooner
the lifeboat was run on the sands. They found the
vessel to be the Gasperd (Rousel, master), of and from
St. Malo, for London, with a cargo of oats. There
was only the =Ester on board, whom they rescued.
He was understood to say that the crew (five in num-
ber) had taken to their own boat, and that while he
went below to get something the paintrr was either
broken or cut, and the boat drifted away, and he was
left to his fate. The lifeboat crew laboured for two
hours before they could get their «en boat off the
sands. Nothing has been heard of the fate of the
crew, but it is reported from Broadstairs that a ship
lying off the North Foreland perceived a boat out at
sea, with five men in her, but with only one oar. The
boat continued to drift out to sea, but the ship could
not render any assistance, and it was feared the crew
were drowned.

DARK HORSES. —ln a speech at a public
dinner at Oxford, the other day, Mr. Vernon Har-
court, said
think you can judge a member of the House of Commons
only as you jililce 4 a terse--lay lila ••i asiatic miming," I
remember m 3 self, jug before a great Derby race, walking
along the course of Epeoin with a friend. We went int..
the paddoi k. LIII of voiles., every one looking at the
favourite said, Vhst inazoificent form." I sail to my
friend, '•
55 nit a corious tido, if that ugly animal there
should win the Derby ; hen- every one would praise it." It
was a carious thing—that horse happened to be called The
Hermit. None of us knew anything about it, but half an
hour afterwards It won the race, and then every one said it
was the most magnificent horse ever seen. They judged
him by his performances. In the same way I wish you to
judge the members of the Mouse of Commons. In spite of
at the criticisms on the present House of COMMOIIB, I
believe there never was one of which the country funned
greater and luster expectations. It has to conduct it a
Minister who I believe is one of the greatest and most
honest public men who has ever conducted the affairs of
this empire. Mr. Gladstone has been able to gather round
him certainly one of the strongest Governments, in point
of ability, experience, and integrity, which has ever
administered the affairs of England. Ile has got together
a majority unexampled in its strength and unequalled in
fidelity towards its chief. I believe Mr. Gladstone may say of
his party, as Wellington said of his Peninsular army—that it
would go anywhere and do anything.
"A BLOATED ARISTOCRACY AND A BLOATER
ClltlicH."—" John Knox" confides to Mr. Punch his
opinion that "Like all people between two stools,"
Ritualists must come to the ground. They are neither
Protestant nor Papist, 'neither fish, flesh, nor gogal
real-herrin'." Neither fish nor flesh, perhaps. Bat
Punch must demur to the rest of the description.
Many Ritualists are " good," a few are not only
"read," but "well-read," and all, without exception,
are "errin'."- -P
TRAVELLING IN IRELAND. —lt is really little
less than laughable to think that Englishmen, and
many of them too, have been kept out of Ireland for
the last two seasons by fears of Fenianism ; yet it is
most certainly true, astonishing as it may be to those
who know the country (says a writer in Presser's Ma ga-
tine). If the tourist Englishman only knew how very
welcome he is to the many who depend more or less
upon the money he brings with him to eke out a living
and how shrewd the people are when their immediate
profits are concerned, he would surely see that about
the last thing they would think of would be to molest
him in any way. He may contrive to make himself as
disagreeable as possible to the natives, anal they will
hate him heartily enough for it, of coarse, but his
purse is indispensable to them. Further than this,
inhospitality to a stranger is not an Irish vice by any
means. And the man who might have been at a mid-
night meeting the night before, swearing abstract death
and destruction to the Saxon and his rule, will leave
his work and run half smile out of hisway to put an indi-
vidual Saxon in his, or to show some point of scenery
he is proud of, and that without any thought if reward,
but from natural politeness. The wandering angler is
as safe in Ireland as he is in England ; anal safer indeed,
for there are neither footpads nor garrotters, nor
drunken, brutal navvies, ready for any savagery, sown
broadcast over the country.
NEAR THE TRUTH.—Mr. Mill has expressed
his wish not to stand again for Westminster. Juni-
thinks the real truth is that the electors couldn't stand
him.—Judy.
HINTS TO SPORTSMEN. A correspondent
throws out the following useful and practical sug-
gestion :
Gun accidents, though often the result of carelessness, do
sometimes happen even to the most experienced ; but, as
every reasonable precaution should be adopted, attention
may be called to the merely eaten which is placed in the stock
and close behind the trigger guard. A gun thin fitted can-
not be disch 'reed, though at full c,ck, unless this safety
catch be premed simultaneously with a poll at the trigger.
This must always happen when the gun is intentionally dis-
charged, as in that act the three lower fingers of the right
hand must press the safety catch in their grasp of the gun ;
anal it could happen in no other way except by the abilmt
impomible coincidence of an accidental 1110 W 1115*11 the
trigger, and a simultaneous accidental blow upon the eafety
cat. is. RR SRC is without any inconvenience, as the expe-
rience of many years call testify—its cost is trifling, Rail it
can lie supplied by any rainmaker, to all of whom the in-
Ventioll. which is an old ore, is well known.
THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF FEVER IN ENGLAND.
—A committee appointed by the Royal College of
I Physicians of London have prepared a nomenclature
of the diseases suitable to England, and to all coun-
tries where the English language is in common use.
"This nomenclature recognises the following firms of
common fever : (1) typhus fever, el) enteric fever, (3)
. relapsing fever, and (4) simple continued fever.
I Neither eerebrgespinal fever nor plague need be
referred to, as they do not prevail here ;
as it is never fatal, fhe majority of the fatal fever
cases in England may probably be designated
' either as typhus or SR enteric fever. The two forum
are thus defined by the committee : Typhus fever--A
continued fever, characterised by great pmstration,
and a general dusky mottled rash, without specific
lesion 11 the bowels. Enteric fever Synonym,
typhoid fever (or typhis), A continued fever, cha-
' racterisell by the presence of rose-coloured spots,
chiefly on the abdomen, anal a tendency to diarrhgea,
with specific lesion of the bowels. Enteric fever
occurrin, in the child is often named infantile remittent
fever. Modica} Iw:within.. are requested to use
three names, to enable the Registrar-General to dis-
tinguish the several forms of fever with precision in
the returns of the ensuing year.

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE OF A MISSIONARY.-011
the voyage of the mail steamer Rubine from Australia
to Panama a Catholic missionary cut his throat, and
would have died had he not been immediately attended
to. His wounds being sewed up his life was saved,
though at first he made several attempts to tear them
open, and the captain was finally obliged to confine
hut in irons to keep him from again attempting to put
an end to his existence. He is now in a fair way of
recovery and M full possession of his senses. He says
the attempt to commit suicide was caused by a
peculiar dream he had a night or two previous. On
examining his papers, drafts were found for £3,000
sterling, besides a large quantity of gold under his
pillow. A will was also found of a very recent date
leaving all his effects to the Bishop of Lancaster,
England. The unfortunate man is now at the Asping
wall Hotel, in Panama, under medical treatment, and
may possibly be able to prosecute his journey to
England on the next steamer.
TIIE NEW YEAR AT MR. SPURGEON'S.-011
the last night of the Old Year a great congregation
assembled at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Probably
not fewer than 7,000 persons accepted the invitation to
see the Old Year out and the New Year in. It would
be impossible to imagine a more imposing or a more
affecting spectacle than that which met the eye at the
hour of midnight when, at Mr. Spurgeon suggestion,
apparently every member of this vast multitude en-
gaged in silent prayer. Every voice was hushed, not
a sound was heard. After the lapse of a few minutes
the silence was broken by the reverend gentleman
giving one verse of a hymn which was sung with almost
dramatic effect by the vast assembly. Mr. Spurge, al
afterwards, in a few earnest and impressive words,
invoked the Divine blessing upon his hearers, who
consisted of persons of every clas:, and who listened
with breathless attention to his remarks.
OF COURSE IT WOULD.— The best place for the
Ritualists to burn their tall candles at would be High
Wickham l--Judg.
AN OLD SPORTSMAN'S WISH GRATIFIED.—A
farmer, piqued Crabtree, many years a resident at
Colston, Bassett, Ni Its, but more recently of Shardlow,
Derbyshire, and who was very fond of fox hunting.
had often been heard to express a desire that the
hounds should run in full cry past the churchyard ;it
the time of his burial. This wish, singularly enough,
was fulfilled on the 21st Decetuber. Mr. Francklin's
hounds were in the ueighbourhocd of Colston Basset
during the day, and having found a fox, Reynard ran
past the churchyard with the hounds close after him,
just as the clergyman was uttering the words, "Ashes
to ashes, dust to dust," over the remains of Crabtree.
11 OMAN TAILS.—A discussion having originated
in Once a Week on human tails, a correspondent of
The Tines writes .
In the autumn of 1855 I was sent, under orders from the
Horse Guards, to superintend the volunteering of members
of the Irish militia regiments to the regular army. Gum lof
the regiments I went to was stationed at Castleipar, and there
I met a captain of the Land Transport Corps, then being
organised, engaged on the same busine,s as myself, but
enlisting only for his own corps. On the first day of our
competition the men discovered that his terms were better
than mine, and one young man who presented himself, first
(dr the Land Transport Corps and afterwards to me, out lay
asking why he had been rejected for the mounted corps,
said, " Itecause I have a tail, sir." There was a surgeon pre-
sent who at once examined him in my presence, and I can
vouch for the fact that he had a tail, amt a most unmistake-
able one, it being alma all inch mot three.nuarters or two
inches long, thick at the junction with the body, and taper-
ing to a blunt end. _

MIND AND MATTER —The hon. member for
Brighton and his friends are continually talking about
cramming the mind of the labourer with learning.
We fancy, however, that the clodhopper himself is
more than indifferent about the matter. Sooner than
have his head filled with knowledge, he would have
his stomach filled with fat pork and ale, and even go
so for as, using an expression of Hamlet—not his
own, but Shakespeare's—to "burst in ignorance
Judy.

DEATH OF THE BARONESS VON MOLTKE.—The
Baroness Von 'Moltke, wife of the celebrated general
of that name, died on the 24th ult. She caught cold
while riding, about three weeks ago; acute rheumatism
followed, and eventually reached the heart. She was
not only universally loved and respected for her
amiable character and quiet unassuming manners,
but was also a woman of considerable intellectual at-
tainments, and frequently assisted her husband in
work connected with his profession. Her maiden ,
name was Burt, and her father, who was an English-
man, and resided in Holstein, married the generals
sister as his second wife, Few men are regarded in
Prussia with greater respect than General Moltke,
, aul his bereavement excites general sympathy among
' all classes.
OUR NATURAL EFFECT OF GRAVITY.—The
Saturdaq Renew thlnks that we ought all to be, if not
miserable, grave, this Christmas, because we do not see
the future of our Paupers and our Peers. Well, let us
see. Suppose we begin bymaking all Paupersinto Peer,.
Then the "genteel" class will at once make open
house for their Lordships, lend them money, marry
them to their daughters, and set them straight with
the wort& That's soon settled. But what's to lie
done with the Peers? We don't want to make them

..,our ,00 .• - • --
Paupers, though a good many of 'ern have chosen to
perform that transformation for themselves. It is as
politicians that the S. R. is afraid for them. Come, as
they have not committed any particular crime of late,
suppose we copy the language of Egcalus to an alleged
sinner, "Even let them continue in their evil courses,
till thou knowest what they are." We are always
ready to be grave at the shortest notice, but only that
we may see how to get rid of the reason for gravity !
Haven't we alone so in this case?—Puneh.
THREE NIGHTS' WORK I—The Brussels kuuttnls
state that the three representations given by :1i are.
Patti in that city hail an unexampled success. The
first performance realised a sum of about IS 000 fr. ;
the seasonal, 22,0001 r.; anal the third, 28,000 ft; making
a total of £2,720. At her departure the diva left 500 fr.
for the chorus singers.
AREA OF FORCE I% FORCE OF AREA.—The
falling off in the security of our streets is as-
cribed to the great extention of the area of Police-
duty. This is very true, and may be put in another
way. Not only is the Police too small fo or theatea, but
the area is too much for the plies; or to put it
dynamically, "The action of the force is in an inverse
ratio with the area.—Punch.
A NARROW ESCAPE.—On Saturday, a youth
a.,aasi Chadwick, entpd•yed by a butcher of Leeds,
Wit, sent to the Navigation Wharf. in that town, with
a cart, drawn by a pony. fis was ordered lot to go
by way of "Sandy Lobby," which is a short cut ai'r's
the river Ahe by an 01a ford immediately loelaaw the
Wellington Station : but the lad disobeyed his instruc-
tions, anal abashed into the seething mass of water just
at the foot of the railway arches. The pony and cart
were immediately swept away' but the lad managed
to get hold of a scalfaald-pole attached to some building
in course of renovation on the bank of the stream, and
here he remained for some minutes. As the lad was
becoming exhausted his cries were heard, and a man
slid down the scaffold pole, attached a rope to lead.
wick, and he then was drawn safely to hank. The
pony and cart were found on Sunday, lodged in a
lower reach of the stream.
Tue. ANTIQUITY OF CRINOLINE.—How old is
the word (asks the Athenffunt)? Can any
reader supply an example earlier than 1750? Lloyd
• says—
tumberland had seldon seen
A farmer's wife with tacit a mien....
She conid harangue with wondrous grace
On crinohoes, and caps, and lace.
1
. From the "Spirit of Contradiction," by R. Lloyd,
' learn 1733, died 176-1.

A SOLDIER DROWNED.—OD Saturday, John
Finn, an Irishman, a private in the let Battalion of the
12th Regiment, stationed at Devonport, was drowned
at the Plymouth Great Western Docks. The de-
ceased was one of a party of several soldiers of the
same regiments who had obtained furloughs to proceed
to Ireland to visit their friends, and were awaiting the
departure of the Dublin steamer to take passage by
her. The deceased, who had been drinking pretty
freely, ran flown the steps and across the few feet on the
beach that were left bare through the tide being low.
Then he proceeded to swim about for several minutes,
but eventually on swimming to a boat moored off the
stet., and endeavouring to get into her, be sank, and
was drowned.
THE DRINK AGAIN !—At Kilmarnock, on
Friday, a block-printer, named Drummond, while
sitting with his wife by the tire, threw into it a package
containing half-a-pound if gunpowder. This caused
tremendous explosion, which alarmed the neighbour-
hind, aml was heard a great way off. Drummond's
wife was thrown a considerable distance from the fire,
much injured, and her clothes ignited, and Drummond
was alm a good deal hurt. .1 he police were soon on
the scene and took Drummond into custody. He
alleges that it was his intention to kill himself and his
wife. They had been drinking, and were in a maudlin
Mate at the time. The ceiling of the house is a good
deal injured, and the inmates of the flat above them
felt the force of the explosion.
A Cesian BIRD.—Ah, how I long to see thee!
How I pant to clasp thee, dearest, to this wildly beat-
ing waistcoat! Fain would I call a cab and rattle
down to But l'apa is cross and stingy, and I have
no tin. Eh tin? mon chere amie! Buy Punch's
Almanack at once, and read all the riddles in it. Then
you may guess why ailore is not a closer, Yours fondly.
—ANXIOUS; TOMMY.—Punch.
FINE WniTmo !—A Rochester U.S. paper,
describing a recent fire in that city, employs this fine
figure of rhetoric:— "About this time the rear wall of
the back building fell with a crash, and the Fire-fiend
danced with malignant joy in and about the rear por-
tis ins of the stores and offices nearest the burned build-
ing.
A MAN-EATER.-The following extract from
letter from an engineer at Chintagoonta, about sixty
miles beyond euddapah, on the road to Nundyol, merits
the attention if Shikarries
we are much annoyed by a maneater, about 11 miles off,
under the hills, and the effect has been to raise the price of
bamboos, charcoal, sod wont I happened to be yesterday
in the village where it committed its last depredation. • I
found a force of 100 strong, composed of the young men of
the adjoining villages—they assemble every morning about
a ni., and march with tom.toms ahead and astern, armed
with spears and matchlocks, into the junkie near the village,
carrying l'soil to men who aro posted In trees near each
plate where atl one has been killed. As may be expected,
since they took these precautions they have seen nothing of
him, an he has quietly gone to another Vidage. They toll
me that the tiger had killed niore than 200 people : a great
many elite to the village.
AN UNE X PECTit D APPEARANCE. A comic
adventare, that might have had a tragic finale, hap-
pened a few nights ago at Rheims. During the second
piece, an inquisitive young gentleman, who it is
, supposed, had not the means even to pet ware entrance
to the " paraslis," or upper gallery. hail somehow got
' upon the rot ,f, and, crawling through the aperture, was
intently stirs eying the house. Suddenly—curiosity
being stronger than prudence—he made a false move,
and fell upon the chandelier, to which he managed to
cling, scattering, as he slid so, the glees pendante in
all directions, and considerably frightening the
salience. A great bulbs Is ensued, in the midst
of which the gas was put out, the chandelier
drawn up, and the adventurous imp, somewhat
cut and bruised, was rescued from his perilous
position'

A VICTIM TO HEROISM —Oll Friday afternoon
in last week, at Cross-pool, near Sheffield, a numi sr of
skaters and sliders —chiefly lads--tad collected on the
ice of a brick pond. Sports of various kinds were
freely indulged in, but whilst the fun was at its height
the ice gave way, and several of the lads were pre-
eipltated into the water. An alarm was at onee
raised, sial assistance promptly rendered by the by-
standers. Amongst those who took an active part waa
, a youth named Frederick Dyson, who bravely rushed
into the water and succeeded in saving one of the lads
from a watery grave, but unhappily he fell a victim to
his heroism. After handing the rescued one to the
care of those who remained on safe ground, the brave
lad either let go his hold of the side, or the ice gave
way, and he sank. Efforts were made to save him,
but every attempt failed, and the youth perished. It
was more than half an hour ere the body was re-
covered. The deceased was a well-conducted youth,
and much sympathy hi expressed towards the bereaved
parents. No other fatality occurred.

SUPPOSED Loss OF THE SH I P "SOUTHERN
EMPIRE" AND ALL ON Borviti).--:On Tuesday,..inte,lli-

..... „..
gence reached Liverpool of the foundering of the ship
Southern Empire, Ivith evtry soul on board. The
Southern Empire, under Calllltalld of Captain J.
Dunlop, left New Orleans for the Mersey on the 11th
November, with a very valuable cargo, amongst which
were 3,09 bales of cotton. The ship must have en-
counted very severe weather, for en the 22nd Decem-
ber, in lat. 44 N., ron. 25 %V., she was sighted by the
ship Aurora A ortrat is in a crippled condition, and sink-
ing fast. The weather was fearful at the Vine, the wind
. . .

II owing very hard andthesearunning high . Tie Aurora
A estetilis lay to during the night, but at daylight
nothing was to be seen of the Southern, Empire,
and it is believed she foundered in s nor-wester luring

the night, with all on boa,d. The barque Illhawhi,
which has reached Liverpool this week, passed several
bales of cotton, evidently not long in the water, awl
on the following day the vessel also passed through a
quantity of timber and wreckage. Nearly every ship
which has recently reached the Mersey, encountered
fearful weather in the Atlantic.

EXACTLY. However Christmas Ere, should be
dressed in other respects, she most unquestionably

ought to wear a "fall'of Eniuw."—Judy.

A COLLISION AT Sze.—lntelligence has been
received confirming the news published a week :Igo of
a collision between two Turkish vessels, and th.• loss
of 220 lives. The news comes from Constantinople by
way of Havre, and the following are the main fair, so
fsr as can at present be learned. About midnight on
the 17th of December, about forty-one miles from
Smyrna, at a place called Carals.umon, two steamers
belonging to the Azizie Company, viz. the Gaitioup
and Charkeich, came into collision. The force of the
contact was dreadful, aryl the Gallioup foundered
almost immediately, only thirty passengers out of no
being saved. The Charkeich was so greatly lamaged
by the collision that she had to be run ashore at
Chrome, two miles from Sinynta, to prevent her from
sinking. The Oallioup had a very valuable cargo and
a large quantity of specie on board when she foundered.

A WILL CASE.—It is stated that a singular
will ease is shortly to come before the Court of Pro-
bate. In 1830 a youthful scion of a respectable Irish
family married the daughter of a Clare farmer, and
then left her. A son was the issue of the marriage.
Twenty years afterwards he was found to be in lucra-
tive business and opulence in London. He had
married thrice after the abandonment of his Clare
bride- first, to the daughter of an eminent stock-
broker, and sister of one of the leading physicians in
the metropolis; again, to the daughter of a Cambridge
squire; and lastly, to the daughter of an Irish J.
The second and third reputed wives had families. At
last the delitiquvut died, and a marble monument in
an English seaport records his many virtues. his
wife, who still lives, was silenced with a pension in his
, lifetime • his fourth reputed wife and widow obtained
administration, and stepped into possession of the
property. This fact, however, reached the ears of the
son of the first marriage, who had been honestly earn-
ing his bread ars a confidential clerk in a merchant's
office in Dublin' and a suit is now pending in the
English Court of Probate to set aside the administra-
tion to his father, on the ground that the administratrix
is not widow to the deceased, and that all the later
marriages were bigamous and void.
QUITE RIGHT, MY DEARS. Alice, Constance,
Daisy, Evelyn, Geo4ina, Susette, and a great many
more most charming but slightly illegible correspon-
dents, are perfectly right in the conjecture which, with
thatintuition peculiar to women, they have unanimously
formed. Browning's new poem, Melting and the Book,
is all about—a Wedding. —Punch.
MURDER OF A POLICE INEIPECTOR.—New Year's
day was signalised at Greenock by the brutal murder
of a police inspector. It appears that the murderer,
who is an "Irish Yankee," named Gillan, entered a
confectioner's shop in Hamilton-street and was
cresting a disturbance. Mr. Simpson, the owner of
the shop, tried to get him out, but Gillan struck him a
blow on the mouth and knocked out several of his teeth.
A young man standing by offered to hold the assailant
till a policeman was sent for ; but, in grappling with
him, he received a stab in the arm, and Gillan got
away. He was speedily caught, however, and
Inspector MlCinnon, of the police, who juat then
canie up, tried to persuade him to go home. Instead
of doing so, however, Gillan *blind a blow with his
claspknife at the inspector and struck him with great
force under the left ear. Blood at once flowed from
the wound, and the injured man was carried to a
neighbouring shop, where he died in ten minutes from
sheer Das of blood. The murderer was at once seized
by the crowd and taken to the police office. On
Saturday he was brought before the magistrates and
remitted to the sheriff.—lnqiector ArKilinon was only
thirty-seven years 14 aee, and had the reputation of
being one of the quietest and best behaved men in the
Greenock force.

TOO TRUE !—The man who is awfully urbane
to his wife before Aro, .-is is ge,,, Ally srlso "1, tits'
behind their backs !--./m/y.
NEN Booxs IN 1868 —The following, taken
from The Pohlish(rs' Circular, of Jan. 1. 1869, Rives
the amount. nunieri,ffiy, of the works issued in Great
Britain during 1868 :
" Our record of title pages for the past year shows that 4.81,
new books and new editions have been published in Great I
Britain during 1868, exclusive of mere re-issues and entries
for alterations of price and importation of foreign printed
books ; of this number of 4,581 no less than one-fourth were
i ;sued during the last two months if the year—vie. , 569 in
November and 534 in December ; and adding to this total of
4,581 new books and new editions 408 importations of original
American books and 15.3 registrations of alterations in price
on re-issue we have a gross total of 2,092 works which have
passed through our columns during the year, the full
transcript of the title-page of each being copied verbatim for
the guidance of the literary world. A classification of the
titles comprising this total gives nearly one-fourth of the
whole as upon theological subjects—Viz, 984 ; to education,
philology, and classical literature, 446; juvenile works, 5 4;
novels, 409: law, 340; arts and sciences and line-art books,
4°9; trade and commerce anti political economy, 397; travel
and geographical research, 238; history and biography, 273;
poetry and the drama, 217 ; yearbooks anti aimual publica-
tions, 225; medicine and surgery, 103-, and miscellaneous, 418.
JUST THE REVERSE.—We are all acquainted
with the expression, "office hours." We take it that
Mr. Gladstone perfers to office sours "office sweets!"—
Judy,

SPOKEN AT LAST !—At last General Grant—
who will be remembered more perhaps for his taci-
turnity than for any other virtue, because in public
men it is so viiry rare—has spoken and announced a
policy of retrenchment. The New York Tribune says
that "the President-elect spoke with emphasis against
any further aid being given to the Pacific Railroads."
General Grant refuses to listen to inflated stories of the
future benefits to be obtained by means of theie rail-
roads ; in his opinion they are too far off, and he
regards the duty of the Executive to be at present con-
fined to making, the best use of actual resources without
increasing the burden of debt by incurring expensive
risks. At all events, this is good news for English
holders of American Securities, and will tend to in-
crease the public confidence in the policy of the future
President of the United States.