The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-12-16 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.
According to Le Sport, the French horses have won
upon English ground daring the ,late racing about £17,403.
A large hamper of game has been sent by the Prince
of Wales for the use of the patients of Bartholomew's Hos-
pital, London, of which his Royal Illekumasa La the President.
Typhus fever has, a Berlin correspondent says,
broken out at Warsaw in an epidemic form, necessitating the
removal of the troops from the parts affected.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges in
The Times (as "Conscience Money 1) receipt of the second
halves of two £2O notes far Income-tax from "W. X. Y. z."
Mr, John Cooke, of B Illyneat, in the county of Kil-
kenny, dropped dead on Saturday morning while dancing at
a ball in Sir James Langrishe's residence, Knocktopher.
It appears from a return just issued that during the
year ending June 30 last, 54,330 persons were taken in charge
in Scotland for being drunk, of whom, however, it I. fair to
say that 31,146 were simply incapable, and only 23,14 were
disorderly as well as drank.

Intelligence telegraphed from Tashkent states that
on the 9th of last month the Chinese captured hiona's Last
stronghold, murdering 1,500 Dagans, not reckoning women
and children The Chinese are reported to have been armed
with breechloaders, in the use of which they were partially
instructed by two foreigners.

It is shown in the return of the Registrar-General
that the deaths from small-pox in London, which had been
43 and 67 in the two preceding weeks, were 50 ,at week, of
which 19 were cart fled as unvaccinated, and 16 as vacci-
nated ; in the remaining 15 cases the medical certificates did
not furnish any information as to vaccination.

Gctlignani says :—Dr. Bidet, of Paris, who attended
Dr. lt,gnault, carried off In four-and-twenty hours by
diphtheria, the vrms of which he had contracted in attend-
lug a young girl who was attacked by the disease, has now
died from the same malady. Nearly all the individuals who
were hbout the child have already succumbed to the con-
t Igton.

An inquest has been held at Realll on the body of
Jacob Can't), 73 who threw himself under a South-Eastern
train near Redhill Junction. The deceased had been a
matter carman, but had lately been in reduced circum-
stances. Some depression of spirits having been noticed in
him just before his death, the jury gave a verdict of suicide
while in a state of mental derangement.
A composit ..)r (an Englishman), in the office of
GaUgnanis Mesaenger, has committed suicide, by shooting
himself through the head with a pistol. Ha was one of
Galignant's oldest hands, and was known as a honest, hard-
working man. He wrote to one of his comrades announcing
his intention, but the note was received too late to prevent
him from putting his fatal design into execution.
There is to be established in Paris an asylum for
working people of both sexes who may have been so it Jared
by occident as not to be able to continue work. The place
will be known as the Vacsssy Asylum, from the name of the
founder, M. Jean-Joseph Vacassy, who has bestowed, In
money and lands, a sum of 1,200,000 francs for the purpose.
He leaves to the state the direction of the establishment. "
Sir Thomas Acland, M.P., presided on Saturday
evening at Exeter at a meeting on the question of Friendly
Societies, lie urged on the members of those organizstions
the necessity of their taking a more active personal interest
in their affairs, by way of qualifying themselves for other
duties. He thought charities should be administered by the
public bodies of each locality, and not to be regarded merely
as a means of saving rates or the pockets of the rich.

Mr. Rowland Winn, M.P., addressing his consti-
tuency in North Lincolnshire on Tuesday, considered that
the great aim of England was to take care that the Chris-
tians in the Turki,h Piovinces were j linty treated in the
future, and he had good expectations from the Constanti-
nople Conference. Mr. Winn alluded to home legislalon,
and considered that the Prisons Bill and a measure dealing
with local taxation would be among the early laws of next
Session it the Eastern Q testlon did not block the way. Ile
favoured a greater extension of the Artisans' Dwellings Act.
An inquest has been held at Norton Folgate,
London, respeeing the death of Mr. John Offen, aged
thirty•nine, a native of Essex, and owner of a pack of hounds.
It was shown that the deceased was some days ago at
Romford at a meet of hounds and his clothes got wet
through. On returning to Norton Folgate, a doctor saw him
and found he was suffering from delirium tremens. In his
most critical state he insisted upon drinking brandy. He
eventually fell back dead in his chair, while imagining he
was driving a four-in-hand. A verdict to the effect that de-
ceased died from disorders induced by cold caught while in
the saddle and excessive drink was recorded.

in distributing the prize
Major General D. Lysons,
to the 40th Middlesex Rifles on Sattue;sy evening, reminded
the volunteers of the position which they occupied under the
army mobilisation scheme. There was not a single armed
man in Britainwho had been forgotten, and who had not
been assigned a speoific duty and an actual designated post.
the eight army corps formed but a very smell portion of the
great scheme for the defence of the country. They Were
merely what was called the field, or rnanceuvring army, a
service for which the volunteer force was not adapted.
There were a great many other duties equally if not more
important, and quite as honourable; and these the volun-
teers had been told cif for.
"It is officially announced that Parliament is to
meet for the despatch of Public Business on the Bth of Feb-
ruary. The announcement 1.5 peculiarly welccnne. A couple
of months ago there were good grounds for refusing an
Autumn Session, the great question—the Eastern policy of
the Government—was unripe !or discussion, and heated
expressions might have led Foreign Powers to expect or to
fear some hasty determination with respect to Turkey.
Parliament is, therefore, to meet at the usual season, or
rather a few days later, and the opening of the Session will
no awaited, both by ourselves and by foreign nations, with
an interest to which there has been no parallel in recent
years."—Leader in The 2'invs.
Captain Boyton has had another good swim; this
time down the Po, and is said to have accomplished his pro-
mired task of floating along that river, from Turin 411 the
way to Ferrara, without a single stoppage. rhe distance is
800 miles, and he has done it in 93 honrs, exactly four days
and nights. This mast have been a stiff little bit of paddling,
particularly as the reason was winter, and the waters of the
gres,t‘ltallan river, from their rise around the flanks of Monte
Vito, receive much melted snow directly into the parent
stream, as well as from its numerous trioutaries ; so that the
!teraneratore mast hate been trying to the spirited Voyager:.
—Dail Telegraph. • -

• -At the Liverpool Araizsa a sailor, named Kelly, 21
year. 4 old, has been Indicted for the wilful murder of a
Spanish !seaman. The dect,azed was co'.k on board a ahlp,
and on the 14th of Octobtr was walking in Cleveland-square.
Liverpool, when, without any warning or provocation, the
prlsOnsr sprang upon him and stabbed him in the neck with
a knife, causing olnonat ittstabt death. The fac.s Wete clearly
proved, bat for the defence eVidence was called to show that
the. prisoner ..had only been a week out of gitol, had been
without shelter and proper food since then, and FOIL more'
ever, subject to tits of Insanity, having been an idiot since his
infancy. Efts appearance In the dock was csrtalnly enough
to sugitost the idea of mental weakness. The Jaty acquitted
him on the ground of insanity, and Mr. Justice Lindley
ordered him to be detained during her Ditqesty's pleasure.

- - -
Small-pox is rapidly increasing in London, and the
three small-pox hospitals at Romerton, Hampstead, and
Stockwell are now full, the aggregate number of patients
being 600.

The death is announced In Paris of Madame Vir-
stnte Devi say. Sbe was born in 1769, and was conseqwntly
107 yeart old. She was a helpless imbecile for the past Len
years, and had not spoken a word for mmy months.

A telegram from Dresden reports an accident causing
the death of twenty-five miners, which occurred on Sunday
night L. the ot the Wiudhcrg coal mfr. boionOrg
to the Po:Echapcl Company. Twenty bodies have been
recovered.

The Mark Lane Express states that probably a
larger average of wheat has been sown in the United King.
eon) this year, owing to the favourable seed time. The
floods and sevcra rains are likely to have damaged the young
cereal crop!.

Ponshon, who was announced to preach the
funeral sermon ot tha late Dr. Waddy at the City-road Wes-
leyan Chapel. London. on Monday evening, was unable to
attend. and it was stated that he WdS suffering from illness
so severe that he would not be likely to preach again for
same cousiderable period

At the meetiriz of the Midland Railway Company,
to be held on th., 10,11 inst., resolutions will be proposed for
raising £3,2b0 000 of freth cr.pital in Fur per Cent. Con-
vertible ['reference Shares of Zl7 each.
Captain Madden, R.N., fn -comm bald of H.M.S.
Rector, coastguard ship, lying in Southampton Water cff
Netley, died on board that vine' on Monday, after a few
days illness. He was wounded in the China war. Captain
Madden was connected for some years with the transport
service in command of her Majesty's troopships.
A supplement to the London Gaaette contains a
Royal proclamation commanding the peers of Scotland to
asaemb:e at Holyrood House on Friday, the 22nd instant
for the election of t o representatives in the House of Lords,
in succersion to the late Marquis of Tweeddale and the Lae
of Levan and Melville.

Sankey is accustomed to tell, as the origin of" Hold
the Fort," about Sherman's message signalled to Gen. Corse,
at Altoona, "Hold the fort—l am comitig." The evangelist,
however, does not quote Gen. Gorse's reply, which was; "I
am short a cheek bone and an ear, but am able to whip all
yet."
Mr. H. J. R. Marston, a blind gentleman, has
obtained a first class, in the final examination f ,r the degree
of B. A., in Classics and General Literature in the "nivel-Buy
of Durham. Mr. Marston was educated in the College for
Blind Sons of Gentlemen, Worcester.

Charcrectri (the French Punch) has published another
Anglo-phobiac cartoon to Ratter the chatevin taste of the
Parisian pnblic. A French soldier is seated smoking at his
ease. Up comes Albion, and with outstretched arms
exclaims, "Dear friend, come to my assistance I What a
position for you to take !" To which the soldier replies, "I
am taking the same position as you did in 1870."
Invitations have been given by the Vatican to the
Catholic countries to take part in the exhibition of ecclesi-
astical objects, to be opened in the month of Jane, 1877, on
the occasion of the eplecopall nbilee.

A respite has been granted in the case of William
Drant, a convict under sentence of death at Lincoln for
murder, on the ground that at ths time when the crime was
committed he was suffering under an attack of insanity
caused by epilepsy.

The Paris Acclimata tion, re ferrin g to the winter passage
of birds, states that a golden eagle, with a stretch of wings of
seven feet ten inches, was recently shot at Courtisals, near
Chalons (Marne). A flne specimen of a timing° was killed in
the Camargue (Bouches-du-Rhone); and a ger-falcon, entirely
white, was shot in the Glenan Isles (FinisNre).
The commissioners appointed to report on the best
mode of dealing with the portion of the Tuileries destroyed
by the Commune have decided not to recommend the re-
building of the palace as a residence for the Chief of the
State, but propose to devote the building, when re-con-
structed, to the purposes of a museum.

In a window in the Broadway, New York, are por-
trill,' of Tilden and Hawn, side by side, and underneath is
writtan the old Jaw:obis ltgend :
God bleas the King, God bless tbe Earth's Defender:
Gaa bleas—there's no harm in blessing—the Pretender.
But who that P‘etender is, and who tuat King,
God bless us all, is quite another thing.

The Cologne Gazette states that orders have been
received by toe miiitry authorities of Odessa 1,-r the mobill-
zAlon of a new militia division, consisting of 600,000 men, to
be divided into twelve army corps. AU the men will wear
the national uniform, and be armed with the new Russian
breech-loading rifle.

There is a lady in San Francisco—Mrs. Frank G.
Edwards—who enjoys the proud distinction of being the first
woman in America to shoot at and hit a target at the distance
of 1,000 yards. She adopts the Creedmoor posture, which
most ladies would consider slightly inconvenient. The Cali-
fornia Rifla Association has voted her a gold medal.

An addition of a million has been presented by the
Duchess HaNara to the Pope (says a Times telegram). A dis-
tinguished body of collectors of Peter's Pence in Rome
offered a large sum to His Holiness on Friday, the festival of
the immaculate conception of the Virgin, and the editor of
the Unita Cattolica has forwarded 20,600 francs received in
small sums by that paper.

Daring het week 5.833, births, and 3,579 deaths were
registered in London and 22 other large towns of the %Jutted
litngdom. The natural increase of population was 2,254. The
mortality from all causes was at the average rate of 23 deaths
annualy in every 1,000 perions livhig. In Los don 2 410 births
and 1,416 deaths were registered, the former having been 91
more, and the latter 339 less than the average numbers.

" We are requested to state that the statue of the
late Sir Robbrt Peel, now erected in Palace Yard, West-
minister, lithe last work of Mr Noble. The commission for
it waa given to him by the friends of the deceased statesma
of whom the Duke of"Buccleuch is the chairman, in order
that the statue might be substituted for the one by the late
Beron Alarochetti formerly erected in Palace Yard.—The
Times.

On Monday, at the Hampton Petty Sessions, the
Local Loard were summoned for penalties amounting to
£122,300, for having neglected to cut off their sewage from
entering the Toames. As, however, the Board had done all
In their power to get out of their diflimity, and a Govern-
ment inquiry was to be held, the sumnadns was adjourned
for six months.
The London annual market for the sale of fat stock
for Christmas consumption was not, on the avorage, so suc-
cessful as those of preceding seasons, this fact bein.rattri-
bnted to the necessity under which o's,e era lay of sending
their beasts earlier to market, owing to the greater expense
of keening them during the past vax, the result of various
exceptional CALMS. A new feature in the market was the
exhibition of a considerable number of good animals which
were brought from America.

According to the" Yearly Review of the Population
of the Earth," the total population amounts to 1,423,917.000.
01 this number Europe claims 809,178 300 ; Asia, 624,548,500 ;
Africa, 199 921,600 ; Australia and Polynesia, 4 748 600 ; and
America, 85,619,800. The average density of population of
the whole globe Is about 28 inhabitants to one square mile
of land surface. The density is greatest in Europe, where it
is 82 per square mile; in Asia, 48; in Africa, 18; in America,
; and in Australia and Polynesia, about l.
Mr. Macdonald, AP., has returned from America
somewhat earlier than he at Mat intended. The improve-
ment in his health which ha anticipated would result
from his sojourn in the far West has not, however, been
realized, and it appears that he has by no means recovered
from the effects ot the accident he met with in America,
when no fewer than seven of his ribs were broken, stud his
physical system was eonsiderably shaken. He is now con-
flued to his home in Scotland.

The hatching of the trout ova at Learmouth, in
Australia, h succeeding. The ftallarat Star states that
some hundreds of young fl,11•1-e now to be seen amocigst the
gravel in the trays. lhe salmon ( r sea) trout ova lately
obtained from Tasmania has all hatched at E,cildoun. Str
Samuel Wilson ree,tvcd £5O ova, and from these 1.30 fry have
been successfully hatched, and are looking well.

At the sitting of th<, Frer.ch Chamber on Saturday
a person in one of the public gillekies cried In a loud voice :
"Vivo l'Empereur ! Vire Nap‘deon IV. The man was at
once arrested sod taken before the questors He stated that
he had formerly betu In the Imperial Guird, and was now a
gardener. For a long time he bad been watching his oppor-
tunity to make a demonstration, lie was given into the
custody of the police.

The Dover Chronicle rays, "Another Spellin. Bee
wifl shortly be bele iu Dover, and if it has the effect of
mAlng people study their dietionar'es a little more we shall
be satisfied_ A few days ago we heard two persons (Reputing
as to the meaning of ti{e word lampoon_ The one scoured
the other of never having heard of the word befoi 'What
Da you think I have never head of lampooning whales?' was
the reply,"

Daring the polling for the London School Board, a
ratepayer arrived breathless and in a state of great excite-
ment, a-, one of the p Altpg stations in Hackney, and. said, "I
want to vote for a woman." "Ah saia a friendly voice,
"I suppose you mean Miss Millar?" 'NI," says the rate-
payer, "that's not her name; let me sit down and think. I
saw it on a plalard as I came along. (Chioks aloud.) I have
it. roll Early; that's her !"—Court Journal.
The Con-tantinople Correspondent of the Standard
semis partimiars of a conseiravy against the Sultan,
which he describes.as foolish but somewhat dangerous. Six of
the persons implicated were arrested within the Palace. They
had plotted to carry off the ex-leiten in a steameoat t
Athens, from which place they would have announced his
restoration to health and charged the Feigning Sultan with
being a usurper.
An inquest has been held at Widnes, on two men
named Moorhouse and Lewis, who were killed at the Atlas
Chemical Works through the escape of ool,onous gas. Moor-
ordered Lewis to accompany him
thoouthsee'bwleaho was
min
aver,
to modify the escape of sulpha-
retted hydrogen, which had been complained of. Both turn
were missed from their work anti on search being made they
were discovered lying auite dead, having been overp.,wered
by the noxious vapours. Medical evidence proved that
deceased had died from suffocation and the jury returned a
verdict accordingly.
An inquest has been held in London relative to the death
of William Naylor, aged twenty-eight It appears that the
deceased was a shunter on the Giceat Northern Railway, and
on Tuesday week he was coupling some carlages together.
when he somehow fell and was ran over. Ha was removed
to the hospital and died on Monday last from grangrene, the
resat of the amputation of the leg. The verdict of
,lbe Jury
was that the deceased met with his death accidentally:
'The late Mr. William Baillie of Falahill, W.S., has
bequeathed to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary his estate at
Fulani, also a halt of the free residue of his estate. Mr.
Beanie's agent, Mr. James L. Bill, W.B, reports that the
value of the gift will be upwards of £30,000. Besides numerous
legacies to friends, Mr. halite has remembered various otter
Institutions and charities. The other half of the free residue
of his estate—several thousand pounds—he leaves to the
Suatentation Fund of the Free Church of Scotland.

Mr. Pemberton. M.P., in addressing a meeting of
agriculturists at Canterbury, spoke of the Eastern question.
Ile considered that the points a: issue were narrowed to the
qnestl6ll what guarantees should be exacted from Turkey
for the accomplishment of the necessary reforms; and he
advocated the leaving of that matter unreservedly, to far as
England is concerned, in the hands of the Government and
our representatives abroad.
A. curious point was raised in an action brought by
the governing body of Megdalen Hospital, London, before
the Master of the Rolls. Their predecessors had granted in
1783 a 99 years' lease, and subsequently a reversionary lease
for tO years, at a peppercorn rent, of promises in the West-
minster Bridge-road, which it was slow sought to avoid
under the statute of Elisabeth, and also 9.3 being an improvi-
dent alienation of the property of the hospital. The de-
fendants demurred on the ground that the action was barred
by the Statute of Limitations, but his lordship overruled the
demurrer, although he admitted the ease was one of great
hardship, and hopc.d that his decision might be reversed by
another court
A Mons. M4nier, of Bordeaux, has invented a new
contrivance for the steering of balloons. The mechanism is
placed behind the car, arid by a clever arrangement of net-
work acts upon ,a belt which encircles the body of the balloon,
The
rudder.
balloons The
extending about four or five degrees above and below a
horizontal place, through its centre—its equator, to to say.
The
Wards and also
usedb:paorsd lti ioanansdoafd ?aline. r
said rudderto sovpelaonnel,igaauedi
ytchsneup
very by changing
sideways, according to
!sideway motion is the
is that a balloon, provided with this
position of ballast which may be of
nspeewciaapipparraacttasict.ti use,
when falling to the ground, can be made to
(sarcligeletliY and thus avoid soy
me facilitate a safe
'sasnurd I aacte veryth e
stouudedhentheshenat
cr
anchoring.
',The whole trading community is still suffering
from the reaction which cornthenced In 1872-3. The power
of thts.conntry to endure the trial has been already proved.
The evil times which have fallen on so conspicuous a pertion
of our foreign trade do not materially aka the general
well-being of the people, while the enterprise of our capital-
ists continues to seek new markers. It we have not yet any
indications of a process of reoavery, there have been many
that the limits of decline had been leached, though these
may be obscured jest now by the general apprehension of
grave political convulsions. What is to come of the clouds
which have been gathering so long perhaps a few weeks may
show; hut meanwhile the commercial records of the year
promise us that, &past from politics, the long period el tub •
sidence is at length ending, and that without having entailed
any material diminution or our commercial strength or
eptrit"—Leader In Ms TilMf ,

The emigraeon from Liverpool in November in.
chided 3,429 persons—nearly 2,000 fewer than the number for
October.
The epidemic of typhus fever which has been raging
Ptuls fqr so many weeks past!. now on the deeltr.e.

The Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge Irc;vergity has
given notice that the subject for the Ch.ncell es gold medal
for English poetry is "Heroism of Arctic Exolor4ton," and
that for the Powls medal for Latin verse is Cadmus."

Seven years is the traditional period of probation,
appreLticzihip, and trials of patience. It in sev:n years a
man cannot learn a language, asquire a trade, win a wife, of
knc vf a tort ign country, the probability is that he will nave
succeed h, doing so.

The Alumbagh, 1,137 tone, Captain E. W. Pratt,
chartered by the Agent Ganer.l for South Australia, 101
Plymouth on Tuesday far Port A.ielaide, with 855 emigrants,
among whom were seventy single female domestic serrants.l
In a recent storm in the Morhihan, the electric fluid
struck the tower of the church at Kernaseleden ; one-halt of
the tpire was overthrown, and the stones in falling pierced
the roof and destroyed a gallery inside the structure.

The Russian Government has acceded to,the request
of the rector u:ld churchwardens of St. John's. Lewes, that a
snitable monument should ha erected over the graves of the
Ituadan priqiners who died during their confinement in
Lewes as prisoners of war dating the Crimean campaign.
T'ne Berlin authorities have recently forbidden the
proprietors of menageries throughout Germany feeding
lintskell with live rabbits or other live animals in the presence
of the public.

Prince Wass, who walld be now King of Sweden, if
his faller, Gastavas IV , had not abdicated in favour of
Bernadotte, has arrived at Paris. The Prince is now 77, and
was ten years old at the time of tke accession of Napoleon
I's neminee.

Mr. Ju4tice Mellor, in chargirg the Swansea Grand
Jury, referred to the experiment of gaol delivery in pur-
suance of the Winter Assize Act, and pronounced the new
plan a decided success, as it would effectually put an erd to .
the undue detention of prisoners awaiting triaL
The Prince of Wales arrived at Marlborough House
on Saturday from visiting the Maharajah Dia:deep Singh at
Eivedon hall, Thetford —The Princes.: of Wales and her
children attended Divine service at Sandringham Church on
Sunday. The Rev. W. Lake Onslow, M.A., preached.
A Council was held by her Majesty at Windsor cn
Saturday, at whida it was ordered that Parliament should be
still further prorogued to Thursday, the ith February next,
then to meet for the despatch of business. The Convoca-
tions of Canterbury and York will assemble on the following
day.
The Total Abstainers' Society of Cambridge have
had a meeting relative to the next Parliamentary election
for the borough, and they resolved that they would not sup-
port any candidate who will not pledge himself to support
the Permissive Bill now before the public, or some other
better adapted to promote legislation in favour of temperance
principles. •
An inquest has been held at Deal on the !miles of
Mrs. Nash and her granddaughter, Emma Scott, a girl about
fourteen years of age, both of whom had been found in an
upper bedroom with their throats cut. A verdict of wilful
murder was returned agaidst Mrs. Nash, who was held by
the jury to have afterwards destroyed herself whilst in a
state of temporary insanity.

The British Medical Journal states that Prince
Leopold is nebrly oonvalescent from the troublesome sprain
and consequent swelling of the knee-Joint from which hs
has been lately suffering.

The following are the average prices of British corn
for the week ending Dec. 9 as received from the impactors
and officers of Excise :—Wheat, 49a ld. ; barley, SU 101.;
oats, 255. 4& per imperial quarter. Corresponding week last
year :—Wheat, 4s ll.; barley, 85s. 41 ; oats, 245, 9d.
At a meeting of the Sheffield Town CJuncil it was
announced that the Duke of Norfolk had expressed his
willingness to give three pieces of open ground in the neigh-
bourhood of the town as places of recreation. E tch piece
of ground is about ten acres in extent, and is in the neigh-
bourhood of the most densely populated part of the town.
Sheffield has two public parks, but no places of recreation,

For some time a black, sviining mineral has been
brought from Brazil which is founcrto contist of pure carbon.
it is as hard as the diamond, and being much cheaper than
even the smallest dikmonds, it finds useful application for
cutting diamonds. It enters into commerce under the name
of carbonado, and is frequently found in the districts
Bahia, in pieces weighing over one thousand carats.
The Scotsman states that a meeting has been held in
Glasgow to consider the desirability et establishing an annual
assemblage in that city of the poets who are resident in the
West of Scotland, and it is proposed that the first meeting
shall be held on December 26th. The ultimate object is to
form &society which shall embrace the whole of Scotland. '
Amongst the curious articles which will appear in
the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878 will be a collection of
instruments of torture which are in use amongst the negroes
in the centre of Attica. Amongst other refinements of
cruelty are sabres which cut off a man's bead at one blow; a
set of seven piognards, all of different lengths, the last of
which is alone sufficiently long to kill the victim, after the
others have all been inserted; also various other instruments
of torture in the shape of pincers, and irons for burning
the victims alive.
A large numberof passengers were seriously shaken,
and fourteen or fifteen wounded, by au accident at Abbeyhill
Junction, near Edinburgh, on the North British Railway op
Monday afternoon. It seems that the train had beeh
brought to a stand, and that on the signals being changed
indicating that the line was clear, the engine suddenly
started, and the coupling snapped. The engine could not be
stepped until it had run some distance, but as the carriages
followed up, moving on a decline, they ran off the Line at the
junction points.

The Court of Assizes of Dijon (COte-d'Or) has just
tried a man named Gamier for wounding by shooting with
a gun his neighbour Bonvaiot, Deputy-Mayor, against whom
he nurtured feelings of resentment for having given evidence
against him in a prosecution. The jury re:Aimed a verdict
of guilty, without extenuating circumstances, and the court
condemned the accused to death, and to the payment of
2,0001 damage'. This capital sentence is remarkable from
toe fact that the wounded man is now in a fair way of
recovery.
A well-known thief, who had very frequently been
brought before the I"...ris ponce oourts, lately appeared before
the tribunal, when the magistrate, In parsing sentence,
observed to him, "You are only twenty two years old, and
this is your tenth c,mclemnation ; at your age now is it that
you are so depraved? I fear it is theNffects 4,t yonr keeping
bad curopaby." B d company 1" replied the prisoner, "I
assure you I pass the greater part of my time with the digni-
taries of the bench."

Daring four days in last week there had been dis-
patched for the fr ndon Christnigs markets, from the North.
via Aberdeen, 1,520 cattle, 333 sheep, and nine pigs; being
184 cattle and 108 sheep less than last year, and four pigs
more Six hundred head of cattle have been carried by the
Highland Railway. The stock was forwarded to King's-cross
by eight special trains. The total value is estimated at from
£60,000 to £BO 000

St, James's Hall, London, was crowded on Tuesday
evening by a faqiii.nable audience, under the auspices of the
Royal G:!ographical Society, ti welcome the members of the
Arctic Expedition. All the oftt'ers were present, and papers
were read by Sir G. .T.O Ares, the chief of the expedition, and
Captain Martham, who headed the sledge journey towards
the Pole. At the close of the papers the Prince of Wales
expressed hit admiration of the courage and daring of the
expedition, and nsoved a resolution giving its members a
hearty welcclue

An inquest 1:18.3 been held at the "Rose and Crown,"
Blackfriars, London, on the body of Henry Poole, aged fifty-
eight, a brass finisher, who was found dead in the Thames
pith his throat cut on Thursday in last reek. The eviaence
adduced went to show that the deceased had been In 111.
health, and in a desponding condition, consequent upon the
expected death of a favourite daughter, and, in a moment of
temporary mental derangement, cut his throat with a razor
and then walked to the banks of the Thames and threw him-
sill into the water The jury returned a verdict ol "Su!cide
while of unsound mind."
An inquiry has been held in London at the Charing-
cross Hospital as to the circumstances attending the death of
Mr. Walter Watkins, aged 33 years, formerly a pablichouse
no.nager, who died while tinder Ihe administration of chloro-
ft rm. The post-mortem examination proved that the lungs
and brain were congested, and cl.ath sr ,se from the failure
of the lungs and partly from paralysis of the heart, caused by
tha administration of chloroform. The heart was very weak.
The Jury returned a verdict "That deceased died whilst
usder the influence of chloroform, which was properly ad-
ministered."

An filmiest has been held at Whitechapfl, London,
relative to the death of George Floats, aged flf ty-six. The .
decewei had for some time lo iged in a COllll2lOll lodeing-
house In Soitalflelds, for which he paid Sid. per night. Being
without work and very ill thr: ugh b:ing deprived of the
common necessaries of life, he went Omit the streets vend- - '-
lug matchf a. Frequently he was nn%ble to pay for his lodg.
tog, and the money then would either be paid by the landlord jI
of the house or mustered together by other lodgers out of
compassion for deceaaed, who was reduced to a skeleton. On 7-•:;;;
the 6th lust he was found insensible in bed; an crder was
obtained for his removal to the workhouse, where he died
the following day. When admitted he was terribly ernaciatslll
and filthy, and never recovered consciousness. Dr Ilott
said dea:ti wss due to effusion on the brain, accelerated by
want, remarking that it was the worst case he had met with
The jury returned & verdict in accordance with the evidence
_