The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-04-30 00:00:00

REAL EVART MEN.

An extraordinary wanspinicy s* nit illsarano• coar
Denies hu been brought to lixht. A man named
Richud Rainforth insured his life last year in three
offees for the gram smn of 14,000 dollars. On the 22nd
of February he died, as was alleged, at Chicago, of
typhoid fever, and a will was felted devising his pro-
perty (which consisted of the amount of insurance) to
certain pervons namcd u executors. A brother of
Hainforth's came to Chicago to make inquiries into all
this, and from what he beard he arrived at the belief
that the deceased had met with some foul play. The
detectives were set to work, and they euceeeded in un-
ravelling the following series of incidents :—Rainforth
and the executors named in hi, will were all concerned
in • scheme to defraud life Man-anew eompaniec. Th•
first tart of the plan wu that Rainforth should insure
his life and die. A medical man who attended him, sod
subsetinently signed the certificate of death, was ma
accomplice in the plot. In the afternoon of the day el
the supposed death another medieal tau was called in
for • oonsaltation. and it is Hated that he examined
the Want, and gave it as his opinion that be wad
not guy vive thirty-six hours. A barber was sent for to
shay. of • moustache and beard which the sick man
wore, for, as he said, "be did not fear death, but be
desired to die clean." At halt-pest Ave o'elnck, several
persons being in the room, Kendall. one of the party,
erica! out, "Poor fellow, be is gone!" At that hour he
died—that is to say, be disappeared. The medical man
laid out the comae. At seven o'isloek Rainforth Ina no
more, and a body was brought in from the hospital and
laid upon the bed. It has since been discovered that
Rainforth ia in frequent correspondence with his
executors, and with • young woman, whom be waa
courting; but be has not yet been arrested, and the
insurance companies have probably loot their money.
In • car this afternoon I heard • man say to another
that ltainforth and his colleagues were " rare smart
meta," and no one can deny it. —Tates' New Fork
Correspondent,

THE FORTRESS OF LUXEMBURG.
The fortress of Luxensberg—the prpal town of the
Dosh• of the same name—liu on the left hank of the
Moselle, about three German miles from Trey., on the
Alsette, a small tributary of the Sauer, whieh dis-
charges itself into the Moselle. The rocky valley of the
tlaette is surrounded by ateep, in many parts perpen-
dicular, stone walls. reaching an average height of 300
feet. The fortress itself stands open the heights sur-
rounding this picturesque valley, built partly upon,
partly even into the rocks, • circumstance which hu
corned for it the name of the second Gibraltar. The
works of the fortifications., which cover about • German
mile, are divided into two principal hellion.: I. The
real fortress (the so-called Upper Town), on the left
bank of the Allette, is secured on three sides by the
perpendicular banks of the river which here describes
• large are, the fourth side only allows—on the height
of the plateau—a possible, though dicult, approach,
but is armored here by • threefold eirdle of fortifioatioes
and detached forte. The upper town is the crown and
centre of the whole fortress. There is no real eitedel.
2. The heights on the right beak of the Alsette,
crowned by many works of fortiacation, but of lees
strength, since the real front for the attack lies north-
wards on the left bank. It is extremely difficult to
erect siege work., as the bore rock everywhere crops
(mt. This fortress might well Le called a model of all
fortifications past and present, from the Roman Castel-
loan to Vauban's and the new Premien forte. Every
nation of importance in the middle of Europe up to the
Romans, by whom the fortress was founded, has
possessed Lusemburg. The place has harboured, in
turn. Spanish, French, Austrian—once more French—
finally Protein,' garrisons— the best proof of the import-
ance it possessul at all times. No leas than seven times
his it been taken since 1440. The real importance of
the plato for Prussia, seems to he, in the first instance,
• negative one, viz., that it does not belong to the
French. In • contest with France. the 001112•11 armies
eoul I probably have to operate on two principal
theatres of war —Alsace, Lotberingen, end Belgium;
and the Lower Rhine. sepersted by the district between
the Moselle and the Meas. In the ease of taking the
offensive over the Middle and Upper Rhine towards the
west, the more important line of operations would be
Marence.Kaiserlantern-Mets which leads up to the
valley of the Marne. This line cuts through the net-
work of the Eistern French fortresses, the most
important of which, in this part, i. Mies, but which is
comparatively of less moment as long as Luxemburg—
only aboot seven German miles diatent—is in German
hands. Th• possessor of Luxemburg is master of the
, lower Sum Valley, is clued only by unimportant
Seerlonis, end the valley of the Saar goes straight
through the line of operations to he taken by an army
Penetrating from the Middle Rhine towards Chem prune.
A French fortress of Luxemburg would, in conjunction
with Meta, be well able to compromise the action of
such an army by forcing it to enfeeble itself by the
detachment of blockarline corps. Lusemburg Prussian
means recurity of the right lank; French. the reverse.
A similar. although not quite so formidable an obetruc-
ti in, would • French Luxemburg prove to the left flank
of • Germrin army advancing from the Nether Rhine
through Belgium. But a most particular value is
inherent in this fortress by the four railway lines of
which it is the centre, a circumstance of the vastut
strategical importance in these days of transport of
troops he railways. These lines are-1. Nnocy, Metz,
Luxemburg ; 2. Luxemburg, Namur. Brussels; 3.
Luxemburg. Spas, Luttich ; 4. Illayenee, Saarbruck,
Saarlouis, Treys., Luxemburg. The first two lines run
parallel with the French frontiers and several strong
Places. and are in direct communication with Paris,
with the North, and the Booth. The French advance
would be much favnered by this (single) line running
parallel to its frontiers, which allows of quick and
sudden movements to the North and South. The line
Luxeroburg.Lottich runs parallel with the Prussian
frontier on Lusemburg-BelAan soil, joins the valleys of
the Morrell* and Maas in the shortest line, and cots the
line Cologne-Lottieh-Brussels, at Verviers. Luxemburg
is thus the meeting-point of the three lines named, to
which, from • French point of view, • high offensive
and defensive importance must be allowed. Bandon
these, however, the important line which joins the
valleys of the Rhine. Nate, Saar. Moselle, is to be taken
Into consideration, which, by joining the line Lumen,-
borg-Nemor-firnasels, becomes of the utmost moment
to the Germans. being the only possible way of joining
the Belgian and Lotheringian theatres of wee. With-
out the possession of Lexemburg by Germany, the
operating German armies well thus he prevented from
combining at any moment by the enemy. Luxemhurg
French may, combined with Meta, Lorgwy, end
cripple the action of any army cronsing the Middle
and Nether-Rhine, apart from forming a by no means
despicable basis for the French offensive operations
against the Rhine line, and, farther, • continuous
Mel..es to the whole bulk of the German poeseseions on
the left of the Rhine.

A BALLOON VOYAGE ACROSS THE
IRISH CHANNEL

Mr. Hodsman, the aronsot, he. performed &great feat
On Honda, afternoon he left Dublin in • balloon
crossed at
ii,img.h.:tt,whehlodiler
i.tAh:peheopacinb.epayhl,i,nibaniriidyneenseltniffy":;feel al an,dridsain.
LeWbehd;elnihis
is
onnfident of descending in, at the most, • *NMI° of
hours, that just as the rope was cut, he threw out a
great coat and mackintosh cape, saving that bis would
not be hampered with them. It we. • quarter to five
o'clock when he started, and ascended rapidly; bat he
had not gone far before he became aware that some of
the apparatus was in wish s position en to Pin't its
movements almost beyond hi, control. The result was
that be was carried along by the force of the wind, the
balloon at the same time performing a rotary as well ss•
direct motion in its headlong speed. Darkness baying
set in soon afterwards the aeronaut's position may be
duly imagined when he heard, as near as he wield judge, I
about 153 yards below, the roaring of the waves of the
Irish channel, over which he was then spending. When
about halfway across the Channel a rain-cloud burst,
and th• storm &Abed down on the machine with
terrific tome, drenching and almost drowning, its
unfortunate inmate. The aeronaut's impression it the
time was that he really would be drowned by tbe deluge
which was pouring on him ; so as a desperate resource
be threw out ballast, and wending through the steed,
emerged through a beautiful moonlight stmosoltere. the
cloud through which be had passed looking like • dark
pall beneath bun, and the sound of the waves being
deadened by distance. Presently the sound altogether
ceased, end Mr. Hodainan. judging that he had crooned
the channel, allowed himself to de-oend, belie ,i1)1I that
be wax somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Welth
coast. In this, however, he wax mistaken, for lanar
travelling for come distance overland, he managed about
midnight to ea his grappling iron in a tree. He raised
an alarm, and was rescued from his dangerous position.
Mr. Hodgman then ascertained that he had arrived at
Dufton, • village near Appleby, in Westmoreland. Oa
learning his story, every aaaistance was, given, and
hospitality shown him by the inhabitant. The balloon.
es • matter of alarm, was thoroughly drenched, bet was
not otherwise injured. Mr. Rodman returned honks
Dent day, via Pearith, none the worse for his pardons
aerial flight awn. the channel. The arriusgen.eut• for
• voyage of about 150 miles were by no mean/nosed/to,
and, by some oversight on be part of the aeronaut. he
failed to provide himself with the appliances by which
be Dodd guard against any mishap. Not only did he
neglect to take any clothing and provisioss, but he
omitted to take with him the iadisiutiber air cashier's,
which, affixed round the tar, reader it, in ohm of •
dissent upon the use • toienbly es lest lifeboat.