The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-10-02 00:00:00

Illistritaucous Ntriligmce,
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

- -
I N TERN ATI ONAL SI ISFATRIES.—The King of the
Belgians has been doing some speech-making to the
riflemen at Itie,g,e ; and he seems to have opken very
well for a king (remarks the Pall Mall Gazttal. It
is part of the unpleasant duties of r• yalty to talk a
certain amount of nonsense and to have it published
abroad as though it were gospel. We would not,
therefore, pick to pic,s the logic of his remarks, or
treat after-dinner rhtt•Tic like a scientific disquisition.
lie was ptrfectly right (for it was his business to
say what was pleasant and not what was true)
in declaring that meetings such as that at Liege
drew closer the bonds of international amity;
that the riflemen who had met in friendly contest
would never be so unkind as to take each other for a
mark; that their ambition would always he content
ith such humble prizes as are turned out of Messrs.
Elkington's shop, and would have nothing to do with
winning kingdoms—or words to that eff•ct ; for we
need not quote with literal accuracy from remarks
which most have been, by the necessity of the case, as
commonplace as a speech at a wedding breakfast. The
compliments had to be paid; they were paid with all
due gracieusness, and the less said about them after-
wards the better.
INTERESTING STATISTICS.-110Cent returns show
that the percentages of death after limb amputations
under different conditions and degrees of aggregation
and isolation are as follows: In the large Parieian
hospitals, 62 in 100 die • in British hospitals, with 300
to 600 beds, 41; with 300 to 201 beds, 30; with 200 to
101 beds, '23; with 100 to 26 beds, 18; 25 beds or lets,
11 ; in belated rooms in county practice, 11.
Sir James Simpson argues from this that the con-
g-regation of patients upon a given spot, Ir within
a given establishment, enhances tie chances of ,
death to those that are there operated upon and
treated, while on the other hand the more that patients
are separated and isolated, the more surely they re-
cover from the knife of the surgeon, and in all pro-
bability also from other accidents and disease. There
is safety, he maintains, in segregation, danger in aggre-
gation. Assuming this theory to be correct, and it
appears t•• be borne out by facts, we cannot be sur-
prised at the mortality of the children of the poor, who
are huddled together in their homes, the dead, the
d 3 ing, and the diseased, in a seething mass which de-
fies the skill of medical tcience to deal with, and is dis-
graceful to a civilized community.
THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION !—The New Yolk
papers of the 15th contain the following telegraphic
dispatch, as already announced by Atlantic cable :
" San Francisco, Sept. la —A party, vouched for as re-
liable, writes to the Bulletin from San litienaventure, that a
document had been found on the beach at that place on •he
30th of August, very badly mutilated. On the document
was found a request for the finder to forward it to
the Se-rotary of the Admiralty at London, or the British
Council at the nearest port, the ',quest being printed
in six commercial languages on the margin. Every vacant
portion was tilled with writing relating to Sir John Frank-
lin and his party. The document was evidently cast in the
water In latitude 69 deg. 37 min. 42 sec., and longitude
98 deg. 4 nue once. It gives an account of the desertion
from the ships Erebus and Terror. The party numbered 105
at the time of the desertion, under the command of F. It NI,
Crossier. They had succeeded in reaching the above latitude
and loi.gitude, a tiers they had found rake of the tite sir
John Rosa. The document states that the party had wintered
at lieschy Island in 1846 and 1847, and that Sir John Franklin
had died on the 11th of June, 1847. It contains many interest-
tog Incidents connected with the expedition.
A DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT.—The Pall Mull
Gazette gives the following
- • -- .

COMPOUND INTERLSP—We (London Standard)
stated in a paragraph that Dr. Franklin's gift of
£l,OOO to Boaton in 1701, which was expected by
the donor to increase in the course of 100 years
to £131,000 had only up to the beginning of this
year 177 years from the date of the gift) increased to
133.493 dole. 36c. This amount converted into pounds
is £27.811. Our readers may be interested to know
that the rate at which the 1;1,000 was reckoned to in-
crease to £131,000 in 100 years was ZS per cent. com-
pound interest, and that there woull then be a margin
of £5OO for slight variations in cYleulating— the exact
amount being no less than £131,500. At the begin-
ning of this year the amount shoubl ha., been £42,812.
As it was only 1:27,811 it follows that the money has
only produced £4 81. 3.11. percent. zompound interest.
At this same rate the amount will only reach £75.094
at the end of the 100 years (23 from Jan. 1 last). The
full amount of £131,500 may, however, be realised by
obtaining £6 19s. 9.1. per cent. compound interest for
the 23 years.

PRINCE ARTHUR MUST LOOK OUT !—The meet-
ing of the Fenian brotherhood in New York, on the
12th of September, is reported to have been fraught
with fearful events to England. The New York Times
furnishes the following information:—

Although the press were excluded, it woe ascertained that
the chief business transacted was the reception and in-
spection ..1 the rolls and reports of the military branch of the
orgau.sation, which, ass member of the committee expressed
it, "was in a most perfect state of discipline and ready to
take the field " Tbe chief leaders of the committee were in
favour, it is said, of an immediate maroon Canada, as in their
opinion at he present moment the material aid and sym-
pathy of the United States would be with them Theresult of
the deliberations was not given to the reporters ; but in
another room a number of the men were seen inspecting
their firearms. From authentic soorces it was ascertainet
that the committee had under consideration no less import-
ant a matter than the abduction of Fehtee Arthur, either in
Canada or in this country, should he pay us a visit. Indeed,
it is said that the matter received the indorsement of mery
member of the committee, who deem the prince a very
fair hostage Icr the Anions now in prison in Ireland, as wei,
as for those who have been incarcerated in Canada. Whit',

_
There is an old story of a Lord Mayor of London who went
out coursing in a three-cornered hat, Jack boots, and arrayed !
stills a sword. On hearing a cry of" The harecomes. the .
hare comes !" ha lordship, drawing his sword, said, Let It
come; I thank God I fear It not." The troth is our Lord ,
Mayors ought not to be entrusted with deadly weapons which .
are altogether foreign to their nature; and ste are 8,1 y that
the Belgians put a rifle the other day into the Lands of our
present Lord Mayor, who.if he hod known what was going to
happen would doubtless before atimeling the Intemational
Fete have practised shooting at a stiffed alderman As it
was he endeavoured manfully, theugh ,unsuccessfuly, to let
oil the rifle at half-cock, and would probably have killed
himself or somels sly else lithe Burgomaster of LlSge had net
relieved Min of the weapon, and gracefully made a bull's-eye
on the spot.
RaTuRN OF TUE HOP-PICKERS.— On Saturday
and Sunday thousands of ragged and furnished men,
women, and children poured into London from the
hop-producing counties, in a most pitiable plight, and
so overwhelming were the applications for casual
tickets for a sight's lodging at ore or other of the
worklionises to the police inspector as to occupy the
attention of those new relieving officers for hours,
whilst the workhouse officials were in many instauces
completely at is less to find room for the poor creatures.
It appears that this year, in many instancea, the hop.
gas dens did not yield sufficient to pay for picking;
and those that did were nearly destroyed by the late
hurricanes, which not only swept the hops olf, but
levelled the hip poles to the ground. To add to this
tailors, was the iuflux of many thousands of fresh
hands owing to the depression of trade.
A STALTLING STREET SPPCTRE.—A Fife corre-
spondent writes :
A little past midnight, on the morning o• Tues.lay last, a
phantom-like object was seen by those who were then out of
bed walking slowly along Une of the streets of Leven, near
the haibour. with a book open tu one hand and a lighted
candle in therother. The figure being draped In white, pre-
sented a represiutation of one from the •, land of spirits,"
and bad an awe striking effect on the stein hearted who
were eyewitneesea to the appearance. Steadily the march
was kept onward ; a narrow lane was threaded, and the vision
—as it was supposed to be—vanished ! Much alarm was
created by the occurrence, a report of winch rapidly cir-
culated. It appears th,d a y..ung lady, a visitor In Leven at
present. is a somnambulist and in one of her reveries she
had sallied forth on the streets. tier friends have taken
means to prevent any similar display in future, which gene-
rally results from an over-study of the works ot some popular
author.
JUDGE CuT JUDGE !—The monotony of the
Royal Court of Jersey is occasionally relieved by little
scenes that take place upon the bench, naueli to the
amusement of the spectators, legal and otherwise. On
Friday was enacted one of these little judicial
comedies, which, however, had at one moment the
appearance of resulting in something serious. The
"-judges " on the bench were Jurats Marett and Le
Montana, presided over by the bailiff. A question of
routine engaged the attention of the "judges," conse
quent on an application for the registration of a power
of attorney given to Mr. Manuel by Mr. Jervis, one
44 the directors of the Jersey Water Works Company.
The two " judges " differ-id in opinion, and some high
words ensued between them, which could not be dis-
tinctly heard the bailiff gesticulating and endeavouring
to calm the angry disputants. Jurat Le NI ontaia was,
however, heard to say to his colleague, "What do you
know about law? Surely you are not going to teach an
old practitioner his duty I" (Jurat Le Montais for
many years practised as a solicitor or scrivener in the
Royal Court). Jurat Marett : I do not presume to
teach you your duty; but I have a right to differ from
you." Jurat Le Mintais : "A good thing, indeed, to
be told by one who knows nothing about law what I
ought to do." With no little difficulty the bailiff suc-
ceeded in restoring his assistants to a more fitting frame
of mind for discharging their judicial duties. Aa may
be imagined, the sceue was enjoyed with great gusto by
the habitues of the court.
ESCAPE OF A CRIMINAL LUNATIC.—On Friday
night a criminal lunatic, named Robert Seel, escaped
from the Warwickshire County Asylum, at Hatton.
The prisoner, who is about 40, was removed to the
asylum from the county, gaol about three months ago.
On Friday night Dr. Pareey, the medical superinten-
dent of the asylum, gave a reading to the inmates, hat
Seel and others in his ward declined to attend. Whilst
the attendant was engaged with other patients Seel
slipped out of the ward, managed by some means to
unlock the intermediate doors, and escaped into the
yard. There he was seen by Makepeac_ the sub-
engineer, who attempted to capture him, hut after a
sharp struggle Seel overpowered him, broke away, and
ran across the adjoining fields. It was dark at the
time, and pursuit wa,s almost hopeless. He had not
been captured on Saturday. Seel is under a delusion
that lie is the rightful owner of the Eriglish throne,
speaks of himself as the lawful king, and talks extra-
vagantly about being worth millions of money, so that
probably his eccentricities will soon get him into
trouble.
MR. BRIGHT AS A SCRIPTURE READER.—A
Rochdale correspondent sends the following to the
Lecds Mercury :
A short time ago at a meeting held in Elliott-street school-
room, Rochdale, the Rev. Mr. Lewis in the coons of his
remarks, said that a Cil cumstabce that had come under his
observation recently had afforded him notch pleasure and
encouragement in his wurk. In the course of his visiting
Its sick, he bail had a conversation with an invalid girl, who
Informed him that Mr Bright, when at his Rochdale home,
often came to read to her from the Bible, and show her what
the Saviour so beautifully terms, "The way of life;" "and,"
added the woman, "he does it as well as s, minister"
"Why," jocularly retorted the rev. gentleman, " isn't he a
minister—the greatest minister in England"
SPARING THE Rots !—A disgusting case of
corporal punishment Of 00 a girl in one of the public
schools of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a few years ago,
has led to a very general reaction against the custom of
inflicting such punishments throughout that country.
Ten schools in New York, with an aggregate attend-
ance of 1,000 pupils have tried the experiment of
doing without the rod, and certify to an improvement
in order and discipline. Another net of schools, having
tried a mitigation instead of a total abolition of corporal
punishment, report that out of 1,000 boys only eleven
had required castigation. "It is," observes a writer
in Harper's Weekly, "an interesting question what
would have become of those eleven if they had hap-
peneil to be in the schools where the rod was totally
forbidden,"
THE DEVOSPORT MURDERER.—The culprit
Taylor, who was tried and convicted in London of the
murder of his corporal at Devonport Barracks, was
removed On Saturday from Newisate to Exeter, where
he will undergo his sentence. Before hie departure he
was visited by hie two aunts and an uncle, who were
examined at the trial, with a view to prove that he was
insane, and the meeting was of a very painful charac-
ter. The prisoner wept bitterly when he was removed
to his cell after his conviction, and he has continued in
at low and desponding state ever since his conviction
He appears to have expressed deep regret and sorrow
for his crime, and has admitted that the suggestion on
the part of the prosecution, that he loaded hia rifle when
he was sent back by the deceased to packhiaknapsack
was the truth. Ile also stated, it oPPeers, that he

ever the committee may have done or will do, the men
loudly complain cf the anticipated visit to the United
States, anti are bound to force their chiefs to action. It is
very significant, however, that some half dozen of the very
smartest of their inen—ene a well-known scout of the Union
sere}—left this city suddenly, at a late hour last night, for
Buffalo. The members of the committee will give no in-
formation on the subject, and even decline to contradict the
report of the abduction of Prince Arthur.

BUSINESS AND RgLIGION.—In a religious excite-
ment in Boston, a person met a Christian neighbour,
who took him by the Ilona and said—" I have become
a Christian." "I am glad of it," he replied. "Sup.
pose we now have a nettleuient of that, little account
between us. Pay me what thou owest." "No," saki
the new-born child, turning on his heel, "religion to
religion, and business is bueinese."

A SLEIPING LADY.— Much curiosity and in-
terest have been excited at Hartlepool by a case of
long•prctracted souniolanon which ham just occurred in

that town. A young lacy named Clarke, who reside@ c interuplated committing the act early the same nail, 1 i
ordinarily at Selby, Yorkshire, came to t i•it Mrs. nine:, Alt I took out a cartridge for the purpose of load.
Drake, of the Town Wall, Hartlepool, a few weeks , Mg his rifle ; but his heart faded him, and it was not
ago, after a "stay at Brighton. She appeared to be .until the discovery by the deceased that his knapsack
in good health and spirits, but on Tuesday, the lith, , was empty, and he was sent back to till it, that Le
she sunk into a state of prolonged . somnolence, and resolved upon committing the murder.
since that time has remained in that condition. if we TIT FOR TAT ! —The fullowinv; aneedive shows 1
that the path of great singers isnot always strewn
except a few very short intervals. When ths caae
tirst assumed its. present aspect the advice of Dr. with roses :
Inglis, the medical attendant of the family, was madame IS , a celebrated leader of fashlo2l in Paris w
sought, and that gentleman has since given to the case to give a fathiolllll.l6 so,rt'e, and to therm the ears of' he'l
his most anxious attention, administering occasional guests she requested the brotheas Lionnet (sit:gels' to be
"douches" of cold water, which have had the effect present. The price was fixed at 100 francs. " You will dine
of so far arousing her as to enable him to administer with ini," added Itadame IS—, with a most gracious smile,
small quantities of liquid nourishment; but, as a gene- ...but as the dinner! offer is worth at least ten francs—that
ml rule, food, even in this form, has had to be given her "
tPaYtutl'lli''iihfiarFaleclee'prEieTut : ill'ltil,eiltioc:lici d'i'l'illtlr:io.tl't frr"a:llii by means of injections. During the whole visitation,
which still continues, she has appeared to he utterly the Our specined. They seated themselves gravely at table,
oblivious of all that has gone on around her; but, with and ate everything with an appetite which Gargantua might
the exception of two or three slight evidences of have
letki inveitoeodttt,:iiiyilei.,v,egeaerreotnpeocence,
lsayinglniolit..7aw:iir
:du.
of
„Attwodihsefsregf,
rnt,eblit both rove
tr
,ihi, Buie..
paralysis, she has presented no symptoms calculated
to cause alarm as to the ultimate termination of the
.in n
W"
attack, the cause for which is as puzzling to her medical turious ; but thaPtlV not bring beck her stagers.
attendant as to all others who have been made aware of
the circumstances of it. Up to the moment of the Dr Alll OF A NIOAMON Art/WlLL—Ezra Taft
sleep seizing her she had always appeared to possess a Benson, one of the twelve Mormon Apostles, died
full average amount of vital power, and she is in her suddenly at Ogden, near Salt Lake City, on Friday,
twentybeighth year. September 3. Benson wan born on a farm at Mend 'e,
Worcestor County, Massaclausetta, in 1811. In 1836
. ... „ .. . .. . . -

he moved with his wife to the West, locating at Quincy
Illinois, where he first met the "Latter-day Saints."
They had just been driven out of Missouri. He spu-
pathised with them, and soon embraced their faith.
His wife first avowed her belief in the new religion,
and he was ordained an Elder in 1840, at Nwavo.
After several rui-sions in the East, awl much en, recite
labour in the cau-e, he was appointed by lizigham
Young. then at Council Bluffs, Mo., to the Qin irum
of the Twelve, being ordained to the Apostleship in
1846. He was a member of the Provisional state of
Deseret, previous to the organisation of the Territory;
was a member cf the Territorial House of Represen-
tatives for several seadons and for the past ten years
has been elected to the Territorial Council every term.
WHAT Ni.str - That the lower cas-es hale not
a monopoly of ignorance is proved by the deplorable
fact that a London Police-Magistrate the other day,
wished to know what a witness meant by a "dickey !"
—Punch.
A Melt CRUCIFYING HIMSELF--A workman of
Chateau-Thierry, France, aged 40, last week attempted
while labouring under a religious monomania, to crucify
himself. 'lie xdfle found lying in a garret wits his feet
and one hand nailed to a cross, which be had made
with some old rafters. Ha had also pierced the other
hand, but was of course unable to entirely carry out
his intention. He was removed to an hospital, and is
likely to recover. The nails which he had used were
similar to those represented in paintings and images as
having been employed in the crucifixion of our Saviour.
FATAL VEL,CIPEDE ACCIDENT. —A melancholy
accident, resulting in the death by drowning of a little
girl, has occurred on the banks of the Kelvin, under
the following circumstances
An Insurance agent, accompanied by his son Henry, eight
years of age, and Ills daughter Jessie, six years of age, were
driving a three-wheeled velocipede carriage on the road lead-
ing towards the hrtdge which crosses the Kelvin, opposite
the University, when the machine swerved to the right, and
rushed down the descent, through the hedge, and into the
river Kelvin. A gentleman who witnessed the occurrence
horrid to the glace where he had seen the velocipede disap-
pear, and succeeded in rescuing the father and the min from
the position of extreme peril in which they were placed.
The Kelvin is generally a sluggish stream, bat the recent
he4vy rains had caused it to rise to an unusual height ; and
the strength and force of the current thus produced carried
.if the little Oh Before any assistx cc could be given she
had disappeared under the water and was drowned. Her
body was recovered in the course of the evening.
A PROPHETIC Bisoms.—On Friday night, the
new Bishop of Auckland, the Rev. W. G. Cowie, late
rector of St. Mary's Stafford, was presented with a
testimonial, value EGO by his late parishioner.. The
bishop, in accepting the gift, said that in New Zealand
the Church was entirely disconnected with the State.
He'bould not say he regretted this, and if he lived ten
years no d mid he should see the same thing iii Eng-
land. He did not wish to see the day hurried when
that disconnection would take place, but it would be
the State that would lose by the severance of the union,
and not the Church, which would still be maintained
by Christ, its master. They might, therefore, look
forward to the diseetablishment if the English Church
airhout any dismay, so lung as the Church was true to
itself.
DOCK Hint —What new London improvement
reminds you of a Submanne Cable? "A vire ducked,"
replied the miserable Cockney.—Punch.
A GOOD MASTER.—A Silesian paper gives the
following anecdote of Count Bismarck :

"The peasants on the Count's estate had got into the had
habit of working on Sundays. The count heard of it, and
wrote to his bailiff, "There must be an end of that.' The
bailiff answered, • The people are not to blame. Six days,
from morning to evening, they work on the estate, and yet
they have their own bit of land to look after, and so they
have only Sunday left to do it in.' But the count will not
listen to such excuses, and writes back From this 'hue
forward anew order is to be introduced. When nip people
have land, and their corn is ripe, they are to begin with
their own first.' The bailiff informs the peasant* of the
count's commands, and adds, • But DO more work On Sun-
day.' The result is that the peasants say to each other,
'The master shall not lose a farthing by caring tor es first, so
let us work with a will,' and they did it too. Never was the
work dotie so well and so rapidly, and the bailiff could write
to the count stew days after wards, 'that was a capital hit,
and nobody has had more advantage from it than we. it Was
all finished in the twinkling of an eye."
ENGLISH THIEVES IN PARIS. The estimated
loss of shopkeepers in Paris, caused by one particular
class of robbery to which they are subjected, and
in this country is known as shoplifting, is from
£l2OllO to £16,000 annually. The pieces of silk and
woollen stuffs thus stolen are rarely disposed of in
; Paris, as the pawnshops will not take them without
making the most minute inquiries, and the dealers in
such merchandise are the first to call in the police
when it is offered to them in this irregular way. It is
said that most of it is sent to London, where there
are depalls established for the express purpos of re-
ceiving the produce of robberies on the Co ...sent.
The thieves, who come from England, usually also.
woman. They take up their abode as a general rule
elate in gangs of four, one of whom is invariably a
in some small house, or in part of a house in the out-
skirts of Paris, and when they have succeeded to
effecting a piece of lousiness they lie chise two or three
days, in order to avoid observation. Then, when they
think the matter is nearly forgotten, one of them goes
quietly to same small railway station and books his
parcel for London.
IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT—The charge made by
the legislation of 1869 in the law of imprisonment for
debt gives a special interest to recent returns, which
show the extent to which creditore have of late resorted
to this mode of enforcing payment of their debts. The
number of annual commitments to the prisous of Eng-
lands and Wales for debt and on civil process has been
increasing in the last few years. In the year ending at
Michaelmas. 1865. it was I) 443 ; in the year 1865-66,
10.598 ; in 1866-67. 11,647 ; in 1867.68, 12,833—viz.,
12.258 men and 575 women. Is this last year six
counties had above 500 commitments of this class—
Cheshire, 514; Derbyshire, 535; Staffordshire, 701 ;
Yorkshire. 846; Middlesex, 1,893; Lancashire, 2,648.
Neither Yorkshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire nor Derby-
shire had so many as 30 women sent to prison in the
year for debt or on civil proceee ; but Middlesex had
as many as 71, and Lancashire 148, In Cornwall 193
persons were imprisoned in the year for debt, and air
many as 48 of them were women; and in Surrey the
ts dal was lad, and 46 of them, or one-thud, were women.
Three-fourths of these impneonments were on county-
court commitments, the class that makes it 80 difficult
absolutely to abolish imprisoment for debt.
THE COrRT AT DALMORAL.—The Rev, Andrew
Gray, Glasgow, conducted the services on Sunday in
Crathie Church, preaching a very eloquent and im-
pressive sermon fra on St. Matthew iv., 4. Her Majesty
was present, as were also the Prince and Princess
Christian, the Princesses Louisa and Beatrice, and
Prince Leopold. The members of the suite who at-
tendrd were Sir. T. M. Biddulph, Colonel Ponsonby,
Mr. Sahl, Mr. Collins, the }tee. Mr. Duckworth, Lady
Church, and the Hon. Miss Leacelles. The church
was crowded in every part.
A COMMUTED SENT KECK. —M ichael Adkins,
twenty-two, miner' was tried at the Warwick assizes,
before Mr. Justice Hayes, for the wilful murder of his
wife, Harriett Adkins, at Baddealey Eaderar, near
Atherstone. The case for the prosecution was that
the prisoner shot his wife, about ten o'clock at night,
when they were alone together in the cottage, and
when she was on the eve of becoming a mother.
They had lived unhappily together, and the pri-
soner at first said that his wife shot herself, and
then that the gun went off accidentally whilst he was
examining it. The latter defence was adopted at the
trial, but the jury found the prisoner guilty, and he
was sentenced to death. A petition praying for tie
commutation of the capital sentence was got up, and
on the eve of his execution the convict was requited
during Her Majesty's pleasure. The governor of
Warwick gaol has received a communicatian from the
Home Secretary, commuting the sentence tar twelve
month's imprisonment, from the date of the prisoner's
conviction.
A Snout STION.—It is related of a certain minis-
ter of Maine, who was noted for his long sermons, with
many division's, that one day when he was advancing
among the teens, he reached at length a kind of
resting-place in his discourse, when, pausing to take
breath, he asked the question: "Anal what shall I say
more ?" A voice from the congregation earnestly
responded, "Say Amen !"
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY AND THE POLYNE-
SIAN ISL'ANDERS. —Earl Granville has addressed a
despatch to the Governor of Queensland, in which lye
says :—" I wish you clearly to remember that the
matter is not a mere Queensland question ; it is a
matter affecting foreign, though uncivilised, countries,
and the honour of the British name in connexion with
them. It is a matter in which her Majesty's Govern-
ment feel the deepest interest, and in respect of which
you, as their efficer, are under the most serious rtspon-
sibility. It is for you to take care that the Horne
Government is not minded, hut receive acccurate and
full information respecting what is going on in Queens.
land ; and tar use your utmost influence to secure that
the immigrants receive, in relation to their employers,
that special protection will immigrant labourers re-
. ceive in other colonies to which coloured immigrants
(as they are called) proceed, and without which they
must be at the mercy of thane about them. I trust to
you for giving your immediate and serious attentiou to,
; the matter, in order that her Majesty's Government
may be in a position to vindicate the character of the
, colony, if three abuses do not exist; or to take such
steps as may be necessary for putting a stop to the
the emigration if they do."
SUPPLRASFNTART MAUS Pert INDIA, CH:NA,
I AUSTRALIA, &C., VIA BRINDISI. —The Italian Post-other
having established direct and accelerated trains betweta
the French frontier and Brindisi, and having offered,
as an experiment, to convey by those trains Brit jut,
a Supplementary Mails for the East Indies, China
Australia, connnyencimf with the naorning o'
Saturday, the 2nd of October, snails supplementary ta
those despatched on the previous evening, rid Mar
Bellies, will henceforth be made Tor at this office on th.
morning of every Saturday, and forwarded througl
France and Italy to Brindisi, and thence by Italian
packet to Alexandria. It is expected that these mt.
plementary made will reach Alexandria in time to g
W huts with the smile forwarded weakly front

Southampton and from itlan-eilles, int. in the event
of the pautets from Brindisi nit arrivirg in due course,
the at iii packets leaving Suez will not delay their
departure. All letters, &c, intended to be fowarded
in these supplementary mails nimet be specially
directed ".4 Brindisi," and they will he liable to the
following rates of postage :,—East Indies or Ceylon,
not exceeding lialf-an•ounce in weight, Is. 41.
ev- ry additional half-ounce Is. 41 Straits Settlements.
Chin., and Japan, not exceeding half-an-ounce in
weight, 18. 7d.; for every additional half-ounce, Is. 'rd.
Australia, not exceeding half-an-ounce in welsh%
is. ld. ; for every additional half-ounce, Is. Id. For
every newspaper, not exceeding four ounces in weight,
4.1. • for every additional four ounces, 41. The pelage
mu:t be fully pre-paa Unpaid or insufficiently paid
letters, Ste.' will not be sent vid Briud..L Book
packets and patterns will not he forwarded in the suts.
plementary wails.

THE STAGE AND THE RAlL—With a view to
tte increased attraction and accemmodation .1 the
playgoing publ.c., the Managers of Theatfts might
adopt a great improvement upon their pr sent arr.tuge.
mews. Instead of keeping the liox-thlice opeu all
day from 10 till I they might dose it until a few
minutes bifore the opening of the doors. It in ly thus
limiting the allowance .1 time to psesengers for taking
tickets that Railway Managcrs contrixe to cleats a
ru.Bll. —Punch.

WHAT CAN BE DON% WITH TREIII ?—The inspees
tors of the Irieh prisons report that 107 men at d 565
women who were tent to gaol ia Ireland last 3rar hal
been previously in prima 21 times I .1. ili,.re. Eight of
the men and 32 of the women had been in prison more
than 100 times. Three of the men had tarn in eat
alive 100 tunes, one of the wooeD 199 times, atother
224 times. and 011 e of the gaol bins was c ttttt mined
for her 267th time. These persons, chiefly committed
for di uhkenutaa or diaonlerly conduct, spina most of
their days in prisons, supported at the publh; expense.
Imprisonment for debt is occasionally made to eke out
a living. When the Lord Lieutenant on the mairiage
of the Prince of Wales, cleared the Dublin IllairshWees
. .

Prison of those who were supposed to be unfortunate
debtors two persons were most reluctantly turned out.
A benevolent magistrate allowed them pensions
which provided them with food ; to meet other ex-
penses they had thenwelins arrested in order to obtain
• . . . . .

-
accommodation in the Marshaliiya free of charge.
Tits Pna,e IN RUS,Id. —A circular from the
Minister of the Interior in Russia interdicts journali
from publishing extracts from articles in Reviews ;
three last, says the document, being intended for the
superior classes, anti assertione being made in them not
suitable for the common people. A short time ago the
Russian Government, when it found an article takers
from a foreign journal dangerous, used to Glace it with
indelible ink and distribute the sheet so maculated;
but now it adopts the French system of confiscating
the whole paper. The Minister of Public Instruction
announces that the censorship in religious matters was
about to be rendered still more severe, and that not
only works of theology but all books or pamphlets con.
taming even isolated passages concerning religion must
be submitted to controL

TERESCING TO NATURALWTS.—Cuws rumi-
nate, we know, but can dumb animals egohange their
thoughts by means of conversation ? This is a mute
point, which hue frequently been mooted. One fact at
least is certain, In Scotland at this Selif,oll, wherever
you may go, you are sure from all your sporting
friends to hear accounts of deer 'a talking—Punch.

DEATH OF A NOTED CHARTMT LEADER.—The
death of Mr. Mirth.ld, of Barnsley, a very noted
Chartist leader, took place on Saturday morning. The
deceased, who a few years ago took the Cherry Ire.
Inn, has been for many years the secretary of the
Hand.loom Weavers' Association. lie Was well
known not only in Barnsley but throughout Yorkshire
on account of the prominent stand which he took with
regard to the noted weavers' strike in 182% when he
and a man named Ashton were sentenced to fourteen
year(' transportation for setting fire to Ketsforth ilali
and cutting up several warps. The deceased was
sixty-seven years of age, and was found dead in bed,
he cause of death being heart disease.
INSOLVENCY or JEI‘SEY.—The States of Jersey
are in great distress as to money matters. There is a
floating debt of about £30,000; creditors are clamours
ing for payment and cannot get it. Two creditors
some time ago obtained judgment against the Stiles'
treasurer for large amounts, but he had no money in
his possession. An application war, made to Governs
meet for permission to borrow £lo,oto to meet Teas-
ing claims, and this was refused, as the States declined
to furnish Government with details of their finances.
The position being somewhat alarming, the States •
few days ago, after a two days' discussion, came to the
conclusion that their financial condition was such that
they stood in need of money to meet piessitg obliga-
tions. On Monday a special meeting was held to
consider whether the required funds should be raised
by means of direct or indreet taxation, when after a
stormy debate, it Was resolved by a majority of one—
the numbers being twenty-one to twenty—that ti.e
system of indirect taxation should not be adopted. No
other proposition was made, and the question of
raising the needful funds still remains in abeyance.
PICKINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPE-104.—A Detroit
paper, attacked simultaneously by the eclipse and the lost
race thus inetaphorisee : - "The liarvards are, bolted, under
an eclipse; but the luminous and halo-like c.n-ons of their
irreproachable bearing is reeplendewly yrstisle F'
The other Sunday a lady preacher in Wisconsin discoursed
from the text—" 1 say unto you, watch;" and the next week
the gallant youth other congregation gave her a nice gold one
A Boston paper is "In favour of women voting if they want
to." A ‘Vesterit paper "could like to see the man sho
could make them vote if they didn't want to."
On the occasion' of an eclipse, a coloured Individual In
Norfolk, Virginia, became greatly elated. " Bless de Lord,"
said he, "riggers' time tiab come at last, and now we swine
to hubs black sun.
The first chapter in a Western novel has the follow-
ing :—" All of a sudden the fair girl continued to sit on the
Sarni, gazing upon the briny ,leep, on who-e heaving lamm
the tall ships went m.rrily by, Ireiglitud—ah ! who can tell
with how much of joy and sorrow, sod pine lumber and emi-
grants, anti hopes and salt fish."
A Cincinnati sausage-maker has rated I, divorce be.
cause his wife " cannot assist bin prom rly at idling
sausages." Ile offered her 150 dollars to diasolve the
man imonial partilar.hip, hut she, likes good wife, took the
money but "refused to dissolve "
An enterprising New Yorker advertises for the lu-
crative position of undertaker on the Erie Railroad.
" SaKLY," 1.E., Li CET— (Sininscr). --The Author
of Ecre Homo succeeds Canon Kingsley in the chair of
elfooern History at Cambridge. Lord Shaftesbury is
as well as can be expected, and Archdeacon Denison
Is so much recovered that no further bulletins will be
issued.—Punck

UengOTHCTXD MARRIID MEW. A con.
spondent writes to a London contemporary f—
t' ffir,—Forieve me for saylnsr that you seem to take ul.a
a one-sided view upon the subject of 'unprotected marrisil
women ' Surely, there are many unprotected and utterly
defenceless married men. I know of several. Take the C.O
of a passably sober and good husband, whose Munken ails
will so ndsrepresent and slander him, se creating a pre-
judice against him, even to get him out of his ,nuati.m.
Women are not much, if at all, better than tney abould
be—A VICTIM."
A Ban FgatINENCI.— Notwithstanding the ex-
treme facility of divorce in the Western Siate of
Indiana, it is doubtful whether the proportion of
divorces to marriages there or any other civilised
country is equal to that exhibited by the statistics of
the old Puritan State of Connecticut, where the annual
average since 1860 haa been one divorce to every ten
marriages. Of the New England States, the next to
the bad eminence of Connecticut is Vermont, which
has an average of one to twenty. Maeolachusetts has
one to forty-four. The State of Ohio has one to
twenty-six. The divorce laws of the United States are
very various— ranging from the common English law
to those which empower judges to decree divorces kw
insufficient causes."
OUTRAGE AT ROCEIDALF.—A Man awl his wife,
I named respectively Frederick and Sarah Clapham,
I are in custody at Rochdale on a charge fif committing
a murderous assault upon Charles Chadwick, an old
man of eighty-three years of age. Chadwick rented a
house in which the Claphatas lodged, and was in the
habit of sleeping in the kitchen. About four o'clock
on Sunday morning he was roused from his stem, by
feeling a band at the pocket of his tromiers, which he
usually wore when in bed. He grasped the hand, and
immediately received several heavy blows en the Mal,
being also seized by the throat and prevented from
giving alarm. After a struggle the old man at last,
succeeding in freeing his throat from the clutch of his
assailant, screamed "Murder ! " repeatedly, and Was
felled by another blow on the head. The old mane
pocket was torn off, and the money missing. The
Claphatus professed to be sleeping at the other side of
a partition within a yard of the idol man's bed, and
denied having heard anything. Mr. Chadwick is in a
very precarious state.
Cos vi cis.—The population of the convict pi-fins
of England on the let of April, 1169, consisted of 6,3.6
males and 1,117 females; mid there were 552 males at
Gibraltar. The number of convicts in prison must in-
crease, owing to the greater length of sentences. 'the
number of male convicts received into convict prisons
in England in the year 1168 Was 1,732; 88 of them were
men whose licenses were revoked, and among the
remaining 1,644 there were 383 who had been pre-
viously sentenced to penal servitude. 213 female con-
victs were received in the year, 33 being women whose
licences were revoked, and among the remaining 230
there were 76 who had been previously senteramd to
penal servitude. The number both of men and women
who had been previously sentenced to penal servitude
was fewer than in 1/67. The earnings of convicts in
the year, the value of their labour, shows the following
averages :—Males— tailors, 70. a day; shoemakers,
91.; weavers, Bd.; nuattnakers, &L; oakum pickers,
10. ' • females—needlewomen, 3d. ; knitters, ld.i ;
washers, 11d. The employment of male convicts on
large public works for which they are adapted is much
more remunerative. At Chatham they were employed
in brickmaking, &c., and earned is 1/68 2s. 70. • day;
at Portland, quarrying and dressing stone, &c,
2s. 3bl. ; at Portsmouth, brickmaking, excavating, kef,
2s. 24d. ; at Dartmoor, reclaiming land, farm labor,
&c., Is. 3d. ; at Woking, building new female prison,
Ste., 2s. 70. At the three prisons—Portland, Ports-
mouth, and Chatham—the labour of the prisoners Was
valued by measurement at £124,500, and the cost of
the prisoners Was but £1163370, leaving a profit of
£7,630. From 1850 to December, 1867, these three
prisons have cost £1,686,472, and have earned
£1,386,936, leaving a net cost of £299,536 for maintain-
ing an average of 2,766 ',dowers for 17 years.
PADPNR EMIGRATION.—At the last ordinary
meeting of the board of guardians of the parish of
Camberwell, the following resolutions were passed In
reference to the question of pauper emigration:—" That
in V e tide board, the question of pauper
a means .f relievn, .listrefon caused by surplus
opulation, is a national or et de question, and cannot
and should not be dealt with by individual and local
aoards "That, looking tothe narrow line of demarcation
which separates the class of ratepayers from thole) who
lye npon the rates, and the difficulty thereby entailed
et
whichw e e
the
e them,
former
upon boards of guardians in holding the scales evenly
eIT radrle also
p to
tl
uriard do not feel justified in inflicting upoutlem extra
rates for the purpme of testing experimentally a gym
em towards which the individual and local efforts
world contribute but infinitesimally, while the cost
would entail a grievous addition to the raWposis
upon
hte,,avbyear bur, dthen
burdta.