The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-05-08 00:00:00

glisallantous 4nttiligente,

HOME, FOLEIGN, AND COLONIAL

ARE VELOCIPEDES LIABLE TO TOLL ? This
question arose before the Romsey magistrates on
Friday, when a turnpike collector was summoned for
illegally demanding and receiving the sum of 2s. Gd. as
toll for a velocipede. Defendant contended that he
was empowered to make the charge under the Act ; but
the bench told him that neither in the Local Act nor
the General Highway Act was there any clause under
which the toll could be demanded. He was fined
sixpence and costs, the magistrates at the same time
ordenng the restitution to plaintiff of the 2s. 6d.
illegally received.
TIIAT'S THE QUESTION.—In the recent race for
the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes, at Newmarket,
Prince Imperial was ridden by French. Will the French
ever be ridden by the Prince Imperial ?Judy

SEIoCKI CATe STROPHE —Four lives have just
been lost by tire at Basle. The catastrophe occurred
at night, the flames breaking out in the lower part of a
house in the Faubourg St. Jean. Two maid-servants
with four children were asleep in an apartment on the
first floor, and when awakened found their retreat by
the staircase cut off. The parents were absent at the
time. The eldest sin succeeded in escaping by a ladder
with a younger brother, and also one of the domestics,
but the other missed her footing, and, falling to the
ground, was killed. Her companion, finding that two
of the children still remained inthe rooms, re-ascended
the ladder, and rushed through the flames to save them,
, but was afterwards unable to return, and they all three
perished together. The other occupants of the house
were rescued.

FLASK RACING AT FLORENCE.—King Victor
Emmanuel was present at the Florence races a few
days ago, and arrived with his suite in state carriages
and fours, his servants wearing the magnifi..ent liveries
made for the marriage of the Prince and Princess of
Piedmont, and which had not been worn since. That
of the postilions and mounted attendants was of white
satin with blue facings, of the outriders scarlet, and of
the footmen blue. The cortege was preceded by a
squadron of cuirassiers, his Majesty being accompanied
by General de Sonnaz. The public appeared to take
great delight in the spectacle, and crowded round the
Royal equipages. The sport in itself was of no particular
interest, but four gentlemen riders who mounted the
horses in one race were treated as heroes after a glorious
victory; instead of there being, as in ordinary cases,
amongst the four competitors one winner and three
losers, the proportion was changed, as three of them
were afterwards presented to the Kim:, who rewarded
two with gold chronometers set with brilliants and
bearing the Royal cypher, and the third with a diamond
pin; those gallant gentlemen were afterwards con-
ducted to the grand stand, where they received the
congratulations of the fair ladies present, who vied
with each other in offering them refreshments.
FASHIONABLE REACTIO .IAY MOVEMENT.—The
Paris correspondent of the Morntnti Pet writes
The "grand "fallen of Paris, the meal ladies, the compara-
tively proper lad ii s. the ladies who are mai Heil, or wish to
embrace holy mieritniiiiy, the ladies of family and wealth;
in fact, what is understood by the female aristocracy if •
l'aris, have long contemplated, discuss., and, finally, 1,1,11-
billed and decided not to dress like the delni-montl;•. The
Empress is understmul to have taken the lead in this move-
ment, and those who have joined the society for self obliging
honest women to dress as little like iniproprieties as pos-
sible are called "us ele,zantes ieactionnaires." Of
course, the demi-monde patronise the most renowned
artistes ; they want more changes of dress than mo.-t
women, and are the first to order any new creation of
the dressmaker's brain. All that is new and espensive they
are the first to adopt. The most illustrious females of the
court can then hire oily follow f islib in or no jeet the solemn
decrees of th ,t des,ad. We all know the supreme effect of
fashion on the feinale mind. Fat women, thin women, fair
women, and dark women, tall women and sheik women, do
they not all slavishly follow the fashions without the least re-
ference to nee and same? No religien, no affections of the
heart, no 110111 all passi-n, was .ever so dominating and uni-
versal as the decrees of fashion. It is in the midst if the
spring toilettes that the " reactionists" have come out in the
anti-derni-monde toilettes. Black is the sombre distinction
worn by the real ladies; the hardel hit that could be
imagined for those who advertise their charms always
coloured.

PRESERVING PEAS GREEN FOR WINTER USE.— '
Carefully shell the peas, then put them in the canisters,
not too large ones; put in a small piece id alum about
the size of a horse-bean to a pint of peas. When the
canister is full of peas, fill up the interstices with
water, and solder on the lid perfectly air-tight, and
boil the canisters for about twenty minutes ; then
remove them to a cool place, and they will be found
in January but little inferior to fresh newly-gathered
peas. Bottling is not so good—at least, we (Garden er's
Magazine) have found it so ; the air gets in, the liquid
turns sour, and the peas acquire a bad taste.
FALL OF A FEMALE BLONDIN.—A terrible ac-
cident occurred at a circus performance in Bidton, on
Tuesday night. As the woman, who is described in the
advertisement as the Female Blondin, was crossing a
rope about sixty feet high, she missed her footing, and
felL With marvell4 us presence of mind she seized a
rope as she fell ; but being unable to retain her bold,
she let go, and was caught by the crewel beneath her.
There were at least ten thousana persons 'present at
the time of the accident, and the ex citemeitt manifeste.l
was of the most frightful kind. It was difficult to per-
suade the immense crowd that the woman had escaped
with little injury.

Tot Es ti or A LONG LIFE.—Mr. Thomas Lefroy,
late Chief Justice of Ireland. died on Tuesday, at Bray,
a watering-place about twelve miles from Dublin.
This venerable gentleman, who was in the 96th year of
his age, retired from the Irish bench when the Con-
servatives came into power in 1866, in order to make
way for Mr. Whiteside. Seventy-two years ago he
was called to the Dish bar; and having represented
the University of Dublin for some years in the House
of Commons, he was a, pointed a Baron of the Ex-
chequer in Ireland in 1841. He was promoted to the
Chief Justiceship in 1852. His eldest son, Mr.
Anthony Lefroy, who is nearly seventy years of age, is
the senior representative of Dublin university in the
present Parliament.
COMFORT IN PARlS.—Describing a fashionable
residence in Paris, a New York correspondent states
that the chief bedroom is "extremely comfortable,"
having—
"ln one corner a piano, on which old masters are played
for private enjoyment."
. . . . .

Tastes differ, we all know, and what in Paris is thought
comfortable, in England may be deemed to be exactly
the reverse. Fond as we are of music, we should
never dream of putting a piano in our bedroom. Fancy
the delight of being waked in these light mornings
about four o'clock, a.m., by one's wife playing the old
masters for her private enjoyment ! Why, it would be
actually worse than the Waits !—Punch.

THE MOUNTED CURATE.—A Larrespondent who
writes to the Church Review on matters before the
public now which, though not apparently connected
with ecclesiastical affairs, still may have some effect on
the Church, says:—
Absurd though it may seem at first Fight, I should not
wonder if the velocipede mania may have beneficial effects
111 process of time by saving the country and mission clergy
the cost of keeping horses—now a very heavy tax on small
Incomes. If a mission priest or a country curate is forced
to keep a pony on his small income of Rome £lOO a Tear,
anything that saves this expenditure is important. What
now seems a folly for the vain and frivolous may become a
useful means of rapid communication.
SHELLEY IN A NEW CHARACTER.—One morn-
ing Shelley, the poet, then an Eton boy, roused to in-
dignation by on enemy's taunts, tossed his long angelic
looks, and accepted wager of battle from his foe of the
play-ground, Sir Thomas Styles, a plucky little urchin,
far younger and shorter than himself. 'they were to
meet at twelve the same day. The coming battle woe
the whispered talk of everyone, and as soon as the
rush out of school took place the ring was formed, the
seconds and bottleholders were chosen. The tall, lean
poet towered high above the little thickset baronet.
In the first round, Sir Thomas felt his way by specula-
th e sparring, while Shelley tossed his long arms in an
' incoherent manner. When they rested, the baronet
sat quietly on the knee of his second ; but Shelley, dis-
dainful of such succour, and confident of victory,
stalked round the ring and scowled at his adversary.
Time was called, and the battle began in earnest
The baronet planted a cautious blow on Shelley's
chest, The poet was shaken, but went in and knocked
his little adversary down. While he lay there half
1 stunned, Shelley spouted Homeric defiances, to the
I delight of his audience. In the second and last round
1 Styles, however, began to wake up, and eventually de-
livered a settling "slogger" on Shelley's "bread.
basket." It fell on the poet like a thunderbolt, his
nervous eenaildlities were roused ; he broke through
the ring and flew, pursued by his seconds and backers,
but distanced them all, and got to earth safely at the
house of his tutor, Mr. Bethel], whom he soon after-
wards nearly blew up with a miniature steam-engine
which a travelling tinker had manufactured for him.—
Dickens's "AU the Year Round."
BURYING A CORPSE WITEIOUT IDENTIFICATION.
—The Dewdiary It, porter says that a short time ago a
person residing at Earlsheaton, received information
that his mothgr, an inmate of the Lunatic Asylum at
Wakefield, was dead. He went to that institution,
and found a coffin, in which he was told the body of
his mother was placed, and he was advised by the
officials not to allow it to be opened, inasmuch as it
concealed rather a hideous spectacle. He acted upon
their advice. The corpse was conveyed to Earlsheaton,
and it was interred by order of the deceased's son with

out having been identified. The funeral and all the
preparations connected with it ineilved a cost to the
son of over £3O. It was subsequently discovered that
the person who hail been buried was not the young
man's mother, but a person of the same n tme be-
longing to Pubiey ; and m ireover, that she for whom
be mourned was not 1684 but enjoyimz her usual
health. She is still an inmate of the asylum.

NEW WAY OF MAETING BILLIE-1t IS reported
that one of the queens of the Paris demi-monde has
given an illustration during the week of "a new way
to pay old debts." She had accepted a bill for
20,000 fr., and the day it fell due the bank clerk duly
,•. .

presented it. Mademoiselle looked at the paper, tore
it in pieces, and commenced swallowing it. The runner
seized her by the throat, and a sudden cough preserved
some evidences of the bill. The police arrived, took
the charmer to promenade as far as the city prison,
where all the unrepented Magdalenes are guarded.
Their prisoner, not beii.lg even alllowed "to order her
• .

carriage," wait.marchedin full drawing-room costume
through the streets, escnted by a vast crowd.
BIRMS, DEATDS, AND MARRIAGNS.—A Parlia-
mentary paper haw been pieblislsed which shows that in
the year 1858 there were, in England anti Wales,
786 156 births and 480,677 deaths. Of those born,
400,161 were males, and 385.995 were females; and •
the deaths registered, 247,393 were males, and 233,284
were females. The number of marriages was 176,729,
so that 353,458 persons assumed the responsibilities of '
wedded life in the course of the year. The largest pro-
portion of marriages took place in the hott quarter of
the year, when 51,153 were recorded, and the fewest
to tic place in the first quarter, when the number was
36,67,1. The greatest number of births was registered
in the second quarter of the year, and the fewest in the
last quarter. The highest rate of mortality was
reached in the third quarter, the number of deaths
registered having been 130,502 between the Ist of July
and the last day of September, as against 109,984 in
the second quarter. The Registrar-General's return
from which the above figures are taken, also shows the
. .

..... -
number of births, deaths, and marriages in each of the
eleven divisions of England ; the number in each of the
three counties parts of which are included in the
London district return; and number in the South
Eastern, South Midland, and Eastern Counties.
SEVENTEEN WOMEN BURNED IN •
Au explosion explosion took place at Turin a few days back in a
cartridge factory. In one of the workshops seventeen
women were occupied round three tables, on which a
quantity of loose gunpowder was lying, when one of
them let a pair of scissors fall, and a spark by some acci-
dent was elicited. In an instant her clothes caught
fire, and her companions were speedily involved in the
disaster. Several of them jumped out of the window into
a canal which runs close by, whilst the burning dresses
of the others were extinguished by persons who has-
tened to their assistance. They were all more or less
burned, but only two are considered in danger. The
exertions of the firemen were successful in confining
the conflagration to the room in which it originated.
CAREY STREET—En ?—Don't let the lawyers
be afraid of placable times, even though Mr. Lowe's
Law Court plan should be carried. There will surely
be storms enough when Mother Carey's Chickens are
seen on the Thames.—Punch.
AN IMPORTANT QUESTION DECIDED.—OII SAW-
. . . . . .

day the Court of Criminal Appeal decided an im-
portant question bearing upon the amount of evidence
necessary in prosecutions for bigamy. Some months
ago a Mrs. Lumley was tried for this offence at the
Old Bailey, and under the direction of the judge she
was found guilty, the jury having been told that as no
testimony had been given to show that the first hus-
band was dead at the time of the prisoner's second
marriage, the presumption of law was that he was
alive. This ruling is now declared to have been err.-
neous, and it is laid down that in such cases it is in-
cumbent for the prosecutor to prove that the husband
or the wife, as the case might be, was alive at the date
of the second marriage. The conviction was therefore
quashed.
AN ELEPHANT SCARE—(From an American
paper).— During an exhibition at a menagerie at
Forrest, Mississippi, a short time since, a huge elephant,
which had been peevish and unruly for some days,
became frantic when a rustic fool gave him a piece of
tobacco. The elephant broke his chain after violent
struggles, and the large crowd fled in the wildest haste.
The ponderous beast attacked a freight train that was
approaching on a track near the tent, striking it with
such force that he broke a tusk, was °versa, and :
stantly killed. The locomotive was thrown off the
track, ran into the canvas tent, butted into the lion's
cage, killing the lioness and freeing her mate. The
lion took to flight out of the town, scaring the
country folks, upsetting horses and waggons, and
smashing chicken-coops. At last advices twenty
mounted horsemen, with guns and dogs, were in pur-
suit of the brute. (The writer of the above paragraph,
being out of breath at this point, has wisely pulled up
in his narrative.)
" HAIL ! CuLIJMBIA" MARKET.—Miss Angela
Burdett Coutts, the Lady of the Poor, has given B. the
nal Green a Market costing, it is said, £200,000. This
is the best Money Market we ever heard of. —Punch.
A NEW " Kon-n-Nooß."—The advices front the
Cape of Good Hope announce the finding of another
diamond much larder than any yet met with in the
colony. The following particulars are from a letter re-
ceived by Messrs. Goodliffe and Smart, from their cor-
respondents at Cape Town, dated the Met of
March :

The news will reach you by this opportunity of the find-
ing of the large diamond—our Cape n Koh-i-noor."—vMoied
at £30,000. 1 here is no delusion in thi, as in the golloi acid R.
SO you may believe it implicitly. This diamond wan found
near the Orange River, in the diamond territory, was bought
of a native doctor for 500 sheep and a few cattle, by Mr.
Nickeik, a Data:Man, olio, aeon, resold ft to Meairs. Woes-
field, of llope rows, for Ali 20,0, and it is now on the way
to Algoa Bay. We need hardly say that this news, confirmed
by the Civil Commissioner to our Colonial Secretary, has
caused great excitement loere. ns Here can he no tionbt e
immense wealth of ibis diamoa 0,.r- city. k% hat would a
systematic search effect, when over 40 diamonds have now
heels found chiefly lmy natives?
VELOCIPEDES AND HEALTH.— We have lately
had an opportunity of examining velocipedes and see-
ing them in use (says The Lanett). Our attention was
especially directed to the character of the muscular
exercise, and the degree in which the use of the car-
riage might be open to the charge which was freely
brought against the old velocipede, of inducing hernia.
So far as our investigation went, the results were very
favourable. It seemed to us that the muscles of the
body generally, not those of the lower limbs alone,
were brought easily into play, and the mode pf loco-
motion promised a very agreeable method of taking
useful and healthful exercise. The position of the body
and the mode of using the legs do not seem likely to
produce that violent action of the abdominal muscles
which NV21.15 necessitated by the old velocipede, and
which was liable to Cause protrusion of the intestines.
We should, however, add that the exercise, like all
gymnastic feats, requires for safety that it should be
carefully regulated, that a high rate of speed should
only he gradually acquired, and that great efforts
should be studiously With these limitations,
we cannot see any pro oloaldlity of danger G. health in
the euiplo)ment of the veloclpede. No doubt it is
best fitted for the young and active, for very few
learners escape a considerable number of falls, which
are not easily borne by those in whom age has dimi-
nished the elasticity of the frame. Indeed, the most
ardent velocipede riders (and th 4 pursuit has become
quite a passion in France) do not recommend it with
any earnestness to those who have passed forty years.
DMA PrisaRANCE OF A GENTLEMAN.— Some
alarm has been occasioned in the village of Earl's
Colne, Essex, by the mysterious disapptsrance of Mr.
Harris Hills of Colne•green. He was staying in York,
and left his lodgings on Sunday the 10th of Apt il, since
which date he has not been heard of. He was in good
health at the time, but had latterly displayed occinsional
eccentricity and despondency. Although a gentleman
of considerable property, he some time since sold off his
carriages and harness, and would only keep a pony. A
few months since, it is understood, he secreted himself
in a wood, where he sat for two days and nights, having
only a penny roll with him to sustain nature, until he
was nearly starved. Mr. Hills is a member of the
Society of Friends, is twenty-five years of age, and
unmarried.
PoISoNING A }ICEMAN D.—A woman named
trisseit has just been tried at Rheims (France) for
poisoning her husband, a farmer, with sulphate of
copper. Although married as far back as 1852. she had
within the last few years only taken an avemion to the
man in consequence of his want of education and
rather vulgar manner-a; she had also been on intimate
terms with a schoolmaster in the neighbourhood. Brig-
sot died in May loot apparently of a natural death,
and the crime would proloahly never have been dis-
covered had not the accused just after the decease of
the husband made unsuccessful overtures to a sister-in-
law to get rid of an uncle in the same way in order to
enjoy his property • this latter affair came to the ears
of the police, and the woman, finding that she was Bon-
p.,ted, fled to Switzerland, but having returned to
France in January last was arrested. A post modem
examination of the husband's remains showed traces of
poison in the intestines, and a quantity of the same
substance was also found at her residence after she had
absconded, and in some bon-bons the woman had
given to her relative for the uncle. She was condemned
to death.
SUDDEN DreATIL—On Wednesday in last week
Lieutenant Childers, RN., commander of Her
Majesty's gunboat Flirt, stationed in the Clyde, died
very suddenly on board Her Majesty's ship Black
Prince, also lying in the Clyde. Lieutenant Childers
had gone on board the Block Prince on matters of
business with Captain Gordon, and while in conversa-
tion with some of his brother officers, before entering
Captain Gordon's cabin, he became suddenly ill from
the bursting of a bloodveseel, and died in a few minutes.
Deceased was about thirty-two years of age.
THE LACONIC STYLE.—The following is a speci-
men of the laconic style adopted by our American con-
temporaries in dissemonnting news :--" Foreign.—The
Pope is dtad.---;The Pope is not dead—Cuban Govern'

meirt. is sending politic-a) pr brunet" to Fernando Po.—
' Lopez has again fortified himself.' With gin, probe,-
bly.—The strong declarations of peace made by the
King of Prussia give general satisfaction —to all that
way inclined—Nice mull in the Spanish Cortex over
the choice of a ruler.—The small-pox is abating in
Cuba. This will leave more work for the gallows."
SOMETFIINO TO CELEBRATE !—A New York
correspondent writes :
The 7th Regiment celebrated the anniversary of Its
memorable departure for the seat of war in 1,361 the day
before yeAertlty by a grand parade and a reception. This
notch petted military corps never NFIV an enemy nor fired a
gun in the struggle, its greatest warlike achievements having
been to carry the Long Bridge at Washington against the
toll-gatherer, and Arlington Beights against General Lee's
faintly servants, when, the champagne aid pat., having greets
out in their havresacka, they came home. But they alwa}s
celebrate their departure with greater feint than ever
attended in England thy anniversary of Waterloo.
AN 011ISSIOY.—In the notices of the new and
splendid. Market built by Mr. Darbishire for Miss
iloutts, no mention is made of one sort of decoration
which might have been expected to have found a con.
spicuous place there—Marquetry.—pang.
RAIN!. b' MARRIAGE PuRTIoN.—The portion of
£lOO left by Henry Raines, the brewer, to be drawn
for on the let of May by girls of good character in St.
George's East (London) is this year unclaimed. Neither
drawing nor wedding will take plscu this year. The
girl whst drew the last prize of £lOO on the 26th of

December, liatid, ought to have been married M due
course on the lot of this month; but, alas ! the course
of true love never did run smooth. It was found mama
investigation that the 3 oung man of her choice had not
been baptised, and us strict Ciutrch principles are im-
peratively required by the conditions of the bsquest,
the marriage coucl not be sanctioned by the trusters.
Tuts is the fourth year within half a century that
cit.sr drawing nor wedding took place OR al. IA of
May. 1n1839, in 1840. in 1860, and now, no damsels
Presented themselves as candi.iater.
THE FLOUR OF L +VELINESS ?—Pearl Powder.—
Punch.
AN UNFROCICBD PRIEST.—AII unfrocked priest
named Pallara, has just been tried at Florence for
abduction. The accused behingcd to the order of
Franciscans until 1860, when he quitted the Unureh,
and led an adventurous sort of existence, giving lessons
and changing from Catholic to Protestant, and ba,k to
his former religion as circumstances required. Under
a promise of niarriage by succeeded in seducing a young
girl, a minor, daughter of the ps-rsons with whom he
lodged. his quality of ecclesiastic having been kept
secret flout the family. He finally ts.rrowrel money
from the parents, and dMapocared with the girl, but
was soon after an ested. On the trial he was con-
demned to three years' imprisonment.
TUN Law's DELAY.—Lamentable instances of
the uncertainty and coAlinees of the administration of
the law which, apparently, everywhere prevails under
Anglo-Saxon rule, are not wantic ' in India. A
Hindoo widow, who had been bat the sum of £20,000

by her husband, had her right to the bequeil disputed
by the other members of the family. Im order to driend
herself in the courts she was compelled to borrow money
and while the law proceedina dragged their tortuous
length slowly on else had to keep borrowing until, when
the case was at length ripe for adjudication, it was
found that the parties from whom the poor woman had
borrowed, had become, through the extent to which
they had advanced, lawful possessors of the widow's
right to the mow.

•
tiIiNENEALS IN TIM HOTISS OF COMMONS.
If women ever succeed in awpiiring political equality,
they will be eligible for seats in Parliament. The
consequence of their election as representatives of the
people will be, that Honourable Members on the same
side of the House will, more often, perhaps, than on
opposite sides, have recourse to the arrangement of
pairing MT.—Punch. .

- -
IMMENSE INCREASE IN EMloRATION,—During
the last month the emigration from the Mersey has
undergone a most surprising change, and the Govern-
ment emigration officials at Liverpool have certainly
had no ea.sy time of it, and the manner in which nearly
28 000 emigrants have been despatched reflects the
greatest credit upon the gentlemen connected with
Government emigration in Liverpool. One moat sin-
gular feature in connection with the nationalities of
the emigrants is this, that the nuffiber of Irish leaving
Liverpool has greatly decreased, and the English and
foreignern predominate ; whilst the Scotch, who for-
merly emigrated in large numbers from the Mersevi
now sail direct from the Clyde.
'NE TERMS OF AN Acrayss. —An English
actress now in the West was recently telegraphed by
the manager of Mr. Fiek's New York Opera House,
to know her terms for an engagement. She replied,
"1,000 dollars a week, a third of the house clear once
a week, 1,000 dollars to break an engagement in St.
Louis, and railroad expenses for three people from New
Orleans." The mana,;er replied ;
" Madame, —Your terms are much tao low. You shall have
all that wines in the house ; Mr. Fiqk will present you with
the Opera House and 200 miles of Rale Railway, besides what
personal property lie has accumulated in a life of toil and
Belt denial ; also all lie may mate for the next five years,
which, if we ma, judge by the past, will be Inn incolisider-
able amount. If these terms should not meet with your op.
probation it may be possible to make Gould give up what
little he has, that the light of your refulgent genius may not
be lost to the stage."

"MOTLEY'S YOUR OSLT WEAR.'—Mr. Motley
is coming. America in the person of Reverdy Johnson,
has had enough of dinners. Mr. Motley comes in for
getting her desserts.- -Punch.
A CHARITABLE 1.3 sqU EST. —ln the Dublin
Court of Probate the will of a Dublin baker, namsi
Fegan, who had died worth £B,OOO, has been pro-
pounded. He had appointed Cardinal Cullen a ti-notes
14 a sum of 4;3 000 for the St. Vincent and Mater
Miaericordiie Hospitals of Dublin. The suit was insti-
tuted by the sister of the deceased, and it having been
stated that the Cardinal "would throw no obstacle
in the way of something being done for the widow of
, the deceased, who had already a jointure of £OO a year,
a settlement was agreed upon. It was arranged that
i the widow should take one-half of the residue, the rest
to go to objects of chavity. It woe stated that the
" only object of his eminence was to protect the in.
terests of the charities, and to show that there was no
clerical influence, as he had never heard the man's
name until I.e heard he was mentioned in his will as
trustee for the charities."
Two CHILDREN POISONFD WITH LUCIFERS.—
An inquest bait been held in London on the bodies of
George Joseph Lees and Mary Ann his twin sister,
aged two years and seven months. The children,
whose parents are in toor circumstances, were left in
charge iif an elder brother, wi,, was told to prepare
the dinner. The deceased children got hold of a box
of matches, with which he was lighting the lire, and
began sucking, the phosphorus. Shortly afterwards
they were both found to be suffering from poison. The
boy, who was afflicted with lung disease, died the same
evening, but the girl lingered till Saturday. A post
va.rtem examination showed that in both cases the
cause of death was inflammation of the stomach,
caused by sucking phosphorus. Vertlict7-Accidcidal

A ZICRATCH WITH A Saw.—Artist: Why is
Hanging at the Roy al Academy Exibit ion like kissing?
—Academician : I'm sure I don't know. —Artist : Be.
cause Hanging goes by favour.—Perah.
THE LAW Or OPE IN° LE, TI• Wt.—Mr. Hughes,
a dining-room keeper in the Murales, Lions lon, has
been charged with unlawfully opening a letter. Caro-
line Hollings, a ftervant in hie employ, wishing tochange
her situation, inserted an advertisement in a news-
paper, in which she gave the initials "C. 11. 1)." and
the address of ber master as the place where letters
might be sent. On Tuesday last she saw a postman
deliver a letter with those initials, which was at rake
seized by the defendant, to whiten site then e‘plained
how the matter stood. He was very indignant and
ordered her to leave the house that day, which she
did. Ile opened the letter and refused to give it up
to her. The defertlant, who handed in the letter,
acknowledged that he had opened it, but sail that he
considered it a great liberty for a sei vent to use his ad-
&ems without his consent, especially as to letters with
initials, the receipt of which, he said, had never been
allowed by him even on the application of customers.
He also complained that he had been surtj.ct to much
insolence fromthe complainsnt, and that only was the
reason for her discharge. The Lord Has-or said the
law gave a pereon a right to receive at the eddies.
where he or she happened to reside any letters ad-
dressed in any way. The defendant also did wrong in
o.penieg the lett. r, which he might have returned to
the 10 .stirian if he felt ages in-red. He orden ed the de-
fendant to pay the complainant 4s. 6d., being 2s. IA
for her loss of time its recovering her property, and 2s.
the cost of the summons.
MELANCHOLY ALCIDES' T.—An extraordinary and
melaneholy ace-dent happened list week at Retford,
Notts, to Mr. Ilutchineen, a veterinary surgeon, which
unfortunately terminated in his death. deceased
gentleman was playing with two of his children, and
having a dog's tooth in his hand he put it in his mouth.
Suddenly, without thinking what he WM about, he
allowed the tooth to slip down his throat. At the
time he thought very little of the occurrence, but find-
ing that the to, had not been altogether swallowed,
and that it was beginning to pain him, he sought the
advice of Mr. Marshall, surgeon, who did all he could
to reach it, but without suceese. Mr. Hutchinson
was aisle to get about his professional duties until
Thursday, when the tooth becoming more painful it
was resolved to send for Dr. Barber, from Sheffield, to
open the windpipe. Before this gentleman arrived,
Mr. Hutchinson was dead. The affair has created
quite a sensation in the neighbourhood. The deceased
has left a wife and large family.
AMERICAN THAGI,DIF B.— At Worcester, MASS.,
on the night of the 18th ult., Richard Laffiin was
killed by Thomas Keevan. They were drinking to-
gether, and while discussing an old quarrel, came to
blow,, when Keevan, who was cutting tobacco, struck
Leffler with the knife, severing an artery in his thigh.
He died almost instantly.—At Rochester; New York,
a woman named Bridget Carroll was assaulted with a
stove poker in a drinking Nation, by a man named
D'Arcy. He drove the point of the poker into her
skull, and she diet! from the injuries. D'Aree has
fled—Joseph Mesmer has been convicted in the Court
of Oyer and Terminer of murdering his wife in the
town of Penfiel i,snu the 13th of April, 1868, and sen-
tebeed to be hung on the 4th day of June next —The
Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle contains the patticulars
of the murder of Dr. Ayres, a Republican nn-sober of
the Legislature, who was killed near Louisville. The
Chronicle states that At res was murdered and robbed
by a negro named Wilson, who is now in gaol.
Ayers' pocket-book and money were found in Wileoni
possession. .
DETEhMINED SUICIDE BY A WOMAN. The
New Orleans Crescent of the lath ult. says :
On Monday last the quiet village of Covington was shocked
to leans n,f the testis by her sass hand of Mrs. Kate Herbes,
rigs M'Grath, which occurred In the following desperate
manner:—ln the monning Mrs Hennes attended chuich ; re-
turning, her husband left her in the house slid went to attend
to his business. She then went tato her nem, sand taking a
pistol which she had borrowed 14 a neighlllTar, placed the
mule at her breast and pulled the trigger, but the cap
failed to explode. Undaunted, she now placed the barrel
against her left breast and applying a lighted match to the
vent fired the pistol, the ball passing the-nigh her body and
Coming out at the right side, and the powder settling her
clothes on fire. After committing the sad deed Mrs. Herbert
placed the pistol in her work-basket, stint which time the
neighbours entered and found her breathing her last. Bet ,re
dying the unfortunate lady murmured a few words about her
children. of which she leaves several, the t °rawest one being
a baby ids months ousi. The only hyp.thesis that can be en-
tertai Ile n h,r this rash act is, her pan is that she was mentally
deranged, Inc. husband behig an excellent mm, who pro-
sided bountifully for lice. Mrs. Herbes is well known in
Algiers, where eke resided during the war.
RIDDLE. (BY TILE MAN AT THE WHEEL.)—
Why should all Steamboat Stneke be supprsesed?
Because it's an in-funnel nuisance. —Punch.
REVOLTING CRUELTY TO A DOG.—At Notting-
ham, Mr. Brewster, a farmer, has been charged with
cruelty to a dog. It appeared from the evidence that
Brewster was in a field with his shepherd dog, when a
hare started up, and the dog ran alter it. He called
it back and beat it most cruelly, breaking its ribs,
emaiibing its jaw, and kicking one eye tett Another
farmer, named Pogson, was present, and remonstrated
with the defendant respecting Ida cruelty, upon which
he threatened to serve him the same way. Brewster
then covered the poor beast over with thorns arid went
away. Pogson gave information to the police, and
steps were at once taken to bring the offender to jus-
tice. The animal had been destroyed. The bench
cenvicted the defendant, and he NVELS sentenced to one
month's imprisonment with hard labour. Notice 61
appeal was given.
LE OD ME YOUR EARS !—The spread of the
practice of auricular confereion is evidenced by the
fact, that many public speakers—even in the Howie
itself—have recently admitted that they were "free to
confess r—Judy.

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