The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-11-14 00:00:00

oljsctliantotts
OW, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

IMPULSIVE NAME FOR • VEI3BEL.—A rakish-
looking craft arrived at Queenstown on Wednesday,
from Labrador, with the unusual appellation of the
Devil, and has for a figure-head a full-sized representa-
tion of his Satanic Majesty. When entering the har-
bour an exciting contest took place between her and
the Cunard mail tender Jackal, resulting in the defeat
of the Devil.

_
MAKING THE MOST OF A COBI.SE.—The claims
from the Manchester district upon one of the few
respectable industrial assurance societies in London
having excited some suspicion, a gentleman front the
office was sent down to make inquiries into the
matter, and he has sent to the head office, as the
result of such inquiry, a letter from which the follow-
ing is an extract: I herewith send you another
death claim, but I must leave you in Lond in to say
whether the person claimed for is the person dead. It
would take line's whole time to look after these people
in Manchester. I must tell you that one corpse will
be enough to serve a while parish, and may he taken
about from cellar to cellar or house to house, and
claims made upon half a dozen societies. I must say
that I never knew before how money might be and is
got front wontrance etattpaniett and societies, anti you
may rest assured that ours is not the only one in
Manchester that is so fleeced. If the society is to
protect itself you must set your faces against the pay.
ment of any and all claims, unless all particulars are
forthcoming and according to the terms on which the
policy or policies were granted. I have great doubts
if either of the claims send are bona fide."—lneurance
Record.

INCUMBENT Olt VlCAR—Archdeacon L'tterton,
at the visitation he held last week, before commencing
his charge, said, whether one who had been an incum-
bent was entitled to be designated vicar depended upon
two things —whether he could perform the offices in
the Church, and marriage in particular, not by license
of the bishop, which might be withdrawn, but as an
independent act, and whether all fees received went
to himself instead of the mother church, as was some-
times the case during the first incumbency.
Tint COUNTESS OF DERWENTWATER. A
correspondent writes :

The Countess was made as comfortable on Thursday night
at the site of the encampment, as her friends could make
her under the circumstances, but she suffered severely from
the intensity of the cold. Between nine and tell o'clock a
sort of sentry box, which had been brought to Corbridge by
train, was carried stealthily hi Di'stun and placed at her
service. This box was of sufficient size to afford standing
room for two inside, and it was occupied by her ladyship till
five o'clock on Friday morning, when she was induced—such
was the extent of her suffering—to accept of the proffered
hospitality of Mr. Carr, and remove to Shorncliffe. There
she enjoyed a good rest, and about mid-day drove into Hex-
ham to the office ot Messrs. Gibson, where the documents
necessary to semi her appeal from the decision of Tuesday
were signed in the presence of sir It. S. Errington, acting
in his capacity of a county magistrate. The reception she
met with from the inhabitants of Ilexham was most cordial
and enthusiastic. Hundreda of people gathered round, eager
to have a glance at the countess, and both on her arrival and
departure she was lustily cheered. Her ladyship returned to
Shorncliffe, and her sojourn of six weeks on the road at
Dilston may thus fairly be considered to be at an end.

A STEP IN THE RIOHT DIRECTION.—A II im-
portant step towards securing the introduction of a
system of scientific instruction in schools has just been
adopted in Yorkshire. The Council of the Yorkshire
Board of Education lately undertook the organisation
of special science classes for schoolmasters, and many
of these classes are already in operation, and are
attended by at least a hundred schoohnasters. By--
and-bye, for the benefit of the elder pupils of primary
schools, professorial lectures will be provided, which
are intended td.supploment the lessons to be given in
the various science classes. During the past two
months upwards of twenty new science schools have,
through the agency of the Yorkshire Union of Mecha-
nics' Institutes, been established in the county.
EXTRAORDINARY ROBBERIE/3.—Two remarkable
cases of robbery from the peneni occurred at Birming-
ham on Monday night. Mr. Efihu Burritt, the
American Consul, attended the complimentary dinner
given to the retiring Mayor at the Great Western
Hotel. A short time after he had left, and on his way
home, he discovered that his pocket-hook, containing
£3O in notes, together with some papers, had been
stolen from him, and almost at the same moment the dis-
covery was made, Mr. Alderman Briggs, before quitting
the hotel premises, found that his gold watch was
missing; it had been wrenched from the chain, a small
portion of which the chief of police picked up off the
floor. There is little doubt as to how both robberies
were effected. The thief got among the company as
they were crowding together in search of bats aud coats
prior to their departure from the hotel.

- -
•
MR. BRIGHT AND WELSH DIt,SENTERS.—The
Carmarthen Herald publishes a letter written by Mr.
Bright, in which the hon. gentleman says : --
" ' -

,
I cannot understand how any Nonconformist in Wales
can have a doubt on the Irish Church question. Welsh
Dissenters, of all men in Groat Britain, should comprehend
the uselessness and insult of a Church supported by
national funds and property, aril yet separate in feeling
and sympathy from the great lardy of the people. Not one
Dissenter in Wales should vote for a Tory candidate at this
election. His self-respect, and his religious interest, shouhl
make him zealous on behalf of the policy of the Liberal
party
The letter was written by Mr. Bright to decline
an invitation to a meeting in support of a Liberal
candidate. . - -

64 ATE; SAID THE SPARROW:6—A Mr. Rhodes,
of Quebec, has purchased fifty London sparrows. and
turned them loose in the Governor's garden. We do
not know what he paid for the importation, but, no
doubt, he will not think they're dear when he hears
their "cheep ! cheep !"—Fun.
TIIE MURDER OF THE REV. MR. BAKER AT
RM.—The schooner Gen), which arrived at Sydney on
the 2nd of September, conveyed the intelligence that
her Majesty's ship Challenger had proceeded to the
island of Rewa (Fijian group), and armed boats were
dlspatched up the river for the purpose of punishing
the hostile tribes that had been implicated in the
murder of the Rev. Mr. Baker and others connected
with the mission. The launch and first and second
cutters were armed, and placed under the command of
Captain Browning, with orders from Cotnnio lore
Lambert to shell the villages. This was done, and it
is supposed that several of the natives were killed, the
casualties on the side of the British being one marine
wounded, anti also Mr. Creelman, a settler. The
Challenger left Rewa for the New Hebrides, orders
being given by the commodore that her Majesty's ship
Charytalin, on arrival from Sydney, should cruise
about the group. It is presumed the Resident British
consul will direct her movements.
COUNT BISMARCK'S HEALTH—With respect to
the health of Count de Bismarck, the New Stett hi
Gazette states that, notwithstanding repeated efforts,
the physicians have not succeeded in curing the sleep-
lessness, from which he continues to suffer. In spite
of the exertion he has to make in riding and driving,
his nervous system is still relaxed. The Keen Zeitang
on its side, contradicts the rumours spread by certain
journals, and according to which the ('omit is in very
good health, and only prolongs his stay at Varzins
from personal or political motives. These allegations,
adds the journal in question, are opposed to facts and
to the respect due to the eminent statesman.
THE MISTAKE CORRECTED.—An old and popular
Irish clergyman had a disagreement with one of his
parishioners, who was an extremely refractory person
of great wealth, but of low origin, vulgar habits, and
abusive tongue. Upon hearing from a third party
that his ancestry had been spoken of disparagingly by
I this rich boor, the old parson, borrowing a Scriptural
metaphor, exclaimed, " Why, sir, my father would
not have set him with the dogs of his flock." This
I remark reached the ear of his nabob, who immediately
• repaired to the clergyman and demanded an apology.
, The good old man listened patiently to the ravings of
his parishioner, and closed the discussion with the
remark, " Did I really say my father would not have
; set you with the dogs? I was wrong, sir; I believe he
would."

PROMOTION.—A New York paper states that in
consequence of his well-known amiability and adapt-
ability Mr. Horace Greeley is to be raised to the as-
they-appearage under the title of Lord Disa-Greeley.

A LAND Or SILVER !—ExtraOrdiDary state-
ments are forwarded at intervals to the various New
York journals regarding silver discoveries in the State
of Nevada. These are treated with proper reserve,
but there seems to be no doubt of the remarkable
character of the district. According to a regular cor-
respondent of the New York Journal of Commerce, a
new excitement has just been occasioned by rich ills-
covelies at a place called White Pine Lander county,
about 100 miles south-east of Austin. When the
existence of rich ore first became known at this spot
last spring, sales of property were made there at low
rates, but the finding of ore of extraordinary purity
has created a general desire to buy even at the most
extravagant prices. The leading company at White
Pine are now, it is asserted, taking out ores that
average 1,000 dols. per ton. 'Two hundred tons of
this quality are awaiting the completion of smelting
works, being too rich for pulverizing with stamps.
The best ore readily receives an impression from a die
while yet in its native state. Second-class ores average
I About 1,300 dols. per ton."
MATRIMONIAL CHANCES !—Front the Mao-
! cheater Examiner :

'Matrimonial Office—lntroductions as usual. Several
Ladies of means at liberty. Fees Is. 6d."—Adaress, &e.
" A Gentleman wishes to Correspond a ith an amiable
Young Lady, with means, with a view to Matrimony : and
no objection to go abroad. Cartes exchanged."—Address,
&c.

-7' A young Gentleman (!4, who has a small establishment,
a moderate income, and no ineumbranee, desires to Corres-
pond with a well-educated and agreeable Lady, with a little
money, with a view to Matrirnony."—Address,

PREPARING DEER FOR HUNTING.—The methods
adopted for catching and preparing deer for hunting at
Windsor are as follows

Occasionally a fine young stag is selected and run to by by
the hounds, ropes are then fastened about his horns, and
leather straps round his legs, and he is thus secured until he
can be turned loose in the paddocks. This process, however,
Is excessively dangerous to the men and dogs employed, and
is now rarely resorted to. More often a small herd of red
deer is run by the hounds into toils, where they often break
their necks or backs before they are secured. The dogs em-
ployed are rough Scotch deerhounds. Six or eight stags are
thus taken every year, then shut up in sheds for a short
time, their horns sawn off, and in a few months they are fit
for hunting. They are confined In large paddocks, fed upon
beans and hay, and are kept in wind by being hunted occa-
sionally round the field by a staghound or bloodhound
specially trained for the purpose. Hinds are caught in the
Caine manner, but if on being entered for hunting they show
no good running power, they are allowed to be run into by
the young hounds to blood them. A good stag will last for
six or seven years, doing his three or four runs in a season.
The deer are now most commonly caught by being driven
into a shed, out of which there is an opening leading into a
van, the person in charge of it using a movable door as a
shield to protect himself. Some of the old stags gn in with-
out occasioning any trouble, and become remarkably tame.

PROCESS SERVING IN IRELAND.—In the Court
of Common Pleas, at Dublin, last week, it transpired
that a process server, arriving a few weeks ago at the
"outer gate" of the residence of a deputy-lieutenant
of the county of Mayo, found four men on guard, and
on stating his wish to see their master, he was told
that "ulnas he and his business were not out of that

In three minutes they would smash every bone in his
body." The man did "get out of it," but a week later
he made a second attempt to obtain an interview with
the deputy-lieutenant. This time, however, the re-
tainers ,f the deputy-lieutenant surrounded him, and
" consulted whether they would hang him or make it a
case of accidental death," and the officer was glad to
escape, leaving their master still " unserved." The
Lord Chief Justice made an order for the service of
the /31111311101113 through the post-offine.
A LEMON IN THEOLOGY !—At Rochester, State
of New York. a woman has been sent to the peni-
tentiary for abominable cruelty to her daughter, aged
seven. It was alleged by the prisoner that the little girl
had at, hen a piece of candy, and it was to deter her from
committing further thefts that she punished her in the
manner she did. By roasting the little one's bands over
the stove she said she intended to give her an idea of
what hell is, a place to which she would surely go if
.the stole any more. She thought it her duty to
punish the child to save its soul from perdition, and
nothing could so well convey her idea of perdition to
the little one's tender mind as roasting its hands over a
"young hell "—the withering fire of a cooking stove.
'he exclamations of the eirl—" Oh! mother, it hurts"
"Oh ! mother, it hurts awfully!" and the noise of the
crackling flesh, did not make the woman desist, and
only the interference of nelihbours prevented her from
inflicting injuries which would doubtless have proved
permanent. But few women in this city have a more
benevolent and peaceable looking countenance than
her&

_
" DRAW ING TIIE BADGER."—At Birkenhemi,
Thomas Lawson, the keeper of a public-house, and
sixteen young gentlemen, the sons of the mercantile
" aristocracy of the neighbourhood, have been sum-
mi irked fir "drawing the badger." The chief evidence
against the accused was that of a police-officer, who
went to Lawson's house in plain clothes, and on going
upstairs found one of the rooms fitted up with a rat
pit, and seats for spectators all round. In one corner
of the room was a wooden box containing a badger.
Tickets hail been issued for a rat-killing match, but
before this sport came on one of the "young gentle-
men " arrived with. a game dog, which was set at the
badger, and drew it six times. When the fun was at
its height, the officer slipped out of the room, and
having returned with assistance, took down the names
and addresses of all present. Some persons gave false
names, but warrants having been afterwards issued,
the defendants made their appearance at the police.
court. The defence was that the dog attacked the
badger by accident, and not by design ; and that the
only intention of the gathering was to worry the rats.
The court, however, did not believe this, and fined
Lawson Ra- and costs, and each of the defendants Is,
and costs.

SONG FOR MAGISTRATES.—" Let us speak of a
ran as we've fined hini."—Puseh.

ONE THAT COULD NOT BE SPARED !---A London
correspondent writes:
Regret is felt here at the anticipation that Mr. Bernal
unhorse is likely to be beaten at Nottingham. The House of
Commons cannot spare him. There is no other Bernal
Osborne there. His style of oratory is an indiosyncracy
peculiarly his own. llis humour is not buffoonery. Except
very rarely, it is positive wit; and that he does not manu-
facture his jokes beforehand is evinced from the fact that
some of the best of them are made in reply to interruptions
the nature of which be cannot have foreseen. As a skirmish-
ing debater he has no equal in the iiOUSC of Commons. The
drawback on his influence with the House is, that the
members never are quite sure as to whether he is in earnest
or only joking. When his language is most jocular and
amusing his countenance is most serious. lie is positively
severe in look andgesture when uttering some of his most
humounms sallies; and no amount of laughing on the part
of the House ever provokes him to laugh at anything he says
himself. On the contrary, he bi in the habit of looking
wicked when the House laughs, and of observing " This is no
! laughing matter. I am amazed that bon, members can
think it a subject for merriment."—Mr. Roebuck also would
! be missed, not that he is prone to say anything amiable
or amusing. His pungent sourness it is which makes him a
speciality.

POISONOUS MUSHROOMS. —lt is to be hoped (says
the Lancet), that the ardent fungulogists who are
seeking to popularize the mushroom tribe as an article
of food, will do their utmost to spread as widely as
possible a knowledge how to discriminate between
those species that are safely edible and those that are
poisonous ; otherwise we may anticipate a great many
mistakes with very serious results. An inquest has
lately been held in South London on the body llf a
waterman who ate mushrooms at Gravesend, returned
to his home in town the same evening in apparently
good health, but before the next night died, with all
the symptoms of mushromn poisoning. The verdict of
the jury on the medical evidence, was that death re.
slated from eating poisonous mushrooms. Botanical
distinction of species are not as yet familiar to a very
large pro portion of the population, and it is as well
that it should be known, as regards the mushroom
family, that it contains some species which, however
" pleasant to the eyes" of a fungologist, are certainly
not " good for food."
THE A BERGELE ACCIDENT COMPENSATION.—
We (Railway Nt we) understand that, with one trifling
exception, the whole of the claims arising out of the
late accident on the London and North Western at

Abergele have been settled without any resort to liti-
gation. The amount paid for compensation has been
very much smaller than any of the sums which have
been previously guessed at or nimoured. The engine
of the mail train has been repaired and reported fit for
wotk, and is, we believe, now running upon the line.
The cost of its repair was not over £5OO, and the
repair and reconstruction of the Ilther injured car-
riages and waggons has not exceeded £4OO. The entire
cost of the accident will not be more hundreds than
report has stated it to be thousands of pounds. In
other words the cost is not one tenth of the sum antici-
pated at the time of the accident.
A NEW ROUNDABOUT PAPER.—The It Police
Orden—Punch.

THE JESEITS.—The Liberia Cattolica states
that the total number of members of the Society (if
Jesus employed in foreign mismins is 3,429; of these
there are—ln England-139 fathers, 117 scholastics,
55 brothers coadjutors. In Scotland-14 fathers, 3
scholastics, 3 brothers coadjutors. In Ireland-61
. . . .

fathers,--37 scholastics, 36 I'm-others coadjutors. A
scholastic is one not yet admitted to the priesthood,
whose occupation is that of study or teachimi, and
giving instruction. Tile Jesuits are employed in the
'United Kingdom only as auxiliaries, consequently
there are among them no vicars apostolic or vicars-
getrraL . .

MASTICATED NOTES. —The science of chemistry
has been put to a hard test lately in Prussia. At the
bank of a provincial town there appeared a peasant
with an tad mass of pulp, requesting the cashier to
change that for him. On close examinacion one little
scrap was found containing the number of a ten-thaler
bank-note; the rest was pulp, and nothing could be
made of it. The poor peasant then explained matters.
He had brought eighty dialers in bank-notes from the
market, and had lost the little bundle in the stable. '
There an eager goat found it and proceeded calmly to
eat it up. The peasant having become aware of his
loss. rushed back into the stable, and just entered it
in time to perceive the last morsel of a ten-thaler note
disappearing. His wife wise woman, advised him to
kill the goat at once. This he had done, and here was
the result. All the printing having been almost
entirely obliterated, the question has arisen whether
it might be possible to restore some portions of it by
chemical agencies, or to discover by means of a power-
ful microscope traces which to the naked eye are in-
visible. The peasant in the interval has received the
value of the one note and a promise that everything
possible shall be done for him as to the others.
ESPARTERO FOR KING OF SPAIN.—The TiMer
Madrid correspondent says that Espartem is being
sp ken of as the future King of Spain. The corres-
pondent thinks that Espartero in many respects
answers the description of the man the Spaniards are
in quest of. The fact that he has been at all time the
most upright and honourable of all Spanish soldiers
and statesmen may not count for much. He has been,
many years ago, the virtual Sovereign of Spain; his
power, for a short period, was as unbounded as his
popularity. He has also given signs of weakness; he
has proved to be deficient in character, BA well as in
intelligence. His career as a leader of armies or as a
framer of Cabinets has long been over. It never

amounted to more than a half success. He showed
his wisdom in a tacit acknowledgment of his short-
comings. His ambition was not more than propor-
tionate to his abilities. Laden with honours and not
ill-provided with wealth, he withdrew into private life.
He has the instincts and tastes of a country gentle-
man, rare among his fellow-citizens. There was no
affectation or ostentation in his retirement. Hue-
bandry came as natural to him as to the Roman dic-
tator. He planted his cabbages, and received Pro.
gressist deputations. Again and again he was tempted
to leave his farm and take upon himself the cares and
burdens of office. He was never very loud in his re-
fusals ; never very tleninnFltrative in his objections.
Only, he put off solicitations by delay. He "must
wait till the olives are gathered in • " "or they must
„ , .

come again to him after harvest-time.' The 'fact is
he had seen enough of Parliamentary intrigues and
Ministerial crises. He was well out of the whole
business, and why "should he go and row again in
that galley?"
DESERVING SERIOUS CONSIDERATION. Tin)
Tablet, which has now become the most authoritative
organ of Roman Catholic opinion in this country, not
unnaturally boasts of the proofs of sincerity and
; strength of principle given by recent converts to the
Church of Rome in the renunciation of great a4lvan-
tages in order to join that communion (remarks the
Daily Newe). It is well known that the Rev. Mr.
Pye, the son-in-law of the Bishop of Oxford, who has
just seceded to Rome, gave up a prebend and a rich
family living; but thy information of the Tablet that
the Rev. J. M. Bellew resigned an incumbency the
value of which is estimated at £l,OOO a year does not,
we believe, rest on evidence equally accessible to the
general public. However, there is no doubt that any
English clergyman who joins the Church of Rome
does make a great social sacrifice. On the same
authority we learn that Captain Pye has followed the
example of his relative, and was revived into the
Church of Rome yesterday week. We are further
told that in one month of the present year 104 persons
were received into the Church of Rome in London
alone. That they were all taken from our "best
families," or even from the ranks of the educated, is
doubtless more than the Tablet would tell us; still
supposing the 104 to be only a fair representation of
English society throughout its various grades, the fact
is important enough to deserve serious consideration.

JOB'S COMFORTERS !—The recent shocks of
earthquake in California have not a little disquieted
the people of that State. They remember that the
shock which so lately devastated Peru was preceded
by several warnings, very similar to those which have
tried the strength of San Francisco. Then some one
has recalled the prediction of an old Spanish priest,
made no less than two hundred years ago. He foretold
that a great city would arise upon the bay of San
Francisco, that four times it should be laid in ashes,
and once destroyed by an earthquake. The four fires
have, it is said, already happened—has the time nitw
come for the earthquake? Whenever the earth
trembles many a man and woman in San Francisco
thinks of the old padre's prophecy, and feels the im-
pulse to fly. But after all there may be no real reason
for alarm. The other States of the Union are rather
inclined Co make merry over the Californians and their
fears—it is so easy to laugh at danger when we know
that we are beyond the reach of it. Nearly every

paper prints the Spaniard's prediction for the comfort
of the Californian,. Shocks of earthquake are not
uncommon in San Francisco, and recently they have
been more frequent and more severe than heretofore.
But the prosperity of the city and id the whole State
might be seriously injured if these evidences of the
activity of the volcanic forces in the region were often
repeated.
DEATH OF A BARNSLEY MILLIONAIRE.—OH
Monday, Mr. John Stainforth Beckett, a gentleman
wellilcnewn and kindly appreciated for his liberality,
died at Wombwell, near Barneley,. in his 75th year.
After spending a long time in the Barnsley district, in
which he amassed a vast amount of pnsperty, Mr.
Beckett timk a mansion known as " The Knoll "at
Torquay, where he gathered some very excellent paint-
ing,s. He was a member of the well-known firm id the
Becketts of Leeds. In 1789 Joseph Beckett was a
large linen manufacturer, and be afterwards became
the proprietor of some very extensive bleach works,
which bear his name up to the present time. Ses eral
members of the family became bankers at Leeds and
other places, and up to his decease Mr. Stainforth
Beckett was largely interested in the affairs of the
Barnsley and. Wakefield Bank. About three years
ago he presented to the town of Barnsley a dispensary
complete, the freehold and the building. A few
months ago he proposed adding 4;2,000 to his original
gift for the purpose of making the dispensary into an
hospital. The gift was duly accepted, and afterwards
ratified whilst Mr. Beckett was in a position to make a
diliosition of his property. Mr. lieckett died possessed
of great landed property, and is believed to have been
worth more than a million of money.
SHOCKING SUICIDE AT GATESHEAD.—A yfry
melancholy affair took place in Gateshead I m Friday
evening. .Joseph Bell, a porter at an ale store, called at the
'"frown" Inn, on his way house, and had a glase of whisky.
He left that house —as is alleged by the occupants— quite
sober. On arriving home his wife quarrelled with him
when she says that he replied, "Well, it will be the
last time I shall go there." She busied herself with
getting something ready for him, and had occasion to
go out into the yard, when she heard the report of a
pistol. Instantly returning to the house, she found
her husband sitting in his chair, bleeding profusely
from a wound in his head. On the doctors arriving, it
was found that the unfortunate man had placed a pistol
to the side of his head, and had blown away a part
the skull, leaving the brain visible. He died shortly
afterwards.

How TO EXTINGUISH POLICE MISMANAGEMENT
—Turn it off at the Mayne.—Pitnek.

A CAT STORY ! The Paris Correspondent of
the Daily Telegraph writes_:—
_ . _

I believe that, when French papers are at a loss for news,
they invent a police trial about a cat—just as, at Marseilles
and Lyons, cobblers supply crimes to the " Various Facts" ?
of the evening papers. Here's a case to-day ; and "mark
this," as Mr. Wilson Croker used to say—they are always
widows who are mixed up in these feline felonies. A widow
has stolen a cat, a fine Angola, "which weighed fourteen
pounds, and looked like a grenadier's cap," and invited
another widow to on e and eat rabbit with her. Cot must
be gmal. "Good cot" must in future be a much more
common expression than "Good dog ; " for, as the proverb
closely ;roves, "dog may eat dog," but nobody else does.
The widows dined, and then, as widows will, quarrelled, and
let the cat out of the bag. Hence an action at law. The
invited widow seas asked on her oath whether she slid not
perfectly well know "Mimi" the murdered, and jugged
cat She said, " Yes, during its life; hut who could know
the dear departed thing when it was cut in bits and put in
a stew-pan?" The cat, however is a valuable animal in
l'aris. The widow who killed, stewed, and invited, and she
who was particepscriminia partaker of the cat , got fifteen,
and the other eight days " on the mill."
STRANGE PROVISION IN A PEER'S WILL.—The
will of the Earl of Normanton, who died lately, con-
tains a provision by which ths sum of £lOO,OOO is left
upon trust to pay the income to deceased's second son
Herbert for life, and after his death oue-half of the
1 capital is to go for the benefit of his widow and
children, and the other half is to fall into testator's
residuary personal estate. The deceased peer, how-
ever, provides that in case his maid son should not marry
witan three years after his decease, or should marry a
widow, he is to forfeit a moiety of the benefit so given
him ; and the testator declares that he makes this
provision out of his very great, true, and sincere
affection for his son Herbert, feeling assured that
true happiness in this life is only to be found in the
married state.

A ROMANCE OF MODERN TIMES.—The Pope
has conferred the dignity of Prince-Assistant of
the throne on the son II the Duke of Gallese, a boy
six years old. The Duke is a Frenchman, originally
named Haniouin, and woo a sergeant in the army
General Omlinot, when it marched into Rome. On
that occasion he was seen from a window by the
Duchess of Gallese, who, attracted by his fine appear-
ance, bestowed on him her hand and fortune, together
with a Roman dukedom. Soon afterwards the Duchess
died, when the Duke married the pretty daughter of
a shopkeeper, and the boy-is the offspring of the second
marriage. There have hitherto been but two Prince-
Assistants of the throne, Colonna and Orsini, who held
the dignity by hereditary right, and its bestowal on a
child of foreign extraction and plebeian blood has
given offence not only to those ancient houses, but to
the whole Roman nobility (says the Correspondent of
the Pall Malt Gazette). By such acts the Pope alienates
all classes; and while the people regard him as a
despot, the aristocracy denounce him as a revolu-
tionist.

WORSE AND WORSE.—Mr. Punch lately re-
marked on the suspicion that must be felt as to the
previous career of Candidates who announced them-
selves to be "unfettered." But what must be thought
of a Candidate who appeals for support on the ground
that he is a " tried " Member ?--Punch.

AN AMERICAN LAwsnir.—At the Cariboo gold
mines, in British Columbia, lives a well-known Irish
gold commissieffier, whose common sense decisions have
gained great seputation throughout that section of
country. On one occasion two mining companies csme
before him with some dispute. One swore one way,
and the other swore the exactly opposite way. The
" judge" was nonplussed. "Look here, boys," at
last was his sage decision, "there's no use you going
to law about it. There's some hard swearing some-
where; where, I won't pretend to say. You say this,
and they say that; aye, and produce witnesses, too.
What am Ito do? Of course, if you Iltoist, I'll come
to a decision', but I honestly confess it will only be a
toss up. I tell you what's the best thing to do. You
know my shanty down the creek?" All answered in
the affirmative. "Well, in that shanty there's a bottle
14 prime whiskey, in which I will be happy to drink
luck to both of you. Now, the first man there gets the
suit. Go." Out of the court they rushed, down the
creek, over logs, and over mining flumes, tumbling, and
rolling, and running, with half the population after
them, until they reached the cabin in question. When
the judge arrived shortly afterwards, he found a stal-
wart miner finnly grasping the handle of the door.
The whiskey was produced, luck VIM drunk, and every-
body went away, perfectly satisfied with the decision.
—"Far Western judges and Juries," in All the Year
Round.
THE REMEDY WORSE THAN THE DISEASE.—
A short time ago (says the Court Journal) one of the
principal Secretaries of State received a letter from
some anonymous person who professes to be a great
admirer of his genius, and expressed deep regret at the
fact that, having met the statesman in question in the
street, he had noticed that he was looking very ill.
Overwork, the unknown correspondent of the great
man declared, was the cause of his worn face, and he,
the correspondent, had an infallible cure for over-
work, which he beggvd.. to enclose, and which he en-

treated the object 'f
him anxiety'co try. And sure
enough the letter did contain an infallible cure for
overwork—four little white powders were enclosed,
which, on being tasted, were found to consist of
arsenic.

THE " MARSEILLAISE."—The Paris Correctional

Tribunal has just been engaged in trying six rung
men accused of uttering seditious cries and resisting
the police. The first part of the offence consisted in
singing the " Marseillame " in the streets about mid-
night, and persisting in doing no after having been
warned to desist. The police agents finding the young
men refractory proceeded to arrest the most noisy,
when the others attempted a rescue. The Public
Prosecutor remarked that the air in question had been
sometimes considered a patriotic one and sometimes a
revolutionary one ; he left the court to decide under
what category it should be classified in the present
case. The Tribunal decided that on this occasion the
air had no seditious character, and acquitted the pri-
soners on that head; but on the other part of the
accusation five of them were convicted and sentenced
to a fortnight's imprisonment, whilst the sixth was set
at liberty.

MEMBERS OF THE FOURTH ESTATE.—The pro-
prietors and editors of newspapers are playing a pro-
minent part in the elections. There is Air. Walter,
proprietor of the Times, standing for Berkshire; Mr.
Rama, the Crimean historian of the same journal, a
candidate for Chelsea; Mr. Baines, the proprietor of
the Leeds Mercury, for Leeds; Mr. Cowen, proprietor
of the Newcastle Chronicle, for Newcastle; Dr. Sebastian
Evans, editor of the Birmingham Gamette, for Birminc-
ham ; and Sir John Gray, proprietor of the Freeman's
Journal, for Kilimuny. No newspaper, however, pro-
duces such a large number of candidates as the Daily
News, no less than four different places being wooed by
the same number of proprietors of this journal. These
are Chelsea, Hackney, Middlesex, and Bristol, where
Sir Henry Hoare, Mr. Charles Reed, Mr. Labouchere,
and Mr. Samuel Morley are standing in the Liberal
interest. Besides these gentlemen, one of the prin-
cipal leader•writers, Mr. Clayden, is seeking the
suffrages of the Nottingham electors.
A NOBLE INSTITUTION.—The most censorious
critic of "our charitable institutions "—and there are
a good many such critics just now—can have nothing
but good to say of that most valuable institution which
devotee its attention to the rescuing of life at sea. A
list has just been published of noble services rendered
by its officers on all parts of the coast, and the result
has been that during the year the crews of the various
lifeboats have been the means of saving not fewer than
639 lives, and 16 vessels. Among those recently
rewarded for acts of gallantry is Viscount Bury, who
has received the silver medal of the institution for
having, in company with a coastguards man, put off in
a small boat during a heavy storm, and saved one of
the crew of a &Fling boat. A large proportion of the
rewards given was for services rendered during the
severe storms of last month.

WITCHCRAFT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
On Saturday last an elderly woman named Head, a
native of the fashionable town of Tunbridge Wells,
was convicted and sent to Ifidelsfoiie Gaol for two
months' hard labour, on the charge of professing and
pretending to tell fortunes. A respectable woman,
named White, was jealous of her husband being too
intimate with another woman, and, going to the old
woman Head, who was pretty generally known in the
neighbourhood as a fortune-teller, she inquired if her
fears were true. The old weman said they were, but
in a few days she would bewitch the other woman, as
by burning a chymical compound, which she could
obtain only at one shop, and which would cost Is., she
would cause her to have the most excruciating pains.
The woman White went home, but, being taken sud-
denly ill with severe pains, she rushed to the old
woman's house and told her that she must have been
burning the wrong woman. Head said she had not
then commenced the operation, so White went home,
but in a short time she became delirious, and still con-
tinues in that state.