The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-08-22 00:00:00

fliE STOTTRI3RIDGE OBSERVER.

nwhilvcibmawai4laosntdoisn
—by a violent storm. Flashes of lightning followed each is smaller than either theorCa
other in quick succession, and a gentleman, who hap- Danger Island in 1864,
Captain
Williams, who has been
pened to be crossing one of the bridges of the Canal de to be commanded by .
" '1 . ill accommodate
' loped in a blaze of light. The phenomenon lasted little comfortable "'tweets decks, and m Bretagne at the time, suddenly found himself cove- in the Society's service since IS4", The vessel has
thePdJnolt•
more than a second, and caused no unpleasant effect, sixteen persons.
On returning home, the informant, having occasion to EARNING FIFTEEN PER CENT.—The introduc-
count the money in his purse, arrived at the conclusion tion of low French dances into the entertainments
that he must have received a piece of 50 centimes in- given at music halls may be objected to on many
stead of a half-napoleon. But, on a closer investigas (wounds, but the directors of such places care very
Mon, be discovered, to his astonishment, that the piece little so long as the scheme pays. And we (Pall Mall
of money he had taken for silver was really the gold Gazette) regret to observe that it does pay very well in-
one, but covered with a thin film of silver. The fol. deed. According to the report of the Alltambra Com-
lowing is the explanation given by M. A. Bobierre of pany in London, a larger number of visitors attended
this strange occurrence. The ha .napoleon had been the performances during the past half-year than was
put into the compartment of the purse adjoining that ever known before. The consequence was that the
, containing silver coin. The electric fluid had volatised directors were able to declare a dividend at the rate
part of the latter metal, which, in this state, had pene- of 15 per cent. per annum. But this is not al
t
trated through the leather partition, and deposited ~
prospects of the company had greatly improved." If
This is the first time such an effect has ever been o -
Harmony had been restored at the board, and the
itself on the gold piece with remarkable unifomiit.
aancmg sucn as would shame the lowest nautch girl at
served. an Indian orgie can produce a 15 per cent. dividend,
MARRIAGES WHICH ARE NOT "MADE IN and "harmony at the board" into the bargain, com-
HEAVRN."—Lucifer Matches.—Puneh. plaints on the score of decency and taste are not likely
to produce much impression.
DISCOVERY OF BALL-CARTRIDGE.—On Sunday
THE PREMIER'S ASSISTANT.—In the work of
evening two soldiers' wives were returning from a walk educating his party in Parliament might not Mr.
along the Glandine-road, Kilkenny, and, feeling tired, Disraeli find a right-hand man in the Usher of the
took a seat by the roadside. They had not been sitting
very long when a man and a woman passed by. The Black Rod ?—Punch.
woman, after a short time, went towards the wall, and KING THEODORE'S Rum CUP. Lieutenant
pulled out a large stone, taking out of the cavity a Sturm, of the Prussian army,_ who accompanied the
lsundle, which she, in company with the man, carried English expedition in Abyssinra, has just presented to
for some time, after which (whether from its weight or King William the drinking cup used by King Theodore,
from the fear of detection) she threw over the ditch, and which was found on the bed of the African
After they had disappeared the soldiers' wives went to monarch, half filled with rum. It is an enormous
see what was thrown over, and on coming up they buffalo horn, the thick end of which is closed by a metal
found in the field a number of ball cartridges (to all plate, forming the bottom; the pointed extremity is
appearance manufactured for a muzzle-loading rifle). cut off, and the opening thus made Is closed by a wooden
They at once took them to the police-station, and re- stopper. This cup is covered with buffalo skin, and is
hated the whole case to the police, who, after a diligent suspended to a leather strap. It is entirely destitute
search, succeeded in carrying home a number of bal - of ornament.
cartridge, in all about 150 rounds. The man and RAIL AND MAlL.—Cannot the Railway Corn-
woman escaped. panics be content with carrying the Royal Mail, but
CAPTURE OF A SHARE.—A few days since, as they must needs also levy Black Maas-Punch.
Charles Armstrong, Est's accompanied by Mr. Geale, "1',.. a,
a ...PONE THE SAME THING OFTEN.”—A
of Limerick, wan out fishing in the Bay of Lahinch Mr. John Smith, who is described, evidently not with'
(where the fishing this season has been most successful)
out reason, as a " fast " talker, gave the following de-
they came upon a shoal of sharks, and succeded in scription of the blowing up of a steamboat on the
disabling and capturing one of them, of large dimen- 3/i..j.ippi :_.
sions. They caught at five of them, and the one which
I had landed at Helena for a minute to drop some letters
Mr. Armstrong, with great exertions, was enabled to into the post-office, when all of a sudden I heard a treniendous
retain was Ws feet long, and weighed 13 stone. He dis- explosion, amt 1 simile up, saw that the sky was for a minute
charged five shots into its body before it could be darkened smith :ems, legs, and other small bits and scraps of
secured—and the size of the monster when brought my fellow-travellers. Amongst an uncommon ugly medley,
ashore greatly surprised the visitors at that waterine- I spied the second clerk, about one hubdreil and tiny feet
above my own level. I recognised Inm at once, for ten
place. minutes before I had been sucking a sherry-cobbler with
A PAINFUL SCICIDE.—Mr. John Barnett, Of him out of the same rummer. Well, I watched him. lie
Snainton, near Searb, irough, has died from injuries came down through the roof of
.a strerma:,eor swas.h.oti;..arTl
inflicted upon himself a few days ago. He suddenly litzdecilex, tnilsriinr calot7.eriri33; tijue
ns,liTnpire , it
i to go the assistance
left the breakfast table, went upstairs and cut his of the other sufferers, when the " man of wax " demanded
throat in three places. This strange fit of mental five hundred foliate for the damage done to his roof. "Too
aberration is as inexplicable as it was sudden. The high," replied the clerk ; "sever paid more than two hun-
deceased was one of the largest commission cattle dred and fifty dollars in my life, and I've done the same thing
dealers in the country, and wax well known in all Om'
the markets, particularly at York, Melton, Wake- SPORT FOR BLACIC-LEOS.—The Negro Race.
field, and Salford. His transactions have been of —punch.
the greatest magnitude, and his scrupulous honesty BEGGING LETTERS.—The begging letter dodge
was such that the Yorkshire farmers only a few
has been tried so often, and so often varied, that the
months ago subscribed a purse of £4OO, Most of which
Mventor of anything fresh in this line is entitled to
was presented in cash with a silver salver, as a
p
mark of their appreciation of his integrity in his some consideration. Mr. Edmund Yates exoses the
vast trade dealings. Mr. Burnett was of excitable latest dodge. He received, the other day, the following
temperament, especially on religions matters. His
circular, (hed from a seminary, and ing,ned by a lady
with two very romantic names;—
sad death ha.s caused wide regret.
Sir,—As a large number of my friends and acquaintances
THE STIRCHLEY MURDER.—The enterprising are constant subscribers to Tinsky's Magazine, may I ask
manager of a theatrical company now located in you to (io es the editors of so many other periodicals.w
to.
Shrewsbury has turned to good account the popular
:otowards which we subscribe have most readily stone—viz, put
interest in the Stirchley yourn murder by dramatising the,same ,:r i nitials on the enclosed list for a trifling i ona-
1
leading events, and prodstage, them upon the
so
worthy an object. I do not ask for a large
under the title of " S'ircurnstantial Evidence ; or, the to return the paper at once, as it is of importance. I shall
Love of Geld." Harris appears in the play bill as always be glad to do anythiny in my power to increase the
"George the Good-natured ; and, consequently, a circulation ttf your magazine amongst sty friends—l am,
Victim," while the ffifficulty ,if presenting a faithful respectfully yours,
portraiture of the, xis yet undiscovered, murderer is The "worthy object," it seems, was the restoration
overcome by the introduction of a villainous-looking of an old church. The circular was lithographed, and,
character with his hat worn low over his eyes and as a similar appeal would, doubtless, be made to the
much hair on his face, who flits darkly through the I editors of other magazines, the writer, if she fulfilled
several scenes, and finally despatches " Zuzzerman, the her promise, would have sufficient touting to disgust
Doomed One," by shooting him through the head. her friends.
SHOCKING ACCIDENT AT A RAILWAY STATION. THUNDER STORM IN TURIN.—The Pialmont en
—On Tuesday afternoon an accident of a somewhat Gazette says :
serious nature occurred at the New-street Railway Yesterday August IS, about ftve in the afternoon, there
Station, Birmingham. The sufferer is a young man was a perfect deluge of rain in Turin. A terrible and sudden
named Algernon Dancer, about twenty years of age, peal, such as one never heard before, told the whole city
and by occupation a porter. in the employ of the corm that a thunderbolt must have fallen; and, in fact, the tight-
patsy. Dancer was carrying a box across the line, sing struck the cross of the spire of St. Francis d'Assilli,
when an engine caught tie box, and the unfortunate throwing. Y ? g... quantity,,
enreren the church, lswtoreeet the -..lnuo,opaused into the is
man was instantly knocked down, and by some means Barbarous, tosu .dovm a tin hat, which a manufacturer of
drawn down between the platform and the metals, priests' hats used' as a sign, continues! its course along the
The train was proceeding at a very slow rate, being street for a length of fifty yards, effiering a cake shop,
abent to stop. But for this the result might have been temporarily blinding with the extraordinary vividness if
much more serious than it was, if not fatal. After light all who were inside, threaded the Porta Carraia, struck
considerable difficulty he was extricated, and it was down a
amid
then disappeared
workman in the yardof Signor Martenotti, a cabinet-
then seen that his arm was frightfully injurel lie maker,
was removed to the General Hospital, where it was RECOVERY OF STOLEN PROPERTY.—In 1854 the
found necessary to amputate the injured member just family vault of the Groevenor family, at Eccleston,
above the elbow. was broken into, and the coffinislates, handles, and
I THE. TROOPS AT THE MAIYRITIUS.--It is an old other valuables taken away. Two years later, the
whole of the stolen property, with the exception of the
story to hear of great sickness and mortality among the
troops stationed at the Mauritius (says the Pull Mull coffin plate of Lady Jane Grosvenor, was found at a
' Casette), and an "Exile" repeats some of its worst p ace CaDyke," 1 called the "Devil's near Wrexham.
features in a letter from the island, dated July 16. While a pool belonging to Mr. Francis, nurseryman,
of VS rexham, was being emptied on Tuesday evening
1 Every man in a detachment of Royal Artillery andmissing Engineer an di
Engineers has been struck down by fever, and of the last, a man the pate, which is in a• 1
86th Regiment two-thirds also suffered from the pest marvellously good state of preservation, though bent,
of the is and—seven men six women, and thirtyserght and contains the crest of the family and the following
' l,
1 children having died. Of the 32nd Regiment 25 per inacription :—"Dame
May 11,
widow of Sir.
I cent, of the total strength were invalided. The bar- Robert Grosvenor, died ll, 1791. Aged lib
racks are bad, and there is no place of recreation for Years."
the men. These complaints have been made time out A STUMP ORATOR.—A Dentist who talks
of mind, and there was a talk some time ago about about himself.- Punch.
builling new barracks. Either this must be done or
we shall have to adopt the " Exile's " suggeetion, a' nd A RAILWAY ENGINE FIRING A STACK. A
rather singular action for damages has been tried at
cease to maintain a permanent garrison upon the island.
the Leeds assizes. The plaintiff is a farmer living at
The former course would be the one least open to ob-
Barton, and lie sued the Lancashire and Yorkshire
jection, and probably it would prove the cheaper in
Railway Company for firing a straw stack, owing to
the end. When a man's term of service expires while
the emission of a piece of live coal from the funnel of
he is stationed in the Mauritius he can seldom be in-
duced to re-enlist. The consequence is that a great an engine. The facts were not disputed, but in de-
fence it was contended that the company were not
loss is inflicted upon the country.
liable for the effects produced by flying sparks from
"A LARGE AND RESPECTABLE MEETING: their engines. Witnesses were examined to show that
The Rev. Mr. Punslion, who has been making a the emission of these sparks could be easily prevented,
short sojourn at Chicago, has written a letter to the and a verdict was returned for the plaintiff for £134
Methodist Recorder, describing his reception and the —the full amount claimed.
principal incidents of his vieit. In the course of his
HAY FROM THE UNITED STATES.—A novel
letter, he says
One of the stories told In Chicago is worth mentioning, trade hats just sprung up between the United States
and Great Britain. The Americans would appear to
It was tuld as a sample of the way in which in Sonic parts
of the Union a smart man can make himself a power, though have a quick eye upon English agricultural prospects,
personally he may be as Insignificant as one of the Tooiey- as on the news of the great drought and the thin hay
street tailors. Two gentlemen—one stoat and shining, the harvest in this country and Ireland reaching them,
other little and dapper—wished to get up a political demon- they at once commenced packing and compressing hay,
stration in a certain village. The thing was duly announced, and within the last few days several hundred trusses
but the two promoters were the only persons who assembled
at the place of Meeting'. Nothing daunted i
, the twain pro- have arrived n the Mersey from New York. This
ceerled to business. The little man moved the stout one into first instalment met with a ready sale, and a profitable
the chair. The stout man made the little one secretary of one to the exporter. By the last advices from the
the meeting. Resolutions were passed with astonishing United States we learn that hay pressing is being
unanimity, and the meeting adjourned. The resolutions prosecuted with much energy. There are several
were duly advertised, with a preamble, affirming them to
have been passed "at a large and respectable meeting of ships loading entire cargoes of hay at New York, and
citizens." This rather staggered the chairman aforesaid, and many others are filling up with this new article of
he ventured to remonstrate with the secretary upon his export.
heroic audacity, but was met with the cool reply, "The an-
nouncement is perfectly correct, sir. You are large. lam A PET RAT.— The New York Tribune has the
quite sure I am respectable." following :
AGE OF THE DEIN G PARLIAMENT.—The pre- ticeirallitnyercetiTungns Tin iteloi elleus.maageisntoed
ilsiy.
.il.ri tar;
iny fjoilmirmaaell
sent parliament was; three years old on Saturday, the ffnthe case of a little girl who resides in Troy, She has been
writs having been made returnable on the 15th of frequently observed, after having obtained apiece of bread,
August, 1865. During the brief period which has to sit down a few feet from a large rat-hide under a neigh-
elapsed since it was called into existence, four Prime Nutting stoop, and. bolding out a niece of the food, call.
Ministers have been at the head of affairs—Lord Pal- h"Xecraeli,Y:l7;r3iTittoYtit" litAnitlaaTigoenroart tear in‘eeleaCi'sl yf reoremer e roil n't
merston, Earl Russell, the Earl of Derby, and Mr. The affection existing between the animal am! child has
Disraeli. The age of the Premier has fallen [nieces- been frequently witnessed by the neighbours, who bear testi-
sively from 81 to 74, and from 69 to 6:1. As an illus- mony to the truth of the strange circumstance.
tration of the change which is constantly going on in
WRONG, PRIMA FACIE.—Women who make
the composition of the House of Lords, it may be men-
up their faces deceive themselves, if they think that
tioned that in those three ears 60 peers have died
while in the House of Commons, an assembly one.
;
by no doing they are more likely to tempt men to make
third larger, only 23 members have been removed by up their minds.—Punch.
death. The liberals returned from the country in A STRANGE OCCURRENCE--The Scotsman re-
-1865 with a nominal strength of 367; the conservatives ports a strange affair. The watchman at the Peter-
with 291. On the two great occasions when the house head (Aberdeenshire) Railway Station, while going his
divided strictly according to party—April 4 and May rounds at one o'clock on Friday morning, came upon
lin the present year—the liberals mustered 331 and the dead body of a woman reclining against the engine-
-330 respectively, Isr within 36 of the total number house. The woman's name was Mary Wilson. She
returned in 1865. On those two occasions the conger- had been in country service for some time, tad had
vatives counted 270 and 265, or from 21 to 26 short of conic to Peterhead by the last train on Thursday night.
their whole strength. The nominal liberal majority It is stated that she was seen to come off the train at
three years ago was 76, and on the Irish church pies- Inverque, and travel direct to Peterhead. Peterhead
tion it has proved to be within eleven of that high railway station is about 100 yards out of town and
figure. there are no houses near. The body, when found, was
MURDER OF A SON BY HIS FATHER.—A pedlar in a sitting posture' the hands resting on the lap, and
named Truncher has just been tried at Colmar for the grasping a pistol. There was a gualot wound in the
murder of his eldest sum, aged twenty. The father had neck. It is stated, however, that the wound might
for some time past borne ill-will against the young have been made with a knife. There were not the
man, because the latter always buck the part of his slightest marks of a struggle having taken place, and
mother in disputer; which frequently arose between none of the station officials heard the report of a pietol.
the husband and wife. A parricide named Young There were two men in the engine-house—one an
was tried at the beginning of May last, in the same engine cleaner, and the other a friend who was visiting
town; and Tuscher, hearing that the man was only him.—On careful inquiry by the authorities, and exa-
condemned to hard labour for life, exclaimed, "I shall rnination made by medical practitioner*, it has been
have as much one of these days," He had already found that the case is one of suicide. The wound in-
frequently menaced his son, and a fresh quarrel having flicted on the throat, and which was supposed to have
arisen a few days later while the family were travelling been done by a knife, turns out to be a pistol-shot
to !Munster, he drew a razor across the throat of the wound, inflicted by the weapon found in deceased's
deceased, and then took to flight. The young man hand.
died the next day from the wound, and the father' TIIE RAMBLES OF SOVEREIGNS.—There is at
being brought to trial, has had his previsions with present a very active movement amongst several of the
respect to his sentence verified, as he was sentenced to
European sovereigns. The King of Prussia has been
imprisonment for life with hard labour in motion along the banks of the Rhine, from Ems to
CHEAP DINSERS.—PeopIe who know most Schwalbach, Schwalbach to Coblenz, from Coblenz to
European chi( s (writes the Paris correspondent of the Wiesbaden, and front Wiesbaden to Diisseldorf.—The
Post) say the cheap dinners of Paris, as regards variety Emperor of Russia, who arrived in Kissengen a few
and quantity, are the cheapest in the world, and pro- days back, went to Schwalbach to see the King of
vineml Frenchmen declare you can dine better hiParis Prussia, and has now returned to Kissengen from
for 2f. (Is. /id.) than in any other city of imperial Schwalback —The Kings of Bavaria and Wurtem-
France. The Italian, German, Spaniard—people in burg have visited the Czar and Empress at this ía'
fact of most countries—are surprised to find that, vourite bathing-place.—The Bavarian King has now
whilst a small ordered dinner at a fashionable gone to Starnberg to meet the Emperor Francis Joseph
restaurant creeps lip to nearly 20fr., (16s. Bh.), you who has gone to visit the Empress, his wife, at Posen-
can dine at the Pa xis Royal eating salons, elegantly hofen.—The Swedish and Danish royal families have
appointed, and looking on to the gay central garden been visiting and returning visits with one another
where the band plays, for 4f. (3s. 4d.), If. (2s. 6d.), 2f, lately, and the latter, with theexception of the Prince
50c. (2s. 1(1.), If. 60e. (la 4d.), and at a more humble Royal, who has remained at home as regent, embarked
establishment not generally known to foreigners for three days ago to pay a visit to the Imperial family of
if. (104.) The high-priced restaurants give you eight St. Petersburg.—Queen Victoria is enjoying the scenery
od.rtheesn, fruit, ice, a, nd all give m five to six E
diffrelrentedrsheceofasoupa,fish,flefsrho,fowl,ad me of Switzerland.ApEop
e
THE " TASMANIAN DEvir..."—This
different plates, quality and quantity varying of course wonderful animal, the chief attraction of 'Wombwell's
wmeeenka,gaenride,upeffteodsteadthirtdsa,e)s, cntripgehtinhadthneolatbetteernpdarti,icooyferlased.t
according to price.
EXECUTION IN AUSTRALIA.—J, S. Griffin, for-
merly a gold commissioner at Clermont, and a police- The menagerie was being exhibited at Bideford, North
magistrate in Queensland, has been executed for Devon. The animals had just been fed in the presence
shooting two troopers, Power and Cahill, who were of the spectators, and the establishment was about to
escorting £4,000 in notes. He confessed that when he be closed, when loud shouts ran s through the place
was rifling the escort horse Power awoke and fl red at that "the devil" had escaped. The man who fed it
him, Griffin shot him dead. Cahill then awoke and omitted to fasten the door of the cage, and while he
pointed his revolver, when Griffin shot him in the was getting a shutter the animal took advent • f his
stomach. Cahill in falling fired his own revolver and absence by leaping ammo. the crowd il ' 16e o
s an. into the town.
the shot went throush his head. The valise with the The excitement was immense.
The animal was chased
notes was found where Griffin informed the turnkey along the ' quay side, and it boldly plunged into the
that it was. It is supposed that Griffin wanted water. Boats were imme • dia tely launched and diligent
the turnkey to aid his escape and share the plunder, search made for the devil, but it was milts dark, and
LAUNCH OF A MISSIONARY SHIP.—On Satur- he could not be found. This is the third escape of the
day afternoon there WAS launched at Aberdeen a fine animal during his captivity—the first occurring at
clipper of 100 tons 11. M., about 200 tons register, St. Day, in Cornwall, and the second at St. Just, in
barque rigged, and classed A lat Lloyd's for 13 the same county. It is believed that the animal was
years. She was named the Samoa, by Mrs. Arthur, droned. It was of great value to the proprietors of
wife of the Rev. Mr. Arthur, local agent for the w
the menagerie. Accompanied by some of the in-
London Missionary Society, by whom the Samos was habitants of the town, they continued the search till
built to replace the ill-fated John Williams, which Saturday night,
was lost on Savage bland in January last year. The A Coot ATTE
Samoa is fitted out with all modern req ' ' ' AT SUIM g MPT DE. On , atordsv
mrementa. She mornuag, about eix o'clock, George Nash, a farmi,

labourer at -Lewisham, while proceeding to his work
along a line, called to a boy, saying, "Go and tell the
first policeman you meet a man has cut his throat."
The boy meeting a constable shortly afterwards told
him what had occurred, and on the constable hasten-
ing to the spot he found Nash sitting down with a
razor in his hand with which he had cut his throat.
Medical aid WM at once procured, and the sufferer was
conveyed to Lewisham workhouse, where he still re-
mains. He had bean drinking freely of late, and was
evidently labouring under an attack of delirium.
A FATAL AcciDENT.— For some weeks past
Colonel Pringle, late of the Coldstream Guards, had
been residing with his wife and some of the younger
members of his family at Bex, about half-way between
the Lake of Geneva and Martigny. On the after-
noon of Sunday, the 26th of July, he left his house
for a walk on the hills in the neighbourhood. Much
alarm was caused by his not having returned during
the evening. Nothing having been heard of him
during the following day, the authorities of the place
set more than 100 men to search the country round
to obtain intelligence of the missing gentleman; but
it was not till the eighth day afterwards that his
body was found. A peasant discovered it lying at the
bottom of a ravine known, not inappropriately, as the
Creux d'Enfer. He had fallen over a perpendicular
precipice 200 feet high. From the appearance of the
body it is certain that death must have been instan-
taneous, as, in addition to other injuries, his skull
was extensively fractured. His broken watch, which
had stopped at three o'clock, most probably indicated
the hour of the occurrence—namely, three a.m. of
Monday, the 27th. His remains were interred in the
cemetery at Hex on the 3rd of August, The deceased
officer was a great grandson of the first Earl of Chat-
ham, great-nephew of William Pitt, and one of the
editors of the Chatham Correspondence.
•

RATHER SENSATIONAL !—The Tintamarre has
assuredly written the drollest thing in connection with
the marriage of Madlle. Patti. It runs thus
A HORRIBLE DRAMA.—During the marriage of Patti an
unknown person, who had been hidden for some time behind
one of the pillars of the church, suddenly plunged a long
dagger into his side And raised a loud cry. 00 hearing this
Madame la Marquise de Cana turned gale and came forward
to see what it was. And what did she see? Why Art, to
which she had hitherto been affianced !

TIIE LATE ROBERT OwEN.—A remarkable con-
test is waging in Newtown, Montgomeryshire.
Robert Owen, at one time extremely notorious for
the propagation of his socialist doctrines, was a native
of Newtown, leaving that town at an early age and re- ,
turning thither to die. His admirers have recently I
raised a sum exceeding £3OO for a memorial of him to
be erected in his native town, and the sum was offered
to the local board on the condition that it should be
expended in the erection of a memorial, to which they
were required by thesubscribers to add a public clock,
to be fitted in the monument. There was a sharp con-
troversy about the matter, the result being that a
majority decided against the acceptance of the offer.
Four members of the board have now retired by rota-
tion, and a bitter battle is being fought for the seats,
the contending parties being pro.Owenites and Anti-
Owenites, the latter taking the ground that it is the
duty of Christians to avoid the public recognition, in
the manner suggested, of one whose life was spent in
the inculcation of infidel tenets. Last Sunday evening
this position was taken in one of the Church pulpits.
The placard warfare has been conducted with much
fierceness, and much personal animosity has been
evoked by the controversy.

THE LAW AS TO TRADES UNlONS.—Consider-
able dissatisfaction exists amongst the trades' societies
consequent upon the recent decision of Vice-Chancellor
Malins in the case of the Lancashire cotton spinners.
and because of the law laid down by Mr. Justice
Lush, at the trial of the Sheffield masons last week at
Leeds assizes. Under these circumstances the leaders
of the various trade societies in the metropolis are
taking active measures for calling together a conference
of delegates from every trade society in the metro-
politan district, for the purpose of considering what ,
measures shall be adopted to meet the present crisis.
DEATH FROM BURNING.—An inquest has been
held at Guy's Hospital in London, respecting the
death of Elizabeth White, aged nineteen years. The
deceased was a servant at a house at l'eckham. On
Friday last she wa. in the act of reaching something
off the mantelshelf, when her clothes ignited from the
grate, and in a second or two she was encircled in
flames. Deceased rushed out of the kitchen to the
back of the house. Her cries brought assistance to the
spot, and, after a little delay, the flames were ex-
tinguished. Deceased was then conveyed to the hos.
pital, where she expired in a few hours afterwards. The
jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death by
fire."

--
THE TROUBLES OF OR POET !—A correspon-
dent, writing from Switzerland, gives vent to the
following lamentations
One Poet can go nowhere without meeting English ladies
sketching eiery where and everything, he cannot apostro-
phise any solitude, but he is sure to meet a female perched
on the very summit he is eager to compose from, lie was
one morning up by daylight, and sailed down the lake of
Geneva troy the village he lives in to the chateau du Chilles.
Ile got out of his boat just opposite the noble old pile, and,
climbing a rock, wan just comparing the blue lake to German
eyes he is a man who can look at a German girl more than
ten minutes', when a voice sighed behind him, " Ah V how
infinitely superior is the face of Nature, to that of man seen
close" our Poet felt annoyed at the interruption and
allusion; he turned, and faced an English lady, before a
portable easel, holding brush and paint-s in hand. "Yes,"
she continued, "I have botauised on the borders of pre-
cipices, and stubble has no secrets front me; !have been
tOte-d.tete with immensity, and its converse is revelation to
me, the chasms, the unfathomable depths—oh, how grand'"
Our Poet did not attempt to stop where he was, or to
sympathise"

THE EMPLOYMENT OF HUMAN POWER.—The
following, which is the result of many experiments
and calculations by different scientific men, shows
approximately the effect produced by human power
when employed in different ways, and gives us a good
idea of their comparative efficacy. The average
duration of the labour may be reckoned at eight hours
per day. Units of work done by a man in a day :
" Raising his own body, 2,000,000; rowing a boat,
1,500,000; working a treadmill, 1,870,000; pushing or
drawing a carriage, 1,500,000; turning a winch,
1,250,000 ; working a pile engine by hand, 1,000,000;
throwing earth with a spade, 500,000."—easecil's Nov
Popular Educator.
BULWER AND LONGFELLOW —An absurd story,
quoted from an American journal, went the round of
the English press a short time ago, to the effect that
Mr. Longfellow had once met with contemptuous
treatment at the hands of Lord Lytton—then Sir
Edward Bulwer. The report stated that the poet
went to Knebworth with a letter of introduction to
the distinguished novelist, but that the author of
"Eugene Aram" not only would not vouchsafe an
interview, but treated Mr. Longfellow in an insulting
manner. Those who know Lord Lytton need no
assurance that such a story is without foundation;
those who do not are now assured of that fact. The
paragraph has been forwarded to his lordship, and he
has replied that it is "an impudent falsehood from
beginning to end."
ONE OF THE OLD SCHOOL.—The death of old
Admiral Walcott opportunely illustrates the dangers
of Parliamentary labours to men of his age (seventy-
eight). He had wisely intended to retire after net
election, and would probably have been alive now if
he had abstained from re-entering Parliament in 1865.
The old admiral served at the bombardment of Copen-
hagen, and was enthusiastically fond of his profession.
He has often spoken in the House of Commons with
a tear in his eye and a quivering voice of his applica-
tions to the Admiralty for a snip, and of his "hope
deferred" and wasted life on account of want of in-
terest. He was a fine sailor of the old school—kind,
warm-hearted, blunt, and brave. One speech of his,
a good many years ago, elicited a cry of " Order !'
from a late Speaker, but was characteristic of the
man. The ate Admiral Napier—"old Charley," as
he was familiarly called—in order to ventilate some
subject on naval reform, had made a motion, but
could not find a seconder. For a moment there was
silence, when Admiral Walcott, who sat on the oppo-
site side of the House, started up and said—" By--,
Mr. Speaker, it shall never be said that I saw an old
brother-tar in distress and refused to throw him a tow-
rope. I second the motion of the hon. and gallant
Admiral." Ihe Speaker looked grave, but the House
applauded, and members have liked Admiral Walcott
the better ever since.
" DIDN'T MEAN TO STEAL IT '."—A London
"roster," an excellent representative specimen, who
had been victimised by a couple of street Arabs—aged
respectively eleven and twelve—told his troubles at
the Guildhall, on Monday. "Center" had "just gone
across the street to light his pipe," and, returning,
found that donkey and barrow had gone. It turned
out that the two boys had appropriated the equipage,
but were stopped intheir drive by a policeman. '[hey
now averred 'they didn't mean to steal it, but just to
have a ride round the new street," "Coster" had had
previous experience of these boys' enforced borrowing
powers, for on the morning of the Derby Day, they,
with some other Arabs, confiscated the "moke " and
the barrow, and, when detected, were trying to sell a
sack of sawdust that was on board. With the money
they intended to get the donkey a feed, and then drive
to Epsom.
ENGLISH SPARROWS. - In the spring of
1866 four pairs of English sparrows came to the
Union-square Park, New York, and there built.
Three pairs occupied the trees, one ejected a wren from
her little house, the only bird house then in the square,
and took possession; a fifth built in the ivy of Dr.
Cheever's church, facing the square. The industry of
these little fellows in devouring the measuring worm
(so great a nuisance that most persons avoided passing
through the park, preferring to go round during their
, occupancy; and so numerous were they that they did
not leave a leaf on any tree except the ailanthus) were
such that boxes were provided on almost all the trees
for them. They were very prolific, those hatched in
the spring rearing a brood in the autumn, and the old
pair rearing four or five broods. In one year they in-
creased from five pairs to a flock of seventy, and they
are now estimated at 600. Last summer a reward of
one dollar a-head was offered for worms, but the birds
had eaten the last one; they also ate moths, grass-
hoppers, and many other insects. These birds have
extended about forty miles in every direction. The
estimate that thcy destroy in Europe one half-million
bushels of grain Was probably corn ct ; but how much
more or less would the insects they devour destroy'
The question is, simply, which is the greater evil, worm
or bird, and which most readily controlled?
AN IMPORTANT CORRECTION.—An action has
been brought before the Court of Correctional Police,
in Paris, by, Count de Sbze, grandson of the advocate
who defended Louis XVI. before the Revolutionary
Tribunal, against M. Lagny, publisher of a "History
of France," by M. Laurentie, to compel him to rectifi
the spelling of his ancestor's name, which appears in
Volume 8 of that work as Desbze—that is to say, with-
out the particle being separated from the main word.
The plaintiff, before instituting the suit, had offered to
Pay M. Lagny lf. 50c. for each correction on the
stereotypic plates, but the latter had allowed the error
complained of to remain. M. Lagny did not deny that
the name was improperly spelt, but said that he was
waiting for the issue of a new edition of the book to
make the rectification. The Court now ordered M.
Ilapy to make the change immediately on the con-
ditions proposed by Count de Sine, but charged the
latter with the payment of the costa of the suit.