The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-02-01 00:00:00

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tat teerr t right to state that we do not at all Lima'
dientiti •uu-'uviiii with our ourresPoudeat's opinioos.

What may now be called the battle of education
against ignorance has fairly commenced, and the
struggle ie bring manfully waged by the real El iends
of the working classes, though it is rathar painful to
add that at present the working cla*es themselves
have as yet taken no active parr in a battle which is
being fought for them. The recent Conference at
Manchester has pretty well established one point—
that compulsory education is far better than mere per-
missive education, which is not sufficiently powerful
to meet the wants of the _times. Lord Stanley, who
may 1* said to speak with all the authority of Govern-
ment, has pronounced in favour of a wise, a large, and
a well-considered scheme of edaastion ; and it is
fair, therefore, to conclude that Ministers will
either bring in a measure which they believe will
deserve these epithets, or that they will sup-
port any independent measure of the kind. It
is gratifying, also, to hear from this eminent
statesman, that there is no greet diffictilty in the way ;
' '

that obstacles have been cleared away, and that there
• 'is 's general desire to abandon individual crotchets, and
agree upon some large and libegal acheme. The Re-
form League, too, are now taking up the subject, and
will no doubt call the attentiop of I large portion of
the public tO this importatA,matier. Atkl to this tligt
the Societyt Arts is specially directing attention to
technical 'education—that special education which is
adapted for the mechanic and !artisam.-ein4 it will be
seen that, in common parlance, the ball hr been set
a-rolling. • It will be for the people his keep at moving.
The Manchester Conference and the Society of Arts
Conference started out from different points, but
practically they come to the same conclusipne -which
indeedinsy well be expressed in the first ykoposition
laid down bg the latter—" the necessity foiiimproved
national education fur the working classes enerally."
In a few weeks we shall find Parliament incueging
this great question, and it would tsisdeeiable that
peeviong ito,ttliat -time Silk hands of thonee who are
striving tO work out this reform should he stringthened
by the voice of the people in publi meeting. There
is no occasion for agitation, but there should be a calm,
earnest expression to thisleffect. W 4 ak Untiouts that
our children should be educated.
Politics apart, and looking at the matter Lily from
a public point of view, Lord Statiley'a speech,' so far as
it related to Ireland, must have disappointed his
friends—and where his enemies are it would be difficult
to say.• He admits that the putical c'endition of that
country is bad, but he does not think that re " dying
Parliament " should attempt to remedy it. Why not?
If Ireland be, as he says, the question of the hour,
can it be ever too soon, t.o tey wed )inswer it? It
seems to me that if the present Ministry neglect the
opportunity that now presents itself of dealing with the
pressing question of Ireland, they will be neglecting
their duty to an integral part of the empire, and
virtually asking their political opponent to do what
they themselves express their unwillingness to do. To
conciliate Fenianism is what no one in his senses
would attempt directly, but indirectly much might be
done towards this desirable end by remedying the
admitted wrongs of Ireland. Let the Derby Ministry
, sae to this while they have their chance. After the
next general election they may not be in office.
. Men of every shade of politics will be glad to hear
that Lord Derby is better, his old enemy, the gout,
having for a time relented. The Premier is per-
s.. • sonally -to popular man, and one whom all parties
respect. Essentially an aristocrat Lord Derby never-
theless knows how to sympathise with the people,
though he never forgets what is due to his rank. The
noble lord will have an arduous poet to fill when
Parliament meets, and opponents and supporters will
alike wish him good health to givovigour to his actions
' and force to his eloquence,
We are apparently becoming more and more con-
vinced that there in little °cation to feel any alarm
about Fenianism. Here and there some incident'
occursto prove that it is only scotched, not killed ;hut
all alarm about having our public buildings fired, the
'Tower captured, the Houses of Parliament being
hloyaff tip, and other little matters of that sort, has
ceased; and it is very common for people who are
..ifisked to-enrol themselves as special constables to reply
-1 that *they don't are the necessity of it. The great
public,- however, act very much like sheep in such
matters, and the mere fact of an immense ninberi.of
apincits; having enrolled themselves here— t ey sa.s
the-re are 50,000 of them—is sufficient for °these to go
und do likewise. But how long are we to keep up this
. organisation and defence? Fenianism in spirit is
64 1 • iust•the name an ever, and if something be not done to
placate it, it will remain what it is, ready to break out
lhe moment that Government and loyal citizens tales
their watchful energies. What that something is to
• • he IN our great national difficulty.
2normous expense and ultimate expense—thus the
• Abyssinian expedition maybe summed up, as far an
present appearances enable usao.judge. Theepolicy
of Sir Robert Napier seems to be slow and sure ;lint
by the time Parhament'meets we may hope to have s
good account fioin him—perhaps WI a good excuse for
laying on another penny income-tax. At all events,
the revenue returns up to the close of last year and
t ne state of trade for the last few months forbid. us to
anticipate a very favourable budget.
There are signs of a pretty general improvement in
trade throughout London, but not to so great an extent
as one would wish to see. The price of provisions
generally is also somewhat lower; but the most cheer-
ing item of news of this character is, that distress is
lessening in the eastern districts of London. This is
mainly owing to the herculean efforts that have been
made to meet this distress by public subscriptions and
private donations and help. We have now passed the
worst part of the winter, and a few cheering rays of
the sun would work wonders in improving our retail
trade, which would speedily re-act in the improvement
of the wholesale trade, and consequently of the labour
market. But while I note gladly a decrease of our
'distress it must in fairness be added that that distress
is still very great; and it is earnestly to be hoped
that before another winter comes upon us some method
of warding off such distress may be discovered in the
promotion of legitimate employment, which would
lie infinitely better ban charity. Reverting to
the price of provisions, it is worth noting how much
public attention is now being directed to new kinds of
food. Some little time ago a number of farmers dined
:A the Farmers' Club, where one of the dishes was a
irloin of eland, and they did not discover it was net
leef till afterwards toll In a few days there will be
is grand horse banqaet at our largest hotel here, and
it is believed that a great number of eminent men
will assist at it. Then again Mr. Ray Smee is direct-
ing attention to the advantages of rye-bread. As to
the latter it only wants some enterprising person to
start a baker for rye-bread, and it will soon come into
• partial use, as a substitute for wheaten-bread. Sup.
poting eland, horse, and rye-bread were to come into
ogne, what an addition this would be to our food
aepply ; and that we want more food is undeniable.
There is, perhaps, no class of men in London, next to
the police, to whom we owe so much as to the London
firemen. The leading medical journal 'does well to
.41 attention to the way they are overworked. These
yie are told, are often days, and even weeks,
mien, •
withont g-stting a proper night's rest, and it is tdded
There are 43 fkre stations now, instead of the 171 which
vilified in WO. The number of men, however, has
not been proportionally increased. There woke then
319, them am now 314. In Faris, if we mistake not,
fame 12,000 or 14,000 men are provided, to do far less
• work than is performed by a quarter of the number in
our metropolis." Now theremedy for this is eaay enough.
kliziploy more men. There are, to say the least, hundreds
of mechanics and labourers out of employment who,
pith • very little training, would make very
g. od firemen; and what a boon this would be to the
unemployed ! The Commissioners of Police have
meted in this way. For a long time people had been
crying out for more police, and 1,0410 additional men
have been taken on. Let Captain Shaw communicate
w ith the Home Secretary, and induce him to bring
in a bill to increase the Fire Brigade. This Brigade is
now supported by a grant from the Government, by a
contribution from the fire offices, and by a metro-
politan rate. Now, considering that the State derives
• good deal of revenue from the fire insurance duty,
and that there is such an immense amount of Govern.
meat property in London, the Government grant of
£lO,OOO is not enough. They could well afford £15,000;
and in this way we could have more stations and
more men, and Government would virtually be em-
ploying the people without any sacrifice of principle
or nominal interference with the labour market.
"Mr. Alfred Tennyson regrets that it is no longer
possible for him to answer the innumerable letters, or
to acknowledge the MS. verses, which he is in the
habit of receiving from strangers," and I, for one, re-
Wet that we are always having such paragraphs as
tLis forced upon our attention. It is becoming rather
earisome thus always to be hearing of the toadyism
of strangers, Cockney visitors, and American tourists,
who won't let the Poet Laureate alone. And why
they should persecute a studious, retiring man, who
ui ver mixes himself up with public affairs, it is hard
to say.

In the seven years, 1860.66, (in which 169 passengers
er,•re killed in railway accidents in the Units' Kingdom,
Si d 4.468 Injured, both clasres from causes beyond their own
enlitrot the returns of the railway companies show that they
pent £1,372 824 as compenastion for personal injury, or an
Werave 01 £296 per case lit the same period the companion
paid £4e7,1116 tor damage or lose of goods.

Misctllanceitis I.ltelligcntt,
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL
DaricuLT TASIC.—The Ititrw York Timm good-
humouredly says : --
The cable reports that the London pollee are os the track
of the celebrated Colonel Michael Doheny, and are confident
of capturing him. The vigilance of the London detective'
is doubtless very great, and if it achieves this result it may
well be deemed superhuman. The difficulties in the case are
a good deal increased by the fact that the colonel died in
this city two or three years ago.
Comons CLAIM—Many years ago the Corpora-
tion of Liverpool made a grant at land to the rector
of the parish for the time 'being and his successors for
the purposes of a churchyard. Modern town improve-
ments now render it requisite that the Corporation
should retake possession of a narrow strip of the
churchyard (St. Peter's) for the widening of Church-
street—on the line of the main thoroughfare out of the
town. The rector claimed compensation for com-
pulsory purchase; and the matter was recently re-
ferred to the arbitration of Mr. Manisty, Q C., who
has awarded £5,000 as the value of the land required
hy the Corporation. This is subject to a motion in
Chancery, the Corporation contending that, as the
land was originally given by them for a parish church,
if it was devoted to another uso the ownership should
revert to them. If the Chancery Court decidns that
the money is to be paid to the rector, it is understood
that it will be devoted to ecclesiastical purposes con-
nected with the parish.
HINTS ABOUT POSTAGE STAMPS—Complaints
are often made of the nasty taste of the adhesive com-
pound used in the manufacture of postage stamps, and
it has been suggested that by wetting the envelopes
instead of the postage stamp the inconvenience would
be obviated. But a correspondent of a contemporary
shows that this plan will not do :
Wetting the letter instead of the postage stamp, in the
manner suggested by One correspondent, is a bad plan it will
nut secure perfect adhesion. The saliva is a powerful solvent,
and in the act of damping with the tongue the size is
'softened or wholly or partly removed from the paper. At
once the moisture begins to sink into the absorbent surfatte,
-.which in three seconds becomes so dry that a stamp will not
stick firmly and completely to it. hi from five to ten seconds
all trace of the moisture will pass away. Stamps are con-
tinually falling from letters, and this damping of the en-
velope is the cause.
VALUE OF LAND IN PARIS.—A table pub-
lished in the Monatur shows that the highest price of
land in Paris is generally for places in the neighbour-
hood of the theatres. Thus, the various sites near the
Theatre Francais, either in the Rue Richilien4 the
Avenue Napoleon, or the Place in front have fetched
per squary metre I,oMif., 1,2001., and even 1,300 f.
Near the dear iipera the figures have varied from 600 f.
to 1,0401., the I\ ew Vaudeville from I,ooof. to 1,250 f.,
the Galte from 4501. and upwards.
THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND.—The nickname of
"The Upper Ten Thousand " seems to involve a nume-
rical mistake (remarks the Spectator.) It appears from
some tables just presented to the Statistical Society
by Mr. Dudley Baxter, tables based upon income-tax
returns, that 7,084 persons possess £112,640,000 a year,
being one-seventh of the whole national income as re-
turned, perhaps one-fifth of the whole real income—
much income being returned twice. as that of the State
employes —and one-fourth of all the income derived
from propirty. The entire income of the 1,860,000
families which pay less than £3OO a year is not equal
to that of these Upper Seven Thousand. There are,
moreover, only 47,564 households in England returning
more than £l,OOO a year. It will be remembered also
that only 32.000 persons possess in Great Britain more
than ten acres apiece. The deduction from all these
facts is, that there are but 7,000 families in England
deserving to be called rich, that is, with more than
£5,000 a year, and less than 50,000 who are comfort-
able, that is, have more than £l,OOO from all sources.
A GOOD HEARING FOR ERlN.—The Standard
says : •

A Dublin paper announces that the Prince of Wales is to
visit Ireland in April next, to be ?repent at the Punchelown
races. .
If this is true—and we hope it is—the Prince could
not have determined on any excursion more gratifying
to Ireland, or more complimentary to Mr. Punch, who
will make a point of visiting his ancestral home at the
same time named, and receiving his Royal Highness
with
_appropriate splendour. He will also, as a sport-
ing man, give a plate, one of his best, in honour of the
happy occasion.—Punch.
A TRUE LOVER'S KNOT DECLINED !—The son
of a farmer named Howard, living at Senny Bridge,
who by the loss of one of his legs has been incapacitated
from following his ordinary pursuits, recently sent to
the Princess of Wales " a true lover's knot," which he
had carved out of wood with his own knife, and which
'he offered to her royal highness as a mark of respect-
ful attachment. Howard has just received the follow-
ing unexpected acknowledgment, dated from Sandring-
ham Palace :
Sir,—.l have received the commands of the Princess of
Wales to thank you for your kind attention, and to say that
ehehas pleasure in returning the offering which you have
sent her, and that she regrets the circumstance under which
your ingenious work was executed Her royal high-
ness has further directed me to enclose a cheque for ten
guineau as a little pecuniary acknowledgment, to which die
hopes there will be no objection. I am, fOr, your obedient
servant, HERBERT FISHER.—Mr. Howell Howard.
Mtser.so CLERGYMAN.—The fate of the
Rev. Benjamin Speke, rector of Dowlish Wake with
West Dowlish, still remains enshrouded in painful
mystery, and it seems that the unfortunate gentleman
is as completely gone as if the earth had opened and
(swallowed him up. As a clergyman he was exeMplary
in the discharge of every duty that could be attached
to his calling. Ile Was in the habit of daily going
from Jordans, his father's seat, to Dowliah Wake,
where there was a small mansion, quite equal to the
wants of the incumbent of a living of £5OO a year; but
being a bachelor, he did not keep up an establishment.
In manners he WAS most frank and affable—the most
unlikely man to have an enemy. Of three out of four
sons Mr. William Speke has been bereft : one fell,
fighting for his country, before the the gates of Delhi ;
another' whose name will live as long as history lasts,
through much peril and many dangers penetrated to
the centre of Africa, discovered the Nyanza lake,
returned home to be welcomed in triumph and to
receive a magnificent testimonial, and then fell by the
accidental discharge of his own gun. Painful as these
bereavements were, they pale before the extraordinary
and mysterious disappearance of Mr. Benjamin Speke.
The reward for the unfortunate gentleman's dis-
covery is increased to i£soo.
A BIRMINGHAM SAUSAGE FACTORY.—At the
Birmingham Police-court on Saturday Thomas Cham-
bers, a sausage maker, was charged with having 411 b.
of diseased pork in his possession. Chambers is a
sausage maker in a large way of business, having a
steam engine and two sausage machines. 'the sanitary
inspector suspected that diseased meat was used. He
watched for five hours till the steam engine was set to
work. He then entered the place and found 411 b, of
trichinous pork about to be converted into sausages.
Chambers blamed the butcher (Horton, Bull-ring,
Birmingham), and the butcher blamed his wife. The
magistrates ordered the meat to be destroyed—a deci-
sion which is not open to objection on the ground of
severity.
RATE OF MORTALITY IN NEW YORIC.—III
the city of New York in the year 1867 23,170 per-
sons died, in a population now estimated at 900,000,
or 2575 per thousand. In Brooklyn the mortality
was 8,325, in a population of 370,000, or 2250 per
thousand. It in stated that more than 3,600 of the
persons dying in New York were buried from the
hospitals and public institutions, and that among the
19,500 persona who died in the dwellings of the city
the& were nearly 12,000 children under five years of
age, 7,000 (in round numbers) being infants not a
year old. More than a fourth of the deaths were
caused by preventable diseases. The deaths in New
York were 3,645 fewer than in 1866.
MAINE LAW IN THE HIGHLANDS.—The Duke
of Argyll has, it appears, established a kind of Maine
law in his island of Twee, one of the inner Hebrides.
This island, which is twelve miles long and six in
breadth, had in 1851 a population of about 4,000 ; but
the proprietor will not allow a single public-house to
be kept for their convenience. One of the results of
this policy is described by the Rev. W. Tulloch, of
Edinburgh, who recently landed on the shores of
Tiree at nine o'clock on a Monday morning.
On our approaching the harbour says Mr. Tulloch I was
struck with the number of people with their horses and carts
whom maw on the shore, and asked the captain of the little
steamer that had conveyed us whether there was a fair that
day, or what the people had gathered for. "No," he re-
plied, "hut as soon as you an] the other passengers are
landed :there was nut half-a-dozen of us altogether, these
people will come on board and get supplied with spirituous
liquors from us—whisky, porter, and ales." Whenever a
steamer ariives—and there are two every week in summer
—this is the way the drouthy islanders slake their thirst, and
sometimes, as I saw with my can eyes when leaving, it is
difficult to clear the boat of them and get away. I expressed
my astonishment at his statement, and said I questioned
the legslity of furnishing spirits to persons who were not
bona Jude passengers by the steamers.
AMERICAN PATENTS. It is stated that
13,016 patents were issued from the United States
Patent Office in 1867, which is a much greater number
than were granted in England during the same time,
but there is this important difference—in the United
States not more than one distinct improvement is
allowed under one patent, while in England there is no
limit if the improvements relate to the same subject,
so that it frequently happens, if an English patentee
wishes to protect his improvements in America, that
he will have to obtain several patents (the averege
being three or four) for what is protected by one Eng-
lish patent.
A STRONG HINT !—A characteristic anecdote
of Mr. C—, M. P., is now going the rounds of the
whist coteries. Play tog one evening at a strange club
he had the misfortune to cut with a partner who was
guilty of the unpardonable crime (among whist players)
of "signalling for trumps" with only a eingle trump
in his hand. At the conclusion of the band "J. C."
mildly expressed his surprise at such an abnormal pro.
ceeding, whereupon the offender attempted to justify
himself in a roundabout sort of fashion by asking
whether a "Blue Peter" from a single trump might
not be permissible under very peculiar circumstances.
" That is more than lean say," responded the veteran,
"but I never saw it done but once before in my life,
and that Was by a poor old friend of mine." Here he
paused and commence] dealing the cards for the next
hand. "And what of your friend, sir?" inquired the
unsuspecting partner. "Oh, he—he died shortly
afterwards—m a lunatic asylum." We need scarcely
add, the conversation was not prolonged.
MURDER BY A GIRL.— A girl of twelve years
of age, Eugenie Enon, has been tried on a charge of
murder at Osny, France. She had, much against her
will, entered the service of a farmer there to take care
of a little boy of five years old, and she conceived
violent aversion towardis the child. One day its arm
was broken, no one could ascertain how; on another
occasion the boy had swallowed pins and suffered
greatly in consequence. Still the girl Was not sus-
pected. Determined to get rid of urn and so be re-
lieved from service, she caused the poor boy to swallow
• quantity of sulphate of copper, which killed him im-
mediately. The suddenness of the death excited sus-
picion, and a medical examination proved that a
violent poison had been administered. In consequence
the girl was at once arrested, &I being the only person

that could have given it. Slts;lias, however, acquitted
by the Court of Assizes of the Seine-et-Oise, the jury
believing that the charge was not satisfactorily proved.
How TO GET • GLASS OF ALE !—The other
day, a man, apparently out of breath, knocked at the
kitchen doer of a house in Evertun, and upon the
servent opening it he sad, "This is No. 26, isn't it?"
She said yes. H. then told her that she must go home
at once, as her mother had been taken suddenly ill,
and was at the point of death. He requested lid. to
get a glass of ale for bringing the news, which the girl
gave him. Her mistress told her she believed some
heartlesl person had been hoaxing her for the purpose
of obtaining the money, but see had better go home at
once, which she did, and was happy to find her mother
in good health.
BEER AS A CIVILIZER.—A writer, in remarking
upon the trade which Peru carries on by way of the
Amazon, gives the following curious information in
regard to English ale and its use among the inhabitants
of the provinces lying on the eastern slope of the
Andes. He says
All the beer imported Is consumed almost exclusively in
Iquitos, where sonic Englishmen residing there have intro-
duced it for the benefit of their tastes and of the interests of
She London brewers. The seed thus planted has taken a
hold unknown before In the beer trade, mot now there is not
a poor man or a rich man, a white or black, an Indian or a
mulatto, a halt-breed or mestizo, who does not every day
quaff Ws bottle of ale to prove that he le "civilized" per.
son this sort of civilisation a l'Anglaise la making such
progress in Iquitos that many or most of the residents fill
up their atoniacha with a quart of English ale before taking
the unfailing chicha. The number of inhabitants in Iquitos
Is 150, arid for their use there were imported in the quarter
ending September 30 14,328 bottles of English ale, i e., 156
bottles for each day, which would allow one bottle daily to
each man, woman, or child.

HOAXING THE PAPERS.-It appears that the
circumstantial account (and which our readers will,
perhaps, remember) recently published of a frightful
accident on the ice at Mantas was untrue from be-
ginning to end. The wager that a cartload of hay
would be driven across the river on the ice! the nine-
teen people drowned, the names of a Mayor and other
victims whose funeral was attended by the whole
population of Mantes, were all inventions. The paper
in whose columns the false news originally appeared,
confesses that it was hoaxed. The only wager in the
case was that all the Paris rapers would print the
story, and that wager was won.
--- • .

GAWP: nc PARIS.—The Paris correspondent of
the Morning Star writes- -
Faris was never so well supplied with game as this season,
but most of the boars, ducks, hares, mid rabbits come Irmo
the vast preserves of the grand Duchy of Baden and Wur-
temburg,—Reilbronn, in Wurtemburg, and Strasbourg
being the chief centres whence the supply it des-
patched for the French capital. Thence also come
most of the pheasants and partridges. The grouse in
tile Faris markets come from Russia and Englani. tVood-
cocks are rare In France, hut abound ill Corsica, Sardinia,
and, above all, on the south coast of Italy, whefe they are
captured in nets for French consumption. Smaller game
come from the Lag. Maggiore and Garda. The larks, we may
remark, in poulterers' shops, in rows on slight wo,ulen
spikes, also come from the south and front the departments
of Lot. Lot et Garonne, and the Loiret. Water fowl, such as
wild geese, ducks, quail, snipe. the , are sent in In Rolland
in immense numbers: and a small proportion from the coasts
of Brittany, the Somme, Ariachon, near Bordeaux, and the
Bouchea.

Haan LINES !—A somewhat hard case has been
decided at the Cours d'Angers, in Paris. According
to the terms of French law, the child of a widow, if
born three hundred days after her husband's death, is
considered as legitimate. Madame Mercier, a widow,
pleaded for the recognition of her son, horn tliree
hundred days and six hours and a half after the de-
cease of her husband. The decision of the court was
that the child was illegitimate. Rather hard lilies' as
the fact prevents the child from inheriting his share
of M. Mercier's property, which he would otherwise
have claimed.
THE LION ON THE FIELD OF WATERLOO.—A
Brussels journal states that a petition discussed in the
French Senate prayed the Imperial Government to
apply to the Belgian Government to remove the lion
surmounting the mound which commemorates the
battlj of Waterloo. AM. Jules Berlin, the designer
of the monument of Ambiorix, proposes that the lion,
an emblem of sanguinary struggles, shall be replaced
by a colossal statue of Peace, which, placed upon a
sphere and supported by all the nations of the world,
should be a true symbol of the dearest aspii ations of
the nineteenth century and of the reconciliation of men
of all races—" a monument," as he says, 'of the Holy
Alliance of peoples united in the one feeling of '
brotherhood and civilization." A voluntary subscrip-
tion is proposed to be started for the purpose of carry-
ing out the idea.
SIR G. CORNEWALL LEWIS CANVASSING.—II
is told of the late Sir G. Cornewall Lewis, that when
canvassing Herefordshire in 1852, he was in the midst
of an inquiry into the truth of reported cases of
longevity. This inquiry was no far uppermost in his
thoughts, that when a Tory voter flatly declined to
support his candidature, he placidly responded, " I
am sorry you can't give me your vote, but perhaps
you can tell me whether any person has died in your
parish at an extraordinary age."
A Coot BAND OF BRIGANDS.—A band of

twenty -Men,. well armed and mounted on horseback, a
few nights since entered the village of Fuentelsaz, not
very far from Madrid, and attacked the }poise of Don
Martin, one of the richest landed proprietors of the
locality. They sacked the premises f Non top to bottom,
mid killed .the owner's son-in-law, who happened to be
sleeping there' and who made some resistance. The
repeated shots fired by the assailants roused the whole
village, but no one rendered any assistance as when
the state of siege had been declared all the weapons
were taken away. The robbers retired quietly with
their booty, but eleven of them were the next day
arrested. .

----
A COMPARISON.—The movement of the popu-
lation in France presents some interesting features,
especially when compared with that of England. It
appearil that in the five years between 1861 and 1866
the population increased by 680,933, or less than
cue-third per cent, per annum. In England and
Wales the increase was one and a quarter per cent., or
nearly four times as rapid as in France. At its pre-
sent rate of increase 183 years would be required for
the population of France to double itself. But this is
not all of the 680,933 addition in five years, 328,412,
or nearly half, is town population ; in Mont of 89 de-
partments there was an actual decrease. The length
if life in France is improving, but the number of births
continues ahnormally small—no more now in a popu-
lation of 38,000,000 than in 1800, when the population
was only 27,000,000. The birth rate in France is 1 in
38 ;in England it is! in 29. The marriage rate is 1
in 127 in France ; in England lin 113. The death
rate appears to be nearly the same, or 1 in 44).
SHOCKING MURDER IN BELGIUM.—A dreadful
murder has been perpetrated at Nivelles, Belgium.
The Abbe Lorette, eighty-seven years of age, was
understood to possess a rather considerable fortune. A
few nights back, just as his servant left the house on
some errand, a man rang the bell. The abbe opened
the door, and, as he turned to procure a light, the
visitor assailed him with a ponderous mallet. The old
man fell, but was able to cry out for assistance. A
woman passing, rang the bell, with a view of frighten-
ing the aesa.sain, who made off, and has since escaped
the hands of justice. The abbe, who was so greatly
injured as to be unable to give any information re-
specting his assailant, died after two days' suffering.
ONCE AGAIN !—A few days since a private
soldier belonging to the 108th Infantry, attached to
the depot battalion stationed in the advanced forte
near Gosport, Hants, left barracks on leave, with
upwards of £lOO in his pockets, prize-money he had
received for Indian service. The following morning
he returned disconsolate to barracks, minus all his
hard-earned wealth. Not a halfpenny was left to the
poor fellow, who was as ignorant apparently of the
'why" and "wherefore" of this marvellous disappear-
ance of the wealth he had braved sickness and death
for as were these of his depot comrades who listened to
the disjointed details of his melancholy story.
A SUPPLIANT Fox!—During a recent run with
the Dumfri,seffire hounds, the dogs got separated,
some pursuing one fox, and the others another.
Geddes, a shepherd at Thorniewhat, in crossing a
field was astonished to see a fox, closely followed by
a couple of hounds, making directly for him; he stood
still until it reached his feet, where it laid down and
"looked imp at him with beseeching eyes," the mean-
ing of which he instantly comprehended, and using his
stick, the dogs were with much difficulty kept at a
distance, during which time the fox—a vixen—re-
mained quiet, only now and then making a snap at a
venturesome dog. Another servant seeing the position
of things brought a sack, and Geddes, taking poor
foxy by the tail, dropped her in and carried her home
and put her juts a straw-house, where she continued
during the night, and on the morrow, seeing that she
appeared quite recovered from her fright, the door was
thrown open and she took herself back to cover. The
incident having come to the knowledge of the master
of the hunt—the Marquis of Queenshury—he sent a
very kind letter of thanks to Mr. Dick, of Thornie-
what, enclosing a sovereign for the shepherd.
A NEW OPERA-HOUSE IN NEW YORK.—Mr.
Pike, a successful trader in New York, has erected an
Opera-house in Twenty-third and Eighth avenue.
According to a correspondent it is built of white
marble, and its architecture is Italian. One of its
fronts is 120 ft., and the other 112 ft. wide, and the
building is 325 ft. long. The entrances, which are very
wide and handsome, lead into a vestibule, which is
4011. wide, 80ft, long, and 30ft. high. From this ante-
room a staircase leads to the dress circle of the house.
From the front row of the dress circle it is 18511. to the
footlights. Above is the family circle, below the par-
quet, and the house will seat 2,600 people. From the
floor to the ceiling is 70ft. ; the stage is 70ft. deep, 80ft.
wide, and 501 t. high. Beneath the stage is a room 23ft.
high for the traps and the lower machinery of the
stage. For the interior decorations of the house the
prevailing colours are white and gold, the curtains of
the private boxes are white and blue ; the seats in the
body of the house are crimson ; and there is a profu-
sion of statuary, chandeliers, candelabras, and
paintings.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF G. F. TRAIN.—
Train (says a New York paper) is about thirty-five
or thirty-eight years of age, well-built, broad'
shouldered, with swarthy and regular features, an
immense shock of iron-grey hair, almost so curly as to
suggest African blood, emphatic but graceful gestures,
a voice trained in all the modulations of oratory, and a
mobility of expression in his face such as few profes-
sional actors have attained. Add to this that he is
rich—one of the wealthiest real estate proprietors in
Omaha, as also all along the main line of the Pacific
railroad.

A STRANGE AFFAIR.—The Waterford COT-
rexpondent of the Freeman's Journal writes that on
Friday morning one of the guns at the fort of Dun-
cannon, Passage West, near that city, was found
"spiked." No information was procurable on the
subject, and he understands that no clue has been
found to the "epiker."
ANOTHER VICTIM TO CRINOLTNE.—On Satur-
day Dr. Lankester, the coroner, held an inquest in one
of the London Hospitals, on the body of CAtherine
Bell, aged forty-eight, who resided with her husband,
a carver and gilder. The surgeon deposed that the
deceased arrived in a cab at the hospital on the
20th Met, at half-past six in the evening. She was
severely burnt on the legs, body, and beat of one arm,

and, notwithstanding every attention, she gradually
sank and expired on the 22nd, at three o'clock p.m.
Eliza Bell, daughter of the decsaaed, aged eight years,
stated that her mother, who wore a light cotton dress,
with a crinoline, was standing in front of the fire and
on turning round to thread a needle her drew; became
I. She tried to double up her mother's dress,
but being unable to extinguiah the flames, Mrs. Bell
WOO severely burnt. The Coroner remarked that,
notwithstanding the very large number of women
burnt to death in England every year, independent of
those injured, it was almost impossible to persuade
them to give up the use of crinoline. The jury re-
turned a verdict of "Accidental death."
AN EVENT.—A Sporting Gentleman lately
ran his Head against a Door-post. We have not heard
which won. —Pasch.
WHOSE FAULT Is IT I—A revelation made
by a parish doctor at an inquest held in London on
Friday in last week, shows how sick paupers are not
looked after in the Poplar Union. A woman who hail
been healthy all her life was seized with a sudden ill-
ness, and obtained a doctor's order. Thereupon a
youth of eighteen was sent to see her, and afterwards
another young man, not much older. She died in a
few days after of strangulation hernia, a disease which
'Light have been effectually cured by a slight opera-
tion if she had been attended by a properly qualified
medical practitioner. The parish surgeon, who is a
properly qualified practitioner, was called upon for an
explanation, and this was his evidence. He had nearly
six hundred patients under his charge -a hundred and
seventy to see at their own homes, and four hundred
at his surgery. Of course he was obliged to have
assistants, and as his salary was only £lO5 a year, out
of which he had to find his own medicines, he was
obliged to employ pupils who were not properly quali-
fied. If he bought proper medicines for his patients
his whole salary would not cover the cost of them ;
and he believed his patents died for want of proper
attention. He had written to the Poor Law Board
about it, but could get no redress. The jurry. returned
a verdict of censure Upon the parish authorities.
EARLY IMPORTATION OF ARABS.—Although
the earliest edition of the atud-book mentions an Arab
for which King James I. gave a Mr. Markham the
sum of £5OO, as being the first of that breed which was
ever seen in England, still further research proves
this to have been a mistake, as the Mr. Jervis (or
Gervase) Markham referred to above states in shook
published by him at the end of the sixteenth century
that such was not ttin citte,flaft that imam
both Arabs and Barba in Enaland at an earlier period
than the time when he imported, his one. Again,
Blundeville, who wrote in 1658 bn horsemanship,
speaks of "tie Turkie horse. (doubtless the Arab),
which he has seen come into Ital3i as into England."
Indeed, it can scarcely be supliiared that all the knights
and others who followed King Richard to Palestine
could have returned without a few representatives of
the steeds of the desert.
THE WAY TO REGULATE THE PRICE OF FOOD !
--The Salut Public of Lyons (France) says
The town of Tarascon has been recently in a state of some
excitement. Butchers' meat has been be. a pound dearer
there than at Marseilles, and the garrison felt the extra
cost. One fine moniing the mayor received a message from
the general in command, stating that if the town should
not take upon itself the charge of the difference of price the
soldiers would he taken away to another place. There was
of course considerable agitation, because the presence of a
regiment of cavalry is no Might affair for a small community
like that of Tarascon The town council met, and the
inhabitants were discussing the case when a second despatch
arrived trim the ueneral demanding an immediate answer.
Under the threat held out the munieipal couutailost no time
In voting the necessary subsidy.
A MAIDSTONE MAN AND INDIAN WARRIOR.
Mr. Howie., of Perry-fields. Maidstone, has received
a letter from his son, in Kansas, United States, in
which lie speaks of a startling iolventure he met with
among Indians. It would appear that Mr. Rowlea's
son and three friends, while travelling from Hays to
Harker, were attacked by savages, and one of their
number was slain. The remaiuing three were taken
prsiouere, and conducted to the village-Of their captors.
After being under strict restraint for three months
they were stripped of their cothea, painted from head
to foot, dressed as warriors of the tribe, and provided
with squaws to do their housework. While engaged
in hunting, or any other exercise, they were, however,
never left alone, so that the chances of escape were
small. The flesh of wild animals, dried in the sun
and seldom cooked, formed their food, and they were
allowed to wash—as is the custom of the tribe—but
once in two moons. The weather becoming cold, the
the tribe encamped for the winter, and during this
period they were visited by traders, who stopped two
weeks. When these left Rowles hid himself in one of
their waggons, and managed to get clear off, his two
companions being still in captivity.
FRENCH WOMEN.—The Bishop of Orleans,
describing the modern Frenchwoman, says :- -
A woman knows all the famous actors and horses, she
knows by heart the performers at the Opera and the
Varietes the stud-hook is score familiar to her than
Thomas.a../CempisS "Imitation''; last year she betted for La
Tongue, this year for Vermuth. and she is sure that the Bois
Roussel is full of promise ; she is enthusiastic about the
Derby, and the triumph of the Fine ule l'Air she considers
as a national victory She knows the name of the most
celebrated milliner, the fashionable saddler, and the shop
which has the greatest vogue. She will weigh the re,pective
merits of the stables of the Count de Lagrange, the Line de
Morny, oral Monsimir Delamarre. . She can only enter-
tain young women and frivolous young men. Equally in
capable of talking im business, art, politics, atriculture, or
the sciences, she can neither converse with her fa, her M-
iffs, her clergyman, or with any nian eta serious mind. And
yet the first talent of a woman is to be able to converse with
everybody.

_
CONFERENCE OF LATTF.R-DAY SAINTS.— On
Sunday the half-yearly conference of the Latter-day
Saints was held at Birmingham. Between 800 and
900 persons were present. Elder Moses M. Thatcher,
the president of the Birmingham district, presided.
The president remarked that the work that had been
going on since the last czniference indicated that the
prospects of delivering the saints from this land of
bondage and misery, an i taking them to the land
beyond the seas, was very encouraging. Ife looked
forward to a great emigration of the saints this year,
when thousands of the faithful would bid good-bye to
the shores of England, and make a new home in the
valleys of Utah. The statistical report for the half.
year showed there were in the Birmingham district 11
branches, 81 elders, m priests, 32 teachers, 36 deacons,
32 members had been received, 36 removed, 22 excom.
niunicated, 3 had died, 7 emigrated, 50 baptised. and
the total number of the members, including officers,
was 858.

HoltTion'run.E.—ln winter your quiet Flower
garden is soon changed into a Bare-garden. -Punch,
THE CHILDREN OF Tom SAYERS.—At Chancery
Chambers, in London, on Monday morning, Mr.
Marshall, chief clerk, heard an application (Sayers v.
Stent), made by Mr. Johnson, for an issue to be directed
to a court of law to try who were the legitimate
children of Tom Sayers, living at the time of his death.
Mr. Gay appeared on the other side—two children
an the trustees in the suit. About £3,000 was col-
lected shortly after the fight with Heenan and settled
on Tom Sayers for his life, and at his death the fund
WU to be divided amongst his children then living.
Mr. Johnson now appeared for three children born
after the marriage with his wife, and there were other
children born of the wife before her marriage with
Tom Sayers. The chief clerk perused a statement of
the facts, and intimated the intention to refer the
matter to the Master of the Wills. Mr. Gay said he
had no objection to the course proposed. The question
would be whether there should be an issue at common
law or in Chancery. Mr. Johnson said the Master of
the Rolls would decide whether it should be with or
without a jury. The matter was accordingly referred
to the court.
IRISH OPINION OF HER MAJESTY'S BOOK.—
Copious extracts from her Majesty's new work have
been published in the Irish papers. Most of them ap.
pear highly pleased with the references which are made
to Ireland, and many of them suggest that an annual
visit of the Royal Family would do much to allay the
discontent which is now so prevalent. Such a conces-
sion would, at any rate, reduce the stock-in-trade of
grievances of winch a certain class of politicians make
market. The Northern Whig speaks of the "obvious
sincerity" of the book. It is "truthful in every page ;"
the Queen has written "as she thought and felt."
This paper believes that if her Majesty had given
some of the affection which she has bestowed upon
Scotland and her people to Ireland, Fenianism would
not now be a power for mischief in it. "Had she," it
says, "taken as much pleasure in the scenery of
Killarney, and have come and gone among the Irish
with the same unpretending kindness and confidence
after the Young Ireland rebellion of 1848, the Irish-
American Fenians would have now found themselves
powerless, and all classes in the South of Ireland
would have been quite as loyal as the Scottish High-
landers, who, not much more than a hundred years
ago, were far more disaffected to the reigning dynasty,
and far more formidable than the Irish Fenians now
are,
?Tim GOLD SPECULATION.—I find a profound
calculation in one of the French papers (says a writer
in Once a Wctic). It is proposed to start a company
in Paris to dig for gold in the cemeteries. What gold?
That which has been used in stopping teeth. There
are buried ill Paris every day more than 125 persons.
It is reckoned that of these at least ten have auriferous
jaws, and that in these ten there may be an average
of ten auriferous teeth. So the calculation proceeds,
and Paris is threatened with a resurrection company.
A SHERIFF'S OFFICER AT A DEAD-LOCE.—A
sheriff's officer made an affidavit in the Dublin Court
of Queen's Bench on Saturday, to the effect that
having to serve a process on a prisoner confined in the
Four Courts Marthalsea for debt, the Marshal refused
to call the prisoner to the "hatch" for that purpose,
and also refused to protect the officer if he entered the
prison to serve the process. Under those circum-
stances he asked the court to hold as sufficient service
the presentation of a copy of the writ by the Marshal
to the prisoner. The court refused to do this, but ex-
pressed a slaying opinion on the conduct of the Marshal,
and isliailoan order that he should return an answer to
the afffdriit in two days.
HYACINTHE " oF THE SWORD."—The armament
mania, says the Siecte, has seized even the Rum-in
States, into which soldiers are rushing. and when
bullets are in large stock. Who can be surprised at
this when we find a celebrated preacher, Father
Hyseinthe, thus apostrophising the sword in the church
of Notre-Dame ?
Give us, Almighty Lord, on fields of battle that faith which
we received on the field of battle—that faith of TANao
which has constituted our grandeur, and which it is sought
to take away from us. Let the Wood of our) oung men, too
precious to he wasted in idleness—to he corrupted in the
pleasures of an uc worthy peace—be poured out in war. OM
from thy scahhard, sword of the Lord—Gtadins Domini et
Goleoniz—out and ,to the work : do it quickly and do it well.
'Dm LAST NEW DODGE!—A. gentleman with
an inquisitive mind, being recently struck with the
offer jeer bill in a parlour window in London
to teach Hebrew at a remarkably low figure, stepped
in, met an old acquaintance, who at once thought it
wise to be candid, and confessed thus :—" Well, you
see, sir, this is an honest way of getting &living. Every
Monday and Wednesday I take lessons myself, and
every Tuesday and Tnursclay I give the same less.ns
to others. It pays me, and at the same tune I am
1-anainv something myself." The gentleman asked,
"But why not apply yourself to some modern lan-
guage, such as French, Italian, or German ; I should
think that you would get more pupils than you do for

Hebrew?" Oh! no," he replied; "Hebrew is the
dodge. Everybody can teach French and German,
but there's only a few as can teach Hebrew. You
Bee, young chaps nowa-days pretend to be learned,
and when they are contending one against the other in
Mechanics Institutions and such places, the one as
knows how to read Hebrew just puts a book into the
other's hands, and says, read that tor me : it's a ticker
at once. All the cleter ones want to know is the
alphabet, and then they can gammon iithers that they
are Hobrew scholars." The ingenious teacher was
evidently living comfortably.