The Express.
London, England, 1867-05-25 00:00:00

THE HORSE SHOW.-(THIS DAY.)

This morning the Great Metropolitan Horse
Show was opened to the public at the Agricultural Hell
under more favourable circumstances than any previous
show. The character of the exhibition has improved year
by year, and the class of animals entered now is such as
must command public interest and insure success. The
doors of the hall were thrown open at 9 o'clock, and
shortly after that time visitors began to arrive.
Before 10 o'clock there was a large attendance,
and from the tact that the price for admission on
the opening day is high, the visitors it may be
presumed belonged principally to the wealthier classes of
society. The general arrangements, which are under the
direction of the secretary, Mr. Sidney, are especially con-
venient to the public. One feature in particular is worthy
of notice. In order that the intending purchasers of
horses may experience as little difficulty as possible
a novel device has been hit upon. All tho horses
are numbered, and the attendant upon each carries
a large white ticket in front of his hat, bearing
upon it the
.nur
asbetr corresponding
luidtirsgwithalways
of the horse,
diate neighbourhood, little difficulty is experienced in
finding him out. The judges appointed to inspect the
horses and award the prizes are the following :—The Earl
of Portsmouth, Lord Suffield, Sir John Trollope, Sir G.
Wombwell, Colonel Maude' C. 8., Colonel Kingscote,
I'and Mr. H. Farquhar. The order of judg-
ing
ill be as follows : Ist. Hunters, classes 1,
2,3, and 4 ; 2nd. Stallions, classes, 1,2, and 3 ;
3rd. Hacks and riding ponies, classes 6,7, 8, 9 10,
and 13. On Monday the judging will be continued
with harness horses and ponies—classes 5, 11, 12, and
extra classes for pairs. The prizes offered for competition
are very tempting, and the first prize of 1001. for hunters
has induced a very fine display in this clan. Besides the
' ordinary prizes, extra ones are offered for trotting and
leaping. The competition for these will take place on Friday
next, and horses entered only for this purpose will
not be admitted till the day. The judges did not
enter the ring until 11 o'clock, when the hones
in the first class were trotted round. The num-
bers in the hats of the riders enabled those who
wished to do so to identify the horses with the aid of the
catalogue. About half-past 11, the first announcement of
the result of the judging was made' and the following were
the awards made up to the time of going to press :
Class 1. Hunters.—Weight carriers.—First prize of 1001.
No. 8. Sprig of Nobility, bay, 16 hands 2 inches high 7
years, by Sprig of Shilelagh. Price demanded for
him, 650 guineas. The. property of Major Stapleton,
of Myton-hall, Boroughbndge, Yorkshire. 2nd prize, 401.
No. 50, Little John, brown, 16 bands 1 inch high, 7 years,
believed to be by Tom Steel, price 5001., property of Mr.
Joseph Gilman, 148 Lancaster-street, Birmingham. 3rd
prize, 201., No. 28, Priest, grey, 16 hands 1 inch high,
years, sire, Speed the Plough, price 300 guineas ; pro-
perty of Mr. IL W. Deacon, Ropley-cottage, Alresford,
Banta.

Class 2.—Hunter, without condition as to weight.—Nos.
54, 84, and 75 were put to hurdle jumping ; No. 84 1
cleared the furze with a magnificent long jump each time
he was put it, and his performances were greeted with
rounds of applause. No 64 fell little short of the other in
the ease and beauty of his jump, but No. 75 refused the
jump several times, and when he did go he went over very
clumsily and threw the hurdles. This, however, may be
attributed to other causes than any inferiority in the
horse. The awards in this class were as follow :—First
prize, 50/. ; No. 64, Bmyteld, bay gelding, 16 hands high,
5 years, by Vortex, dam Lumber by Dreadnought, grand-
dam by Pioneer; property of Mr. Henry. Sanders,
Brampton-hill, Northampton. Second prize 251.,
No. 84, Goldlinder, dark chestnut, 16 hands high,
ri years, price 350 guineas, property of Mr. H. S. Lucy.
:ird prize 151., No. 75, Springy Jack, bay, 16 hands high,
7 years ; sire, Spanish Jack, price 200 guineas, property of
Mr. W. De Winton, Maesulwch Castle, Glasbury, Here-
ford.

alas 3. Hunters, without condition as to weight, and
not exceeding 15 hands 2 inches high. The homes
shied very much at the lookers-on, and for some
time refused the jump, but the winners at last
took it very well. First prize, 40/. No. 105.
Countess, cheaiut ; 15 hands high ; 6 years ; price
100 guineas ; property of Mr. James Morrison.
Hazelton, Newton Means, Glasgow. 2nd prize 201. No.
107, Hawk, chestnut, 15 bands '2 inches high, 6 years ; pro-
perty of Mr. H. Beck Harpley, Brandon. 3rd prize 101.,
No. 101, Othello, black, 15 hands 2 inches high 6 years;
by Hunting Horn, dam by Old Bran ; property of Mr.
R. J. Moss, Wellington, Salop.

CAMBRIDGE ASYLUM POR SOLDIERS' WIDOWS,
ICIROSTOX-ON-THAMES.( THIS DAY.)

The annual meeting of subscribers to this asylum,
which was established in 1851, in memory of the late Duke
of Cambridge, was held this afternoon in the United Ser-
vice Institution, Whitehall-yard, the Right Hon. Sir
Jowl PAKINGTUN 112 the chair.

The committee, in their sixteenth annual report, thanked
the subscribers for their continued support of the charity,
and called their serious attention to the diminution in the
receipt@ in annual subscriptions, feeling sure that the
charity required only to he more generally known to be
better appreciated and supported by the public. The
institution was the only one which existed for the be.
nest of the soldier's widow who received no
pension or allowance from the government of
the country, and wee left totally unprovided for.
'There were at present 48 widows in the asylum, three
deaths having warred since the last report. It was pro-
paled to elect two widows on the present occasion by bal-
lot, and also the one who had the next largest number
of votes among the unsuccessful candidates (a vacuic7
During two of the severest months of the winter trePeoonm-
mittee granted an additional sixpence per week to the in-
mates to enable them to meet the high price of provisions,
&o. The committee have great plumy* in an-
nouncing • legacy of 500/. free of duty, left to the
asylum under the will of the late Captain
James Day Cochrane, formerly of the 91st Foot.
They had to regret the death of W. Gilpin, Esq., for many
years one of their vice-presidents, and an early and warm
supporter of the institution. It appeared from the finan-
cial statement that the receipts for the past year, includ-
ing • balance of 2871. U. 4.1., wen 1,893!. 18s. 2d., and
that the expenditure amounted to 1,518/. 10s. sd.
The Right Hon. Bemmerr, in the course of some remark'',
expressed his warm interest in the charity, which, be said,
wu *lonely connected with the welfare of the soldier, and
was entitled to the best support. The existence of the
charity was, in his opinion, • proof of the solicitude felt
for our national defenders by those in command of the
army.

The report was adopted, and the election subsequently
took place.

The Hereford Festival will
20th of August.

on the

Don Cailos is announced at the Royal Italian
Opera on the 4th of June. On the same evening Mlle.
Nillson will appear at Her Majesty's Theatre.

The new Royal Amphitheatre in Holborn is to
open to-night for the purpose of equestrian and dramatic
performances. The building ia of novel arrangement.

We (Army and Navy Gazette) have minion to
believe that steps have been taken by the Admiralty
during the week with a view of appointing a chaplain-
general for the Royal Navy.

Doca Laßoussaa.—A strange contrast to the
hidden treasures of the Royal Mints presented by the
patent squalor of the street to which it gives its name -
and b there not something startling in this crowd of
filthy, tattered, hungry wretches, clustered in half-hope-
less quest of work, at the gate of docks within which
wealth from every quarter of the globe is literally over-
towing the warehouses, bursting bales and boxes, and
Iselin out of barrels in insulting plethora? Miserable
bees with nothing to do! And if they could get any
honey to carry, bow little of it would fall to their own
share ! It is not easy to answer the political economist's
arguments about supply and demand, and the folly of
trying to raise artificially the pries of labour. Neverthe-
less, when I see those wretched would-be dock labourers,
whose only service is a dreary standing and waiting, I
cannot help asking myself—is it right that a wealthy na-
tion should have subjects so miserably poor ? If she can-
not employ them in a way that would win for them the ne-
cessaries and the common decencies of life, ought she to
keep them at home ? Ought she not to send them to one
or other of the many places in this still thinly-peopled
earth, in which their labour would enable them to lead
the hem of men? English wages of course would rise if
the English labour market were lees crowded ; but are
cheap production and distribution overriding duties—
duties, at all—when the cheapness is so dear to thousands
of our eountryfolk? The comparatively poor, no doubt,
we must have always with us; but is not our chronic
pauperism a scandal—a sin for which some sten must be
responsible? It mends to me like blasphemy to attribute
such a Mate of things to the immutable decree of Heaven.
I —.4rpoor for May.