The Express.
London, England, 1868-10-24 00:00:00

NAVAL AND MILITARY.

Mr. Cony, M.P., First Lord of the Admiralty,
accompanied by Vice-Admiral Sir Sidney Co'pop Dacres,
C.D., and Captain Brandreth, DN., private sorzetary,
haring concluded his visit to Portsmouth dockyard, left
that port yesterday morning for Portland, Devonport,
and Pi inhroke, in continuance of his inspection of tto
scveial dockyards.

Ike dray and Nary Gazette says that the
ilelatea is °Wired to be ready for sea by the let Nov.,
but it is possible that she may leave earlier if :kgreeoble to
her 1.181 csitiiin. It is Had that Colonel Frroor, VA%
01 the 11th llus:ars, will beors, uttadwil to the duku's stud
doiim; his royal highness's visit to India.

- -
The saute authority hwi the following
intrlli-
gruce he govetunteut have come to the resolution of
at olleo ?cation% our military strength in Canada by two
leittahr•ns. The tent will now impala at liibraltar, the
ud battalion Inth litou;;ht home at once from
Itailackes, and the 4;th being itipbsoed at Halifax by a
battaliuu,rt.bal.ly the Ist battalion Title Brigade, from
Canada, which will not be Obeyed. 'I'M, 1110th Ile :iment,
fn-nn al,•utneal, will eso tan liromtlit Lorne at once.
It is very pioluble that a gene-al war medial is
about to he issued which, with a distinctive clasp, will he
g,vi ti to tlio.‘e ingsfied in the Abyssinian, New Zealand,
or the Indian frontier wars. it will likevrisse be available
as tepid& future operations of a similar kind. The last
two ministerial promotions give advancement to two ex-
istsalay soldiers. Colonel Taylor, the Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster, is an old Carabinier. while Mr. Nod,
who succeeds him as Secretary of the Treasury, was for
several years a popular offices of the 11th Ilussars,

A letter in the Athenenins, from Mr. Ifolman
Hunt, fisted " Florence, October," contains, as the
result of personal observation, some interesting par-
ticulars respecting the present condition of Titian's
Vinus. The writer, after testifying to the care
whit)* has been taken of this celebrated work,
toys, " the whole painting is in great danger from the
extension of what may appropriately enough ho called
cobweb cracks over the whole surface, each crack belong-
ing to a system, starring away from and circling around a
central point, and extending itself until it m -di with a
neighbouring web of cracks." The injury is, it is added,
probably of old dots.

The-IndiTerolance Belle of yesterday:contains a
long report of the commencement of the procxdings
against Mr. Doulton before the Correctional Tribunal of
Brussels. The witnesses were eleven in number. After
the Precursor Royal had stated the nature of the
cake the President said, " I have received from the
defendant Doulton several letters. One of those letters
informs us that he will not come. In another, Doulton
challenges our competency. He asserts that the offence,
if offence there be, was not committed in Belgium, and in
the second place he contends that no offence has been com-
mitted. These two allegations are accompanied with
comments which the tribunal will have to consider."
The examination of the witnesses was then proceeded
with.

A fire occurred last night on the premises of
Mr. William Evans, • greengrocer, of Bethnal-green,
having been caused by the upsetting of a spirit lamp.
The spirits ran along the floor ins blaze, setting tire to the
dress of a child of Mrs. Evans, five years old, who was
very seriously burnt. She was taken to the hospital,
where she remains without the least chance of recovery.
EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE OF A DATFLE DEALER.
—Shortly after 4 o'clock on Thursday morning week,
a cattle train from the north arrived at Tebay station. It
happened that the van came to a stand still upon a skew
bridge which spans the river Lune, and as ono of
the railway officials was going round to see if
all was nght, he noticed Mr. Thomas Hunter,
one of the dealers who, it would seem, had been having
a nap, come out of the van and get up on the parapet,
which he mistook fur the platform. He then fell over
into the water. One of his comrades shouted "Tommy,
where are you And as soon as Tommy had time to
articulate he exclaimed, "I am here, but I have lost my
bat." He fell in about four feet of water. Had he gone
over at any other place he would have been killed upon
the spot. Lights were procured, and after Tommy wee
got out he found himself able to proceed on his journey,
and with the exception of • ducking, he was little or no
worse for his strange mishap.— Westmoreland Gazette.
MELANCHOLY DEnvi 'sr PoteoNiNo.—Dr. Tyr-
rell, coroner for the county Down, held an inquest at
Kilkeel, on Monday evening the 19th inst., on the body
of Margaret 21•Dowell, widow, aged fifty-three years.
The deceared felt rather unwell on Sunday morning,
and she desired her little daughter, &led thirteen, to
mix a quantity of Eporn salts which she would find in
a canister on the fire board. The little girl did as de-
sired, and when deceased bad taken the physic she ex-
claimed she was poisoned. A neighbour woman was sent
for, when deceased told her also she was poisoned, and ex-
plained that there had been a quantity of oxalic acid in the
canister, which another daughter had born using for
cleaning bonnets, but which she and the little daughter
had supposed to have been long removed. Before •
medical mac could be in attendance the deceased died,
after three or four hours' severe suffering. A verdict in
accordance with the evidence was returned.— Newry
Telryeept.
RAILWAY TRAFFIC RECEIPTIL—The traffic re-
ceipts of railways in the United Kingdom for the week
ending Oct. 17, amounted on 13,36.5 miles, to 809,8781.,
and for the correspondingweek in 1867, on 13,039 miles, to
776,9301., showing an increase of 318 miles% and of
32,7461. The gross receipts on 14 of the principal rail-
ways in the United Kingdom amounted for the week on
9,677 miles, to 679,0311., and for the corresponding week of
last year, on 9,426 miles, to 6.51,2111.. showing an
increase of 262 miles, and of 27,8201. The increase on the
Caledonian and North British amounted to 6,4671. ; on
the Great F.astern to 3,0011. ; on the Great Southern
end Western to 1231. ; on the Great Western to
9061. ; on the Lancashire and Yorkshire to 2,10:I1. ;
on the London and North Western to 2,1411.; on
the London, Brighton, and South Coaet, to 8021. ; on
the London and South Western to 821/. ; on the Man-
chester. Sheffield. and Lineolushire to 2,7631.; on the
Midland to 6,916/. ; on the North Eastern to 2,9231. ; and
on the South Eastern to I,37Bl.—tetal, 28,3451. ; but from
this must be deducted 6231., the decrease es the Great
Northern. leaving the increase as above 27,8201. The
ceipts for the goods traffic on the above 14 companies'
lines amounted for the week to 386,1831., and for the
corresponding week last year to 370,6081., showing an in-
crease of 14,6761. The passengers, parcels, &c., traffic
on those lines amounted to 293,8481., and for the
corresponding week of 1867 to 260,7031., showing an
increase of 13,1461. The receipts on the 62 other lines in
the United Kingdom amounted, on 3,878 miles, to
130,6461., and for the corresponding week last year, on
3,814 miles, to 126,7191., showing an increase of 84 miles
and of 4,9261. The total receipts for the past week show
a decrease of 8,3601. as compared with these of the pre-
ceding week. sadiag the 10th inst.