The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-10 00:00:00

Liverpool Cotton Market—This Day,

Market greatly excited. Sales about 20,000
bales, at -I to I above Friday. Imports, 6,317; pre-
viously, 8,049.

APPEAL IN CRIMINAL CASES.—This bill is ap-
pointed to be read a second time in the Commons on Wed-
nesday, when the Solicitor-General will move its rejection.

THE EASTERN FISHERIES.—The spring mackerel
fishery has just commenced off the east coast. The spring
herring voyage is being prosecuted with success by the
Lowestoft boats, so far as the catch is concerned. Prices
have ranged from 9d. to lc. 3d. per 100 (132), The supply
of trawl fish brought into Lowestoft last week was limited.
PIIBLIC.HOUSES AND REFRESHMENT HOUSER.—
Sir G. Grey's Bill for closing the houses of licensed
victuallers and refreshment houses within the metropolitan
police district between 1 and 4 a.m. has been printed and
issued. It forbids the keepers of these houses to sell "any
article whatsoever" within the prohibited hours, except to
persons lodging in the house, The Bill extends to freemen
of the Vintners' Company.

" Two" A PENNY! AND £53 for " ONE."—A copy
of the first edition of Shakspere's works was sold this week
for £53. By way of contrast we may mention that an en-
terprising publisher is issuing Shakspere's plays two a
penny.

A NEW DISCOVERY IN PHOTOGRAPHY.-Mr.
Everard has invented a process by which any part of a pho-
tographic negative can be intensified or lightened,
THOMAS HENRY MAIIDSLAY, THE EMINENT EN..
GINEER, so noted for the construction of marine engines,
and especially of late for the magnificent powerful ones of
our great ironclad ships, has died during the past week. His
age was 72 years,

A NEW LIFE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH.—Mr.
James Augustus St. John, whose " History of the Four
Conquests of England" was published some two or three
years ago, is engaged on a " Life of Sir Walter Raleigh,"
basbd in great part on original documents.
" OVER" THE PHILOSOPHERS " STONE ?"—On
Di.f that Lord Overstone's fortune is estimated at five nail-
lions sterling.

The Moniteur publishes Imperial decrees convok-
ing the electors of the third circumscription of the
Gard on the 29th and 30th May, to elect a deputy to the
Legislative Body, in /Arco of M. Ernest Andre, deceased ;
also, the electors of the eecond circumscription of the same
departments on the same days, to choose a representative,
the previous election having been, annulled,

ROBBING THE DEAD.—Yesterday Maria Read,
aged 53, and her son Henry, were tried on an indictment,
charging them with stealing a considerable sum of money
the property of Joseph Rankin. It appeared that Rankin
lodged with the elder prisoner, and for some time had been
confined to his bed. He was a person of very penurious
habits, and after his death it was alleged that the prisoners
had stoleu a large sum of money which he kept in a
box near his bed. The representative of the old man, when
she came to take possession of the property, found only
about £l2 in money, although it was known a much larger
sum had been in his possession. The female prisoner had
been seen in possession of a Bank of England note
for £2OO, which it was alleged belonged to the deceased.
The jury acquitted the son but found the mother guilty.
Sentence was deferred, in order to give Maria Read an
opportunity of giving further information on the matter if •
she felt so disposed.

A PERSIAN SNARE CHARMER.-0a the Bth, a
celebrated afsugar, or snake charmer, named Mirza
Kasim, came to exhibit his skill. He produced throe boxes
containing some 20 snakes in all, and told us that except
one they were all Af'aa vipers. The exception was a thin
snake, 'about a yard long, with remarkably large eyes. He
called it chirya mar, sparrow killer. The vipers were, soma
of them, four and a half, perhaps even five feet long, of a
grey ashen colour, with black blotches and the belly red,
like copper. He handled them all with great confidence,
slipping his fingers along their bodies and grasping them so
that they could:not turn their heads. Presently he opened
the mouth of one of the largest and showed its fangs
crooked teeth half an inch long. These distilled polo".
which he received on the blade of a knife till there
Wasa
quarter of teaspoonful. A little of this dropped on theel'uncl
but he put the rest in his mouth and licked the knife. He
then took a fowl and pulled the feathers off the wretched
bird's bird's thigh, and then suffered the snake to bite it. I
watched his proceedings carefully, and / think—but am
not certain—that the snake whose poison he swallowed
was the one that bit the fowl. However that may be, the
leg of:the poor fowl swelled inetantaneous and it raised
it incessantly as if in pain,
Once it clucked a little, but
soon became giddy, and rolled off the platform into the
garden below. It was i
d had
more made
courage the bite,th a n In
e
snakee
mza
time t
quite dead in a few seconds under
the minute. The bitten Part became black. I noticed
that the assistant who held the snake seemed afraid of it,
and threw it down has
displayed
e t
fact, so alarmed Was he that he threw it close to one of Mr.
Abbott's children, who
Khan himself was no whit Ldiscon-
carted, and took up with perfect sang froid the reptile
ti charmer,
ir
m
that had shown itself so venomous. I said, "You
are an aefu k
a die, sorcerer, if you have the wel-
fare of mankind at heart, utter a spell that all the snakes in
ssn
Persia may die at once." "Nay," replied he, "not so; for
should th
how should I get my bread ?" He
then showed me his diplomas of investitude as snake
charmer, signed by the Murshids or spiritual guides of the
nagaers,
profession, and dated 17 years back. He next offered to let
the snakes bite two boys he had with him, about 14 years
old, who advanced rather reluctantly to be operated upon,
and bared their arms for the bite. Of course we had no in-
tention of allowing such a cruelty, but I suffered the Mirza
to take out the chiramar, or thin snake, with which he pro-
posed to inflict the wound, and I then interposed. This
creature was probably venomless ; and I felt sure that the
charmer would neither himself have sustained a bite from
the vipers, nor would have dared to inflict one on his slaves
or apprentices. I paid him five kirans, about 4s 9d for his
performance, with which he was well satisfied,—.Eastwick's
Three Years' _Residence in Persia.

MAn American paper states that in the spiritual
circles of New York there is getting to be quite an
excitement about a new medium of a somewhat extraor-
dinary character. No one knows where the modern en-
chantress comes from or how she acquired her art. But all
devout believers say yoi may take a lock of any one's hair
and lay it on her magic table, and forthwith the deviner of
secrets proceeds to give a detailed history of the life of the
person from whose head the hair in question was lopped,
and to mark out his future career.