The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-29 00:00:00

THE SUB, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENIING, AUGUST 29, 1865.

LAW INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.
(Before Mr. Registrar Brougham.)
IN RE CARATI.

This bankrupt was described as a merchant and insur-
ance broker, of 39, 'Threadneedle-street, and to-day was
appointed for the proof of debts. Mr. Carati was one of
the agents to the Universal Marine Insurance Company
(limited), and its claim against him for premiums amounts
to £1,523. Debts were proved, and a day named for the
next meeting. This was the only case of the slightest im-
portance, the holidays being now on, and those officials
who aro detained in town being generally engaged in
unimportant matters relating to old bankruptcies, which
are generally considered private during full business.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—This Day.

BOW-STREET.

Bridget Foster, a strong-looking Irishwoman, about 35
years of age, who stated she got her living by selling
things in the streets, was placed before Mr. Flowers,
-charged with committing a violent assault on Mary
Stevens, also a native of Ireland. .
_ _ _

From the evidence it appeared that both the parties live
in Wild-court, Lincoln's-inn-fields, and that a number of
friends and neighbours were about to start this morning
on a "hopping expedition" in Kent. Last night, however,
some of them went to a " wake," while others passed the
night in their own peculiar manner, sitting smoking
and drinking at the end of the court, beguiling the night
away by story-telling, the object of so doing being the
determination of many of the party to remain up all night,
in order that they might not oversleep themselves, the
arrangement being that the hoppers were to start at day-
break. The complainant and another woman, named Mary
Ann Taylor, had been to the wake, and on their return passed
by a party who were sitting in front of the prisoner's door
enjoying their beer. As she was stopping past her crino-
line, as she said, accidentally upset a can of beer. The
prisoner at once came to the conclusion that she had douo
it on purpose, and immediately commenced abusing her in
the choicest Hibernian ; but, not being content with
words, blows soon followed, when the prisoner
struck the complaint a violent blow in her face,
which knocked her down, and she (prisoner)
then deliberately let herself fall upon her. Not content
with this, she seized hold of complainant's arm with her
mouth and bit her very severely. Blood flowed copiously
from the wounds inflicted upon the complainant, but the
most serious part of the assault was the internal injuries
the complainant had received by the fall, as she was suf-
fering from a tumour in the abdomen. The woman was
taken to the hospital to have her wounds dressed, and by
the aid she had received at the institution she was so far
recovered as to be enabled to proceed on her journey.
The prisoner said that she and her companion had been
to a wake, and returned home nearly blind drunk. They
didn't attempt to step over the can, but knocked it over on
purpose. She called a witness, one of her own party, who
swore that the complainant actually threw some beer over
the prisoner.
The Magistrate said he could not depend upon the state-
ment of the witness, and ho should, therefore, convict the
prisoner of the assault, and sentence her to two months'
imprisonment without the option of a fine.
The prisoner, on hearing the decision of the magistrate,
said it was " a shame that she should be stopped from
earning a crust by being put in prison for doing nothing.
The complainant kicked the beerover, and she had no right
to do that. She didn't mind going to prison for something
but it was hard to be sent there for doing nothing."
She was then removed by the gaoler, exclaiming loudly
against "being sent to prison for serving out such a
woman as the complainant."

Comparative Healthiness of London Suburbs

(From an Appendix to the New EdWon of Dr. Sigismund
Sutro's • Spas of Germany.")
The following short hints on the altitude and soil of the
various parts of the metropolis may afford some guidance
in this respect.

A line drawn from Hendon, in the north-west, to East
Wickham, in the south-east, shows us, first, in the western
portion of Hendon, an altitude of 220 ft. over high-water
mark, and a superstratum of gravel over the London clay.
The other parts are devoid of gravel. To the left of this
line the altitude gradually diminishes, in the direction of
the river Brent, to 90ft. above Willesden, and then increases
again to 146 north-east of Willesden, 120 east, 158 and 140
south-east. Passing the North-Western Railway, we de-
scend from 120 to 100 feet at the Paddington Canal, to 80
at the north, GO at the south Of Wormwood Scrubs, thou
we descend to 30 and 20—all on clay soil. Proceeding still
southward, we meet with brick-earth as superstructure,
surrounded in the form of an island by a strip of gravel,
bordered by Notting Hill on the east (lying mostly on clay),
and Hammersmith on the south (built on gravel)
If we take up our original line, and journey from Hendon
towards Hampstead, the ground (clay) lowers first, and then
rises again to 430 feet at Hampstead Hill, which has a su-
perstratum of Bagshot sand ; we then gradually descend to
80 feet at Hampstead Road, to 60 at Gray's-inn Road, all
clay soil, till the line intersects the eastern portion of Hol-
born-hill, which is built on gravel. The line then passes
through Cheapside (48ft. high, built, like the whole city,
on brick-earth); crosses St. Paul's Cathedral (412 ft. high);
and on proceeding to the river passes over gravel soil,
which encircles the city, extending on the south to the
river, on the east as far as East India Docks, on the north-
east along the Mile-end-road, not quite to the Regent's
Canal (whence a strip of brick-earth stretches as far as
Victoria-park); on the north, from Bishopsgate-street (in-
clusive) to Finsbury, City-road, and Islington ; on the
west, not quite to Farringdon-street.
Tho line crosses the river (clay soil) obliquely over
London-bridge ; proceeds through Bermondsey (below
high-water mark, built on gravel), this side to the Green-
wich Railway ; then passes through Deptford (gravel),
over the river Ravensbourno, and arrives at Greenwich
(20ft. high), possessing siliceous sands as far as the Ob-
servatory (2101 t. high), and pebble beds afterwards ; then
the line crosses Blackheath (130 to 100 ft. high), pebble
bed; then passes over clay soil to Shooter's-hill (412 it•
high, with a superstratum of gravel at the top); the line
descends then again on clay, to 300, 200, 180 ft. high, and
arrives at East Wickham (pebble bed, 150 ft. high.)

Fashions for September.

(From Le Follet.)

The weather has been so very changeable lately that it
has been a task of some difficulty to decide what toilettes
are most suitable ; but, as our leaders of fashion are either
travelling or preparing to do so, the materials made up for
them have been what are called " etoffes de demi-saison,"
such as mohair, poil de chevre, alpaca, linos, foulard, silk
poplinettes, and even poplins. Tulle, tarlatane, gaze de
Chambery, grenadine, and the muslin and other light mate-
rials, are kept for indoor and evening toilettes; but, of
course, should the weather become warmer, we may hope
for their reappearance out of doors.

Dresses are made as long and as full as ever, and, as wo
mentioned last month, if looped up, the under-petticoat
should not be many inches from the ground, except for
very young ladies. Coloured petticoats will be much worn
at the sea-side. When the dress is worn on the shore, the
skirt may be festooned all round, but for merely walking-
dress on the promenades, it is worn looped up at each side
of the front breadth only.

The newest and most elegant way of fastening the dress
is by straps of velvet or &ilk attached round the waist by a
baud and buckle. They fall over the skirt, and have a
patent hook at the end. Eyes aro fastened to the seams of
the skirt, and when not required to be looped, the straps—
generally five in number—are allowed to hang loosely on
the skirt, forming a very pretty ornament. If mado in
black velvet and ornamented with beads or buttons, they
can be worn with different dresses. The one we saw was
of black velvet piped with white ; at the waist it was about
an inch and a half wide ; and increasing gradually in width,
till at the end it was five inches. The strap was pointed
at the end, and trimmed all the way up with graduated
nacre buttons.

Many ladies who do not care for the encumbrance of two
skirts, trim their single one so as to produce the appear-
ance of a double skirt or tunic. This is easily done by
putting a flounce on the front breadth, with hands of trim-
ming down the front breadth seams, and continuing them
round the skirt. In other cases the trimming is put on in
the same manner; but the flounce, on tho contrary, is put
on all the seams except the front one. Either of these
styles gives quite the appearance of an over and under
skirt.

We have seen a very elegant dress made in this way.
The material was blue foulard; a flounce of about twelve
inches wide, and put on in large full plaits, was on the
front breadth. A broad Persian cachemire trimming, the
predominant colour being blue, was placed a la Raphael on
the body and down the waist ; on the skirt, it was on each
side of the front breadth, round the skirt, and up the back
seam. A small canotiere mantle of foulard accompanied
this.dress ; it was trimmed on the sleeves with the bands
of cachemire, and the revers were of the same material.
There was an attempt, a few months ago, to introduce
these small jackets with a hood attached, but they were so
rarely seen that it was useless mentioning them as the
fashion ; however, they have been gradually gaining
ground till, to-day, they aro accepted, and are certainly a
very pretty as well as useful style.
Paletots of the same material as the dresses with which
they are worn are still made without sleeves. This is a
fashion likely to continue, as it is very inconvenient to
have to wear one sleeve above another. Some paletots
are made without sleeves even when they are of different
material and colour to the dress with which they are worn ;
but though it is our duty to chronicle this fashion as
having made its appearance, still it does not at all meet
with our approbation.

Small circular capes are worn, especially by quite young
ladies. When made of the same material as the dress they
have a very ladylike and distingud appearance. The half-
fitting paletots are made rather shorter than they have
been lately, and perhaps a trifle closer to the figure ; many
of them are made open at the back of the skirt, and fas-
tened by buttons.
A few of these cloaks are worn with a band and buckle,
or sash outside, but this is a fashion only adopted by ladies
who have not a just appreciation of the difference between
the two words—eccentric and dietingue.

Little corselets worn over white bodies are still in great
favour, and certainly are most elegant adjuncts to a dress;
they are generally laced on each side under the arms.
White bodies are very much worn, and aro as pretty
and convenient a fashion as any introduced ; they are made
in a variety of materials, according to the style of dress
adopted. White Llama bodies trimmed with narrow velvet
ribbons, and fastened by buttons of the same colour, are
excessively pretty. The striped loose bodies are also much
in favour, black and white being the favourite colours.
Stripes are as much in favour, either for petticoats, dresses,
or cloaks. We have seen two or three very pretty striped
canotieres with sleeves, and either with or without hoods ;
they are preferable without the latter, as a hood, if made
in a striped material, destroys the correct line.
A particular description of some toilettes we have seen,
worn by or prepared for some of the reigning elegantes,
will give a better idea of the styles invogue than any gene-
ral ideas on the subject.

A. visiting-dress of moire, with narrow white and green
stripes' with princess() casaque open at the sleeves ; this
casaque has sleeves, as the body is low with short sleeves.
The skirt and casaque are trimmed with guipure insertion,
in the lozenge shape, with green silk tassels in the centre.
-rut, tn.,..mt wt. vf yr ILI w hut bC-Ititii, Magni I:, rm. V, ILLi
water-lilies and drooping leaves.

- -
Light grey poplinetto dress, with two skirts ; the first
trimmed with a band of claret-covered velvet, on which
are placed vine-leaves in black lace ; the upper skirt plain,
and raised at each side with bows of velvet lace. High
body, with basque all round, trimmed like the under-skirt.
Epaulettes of lace and velvet. Small loose jacket, with-
out sleeves, and with a round hood. Grey horsehair hat,
with feathers of the same colour as the velvet. High grey
kid boots, with claret velvet buttons.
Violet poplin dress. On the bottom of the skirt, which
is not very full, is an embroidery of steel bands, about ten
inches deep. High body, with plastron jockeys, and cuffs
embroidered in beads.

Duchesse ca,sa,que, with Mazarin collar and revers of
velvet. Rich embroidery of beads. Violet velvet hat,
with small white feathers, spotted with steel.

White Chambery gauge dress, with flounce fifteen inches
wide, and not at all full. This flounce serves as foundation
for another of black Chantilly lace, headed by a passemen-
terie of black and white bugles. Low body and short
sleeves, with fichu composed of Chantilly insertions and
bugle trimmings. Short sleeves trimmed to correspond.
Black and whito striped silk dress, trimmed with cross-
way pieces of white silk, with small black velvet stars.
Low body, with fichu of guipure. Mousquetaire jacket
like the skirt.

White foulard dress, with small light blue stars ; blue
silk petticoat, with small gauffered flounce, headed by a
grecqueof black lace insertion.
_

The skirt of the dress was a grecque trimming of blue
ribbon, covered with lace up the back breadth ; it is looped
up on each side of the front breadth of a blue strap covered
with lace, suspended from the waist. The body is high,
with a basque all round, trimmed to correspond with the
skirt. Half-fitting casaque, open up the back, and fastened
with blue and black buttons. White rice-straw hat, with
blue feathers and black velvet bow.

White muslin dinner dress, over pink tarlatane, five rows
of guipure insertion over pink ribbon on the skirt. Low
pink silk body with short sleeves. High body, and half-
long sleeves of white muslin ; the whole of the top of the
body is of white guipure. This is a very fashionable way
of making white muslin bodies, when intended for dress
toilettes. The guipure is let into the muslin in the form of
a Raphael corsage, and gives the appearance of a Raphael
chemisette, under a square muslin body.
Another evening dress was of Indian muslin, with Reca-
mier body and shirt ; the latter has trimmed waves of bouil-
lonnes with embroidered insertions on each side, the whole
of the ornament being lined with mauve ribbon ; the body
is trimmed in the same manner. A broad sash of white
muslin, lined with mauve silk, was tied round the waist
with the ends floating behind.

A smoke-coloured foulard dress with double skirt. The
first, which is full length, is trimmed at the hem with an
insertion of white Cluny guipure over blue ribbon. The
over-skirt is opened at each breadth and turned back with
revers of blue silk, trimmed with guipure over blue. Ca-
segue nearly tight fitting, of the same material, with revers
and collar of blue silk and guipure. White straw hat with
blue feathers. Parasol of blue silk, covered with white
guipure ; ivory handle, with blue monogram.
White Chambery gauze dress, with pink satin stripes.
The bottom of the skirt is trimmed with interlaced rings
alternately of bouillonnes of gauze and chicoree ruches of
pink silk. Low body with floating sleeves, and epaulettes
formed of three rings like those on the skirt, the outer
ones being of silk. Broad sash of gauze ; the ends, which
are tied behind, are ornamented with three rings.
Mauve and white striped foulard, open at each breadth
over an under-skirt of mauve silk; each opening is laced
across with a white silk cord, from which depend two
tassels. Foulard body and sleeves. Small bolero of mauve
silk, without sleeves; embroidered in white and edged
by a white silk cord. Large circular of white Yak lace ;
white tulle Panchen bonnet, with white feathers tipped
with mauve. Mauve parasol with white feather fringe.
The prettiest:sea-side petticoats we have seen are made
of a white woollen material, very durable and soft, with
bands of colour. 'One, with which we were much pleased,
had a violet band about four inches wide, about three
inches above the hem. This band was embroidered in
vine-leaves and grapes ; the leaves were of white silk, and
the grapes formed by bunches of small white buttons.
These petticoats should seldom be more than four yards
round, as they are rather heavy, and, if hanging in folds,
would spoil the shape of the crinoline and the set of the
dress.

The most useful petticoats aro the white, trimmed with
black, as they can be worn with any colour. We have seen
one very pretty skirt of this kind. It had a small flounce,
edged at each extremity with black velvet. This flounce
is put on in alternate pleats and spaces; a black velvet of
an inch wide hangs with a button in each space. Above
the flonnce is a trellis-work of narrow black velvet, with a
round velvet button in each diamond.

The feud between the chapeau Empire and the chapeau
Fauchon is at last nearly decided in favour of the former,
not the hideous shapes first introduced under that name,
but an elegant and simple modification. The real chapeau

Empire, elegantly worn, presents very much the appear-
ance of a small cottage bony et, only not covering the face
so much as the shape known by that name. The curtain
is c small straight band.

som,;.few milliners have attemptedAn imitation by the
means of a e:..Taight ribbon fulled on the bonnet ; but this
has a very ugly ar:d home-made appearance, and is never
likely to be adopted by any one with pretensions to taste.
The chapeau Empire i;.l more elegant in straw than in
any other material, though Ole form can be applied to any
article of which bonnets are usCally made. The Fanchon
bonnet has by no means disappea,:ed from'the horizon of
fashion,
.especially for young ladies, 4or whom the Empire
form is perhaps rather too matronly.
Hats now worn have not undergone much alteration in
shape, though there is more variety than ever in orna-
menting them. Tho feathers are often placed vo.qh the
points towards the front of the hat ; they are always worn
partly over the crown.
The Moissenneuse hat, with the broad brim, is generally
trimmed with wild flowers, fruit, or straw tassels ; the
latter are not considered so dressy as either fruit or
flowers. These trimmings are generally accompanied by
long ends of ribbon or velvet floating at the back.
Long tulle veils are excessively inconvenient to wear
with a hat, as they are difficult to arrange gracefully, while
the small mask veils, as they are called, always keep in
their place. We shall be very sorry to see them dethroned,
though it would not be for long, as the floating veils are
very inconvenient in wet or windy weather. The latter
are generally made quite plain, sometimes even without
any hem ; towards the autumn they will very likely be
hemmed, with a ribbon run in, which will help to keep the
veil in its place.
Small veils of black lace or spotted tulle are still worn
trimmed with beads, but wo are happy to find that the
rage for gold spangles, crescents, and coins, lately worn on
these articles, is much on the decrease; anything so ex-
cessively showy was, of course, adopted by the vulgar
directly, a fact at any time sufficient to induce its discon-
tinuance by a lady of good taste.

Mr. Dickens's Reading of the " Christmas

Carol."

Mr. Dickens's readings, or illustrations, as we prefer to
call them, aro running, critical commentaries upon his own
works. With all the self-possession, the flexibility of voice,
and the facial expression of a trained actor, it is not sur-
prising that Mr. Dickens should be able to cause his own
creations to live and move before our eyes. Possessing
all the bodily requirements, the conception of character
alone is wanted; and there is abundant evidence of the
existence of this in the creative fertility of his books. No
original dramatic author, no writer of dramatic fiction in
the form of novels, whose characters impress their forms
upon the page in their own language out of their own
mouths, can fail to be in heart, mind, and soul a natural
mimic, or actor. Every character in Mr. Dickens's novels,
drawn in the first instance from observation, must have
been dramatically embodied—acted over, so to speak, a hun-
dred times in the process of development and transference
to the written page ; and the qualities of voice, nerve, and
presence. being granted, Mr. Dickens merely passes over
that ground, in the face of a large and attentive audience,
which he has often passed over before in the undisturbed
privacy of his study. Where the pure actor's art is shown,
as distinguished from the dramatic quality inherent in all
character-creators, is in certain small alterations of the text
of his printed book, so minute as to escape the eye of any
but a critical observer, but purposely made to produce
effective points. It will be sufficient to name one instance
in the " Christmas Carol," where the text seems to be im-
proved in a literary sense by the elision of several words
coming after, and destroying, to some extent, the effect
of a well-known passage. In the glorious account
of the Fezziwig ball, in the printed book Mr. Dickens
winds up the description of Mr. Fezziwig's dancing by
saying he "cut—cut so deftly, that he appeared to
wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again
without a stagger." In Mr. Dickens's vocal embodiment,
he leaves out all the words that come after " legs," saying
with a spasmodic shake of the head and a twist of the
paper knife, "He cut—cut so deftly that he appeared to
—wink with his legs."
It is not only in small verbal alterations that the critical
effect of Mr. Dickens's elocution is shown. Half-neglected
corners of his works, rich in humour and character, are
lighted up with all an author's enthusiasm, speaking
through an actor's talent, and groups of perfect, well-de-
fined beings are revealed, like insects in a microscope, to
the wondering gaze of hundreds, who before this were
probably scarcely aware of their existence. The " Christ-
mas Carol" is rich in having two such groups. There are
the merchants upon 'Change, who discourse upon Scrooge's
death, all of whom stand forth clearly under Mr. Dickens's
dramatic treatment, and especially the great fat man with
monstrous chin, whose individuality is as strongly, as hu-
morously, and so forcibly marked in half a dozen lines as
that of Scrooge himself throughout the volume. Then
comes the perfectly Shaksperian scene in the rascally rag
shop, with old Joe, a very Verges of infamy, the char-
woman, the undertaker's man, and the laundress, Mrs.
Dilber—all higgling over the wretched rags of the dead
Scrooge. Repulsive as the picture is, there is hardly a
word that can be spared ; and the old huxtor, with the two

b.,1412- <7-or. of -trfrao wudiarico, until
their master chooses to dismiss them. As an example of
the objective force of the writing, and the power of em-
bodiment on the part of the reader, this scene ranks second
to none in the book—not even the well-known sketch of
the Cratchit dinner, in which Mr. Dickens conveys the
geniality of the situation in a degree it would be impos-
sible to attain without an appeal to the senses. Admir-
able and glowing, as every word of the description
is, it reads almost tame after witnessing the new life
which Mr. Dickens is enabled to breathe into it. Language
is a wonderful and a powerful instrument in the hands of a
master ; but it always leaves something unconveyed of the
brightest conceptions of the highest inventive genius, and
this is something Mr. Dickens is enabled to add through
the medium of his talent as an elocutionary illustrator.
The "Christmas Carol" presents little opportunity for
a sustained impersonation. When Mr. Dickens throws
himself into Bob Cratchit, leaning over the elbow-rest
upon the reading-table, with a meek, subdued voice,
and a mild, •timid expression of countenance, he gives
an instantaneous impression of the poor feeble, strug-
gling clerk, which lights up the whole history of his
past life. But this is merely an indication of dramatic
power not allowed to develope, for Bob Cratchit is swept
away by the progress of the story, and the stream of level
narrative and eloquent description rolls solemnly on. The
'glimpses of Scrooge's early life—the fine imaginative pic-
ture of the first of the three Spirits—the account of Mar-
'.ley's ghost, with that exquisite touch of humour where
two back buttons of his coat are said to have been seen
through his transparent body (both sketches equal to any
in the "Arabian Nights")—the flirtations of Topper and
the niece—are all read, described, or embodied in a highly
impressive, finished, and humorous manner.
The contrast between the Scrooge of the earlier part of
the book and the Scrooge of the latter part is drawn with
a fine discriminating eye for change of character in the
same individual ; and every word in the conversation with
the boy out of the window, respecting the purchase of the
goose, is watched for and listened to by the audiences like
celebrated passages from a great standard play.—" To
Day," by John Hollingshead.