The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-19 00:00:00

MR. NOEL AT ATHENS.

Great excitement and some indignation have been
created at Athens by the proceedings relative to Mr.
Frank Noel. This gentleman was accused of com-
plicity with the brigands, and of having caused the
murder of his countrymen, last spring, by advising the
marauders of Xarathou to stand out lor an amnestx.

Ills defence is that he persuaded the brigands t(
accept the ransom offered, and to give up the deman
lor an amnesty. Mr. Noel has now presented himself
to the authorities, having concealed himself for fear

of being sent to the prison of Chalcis, where smallpox
had broken out. He has been allowed to select
st.me other dwelling. It is an acknowledged
fact in Greece that the brigands have accomplices all
through the country in every class of life. • The
official report cf the late Prime Minister states thai
260 brigands were in Greece three months after the
Delis' murders, and that, so late as last September,
e:x persons had been carried off, of whom two were
murdered and two mutilated by the brigands.
Yet no effor: q of the Govt rnment or the
military authorities succeed in routing out the
criminals. It is therefore held by the English at
Athens to be as unfair as it is absurd to fix upon
one solitary Englishman as the only forthcoming
accomplice. The judicial investigation has been so
mismanaged that it has done very little good, and
the perpetual bickerings in court only serve to pre-
vent the elucidation of the truth.
INDIAN FORCES.
A correspondent in Calcutta, in discussing the
position of India supposing hostilities should break
out between England and Russia, dwells strongly on
the importance of utilising the restless spirit,
on our frontiers. Sikhs, Goorkas, and Beloochees
make splendid soldiers under efficient leaders,
and an army of 50,000 such could be at once
sent to the Danube. Very few of the English troops
could be spared from India in case of war, as Russia
would be certain to try and stir up sedition. These
turbulent tribes, if not enlisted by the British, will
find other leaders, and therefore in every point of view
it would be desirable to enrol them, should fighting
actually be necessary. Supposing that under the
worst eventualities all communication between Eng-
land and India were temporarily cut oil, the only
deficiency would be British soldiers, who cannot be
manufactured. India has powder and cart-
ridge factories, and can turn out her own bronze
guns and shells, while she has a good reserve
of iron guns awl small arms. A Snider factory
is in prospect, and the supply of ammunition is very
good. The infantry have with them 200 rounds of
ammunition per smooth-bore musket, and a reserve
of 300 rounds in the nearest magazine, or 400 per
Enfield rifle. The Snider is to have 500, and these
proportions will be increased. So far from India
being a drag on England in time of war, she will be
of immense value, and may, if need be, be made the
basis of an offensive war on a formidable scale.
THE PIGEON POST.
The Pigeon Post, which excited so much interest
at the commencement of the siege of Paris, was for
some time extremely useful in the transmission of
intelligence, and the greater part of the messages
thus sent arrived at their destination. Fears are now
entertained, however, that the short days have
been great impediments to success. The pigeons
will only pursue their way so long as they
can see, and therefore it is evident that this is
the worst time of the year to employ their services.
Their dislike to nightwork cannot be overcome; and
it was found advisable by those dispatching messages
froM Tours to send them northwards and make their
starting point as near Paris as possible, in order that
they might reach their destination before dark. I:
they fail to do this they frequently neglect to com-
plete the journey on the morrow. They occasionally
forget their mission, and are led astray by other
pigeons, or settle in a strange dovecot. Unmindful
of the important interests of their communication,
they will sometimes rub it off their feathers and fly in
without their precious despatch. These little messengers
have also to encounter dangerous enemies in the
Prussian hawks, and they :are seized now and then
by hungry travellers for food. The Pigeon Post is
kept up in Bordeaux, but as the distance to Paris is
too great to be accomplished in one day's flight, the
pigeons are taken in baskets to some place beyond
Tours before they are started,
Tim NEXT AMERICAN PRESIDENT.
One of the principal drawbacks to the Constitution
of the United States is the perpetual agitation going
on with respect to the great official elections. No
sooner are President and Vice-President safely
installed in their seats tlian the several parti,ans
begin scheming and plotting for the next candida-
ture. " There are politicians in this city," writes
a Washington correspondent, " who have thought of
little else for this two and a half years past, and will
think of little else for the next eighteen months to
come." The favourite candidate for the next
Republican nomination is the Hon. Schuyler
Colfax, Vice-President and Speaker of the House of
Representatives. His case, says a narrator not too
favourable to him, ie more adroitly managed than any
other. His celebrated letter declining further polis
deal honour, and declaring his determination to retire
into private life, was generally believed to be in
earnest. At the right moment, however, his rivals
will learn that Mr: Colfax is "in the hands of his
friends." The House Committees of the Fortieth
Congress were arranged by Speaker Colfax, according
to this statement, with a view to his future election.
In the Committee on Currency, care was taken to
have a large majority who would see that the
national banking system was not attacked by Con-
gress, and, as a matter of course, the National Bank
and Treasury ring worked in his favour, and will
work again. The Committee of Ways and Means
was arranged so as to suit the high tariff league and
the American Iron and Steel Association, which has
been called the wealthiest and best managed political
close corporation in the United States, having the
making and unmaking of some of the highest officials.
Other monopolies have been secured on Mr. Colfax's
side, at least so say his opponents but as the trial
is still eighteen months off we shall probably hear a
good deal more on both sides.

NEWSPAPERS AND TELRGRAPIIB.
The .2VOU7 York Herald boasts of the wonders
achieved by newspaper enterprise in that city since
the first message tripped along the telegraph wires
between Baltimore and Washington in 1844.
How the wires have worked since then !
it exclaims. How they have told on trade,
on politics, and on journalism ! The Herald
during the American civil war expended tour hun-
dred thousand dollars in getting news by telegraph.
In the Abyssinian campaign news was conveyed
by the wires from America to England in advance
of the British Government. The Franco-German
• war has afforded an opportunity for displaying
American energies, and the New York public are very
few hours behind ourselves as regards the main
features of the conflict. Thus the New York Herald,
on January 7th, publishes telegrams from the Times'
Berlin correspondent, which appeared in London on
the mo.rning of the 6th, the despatch from Ver-
sailles, announcing the bombardment of the southern
forts, and the details of the new Cabinet of King
A macleus, . besides all the fuller information
of a day or two previous. The Iferald boasts that
it has spent 150,000 collars in keeping its readers
"pc steel" in the latest news of the struggle. The
telegraphic agencies are multiplying enormously, and
the States will speedily be in communication with
all the West India islands. "The clay is not distant
w'.•en Pacific cables shall make news from Shanghae
and Pekin, from Calcutta, and Madras, as important,
if not as interesting, as news from Berlin or London,
and the telegraphic columns of the Herald will re-
flect Sydney and Melbourne, Bombay and Teheran,
as faithfully as they now reflect Rome, Constantir
nople, Versailles, and Liverpool,"

BREAKFAST.—EPPS'S COCOA.--GRATEFUL AND CON
FORTING.—The very agreeable character of this preparation as
rendered it ageneral favourite. The Civil Service Gazette re
marks :—" By a thorough knowledge of the natural laws which
govern the operations of digestion and nutrition, and by a
careful application of the fine preperties of well-selected cocoa,
Mr. Epps has provided our breakfast tables with a delicately
flavoured beverage which may save us many heavy doctors'
bills. Each packet is labelled—JAMES EPPS Sc Co., liomceo-
lAthic Chemists. London. Also, makers of Epps's Cacaoine, a
very thin evening beverage. —Advt.

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II E I?

MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, Jan. 18.
The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, accompanied
by Princess Beatrice.
The Queen drove out this afternoon, accompanied by
Princess Louise.
Prince Leopold and Princess Beatrice also went out.

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.
Mr. Robertson's comedy " War" was produced at this
theatre on Monday last, and met with but moderate
success. The dialogue is not up to the standard of this
author's productions at the " Prince of Wales," of which
house he seems to be really the genuis loci. In the present
play the hero is a young French officer, the heroine a German
girl, residing, with her father, Herr Karl Hartmann, at
Sevenoaks, and betrothed to Oscar de Rochvamres, to
whom she is on the point of being married, when
news arrives of the declaration of war, and Oscar

must immediately proceed to Paris to join his
regiment of which his father is colonel. The tidings
arrive in the midst of festivities given in honour of the
approaching nuptials, agony succeeds to merry-making,
and the curtains falls on Lottie broken-hearted at the

forced departure of Oscar. A battle field near Sedan is
the next scene, and here we find Oscar severely wounded,
watched overby his father, the colonel, who is also wounded.
Karl Heutmann as a surgeon, and his daughter Lottie as a
hospital nurse, both under the, protection of the red cross,
pass over the field, and Oscar is discovered byLottie, and is
entreated by him to marry him before he dies. To this
she consents, and the lovers are led into an adjoining
church. The wedding over, there come the sounds of
renewed battle, and Oscarsinks to the earth uttering the
words, " Vive la France." In the next and
final act Lottie is again at Sevenoaks, mourn-
ing as a widow, when her father arrives
accompanied by the old French colonel, who has been
liberated on paroie, but good news is brought to them by
an old sea captain, a friend of the family, who com-
municates the intelligence that Oscar is alive,
and the play is brought to a close by the
news—after an unaccountable amount of shilly-shally-
ing—being broken to Lottie, who is overwhelmed with
joy at being restored to her husband. Miss Fannie Brough
impersonated the heroine in a very creditable manner.
Mr. A. W. Young represented the old German, and Mr.
Henri Hertram of the Thiatre Gymnase, Paris, appeared
as the old French Colonel, and deservedly obtained much
applause, his acting being unquestionably the best
throughout the whole piece.

RAILWAY COMPANIES AND THEIR
SERVANTS.

There seems to have been a first-rate railway accident
on Monday at Bradford. The 4.55 Bradford and Hud-
dersfield train arrived at the Lancashire and Yorkshire
station at Bradford before its time, going "at a frightful
speed," and was only brought to a halt after passing
through theiwall of the porters' room. To add to the fun,
five or six of the porters had a narrow escape of their lives,
and a coal merchant was actually driven through the wall
with the falling masonry, both his legs being broken and
he himself so injured that he is not expected to recover.
The sole drawback to the success of the exploit is that
although there were about thirty passengers in the train,
only a few of them were hurt, whereas, of course,
they might have all been killed on the spot. The accident
is attributed to the neglect of the guard in not applying
the break, and he has been taken into custody for "being
drunk." It is always wise in cases of this description
to give the guard into custody, but it would add to the
convenience of the public if the guards who are drunk
were taken into custody before rather than after an acci-
dent. The driver, ibis stated, made an ineffectual effort
to stop the train, and to save himself at length leaped
from it. In so doing he doubtless exercised a
wise discretion, though it is impossible not to feel
some pity for the thirty passengers who at a frightful
speed were propelled through the wall of the porters'
room in a train under the charge of a guard supposed to
be drunk and without a driver. This accident iax how-
ever, " a step in the right direction 1" the railway com-
panies, sick of slaughter, have taken to knocking down
their own buildings i and perhaps, with their passengers
and porters all killed, their engine-drivers missing, and their
stations levelled to the dust they will deign at last to
notice the general devastation they are causing, and
adopt and enforce such discipline and regulations as will
at least prevent that utter annihilation of everything and
everybody to which they appear to be advancing with
rapid strides.—Pall Mall Gazette.

THE INDIAN PUBLIC WORKS DEPART.

I'JENT.

The strictures of the Indiayi Government on the conduct
of the officials concerned in the failure of certain buildings
at Allahabad have naturally attracted a good deal of
attention even in England, but the inference which
the Indian papers seemed inclined to draw from
the matter, that the incompetence And neglect
of duty exhibited in this instance indicate a general
rottenness in, the organisation of the Inditn Public Works
Elepartment, appears to be somewhat premature. Con-
sidering the vast extent of the country, and that
vernmen its affairs
ts
are administered by a number of separate go
working independently of each other, it does not
follow that because business is carelessly transacted
in the North West Provinces, the example
should be repeated in Madras and Bombay,
or anywhere else. And since the cry against the incom-
petency of military officers for undertaking civil works
has again been raised, it may not be out of place to remind
our readers that within the last few months it was
discovered that the whole of the bridges on
one of the great lines of Indian -railways, over
a length of some hundred miles, were tumbling
down before the line was opened for traffic,
and that they had to be rebuilt again at a cost of between
one and two millions sterlinw. The incompetent engineers
are not military men on this occasion. These cases
are an illustration how much of mere luck under-
lies human affairs. Two or three men neglect
or misunderstand their duty, and occasion a loss
of -ten or twenty thousand pounds. The affair
is duly investigated, and the governor, in a fit of very just
awl natural indignation, orders that the offenders shall
be gibbited by a public reprimand. A similar
failure of duty occurs on an enormously larger
sole, and the affair does not get beyond the
notice of a few officials ; unless, indeed, the
shareholders of the company have a more or less dim
perception of what has occurred, when they aye offered
the favourable opportunity of investing a couple of
millions more capital atocl on undeniable security for
carrying out what is euphemistically called an extension
of the works.—PaU Malt Gazette.

A QUESTION OF LIABILITY.—At the Salford
County Court, on Tuesday, before Mr. R. S. Sowler,
Q.C., deputy judge, the case of Vandieman v. Howarth
and Atkinson was tried. Mr. Smith (Messrs. Smith
and Boyer) was for the plaintiff, Mr. W. Cobbett ap-
peared for Howarth, and Mr. Gouldthorpe for
Atkinson.—The action was brought to recover a
sum of £l9 for repairs done to a house in
Arlington•terrace, Broughton, which is occupied by
the defendant Atkinson. The plaintiff is a joiner, cabinet
maker, and general repairer of property, carrying
on business in Sussex-street, and on the I.sit of June he
received a note asking him to call wpen the defendant
Howarth. The latter told him to, go to Arlington-terrace
and see Mr. Atkinson. The plaintiff on arriving there
was, shown some places where it was thought necessary
to have repairs made, and expressed his, intention of
commencing them next day, Atkirison, said, however,
that if he did not start work that afternoon he would
employ some one else. The plaintiff thereupon began the
work, and from time to time received instructions from
Atkinson, who desired him to use the very best material.
The defendant Howarth, who was understood by the
plaintiff to be the agent of the property, said he would
call upon him at the house, but he had never done so.
When the work was completed, the plaintiff applied to
both the defendants for payment. Howarth sent a note
saying that he should apply to those who employed him,
and on application being made to Atkinson he denied
that he had ever done so, The only course the plaintiff
said he had was to summon both parties, Mr, Cobbett
said that, upon the allegation of the plaintiff that Howarth
was merely the agent of the property, his client was not
liable.—Mr. Gouldthorpe said the property belonged to a
Mr. Chadwick, and his client was simply a tenant. Mr.
Howarth was the agent, and it was promised, when Mr.
Atkinson entered the house, that it would be put in
thorough repair.—The Judge, after some discussion, gave
judgment against the defendants as joint contractors,
leaving the further adjustment of the matter to be settled
between themselves.—Mr. Cobbett asked the Judge's pop
4§4ipn to appeal, which was refused,

LONDON SCHOOL BOARD.

Jn Wednesday, at a meeting of the London School
,ard, Lord Lawrence (President) in the chair, the Board

formed themselves into a committee for the purpose of
electing a clerk at a salary of £BOO a year. A discussion
ensued, when it was determined that the election
should be private, the press and the public were
therefore requested to withdraw. in about an hour the
doors were re-opened, when the Chairman announced
that the choice of the Board had fallen on Mr. Croad, late
secretary to the Bishop of London's Fund, by one vote
above the number recorded for Mr. Lichfield. A report
was read from the Officers' Committee submitting the

names of the following six candidates for the situation of
statistical clerk at a salary of £3OO a year. Mr. T. Bond
Bishop, Mr. William Francis Dewey, Mr. Charles

William Isitt, Mr. George Rogers, Mr. Arthur Smither,
and Mr. Augustus W. Watson. There were 107 appli-
cations. The report was received, and the next meeting

ay appointed for the attendance of the candidates and
lie election.