The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-11 00:00:00

WILLS AND BEQUESTS.
The late Right Hon. George Anson, Lord Byron, died
intestate. His personal estate was administered to under
a nominal sum. His Lordship was a retired Captain in
H.M. 39th Regiment, and he died at the age of fifty-two,
without issue. The title devolves on his nephew, the
son of his brother, the late Hon. Frederick Byron ;
the
deceased Baron and the present Baron married two
sisters, the daughters of the late Rev. W. Wescomb,
of Langford-grove, Essex. The will of Thomas Brassey,
Esq., late of Lowndes-square, contractor for public works,
was proved in the London Court, on Tuesday last, the
7th inst., under £3,200,000, the probate duty thereon
being £48,000. The will is dated in 1854, with five codi-
cils, 1860.4-8-9 ; and the testator died Deo. 8, 1870, aged
sixty-five. The executors and trustees appointed are
Samuel Holme, Esq., of Liverpool (who
ee has renounced)
W. Wagstaff, Esq., of Great George-strt, Westminster,
to whom he leaves a legacy of 210,000 ; Thomas Brassey,
Esq., his son, (to whom a power is reserved) ; and his
sons Henry Arthur Brassey, Esq., of. Preston Hall,
Aylesford ; and Albert Brassey, Esq., of Caller, Ireland,
of H.M. 14th Regiment of Hussars. He leaves to his
wife a legacy of £lO,OOO beyond all other provision and
settlements, a residence, with his plate, furniture, and
carriages. He has left legacies to his brothers and sisters,
brothers-in-Law, and sisters-in-law, and annuiteis
and bequests to other parties and legacies to his s
personaervants.
He leaves the residue of his pperty, real and l,
equally amongst his three sons.--The will of Walter Long,
Esq., late of Preshaw House, Southampton, was proved
in London, on the 23rd ult., under £50,000 personalty.—
The will of Samuel Lindow, Esq., of Ingwell, Cumberland,
was proved in London on the 25th ult., under £120,000
personalty. The will of John Brymer, Esq., formerly of
Royal-crescent, Bath, and late of Islington House, Pud-
dlestone, Dorset, wasp roved, in London, under 2140,000
personalty. The wills of the undermentioned have been
recently proved, viz. :—Thomas Davidson, Esq, under
.280,000 ; Mrs. Frances Barker, £70,000 ; Robert T.
Mawley, Esq., £50,000 ; and John Breaks, late accountant
to the Royal Victoria Dock and Victualling Yard, under
£7,000 pessonalty. —lllustrated London News.

TII] EXPLOSION AT DUNKIRK.
The explosion of the cartridge factory at Dunkirk, on
the 6th, appears to have been of the most terrible cha-
racter. It occurred at about half-past nine in the morning,
and the victims, as in the recent disaster at Birmingham,
were young women and girls. Owing to the immense
demand for war material, there has been a great increase
in the manufacture of Chassepot cartridges, and extra
hands were taken on, whose inexperience probably
led to the catastrophe. A notice was placarded
about Dunkirk, with an official heading, calling
for fresh hands, declaring that the work was

light and free from danger, and offering wages of
from one franc to two francs a day. As might
be supposed plenty of applicants for work on these terms
were forthcoming, and a very large number of females,
mostly young girls, were employed in a long wooden build-
ing at the end of the port. The officials, who had so un-
scrupulously announced that there was no danger in
the work, do not seem to have taken the slightest care to
keep the poor ignorant young creatures from running un-
necessary risks, for many of them knew so little about gun-
powder and its perils that they had lucifers in their pocketi,
and fires for cooking were allowed in the building.
The precise origin of the explosion is at stated, but it is
only too easy to guess that it must have een some impru-
dence. Beams and sheets of zinc were blown far and
wide to a distance of hundreds of yards. There was a
large quantity of powder on the premises at
the time, and the wooden building was rapidly con-
sumed. The remains of the victims were heaped up
and scattered about in a manner which render identifica-
tion and even classification impossible, and the task of
extricating the dead lasted the whole day long. About
forty were killed on the spot, but many died after, and
sixty coffins were carried in solemn procession to the
Cemetery by the Garde National, the funeral being public.
The sailors of the squadron distinguished themselves
greatly in the attempt to save the lives of the victims.
Those who were not killed by the explosion in the building
were burned to death, as it fell in with the shock, and the
flames rendered escape impossible. The basement was
used as a stationary warehouse. The whole town was
greatly agitated, and the funeral created general excite-
ment.

LAUNCH OF A STEAMER.—The Egypt, the
largest steamer built on the Mersey, was safely launched
on Thursday. She is the property of the National

Steamship Company.
Mr. Browning has sold a poem for £lOO and pre-
sented the money to the Fund for the Relief of the
Distress prevailing in Paris. The title of the poem is
" Herv4 Riel," and it will be published forthwith in the
Cornhill Magazine.
It is rumoured that an eccentric M.P. is going to
bring in a bill to legalise marriages for a limited period.
The measure would permit a man and woman to enter
into partnership for a definite term, just as two merchants,
4 lawyers, or tradesmen do now.
In consequence of the death of her Imperial and I
Royal Higness the Princess Dona Leopoldina Duchess de
Saxe, daughter of his Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, the
members of the Imperial Brazilian Legation were unable
to be present at the opening of Parliament. The Belgian
Minister was also unavoidably prevented from attending
on account of a domestic affliction.
SUICIDE IN A. LOCK - vr. —On Thursday
morning two butcher • lads of Newark were appre-
hended on a charge of sheep-stealing, and lodged in
the lock-up. One of them, named Robert Bliley, was
found, half an hour afterwards, lying dead on the bed
with his throat cut, and an open pocket knife by his side.
An inquest was held yesterday evening, at which the
jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased had
destroyed himself, but that there was no evidence to show
what state of mind he was in at the time.
THE Loss OF THE CRESCENT CITY.—The
Crescent City, lost off Gallyhead on Wednes-
day morning, was a new ship 1,375 tons register, and
belonged to the Liverpool and Mississippi Company. She
was on her second voyage, having left New Orleans on
the 12th of last month with 4,000 bales of cotton, 3,000
bags of maize, and 240,000 dollars in specie. The ship when
she shuck was going under steam and sail ten knots an
hour. The fore companion beginning to fill, the captain,
officers, crew, and two passengers put off in the boats,
taking with them about one-seventh of the specie. The
steamer sank two hours after striking the rocks.
CHARGE OF LIBELLING THE MAYOR OF
BURY ST. EDMIINDS.—Mr. George Edward Pear-
son, architect, was charged before the Bury
St. Edmund's magistrates on Thursday with a
false, scandalous, and malicious libel on Mr. lon,
the mayor of that town. Mr. lon is clerk to the Burial
Board, and the libel was contained in a letter written by
the defendant to a member of that board, in which he
said there was a little embezzling going on, or much over-
charging for excavating graves, and he suggested that the
board should get possession of the clerk's books and
papers, and advertise for persons to send their receipts
to be compared with the amounts in the books kept by
the clerk, who he characterised as a " dirty little toad,
whose antecedents did not inspire confidence." The de-
fendant attempted to justify himself by stating that there
was a great overcharge by some person, and he wished
the board to find out who that person was ; but the table
of fees showed the charge to be legal. It transpired that
Mr. lon had acted as solicitor in a prosecution of the de-
fendant for assaulting his sister. During the hearing the
defendant threatened to kick Mr. lon out if ever he came
to his mother's house again. The defendant was com-
mitted for trial at the assizes.
THE NEW FOREST.—A large public * meeting
was held in Southampton on Thursday night to
consider the Government scheme in reference to the
New Forest. The following resolutions were passed :
1. "That any enclosure of the New Fosest or other
common and Crown lands within the United Kingdom
which fails to provide small farms and long leases for the
benefit of unemployed labourers in agricultural districts
will not tend to decrease the pauperism and crime which
already exists to an alarming extent throughout
the country ; that it would be far better to post-
pone all legislation for the enclosure of such lands
for the present, than that any portion of them should
pass as freehold property into the hands of private indi-
viduals; and that it is not only inexpedient, but absolutely
opposed to the just development of our national resources,
to send unemployed labourers out of the country to re-
claim and till the wastes of other climes, so long as there
are so many millions of acres at home, forgetting that one
of the nation's invincible defences is a hardy, de-
voted, and vigorous manhood, wedded to an
unrestricted and productive soil." 2. " That
the system of allotment of small farms 'to
labouring men without capital requires to be accompanied
with suitable loans to cover the necessary expenses of
buildings, stock, and implements, to be repaid by easy
instalments ; and this meeting strongly urges the Govern-
ment to adopt this plan in their forthcoming measure."
It was also resolved to ask Mr. Gladstone to receive a
deputation on the subject,