The Sun.
London, England, 1870-07-20 00:00:00

BABY FARMING AT ISLEWORTIL

The adjourned inquest on the death of a nurse child,
named John Fenn, has been brought to a conclusion at
Isleworth by Mr. Hand, deputy coroner for West
Middlesex. Several witnesses were called, among
them Annie Ditch, who had been brought
up by Mrs. Higgs (who had the charge of the
child), and who said that there were two girls of eight and
ten years old at Mrs. Higg's, but they were never allowed
to nurse the baby. She fetched it from the union herself,
and was certain it did not fall. Witnesses were then
called from the union to prove that it had received
no injury when there, but had seemed thin
and neglected. The coroner summed up at some length,
and Dr. Mackinlay said his theory was that some person
knocked the child's head against the piece of board which
was put on the chairs, but it was impossible to say how
long it had been done. The jury after a deliberation re-
turned an open verdict of death from an injury to the
head.

The Royal Victoria Yatch Club Regatta is fixed
for the week commencing Monday, August Bth.

M. DE LESSEPS IN ENGLAND.—M. de Lesseps has dis-
covered that in England " nothing succeeds like success."
But a few years ago no scheme was more persistently de-
cried by British statesmen and publicists than
the Suez Canal. Lord Palmerston led the way
in an implacable and consistent opposition to it,
and other public men followed his example. Now
we find, by a cable telegram, that the great
Frenchmen has been feted by the Duke of Sutherland—
the fidus Achates of the Prince of Wales—and that
Cabinet Ministers and parliamentary leaders have united
in doing him honour. " The man who abolished an
isthmus" seems to have achieved a triumph equally com-
plete over an obstinate and long-standing British prejudice.
—New York Times.

THE PRUSSIAN NAVY.—In 1862 and 1863 it was
urged. in the Prussian Lower Chamber, as an objection to
the creation of a navy, that Prussia could not furnish the
requisite number of seamen. Since that time, however,
great changes have taken place; the acquisition of tlio
new provinces has more than doubled the available
number of sailors, while iron-clads require smaller crews
in proportion, than other vessels, and as ships do not
fight nowadays under sail, it is no longer necessary to
have men to attend exclusively to the rigging. According
to official returns the North German Confederation can
at present dispose of the following number of sailors :
In Old Prussia, 12,005 ; in the new provinces, 17,420 ; in
Mecklenburg, 3,462 ; in Oldenburg, 2,440 ; in Lubeck,
600; in Hamburgh, 7.243 ; in Bremen, 5,150—0 r alto-
gether, 48,320 men.—North German Correspondent.

AN ART CHALLENGE.—Mr. Nathan Hughes,
who painted in twenty-four days a picture of the " Riot
in Hyde Park," which attracted much attention at the
time, and was viewed by many thousands of specta-
tors in London and elsewhere, has addressed a
curious challenge to the members of the Royal
Academy. Both in England and in the foreign
countries where h© resided for many years in enjoy-
ment of a lucrative practice es a portrait painter, Mr.
Hughes has given frequent proofs of his astonishing
celerity. His favourite theory, fortified in his opinion
by the examples of many old masters, who are known
to have painted with extraordinary rapidity, is that a
picture suffers in spirit and dramatic effect by being
too minutely elaborated. He holds that inspiration lan-
guishes when the painter lingers too long over his canvas,
and that sufficient finish and mush greater strength of
character may be attained by a swift and dashing style,
always provided that the artist knows what he is about.
With these convictions strong upon him, Mr. Hughes
comes forward to defy the R. A..'s to a trial of skill and
swiftness, daring them to prove " their self-assumed
superiority by painting with him against time the best
work, combining rapidity and excellence, for £l,OOO a
side, before any large general audience empowered to
decide the 'question by ballot." The proprietor of the
fine building in Argyll-street, Oxford-street, heretofore
known as the Corinthian Hall, but now called the
Palais Royal, have offered to place their gallery
at the disposal of the antagonists, should any
such appear to take up the cartel. Kent v.
All England is long odds in cricket, but Hughes v. The
Royal Academy is no shorter in art. We live in strange
times, and there is no knowing what we may be called
upon to see, but the sight of the whole host of R.A.'s on
one side, and Mr. Nathan Hughes on the other, arrayed
face to face in pictorial strife, all painting away for their
very lives, amid the bravoes and huzzas of an excited mul-
titude, would be as curious a spectacle as the youngest
amongst us is ever likely to witness.