The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-18 00:00:00

A London Alderman.

The select committee appointed to inquire into
the government and state of the London prisons
have within the last few days had a witness before
them,whose evidence revealed a condition of bigotry and
prejudice, which in any Englishman would be shameful,
but which in an " Aldermanof the city of London"
is positively appalling. This gentleman is one of
the authorities over the city gaols, and in that
capacity he has refused, and " would again
refuse," the admission of a priest to the
Catholic inmates on a Sunday. " We are,"
said the witness, " a Protestant country, and
such being the case, we object to the intrusion of the
Roman Catholics." On being reminded that eight
millions of the Queen's ,subjects were Roman
Catholics, the alderman replied That he did not care
how many there were." " We are," he added, still in
the Jefferson Brick mode of argument, " essentially
and virtually a Protestant community, and in the
city of London particularly." The Alderman admitted
on subsequent questioning, that he had been in
Ireland " where, indeed, the Corporation had estates,"
and on being told that Protestant clergymen in that
country are often nominated by Catholic guardians
to gaols and poor-houses, where there were only three
or even one Protestant inmate, answered that "he was
not surprised at anything that happened in Ireland,"
and such was his opinion of Irishmen and Liberal
Irish Catholics, that "he would be very sorry to
copy them in any way." The committee in
vain tried to put - matters in a fair
way before this witness, who certainly appeared to

be an Aristides in his justice, by asking him to con-
sider hypothetical cases. "Supposing a Catholic
governor should act as you have done to Pro-
, testant prisoners ?" "But we have no Catholic
'governors," answered the civic represensatiye., " But
suppose we were in a Catholic country." " But we
are not in a Catholic country." In this way
the enlightened alderman reftthed to consider the
question in any other than; a. dogged manner,
the most that could be got from him being an
acknowledgment of the law in the case. For in-
stance, he knew that by law the priest ought to have
access to the creed register of each prison, but in this
matter he objected to obey the law. Being pressed, he
thought the priest might perhaps be " allowed to look
_at the register under surveillance." Verily, after all this
evidence, one is bound to believe that the utility and
wisdom of select committees of inquiry need never
again be questioned.
The International Yacht Race.
The Daily News regrets the hitch in the arrange-
ment of the matches between the Sappho and
the Cambria. The points of the case, it says,
are clear enough. The American, being the
bigger craft, insisted on an open sea-going course in
a strong breeze over a certain distance. The
English vessel being the smaller and nimbler
craft demanded a course . dead to windward.
The former counted on her speed and power
in reaching, the latter on her weatherly
qualities. Evidently a course which could be laid on
a single tack would not suit the Cambria, while a
course requiring a succession of tacks would put the
Sappho at a disadvantage. When the two yachts
reached the starting-point, the umpires sig-
nalled a course round the west end of
Cherbourg Breakwater and back. The Cambria
demurred, because this course was not dead to wind-
ward ; and the fact of the Sappho having subse-
quently sailed it on a single tack confirms the
Cambria's objection. A course dead to windward
might have been easily fixed, when the wind was
blowing steadily from one quarter. Without saying
the conditions were unreasonable, the Daily .News
thinks there should be a certain liberality in their
in terpretation and observance.
The " Alexandra Lamp."
The French surgeons have begun to give serious
attention to a variety of diseases and malformations
arising from the fashion in vogue latterly of wearing
high and unequal heels to the shoes. They assert
that spinal maladies have to their knowledge fol-
lowed from the unnatural position in which the
body is thrown by high heels, while distor-
tions in the foot, and a variety of
painful nervous affections ensue from the strain
on the limbs produced by one boot being
higher than its fellow. It may be well
to say here on scientific authority that ladies of
certain and uncertain age are alike liable to all the
maladies referred to, indeed, if there is a question
in the matter, it would appear that the more uncer-
tain the age the more certainly is the lady wearer
open to the ailments and disfigurations brought on
by anxiety for a dainty limp.
Civil Interment.
In France there is a custom of givity, what is
called " civil interment " to the bodies of persons
who in life may have expressed a wish to
have an inexpensive burial at the hands of their
friends. The vicar of Stratford-on-Avon wishes that
. the practice were adopted more generally in England.
It is too hard, lie argues, that poor families have to
give melancholy funeral.brealifasts, to supply gloves,
and . scarf bands and mutes, to have four horses
drawing a hearse, WhiCh could be easily
pulled along by two,. to have._ senseless
trappings, ornamented coffins, and hideous
plumes. The rev. vicar proposes that Englishmen
hould imitate the example of the late Lord Derby,
and desire to have their bodies interred without
ostentation and unnecessary and profound exhibitions
of importance or extravagance. The rev. gentleman
also desires a reform in the services of the Church,
preferring hymns of hope and gratitude rather than
those of mourning and despair, and a consolatory
sermon to the friends, rather than a prosy panegyric
on the merits of the deceased, and a lengthened dis-
quisition on his loss.
A Modern Tower of Babel.
If Cardinal Mezzofanti were alive and were on the
look out for a profession, he had certainly better
apply for the post of reporter to the Cana-
dian House of Commons. Indeed, if we
are to judge from a story told by the
Toronto Globe, it may be questioned whether any
meaner linguist is qualified for the task. A railway
bill was under discussion by the House, when Sir
George Cartier, the Minister of Militia, raised an
objection. A Mr. Ferguson, not hearing distinctly.
. what was said, asked Sir George to repeat his obser-
vations, which he did in French. Whereupon the
Hon. Sandfield Macdonald, for some unexplained
reason, addressed the amazed members in
Gaelic. Sir G. Cartier was not to be
outdone, so in reply he, with the assist-
ance of a friend, pronounced a short speech in
Latin, and finally passed into Greek. His Greek
would not have availed him much in Attica, for the
words had no connection with each other,but a conclud-
ing quotation from Homer made it sound all right. A
protest against the desultory discussion was then
made in Spanish ! Had not the hour for private
bills come to an end, there is no saying where the
war of tongues would have ended.
Out to Grass.
Mr. B. Cartledge, veterinary surgeon, a well-known
authority on the treatment of the horse, in a letter
to the Times draws attention to the subject of
turning that important animal out to grass. It
is all very well, he says, for the young animal pro-
tected by long hair and lengthy mane and tail, whose
time while young has to be got over one way or
another, but with stale and " groggy " horses, re-
quiring rest, the matter is entirely different. The
desired rest, he submits, is not to be had in the
pasture. In the simple process of gathering his food
he says the horse walks many miles during the
twenty-four hours, while the flies in summer
and the scorching heat drive away rest,
and bring the animal in eight cases out of ten
in much worse form than when turned out. Mr.
Cartledge's regimen is as follows :—" Put them into
a loose box or shed, well littered with tan, bark, saw-
dust, or straw, or all combined ; remove the shoes,
and rasp off the sharp edges of the crust to prevent
them breaking ; supply water without stint ; give a
liberal allowance of oats, Indian corn, and bran, with
cut chaff and hay, the whole of which will be the
better for being made damp with water."
Australian Meat.
The Australian correspondent of the Times con-
siders that the practicability of preserving
Australian meat and making it pay has
been satisfactorily proved by the balance-sheet
of the Melbourne Meat Preserving Company for the
past half year. Within that period the Company have
worked off 160,752 sheep and 590 head of cattle,
the former costing £58,313, and the latter £3,298.
The expenditure in wages during the half year was
£84,213, and the profit as far as computable at pre-
sent, is set down at £112265 14s. 3d. The result
of this has been a division of 10 per cent., and
the directors express a hope that they will be able
to announce a still more satisfactory result next year.
Ihe Times correspondent adds that several other
companies have recently commenced operations, and
that one with a very respectable number of names
to its prospectus, is about to place a portion
of its shares in the London market. These
facts, he thinks, show that the demarid for
such meats is increasing rapidly, and that the pro-
ducts of the company are regarded by a numerous
class rather as a luxury than as a mere substitute for
ordinary butchers' meat.
Engineering in Holland.
Our Dutch friends are determined to rival the
Viceroy, and to have a canal which shall produce
another revolution in the commercial world.
The Amsterdam Ship Canal, which has
been five years in progress, is expected to
be completed in about two years' time. It is a work
of considerable extent, as a survey of the Dutch
capital very plainly shows. The Sand Hills,
which separate the Wykermeer from the North
Sea, rise to a considerable height, and form
a barrier between Holland and the sea.
Amsterdam itself is situated on Lake Y, where it
enters the Zuyder Zee. A dam across Lake Y is being
formed near Amsterdam to shut out the waters of