The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-28 00:00:00

THE THORNCLIFFE RIOTS.

Chapeltown is still much agitated, and tile -danger
of renewed disturbances is far from over. Lord.
Fitzwilliam, the Lord-Lieutenant of the West
Riding, met the magistrates at Barnsley on Wednes-
day, and it was resolved to retain soldiers in the neigh-
bourhood for the present. It was also decided that
a magistrate should be in attendance all night,
in order to direct the movements of
the military, in case their services are
required. The inquest on the body of the
woman who died in consequence of the fright received,
on the day of the attack shews that she was suffering
from consumption, that all her clothing was destroyed,
and that the exposure to the cold and the smoke of
the fire which the rioters kindled were the imme•'
diate causes of death.

Lord Wharncliffe has given an account of the.
doings of the magistrates in this affair. From these
details it appears that a meeting of magistrates was.
actually hold on the Saturday
_preceding the great
outbreak. The question of calling up troops from
Sheffield was discussed; but the Chief Constable of
the Riding " did not deem such extra,aid indispensable," and his opinion was adopted.
Six days afterwards the need for this "extra aid it.
was rather forcibly demonstrated by the fatal attack'
of last Friday. After that occurrence Lord
eh& took upon himself the responsibility of
ordering a detachment of soldiers from Sheffield.
Lord Fitzwilliam thoroughly approved of this
step. "It is impossible to say how long
the presence of the military may he requi-
site, nor in how many points. The number of
rioters is considerable, and they are evidently acting
under orders, so that unusual precautions are re-
quisite, which no county police can be expected to
provide." Why these conclusions should not have
been arrived at when the meeting of Saturday, the
15th, was held, and when the magistrates had abun-
dant warning of what might result from a state of
terrorism which had lasted several months, the guar-
dians of the peace may be left to explain.
Lord Wharncliffe says that besides the resolution
not to invoke the aid of the military, the magistrates
came to other decisions at their meeting. These
s
lordship does not disclose, as it "might not be judi-
cious to do so." Very likely .

POSTAL rRREGULADITIES.
Correspondents of the _Daily News are calling
attention to the delays and losses that are at present
common accompaniments of the otherwise well-
managed working of the Post Office. It vim be hard
if we have to resort to the unusual process of reetra-
tion to secure the due delivery of letters of ordinary
importanCe. One of the letters on this subject in-
forms us that a book posted in Loudon was found,
on arriving at its destination (Bournemouth), to
have entrapped no less than three letters, all
clean . and unsullied by the official stamps.
If this is one of the causes of the miscarriage or
non-delivery of letters, the sooner some arrangement
is made for the total separation of books and letters,
the better for the public. In some metropolitan
offices this system is already carried out, no doubt
successfully. It is all very well to praise the advan-
tages of a penny post, but whilst a single letter,
which may be of the utmost importance, miscarries,
there is room for improvement.
44 HOSPITAL SUNDAY."

A. sugestion was made lately by the Lancet for
.a
Hospital Sunday," that is, for one particular day in
the year to be set apart for the purposes
ofinedical charity throughout the land. Though
this may not yet be carried out on such
a complete scale us that advocated, yet in many
of the larger towns the idea will very likely be acted
upon. The example has been set by Birmingham
and Leeds, in which latter place the second
Sunday in February has been determined on
as the one on which collections will be
simultaneously made in the places of worship of all
denominations. In Birmingham, indeed, a plan of
this sort seems to have been carried out before, and
not the least important feature of it is that the
sum of money collected on " Hospital Sunday " is
apportioned in shares to every medical charity in the
town. At the last collection in Birmingham 150
different places of worship sent in their mites to the
general fund; the mites ranging from £224 from a
parish church to 8s 7d from a small Methodist
chapel.

THE LATE EDITION of "THE SUN" at
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town.

rrIIE LATE EDITION of " THE SUN" at
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