The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-09 00:00:00

MR. COOK AND THE TOURISTS.

Mr. Thomas Cook, whose name stands high in the
estimation of all intending tourists, has written from
Lucerne to announce the results of a tour of inspec-
tion, on which he started immediately after the
declaration of war. His office in Fleet-street was
besieged by inquirers as to the safety of a Conti-
nental trip, and he, accordingly, set off for Switzer-
land with a passport, vis6d by French, Swiss,
Baden, Prussian, and Belgian Consuls. Hitherto
neither passport nor vise has been asked for.
There were some eighty foreigners in the train in
which Mr. Cook travelled, but none of their luggage
was opened. He rode to Geneva without the slightest
interruption, and from thence went round Switzerland
from the Rhone to the Alps, finding peace and repose
everywhere. From Mont Cenis to the Splugen
every Alpine road is open, and trains and diligences*
are running their regular course. The Americans
and the English have Switzerland to themselves this
season, the French and Germans being otherwise
engaged. On the Baden frontier only old men,
boys, and women are to be seen at the stations
and quays, the strong men being summoned to'the
" The ripening harvest has no reapers, the
vines are untended, and deathlike solitude reigns
over the district." Groups of, Swiss soldiers met the
train at every frontier station, and carefully looked
into the carriages, being resolved to let no
belligerents cross the line. Mr. Cook gives several
details of the anxiety of the Swiss authorities to afford
every facility to foreign tourists, and declares, that
Switzerland was never more attractive to English
visitors than it is it present.

war.

THE CONFERENCE OF ALL NATIONS.

The Christian Conference of all nations which
was to have been held in New York in September

HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, AUG. 8.

The Queen walked out this morning, accompanied by
Princess Louise and. Prince Arthur.
Princess Beatrice also went out.
The Right Hon. W. E. Forster has left Osborne.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, with Prince Albqrt
Victor, Prince George and Princess Louise, attended by
the Hon. Mrs. Hardinge, Lieut.-General Ellis, and Mr.
Knollys, left Marlborough House last evening on a visit
to the Earl and Countess of Kinnoul, at their seat, Dup-
plin Castle, Perthshire, en route for Abergeldie Castle,
Aberdeenshire.

The Duke of Cambridge visited the Prince and Princess
of Wales at Marlborough House.

DEATH OF SIR JOHN THWAITES,

We regret to announce that Sir John Thwaites died
on Sunday evening, at his residence, at Putney
from an attack of English cholera. He was
the son of the late Mr. Christopher Thwaites, of Toddy
Gill Hall, Westmoreland, and was born in the year 1815.
In early life Sir John was in business as a draper, and
having been frequently engaged on parochial business, he
was elected a member of the Metropolitan Board of Works
in 1856, of which body he was chosen the first chair-
man. In 1865 he received the honour of knighthood, in
commemoration of the opening of the great main-drainage
works of the metropolis. Sir John was a magistrate and
deputy lieutenant for Middlesex, and a magistrate for
Surrey.

Prince Leopold and the Princess Beatrice are ex
pected to join the Prince and Princess Christian at Grew
Malvern.

It is expected that Parliament will be prorogued
on Wednesday. On Tuesday (to-day) the Ministers go
clown to Osborne to arrange with her Majesty the terms
of the Queen's Speech, which will be read by Royal Com-
mission.—Observer.

No appointment has yet been made to the Assis-
tant Under-Secretaryship of the Foreign Office, vacant
by the death of the Hon. Charles Spring Rice. The
names of Lord Tenterden and Sir Louis Mallet have been
mentioned in connection with the vacant appointment.—
Observer.

There is no foundation whatever for the statement
that the King of Hanover has embodied a Hanoverian

legion for service with the French army against the
Prussians. The report that a son of the King of Hanover
had taken service under the Emperor Napoleon is equally
incorrect.

Late on Saturday night a cupola on the Town
Hall of Newport, Salop, was observed to be on fire. The
flames spread with the utmost rapidity, and by twelve
o'clock the handsome front block of buildings was gutted.
The hall is insured.

A large French steam ram, barque rigged, passed
Dover westward on-Sunday afternoon. It is believed to
be the same reported on Saturday morning by telegram,
and is supposed to be looking after German ships coming
through the Channel.
The guns now stored in Guildford-yard, Dover, are
being taken out for examination as to their fitness for
service, and some are being removed to the fortifications
round the coast. It is also observable that larger guns are
being mounted on some of the Castle batteries.—Dover
Chronicle.

The High Sheriff of Dorset has fixed Monday, the
15th of August, for the execution of Thomas Radcliffe,
now under sentence of death for the murder of a warder
at the Portland Convict Prison. During his incarceration
the convict has been of a sullen demeanour, and has made
but little reference to his crime.

The new public park at Moss Side, Manchester,
named the Alexandra, in honour of the Princess of Wales,
was formally opened to the public on Saturday. The new
park covers 60 acres, and has cost 260,000. The other
public parks in Manchester and Salford were presented to
the inhabitants by a committee, which raised the neces-
sary subscriptions in one year, and completed their gift in
another. The new . park is the first in Manchester of
which the expense is defrayed out of the municipal
funds.

The Nation gladly welcomes the Hon. E. R. King
Harman as a candidate for Dublin. "Home rule," it
agrees with him, "is the question of the day." It has
always, it says, advocated the union of all classes in Ire-
land in obtaining for her the right of self-government,
and now that a Protestant gentleman—a member of one
of the leading families in the country—comes forward to
join the ranks of Irish patriots—" shall he be denied the
welcome "to which this conduct entitles him? "An
Irish Parliament in College-green would bring a tide of
wealth to the metropolis, the effect of which would be felt
by every member of the community."