The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-29 00:00:00

National Guard dislodged a Saxon battalion from
_liaison Blanche.

EVACUATION OF DIJON.

BORDEAUX, December.2B.

The hasty evacuation of Dijon by the Prussians on.
the approach of the French troops is officially
announced here.

The vanguard. of General Garibaldi's army has
entered the town.
M. Gamlietta is amongst the latest arrivals.
The Prussians have appeared at Pont Levoy, but
returned after making requisitions.

ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH FLEET AT

CIIERBOURG.

CHERBOURG, December 27.
A powerful fleet, consisting of fifteen ironclads, all
heavily armed, has arrived at Cherbourg.

THE ARMY OF THE NORTH.

LILLE, December 28.

A dispatch jut received states that the head-
harters of the Army of the North is now at

Vitry.
It is said that the Crown Pr:nce of Saxony has
hastened to Amiens to aid General von Manteuff2l.
A skirmish has occurred near Abbeville, but the
enemy retired

HAVRE, December 28.

The Prussians have retired from the left bank
of the Seine, but there is a large force of them at
Yvetot.

BOMBARDMENT OF I3ELFORT.
BOSANCON, December 27.
The attack of Belfort still continues. Two assaults
have been successfully repulsed.

GERMANY.

BERLIN, December 28, 4 p.m.

The Luxemburg Note will shortly elicit a reply,
intended to convince the Luxemburg Government
that Germany will not be satisfied by a mere denial
of her allegations.
Austria, at the Black Sea Conference, will ask for
fresh measures to insure the safety of the navigation
of the Lower Danube.

INDIA.
Cars um, December 28, (10.10 a.m.)
A. rumour that Y.koob Khan has taken Candahar
is incorrect. He is still in Persian Siestan ; his fol-
lowers are disbanding.
Mr. Campbell's appointment to the Lieutenant-
Governorship of Bengal was announced yesterday.
It has not evoked any public expression of opinion.

THE RAILWAY CALAMITY NEAR
HATIIELD.

WELHAM, Wednesday.

This afternoon the inquiry into the cause of the fearful
railway accident which happened on Monday night on the
Great Northern, about two miles on the London side of
Hatfield, was held at the fchoolrooms of Welham.
The facts, which we have already published, having
been given in evidence, the jury returned the
verdict—" That • the male persons lost their lives
through the breakage, of a steel tire, but we ex-
press no opinion as to the cause of that breakage.'
The Coroner said : Then we must take it that the women
were killed by the overturning of the train ?—The jury
concurred, and the proceedings then terminated after
about a six hours' sitting.

MR. MUNDELLA. AND THE HON. AUBERON
HERBERT AT NOTTINGHAM.

The Hon. Auberon Herbert, M.P. for Nottingham,
and Mr. Mundella, M.P. for Sheffield, attended the an-
nual meeting of the Nottingham Stoney-street Chapel
Benevolent Society, on Monday evening, the. Mayor
(Mr. J. Manning) presiding. The Hon. Auberon
Herbert, M.P., in the course of a lengthy speech,
said the only Christmas carol he could offer them
was a song of war. There were different kinds of war
and different kinds of enemies. The enemy to which he
alluded had different forms—one day he was ignorance,
another vice, one day intemperance, another envy. What
were they going to do with this enemy? He was
certain that nothing would get us out of the evils which
had grown so thickly and so strong in this country,
but the combined efforts of private individuals.
The' hon. gentleman then sketched various ways
in which such organisations as the present could be use-
ful, and which, he said, should be bound together by,
sympathy and love. He concluded by proposing a resolu-
tion expressing gratification in the passing of the Educa-
tion Act, and hoping that other salutary measures for
diminishing the gigantic evil of pauperism might from
time to time be enacted by Parliament.—Mr. Mundella,
M.P., said he hoped they would not, through any
kind of alarm, or any desire or delusion in respect
of our armaments, allow their attention to be
diverted from what, he thought, the more important
questions of social legislation, to which he was of
opinion that Parliament had hardly given sufficient at-
tention. He had recently seem some practical Christian
work in America, from which England might take a
lesson. The hon. member then referred to an
industrial training school in New York for children
who had been neglected by their parents, and said the
only way to relieve pauperism, and hope for it to die
off, was to begin with children. These questions seemed
of greater importance to him than even the balance of
power in Europe. Let us defend our own shores, if need
be ; but let us not have any intermeddling with the affairs
of other nations—nothing to do with kings who believed
in Divine right, or with governments which were not
respecters of treaties, and thus set an example of modera-
tion, love of peace, and determination to consider social
affairs, so that the people may be virtuous, prosperous,
and happy.

SEIZURE OF A FRENCH TELEGRAPHIC CABLE.—The
International, a ship having on board a submarine cable
for the French Government, has been seized on the com-
plaint of Bount Bernstorff, the Prussian Ambassador, and
lies in the Thames in charge of Custom-house officers.
CHIEF CITY OF AUSTRALIA.—The population
of Melbourne was estimated by the Registrar-General at
180,000 at Michaelmas, 1870.

It is said that Sir George Young is likely to be
detained in the West Indies until the spring. The Go-
vernment contemplates certain reforms in these colonies,
which will have the effect of combining a wise economy
with greater efficiency of administration.

MICHAEL BALFE.—A. requisition is being made to
the Dean and Chapter of Westminster to allow of a bust
being placed in the Abbey in honour of the late popular
English composer. The requisition is signed by Profes-
sors Bennett andWylde, Messrs. Jules Benedict, Sullivan,
Otto Goldsmidt, John Hullah, and many other eminent
musicians and admirers of the gifted writer.
BOILER EXPLOSION IN A PRIVATE HOUSE.—
On Christmas morning the boiler in the kitchen
of No. 40, Belsize-square, Hampstead, exploded, and, in
addition to blowing out the windows of the kitchen,
the stonework of the fireplace and shivering some
of the furniture to atoms, the cook was scalded
and one of her eyes very. seriously injured. She
was discovered in a state of insensibility. She was re-
moved to the Middlesex Hospital, and is reported to be
progressing favourably.

MURDER IN SCOTLAND.—A savage murder was
committed at Camelon, near Falkirk, on Saturday night,
the victim being Henry M`Giney, a nailmaker, and there
seems little reason to doubt that the murderer is James
Ross, one of the employes in Ross's Chemical Works,
Falkirk. No motive for the crime has as yet transpired,
and it appears to have been committed in a fit of fury at
the conduct of some other persons in an earlier part of
the night. The weapon used was a pocket knife, and four
wounds were inflicted, two of which were of a desperately
severe character. Ross exhibited the most stoical compo-
sure after the murder and on being taken into custody.
He was brought up before Sheriff Bell Falkirk on Mon-
day, and committed for examination.
IMPROVEMENT IN SPECTACLES.—It was generally
thought that all the improvements capable of being made
had been effected in spectacles. The old tortoise-shell
goggles worn by our grandfathers gave way to those
mounted in gold and silver ; these in their turn gave place
to still lighter ones set in steel. But here again a most
important improvement has been made by the Messrs.
Pyke, of Ely-place, who have adapted the new alloy, for
which they have taken prize medals at various exhibitions,
with such success that the inconvenience of wearing
spectacles has been entirely removed. Having discovered
an extraordinary brilliant pebble called Nataline, which
when cut and polished possessed qualities far in
excess of the ordinary Brazilian stone, they have adapted
it to spectacles, and produced an article of aid to defective
vision that will meet with general approval. The light-
ness of the new spectacles is extraordinary, being in weight
but a few grains, the great purity of the lenses
removes all glare and undue colour, whilst the elasticity
and adaptability of the frames render the wearing of
spectacles almost imperceptible. In order that the general
public may avail themselves of this great improvement,
we may mention that the price of the new spectacles is less
than a quarter of that now charged for gold ones, and
under such circumstances it becomes a perfect certainty
that they will altogether supersede the heavy and costly
articles now in general use.