The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-09 00:00:00

AMERICAN POLICY.

A letter in the Times from a correspondent in Phila-
delphia, who writes on November 22nd, says :—Whatever
may be the Russian designs in desiring a change in the
Treaty of 1856, I do not think the United States' Govern-
ment is in any way privy to them. There is no under-
standing, open or secret, as seems to be surmised in
Europe, between St. Petersburg and Washington by
which the Americans are to press the "Alabama" ques-
tion, and thus keep England engaged while Russia earths
out her schemes in the East. The United States, from
traditional policy, avoids all foreign alliances or inter-
ference. During the Crimean war the bulk of
American sympathy was against Russia, and so it pro-
bably would be were a war to arise out of the present
complication. But the fact of that complication will not
lead the Government either to press or to avoid the
" Alabama " question, and if Russia is counting to any
extent upon American aid her reliance is weak indeed.
The President desires to have the " Alabama " question
reopened, but he will make no move in the . matter until
he has a new Minister firmly seated in his place in
London ; nor will it then in any way depend either upon
the movements or the wishes of Russia. The American,
policy of keeping entirely clear of European entangle-
ments is to be strictly maintained.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT GALASIIIELS.—A fire
occurred yesterday morning in the tweed factory of
Messrs. Sime, Sanderson, and Co., at Galashiels. The
factory consisted of a four-storey building. The yarn-
room was on the first floor, and 20,0001 b. of yarn, which
were in it, were destroyed. The second floor was the
carding-room, and consisted of two sets. The third and
fourth floors were used for machinery, and the fifth floor
for handlooras. All have been destroyed, and the walls
have fallen in. The cause of the fire is not known, though
men were at work in the carding-room when the fire
began. The loss is estimated at several thousand pounds,
which will fall on insurance companies. Happily, no one
was hurt.

MELANCHOLY CASE OF SUICIDE.—On Wednesday
evening Mr. Carter, the .Surrey coroner, held an inquest
at the Henry the Eighth, Church-street, Lambeth, touch-
ing the death of James Rudge, aged 45, who was suspected
of having, about a month ago, murdered a widow named
Mary Ann Williams, who kept a tobacconist's shop in
Ellis-street, Chelsea, whose body was discovered floating
on the Thames, off Horselydown. Inspector Turpin,
of the B division, who had had charge of the affair
since th,e discovery of Mrs. Williams's body, said that
facts had come to light which pretty clearly shewed that
Rudge was Innocent of Mrs. Williams's death. After her
disappearance the neighbours and women, especially the
women, used to assemble round the door and call Rudge
to come out with such expressions as " Who murderedthe
woman?" " What have you done with the body?" &0., and
believed this so preyed upon his mind that he had com-
mitted suicide. He had always lived upon the best terms
with Mrs. Williams, in whose house he lodged, and it
appeared that she had been very low and dispirited just
before her death, having met some debts of her son's with
three bills, which were due in three days afterwards, and
which she could not meet. Her son had told him that he
did not think Rudge instrumental in his mother's disappear-
ance. After hearing the evidence, the jury found that
James Rudge destroyed his life while in a fit of temporary
insanity, brought on by his having been falsely accused of
murder.
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