The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-24 00:00:00

THE SPANISH PRESS.

An interesting account of the press of Spain has been
given by a gentleman whose business avocations induced
him to visit every newspaper office in the country. He
tells us that in Great Britain and in America the num-
ber of newspapers 'published in any town is generally
regarded as a criterion of its intelligence and its prosperity
but that if the rule extends to Spain, the Spaniards must
no longer be regarded as a retrogressive people. A town
which in England would have only one or two
papers, in Spain will have three or four ; and whereas
in an English country town the papers would
be weekly, in Spain they are daily. This is
accounted for by the fact that the papers of the capital do
not permeate the country. The London morning papers
may be parchased in every town in England during the
day of publication, but in Spain the communication is
exceedingly defective. Even the Correspondencia of
Madrid is only procurable on the great railway lines, so
that the news-loving people want their daily paper in
every town. There are 225 provincial papers published
in 67 towns, all of them daily papers. L'imprimerie gives
a list of Si papers, printed at Madrid ; but this is somewhat
inaccurate. The general price of a Spanish paper is two
cuartos, or a little less than a penny. They are not
published on Mondays, or on the day after
holy days, as the printers do not work on
those days. They are single folios, and the arrange-
ment is somewhat similar to the French system.
The front page is always devoted to news, never to
advertisements. The feuillcton is a regular institution,
and the papers are always printed in much larger type
than our own. Nonpareil is unknown, and the size ranges
from bourgeois to small pica. There is a general want of
uniformity in the arrangements, which, together with
worn type and the old stereotypes, interferes with the
effect. The taste of our English compositors is sadly
wanting. In_ comic. papers 6e qi-s.,,;nrOpt or.
Lue r-r-er,li. A spanrstt paper of this kind s always
a four-page dully folio or quarto, printed in
very large type, with illustrations done in chalk.
Malaga had a satirical paper printed on green
paper, and called by that name. On the day after
the revolution the green organ was transformed into pink,
and inscribed with the words, "To-day the colour of the
rose." All papers of this kind have profited by the revo-
lution, which has removed the most grievous and oppres-
sive censorship in Europe. Every publisher bad to submit
a copy of his journal to the Government officer before he
was allowed to circulate it. That officer took his own
time to read it and return it, often mercilessly altered. A
copy of the Noma 2'hcria of Madrid presented a melan-
choly spectacle after it had left the hands of this func-
tionary. Even the local news was tampered witch;
one leader was excised altogether, and many parts
were so mutilated that they were positively foolish.
By this system late news was rendered impossible, owing
to the delay caused by the examination, and the number
and extent of the corrections greatly increased the cost of
the paper. All is now altered, and it is to the credit of
the Spanish press that in the first flush of freedom it has
not allowed liberty to degenerate into license.

The Wisbeach magistrates are investigating a case
of suspected poisoning. Robert Sheckles died suddenly, and
his son has confessed in a beerhouse he killed him and got
his money, and then offered a reward to keep the confession
secret. The stomach was sent for analysis, and the son was
apprehended.
A FATAL QUARREL.—Two little boys at Masbro'
having quarrelled, one gave the other a kick on the left
leg. The skin was not broken, and there was little to be
seen beyond a slight discoloration not larger than a florin.
The injured child, however, was subsequently found to be
suffering from lock-jaw, and died in great agony, having
been three days without food.
VELOCIPEDE RACE.—A race took place yester-
day afternoon between a velocipede driven by Walter
Brown, the oarsman, and a trotting-horse known as John
Stewart, on the Riverside Trotting Course, Boston, the
velocipede to go five miles, and the horse ten. The veloci-
pede won, making five miles in 26.20, to nine miles by the
horse in 26.35. Br own's best mile was done in 4.29, and
the horse's, 2.47 i. —New York Times, May 12.
NORWICII MUSICAL FESTIVAL.--Tills festival
will commence on Monday evening, August 30. The
principal vocalists already engaged are Mdlle. Titiens,
Mdlle. Ilma di Murska, Mdlle. Trebelli, Mdlle. Cherer-
Talbot, Mr. Vernon Rigby, Mr. Cummings, Signor Bet-
tini, Mr. SantleY, and Signor Foli. Mr. Benedict will
once more act as conductor. The approaching festival
will be the sixteenth triennial musical gathering held at
Norwich.
The New York papQrs just to hand contain parti-
culars of a terrific conflagration that recently occurred in the
manufacturing district of Paterson, New Jersey. The firo
broke out at one o'clock p.m. in the waste house of Michael
Morris, on Jersey-street, near the Murray silk mill. The
building was nearly filled with cotton refuse, which ignited
spontaneously. The flames communicated to a frame build-
ing in process of erection, and spread from building to build-
ing with alarming rapidity. The burning cinders set fire to
the roofs of many houses a mile distant. Tho loss of
property by the fire is estimated at not less than $500,000
and in addition to this eighty families were turned into the
streets and 350 emplopies rendered idle.

AN AMERICAN ROMANCE.—Years ago, a Penn-
sylvania farmer stabbed his young wife in a fit of drunken
insanity, and fled to the West, supposing himself a mur-
derer. The woman recovered, and after five years of
solitary life, married again. Her second husband died in
a few months, and she also went West. There she met
a prosperous and wealthy merchant, was wooed and
wedded, and upon disrobing in the bridal chamber the
bridegroom saw upon her neck the scar of the wound
he himself had made, and recognised his wife of • years