The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 23, 1869

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

Board has requested that the charges of misconduct
against Dr. Ellis be more precisely defined, in order that
they may be investigated at once. It will be remembered
that when the late public outcry arose respecting the
state of the St. Pancras Infirmary—the rats, the
sewers, the draughts, the foul air, &c.—the " new "
guardians laid the blame upon Dr. Ellis. With a
logic of an eminently Pancrasian type, they declared
—first, that the infirmary was not in a bad state, and,
secondly, that its bad state was the result of Dr.
Ellis's plot. He, to bring discredit upon the tr, uar-
dians, had purposely " doctored " the wards. lie
had closed the ventilators, and made divers
arrangements for the manufacture of foul air and
the other discomforting influences complained of, not
omitting, we suppose, the rats. The guardians are
now asked to define these charges. But they protest
against having cast upon them the duty of a formal
prosecution, in which rigorous technical proof of
every point is demanded. " A master may often
have abundant cause to dismiss a servant without
being in a position to substantiate his conviction or
verify his observations." Is the case of this kind,
however ? Discredit was cast upon the Board, and
the Board cast it upon Dr. Ellis. They are now re-
quired to skew that the doctor is guilty, in order that
they may be proved innocent. The question seems
hardly one of dismissal.

irisu WORKHOPCE CHAPLAIN.

The 'Rev. Mr. Dunscombe, who is Protestant
chaplain of Macroom workhouse, King's County, has
thought it needful to give up the salary of his office,
and yet to continue its duties. He has nominally
resigned, partly because of the occasionally irksome
regulations of the Poor Law Commissioners, and
partly because of the small number of Protestant
inmates. As rector of the parish he still promises,
however, to minister to the spiritual wants of the
few persons of his religion who have the misfortune
to find themselves within the house, and neither the
Guardians nor the Commissioners raise any objection.
Mr. Dunscombe can at least claim credit for an act of
disinterested feeling which is not common.

UNDERTAKERS' MYSTERIES.

A. strange story was told at the Southwark Police-
court on Tuesday. ' A.- young man appealed to the
magistrate for assistance under the following circum-
stances. About twelve months ago he entrusted an
undertaker of South London to conduct the funeral of
his mother. Not having accommodation at home, the
body Was removed to the undertaker's to be placedin the
coffin. The applicant and others of the family attended
the funeral at Bow Cemetery, where they saw the
interment, believing the coffin to contain the
body of the mother only. lie was not undeceived
until a few days ago, when a man, who was at the
time of the funeral in the employ of the undertaker,
told him that the latter placed the bodies of three
children in the coffin with his mother, and_ they were
all buried together. The son straightway went to the
undertaker, who, according to the police-court story,
offered to return the whole of the money on condition
that the case was hushed up. The tradesman confessed
to putting one still-born baby in the coffin. This is
not the first time that such a tale has been told, and
on good foundation, too ; but there ought to be no
difficulty in ascertaining the truth. As the magis-
trate told the applicant, the Secretary of State could
grant power to have the coffin taken up. The young
man has expressed his intention of asking permission,

Government did not intend to make any reply to It, on
account of its recriminatory character.

AUSTRIAN AFFAIRS.

A Ministerial crisis is expected in Vienna. It is gene-
rally believed that the Government is in a complete state
of disunion. Count Giskra and his party in the Cabinet
are in favour of maintaining the present order of things,
while Count Taafo f:nd his friends propose to make large
concessions in order] to pacify the nationalities.
The pcsition. of Count Beust is a very awkward one. Ho
is in favour of the Constitution which he helped to create,
but, on the other hand, his political sagacity induces
him to uphold the doctrines of conciliation. He
is supposed to sway the balance of parties,
and his decision is looked for with interest.
He has had a long conference with the Emperor
since his return from the East. The North-East
Correspondent states that a Czech proclamation has been
published at Prague, which proposes the overthrow of the
Government, and calls upon the nation to support its
Dalmatian brt thrcn. General Roditch Las set out
fer Cattaro ills full powers to v.ct, and with considerable
sums of money to ceropenFate those persons who have
suffered by the insurrection. He will endeavour to pacify
the province by the promise of important concessions. The
Vienna Ca:ette has contradicted a despatch, which was said
to have been sent from Count Ecust to the Austrian Am-
bassador at Berlin, for the purpose of complaining against
the Prussian agitation in Bohemia.