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 purchased 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 th's 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'lmprinurie gives
a list of S 1 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 the Spaniards are far behind
the French. A Spanish paper of this kind is always
a four-page demy 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 had 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 Neuva Theria of Madrid presented a melan-
choly spectacle after it had left the hands of this func-
tionary. Even the local news was tampered with ;
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 IVisbeach magistrates are investigating a case
of suspected poisoning. Robert Sheckles died suddenly, and
his son has confessed in a heerhouse ho killed him and got
his money, and then offered a reward to keep the confession
secret. The stomach was sentfor analysis, and the eon 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. Brown's best mile was done in 4.29, and
the horse's, 2.471.—New York Times, May 12.
NORWICH MUSICAL FESTIVAL.—This festival
will commence on Monday evening, Angus
Signor3o, B Theet-
principal vocalists already engaged are Mdlle. Titiens
Mdlle. Dina di Murska, Mdlle. Trebelli, Mdlle. Chere;
Talbot, Mr. Vernon Rigby, Mr. Cummings,
t , Mr.
more S aanctt a l ey ,s
and Signor
conductor.
The
pApl
rr
0.
al:
he
ig festival
nned ic t wil
oncel
will be the sixteenth triennial musical gathering held at
Norwich.

The New York papers just to hand contain parti-
culars of a terrific conflagration that recently occurred in the
manufacturing district of Paterson, New Jersey. Tho fire
broke out at one o'clock p.m. in the waste house of Michael
Morris, on Jersey-street, near the Mnrray silk mill. Tho
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 blind-
ing with alarming rapidity. The burning cinders set fire to
the roofs of many houses half a mile distant. The 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 employ6es 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
„Wm.,