The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-07 00:00:00

STRAND THEATRE.

At this elegant little theatre, which was re-opened for
the winter season last night, a petite comedy in one act, or
"piece tie earactere," was produced, entitled "The Last of
the Pigtails," and received with well-merited and complete
success. The plot rests upon the endeavours of a young
and fascinating wife, Lady Starchington. (Miss Swanbo-
rough), to reform and extirpate the antiquated notions of
her husband, Sir Noah Starchington (Mr. Selby), an old
beau, and substitute throughout his household, in lieu of
ancient prejudices and customs, modern improvements and
adornments, thereby occasioning continual turmoils, and in
his mansion a civil revolution. Contrasted with the stiff
habits of Sir Noah are those of the loose modern swell,
Mr. Swellington (Mr. Clark), whose extravagant costume,
especially his coat with gigot sleeves, and pegtop trousers,
must be seen to be appreciated ; and his pretty, prudish wife,
Mrs. Prim Rose Swellington (Miss M. Ternan), whom he
ultimately induces to discard her quaint cap and scanty gown,
and adopt, with a crinoline, a more fashionable dress, while
he at the same time casts off his extreme style and appears
more rationally clothed. The acting throughout this little
comedy was excellent, and the dialogue vivacious, droll,
and, in many parts, far above the average of pieces of this
description. Mr. Selby has never appeared to greater advan-
tage : the character of Sir Noah befits him to a nicety, while
that of Mrs. Tabitha Fidget is equally suited to Mrs. Selby,
who played it with admirable humour, finish, and tact.
Miss Swanborough, too, was very effective, and evinced
great improvement. Mr. J. Clarke and Mr. Bland, whose
eccentricities contributed much to the amusement of the
audience, obtained also its approbation. The author, Mr.
C. Selby, was unanimously cheered at the close.

The Braemar gathering takes place on Friday,
the 10th, when it is expected that the Queen and Prince
Consort will be present.

The steamer Teviot, with the heavy portion of
the Australian snails and £53,081 in gold, is expected at
Southampton on Thursday.
The Ceylon journals contain _ a long account of
the proceedings at the cutting of the first sod of the Ceylon
Railway, which was performed on the 3d August by his
Excellency, the Governor, in the presence of about 8,000
persons.

POLYGRAPHIC-HALL—Herr Wilj alba Frikell,'the
celebrated chief of the modern school of conjuring without
apparatus, commenced a series of performances last night
in the presence of a crowded audience.
THE HARVEST IN GLOUCESTERSIIIRE.—Harvest
operations in this county may be said to be ended, and on
the whole the crops are good and have been got in in prime
condition. ,-Within the last fortnight, however, the potato
disease has reappeared, and it is feared the yield will be
below an average. Other green and root crops are looking
well. The apple crop is light.
DEATH OF LADY ISABEL ANNE DASHWOOD.—
The only surviving daughter of James, 7th Earl of Lauder-
dale,
,Kreat grandfather of the .present peer, Ladylsabel
Anne Dashwood, died on Saturday last, at her residence in
Seamore-place. Her ladyship married, Ist July, 1793, Mr.
Francis Dashwood, of Hall-place, Bexley, Kent. Several
families of rank, including Mr. and Lady Mary Stanley,
Lady Eleanor Balfour, the Hon. Sir Anthony Maitland,
&c., are put in mourning.
RISE IN THE VALUE OF TAY SALMON FISIIINGS.
—The salmon fishings belonging to the city of Perth, were,
on Thursday, let by public roup, on a lease of three years,
at the annual rent of £1,390. The rent paid for the fishings
last year was only £B7O, making thus a rise upon the rental
for three years to come of £520.
FRIGHTFUL SUICIDE OF A FEMALE FROM WA-
TERLOO BRIDGE.—At five minutes before eleven o'clock
to-day an unfortunate female flunvherself from the fourth
recess from the Middlesex side of Waterloo Bridge into the
river, narrowly escaping the abutment. She was seen by
a lad, who was standing in the third recess, in the act of
falling. She afterwards came twice to the surface, but
went down to rise no more. She is described as a short
woman, dressed in dark clothes and bonnet. She wrapped
her shawl round her bonnet immediately before taking the
fatal plunge. A boat came up within little more than a
minute, but no appearance of the wretched creature could
be discovered.

DEATH OF MR. AHER, SUPERINTENDENT OF
REPAIRS.—This melancholy event took place on the night
of Friday the 23rd ultimo, at 10 o'clock, after a few days'
attack of fever. Mr. Aher came out here as an..assistant
engineer in the Baroda and Central India Railway Com-
pany. In October 1855 he was appointed Acting Superin-
tendent of Repairs on the &parture of Mr. Cony-
beare to England. The latter not having returned, Mr.
Aher was confirmed in the office, and continued to
conduct its duties up to withn a few days of his death.
Mr. Aher was a native of Ireland, and was of
quiet and unoffending marners ; and notwithstand-
ing the faults which the Municipal Commissioners now
and then chargel him with, ho was a man of business-like
habits and devoted a great prrtion of his time to his duties.
His remains was followed to the grave by a great number
of his sorrowful- friends. In consequence of the sudden
and melancholy death of Mr. Aher, the Superintendent of
Repairs, and the reported illness of Mr. Conn, his
assistant, and the wish of the Commissioners to avoid
embarrassing th-li succesam s under the New Act by making
any appointment at this time, they have deemed it
expedient to place the control of all works in the hands of a
sub-CoMArttVel cm:Agin of Pr, )34i§t wad Mr, liv.tchil-
Ha,

LATEST NEWS.

WEST COAST OF AFRICA.

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)

PLYMOUTH, TUESDAY MORNING.

The Royal African Mail steam-ship Ethiope,
Commander Croft, arrived in the Sound this morn-
ing. Her dates are—Fernando Po, July 29th;
Cameroons, 31st; Old Calabar, Aug. 3d; Bonny,
6th ; Lagos, Bth ; Accra, 10th ; Cape Coast, 11th ;
Liberia, 15th ; Sierra Leone, 19th ; Bathurst, 23d ;
Teneriffe, 29th; and Madeira, 31st.

The Ethiope brings 2,656 ounces of gold dust,
£224 sterling, 2:5,000 franc pieces, 264 dols., and
379 casks of palm oil.
Commander White from Sierra Leone and Capt.
Lock from the Gambia are among her 30 passen-
gers, who have presented Capt. Croft with a valu-
able telescope for courteous attention during the
voyage.

At Sierra Leone trade is stagnant, and not likely
to recover, as the King of Tootah has closed the
passes into the Moria country. Hides, 71cl. to Bd. ;
palm oil, ls. 10d. per gallon ; nut oil, ls. 6d. ; palm
nuts, 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. per bushel ; camwood £8 to
£2O per ton.

There is some improvement in the weather.
The lady of the Bishop of Sierra Leone died on
the 4th of August, after giving birth to a son.

Disturbances have occurred in the Port Locho
and Ro Pett districts, several lives lost, and many
natives carried off prisoners.
Her Majesty's paddle-wheel steamship Hecla, 6,
Commander Aplin ; the paddle-wheel steamship
Myrmidon, Commander Robinson ; and Spanish
war steamer, with the Governor on board, were at
Fernando Po ; the brig Childers, 12, Commander
Swinburn ; the paddle-wheel steamvessel Trident,
6, Commander Close ; and the gunboat Teazer, were
-at Sierra Leone.

The Sardinian brig-of-war Colombo, Commander
the Marquis Manstaca, was there on the 6th of

August.

On the 20th the Ethiope supplied coal to the
steamer Rainbow, belonging to the Niger expedi-

tion.

The African Mail Company's steamship Gambia
was spoken on the 14th of August, bound to the
Cape Coast, and the American, on the 30th, for
Teneriffe.

The merchant barque Genevieve, Captain Portal,
has been totally wrecked off the Island Matacong.
The brigantine Neophyte, which sailed July 6,
for Liverpool, returned on the 20th, to Sierra
Leone, having lost the master and all the crew,
several persons, from jungle fever. She was
brought back by two native seamen, super-

numeraries.

At Old Calabar the Africa, Paramatta at
Abeona ; at Sierra Leone the barques Enterprise
and Speculation, brigs Ben Campbell and Talbot,
schooners Robert Heddles, Emily, Elizabeth Marr,
Reive, Augusta, Maggie Walker, Malalong, and
Uncle Nat.