The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-28 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

THE PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND.--Uenry Good-
enough, a messenger at the Crystal Palace, was brought
up at the Lambeth Police-court on remand, charged with
stealing £1 ls., a post-office order for £2 25., and a batch of
cheques, representing a sum of nearly £7O, the moneys of
the Palestine Exploration Fund, of which Mr. Groves, the
secretary of the Crystal Palace Company, is the honorary
secretary. The prisoner was entrusted with the money
and cheques mentioned to pay into the Union Bank of
London, and in consequence of a communication in respect
of some sums previously entrusted to the prisoner with the
same object, and which had not been accounted for, the
prisoner was taken to the bank, but did not succeed in
identifying the clerk to whom he alleged he had paid in
the money, and consequently he was given into custody.
Since the remand, the prisoner having made a statement
explaining the destruction of the cheques but admitting
taking the cash, an arrangement Wa3 made, and the
prosecution was withdrawn. The prisoner was therefore
liberated.

CHILD MURDER.-At the Glasgow United Circuit
Court, Eliza Gilchrist Brown was charged with •having on
Sunday, 26th May, administered to Jessie 2ndrew Brown,
her daughter, a child under 7 months old, a quantity of
laudanum, in consequence whereof the said child died. It
appeared that the prisoner's brother-in-law had brought
into the house a quantity of laudanum, fur the toothache,
and that he left it on the mantelshelf. When he required
it again he could not find it, and on making inquiries,
prisoner confessed that she had given it to the child, and
it would be better if it went to heaven. Medical evidence
shewed that the prisoner was insane, and had been an
inmate of an asylum, and the jury having intimated that
they thought her of unsound mind, she was ordered to be
confined until her Majesty's pleasure concerning her
should be known.

BRUTAL ASSAULT ON A CHILD BY ITS FATHER.—At
the Police-court, Burslem, on Tuesday, William Vena-
bles, labourer, was charged with assaulting his child,
Sarah Venables, 10 years of age. The child's arms were
discoloured and much swollen, and there was a severe cut
on the back of her head. Eliza Brown stated that on the
previous day, hearing dreadful screams in the prisoner's
house, she got over a wall and saw the prisoner beating the
girl about the head with a boot. The witness believed the
prisoner was beating the child in that way because she
had not cleaned his best boots properly. The stepmother
of the children also abused the children. A police-con-
stable, who was attracted by a crowd near to prisoner's
house, went in, and finding the child's head bleeding and
its right arm bruised and swollen from the elbow to the
wrist, and the left hand much swollen, took the prisoner
into custody. The magistrate, after remarking on the
brutality of the assault, sentenced him to three months'
imprisonment with hard labour.
HEAVY DAMAGES FROM THE MIDLAND RAILWAY C6ll-
- George Dean, an elastic web manufabturer, at
Derby, has received £2,800 as compensation for serious
injury received by him on the Midland Railway, in April
last, when the train in which he was a passenger from
Derby to Manchester ran into a goods train at Guide
Bridge.
MURDER BY A REJECTED SUITOR.—At Ashton-under-
Lyne, on Thursday, a young man named Timothy Faherty
was brought up on the charge of having, on the Christmas
Day, wilfully murdered Mary Hanmer. The evidence went
to shew that the prisoner wanted to pay his addresses to the
murdered woman, but was discouraged. On Christmas Day,
between three and four o'clock, he went to her house. A
woman, named Bridget Brodrick, left deceased and pri-
soner alone, but not long after she heard a scream. On
running downstairs she saw the prisoner with a poker in
his hand, and saw him strike the deceased on the head.
The unfortunate woman died soon afterwards. The witness
said she saw the prisoner strike the deceased five times ou
the head. The evidence having proved that the deceased's
death was caused by wounds on the head, the prisoner was
remanded.

Some statistics were given at a meeting of the
York Chamber of Agriculture, shewing the destructive
effects of the cattle plague. It was estimated that 4,286,427
head of cattle had been lost by the rinderpest, or 1,874,672
more than were imported from the Ist January, 1842, to
the end of last year. Resolutions wereadopted, expressing
the belief that the importation of foreign stock was the
principal cause of the unhealthy state of English stock
during the last twenty-four years, and recommending that
all foreign animals should be slaughtered at the ports of
debarkation.
CANTEEN ECONOMY.—The distribution of the
surplus funds realised by the military canteens at Chat-
ham, since they have been taken from the hands of private
contractors and conducted by the military authorities,
has been made to the noncommissioned officers and
troops by the Canteen Committee. The committee distri-
buted ss. each to the general and garrison staff-sergeants,
2s. to each married sergeant, and ls. each to the single
men of the battalions. The officers of each of the corps
in garrison at the same time subscribed very liberally to
enable the troops to keep the Christmas holidays in the
customary festive manner.
FLOGGINGS IN NEWGATE.—Three men have just
been flogged in Newgate, for highway robberies with vio-
lence, in the presence of Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Stone;
Mr. Jonas, the governor ; and Mr. J. Rowland Gibson,
the surgeon. William Turner, a man of 33, who had been
convicted at the last sessions of the Central Criminal
Court, was sentenced by Mr. Commissioner Ker to ten
years' penal servitude, with thirty-nine lashes, for a rob-
bery with violence upon Josiah Sherwood. William
Osborn and Michael Donovan, each of the age of 19, and
described as labourers, received each a sentence of five
years' penal servitude and twalty lashes, after a trial for
-highway robbery before the Common Serj cant. The pro-
secutor in their case was Mr. Half ord, a jeweller, of Paul's.
alley, Aldersgate-street, who, on passing through White-
cross-street on the morning of Sunday, December 15,
observed that he was being followed by four men. He
stopped, but was immediately knocked down by one of
them, while the rest rifled his pockets, and after stealing
£4 9s. they all rag away. The two prisoners, however,
ran into the arms of a policeman in a court in the neigh•
bourhood, and with assistance they were taken to a police
station. The prosecutor's arm was broken in the fall. On
the trial they both denied their guilt, but were neverthe-
less convicted. They received very bad characters from
• the police.

—A
DAPTED for PERSONS of all CLASSES;

LONDON, SATURDAY, DEC. 28, 1867.

Thanks to the Atlantic Cable and the frequent
mails we are kept pretty well au courant with the
course of American politics. Time was when the
names of transatlantic statesmen, with very few
exceptions, were absolutely strange to English
readers, and when the very cognomens of the rival
parties were almost unknown to them. Now, how-
ever, all is changed, and the great war which at
one time threatened to produce an open rupture
between the two Anglo-Saxon nations has at least
had one beneficial effect. It has drawn England
and America nearer together, and by familiarising
each people with the daily life of the
other, and increasing their mutual interest and
knowledge, it has helped materially to remove and
lessen those prejudices which had their origin in
misapprehension and misunderstanding. It will
henceforth be less easy for interested agitators to
stir up antagonistic feelings, less easy to misrepre-
sent the words of diplomatists, the acts of states-
men, or the debates of legislators. Already these
results have been in some degree attained. A week
or two since, when Mr. CHANDLER made his ill-
advised and intemperate speech in the Senate, recom-
mending the fitting out of Abyssinian privateers, Mr.
REVERDY JOHNSON, one of the foremost men in the
Senate and at the bar, rose in his place and declared
that a war with England would be a great national
misfortune. Lord STANLEY'S words last session in
the English Parliament were not less emphatic,
when he affirmed that those who, by tongue or pen,
fostered misunderstandings between this country
and the United States, were the worst enemies of
both. It is a great thing to have got rid of some
long-standing prejudices and preconceived notions,
which, for a generation or two, had stood in the way
of a better feeling on both sides. For a much longer
period a bitter hostility was maintained between
England and France, but the rapid advance of
education which familiarised each with the other's
language, and consequently with the journals and
commentaries of the day, and, still more, the faci-
lities for modern travelling, which brought French-
men into England and sent Englishmen into
France, have altered all that. Steam has now well
nigh bridged the Atlantic, and the constant com-
munication between this country and the United
States will do more to promote united good feeling
than a host of lectures and addresses.

It is gratifying to find, from the intelligence
brought by the China from Nev York on the 17th,
that the House of Representatives has rtfased by
83 to 55 to suspend the rules iu order to receive a
resulution offered by Mr. IIt;LLER, for payment of
the Public Debt in currency. A similar resolution
is still before the Committee of Ways and Means,
but it will, we hope, meet with a similar fate. The
national credit is surely worth some sacrifice, and
the Americans may depend upon it that any such
scheme of repudiation, either whole or partial,
would in the end prove a very costly experiment.

Another vote of the House of Representatives
was less to their credit ; but as it was a strict
party division it has less significance. By 111
to 32 a resolution was passed declaring the
adhesion of Congress to the Reconstruction Act,
and censuring the PRESIDENT for recommending
its repeal. As we have said this vote has little
weight, for the sentiments of the majority of the
representatives were pretty well known, and it
was not likely they would reverse their former
action. The members
_can hardly delude them-
selves into the belief that their scheme has worked
well either as regards the rehabilitation of social
and commercial order, or as to the relations be-
tween the races. In Mississippi great uneasiness
prevails, and General HUMPIIREYS has issued a
proclamation referring to the common ap-
prehension that the negroes in that State
were forming conspiracies to seize forci-
bly upon lands "unless they should be
distributed among them by Congress by the lst
of January. The proclamation warns the negroes o
the impossibility of any such distribution, and also
cautions them that any such attempt on their part
will be discovered and frustrated. He urges the
negroes to work and obey the laws, and calls upon
the whites to give them their full rights. The
unwillingness of the negroes to work is one of the'
most serious difficulties with which the authorities
civil and military, have to contend. There
seems, however, to be more unanimity than for-
merly between the State Governors and the dis-
trict commanders. This may be partly due
to the influence of General GRANT, and partly to
the increased sense of the gravity of the situation.
In the case of Mississippi, for instance, General
ORD has endorsed the proclamation of Govern or
HumnPREYs, and has instructel General GILLE M,
his subordinate, promptly to arrest any white men
found inciting the negroes to violence, and to assist
the civil authorities in protecting property and in
maintaining order. It is necessary for those in
power to repress such outbreaks with a vigorous
hand, since absolute collisions are not unfre-
quent, and often attended with loss of life.
Iu a recent fight between whites and
blacks in:Georgia, the sheriff of the place
was killed, and in every such riot there
has been more than one life lo t. Their fregnent
recurrence, too, has a most mischievous effect upon
the internal prosperity of the country. There can
b little chance of restoring confidence, or of in-

clueing capitalists to make investments southwards,
so long as civil order cannot be maintained. In
Louisiana the long continued distress appears to
have reached its climax, and great destitution is
reported. Thousands of persons, it is said, are in
danger of starvation. The notion of famine in any
part of those vast and fertile, yet thinly populated
States seems not a little strange to English ears.
There could scarcely be a more forcible illustration
of the wretched system of Government which has
allowed such a fine territory to sink into so melan-
choly a condition. With the broad corn fields of
the West, and the rapid means of transit every-
where available through the States, the wholesale
starvation in any part of America should surely be
impossible. Whether as regards the finances of the

THE

SUN,

North or the produce of the South Radical legisla-
lation seems about equally unsatisfactory.

Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE has received intelli-
gence from Colonel MEREWETHER at Senafe up
to the 13th of December, at which date all was
going on well. He hal heard from the captives at
Magdala, and it is most satisfactory to learn that
they were well at that time, the 11th of November,
and had received the news of the expedition being
on its way. The KING, it is said, has not been able
to advance more than thirty miles from Debra
Tabor in consequence of being encumbered with too
much baggage, and also with having great oppo-
sition to encounter. This is very good news
for the captives and their friends, and
tends to increase the hopes of those who are fur-
thering the expedition for their release. Subse-
quent accounts further on also seem to show that
King THEODORE is not likely to treat the prisoners
worse in consequence of the succour that is being
despatched to them. Indeed it is intimated that
of late they have been better used by the KING.
This confirms the opinion entertained by Lord
STANLEY that King THEotlout was too
wary to commit himself by harsh usage of
the captives just when the forces of our So-
vereign were being sent to their rescue.
Mr. FLAD, who is with these prisoners, has sent
information to the effect that the KING has taken
with him all the prisoners who were at Debra
Tabor, all the Europeans besides, some of whom
are free and some in chains. The women and
children are all well. Accounts from Alexandria
report the sad intelligence of the death of Colonel
KENNEDY, C. 8., Assistant Commissary-General on
service in Egypt in connection with the Abyssinian
expedition. He died on the 18th December. So
far as we can gather from the collective
accounts that have reached us, we may
consider that the expedition as yet has prospered as
well as can be expected, ant there is every reason
to hope for its success, notwithstanding the sinister
predictions in which some are prone to indulge.
The truth is that there have been many exaggera-
tions in the matter, and the difficulties which are
inseparable from such an undertaking have been
magnified to an absurd degree. With care and
foresight, and the exercise of skill and spirit, there
is no cause to fear that any other but a prosperous
issue will be come to, and the captives return to their
homes in safety.

OUR readers may remember that the nitro-
glycerine which exploded at Newcastle with such
lamentable results was manufactured by Mr. A.
NOBEL, at Hamburg. This gentleman has written
to thennes in reference to the event, and to the
agent by which it was brought about. The gene-
ral purport of his letter is to the effect that
nitro-glycerine is a comparatively safe substance,
its principal drawback being a bad reputation.
As a set-off to that frightful illustration
of its power given on the Newcastle Town
Moor, Mr. NOBEL assures us that it is used
without any injurious consequences in Norway and
Sweden ; and to shew that it by no means deserves
its hard name, he enumerates a series of accidents
and attributes which have been wrongly attributed
to it. Unfortunately for Mr. NOBEL, we have to
deal with the terrible fact that this nitro-glycerine,
which ought not to have exploded, did explode,
and that five persons, one of them a professional
chemist, lost their lives in saving Newcastle from
an appalling danger. It could be no consolation
for what has happened, but it might have been
somewhat reassuring, if Mr. NOBEL had shown that
the accident occurred through the neglect of some
obvious precaution. The ease against nitro-glycerine
is strengthened by his failing to do so. Mr. NOBEL
contends that the late explosion was owing to
the want of useful knowled6e " as to the pro-
perties of nitro-glycerine. pro-
, if :mai is the
fact, it does not remove the necessity for all the
restrictions we have de unaided. If, as several
competent persons say, the new blasting oil pos-
sesses real advantages over gunpowder, and is in
some respects safer in mining operations, let it be
used, but only when the conditions of safety can
be guaranteed or the danger incurred only by those
who understand what they are doing.
One sentence in Mr. NOBEL'S letter throws some
additional light on the disaster at Newcastle. "As
regards nitro-glycerine," he writes, " the congealed
crystals, to be exploded, require a far more potent
blow than the liquid oil ; and it was probably
owing to adhering drops of the latter that the
Newcastle explosion took place." This sentence
contains a very probable explanation of the cata-
strophe, but does it tend in the slightest degree
to lessen what Mr. NOBEL calls our prejudice
against nitro-glycerine ? Normally this compound
is in a liquid state. Is it reassuring to be told
that it is ten times more dangerous when liquid
than when frozen ? Could the danger of hand-
ling it be more forcibly put than by the admission
that the loss of life now deplored was due to the ex-
cessive explosiveness of a few drops of the liquid oil?
After this admission it is unnecessary to answer the
unfounded charges made against nitro-glycerine.
It is manifestly an agent against which th'e public
ought to be protected with the most sedulous care.
Mr. NOBEL'S pleas for " liberal regulations " to
allow of its use and transit, founded on the fact
that sometimes crystals may be crushed without
exploding, are nothing to the purpose after what
has occurred at Newcastle, at Aspinwall, and
at San Francisco. The danger of using
the oil for blasting purposes may have
been exaggerated, but its general bad name
is too well deserved. Its reputation has become
bad only in consequence of its effects. We may
have in modified forms of this new substance an
agent for mining or military puiposes of the utmost
value. As it is now manufactured and sold, all protes-
tations to the contrary notwithstanding, its use is
precarious, and its carriage extremely dangerous. No
penalties, it seems to us, can be too severe against
the incautious sale and storage of an element thus
circumstanced. It will be well when the inhabi-
tants of large towns have some better guarantee
than they have at present that dangers like
that to which Newcastle has just been awakened
have been rendered morally impossible by the
ition of the most stringent regulations.

All the precautions that have been taken against
the Fenians are more than justified by the events
which are constantly recorded. If one thing is
more certain than another in this consriracy it is
that its abetters stop short at no consideration of
difficulty or danger, and display a zeal and ingenuity
worthy of a better cause. The last news is that
they have been very busy in Ireland again, and
have succeeded in capturing some Government
stores. From Cork it is reported that a body of
insurgents crossed the river from Passage West, and
took the guard by surprise who were in charge
of the Government Martello Tower, which consisted
of two artillerymen ; they carried off a number of
muskets and a quantity of ammunition, and in pos-
session of these they recrossed the river. Iu Killar-
ney three men have been arrested ; one of them is
the secretary of the funeral procession, and the
others shopmen's assistants. These have been sent
to the county gaol at Tralee under a strong escort,
Both these circumstances show that the mischief is
still rife, and great caution must be observed to
check its course, for at times;and seasons when least
expected, it may create confusion and distress to an
incalculable degree. An attempt was made to burn
the letters in the General Post-office, but fortunately
only some were destroyed; however it shows the
mischievous design that pervades these culprits to
be thus constantly interferingiwith the transaction,
of business.

A letter from Mr. MAGUIRE will be read with in-

LONtiON. SATUROAV EVENING,

terest. He states that, as one result of the deputa-
tion to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Thurs-
day, the Lord Mayor has consented to receive sub-
scriptions
at the Mansion House towards the fund
for relieving the sufferers at Clerkenwell, and has
permitted his name to be placed on the list of the
committee. In consequence of the suggestion of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the rev. gentleman
offers some brief statement of the position of affairs.
" One whole street is in ruins, fourteen other
streets, containing two hundred houses, are more or
less shattered ; six hundred families look to us for
reparation and comfort, forty persons lie badly
wounded in the hospitals, there has been loss of
homes, clothing, tools, costly working materials ;
add to these health impaired, limbs lost, and lives
forfeited, and now the cost of these evil doings is
estimated at between twelve thousand and fifteen
thousand pounds. We fully agree with the subse-
quent passage of this letter, to the effect that
the responsive sympathy of the nation would
be the most satisfactory mode of treating
the calamity ; a loyal protest would be borne by
Englishmen as well as Irishmen against Fenianism,
and the smallest contributions would testify to the
feelings entertained as to the nature and object of
the perpetrators of these outrages. The swearing
in of special constables still proceeds with alacrity,
and up to yesterday as many as 8,090 persons had
been sworn in at Guildhall as special constables.
Some of the Volunteers have been sworn in, which
is an excellent arrangement, as they are so well
qualified to render assistance when required.
Some alarms having been experienced at
the Marshand Magazine, near Southampton,
the most decided measures have been adopted for
the prevention of any outrage, and armed police-
men and sentries surround it. I❑ various parts of
the country alarming rumours have been circulated,
and anonymous letters been received, in consequence
of which steps have been taken to counteract the
evil threatened. On the whole, it may be said that
no efforts seem spared to insure the safety of the
public from the machinations of the evil-disposed
among us ; and in due time it is to be hoped that
the efforts of the authorities, aided by the exertions
of the community, will be crowned with success, and
that the plague of Fenianism may be rooted out
from among us.

DECEMBER 28,

1867.

TEE .eII3YSSIIVIAN EXPEDITION.

•
Interesting and valuable information is now being sent
tows from Abyssinia. The Times special correipowlent
writes from Rayray Guddy, near Senafe. After leaving
Upper Sooroo the character of the road was completely
changed. The pass widened into a valley, and was covered
with copse enough to furnish some for Lame. The moun-
tains grew loftier, though as precipitous ; the acacia, the
tamarisk, and tamarind were seen along the line of
march. "As night came on," says the Times corre-
spondent, " occasional fires, glimmering through the dark-
ness out of some bushy recess on the mountain side, told
where a wandering Shoho had fixed his hut, and, as our
long line of well-laden baggage animals presented rather
a temptation to gentlemen of easy virtue and no par-
ticular residence, it was some satisfaction to feel that Shoho
and Great Britain were just now fast friends and allies.
The Shoho's arms are a long spear, which he can throw
with precision thirty yards, a round buckler of buffalo-
hide about 21 feet in diameter, and a curved sword worn
on the right thigh. As the station of Rayray Guddy was
approached the route lay through narrow tortuous, defiles,
with windings so incessant as to more than double the dis-
tance. The existence, says the writer already referred to, of
such a pass up into Abyssinia as the Koomaylee is cer-
tainly a wonderful piece of luck for our force. "There is,
I am told by professional men, no other pass known in the
world by which so great a height is attained at so gradual
an ascent. Senafe, at the summit of the pass, is as nearly
as possible 7,000 feet, and the ascent is, on an average,
about lin 41. The natural obstacles are, moreover, very
few and far between, as your readers may have judged
from my account, although, certainly, I did not see the
pass Rntil the 10th Native Infantry—who have set a first-
rate example by the energy with which they have thrown
themselves into work out of their own line—had been
road-making over a great portion of it, and until by far
the most difficult part had been admirably handled by a
company of Sappers, under the direction of Lieut. Jopp.
The path is extremely narrow—at some places I should
think not twenty feet from cliff to cliff—and immense
blocks of granite, hard enough to turn the best tools, have
been washed down by the torrent into the midst of it.
These torrents, by the way, arc only considered dangerous
during the prevalence of the highland rains in Abyssinia,
from about June to September. During the lowland
rains on the coast, which ought to commence in Novem-
ber (the Abyssinians say that they have been kept back
because God is displeased at the English invasion),
and which last till January, the flood is very rarely
sufficient to fill the bed of the torrent or do serious
mischief, unless it were to stores of food too heavy to be
at once moved. Besides, we hope to have established
very shortly between Senafe and Annesley Bay a tele-
graph, which will outstrip even the torrent, and give
timely warning to all below of its resistless charge.
Except this difficult bit of road at Lower Sooroo, the Koo-
maylee Pass presents scarcely any difficulty worth men-
tioning. The Rayray Guddy defile will make some
tough work requisite, and there is said to be a steep
--and, considering the general character of the Koo-
maylee Pass, very sudden —ascent from here to Senafe.
It will also be necessary to establish in some way
a water supply between Upper Sooroo and Ray-
ray Guddy. The distance—some twenty-nine miles—
cannot otherwise be got over, without risk of casualties,
by baggage-animals heavily laden. But none of these
difficulties are formidable, and there is every reason to
hope that our troops, instead of remaining on the hot and
during the rainy season malarious plain below, will be
moved in succession with ease from depat to depOt esta-
blished along the Koomaylee Pass, until they arrive at the
healthy table land of Abyssinia. A messenger named
Murdja Wurk6, who spoke English fluently, having been
educated in Bombay, came into camp here this
afternoon (December 4th) with a letter to Colonel
Merewether from Kassai, supposed to be now the
most powerful chief in Tigre. Abyssinian politics
are in such a hopeless state of complication that I
scarcely dare to touch upon them, but, according to
all I can learn from those who know the country, our
diplomatists will have very difficult cards to play ; and it
is fortunate that we have in Colonel Merewether one who
has for some time made the Abyssinian question his special
study. There seems to be a number of great feudal chiefs
in the country, all regarding Theodore, notwithstanding
his recent reverses, with a strange superstitious awe, but
all prepared on his overthrow by foreign arms to fly at
each other's throats, and fight to the death for the Im-
perial supremacy he once enjoyed. It is probable that
most, if not all, of these will try to secure our alliance,
iu the hope of obtaining by it dominion over their rivals."
Senafe has been frequently mentioned. It consists of

two or three small clusters of wretched hovels stowed away
under the shelter of the mountain side. They arc built
of clay, stuck with rough stones, are only about seven feet
in height, with flat roofs, which must lead a hard life in
the rainy season, but are of considerable length and
breadth, having to hold all the proprietor's cattle and
sheep, as well as the more immediate members of Lis
family. No invidious distinction, however, is made be-
tween his quadrupeds and his blood relations. The
former, in consideration of their number and size, have
by far the largest share of the ai3artment assigned to
them, while a small space, marked off with stakes and
twisted grass, is reserved as the parlour, bedroom, dining-
room, and kitchen of the latter. The latest news from
Abyssinia is dated December 13th, and consists of a letter
from Colonel Merewether to Sir Stafford Northcote. Ali
was going on well ; the captives were well ; King Theo-
dore had not been able to advance more than thirty miles
from Debra Tabor.

A mass of interesting and useful information concerning
Abyssinia, which has been compiled at the Topograhica:
and Statistical Department of the War Office by Lieute
Colonel A. C. Cooke, C. 8., R.E., appears to-day in
the form of a Blue-book. The object of this compilation
is to collect together the information on the routes in
Abyssinia which is scattered through the works of dilie-
rent travellers. The following notes on the army and
fortresses of Abyssinia have been communicated by Capt.
Webber, R.E., and Capt. Hobart, R.A., who received
the information from M. Legean, who was French Vico-
Consul at Massowah in 1863 :—ln the army the battalion is
the unit. It consists nominally of 1,000 men, and is
commanded by a chief and numerous under officers. The
fighting straigth only amounts to 250 well-armed men,
and about 150 to 200 half-armed followers, the remainder
being merely servants. A thousand rations are drawn for
each battalion, the number including about 250 women.
There is no attempt to carry artillery in the field, but they
have many guns and mortars in the forts, or "ambas."
Monsieur Legean considers that the Abyssinians are
brave even to temerity, and that they would not in the
first instance try to defend the passes, but would rather
allow an army to enter the country and attack them in the
open field. He speaks of having witnessed reviews and
sham fights. The irregular army is the feudal following
of the great chiefs, and its numbers depend on the
willingness of the chiefs to obey the Emperor's summons.
They might amount to nearly 100,000 men. The hill forts,
or ambas, occupy the summits of small table mountains,
where water is to be had. They are scarped on all sides,
and have only one means of access--by a winding ascent.
It is rarely necessary to fortify the summits, or build a
rampart. M. Legean considered them impregnable to
assault and unassailable by mining operations. They
could generally, however, be taken by stratagem. Their
garrisons only consist of 300 or 400 men, and their chief
use is as depots, &c. The greatest number of them being
to the south, they are not likely to prove an obstacle early
in the campaign.

A GOOD EXAMPLE. —The directors of the Nationa.
Provincial Bank of England have ordered a bonus of ten
per cent. to be presented to the officers and clerks of the
company upon their salaries fcr the year 1867.

COLLISION ON THE CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.-A
collision took place on the Caledonian Railway on Thurs-
day, which, although fortunately attended with little per-
sonal injury, was of a somewhat alarming character. It
appears that as the train which leaves Motherwell at
12.10 p.m. was nearing Jerviston Bridge, an engine was
observed coming out of a siding, and seemed likely to run
right into the advancing carriages. The driver of the pas
sender train pulled sharply up, but a collision could not
be avoided, although the violence of the shock was doubtless
lessened by his promptitude. As it was the carriages were
badly smashed, a number of them being thrown off the
rails. The passengers were knocked about and much
irightened. The conduct of the driver of the engine in
leaving the siding without, as we are informed, having
authority to do so, is most reprehensible, and will doubt-
less be made the subject of inquiry by the company.—
Gla,vo iv Herald.

Tin HOMELESS Poon. Friday was the
Christmas-d:iy of the homeless poor of London. About
ten days ago a dinner was provided at the Refuge for
Homeless Boys, Great Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields,
to which some 400 or 450 destitute children had been
invited. On Friday another reunion of a similar
character was held at the Refuge, and in no part of the
metropolis was Christmas celebrated with greater intensity
of happiness. The Refuge at Queen-street is rapidly
extending its benevolent influences, and no less than sixty
children have been received within its walls during the
current month. As we stated some time ago, the com-
mittee of management have purchased a farm at Risley,
near Woking, but £5,000 will be required to provide the
buildings necessary for utilising the newly-attained pro-
perty. A transfer to the farm of fifty of those at present
in the Refuge is contemplated, but this cannot be done
until the necessary funds are provided.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

The return of the Minotaur to Portsmouth from

her lengthened cruise offers a favourable opportunity
for noticing the experimental trials that have been
made on board with gun-training gear. That other
than the ordinary mechanical appliances for working
guns were reluired to control the movements of
modern heavy broadside guns was soon discovered
when 6/ and 12-ton guns were mounted on the broad-
wide, and the question arose as to the best method of
applying improved mechanical power for this pur-
pose. Two gentlemen, Mr. Cuniugham (of patent
topsail fame) and Captain R. Scott, R.N., with the
sanction of the Admiralty, entered the lists in
friendly rivalry to attain this object, and the plans
of both have since been fully and fairly tested.
Mr. Cunningham appears to have been the first
who went thoroughly into the matter, as in
1862 he carried out a series of experiments
on board the gunnery ship Excellent with a com-
pressor, in which be introduced the principle of
large friction surfaces to check the gun's recoil, in
lieu of the old-fashioned claw and riband arrange-
ment, and this compressor was worked for some
time very successfully with the breech-loading
110-pounder Armstrong. In the same year he took
out a patent for sundry methods for working heavy
guns, including an endless chain for running
guns in and out, the chain revolving on the slide,
and connected with four compressors or nippers
on the carriage. Capt. Scott, too, soon afterwards
brought out a somewhat similar plan. The four
12-ton guns mounted on the main deck of
the Minotaur may be looked upon as com-
petitive guns during the last cruise of the ship they
having been fitted experimentally with different
descriptions of training gear, &c. The after 12-ton
gun on the port side of the deck is fitted with
Mr. Cunningham's combined running in and out
and traversing gear. The plan is very simple
and works the gun most efficiently. Upon the
rear end of the slide is fixed a winch furnished
with chain and clutch wheels. Upon the tra-
versing bolt on the slide are blocks, with
single traversing chains leading through them.
When the gun has to be run in the chains
are put on the clutch wheels, which being turned
round by the winch handle and back and pinion
wheels, draws the gun and its carriage up the
slide. To change again 'to traversing gear, the
running-in chains are thrown off and the tra-
versing chains put in to the clutch wheels. No-
thing can apparently exceed the extreme sim-
plicity of this plan, and together with that is
the important advantage that it can be fitted
on board a ship, thus avoiding the expense and
delay of sending the carriage and slide ashore to
a factory. This gun was fitted by Mr. Cunning-
ham when the Minotaur was lying at Spithead,
previous to sailing on her cruise last spring, in
less than an hour's time. When Admiral Farragut
visited the Minotaur at Lisbon he greatly admired
this plan for traversing and running in and
out heavy ordnance when mounted on a ship's
broadside. The other 12-ton gun on the port side
of the Minotaur's deck is also fitted with gear de-
signed by Mr. Cunningham—a detached traversing
gear; that is, with the motive power detached and
separate from the carriage, a form of traverse held by
many experienced gunners to be the best of all, as
it leaves the gun quite clear. The men in using
this gear are kept quite away from the gun, and
Are, in a great measure, out of harm's way when a
shot chances to enter the port. The crew of this
gun speak very highly of its traversing gear, and
profess to have beaten all the other guns
with it in point of time in traversing. Mr.
Cunningham fitted this gear to the gun nearly three
years since, and it remains now in perfect working
order. The running in and out provision of the gun
are on the endless chain principle, as applied by
Capt. Scott, and are of a very efficient character.
the traversing arrangements of the two 12-ton
guns on the starboard side of the ship's decks is
on Capt. Scott's plan, and is markedly different
from the plan followed by Mr. Cunningham.
Capt. Scott traverses his two guns by means of mas-
sive toothed and curved metal castings fixed to the
deck, on which a bevil wheel upon a spindle on the

Slide works. On the foremost of the two guns
the crank handle which turns the spindle is at
the rear of the slide. With the aftermost gun
the crank handle is fixed at the side, the motion
being conveyed by an endless screw. Both these
guns are run in and out by endless chains fitted on

Capt. Scott's plan. It will be at once seen that Capt.
Scott's arrangements for traversing his guns are
much more perfect as pieces of machinery than those

of Mr. Cunningham. - There is perhaps a trifle too
much of engineering skill bestowed upon them. Mr
Cunningham appears to have based all his arrange-
ments upon simplicity and the use of the smallest
possible number of working parts. In this he has
been eminently successful. There is nothing in
any part of the fitting, but what can be applied,
changed, or repaired by an ordinary ship's smith
or armourer and at once understood by the sea-
man. In addition to the evident superiority of the
Cunningham over the Scott metnod of traversing
and running in and out the guns in point of sim-
plicity, it has also the advantage in point of cost ;
the Cunningham gear, it being understood, can be
titt-d to a gun for £3O, whereas the Scott gear
would cost between £2OO and £3OO. The tests to
which the gear of all four guns have been submitted
on board the Minotaur have been of a very severe
character, a large number of rounds having been
fired from each with heavy service charges, and
under all conditions of sea and weather.

THE IRISH IN ENGLAND.-At the last census in
1861, among the 20,066,224 persons found in England and
Wales, 601,634 were natives of Ireland, being nearly three
in every 100. At the preceding census in 1851 the number
was not quite so large, being only a little over 2.9 per
100. One thing, however, must not be overlooked-that
the children born in England of Irish parents are counted
among the English people, and that, partly at least as the
result of this, an unusually large proportion of the Irish
in England-in 1861 nearly five-sixths-are adults of
20 years; and upwards. Reckoning only males the
census of 1861 shows 9,776,259 male persons of all ages in
England, and among themwere 298,729 natives of Ireland,
being 3 per cent. of the whole number ; but the Irishmen
in England 20 years old or upwards were more than 4.5 per
cent. of the whole male population of that ago. It was
estimated by the Registrar-General that the Irish in Eng-
land were sustained at their number by an immigration
of nearly 18,000 a year. Of the Irish male persons of all
ages iu England at the last census rather more than 100,000;
above a third of the whole number, were in Lancashire. In
Liverpool, with a total male population of 215,716, 40,059
males were natives of Ireland. In Manchester and Salford
22,096 of the 217,596 males were persons born in Ireland.
Other Lancashire towns show considerable numbers of
natives of Ireland. In Bolton they were 2,421 of the
33,759 males, and in Preston 2,810 in 38,068. Many other
towns in the north show the tendency of the Irish part of
the population to the towns. The census gives 4,933
natives of Ireland in the 100,133 male persons of all ages
in Leeds; 2,458 in 49,268 in Bradford; 3,265 in 92,140
in Sheffield ; 2,524 in 25,274 in Stockport ; 1,270 in
16,826 in Gateshead ; 1,426 in 46,528 in Hull ; 2,297 in
37,818 in Sunderland; 3,322 in 54,092 in Newcastle. The
town of Warrington is not separately given, but in the dis-
trict the numbers are 1,985 in 22,035 males of all ages.
Coming south, we find 1,854 in the 30,610 males Wolver-
hampton in lver-
hampton ; 5,812 in 143,996 in Birmingham; 1,966 in 69,043
in Bristol ; 2,472 in 43,868 in Merthyr Tydfil ; 1,048 in
11,458 in Newport. In London there were at the last cen-
sus. 1,307,781 male persons, and 47, 58710 f them, 3 6 per cent.,
were born in Ireland. In Scotland the Irish are chiefly
clustered in places where there is a good demand for un-
skilled labour. In Glasgow, and also in Dundee, the census
showed nearly 16 per cent. of the inhabitants natives of
Ireland; in Edinburgh 5 per cent.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]-Consumption, and all nervous, bilious
stomach and liver complaints iu every stage are only aggravated
and accelerated by drugs of every description, but perfectly
curable by Du Barry's health-restoring Itevalenta Arabica Food,
as proved by thousands of cases which had been considered
hopeless; such as indigestion (dyspepsia), cough, asthma, con-
sumptiou, habitual constipation, diarrhoea, all gastric derange-
ments, haemorrhoids, liver complaints, flatulency, nervousness,
biliousness, fevers, sore throats, diphtheria, catarrhs, colds, in-
fluenza, noises in the head and ears, rheumatism, gout, impu-
rities, eruptions, hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness,
acidity, palpitation, heartburn, headache, debility, dropsy,
cramps, spasms, nausea and sickness, even in pregnancy or at
sea, sinking fits, bronchitis, scrofula, tightness of the chest,
pains at the pit of the stomach, and between the shoulders, &cWe quote a few.-The Pope's health restored by Du Barry's
Food. Cure No. 68,413.-" Rome, July 21, 1866.-The health of
the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, abandoning all
other remedies, he has confined himself entirely to Du Barry's
Revalenta Arabica Food, of which ho consumes a plateful
at every meal. It has proluced a surprisingly beneficial
effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this
excellent food too highly." - From the "Gazette du Midi,'
July 25. Cure No. 46,270. Mr. James Roberts, timber mer-
chant, of Fernley, Surrey, of thirty years' diseased lungs,
spitting of blood, liver derangement, and partial deafness.-
Cure No. 1,771. Lord Stuart de Decies, Lord Lieutenant of
Waterford, of many years' dyspepsia.-No. 49,832. " Fifty
years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness,
asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency, spasms, sickness and
vomiting.-MariaJoly; Important Caution-Beware of the many
unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations to which, without
authority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously attached.
In tins at ls. 10.; 1 lb., 2s 9d. 2 lbs., 4s. 6d'; 5 lbs., lls ;
1
12 lbs., 225.; 24 lbs., 405.-BARRY DU BARRY and Co., No. 77,
Ltegent-street, London; also Fortnam and Mason, 182 Piccadilly,
and at 61, Graceclaurch-street; .4, Cheapside; 63, 150. and 289.
Oxford-street; 330 Strand; and all grocers and chol.rfists

62.3A-44A
Veg _
t7rinal
4 it-U

HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, Dec. 27.

The Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, accom-
panied by Princess Christian and Princess Hen-
riette of Schleswig-Holstein, and attended by the
Equerries in Waiting on horseback ; and her Ma-
jesty, accompanied by Princess Christian and Prin-
cess Henriette, and attended by the Dowager
Countess of Gaiusborough, drove out this morning•

The Equerries in Waiting were in attendance.
Princess Louise and Princess Beatrice went out
in the grounds, attended by the Hon. Emily
Cathcart.

Prince Leopold also went out, attended by
Duckworth.

The Duchess of Somerset has left Brown's Hotel
'or Stover Park.

__
The Duchess (Emily) of Beaufort is staying at
Badminton with the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort.

The Earl and Countess of Dudley are entertain-
ing company at Witley Court, Worcestershire.
The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres and Lord
and Lady Lindsay intend to entertain a large party at
Haigh Hall, Wigan, next week. On Wednesday nest the
noble earl gives a grand ball to the county nobility and
gentry.

nORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, FRIDAY, Dec. 27.

There is a widespread feeling against the Emperor's
Army Organisation Bill in France, and in several districts
petitions are being signed praying for its rejection. But
the Army Bill is known to be the pet idea at present of
the Emperor, who is determined at all risks to carry it.
The fate of the Army Organisation Bill is expected to
be decided to-morrow. The majority of the Corps L6o°-
latif were shocked by the speech of M. Louvet yesterdal
upon this subject. If it be proposed to amend the bill, it
will be withdrawn altogether, and in that case the dissolu-
tion of the Chamber will be almost inevitable.
News from official sources informs us that General
Menabrea has not yet constituted his new Cabinet, which
will consist for the most part of the statesmen who were
associated with himself under the last Government. One
change, however, will be the substitution of some one ill
the place of M. Gualterio as Minister of the Interior.
The Etendard says, M. Gualterio, " a man of energy► is
profoundly unpopular in his country on account of that
energy ;" and it further asserts that the vote which over-
turned Menabrea's Government was directed specially
against him.
Religious ceremonies of an imposing description have
been celebrated in Paris at several churches during the
last week. The principal churches at which these cere-
monials were held were Notre-Dame, Saint Sulpice, and
Saint-Roch. At the Madeline the Baroness de Caters,
daughter of Lablache, sing the solos with incomparable
taste. The Archbishop of Paris officiated at Notre-Dame.
Mass at the Tuileries was conducted by the Archbishop
d'Adras. The Court musicians sang, under the direction
of M. Auber. The Empeior, with the Imperial Family,
the Prince and Princess of Metternich, and a number of
the household dignitaries, were present.
Experiments with a " perfected" Chassepot rifle are at
present being conducted at the Camp at Chtdons. The
" perfected" Chassepot is to be put into the hands of the
chasseurs ck pied. At Vincennes a trial of a new cannon►
invented by a military surgeon—M. Noel, of Nancy-10-5
recently made. A report of the result of the experiments
was made and sent to Marshal Bazaine, who will draw
the attention of the Emperor to this new weapon. The
speciality of the cannon is that it can be fired as rapidly a°
the Chassepot.
Among the names of the ladies of the palace considered
likely to fill the place of the late Duchess de Bassa,no a°
lady of honour, is that of the Countess de Montebello.
The giving of presents at this season is one which Pre"
vails in France as well as in England ; but here the custom
is to present the gift, not at Christmas, but on the first
day of the year. The British custom, however, is begin-
ning to find favour in the eyes of the Parisians, and no
doubt after a time Christmas will be the fashionable gift'
day on both sides of the Channel.

M. Panger-Guertier, one of the principal manufacturers
of Rouen, is about to address the Corps Legislatif on the
subject of the prevailing stagnatic,n of trade. In common
with many French manufacturers, M. Panger-Guertier re-
gards the treaty of commerce with Eng and as ruinous to
French trade. Fortunately, there is too much political
economy and experience abroad to prevcnt any bad results
from his one-sided views.

The InvaUde Busse sees the greatest danger in the
FranCo-Austrian alliance. While endeavouring to pre-
vent the extension of the German Confederation, says that
journal, it will only prepare the way for a sanguinary
struggle, and while trying to hinder the union of Italy, it
will raise up the revolution without saving the temporal
power of the Pope. It will support the Turkish Govern-
ment in their policy of petsecution, and drive the Eastern
Christians to despair ; encourage the pretensions of the
Poles, and make them once more pay dearly for their cre-
dulity. The Inyalide concludes by saying that Russia is
by no means responsible for the embarrassments which
are apprehended, but if they are not avoided the pre-
sent armed peace in Europe must lead to a terrific

struggle.
The British Legation at Rio, in Brazil, will immediately
become vacant should Mr. Lowther stand for Westmore-
land. The salary attached to the position is £4,000 a years
with. an additional £7OO for house-rent. Including secre•
tams, clerks, and translators, the Rio Legation costs the
country £6,250 yearly, exclusive of contingent expenses'
outfit, and travelling charges, which last item must he
enormous. In a period of less than seventeen years we
have sent no fewer than eight different Ministers to Rio ;
and as each Minister receives a third of his annual salary
for outfit, twenty-one thousand pounds' worth of taxation
must, as the Post thinks, have been worse than wasted
os
wanton caprices, besides the length of time thrul,u awaY
by each new Minister in travelling backwards and forwarda
—a very serious deduction from the actual working Or'
vices of diplomatists, who appear to have been only gilt
out to be recalled with a promptitude scarcely decorous-
An envoy should be appointed to the Brazils who knows
something of the work which he has to do there, and who
is ready and able to do it.
FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—A porter at the
Manningtree Railway Station of the Great Eastern Rad"
way Company, named Edward Howe, was accidentally
killed on Christmas-eve. On the arrival of the last train front
Harwich, he was en gaged in shunting some trucks and see-
ing the red light of the approaching train he endeavoured to
avoid the latter, but was unfortunately caught between the
buffers and so fearfully crushed teat he expired imme-
diately. The deceased, who was about 50 years of age,
and had been in the service of the company for ten rare'
has left a wife and family. It is said that the unfor-
tunate man had omitted to take the usual precaution of
providing himself with a hand lamp.
FATAL ACCIDENT AT RIDE PIER.—A distressing
accident, resulting in the death by drowning of a child
.at
Ryde Pier, occurred on Christmas evening. A lady with
a child in her arms, went down the pier with the intention
of embarking on board the steamer Prince of Wales, then
alongside the pier, and nearly ready to start for Porte"
mouth. It was dark at the time, and the unfortunate
woman mistook the steps, and fell with her child into the
sea. After considerable exertion on the part of the cal):
tain and crew of the steamer, the lady was got on board'
but the child was drowned. The accident will be mac°
the subject of a special inquiry before the board of direc-
tors of the Packet Company at a meeting to be held neat

week.
THE FOG.—In consequence of the dense fog
which prevailed at Chatham on Thursday, the screw Or;
vette Blanche, 6, 350 horse power, was unable to proceed
to Sheerness, as ordered, and she was accordingly detain°,
until yesterday, when she left Chatham in tow of the psi
dlewheel steamers Otter and Locust, under the charge °
Captain B. Stokes, Queen's harbourmaster at Chatitanl'
The Blanche will be docked at Sheerness, and afterward°

return to Chatham to complete her outfit for sea.
DEATH OF THE WALRUS IN THE ZOOLOGIC'BI4f
GAILDENS.—Poor "Jemmy," the walrus, the last pet "--
London sight-seers, has died, and joined the sea bog'.
the happy hunting grounds, if any such there be, c),,
departed sea manimalia. lie had been uneasy and 604,
for some days, and on Thursday, the 19th, died suddeoll
ACROSS THE CONTINENT IN FIFTEEN DATS*.--;
The Union Pacific Railroad has already reduced in P°11),
of time the overland journey to California one week.
notable instance of the value of this saving in time 191
reason of the railroad facilities which this company
ed hull!
made available is just announced. Despatches receiv
New York state that the mails from China and Je
which have heretofore been sent from San Francisco i"
sea, and which have occupied from twenty-two to twestr
four days in transit front that city to New York, left tita°
former city by the overland route on the 20th ult., 1"14
will be due in that city this morning, only fifteen del.o
from the Pacific coast. Such rapidity of trausuaissieu
unprecedented, and the fact that it is now possible is d.llO
to the energy which has been manifested by the VuWot
Pacific Railroad Company in the construction of the cbe
national line which that corporation has had in hand. a to
total time from Japan to New York is now reduce re.
about forty days, while the Liverpool merchants tolre,
genie their advices by this mute iu nine or ten days ray