The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-27 00:00:00

TILE GROUSE DISEASE.

Writing to the Pall Mall Gazelle, on this subject,
Mr. Francis Francis says :—" The only chance of

getting at any sound knowledge on the matter is by

making every head keeper upon as many moors as
possible keep a careful diary, under forms of various
headings, as to state of heather, weather, water,
grouse, Bcc., and anything else that may affect them.
By comparing these returns when moors first became
diseased, we may get at some regular data framed
on a basis large enough to rely on. Ido not believe

.... _
that bad food or bad water originates the grouse

disease any more than I believe the same things origi-
nate cholera or typhus. Unfortunately we know so
little of epidemic causes that it is a subject on which
we can only theorise. In all probability the grouse
disease hangs about and lingers, like other diseases,
waiting for a favourable opportunity and suitable
weather, &c., to come forth and slay its thousands.
I doubt if it is ever quite extinct, and it is towards

these connecting cases and their discovery that
attention should be directed chiefly. We know

that if any dangerous epidemic prevails in any
country or district, over-crowding, bad food, bad
water, and a consequent weak state of health will
be found favourable to its development ; and that,

if places where these conditions exist are attacked,
they will probably suffer severely. But then we
know, on the other hand, that a great deal of over-
crowding goes on, and bad food is devoured, and
bad water consumed, and weak health endured for
considerable periods without cholera or typhus
being prevalent in such localities ; and I have not
the least doubt that frosts and thunderstorms fre-
quently destroy the young heather, and that there
is much over-crowding, much bad weather, and a
total absence of vermin without the prevalence of
grouse disease. The presence of worms in the dis-
eased birds certainly argues a derangement of the
system, and interference of some sort withthediges-
tion—at least I suppose so ; and in all probability
the grouse would have been eating unsuitable food
for some time before, and they must have been to
some extent ailing for some time; for tapeworms of
the size which have been frequently mentioned do
not grow in a day or a week. I ant afraid that the
entire stock of grouse in the north has become, I
will not say exactly diseased, but tainted with or
subject to disease, and that the course most likely
to stave off the evil for a time would be to intro-
duce fresh stock. The disease has not, I be-
lieve, affected Ireland. The Irish grouse are
fine strong birds, much larger than the Scotch
grouse, and if it were possible to introduce Irish
birds upon the moors that have been cleared,
I think it is extremely probable that the in-
troluction of ft-6h blood might have a most
beneficial effect. In keeping diaries, the important
point, as in all other matters of that nature, would
be to note closely where the first outbreak of the
disease occurs, and then it would be advisable, if
possible, to draw a cordon round that moor and
promptly to destroy all the grouse on it. This I fancy
would be the most merciful and least destructive
policy in the end. Keepers also should have the
strictest orders and the strongest inducements to
hunt out diseased birds and to kill and burn them at
all times. For, as I have said, I believe that in
nooks and corners some diseased grouse are always
to be found, and thus the disease is kept alive
and propagated. As to its ramifications, when it
bursts out in full fury who can say where they will
extend to or when they will stop ? Healthy and un-
healthy moors will probably become affected alike ;
and it may be that it is in this way that the disease
has penetrated into deer forests and such places
where the vermin are untouched, and that formerly
the prevalence of vermin stamped out the disease
when it was lingering, so that it was hard to pro-
Pa
sgtaattee'd hdaottakes the place of
notma
n with assert,
ith Ih
his gun
e suggest this. I sec
it
vermin, and therefore we can do without vermin ;
but this seems to me to be a very self-sufficient sort
of statement. The fact is, we may have moderate
and even good sport with a certain amount of
vermin to act as scavengers; we must give some-
thing to the vermin in recognition of the use which
they are. But we arc not satisfied with moderate
or good sport ; we want slaughter. We must kill
our hundreds of brace per diem, and to do that we
must get rid of the vermin. This state of things is
unnatural, and some sort of penalty is sure to follow

THE COMPOUND HOUSEHOLDER.

Yesterday evening a meeting of compound house
holders was held at the King's Arms, Hoxton.

street, to consider their position under the Reform

Act of last session.

Mr. COOK (who was voted to the chair) stated
that the meeting had been convened in consequence

of a parochial notice which had been served upon
householders whose rates were compounded for,
threatening to demand of them instead of their

[andlords the payment of sewers, main drainage,

and general rates, as well as poor rates.
Mr. J. ACLXND, a delegate from the Reform
League, explained that the Reform Act gave male
adult household suffrage conditionally upon a twelve-
inonth's occupation and the personal payment of the

poor rates. it would have been better if the latter
qualification had been omitted. The question was a
social rather than a political one, and if the middle
classes were wise they would not provoke the hosti-
lity of the working classes, who were quite strong
enough to hold their own if they were only true to
themselves. (Hear.) He did net mean to say that

Mr. Glachatone's was a better measure than tha

which passed this year. Both parties were to blame,

but the Conservative act had the advantage tha

recognised indirectly the right of every occupier to
be an elector—a point from which there was no re-

ceding. (Hear.) The occupier of a small tenement,
the rates of which were compounded for, was placed
very much at the mercy of the landlord, and it was
for those who were so situated to call upon the
Legislature for an enactment that whatever rate
they were required to pay they should be entitled to
deduct from the rent paid to the landlord. It was
true that there was a greater demand than supply in
the case of house property, but the lath and plaster
landlords, who formed the residuum of the middle
classes, were not in a position to defy public opi-
nion. The select vestries, composed of landlords,
saw the advantage under this act of putting money
into their own pockets, and they had accordingly
given notice to compound householders, that after
the 29th inst. all compounding would cease, and
the tenants would thereafter have to pay their own
parochial rates. But the act of Parliament had no
reference to any other rate than the poor rate, and
Mr. Beaks, after the breaking up of the Council of
the Ite:orm League at 11. o'clock on the previous
night, had prepared an elaborate legal opinion,
showing conclusively that that was the correct read-
ing of the act ; therefore, until the existing contract
between the tenant and landlord terminated, the

while the other bones were very light and slender. but that the legislative prohibition of this compound-
Below the hip were the remains of a plain urn of a ing system as regards the poor rates will not only
peculiar dark coloured ware. Below the body, and involve the parochial authorities with vastly in-
quite to the left of it, formed E. and \V., was a hole creased costs of manifold difficulties in, and probable
or trench, 7ft. by 4ft. and 2ft. deep, containing collisions and breaches of the peace with occupiers
flint chippings, animal bones, and charcoal, and during collection, but greatly oppress, impoverish,
numerous parts of a dark urn spread about. Among and embitter the occupiers to be thus personally
the tones was the core of an ox's horn, which had rated, cause disarrangements and dissensions be-
been clean cut from the head. The third barrow tween owners and occupiers, as well as add to the
was 50ft. in diameter and 2ft. high. At the centre, already heavy burdens of the present direct rate-
upon the natural surface, was a doubled-up body on payers. And, therefore, this meeting respectfully,
the right side, the head to S.S.E., the right hand but earnestly, urges upon the attention of her most
under the head, the left on the hip. At the feet were gracious Majesty Queen Victoria the paramount
much charcoal, several fragments of pottery, and a necessity of forthwith reassembling her Parliament,
few flint chippings. The fourth barrow was :32ft. in order that the ratepaying cla.a.ies of the Repro-
diameter and 2ft. high. At the centre, on the sur- sentation of the People Act, 1867,' may be repealed
face, was a body on the left side, with head to N-.E. without delay. And this meeting desires that a
The right arm down by the side, the fingers touch- copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Secretary
ing the knee, hand flat, the left arm extended from of State for the Home Department, for transmission
the elbow, hand also flat, and both with the palms or presentation to her Majesty."
upwards. Six inches below the body were many It was also resolved that an aggregate indigna-
fragments of a peculiarly plain, dark urn. Four tiou meeting of compound householders and direct
feet S.E. of the centre was a hollow 3ft. by 2ft. ratepayers should be held in London-fields on Tues-
and 18in. deep, which contained much burnt day next, to which the Reform League and Work-
matter, parts of an urn, a thumb flint, and several ing Men's Association were to be solicited to send
flakes. Four feet west of the centre was another deputations.
similar but larger hole, filled with black matter A cordial vote of thanks to the chairman for
and charcoal, and with sides burnt a dark red colour, having taken the initiative in the movement con
The fifth barrow was 46ft. in diameter and 21t. high. eluded the proceedings.
At the centre, in an oval grave, 7ft. by 4ft. and
2ift. deep, N.W. by S.E., was a body on the left
side, contracted, head to S.E., right hand up to the
head, and left on the chest. A great quantity of
charcoal was about the body. To inter this body a
burnt burial and an unburnt body of a child had
been disturbed, pieces of burnt bone and a child's
lower jaw being close to the intruding burial. Above
the body were parts of a highly ornate " drinking
cup" and portions of cinerary urn. The sixth barrow
was 50ft. in diameter and lift. high. At the centre
was an oval hollow, 4“t. by 4ft. 4in. deep, contain-
ing two doubled-up bodies, and between their heads
an urn, small and rude, and covered with scorings.
The first body was on the right side, with head to
N.W. ; the other was on the left side, with head to
S.E. Under the second body was a considerable
quantity of black unctuous matter resemoling de-
cayed wood. This has often been observed. In the
hone were a few animal bones, potsherds, and some
flint chippings. The seventh barrow was 42ft.
diameter and aft. high. At the centre was a body
on the left side, with head to N., and both hands
upon the knees. There were one potsherd and some
animal bones ; among them the tine of red deer
rubbed down into a pointed implement. This highly
interesting group of barrows bears a strong resem -
blance to the remarkable group near Arras, Market
Weighton, opened by the Rev. E. W. Stillingfleet
and Mr. Clarkson, in 1817, the following years.
The ornaments are almost identical, and other mat-
ters point to the same people. They are evidently
of a date long subsequent to the mass of barrows
on the \Voids, and belong doubtless to the late Kel-
tic period, after the introduction of iron, and may
date one or two centuries before our era. Not far
distant, however, from them is a large mound con.
taining a vast number of bodies, all of a people o
much earlier race. This is being investigated
Sheffield Daily Telegraph.

FRE iV Cll THEATRICALS.

,01.----

ITALIAN OPERA.—The Dilettanti make it their
special business to pick holes and find out flaws in
that which passes for perfection with the superficial

sewers, main drainage, and general rates could no
be legally demanded of the tenant. The advantage
of succesAve occupation of different tenements
which the act gave to the householder was denied to
the lodger, who could only obtain the suffrage by
twelve months residence in the same lodgings. In
that respect ho thought the measure would prove
more Conservative than many persons supposed,
because in poor neighbourhoods the lodgers were
continually moving, and not many of them would
come upon the register, while in the more " respect-
able" portions of the metropolis occupiers and
lodgers were more likely to be Conservative than
Radical. Nothing less than manhood suffrage would
satisfy the working classes. (Cheers.) They hailed
this act as a step in the right direction ; but before
full justice was obtained a hard battle would have
to be fought, arousing the working classes to an
assertion of their independence, and binding them
together by a common grievance. The object for
which the present meeting was called was only to be
attained by an organisation
_covering the entire
metropolis, but when such an organisation had been
provided they would be enabled, with the support
of riblic opinion and of the Press, to correct step
by step the errors of a rascally act, which intention-
ally, by ignorance, or by gross negligence, placed a
whip in the hands of the landlords to scourge the
tenants. (Cheers.)
The meeting was subsequently addressed by
Mr. Joiner, Mr. W. J. Mete, Mr. Lucraft, Mr.
Seymour, Mr. Brisk, and others, and the following
resolutions were unanimously adopted :—" That
this meeting, comprising compound householders
and direct ratepayers, is of opinion that the
7th section of the Representation of the People
Act, 1867,' has put an end to the composition be-.
tween the owners of houses and the parochial autho-
rities only as reg ►rds the payment of the poor rate,
and consequently that occupiers, having compound-
ing landlords, and having taken their houses free
from taxes, are not bound by law to pay, in addi-
tion, the lighting, sewers, main drainage, and
general rates ; which latter demand is, in its opi-
nion, not only oppressive but also illegal, and should
be resisted by all legitimate means ; and this meet-
ing desires a copy of this resolution to be forwarded,
through their principal officers, to the various paro-
chial authorities."—" That this meeting, comprising
compound householders and direct ratepayers, is
also of opinion that the system of compounding for
the rates, which has existed for many years, between
the owners of houses and the parochial authorities,
has always proved most convenient and satisfactory
to all parties concerned, including the occupiers ;

NET

'L ES.

Whatever is conducive to the wholesale destruc-

tion of mankind is a powerful promoter of
; so, at least, M. 'l'. Landi, 21, Rue des Dames,
Batignolles, tells UR in a printed description of cer-
tain missiles of his, now exhibiting at the Champ de
Mars. " Those monstrous and costly contrivances
of cannon and iron-sheating are things of too privi-
leged and feudal a nature to suit the democracy
of the seas And to attack

this aristocracy, I have conceived the idea of
fire-pumps and flying torpedoes, which, while
they possess the power of cannon, are more de-
mocratic and within every one's reach." This,
we must confess, is exceedingly pleasant and
sets us quite at our ease. " The enunciation
of the great social problem, which I intend to
develope at some future period, may be stated
thus: —While allowing society as at present con-
stituted time to maintain itself and seek repose
n existing laws and institutions, let us promote civi-
.
mation by improving our engines of war." Oracular
but tempting. The gentleman whose heart glows
with such humanitarian feelings is the inventor of
an " Infernal Percussion Shell," for sieges ; and

a " Double-Explosion Shell" for battles and
sieges, two contrivances we need not dwell upon,
having some reason to suspect their novelty. But
our author has gone much farther, and invented a
" multiple cartridge," being a cylinder containing at
certain measured distances several common musket

charges. It is made of paper, and provided with a
friction-priming, which has the peculiar advantage
of catching fire by its mere introduction into the
barrel. As soon as the cartridge has got to the
breech, it begins to spit fire from the top like a
rocket till the uppermost charge is reached, whereby
the first shot is fired ; it spits again till the fire gets
to the second charge, and so on. Six shots at least
may thus be fired in succession. This cartridge may
be used with all kinds of old muskets, making them
as formidable as needle-guns ; so that the great
mass of muskets in the store-houses, or in the
hands of the people, may be turned to account, and
if necessary the nation may be armed after the mo-
dern fashion, without needles and at a small cost."
This " arming the nation" sounds ominous : aris-
tocrats had better keep a sharp look-out. The
other inventions of M. Landi consist in " a fire-
engine" and a " flying torpedo ;" the former throw-
ing fire instead of water on the enemy's ship at close
quarters, the inflammable liquids being alcohol, oil
of turpentine, or petroleum. The flying torpedo is
a congreve rocket, feathered like an arrow ; it may
be cast against the side of a ship, and will explode
under water, being charged with fulminate of
mercury. Any ship, however large, may be de-
stroyed by it. Our author does not say whether
the two latter contrivances are democratic too."

COUNTRY MARKETS.

BRIS T OL -T HURSDAY.

On our market to-day there was a very fair supply of
English wheat, and fully highsr currencies were realised.
In foreign wheat, which met a good inquiry, prices wore
is des, er. Malting barley steady, at the rates of last mar-
ket ; grinding inquired for, and tending upwards. Oats in
fair demand, and rather lower. Beans at about is ovor
previous tales, as also Indian corn.