The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-10 00:00:00

Extraordinary Adventure of a Soldier.

It is reported that in the early part of last month
a soldier, named Jonathan Howard, belonging to
the Military Train, stationed at Woolwich, conceived
the idea of starting for a run on the road a la Dick
Turpin. Being a servant of Lieut. Crawford, of the
Military Train, his peculiar duty was to look after
his master's horse and accoutrements, and this, no
doubt, offered him extraordinary facilities for ob-
taining a good horse and other requisites. It seems
he first of all presented himself at the military
stables, and asked for his master's horse. As he had
a few papers in one hand, and his master's sword in
the other, it was thought ho was duly authorised ;
so the animal, properly saddled and bridled, was
handed over to him without question. After mount-
ing, he took his way over Shooter's Hill before the
trick had been discovered. The police were soon on
his track, but he succeeded for some time in evading
them, marching through towns and villages in a very
stately manner, with his drawn sword over his
shoulder. As he had no money it was for some time a
puzzle how Howard managed, but it was found at
one place that ho had got all that he wanted for
himself and his horse by representing himself to
be the avant courier of a detachment of the Military
Train, who would shortly pass through the place,
and after ordering billets for the supposed detach-
ment he took care to get what he and his horse re-
quired, telling the landlords to charge it all to the
general account, which the quartermaster would
nay, while in several instances he departed with an
additional fee for the orders ho left on behalf of the
officers said to be with the detachment following.
In this way Howard managed to prevail upon the
landlord of the Roebuck Inn, near Stevenage, to
allow him to run up a score of 3s. for his supper,
bed, and breakfast, which he very kindly left
for the officer of the detachment to pay
with the rest. At another time when his horse
cast a shoe, lloward seems to have gone to a
blacksmith and ordered a quantity of shoes for
the horses of the imaginary detachment, not for-
getting to have hie own horse supplied with a shoe
to be charged in the general account, besides accept-
ing a fee for the order. In this way Howard,
although without money, managed to keep out of
sight till Saturday night last, when Inspector
Hawkes happened to catch sight of the delinquent,
just as he was entering a village on the skirts of
Wakefield, and succeeded in apprehending him. It
appears that Howard is a native of 'Wakefield, and
was making for home. He had absconded once
before, and was found "at home ;" but this time he
was disappointed when within almost hailing dis-
tance of it, and now he awaits court-martial at
Aldershot. Both horse and man were in pretty
good Condition considering the journey they had
hal—Manchester Guardian.

SCIENTIFIC JO7TINGS.

The Politica of Madrid states on the strength of
recent measurements that the Pyrenees have, since
the last 20 years, lost 30 metres in altitude. Sup-
posing the depression to continue, our worthy con-
temporary calculates that, after the lapse of 1,000
years, the chain that separates Spain from France
will realise the celebrated words " Il n'y a plus
de PyrC:nees" by disappearing altogether, in which
case the Ebro will fall into the Bay of Biscay
instead of emptying itself into the Mediterranean.
In a paper addressed to the Academy of Sciences,
Father Secchi describes the curious appearance of
sunlight in an artificial grotto cut into the glacier
of the Upper Grindelwald, Switzerland. This grotto
was about 100 metres deep ; its walls were trans-
parent, the rays of the sun penetrating through the
ice, and thereby acquiring a beautiful blue or slightly
violet tint. This imparted to all those present a
frightful cadaverous hue. The sunlight at the
entrance of the grotto, on the contrary, appeared
red : an effect of contrast. The thickness of the ice
overhead was 15 metres. From this Father Secchi
concludes that the real colour of water is blue tinged
with violet.—The Journal des Connaissances Medi-
cales publishes a curious statistical account concern-
ing French apothecaries and chemists, from which
it appears there are at the present moment 35 che-
mists' shops in Paris, producing collectively 758,060 f.,
and on sale for the aggregate sum of 1,168,000 f.
The average receipts of each are 21,657 f., and the
market value of each 33,37 Ifr. The total receipts
of 126 chemist's shops now on sale in the provinces
is 1,591,000 fr. ; the upset prices form a total of
2,062,500 fr. The average income of each is there-
fore 12,6261 r., and the value of each 16,369 fr.
There are in France only three chemists who began
to exercise their profession in 1807 ; there aro seven
of 18u8, six of 1809, three of 1810 ; 9 of 1811,
seven of 1812, eight of 1813, and 23 of 1814. The
total number now practising in France, 5,705.

NEW LIFEBOATS.—The workmen of Glasgow
have presented to the National Lifeboat Institution the
cost, amounting to £l2O, of a now lifeboat and transport-
ing carriage, which are to be placed at Ayr, N. 8., in lieu
of a boat already there which has become unfit for further
service. The new boat, which is 32 feet long and rows 10
oars double banked, is named the " Glasgow Workmen's
Lifeboat," and is to be publicly exhibited in that city on
Saturday next, the 12th in,t. The success of this beneva-
lent undertaking has been mainly owing to the zealous
exertions of Mr. George Norval, of the Central Working
Men's Club and Institute. The city and county of Wor-
cester have also presented to the institution a similar life-
boat and transporting carriage, which are about to be sta-
tioned at Betnbridge, on the coast of the Isla of Wight, and
the boat which is named the City of Worc..,ster is to be
publicly launched at Bainbridge, on Tuesday next, the
13th inst. The cost of the boat and carriage has been
mainly collected through the indefatigable exertions of
Captain Saumarez Fraser, R.N. This lifeboat has, like
everything connected with the National Lifeboat Institu-
tion, received the cordial support of Sir John Pakington,
Bart., M.P., her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for
War. A commodious boathouse has been erected for the
boat from the designs of Mr. C. 11. Cooke, the honorary
architect of the,society.
THE NEW MASTERS AND SERVANTS ACT. —At the
Wandsworth Police-court yesterday, a gentleman applied
to Mr. Ingham to know whether, under the new Act, he
could punish a domestic for going away and leaving the
work in his house unfinished. After examining the clauses
of the Act, Mr. Ingham said ho had no jurisdiction in civil
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a case.
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