The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-13 00:00:00

THAMES.

A SWINDLER CAUGHT AT LAST.—Edward Hisley, by
trade a butcher, afterwards an attorney's clerk, and next a
prisoner in the House of Correction for six months for in-
decently assaulting a woman, was brought before Mr.
Paget, charged with being concerned with two others in
obtaining eight coats and seven pairs of trousers, from
Messrs. 'Janet and Co., clothiers and outfitters of Broad-
street, Ratcliffe, by means of false andfraudulent pretences.
Tho priSoner and two other men obtained the property
in question by fraud. They promised to pay for the goods
on delivery, and having obtained them sent Messrs.
Hallett's porter back to their warehouse, and then ab
sconded with. the eight coats and seven pairs of trousers,
which were sold and pawned immediately. Two of the
swindlers were committed from this court and convicted
at the sessions. The prisoner, who was the principal in
the conspiracy, and who was heard of and seen in Roches-
ter, was arrested yesterday afternoon. Police-sergeant
Briden, 4 K, was on the top of. au omnibus and saw the
prisoner cross the road from Houndsditcla to the Minonies.
He left the omnibus, pursued the prisoner, and overtook
him. On being told the charge against hint the prisoner
said " Misfortunes 'fever come single, my wife gave birth
to a child on Saturday, and now I am in for this job."
Briden said the grand jury returned a true bill against the
prisoner last July, and he wanted the prisoner remanded to
obtain the judge's certificate of the finding.
Mr. Paget-1 will remand the prisoner until to-m,yrow.

THE SURREY STA GIIOUNDs.—This well-known
Surrey pack of staghounds, which have hunted the county
for many years, under the mastership of the young Epsom
squire (Mr. A. Heathcote), but which were threatened witk
abandonment in consequence of the insufficient pecuniary
support received for their maintenance, aro now restored
to their former position, as amicable and satisfactory ar-
rangements have been made to sustain the pack and the
running deer, &c. Mr. Arthur Heathcote has accepted the
office of the mt..ster of the hounds, and a stag which has
afforded many long runs will be uncarted to the hounds at
Bookham this day.

AN OCEAN YACLIT RACE.—The arrangements
for the groat American ocean yacht race have been com-
pleted. The course is to be from New York to Cowes.
Three owners of yachts—Mr. J. Bennett, jun., of the Hen-
rietta ; Mr. Osgood, of the Fleetwing ; and Mr. Lorillard,
of the Vesta —have agreed to stake each 30,000 dols.,
making up a purse of 90,090 dols. (or say £18,000) ; the
first vessel in to take the pool. The stakes are deposited
in the hands of a well known leader of the sporting world,
Mr. L. W. Jerome. The tonnage of the three yachts is
nearly alike, the Floetwing being 204 tons ; the Henrietta,
203; and the Vesta, 201. They will start on the 10th of
next month. These yachts are the finest and swiftest over
built in the United States, and the race is expected to be
the most splendid sporting event of the year.
POSTAGE STAMPS.—The manufacture of these
valuable little bits of paper is a Government mono-
poly in France as well as everywhere else, but is farmed
out to a private contractor, who has his workshops in a
back court of the Hotel des Monnaies or Mint, where a
million and a half of postage stamps are daily produced at
a cost to the Government of 90c. per 1,000, so that in the
case of the lowest sort of stamps, of the value of ic., the
Government profit is 910 c., or Of. 10c. per 1,000. The same
workshops also produce the postage stamps for the French
colonies, the kingdom of Greece, the Republic of Guate-
mala, and any other foreign countries that choose to
apply. The sheets used in this manufacture are first sub-
jected to a preliminary process—viz., that of covering the
whole surface with a sort of white transparent ink, an ope-
ration which is performed by means of cylinders. The
object of this process is to prevent forgery, for wore any
one to attempt transferring the design to a lithographic
stone, both the inks, the white and the coloured one, would
stick to the stone, and nothing but a uniform coloured im-
pression could be obtained. The composition of the
white ink is a secret. In the press-room 12 powerful
presses are constantly at work, the men having a number
of colours spread out before them on marble slabs. But
there is a portion of the operation which, after printing, is
entirely effected by the hand ; this consists in laying on
certain specks of colour with the brush. The last opera-
tion consists in pricking holes all round each stamp ; this
is done by machinery in the following way : —The sheets
when printed are taken to another workshop, where they
are cut into half sheets, each, containing 150 stamps.
Five of these half-sheets are laid one upon the other, and
strongly pressed together in a 'frame, an operation per-
formed by two boys; the frame then passes under the
pricking aparatus, and is thence brought back to the work-
man's hands by a combination of pulleys. The bad stamps
are now picked out, and the remainder sent to the General
Post-office. The State having also the monopoly of playing
cards, the manufacture connected with it is also partly con-
ducted in the above workshops. The State causes a pecu-
liar paper, bearing a transparent figure of the eagle, to be
manufactured at a special mill; at the postage stamps ma-
nufactory the types of the court cards and the ace of clubs
are engraved by electricity ; at the Imperial printing-office
these types are used to print on the sheets marked with
the eagle ; the paper in which the packs are wrapped up
is stamped at the Hotel du Timbre. Card manufacturers,
therefore, are obliged to buy of Government the court
cards, aces of clubs, wrappers, and paper on which to
paint the low cards, which they do themselves. It is they
who make up the packs, and send them to the retai
dealers.—Galiyncni.
DESTRUCTION OF A COTTON MILL BY FIRE.—
On Thursday morning the large cotton mill at Maes-y-dre,
near Mold, occupied by Mr. F. S. Bateson, was entirely
destroyed by fire with its valuable contents, consisting of
a large stock of cotton *and a considerable assortment of
new machinery. The loss is estimated at from £20,000 to
£25,000, but it it nearly, if not quite, covered by insurance.
The calamity will throw about 200 wOrkpeople out of
work.

LITERARY PENSION.—The Earl of Derby, himself
a scholar, knowing how very few are the original
lexicographers of Great Britain, on whose chief classical
dictionaries, &c., the name of some German scholars
flourishes, has, in consideration of Dr. Robert Archibald
Armstrong's advanced age and also of his eminent literary
services, advised her Majesty to grant him a donation of
£lOO from the Royal Bounty Fund in addition to his pen-
sion on the Literary Civil List of £6O per annum. He is
still keeping a school in Peckham-rye, and the success of
his late pupil, the son of Edwin Chadwick, C. 8., exhibits
the strength of his intellectual skill and business-like
habits. It is a noteworthy fact that the gentleman whose
duty it was to sign the £lOO cheque on behalf of the
Treasury was an old pupil of the now "Lexicographer
Royal." After passing the cheque to the doctor, the pre-
sent writer (who happened to be in the office) heard the
cashier say to him, "I knew a Dr. Armstrong once who
lived at Chelsea. I went to his school." What is your
name ?" asked the doctor." "My name is Earnshaw."
" Were you indeed the little boy who used to come with
your brother!" exclaimed the old delighted master, who, to
his great surprise, recognised a pupil to whom 40 years
previously he said he had been much attached. At that
period he was engaged in composing his great and elaborate
work, the first Dictionary of the Gaelic Language and
Literature; the original language of these islands, and a
chief branch of Celtic. Afterwards he became head-master
of the South Lambeth Grammar School ; during which
period he was a humorous contributor to Fraser's Maga-
zine, the Anthenceum, and other periodicals.—South London
Chronicle.
HOSPITAL FORDISEASES OF TIIE CHEST, VICTORIA -
PARK.—The number of patients relieved at this institution
during last week was 1,342, of which 319 were new MOO.