The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-06 00:00:00

FEARFUL CONFLICT WITH BURGLARS.

Three men, giving the names of Joseph Edington,
Thomas Swan, and George Armitage, belonging to New-
castle, have been charged at South Shields petty sessions with
having burglariously entered the shop of Mr, Thomas
Medd, pawnbroker, Jarrow, on the night of the 21st
February. Between one and two o'clock on the morning
in question a constable named Hodgson was passing at the
back of Mr. Medd's shop. Thinking all not right, he blew
his whistle, when presently he heard footsteps inside the
shop, and coming towards the door where he was standing.
He at once drew his truncheon and turned the light of his
tamp into the shop, when he was suddenly confronted with
Edington, armed with a large iron bar. On discovering the
situation he was in, Edington immediately raised the iron
bar to fell the officer, but fortunately he escaped the blow.
He, however, was severely struck on the breast, and his
watch in his waistcoat pocket was smashed to pieces.
lie dodged the ruffian and his formidable weapon, and
managed to deal his antagonist a terrific blow on the head
with his staff, which brought him to the ground. No
sooner had Edington been felled than Swan came to his
companion's rescue. His first act was to knock the police-
man's lamp out, which he did with one of his feet, and all
was in darkness. A fearful conflict then ensued. Hodgson,
who is a very strong and stalwart-looking fellow, how-
ever, proved too much for his adversary, and on losing his
lamp he immediately clenched his truncheon, and felled
Swan by a blow on the head. While falling he grasped
Hodgson, and threw him clown to the ground. Mean-
while the third burglar, Armitage, stepped over the two,
and escaped over the yard wall. Determined to secure, if
oossible, Edington and Swan, Hodgson held on to the
atter, but still continuing to be as violent as ever, the
)fficer was compelled to use his truncheon freely. Edington
and Swan appeared in court with their heads covered with
bandages. They were both committed for trial. There
was some doubt about the identity of Armitage, who was
discharged. —Northern Daily Express.

The dinner in honour of Mr. Brand by the
Liberal members of the House of Commons, on the
Jccasion of the presentation of the testimonial, is fixed
for the 28th of this month. The chair will be taken by
\lr. Gladstone.

Count Maffei will, in consequence of his
Excellency the Marquis d'Azeglio's retirement from the
post of representative of the King of Italy at the Court of
St. James's, act as Charge d'Affaires, and the offices of the
Italian Legation have been removed from Grosvenor-
street to 28, Davies-street, Berkeley-square.
Whatever statement may be made by the head of her
Majesty's Government, the Dublin Mail is in a position to
zssure its readers that no measure will be introduced by
;he Government on the subject of the Irish Church during
the present session of Parliament. The emphasis which
the Mail places on the word " measure," by italicising it,
is worthy of note.

The Scotsman, which; however, would not be likely to
take a sanguine view of the prospects of the Government,
says there is a prevailing opinion amongst the M.P.'s that
the new Ministry cannot last beyond Easter. The mem-
t3ers of the Associated Chambers of Commerce are very
anxious on the subject, chiefly because they are anxious to
see a Bankruptcy Bill passed this year. There were
several members of the House of Commons present at the
meetings, and no one of them would give Mr. Disraeli a
longer lease of power than two months. As tdthe idea of
a dissolution and an appeal to the old constituencies, it
was held that "such an exercise of Ministerial power
would be too shameful." As to gloomy piophecies, it may
be remembered that their name is legion at the commence-
ment of every session. Last year they were more nume-
rous than usual; yet the Ministry contrived to live.

It appears that the Government, through Mr. Laing,
have promised to give Scotland ten additional members
instead of the seven which were allotted by the Scotch Re-
form Bill. This has been made known to the Provost of
Dundee by the M.P. for Wick ; and the three extra mem-
bers are to be given to Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dun-
dee. This of course -outbids Mr. Gladstone, who in
1866 proposed to give seven additional seats, and it is
by no means unlikely to be accepted. Still, there
is to be a fight over the matter. On going into committee
Mr. Baxter will move an instruction that instead of add-
ing to the members of the House, they have power to dis-
franchise all boroughs in England and Wales with less
than 5,000 inhabitants. This measure would give exactly
the ten seats required, and would affect Arundel, Ash-
burton, Dartmouth, Evesham, Honiton, Lyme Regis,
Marlborough, Northallerton, Thetford, and Wells. These
towns now return fifteen members, all of whom would be
bound to vote against the motion.

There is also the consideration which has been already
hinted at, that the Speaker will rule such a mode of dealing
with the schedules of the English statute to be unprece-
Jented and unconstitutional. On this point it may be well
to bear in mind the language of the Reform Act. The
16th section provides that " from and after the end of this
present Parliament no borough which had a less popula-
tion than 10,000 at the census of 1861 shall return more than
one member to serve in Parliament, such boroughs being
enumerated in Schedule (A) to this Act annexed." Five
of the ten—Honiton, Thetford, Wells, Evesham, and
Marlborough—are enumerated as coming within the opera-
tion of the Act, but there is no provision which prohibits
Parliament from dealing as it thinks fit with boroughs
ander the 5,000 line of population.
"A Ratepayer," writing to the Herald, argues against
the resuscitation of the compound householder. Ms
reason is, that those who are obliged to compound for their
rates are too poor to pay them at all, and should be ex-
cused. In support of his argument, he shews that on the
original establishment of the rate every person was rated
in respect of visible property, while the poor were excused.
Now, however, several kinds of property are non-rateable
—one member of Parliament pays, as he himself stated
only is. a year rate—and the burden is put upon the poor.
"A Ratepayer" suggests legislation to remove this
anomaly.

The Vice-Chancellorship vacant through the promotion
of Sir W. P. Wood to the Court of Appeal is expected to
be given to Mr. Giffard, Q.C. This gentleman has no
claims on the Conservative party on the ground of his
political services, and should he receive the post he will
owe his elevation solely to his merits as a sound commer-
cial lawyer of long practice and of good standing in his
profession.

The Trades Council at Birmingham have resolved on
having a working man as one of their representatives.
They propose to pay him £3OO a year and his election
expenses.

An atrocious attempt has been made to blow up the
Dundee Powder Magazine, which contains seven tons of
gunpowder. A piece of tow was found burning at the
door, but it was fortunately discovered in time to prevent
what must have been a fearful calamity had the concocters
of the plot succeeded in their designs. As yet no one has
been arrested on suspicion of having been connected with
this wicked intention to destroy a town, although
Fenianism is, as usual, suspected of having had something
to do with it.
The failure is announced of the Victoria Freehold Land
and Building Society, concerning which so much was said,
on its establishment, as being the first land society on a
" Conservative basis." There is a deficiency, it is said, of
£7,000, £30,000 being the amount due to depositors. Since
1848 the total receipts of the Victoria have amounted to
nearly £289,000. The abstract of accounts from June
1866 to June 1867 (the last issued) chews a total receipt for
the year of £17,445, and £12,568 repayments to members
and depositors and expenses of management.

Nearly 20,000 colliers in the St. Helens district have
"turned out" in opposition to a resolve on the part of the
employers to reduce wages to the extent of 15 per cent.
The men are willing to submit to a reduction of 10 per cent.,
but the employers adhere to.their own terms.

IHARMACY AND THE SALE OF POISONS.—The
Home Secretary has officially signified his intention,
should the pressure of public business permit, to introduce
into Parliament as a Government measure, or, if prevented
from doing so, to support a bill to regulate the sale of
poisons, and to alter and amend the Pharmacy Act, 1852.
A draft bill for the purpose has been submitted to Mr.
Hardy, and he has expressed his personal approval of its
provisions, which have for their object to control traffic in
poisions, and to provide an educational qualification for
persons entrusted to compound medicines.—British Medical
Journal.

A PANTHER FlGHT.—Captain Cumberlege, De-
puty-Commissioner of Sumbulpore, in writing to his sister,
under date the 24th of January last, says :—" Do not be
horrified when I tell you that I have been in bed ten days
with wounds received from, a panther. I was very roughly
handled, but am now quite out of clanger. It happened
thus :—I had wounded the brute and was tracking it up by
its blood, when all of a sudden it rushed out of a patch of
long grass and charged a coolie. I rushed forward and
fired to save the man, though I could scarcely see for the
grass, and in another second, before I knew where I was,
I received a smashing blow on the face, which nearly
stunned me and knocked me backwards. I managed to
turn on my face, and the brute then seized me by the
shoulder and shook me like a rat. He then left me and
attacked a policeman, who was the only man standing near.
He pulled him down, and hearing his shrieks I revived,
and, as they were rolling over and over together, I felt
about for my rifle ; it had still one barrel loaded, and, on
tecovering it, I dragged myself up and shot the panther
while he was still gnawing at the poor, wretched police-
man. I have three nasty scratches under my eye, and
dome eight tooth-holes in the back. The poorpoliceman died
last night ; he completely 120 hearts ha 4 delirium, and
"MY tiger, in

No-k
erfilltt "2-4-'-' °;f
- Tar

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, March 5.
Tie Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, ac-
companied by Princess Christian.
Prince Leopold went out, attended by Mr. Duck-
worth.
The Queen drove in the grounds this morning,
attended by the Duchess of Athole.

Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales
drove out, attended by the Countess of Morton.

THE BRAZIL AND RIVER PLATE MAILS.

The Royal Mail Company's screw steamship Tas-
manian, Captain E. M. Leeds, arrived at South-
ampton on Wednesday night, with mails of the
following dates in charge of Commander Wake,
R.N., naval mail agent :—Buenos Ayres, January
26 ; Montevideo, 29th ; Rio Janeiro, February 8 ;
Bahia, 12th ; Pernambuco, 14th ; St. Vincent (Capp
Verde), 22d; and Lisbon, 29th. She brought 47
passengers, among whom were Lieutenant Parker,
R.N., from Rio Janeiro ; Captain George, from
Pernambuco ; and Commander Borth, R.N., from
St. Vincent. On freight she had £38,008 in specie
(of which £29,310 was gold and £8,698 in silver),
seven packages of diamonds, 726 bags of toffee, 821
rolls of tobacco, 135 half-chests of oranges, and 185
packages of sundries.

The following war news is taken from the Anglo-
Brazilian Times of the 7th of February :
" On the 13th of JanuAry General Mitre trans-
ferred the command-in-chief to Marshal the Mar-
quis de Caxias in the following order of the day :
" His Excellency the President of the Republic
and general-in-chief of the allied army having to
absent himself temporarily from the army in con-
sequence of the death of the Vice-President of the
Republic in exercise of the executive power, he has
dictated the following order of the day. During
the absence of the general-in-chief of the allied
army the superior power remains in charge of the
Marquis de Caxias, general-in-chief of the Brazilian
forces, with the corresponding powers granted by
the treaty of alliance. Let it be given in the gene-
ral order of the two armies, and advise the respec-
tive Governments.—Head-quarters, Jan. 13, 1868.
—MITRE.'

" 6 ORDER OF THE DAY, No. 4.
" ' Camp of Tuyu-Cue, January 13, 1868. —ln
consequence of the order of the day transcribed
below, and of that established between the Allied
Governments, I declare for the knowledge of the
respective armies that for the second time I assume
the command of the said armies during the absence
of his Excellency the President of the Argentine
Republic, D. Bartolomeo Mitre. I count on the
efficacious assistance of the officers and troops of
the armies in the civilizing and holy crusade that
unites the three nations against the Government of
Paraguay.—Marquis DE CAXIAS.'

" During a cannonading on both sides upon the
15th a Brazilian shell blew up a deposit of powder
in the Paraguayan lines, and set fire to a camp,
destroying a portion of it, together with some arms,
equipments, and munitions. However, by next
morning the Paraguayans had new quarters raised
on the ruins of those destroyed. Some more Brazi-
lian troops, with some small cannon, have been
passed into the Chaco, and the reports from, the
army say that an operation against the Paraguayans
there is daily looked for. The army is reported in
a tolerable' state of health. The number in the
hospitals is given at 6,000. The fleet continues
without novelty. The fire of the ironclads has de-
molished all the church but the lower walls, and the
bombs of the ketches seem to be annoying the Para-
guayan head-quarters seriously. The railway con-
structed to supply the iron-clad division lying be-
tween Humait4 and Curupaity is doing good ser-
vice, and even a 150-pounder rifle had been sent up
to replace a damaged one. The river was falling
again, after having risen to an unusual height. The
rise is believed to have greatly injured, if not de-
stroyed, the Paraguayan path through the Chaco
to the Berme jo. In the Paraguayan fortress they
were seen to be raising further walls around Lopez's
head-quarters. The insurgents in Santa Fe had
abandoned the city of Rosario to the Government
troops and authorities. The city of Santa Fe was
still held by them."
The same paper reports that :—" The new Minis-
try organised by the President of the Confederation
consists of the following persons :—Minister of the
Interior, D. Domingos F. Sarmiento ; Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Dr. Rufino de. Elizalde ; Minister,
of Finance (acting), D. ChristovaoAguirre ; Minis-
ter of Religion-and Justice, Dr. Eduardo Costa ;
Minister of War and Marine (acting), General
Wencesldo Fanner°. Signor Sarmiento being at
present Minister at Washington, the Minister of
Justice will take charge of his duties until his re-
turn. Mitre has issued a proclamation, in which
he promises to carry on the war to its term. The
American Minister, General Asboth, a Hungarian,
had died in Buenos Ayres. Cholera was declining
generally throughout the River Plate, except at
San Nicolao and some other points. It had, how-
ever, attacked most of the villages and towns of
the campo in passing from thb capitals. In Monte-
video, after reaching, it is asserted, 150 cases a day,
it had greatly diminished. The port of Montevideo
has been opened to vessels from Buenos Ayres and
the Plate in general. The new Brazilian Minister,
Conselheiro Joaquim Thomaz de Amaral, had pre-
sented his credentials to the Government of Monte-
video. In consequence of the state of commercial
matters in Buenos Ayres 14 to 2 per cent. a month
had been paid for discounts. The American Minis-
ter has again tendered the good services of the
United States to act as mediators between the bel-
ligerents in the Paraguayan war, but the Brazilian
Government has to co nault with the Governments
of the two other countries in the alliance. By order
from the Ministry of Fazenda, the gold coins of
Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, and the
United States are to be accepted in the Custom- i
houses in payment of gold duties, in addition to
the Brazilian, Old Portuguese, and English gold
coins, previously legalised. The Government is
proceeding to exchange Bank of Brazil notes to
the amount of 11,000,000r5., which are to be re-
placed by Imperial notes."

It was currently reported yesterday among those
who are likely to be well-informed that the vacant Vice-
Chancellorship would be offered to Mr. Gifford, Q.C. _

Despatches were received yesterday at the
Colonial-office from the Governor of the Falkland Islands-
Despatches were sent to the Governor-General of Canada.
Count Maffei will, in consequence of his Excel'
lency the Marquis d'Azeglio's retirement from the post of
representative of the King of Italy at the Court of St'
James, act as Chargé d'Affaires, and the offices of the
Italian Legation have been removed from Grosvenor-street
to 28, Davies-street, Berkeley-square.
THE HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN.—On Thursday her
Royal Highness the Princess Christian paid a visit to the
Hospital for Women, Soho-square, to inquire after one of
her royal highness's servants, who is an inmate of tll
institution. Her royal highness visited SOM9 of the wards/
and expressed her gratification at the general arrangereentS
of the hospital and the appearance of comfoit which the
wards presented.
TIIE DISTRESS IN LONDON.—A great meeting of
men and women is to be held in St. James's Hall on Stara'
day evening, for the purpose of considering what shall be
in
done for the thousands of homeless and starving P6o';
now in London, and for considering to what the presee"
stagnation in trade is attributable.
FIRE AT NEWCASTLE.—About midnight on Weaci
nesday a fire was discovered in Harry Clasper's net%
boat house, on the Tyne. Although all possible ret'au
were tried to stay the fire they were unavailing. 11°
building was destroyed, and almost all the boats were cell-
sumed.
Lord Cremorne, M.P., has been very seriouscilol,
ill at Dartrey House, county Monaghan, which has d,
tained the Earl and Countess of Dartrey in Irelau f
The last accounts represent his lordship to be etl;tood,Ll
danger, and progressing as favourably as could be desir.,o
TIIE BISHOP OF EXETER.—The health of lioo
venerable Bishop of Exeter (says the Western Time,s)gited.
s
some anxiety to his lordship's family from what is ta,o
The sudden changes of temperature prove trying
umegenarian,