The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-18 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

SUPPOSED MURDER IN THE MINT.--Robert Hall,
labourer, has been charged at the Southwark Police-court
with the murder of William Johnson. A policeman gave
evidence that he had seen the prisoner struggling with a
man, who had taken the clasp-knife from him with which
he had stabbed the deceased. Several other witnesses were
called, and the dying man's depositions were put in. From
these it appears he was stabbed in a scuffle. The prisoner
declined to say anything in defence, and was committed
to Newgate for trial.
A MAN KILLING HIS BROTHER FOR THE SAKE OF
HALF A CROWN.—At the Liverpool Police-court, a man
named John Birmingham was brought up, on the
charge of having caused the death of his brother, William
Birmingham. The prisoner, while under the influence of
drink, went to the house of the deceased and asked for
half a crown. This he refused to give, when the
prisoner aimed a blow at him with a heavy iron ship-
scraper. This was wrested from him by a bystander,
but, running to his own house, he got another scraper,
and with it struck his brother a violent blow on the head,
inflicting an injury which resulted in his death. When
he was apprehended the prisoner said, " I'm very sorry ;
it was all about half a crown." He was remanded until
after the inquest had been held.
CHARGE OF FORGERY AND HIGHWAY ROBBERY WITH
VIOLENCE.—At the Taunton Police-court a serious charge
of forgery and highway robbery with violence has been
preferred against Mr. William Matthews, hitherto looked
upon as a respectable butcher, residing at Trull, near
Taunton. The prisoner was indebted in the sum of £llO
to Mr. Archibald Reeves, a solicitor, at Taunton, for the
security of the payment of which he held a bill of sale on
Matthews's property. On Saturday evening Mr. Reeves
distrained upon Matthews's household goods, and placed
two bailiffs in possession, leaving in the custody of one,
Charles Lake, the bill of sale. It was alleged that
Matthews left the house, as he said, for the purpose of
settling the matter with Mr. Reeves, and shortly returned,
bringing a note purporting to be written by Mr. Reeves to
the bailiffs, requesting them to leave the house. Previous to
leaving, Matthews gave Lake some gin-and-water, which
he believes to have been drugged. As they were going
home Matthews followed them, felled Lake to the ground,
and rendered him insensible. On consciousness returning
lie found that the bill of sale had hat„en stolen from the
breast-pocket of his coat. Mr. Reeves denies that he
wrote the note Matthews gave the bailiffs, and alleges that
it was written by Matthews himself to get the bailiffs out
of possession. Hence the charge of forgery. The pri-
soner was remanded.

The Pall Mall Gazelle is informed that the Mar-
quis of Bute Las formally joined the Roman Catholic
Church.

THE PRINCE OF WALES.—His Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales has accepted an invitation from the
civic representatives of Glasgow and the -University Council
to lay the foundation-stone of the new college of Glasgow.
The ceremony is expected to take place about the 7th of
October.
DEATH FROM AN ARROW.—A little girl, named
Clara Louisa Bingham, while lying on the grass during
the Foresters' Fete in Vintners Park, near Maidstone, was
struck by a stray arrow, shot from the bow of a lady,
inflicting a severe wound. The little girl was taken to the
West Kent General Hospital, where she was an in-patient
for some time, but was afterwards removed home, and she
has since died from the effects of the wound. She was the
only child of poor parents.

A DEFENDER OF THE IRISH CHURCH AT BLACK-
LET. —A correspondent informs us that the Rev. S. G.
Potter, one of the lecturers engaged in the defence of the
Irish Church Establishment, in a sermon preached at
Blackley parish church on Sunday last, after calling
the English " a dishonourable and treaty - breaking
nation," said that when the future Chancellor or
keeper of the Queen's conscience called the coronation
oath all bosh and moonshine, the angels might well weep
in heaven, and Christ look down in misery. He con-
cluded by saying that it was not the " expectation" of
him and his few brother clergymen who have come over
here lecturing that they will be able to turn the tide of
public opinion, but they hoped to rally a chosen band to
fight through blood and wounds to death.
PRESENTS FOR AN AFRICAN SULTAN. - The
presents which the King of Prus3ia is sending to tl e
liultan of Burnu (Central Afric.,) consist of a throne in
embroidered velvet, a repeater, a dozen other watches of
the ordinary kind in gold and silver, six needle-guns, twelve
revolvers, six burnous worked with gold thread, six plain
ones, several dozen of fez caps, coral necklaces, and
perfumes. His African Majesty had manifested a desire
to receive a carriage, but the difficulty of forwarding it
was too great. It would have had to be taken to pieces
and transported on the backs of camels across the whole of
the Sahara, and as there are no coachbuilders at Burnu,
men would have had to be sent from Europe to reconstruct
the disjointed vehicle. Besides, this monarch already
employs in a very curious fashion a calbche which Queen
Victoria gave him. On solemn occasions his Majesty has
the equipage drawn by the grandees of his Court, he him-
self marching on foot by the side.
1
ENIAN DISCOVERIES IN BIRAIINGHA3I.—A dis-
covery of important Fenian documents has been made
in Birmingham. On Sunday afternoon last a house in
Park-street, which is chiefly inhabited by Irish people,
suddenly fell to the ground, the inmates sustaining rather
severe bruises, and some of them having a narrow escape
with their lives. While some workmen were engaged
in removing the chlbris of this fallen building, they
came upon some curiously-written papers, which, from
their nature, were at once handed over to the police. The
documents, on examination, proved to be a detailed list of
instructions isued for the guidance of the members of the

Fenian brotherhood. Minute directions are given as to
the raising and drilling of men, and the organisation of a
system of secret police to circumvent the Government,
together with instructions as to conducting correspondence,
and how to act in certain emergencies. The authorities
are making inquiries into the matter.
MATRIMONY UNDER DIFFICULTIES. —At St.
Mary'fi Church, Weymouth, an unsuccessful attempt to
unite a couple in the bonds of marriage was made by the
Rev. A. Davidson. The bridegroom had been fortifying
himself for the ordeal with powerful stimulants, and had
rather exceeded the bounds of prudence. He got on very well
with the service as far as the momentous " I will," but there
his comprehension seems to have failed. He was desired
to repeat after the clergyman, who recited " I, William, &c.,
take thee, &T." "All right, sir,"said the aspiring Benedict,
" Repeat after me," was reiterated. " All right, sir." " I,
William," was again attempted. " Right, sir ; that's me."
This went on for some time, whin the clerk handed him
the book. He managed then to spell " of," but gave it
up as a bad job, observing that "he was no scholar."
The minister was at last obliged to desist, saying he could
not go on with such a mockery any longer. The bride-
groom cheerfully assented, with "You're right, sir; it is
a regular mucker." The parties then left the church ; but
a more successful attempt wmin/.4e Or 4 next day.—Dorset
~ounu Chronicle.

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 18, 1868.

contains 60 boys. Here, too, they are employed in
tailoring and shoemaking, and the garden affords a
good deal of employment in growing vegetables for
the school and " flowers for sale in the neighbour-
hood." This latter fact is one of the most
pleasing incidents recorded in a volume where
such facts are scarce ; and it is immediately fol-
lowed by a report that stands in strong contrast.
At the Reformatory at Little Mill, near Usk, there
is a farm, said to be in good cultivation ; but the
superintendent's report of the conduct of the boys
is not satisfactory. Two or three of the inmates
had been " very troublesome." The barn was burnt
down in the spring, and this appeared certainly to
have been the act of one of the boys, though the
proof was not sufficient for a legal conviction. On
other points the report is quite up to the average.
The inmates could spell and write fairly, though
their ciphering was very " uncertain and defec-
tive." On the whole, this result cannot be consi-
dered very unsatisfactory. Good reading and
" fair" writing are not always acquired by the pu-
pils of what are called superior schools; and the
arithmetic brought away from such " establish-
ments" is often very imperfect indeed. It would
be unreasonable, then, to expect better results from
the Reformatories, which are places of punishment
as well as teaching, than from schools that receive
the children of a much higher class for education
alone. The many failures of the less promising in-
stitution would not be surprising even were they
much more numerous. The materials the teachers
have to work on are very inferior, and, bearing this
in mind, the result, notwithstanding some failures,
is encouraging enough to justify a perseverance in
the same direction.

THE WAR IN PARAGUAY.

The Anglo-Brazilian Times of the 22d of August
publishes the following narrative of the events

which occurred in connection with the evacuation

of llumaita, and the subsequent surrender, after a
struggle of more than a week's duration, of the

remnants of the Paraguayan garrison :
" To evacuate Humaita the Paraguayans had 80
or 100 boats, and the evacuation was going on for
a week before it was completed. First the families
were removed, then the sick, the prisoners, a large
quantity of munitions, the remainder of their food,
and finally the garrison, the outposts being main-
tained to the last moment to deceive the Allies.
Almost all the non-combatants, and probably at

.east a third of the garrison, passed through the
Lake in the middle of the narrow peninsula without

exciting suspicion ; and it was only on the with
drawal of the outposts at Humaita that the Allies
became aware of the fact that the garrison was
withdrawing to Timbo. The Allied forces in the
Chaco were then raised to 10,000 men, and the gun-
boats were brought up and grape was poured into
the narrow peninsula, which, however, being covered
with bush, thickets, and tall reeds, favoured the
concealment of the Paraguayan movements. Hidden
in the thickets the Paraguayans had some heavy
cannon, which played on the vessels ; while, op-
posed to the allied position, they had a strong bat-
tery which guarded them ifrom attack on that side.
They transported boats overland to the lake, and
armed some with small cannon, ant during the
night of the 25th of July .no doubt many escaped,
being assisted by the Paraguayans in Timbo. Dur-
ing the 26th the escape continued, but the allies
made great exertions to open space for their fire
and to carry small cannon over to commanding
points. In doing this they were frequently at-
tacked by the armed boats. At night on the 26th
a great effort was made by the Paraguayans to
escape in the darkness, with 30 to 40 boats and 600
to 800 men. Being discovered, a heavy fire was
kept up .upon them, and some of the boats were
forced to return ; but others, with the support of
the armed boats of the Timbo Paraguayans, suc-
ceeded in passing, but with heavy loss. Gelly by
Obes says they lost 500 out of 1,000. Two more
flats with cannon were brought from Timbo and
placed in the lake, and on the 27th the Brazilians
dragged over some from the river to contend with
them on tho lake. After a reconnaissance upon the
27th, in which loss was experienced, on the 28th an
assault was attempted by the Brazilians, to the
number of 3,000 to 4,000 men, upon the battery
which the Paraguayans had, but they were received
with so severe a fire from the battery and from
infantry posted in the woods that they were
forced to retire after losing 400 men in the
vain attempt. Fights continued daily and nightly
between the allies and the garrison, aided in their
attempts to escape by the Paraguayans of Timbo,
and on the night of the 29th the last sent over some
20 boats to transport part of the garrison across
and carry cooked meat to the rest. Only a few
succeeded in getting over because of the fire poured
in from 11 cannon and a large number of troops.
On the night of the 31st some 12 boats made an
attempt to escape, but were beaten back by the
armed boats stationed on the lake. They, however,
returned suddenly, and, overpowering one of the
boats, succeeded in passing and escaping. At mid-
night of the Ist of August another affair occurred,
eight or ten Paraguayan boats making the attempt
to pass the line of armed boats, but their move-
ments being seen the one in which Colonel Hermosa
went was run down and destroyed with all its crew.
Eight boats were captured, and their crews mostly
Oo
a i e bringing
the boats to land
killedand
examining
drowned.
the
bodies
dead women were
found dressed in soldiers' clothes. Of the 30 or 25
wounded two or three were women, one with an
infant, whose arm was traversed by a ball. Some
other young children were likewise among the
saved. Up to the 4th the night fighting continued,
but on that day Father Ignacio Esmarats, a chap-
lain in the Brazilian hospitals, obtained permission
to try if he could effect communication with the
Paraguayans, as two officers previously sent to
summon them to surrender had been driven off
with bullets. In that he was successsful, and on
the sth the Paraguayans on the peninsula sur-
rendered to the number of 98 officers and 1,230
men, the commander, Colonel Martines, being
among the number. They were three days without
food, and some 200 were prostrated by exhaustion ;
300 were sick or wounded. The official bulletin of
the army says that the lakes, woods, redoubt, and
their surroundings are choked with bodies—that
only some wounded, women, and General Allen
were able to pass the Timbo; that the Marquis de
Caxias went to the Chaco after the capitulation ;
that the evacuation or taking of Timbo will occur
shortly ; that columns are preparing for an attack
on Tebicuary ; that Burguez has been shot by
Lopez ; that a prisoner says the people are all
against Lopez ; that Lopez, when attacked and
routed on the Tebicuary and with his rear cut off,
must either surrender at discretion or flee alone,
abandoned by all, or soon, tortured by remorse, if
he be susceptible of it, appear before God to give
an account of the extermination of the Paraguayan
nation. The surrender of the garrison occurred
on the anniversary of the surrender of the Para-
guayans in Uruguayana three years ago. The
conditions of capitulation stipulated that the gar-
rison should not be forced to serve against Lopez,
and that the officers might keep their swords
and choose the allied nation in which to reside.
The commander says that the effective force of the
garrison, when it evacuated Humaita, was 2,500
men. The prisoners were not badly off in regard
to clothing. The loss of the garrison is supposed to
have been 400. The loss of the Allies in the ten
days' desperate struggle on the peninsula were seri-
ous, not being lesr than 500 men; the marine lost
six-killed and 21 wounded in various boat fights
from the 29th July to the 4th August. The official
returns of the Allied losses on the 16th July give
them at 1,029, of whom 228 were killed ; on the
18th 290, including 66 killed."
On the 30th of July a number of ironclads com-
menced the bombardment of the works at the mouth
of the Tebicuary, and on the same date the demo-
lishing of the fortress of Humaita was begun. The
number of cannon captured inside and on the Chaco
amounted to some 200, all of which, together with
the chains forming the bootie, were divided between
the three Powers. It was announced that Timbo
would be at once attacked by land and water, and
that a column of 10,000 to 15,000 men was organis-