The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-04 00:00:00

SCOTCH.

SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE.

The deputation appointed at a meeting of share-
holders held at Birmingham on the 26th ult. to wait
upon the directors of this railway, with the view of in-
ducing them to convene a meeting of proprietors to
receive and consider certain amended terms of a lease
of the railway to Mr. M'Clean and others, have so
far succeeded in their object. They were received
cordially by the direction, and a general meeting of
shareholders is fixed to be held at Walsall on Mon-
day the 21st inst. It is supposed that the proprietors
will not reject an offer which is considered to be very
advantageous to the shareholders.

THE PLAYS AT THE PALACE.--There are only
two plays to be performed at the Palace at Windsor.
The pieces selected are Shakspere's Julius Ccesar and
the first part of Henry IV. The characters of Brutus,
Cassius, and Mark Antony will bo sustained by Mr.
Macready, Mr. James Wallack, and Mr. Charles Kean.
The part of Falstaff will be acted by Mr. George Bart-
ley. The first performance will take place on the Sth
of February.
The directors of the Scotch banks have just issued
atnotice to their depositors that henceforth the interest
allowed to them will be calculated on the minimum
balance at their credit in each calendar month, instead
of on the daily balance, as heretofore. The Commercial
Bank of Scotland has at the same time advertised a re-
duction on its rates of discount.
THE BARNSLEY BRANCH OF THEI LANCASHIRE AND
YORKSHIRE RAILWAY.—This branch of railway, so im-
portant to the inhabitants of Barnsley, being their first
and only direct communication, was opened on New
Year's-day. The Barnsley branch joins the Man-
chester and Leeds at Horbury, near Niakefiel4, passing
through the stations at Darton, the Hague, and Criggle-
stone.
BURNING WATER INSTEAD OF LAMP OlL.—The
New York Sun has a letter from Worchester, Massachu-
setts, in which the writer claims to have invented and put
in use an apparatus which separates the oxygen of
hich water is composed, and produces gases for lights.
This it does at no other expense than that of the ma-
chinery, as no material but water is used. The water is
decomposed by a current of electricity, evolved by the
apparatus! The labour of five minutes, once in two
hours in the day, in winding up the machine, is all that
is required to produce 250 cubic feet of gas. The expense
of the machine is 300 dollars, and it can be carried by a
man und, r his arm. Such is the description of it. Time
will determine whether it is even so.

INTOLERANCE.—A Jewish Rabbi in the city of
London, who keeps an Irish servant, last week found out,
to his gnat astonishment and grief, that whole leaves
had be; n torn out of his Hebrew Bible s and other books,
ntiti even out of his manuscript works, among which
there is one presented to him by the late Duke of
Sussex. _On examining the servant, she openly ad-
mitted that, having made confession to a Catholic priest
in London, and having stated to him that she lived with
eo Jewish Rabbi who studio d his Hebrew books day and
ght, ho advised her to destroy them; and she therefore
tore out as many pages as she could, and lit the fire with
the obnoxious papers. Incredible as this story may
appear in a civilised country and age, it is nevertheless
true. The Rabbi has dismissed the servant.—Jewish
Clironicle.