Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1883-01-06 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

NEWS NOTES.  (Wedeem It right to state that wo do not blentify OW. selves with our Correspondent'. opinionwi  MANY people in this country have no doubt eympathised, over and over again, with their Australian cousins on the unseasonableness of holding their Christmas in hot simmer weather, when the plum podding is not relished taken cold im the open air under the shadow of trees. But English peop'e themselves may be sympathised with on the unseasonableness of their own Christmas weather this winter. The temperature was more like May than December. On the day after Boxing-day the thermometer registered nearly sixty degrees of heat in the metropolis, and it was far above the average in all parts of the country. The closeness made the warmth oppressive, and caused perspiration as in a sultry day of summer.  Tax extraordinary mildness has no doubt been good for invalids. It is stated to have greatly aided the return of Mr. Fawcett to a condition of convale,cence. Sufferers from bronchial affections have also benefited by the mildness, but it has been by no means conducive to the general health of the community. The healthiest years are those in which the seasons maintain throughout their special characteristics, with bronzing heat in summer and bracing cold in winter.  THERE are some Government posts which give their occupants the distinction of a place in the Cabinet, but which do not bring upon them the burden of much. One of these is the Keepership of the l'rivy Seal, and another is the Chancellorship of the nuchy of Lancaster. So different are these offices from the Chief Secretaryships of State, which also entitle to a seat in the Cabinet, that a metropolitan paper, a few days ago, made the mistake of supposing that the Keepership of the Privy Seal had remained vacant since the resignation of the I lmike of Argyll, though it was filled up shortly afterwards by the appointment of Lord Carlingford to the vacant post.  THE Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster could hardly. however, have been a sinecure when the post was held by Lord Dufferin, since he described himself as being the maid-of-allwork to the Ministry. Secretaries of State, knowing that Lord Dufferin's special duties cool I not engross much of his attention, applied to him for his assistance in their respective departments, and it was in this way that he came to consider himself a sort of maid-of-all-work. If his colleagues hal not known that he was ready to undertake any amount of work, as his present activity in Egypt shows, and if they had not known that he possessed an obliging disposition, they would not so frequently have asked his assistane.  ccortnistt; to the reports of the commissioner of a London newspaper. who has made an inspe..tion of the districts in Ire!and, said to be threatened with famine, it is Donegal where the evidences of distress are already most abundant, and where they are likeliest to increase. The continuous wet weather in autumn destroyed the grain crops, and also the potato crops, which are still coltivated too largely to the nsg:ect of other roots. One Iltd season has the effect of entirely upsetting the smatter class of Irish farmers.  TOE trouble taken in connection with the arrest, detention, transference from South America to Jamaica, and bringing back across the Atlantic of the man Westgate—who confessed that he was an accomplice in the l'h par: murders— has all been wasted. His statements were found, Idler strict investigation by the Dublin police, to be devoid of foundation, and it became apparent that his twin desires were to gain notoriety for himself audit may be,a free passage across the Atlant:c. He seas discharged, and with his discharge disappeared the hope that, through means of him, a clue might be found to the perpetrators of the murders.