The Atherstone, Nuneaton, and Warwickshire Times. — 1882-08-26 (Atherstone, Warwickshire, England)

HERFTAGE. 42, Bath-street, Aug., 1882,  nexfl  An adjourned inquest was held on Wednesday. on the bodies of the five members of the dorm' family, who were murdered last week in the Joyce! district, Connemara. Evidence was given by two. .lima alert as to the nature of the wounds! , en the unfortunate people, and the 6 having summed up, the jury returned is ... of " Wilful murder against some pereonl ._..r. Siemens delivered his presidential address. l the members of the British A•sociation on Wed•:, nesday sight in the Victoria Skating Rink; Sbuthampton. Having reviewed th• progress oil scientific reagearch during the tact half century ' hil referred to the subject of electric lighting, the principal argument in favour of which was faiti ntshed by its immunity from prodacte of combus.: tion, which not only heeted the lighted apartments )rst substituted carbonic acid a deleterious sal Ousel compounds for oxygen, on which respiratfogi : depended. lie also argued the queetion 'electricity against gas Irma an economic view, and assuming the coat of electric light to be prise °ably the same as gas, the preference for one ori the other would be decided upon grounds of relativist 'convenience, but gas-lighting would hold its own` 'as the poor man's friend. He assured that the title was not fee distant when both rich and poor would largely resort to gas as the most convenient and cheapest of heating agents, and when raw coals would be men only at collieries or gasworks.  4 decision of much interest and of considerable importance under Om Licensing Act was given on 7riday by Mr. Paget, the police magistrate at Wandsworth. The manager of a coffee-tavern yeti summoned by the police for opening his house on Sundays, and keeping it open during the time that public-houses were closed in accordance with the requirements of the Act. The police relied .upon thet'27th claim of the Licensing Act; but hir..riget decided that this clause does not apply ,to .oam' in which no intoxicating liquor is on sate. He therefore dismissed the summons on the ,gro-ind that the Licensing Act does not govern _the refreshment houses. The effect of this decision is Writ houses of the class above mentioned— namelys coffee-taverns—need not close during what are called "prohibited hours" If this be the correct view of the law, a great change will take plaoe in all the large towns with regard to the sale of refreshments on Sundays. and the houses licensed for the sale of intoxicating I liquors will find themselves exposed to • severer competition than ever, for it is reasonable to believe that persons really desirous of refreshment will scarcely care to visit the public-home after they have satisfied legitimate wants at the coffee-house. Reference to the clauses of the Licensing Act; which deal with the closing of refreshment-houses distiiirtly seems to us to support Mr. Paget's view of the law, The Legislature may possibly have intended that all houses for the entertainment of .the publie shall closest specified hours; but the wordg if the clause are as follow: "Every refreshment-home In respect of which a license i.. granted for the sale therein by retail of foreign winelshall close at the hours specified for publichqnses ; and these words, Mr. Paget holds do not apply to coffee-taverns holding no wine license. Them iestablishmente, as he reads the Act, are bound by no hours at all ; they are in the posltion of ordinary shops. which may be kept open as long as their conductors please. The decision will probably be appealed against, and we shall then see whether it will stand good or not. In the meantime, keepers of coffee-houses must, of merle, exercise their own discretion in acting upon it:  aroand