The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser. — 1886-07-17 (Birkenhead, Merseyside, England)

GLADSTONE."  The Royal Agricultural Society opened their show at Norwich on Monday, but owing to the unpropitious state of the weather the attendance was seriously affected. The Queen, who sent several animals to the show, obtained the first prize in the class for young Devon heifers with Fanciful. The Prince of Wales took the third prize for a Clydesdale mare and foal, and the first for a three year old Shire mare. The championship prize for Suffolk stallions was gained by the Duke of Hamilton with Eastern Emperor.  Another cycling" best on record" has ,one to the wall. A telegram from Nick states that Mr. George Mills, of Anfield, Liverpool, arrived at John o'Groats, Caithness, on Friday morning at half-past one, having ridden from Land's End on a 53in. bicycle, accomplishing the distance in five days and one half-hour, beating record by one day, seven hours. The rider's time was checked by Gamble and Alfred Fletcher, of his own club. Considerable interest has been centred in the journey by local wheelmen, and Mr. Mills has been heartily congratulated by his friends upon his success.  It is interesting to note how the thir. teen members (ten Liberals, two Conservatives, and one Home Ruler) who were absent from the division on the Home Rule Bill have fared at the hands of the electors : Three of them Mr. H. A. Bass, Mr. B. Hingly, and Mr. Villiers have been returned as Liberal Unionists, three more (Mr. F. Grafton, Mr. G. H. Blades, and Sir R. Peel) have been replaced by Conservatives; Mr.Macartny (C.) has been re-elected, as have Mr. M‘Lagan (G.) and Mr. Cozens-Hardy ((I.); and Captain O'Shea (P.) has been replaced by a Parnellite. Three (Sir Frederick Milbank, Mr. Cobbold, and Mr. R. Davies) did not seek re-election.  It is not very often that we have had to record such a devilish plot hatched in Scotland as is reported this week. A dastardly attempt, it is alleged, has been made to kill Mr. Nigel 111'Neill, the Ministerial candidate for Buteshire. After addressing the electors in a remote district of Arran, on Friday night, he had intended to drive to Brodrick the same night, but fortunately postponed his journey till the next day. In the meantime it had been discovered that a tree had been laid across a precipitous part of the Brodrick-road. It is to be hoped that the perpetrators of this cowardly attempt to injure Mr. M‘Neill will be speedily brought to justice, and receive that punishment which they so richly merit.  The ss. Selembria has just arrived at London with the first shipment of mutton from the Falkland Islands. She has brought 31,000 carcases in her refrigerators, consigned to Messrs. John Bell and Sons, Charterhouse-street, London. They average about 65 lbs. each, are bred from selected Scotch Cheviots, the first of which were imported into the Islands about fifteen years ago, and a company has now been formed for shipping them regularly to this country. The first venture is likely to prove most encouraging to the company, as the shipment has arrived in srlendid condition, and, judging from the well-known fine quality of Scotch Cheviot mutton, it is expected to meet with a ready sale.  At Wolverhampton, on Monday, a woman named Margaret Weston, aged 29, wife of an engine driver, was committed for tria) for the attempted murder of her four children, aged from eleven months to six years. She left her home saying that she was going for a walk. but walked straight to a lock and first threw the three elder children into the water, and then with the baby in her arms jumped in herself. A boatman pulled out the woman and one child, and a youth named Lewis jumped in and saved the other three as they were going down again. The prisoner said she had had 'trouble at home with her husband and had determined to drown herself with her four children.  Local Liberals were delighted when they heard of the triumphant return of Mr. Arthur J. Williams for the southern division of Glamorganshire by a largely increased majority. Last year he had to contend with a Tory, and won, but at the present election he had a Paper Unionist as an opponent. Taking into consideration the small majority Mr. Williams secured at the last election it was thought by many that the dissidents and Tories combined would succeed in ousting him, but in this they were mistaken. The Liberals stuck to their guns manfully and returned their candidate at the head of the poll. The following was the voting :—A. J. Williams (