Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser. — 1890-04-26 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

EXTRAORDINARY SCENE AT A WEDDING.  On Monday morning an occurrence of an extraordinary nature disturbed the hymeneal happiness of a party entering St. Silas's Church, Pembrokeplace, LiverpooL The bridal party, consisting of four, the bride and bridegroom, the best man, and bridesmaid, arrived in a conveyance and alighted at the main entrance to the sacred edifice. The bride looked resplendent in all her natural charms, sot off to the best advantage by the art of the milliner and the dressmaker. The bridegroom wore the orthodox frock coat, and was beaming with joy. Alas ! "the best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft aglee," and so it was in this instance, for the sweet billing and cooing and all the gaiety and beauty of nature and art were quickly arrested and despoiled. There was a female Mephistopheles inside the iron gate, whose personality was screened from public gaze by a large shawl, and no sooner did the wedding party come within range of fire than this lady opened a cannonade upon them, using as her missiles small bags of flour, which made their mark at every shot. The bags were I composed of thin paper, and of course they burst at I the first contact with their target, the special object of which was the bridegroom's head. Whether , the lady was actuated by jealousy on her own I account, or IMB doing duty for a friend, did not I transpire, but she kept the onslaught up with all the vigour of a woman spurned. The result may be imagined; bride, bridegroom, and their two I companions were deluged with flour, and as they I made a desperate rash for the church the crowd, ' which by that time had gathered in considerable numbers, gave vent to boisterous merriment. The best man afterwards returned, his clothes well powdered with flour, and severely castigated with his tongue the mysterious damsel who had made so untimely an appearance. The female then decamped, and the men and women in white got into the vestry, where the verger's kindly offices soon restored them to a more seemly appearance.  Woodruff, who was chartred as an accessory in the Cronin murder case, and who made a statement implicating Sullivan, ex-President of the Irish National League, has been discharged. rt is admitted that his charges against Sullivan were pure inventions. Woodruff is now charged with horse. stealing. At Ashton on Wednesday a lad named Hulme was charged with sending a threatening letter to another youth. The letter, which betrayed certain grievous defects in the writer's education, contained nothing tem than an invitation to his "dear friend" to fight a dtiel with knives "to a finish." --The magistrates, accepting the repentant hero's plea that he was drunk when he wrote the letter, ordered him to find sureties to keep the peace. Mr Stanley, speaking at Bruseels on Wednesday, said Arab ivory huntera were a great curse to Africa. Their trade was drenched in blood. Be urged the sending of Belgian forces to put an end to the evil, and also that all ivory brought to the coast should be confisoated in the same manner all coatraband merchandise, to discourage the Arab raiders. He approved Major Wiseman's employment of Arabs, 'because, he said, it would give them honourable and legitimate occupation. The employment of Tippoo Tib by the Congo State meant , merely "holding a candle to the devil" pending I his deist-ruction.