Weekly News. — 1891-06-11 (Blandford, Dorset, England)

BUILDING SOCIETY DISPUTE.  In the Queen's Bench Division, on Saturday, Mr. Justice Mathew gave judgment in the case, Cross and others v. Fisher and others, which was beton him at the Leeds Assizes in March, and was is  Gently argued on further consideration. The acti,. was brought by 13 plaintiffs, depositors, again'. 16 defendants. directors of the Hull and Holderness Conservative Permanent Benefit Building Society to recover a sum of over £9OO, as moneys which were deposited with the society on loan, between certain dates, when the defendants were stated to have been nieinbers of the board of directors, which had been lost through the alleged defalcations of a secretary named Coilison, who was said to have since absconded, and eventually to have committed suicide, and for the repayment of which the defendants were sough:, to be made personally responsible. The plaintiffs' case was that the moneys were advanced at the invitation of the secretary, as the anent of the directors at times when the society's agent powers Mul been exhausted. The defendants denied that the moneys were invited by Collison as their agent, their contention being that they were invited .uy him on his own account and misappropriated by him in fraud of the plaintiffs. Mr. Justice Mathew found as a fact that the directors were all perfectly well aware of the course of business pursued by Collison in receiving moneys fmni the depositors, but were in no way cognisant ot or parties to his frauds, which, altogether,were said to involve a sum of £14,000. They had, howevfr, neglected to look properly into the state of affairs. and his lordship came to the conclusion that they were responsible, as they undoubtedly, within the meaning of the statute, received loans on behalf of the society after the borrowing powers had been exhausted. There would, therefore, be judgment for all the plaintiffs against all the delendants who were directors at the time. Judgment was accordingly given for the amount now claimechwith costs, but execution was stayed in view of an anooal.  The steam whaler Kite has left New York with the North Pole expedition, organised by Mr. Peary, a Naval engineer. The party numbers about 16, and includes Mr. Peary's wife. They will proceed, in the first instance, to Greenland, where the ship will be left, and the expedition will endeavour to reach the Pole overland in sledges. It is announced from Calcutta that the members of the LeproQy Commission, who are now pursuing their resear. .es i Simla, have made the important discovery that the leprosy bacillus can be isolated and cultivated artificially. A rabbit was inoculated and killed after some days, and distinct leprous nodules were found in the body. It is stated that the bacillus has never before grown outside the human body. The Indian Meteorological Department has published its annual forecast of the prospects of the monsoon founded on the wintm's snowfall in the Himalayas awl iu Central Asia. The chief inferences drawn are that Burmah, Bengal, and Assam will obtain normal or abundant rain; that the conditions will be slightly less favourable for Behar and the eastern district* of the North-West Provinces; that there are very unfavourable prospects for Rajpootaua, the Southern Punjab, the western districts of the North-West Provinces, and Gujeat; that in Bombay and Berar the rainfall is likely to be slightly deficient, and that Southern India.is likely to receive a favourable amount of rain.  According to the Australian correspondent of the Presbyterian Menem:fee, the work of restoring Bible teaching in the State schools is still prosecuted with undiminished vigour. The annual meeting of the National Scripture Education League was held a few weeks ago, and it was largely attended. The Bishop of Melbourne presided. Addresses were delivered by a number of well-known advocates of the movement. The tone of the meeting was highly encouraging. At the recent sittings of the Church of England Assembly at Ballarat, a motion was carried that petitions be presented to both Houses of the Legislature, prayiug that the reading of the Holy Scriptures by the children may form part of the instruction given in the schools within the prescribed hours.  Towards 3 o'clock on Sunday afternoon a crowd of some 150 Anarchists and Freethinkers, carrying wreaths, went up to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, at Montmartre, in order to protest against the religious solemnities which have been taking place during the past week in connection with the formal consecration of the sacred edifice. They intended to lay the wreaths on the spot where Varlin. a member of the Commune, was shot in 1871. The police stopped the people some distance from the building and endeavoured to obtain possession of the wreaths. This led to a slight tumult, which caused much alarm among the sight-seers and worshippers who had been visiting the Basilica in large numbers during the day. The police held their ground, however, and SOOD captured the wreaths, and dispersed the demonstrationists, after taking six persons into custody. On Sunday morning M. Catulle Mendes and M. Rene d'Hubert, editor of the Gil Blas,fought a duel with pistols, in the environs of Paris. Two shots were exchanged without any unpleasant results to either of the belligerents. The affair had arisen out of a newspaper polemic, after the manner of most of these quarrels.  Printed for the Proprietor by rent= A. COLBOILNI and published st the Weakly News 01 toe, 14 Salisbury Streak Itlandlord.