English News.

Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 139, 9 March 1877, Page 7

English News.

On Ist January the German Emperor celebrated the seventieth anniversary of his entering the Prussian army

On the north western plains of British America, during the past year, there were slaughtered one hundred and twenty thousand buffalo.

The value of property insured in London is L 040,000,000. Of the fires which occurred in London for the past five years, fuiir- fifths occurred to uninsured property.

A serious strike of all the engineers on the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada is now going on. Tho military have been called out at Belleville to assist the civil powers

Madame Perron, an old lady who lately died at Paris, has bequeathed 85,000 f. to the Municipality of Mar"seillies for founding an asylum for unfortunate dogs and horses.

Very destructive floods are reported from Turkey. According to a telegram x>ne thousand houses have been swept "away by an inundation of the Maritza at Adrianople. Other da mage has also b< en •done to a great extent

The Company of a San Francisco theatre intended vo take the remains of ■& comrade from the ho>-*pital in which sic died and bury him, but they got the \vrong body, and made a touching public demonstration over a Mexican horsethief.

Cemetery Valley, California* is said to boast tho largest tree in the world.. It is cut down some height from the ground, and the trunk is hollow. There is an opening in the side for the admission of vehicles, and horses and buggies can be driven round the interior.

Thirty-two students were recently 'arrested at St. Petersburg on a charge of agitating against their Government for the deposition of the Czar, the adaption of representative Government, and for various other reforms considered incompatible with the state system of Russia.

The freedom of the city of Aberdeen was presented to Mr W. E. Forster, M.P., on the 27th November. Alluding to education, Mr Foster, on the : 24th, when installed as Rector of the University, strongly urgad the study of ■modern languages" in preference to Greek and Latin.

The treasures discovered by Dr Schliemann at Mycensa have arrived at. Athens, with the exception of the. •sculptures. They have been deposited in the Hellenic Bank until a proper place can be provided where the}" may be properly arranged and exhibited. At present they are not accessible to the public. Captain Grimal, the Bonapartist officer Avho was very nearly being Public Prosecutor at the. great Versailles court-martial on the Communards, and who has since been convicted of swindling, has elected under a law of 1875 to undergo solitary confinement, and thereby reduces his period of imprisonment to one-third of the original sentence. A twelve-year-old boy jumped into the river at Roseburg, Oregon, to rescue a younger brother. H« was swimming toAvards the shore with the little one, when the mother, Avho had in her excitement gone too near the ■edge of the bank, slipped into the stream. He instantly let go his hold, and went to save his mother, and all three were drowned.

The Sultan ot Turkey is not yet quite fifty years old, but his hair is already •quite'gray. He wears a full beard, but it is clipped short, and is almost white. He is rather corpulent, but looks e?pe'cially well on horseback. Like Cardinal Wolsey he is a man of large ■digestive apparatus, and keeps it hard ut work all the time. He drinks little, •but eats enormously.

The Missionary Herald reports that about/ ten thousand students are in at-' tendance upon the Moslem University at Cairo. The subjects of study are the Mohammedan religion, jurisprudence, astronomy, history, medicine, and poetry. The students are from China, Tariary, India, Arabia) Morocco, Central Africa, European and Asiatic Turkey, and Egypt. Another mysterious jewel robbery lias taken place. The gems, valued at 14000, were packed as au ordinary parcel by a London jeweller, and sent by rail to Barton in Warwickshire, huton arriving at its destination the bux •was found"empty. The wonder is how the nature of the contents became known. Perhaps, after all, there aTe some clairvoyants who are not strictly

lion est.

A Roman telegram says that a great pilgrimage is organising in the United Stales for the purpose of visiting Rome in June and congratulating the Pope on his episcopal jubilee. ' Meanwhile, Monsignor ; Bayley, Archbishop of Baltimore, accompanied by Monsignor Carrigan, Bishop of Newark, will shortly be at Rome on a special mission. Monsignor MacCloskey is also' expected. Three young men were lately charged before the Recorder of Dublin witlrhaving assaulted a constable while following ii band playing through the streets. The Recorder, in addressing the jury, said he thought amusements such as these were far more quiet, than if men spent their time ih public-houses. When a Judge looks upon beating a constable as an amusement/ no wonder shillelaghs are cheap.

Tbe Duke of Devonshire has give L 12,000 towards the erection of two churches in Rarrow-in-Furr.ess, with parsonages, and the Duke of Buceleuch has given L 6,000 for another church to be erected. Upwards of L 2,500 have also btien subscribed for a fourth church in Barrow, and it is intended to proceed with the erection of these edifice.-" shortly. _ It is proposed to build churches of iron till permanent buildings can be provided.

It is stated that there is a likelihood of another Polar Expedition being-fitted out next summer. It is to be a private undertaking, set on foot by the united yacht clubs of the kingdom. Each yacht club has. guaranteed a subscription, and the scheme has advanced so far that the distinguished geographer, Dr Petermann, is now in London for the purpose of consulting with the promoters of the Expedition on the best route to be adopted,

An extraordinary tombstone dispute has arisen at Wadsley Bridge, near Sheffield. The widow of one benjamin Keeton, a recently deceased cricketer of some locai renown, has erected a tombstone to her husband's memory, on which is carved a set of stumps about a foot high, with bat and ball. The vicar and churchwardens declare the stone was surreptitiously fixed, and have ordered its removal; which has caused intense local excitement.

. A number of Parisian Republican papers have been fined from lOOOf. to 500011 for a libel on the Empress Eugenic, by the publication of Spani&h judicial decrees nearly fifty j'ears old, respecting the conjugal relations of the Count and Countess Montijo. This couple the defendants represented as the Empress's parents, and they threw doubts on her legitimacy; but it appears that the documents refer to otherpersons of a similar name and title.

By order of a former Queen of England, the ladies of the Court could not appear before her Majesty twice in the same dress, and the Grand Duchess of Florence, sister of Napoleon I, required the same rule to be followed by her maids of honor. These ladies were in great distress to know how to make the proper change, and frequently resorted to the deception of wearing- a fine quality of coloured calico, trimmed with their richest laces, to represent silk. The 81 -ton gun has gone wrong, though it cannot be said to have broken down. Tiie steel tube of which its bore consists has spirt, and a new metal lining is necessary. The mishap is said to have been occasioned by the excessive strain upon it during experiments at firing, or, more technically, by the abnormal number of holes bored in the metal through which the pressureguages were placed. The damage, it is said, can easily be repaired. Another theory is that the split is due to the inelasticity of the metal of which the bore is made — steel.

A remarkable case of longevity (says the British Medical Journal) is reported in Virchow's -• Archive?," by Dr Cries tein, of Athens. The man, George Stravarides, died in Smyrno, at the age of 132 years. Although this Methuselah had always lived an irregular life, and had consumed an average of more than a hundred drachms of brandy daily, he retained full possession of his five senses, as also a complete set of teeth up to the moment of his death. He also continued to the last to attend to the duties of his avocation -*-a baker-. The man was born in 1 743, in the reign of Mahornmed 1., and lived during the reign of nine Sultans.

It will astonish some people, says the London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, to hear of the extraordin--ary sunis earned by our London Shoeblack Brigade boys. Some 13,000 have passed through the nine societies formed in London. Un an average 400 boys are employed at a time. The total earnings last year were Ll 1,000. In the Central Society alone 7Q boys earned last year L 3,000) of which L 2,200 was paid to the boys themselves, being over L3O each. Mr Macgregor (" Rob Roy") mentioned these facts at a meeting of the London School Board.

Kerosene will probably soon become one of the staple products of Russia. An American speculator, who has struck oil in the valley of the Volga, has taken on lease 350,000 acres of land, which he has already begun to work He promises to sell petroleum at 30 per cent, under the price of that imported from America, and he has already shown the value of his. discovery by supplying some of the steamers on the Volga. It is said that the companies which have tried heating with the hew fuel are perfectly satisfied with the result of the experiment

An exquisite piece of Chinese carving is exhibited at the Philadelphia Exhibition. On an elephant's tusk is represented a Chinese city situated on the side of a mountain, and containing Joss house } palaces, pagodas, and military processions, while every minute detail of Celestial street and domestic life is depicted Avith marvellous accuracy. The carving is the work of one man, and occupied bim for three years, yet the value of native labour in China is so inconsiderable that the worth of the work is only estimated- at £6.4. •It has been bought by the Pepnsylvanian Museum of Art. : . ". ■„-.*. ! t It is a queer -sort of triumph to be mistaken; for a -.queen, lady of fashion,*' residing, in the neighbourhood of Windsor Castle, has procured a carriage of precisely the same peculiar

build as that in which the Queen is driven about Windsor, and, to complete the likeness, they are driven on the most ordinary shopping trips, not from the coach-box, but— just, a*? are Her Majesty's — by postilions, who wear mourning livery undistinguishable from; that worn by the Queen's outriders. It cannot be marvelled at that the.impersonation should occasionally deceive the

innocent

A leading fashionable Viscount ha<bid his native land good night. He had. the most splendid turn-out in Paris, and which turned the heads of many ladies. He lodged in • a splendidly*' furnished palace, and lived by pawning the artistic articles of light furniture,* replacing them by " dummies," and paying nobody. The bubble burst,, and the first thing the people did was to seize the wardrobes and jewellery of his several mistresses, and Avhich form a; large pile which many go to view, as the spectacle. costs nothing. Some letters were discovered from a wealthy and respectable lady who loved the swindler, anil advanced him money, but at whom he laughed. She was asked if she was now convinced, and she replied — "Yes, more than ever to love and marry him."

Mrs Hun toon, a sister, of the Eddy Brothers, was detected whilst personating spirits at Webster, Mass. She had been invited to hold forth at the house of a person named Flint. A circle was formed, the lights were, turned low* the curtain was drawn aside, a low bending figure appeared, hands were outstretched, and nnally.it was announced that the spirit of Mrs Flint's mother desired to communicate with her daughter. The lady drew near the curtain, and the fluttering hand of the spirit made desultory attempts to grasp the daughter's hand. "Is this my dear mother V " Yes, I am your mother." Mrs Flint seized the spirit's hands and held them. A lawyer turned on the gas, and Mrs Huntoon was revealed struggling in the arms of the courageous lady. " Spiritualism (says the American paper from which tne above is taken) is fast becoming the stupidest humbug of the century."

The richest heiress in the world was married in London, recently, when Hannah de Rothschild, the only daughter of the late Baron Meyer de Rothschild, wedded Lord Rosebury, the noted turfman. The late baron was a great sporting man, and he was also very much attached to Lord Rosebury, who has now taken to himself oue of the most amiable, if not the most handsome, of all the Rothschild ladies. Lord Rosebury was born in 1848, and is consequently in his twenty-ninth year. The late baron left L 8,000,000, and his daughter, being tha only child, received L 7,000.000 of it under her father's will, 'ihe Rothschilds are very averse to these marriages, and even when the Hon. Blior Yorke, about two years ago, married Miss Annie de Rothschild, the second daughter of Sir Anthony Rothschild, the feeling about the marriage was so keen that Sir Anthony forbade. It rook place, however, though her hither refused to Rive her a dowry. The ex-equerry could afford to •put up with the loss, for she had an income of some LIS,OOO per annum whioh she derived from her grandfather. We are often told (says the Army and Navy Gazette) that the army does not offer sufficient inducements to tempt the most respectable youths of the working classes to enlist, but its attractions have lately induced the eldest

sons of two earls to enter the ranks as privates. Gne of these has joined the ranks of the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards as a trooper, because it is said that doubts were entertained as to his being able to pass the necessary examination for au officer's commission. And determined, at all events, to be a soldier, he enlisted as a private with the view of winning promotion by good conduct or gallantry in the field. Such determination to succeed in the military career must command, respect, and Aye wish all success and speedy promotion to the young trooper who" has joined the ranks commanded by Col. Stewart. He could certainly not have selected a regiment where he could have better found a kindly helping hand and an active appreciation of soldierly zeal. The other heir to a noble family is Viscount Maidstone, who enlisted in the Royal Artillery. . He has been, however, rejected. Since then he has en^ listed in a cavalry regiment.-

The report of the Admiralty of Staff Surgeon A. B. Messer». M. JTX, R. N., on the subject of poisoned arrows is important. Dr Messer inclines to the opinion that so-called poisoned arrmvs have no effect, save that of the flesh wounds Avhich.they cause, and of the terrors which their use and their supposed deadliness create in the mind of the 1 sufferer. The lamentable death pf Commodore Goodenough,' of the Pearl, will be. fresh in the memory of all. But Dr Messer mentions the highly-signifi-cant fact that several men- were wounded at Santa Cruia besides - Commodore Goodenough, , and that, nevertheless, five of them recovered, although at least in one case tetanic symptoms had begun to .display, .themselves. 7 The inference "drawn" by, Dr Cesser — and if it be correct .it should be made known to every sailor, merchant, or missionary in the South ? Pacific — is that whatever arj'ow-Wounds cause lockjaw, it is eithei* an -instance of what surgeons call traumatic tetanus, or else, as with some cases of hydrophobia or small-pox, a

mere reflex product to be accounted for by an undeniable but stillhalf unknown action of the imagination upon man's physical organism. Reference was made, in a recent letter, to the tendency of the Jews of this day to " rebuild Jerusalem"; but a still more curious movement appears to have been lately set on foot, namely, a project for transferring the Papacy to Palestine. The Armininian Patriarch', Monsignor.Harsoun, is said to be urginjr the projectof converting the cradle offt'ie Christian Church into an appanage of the Pope, and to be supported in this idea not only by Pius IX. and' by the Papal Court, but also by the Turkish Government, to which the Papacy is rendering important service at this time., The Patriarch's plan is ; to attract Catholic immigrants to Palestine from all parts of the Avorld, to allot to them lands and cattle, to build workshop.**, and to call into activity on the classic soil of the Christian creed the various industries which cause the other countries of the globe to flourish. The capital of the new State would be Jerusalem, which would be placed by railways in communication with Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Dead Sen, and other holy places. A great port would be constructed at Jaffa, and smaller ones on the coast. It is thought that the favor with which the project is entertained at Rome may indicate a wish on the part of the Pope and his advisers to secure for his successors a new field for the exercise of "temporal" as well as " spiritual" sovereignty

Constantinople is about thirteen miles round, and is enclosed by walls on the western, or land side. The " Harbour," or Golden Horn, on the north, divides it from Galata> and the , Bosphorus divides it from Scutari. These are properly but suburbs, but make up together the city of Constantinople, The population is pbout half a million, and is composed cf a somewhat motley group — of, Armenians^'Uews, Arabs, " Europeans," and Turks, the Turks forming about one-half of the population. The city stands on the site of antique Byzantium, founded 656 b c. The total absence of churches, bells, and clocks is a peculiarity which at once strikes the Western visitor. The Moslem divides his day and night into twenty-four hours, it is true ; bnt his I day begins with the Sunset. An hour alter sunset it is one o'clock, the sunsetting* being remarkable everywhere, I It is at sunset that the " call to prayer" is made from the galleries of the mosque-minarets, and not at any one stated or set hour, and is thus made not a little significant. The streets of Constantinople are rather long and crooked lanes, with low timber-built houses. The bazaars are but little else than covered-streets, with the goods exposed on either side. The thoroughfares generally can be compared only to the irregular way across an uneven field. with cottages built close to the edge of it. Each street of the city is a perfect zigzag, and a straight line is not to be found — indeed there is a total absence of " planning." From east to west the city is about three miles. The Golden Horn divides this main part of the city from Galata on the north ; while the Bosphorus divides it from .Scutari. Tt is necessary to note this, as the Bosphorus is half a mile wide in parts, and in others a mile, so that there ,are, in fact, three towns, all of them making up the city. At Home (says the News of Janu-iry 13) the advent of 1877 has been signalised by a continuance on an exaggerated scale of the tempest of rain and wind which had become chronically domesticated with us. Nothing like the gale of Monday, January 1, which visited all parts of the United Kingdom and most parts of Europe, lias been known since the great storm of 1703 Immense damage has been done along the whole coast of the Mediterranean. From Nice to Jersey, from Jersey to the LamVs End, from John O'Groat's to Beachy Head, in the Eastern, Northern, and Midland counties, in town and country, city and suburbs,' it is the same tale of deluge and destruction, Avind and waste. The Yorkshire dales are flooded. In Cheshire and Lancashire flocks of. cattle have been swept" away. The whole country between Paddington and Truro is covered often to the depth of 10 feet in water. •• On the southcoast nothing like the fury of the storm has bpen known for fifty years. At Dover 200 yards of the parapet on the Admiralty. Pier have .been cleared off by. the Avaves. and " the rails laid along the Continental Pier have been twisted like wire." At Hastings the sea-wall and., pier- Wall are partially destroyed, and the houses in the lower part of the town are in ruins. In London itself there has been a calamity, not indeed commensurate with.' the Rengal cyclone, the account of which, described in Sir Richard Temple's dispatch, has just been read- here ,wit,h:great interest, but so far as the plight of its survivors are -concerned, scarcely less melancholy. At. three o'clock- on Tuesday morning, Snd January, the inhabitants ot Wandsworth and Lainbetli were roused from •their sleep. 'by ; the..: cry. that the'-Th'ames i hacf overflowed its southern .bank,, and that their houses' were : t hreateried with | instant inundation.- -The -water poured down the street like a millstrebmy flooded cellars, and even rooms on : the ground f100r... A- great, portion of the stuck-in- trade of a poor and industrious population, now absolutely homeless, ! has been swept away»