English News.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 187, 8 February 1878, Page 7

English News.

Prince Leopold is agiin ill. 'ike English Consul-General has been instructed to examine into New York detective system. A large pool has burst near Pool, Dorset, and damaged an agricultural implement foundry to the extent of L3OOO to L4OOO. The latest story about Dean Stanley is that he is engaged on an ecclesiastical novel, having St. Andrews for its central attraction, and that it will bringinto prominence some of the leading events in the Dean's personal history. — Examiner.

A liotel-keeper at Cowdenbeatk has been fined for supplying beer to the guard, engine-driver, and fireman of a I goods train which on a Sunday raornj ing recently was allowed to get into collision wiib another goods train near Cardendeu Station. The Sheriff decided that the man were noG bona fide travellers. The Bristol magistrates heard a rather singalar case on Saturday. John Jones, aged fitter, was charged with killing a tramway horse. The youngster obtained several, porcupine quiils brought from the West Coast of Africa by a comrade, and some time ago stuck a quill into the side of one of the tramway horses, value L6O. Three inches of the quill broke off, worked into the animal's inside, and caused death. The accused was sentenced to twenty-one days' imprisonment,. The electric light (Siemens and Halske's system) has been introduced, with very satisfactory results, into the synagogue at Berlin. Steam engines in the Temple may appear an incongruous combination to some people, but whilst the expense of lighting the synagogue by gas has been no less than L 3 an hour, the elwctric light only cost 4s. Besides which there is a precedent for the employment of Gentiles and their appliances in the Temple, for which foreign labour was imported from Tyre. The story is told of a woman who

freely used her tongue to the scandal of others, and made confessions to the priest of what she had done. He gave her a ripe thistle-top, and told her to go out in various directions and scatter the seeds one bp one. Wondering at the penance, she obeyed, and then returned and told her confessor. To her amazement, he bade her go back and gather the scattered seeds ; and'when she objected that it would be impossible, he replied that it would be still more difficult to gather up and destroy all evil reports she had circulated about others. Any thoughtless, careless child can scatter a handful of thistle-seeds before the wind in a moment, but the strongest and wisest man cannot gather them again. The Appeal Court at Naples has had before it a case of a woman being buried alive. It appeared from the evidence that some time ago a woman was interred with all the usual formalities, it being believed that she was dead, while she was only in a trance. Some da}'s afterwards, the grave in which she had been placed, being opened for the reception of another body, it was found that the clothes which covered the unfortuuate wo'-nan were torn to pieces, and that she had even broken her limbs in attempting to extricate herself from her living tomb. The Court, after hearing the case, sentenced the doctor who had signed the certificate of decease, and the Mayor who authorised the interment, each to three month's imprisonment for involuntary manslaughter. t

Spain proposes to introduce at the Paris Exhibition of the present year an exhibition of beautiful women. A. call will be. made upon the fair sex throughout the world. The rewards will comprize 60 prizes, 100 accessit?, and 200 honourable mentions. The jury is to be composed of two members out of each nation, a gentleman and a lady ; the judgment to be drawn from two photos, one representing the competitress with her face turned towards the spectators and the other only presenting a side view. The programme does not say how low- the dress of the exhibitress may be cut down — this delicate point will doubtless be left to the appreciation of the jury. The fifty photos that have obtained the prizes will be exhibited for the space of twentyone days in a private saloon, after which they will be united to the photos of the acossits and the honourable mentions, and the whole will form a richly bound album, that will be placed at the disposal of the public.

" I'll marry any girl in the room that will have me,"' said a half- tipsy young 1 fellovr. "I'll take you," said a fresh, clear-eyed young- girl of 17. And in half an hour the" two were married and being congratulated by their friends This actually occurred,, only a f?w weeks ago ia the near vicinity of Franklinville, in this county. The occasion was a country dance, the participants were a farmer's son and'- a' farmer's daughter, neither of whom had exchanged a word with the other until the above scene occurred." The young fellow had been drinking, and thought he, would say something " smart " and astonish the girls with bis audacity. The girl, however, had heard j'hat be was a "good fellow," and being moved, by that spirit which. *' will not take a dare if death come," took him at his word. They are now living ;with- the young fellow's parents, and are studying each other's character at their leisure.— Olean (N.Y.) Record.

A large bed of oysters, some 20 miles square, has been discovered off .Jersey. A precocious thief has been caught in Grfipnock. He is eight years of age. is the leader of a gang of thieves, baa been frequently apprehended on charges of theft, smokes, chews, and drinks whiskey, . He has. been sent to a reformatory.

The marriage of the Princess Mercedes d'Urleans is settled. She will become the bride of King Alphonso in the month of January next. The 'laces for the wedding dress have been already ordered in Paris. These laces reproduce in their designs the arms of the House of Bourbon, suppressing the bar. A. few days after her marriage, while spending her honeymoon at Sevnoaks, the Countess of Aberdeen (wee Isabel Majoribanks) vfhs robbed of over five, thousand pounds' worth of jowels. Tlie : thieves o-ot safely away, and have not yet been caught. Other burglaries have taken place in London by dozens, in spite of Police and watchmen. A patron of newspapers once said to the publisher — " Mr Printer, how is it you never call on me for pay for your paper?" "Oh!" said the man of types, "we never a ask a gentleman for money." " Indeed !" replied the patron. " How do you manage to get along when they don't pay ?" " Why," said the editor, " after a certain time we conclude he is not a gentleman, and we ask bim " At a rpecial meeting of the Heywood Local Board, it was announced. that the Quppn had presented to the town 20 acres of land for the purposes oi a public park. The "sum required for the purchase of the land has been set apart by the Queen out of' a sum exceeding LI O,OOO which fell to her, p.s Duchess of Lancaster, through the death, without heirs, of Mr C. M. Newhouse, of Heywood. Mr Newhouse was killed in a railway accident at Miles Flatting in 1873.

A fashionable London dressmaker was prosecutpd lately by the inspector of faotorips for having kept her girls from eight o'clock one morning till five the next. She said this was necessary in order to complete an outfit for a marriage in high life; but the Magistrate being unable to see that, this justified her conduct, finpd her Ll6, or L 2 for finch girl employed. Professor Bell lectured on the telepbonp in the theatre of South Kensington Schools TPcentlv. Having pxplained the course of experiments which led to his discovery, he said there was some reason to suppose that the sound was caused rather by molecular action than vibration, as lip. bad conversed with a man 100 miles off with a piece of wood one inch thick, interposed between his mouth and the plate. He had bpard the breathing of a man 149 miles off. It is a very bad habit to eat orange peel. Nor is the juvenile habit of eating applet with the ppfil on to be recommended either. Parents who do not cnre as yet to correct these evil propensities wi.l perhnps be more inclined ro.do so when they hear that the Httlp black sppcks which may be found on the ski.ns of oranges and apples thst have been kept some time are clusters

of fungi, precisely similar to those to which whooping 1 - cough is attributed. Dr Tscha mer, of Graz, who hns marie fhe dissovp.ry, scraped some of these black specks off an orang'p, and introduced them into his lungs by a strong inspiration. Next day he was troubled with violent ticklinsr in the throat, which by the end of the week ban developed into an acute attack of whoopi n g-congh . Mr J. G. Butt, M.P., has presided over a meeting* held at Belfast to advocate the sorfiad of Home "Rule principles in the Ulster constituencies. Resolutions were passeH .cordially approving of the organisation of Ulster in the Home Tlule interest, stating that one of the greatest of their social evils arose from the anomalous condition ot the Land Laws, and expressing a firm conviction that the establishment of a peasant proprietary in Ireland on the Prussian system would be the onty practical and permanent solution of thi° land question. The meeting deplored the unfortunate condition to which " foreign " legislation had reduced freland, and pledged itself to sustain by every legitimate means in its power thoso who are labouring to establish a native Parliament, as the only hops of securing" for the li-ish people the blessings of free government.

Experiments were made the other (lay upon the cable lying between St. Margaret's Bay, near Dover, and the village of Sangatte in France, about five miles westward of Calais This cable is 211 miles in length, and contains four conducting wires. One wire was first connected to ordinan r telegraph instruments and, arrangements being made, the reg lest was conveyed to a correspondent at Sana'atte to connect, the telephone. J'his done, the question, ." Are you ready?" came as distinctly to the par as it would bnvft done bad the spnaker been in an adjoining ronm. Conversation was carried on for a period px^ndiny over nearly two hours in both French and English. A lady present, asked, " Do you know who I am?" . Tlih answer returned, {i No; but I rpcognise tbp voice ot a lady." One gentleman, who pltvcpri the telephone to his ear, : after making some facetious remark, exclaimed. " i distinctly hear spveral voices laughing " One and another on either coast were requested to sing and whistle, the tones of which were plainly rendered on the opposite side.

It-is now certain that Prince Arthuf will be the future Commander-in-chief. The result of the recent hydrophobai scare, and the edict of the, Commissioner of Police against stray dogs, has resulted in th^ apprehension by the Me-, tropolitan police of some 250 dogs daily. Dr Kenealy has been asking ior L 25,000, to be made up by a million sixpences, "for the release, of Hoger Tichborne, and the advancement of Aiag-ni Cbarta." The member for Urton has only goti'L2o. Dr Schweinfiirth. rhe celebrated African traveller, who has been staying at Berlin since the beginning of August, will shortly return to Africa, as he finds that tn.e European climate no longer agrees with his health. Another, step towards the civilisation of Africa h:»s been made by this country, the King' of Lucala, a district lying" to the south-east of St. Paul de Loanda, having been induced to enter into an engagement to put a stop to all human sacrifices amongst his people. Moses H. Gcinnel, of the firm of Grinnel, Minturn, and Co,, well known on both sides of the Atlantic, has died at New York. It will be remembered that he fitted and despatched at his own expense an expedition bearing his name to the North Pole in search of Sir John Frankliu. The Supreme Court of the United States has decided in a case where a woman burned her house to get the insurance, that nobody can be convicted of arson in burning 1 his own property, nor can a woirian who burns her husband's house, arson being described as " the malicious and voluntary burning of the house of another hv night or by day." The Bishop of Manchester has again been " hitting the nail on the head." He spoke at a meeting- in Manchester in aid of the Curates' Augmentation Society, declaring that a redistriburion of the Church's endowments might become imperatively necessary, and if so, and if it were desired to place the Bishop's emoluments in the category, he for one should not have a word to say against it. How many Bishops will g-o and do likewise ?

An old gentleman, S9 years of age, met with his death in a remarkable manner in London. He was being wheeled home in a bath-chair, when the wheel of a cart caught the chair and turned it over. The horse became frightened nnd backed, and the wheels of the c;irt passed over the head of the gentleman, causing instant death.

\The War Oflie have tinder consideration the desirability of increasing the number of torpedo establishments round the coast. The Indian Government is taking 1 steps for the protection of the principal Indian ports by means of torpedoes, and an officer of the Koyal Engineers has been sent out from England to consult with it as to the measures to be adopted. Litigation has commenced in the New York Courts over the colossal fortune of the late Commodore Vanderbilt,amounting to I/J0, 000,000 sterling His will is contested by one of his sons in coasequenou of himself and his sisters being cut off with only L 1,000,000, 000,000 sterling, while another son l'ei-eivas the remainder of the enormous fortune of the Commodore. Charges of fraud and deception in the lifetime of his father are made against the favourite son. A case wtjich excited a great deal of interest was investigated at Belfast Po'ice Court lately. A number of bakers were sum mooed for a breach of the Lord's Day Observance Act. by working on the premises of Messrs Inglis and Co., Castle-street. The defendants were convicted and fined. An application will be mnde to the Court of Queen's Bench to b<ive ttie conviction quashed. During the hearing* of the case it was given in evidence t! at b tkers frequently kneaded dougti w,th their feet. This startling announcement bus caused much excitement amongst bread consumers in Melfast.

The Banffishire Journal states that the remains of Miss Isabel .Vl orison were interred in the cemetery at Banff. The deceased lady has been proved beyond doubi to have' been a centenarian. She died on the 19th inst. at the great age- of 105 yi>ars and several days. The date of her oaptisin was registered in the parish of Fordyee, and the record is in the Kegister House, Edinburgh. She came to reside in Banff more than 60 years ago, arid conducted v business in woollen and f.tncy- goods in Highstreet, in which she was engaged till about ren years ago.

The Now Forest Shakers still ]«ad their strange life. In a case where a 'Shaker was uhargvd with neglecting" his fit mi)}', it omie out that these eccenfrio yniLmsia^tsi were frequently without food at all, and that, ;t raw turnip was a luxury to then) ; they spend their whole nmn in courting, ;tod community of wives and husbands was but a mild description of their morals. They show no desire to change this monotonously sensual existence.' Brigbam Young used to. be not"d for his ingenuity in evading a difficulty. It is saiii that a.di.suipl>4 strohgin the* faith onoe.li^f ;i l^«j--, ;.nd (jrayed him to have another supplied by miraculous growth. The j>ruuh«s atis'^-red that, he could command unothei to grow^ofj course, but b^uged hi.s psiifi6n~ef'ip:cjiiti-:: sider how -awkward' i.t r WQuidj'b€j ■tol|ifalj? : around ;h/*a'yen with three legs^^wb^ the, pt hot saints the^e Avo^i^oja^e^ohly two ! The device . succeeded,, and? the sufferer went away satisfied. ; "