NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 266, 3 November 1874, Page 7

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

- Pour\&pniireil : f ef fc In !«hi^s'piS3sed:>>tUcoiighn j :the Xanal. , : jThje trart«itf revenues > of Af" the same £2i,OS6.'.,' ! During ten years, two h^ndr^diffiM*ffife'7* fire actions 1 • The .sale, of ] iy&jte different i public department* in <s&s Britain realises annually sixteen thousand,P°upd» sterling. At London recently, seventy-three cases •«if OapeVtosfcriob} fda&ets:.^oW , \ , fii.?'i ; Jifff« nt J" ■even .thousand pounds sterling. V. ' A'smg'irlstr it Blackpool, to-srWalSflrriamed Waited Cheep-, the Ri&hdaje Canal ■•■atVi His wife used a needle in fixing something to his shirt front. . This needle, it appears, had gpt i but' 1 df* imposition;' and it / penetrated the heart. Alarmed by the sensations 1 lien experienced, Greenwood ran to a surgeon, aid ,the head of ~the needle was .reached by ijnr cisibri, and the rieedle'drawn oufc./ Tlietnan, however, die& ; befpre he could leave tjie . Imagery,., .. 5 ' .. L There, is every. prbspect of • a Channel Tujrinel being an accomplished fact, a ■considerable portion of the" capital requisite having: been subscribed r . It is estimated 1 -to I cost about, £B,OOO,OQp sterlmg,|: : nearly : -half iof whichhas been promised.' " r , ' . A swimming? match'.for the amateur championship of England took place at the Welsh Harp, Hiridon. Six men swam one. mile |in; still water, and H. Davenport won'by eight yards, in 31 miri. 9 sees, " * ■ NEW ZEALAND AND THE fIOMB JOURNALS.' Referring to Mr Holloway and his-criti-cisms on the Colony, at least of Otago, the Times says " whatever report Mr Holloway may bring Home of. unfavourable land laws or other matters, there is n»t the slightest doubt"that New Zealand does offer the prize: of independence to every emigrant.who. can and will : work for it." Times speaks •strongly in favour of our Colony above other Colonies. The Standard and other papers have also opened their columns to correspondents on the vital questions of emigration, and it is noticeable that a large preponderance is strongly in favour of New Zealand above Uanada. GIGANTIC RECLAMATION OP LAND. The Duke of Sutherland is setting a grand example to other large landowners in Scotland arid elsewhere in the reclamation, in a wholeaoale manner, of waste lands.' Out of nearly 2,000,000 acres in the county of "Sutherland belonging to him, only 20,000 ■arei arable, and the- consequence has been that the stock, farmers have hj&f to import all their winter food in the way of turnips, hay, &c. The Duke determined to end this state -of things, and after consultations with his Agents and with practical farmers has entered upon a gigantic plan of improvements. He is doing everything by steam. He has got two tremendous engines for ploughing, which have very* broad flanges to their wheels ■so as to traverse swamps. These plough' about an acre a day in the following way, "They drag backwards and forwards between them a plougb which turns up the ground to •a depth of nearlv 2ft. The plough is a masisive concern which goes right through everything, and is not stopped even by large boulders. Whenever it comes against an unusually large boulder it is lifted over it, but it ia followed,by a large hook attached to its tail, which scoops 'out stones of almost anysize. If on the other hand .the plough-re-"vealsthe outcrop of solid rock a party of menrush up and fix to the obtruding excrescence a charge of. dynamite, which shatters'the, rock to atoms, and the next time the plough comes up everything goes smoothy. The ploughing is followed by a drairiing.tiiachine, which is in the form of a'huge anchor ; or hook; which is dragged bvmain force throughthe ground to a depth of 3ft. or 4ft., accord-' ing to circumstances, and so loosens the earth that apartv of men with shovels can throw out the soil with the greatest ease and rapidity. The drain pipes are dropped in, the earth'is filled in, the steim harrows the sowing machine comes next, and almost before the idea can be realised the face of-the country ia changed as if by magic. In a few weeks, what was a short time previous a.barren moor, supporting a few head of sheep, is an expanse of smiling cornfields, The eXr perise is about £8 per acre, and the appearance of the crops is stated to be most satisfactory.' ,'. A FORTTXNE OP TWENTY MILLIONS STERLING. Fancy "a fortune of £20,000,000 !. That is the sum of which the late Baron-Anselm Rothschild has died, seized and possessed of. Nearly all this wealth is left to Baron Nathaniel, the eldest son, and the daughters'are to have'nothing beyond what they got in their father's lifetime. As the Austrian law makes it 'compulsory tor all the children to sharej it is not unlikely 'that a lawsuit may ensue. ' SACRTFieE-OP HYTMAN LIFE—-HORRIBLE CRIME.' A few days since, a quiet man was returning home from his work with his wife, through' the streets of Liverpool, when" he was accosted by three'loafers who asked him for sixpence.. His reply was 'that he"'.wanted all the sixpences he had, andif they wanted any they ought to work' for thenf as he did:, No sooner were the word's out ofhis mouth than be "was •kn'ncked-.do'wrtattd-kicked ferociously! The wife threw 'herself across "his body, but ■was kicked and thrown on brie side 1 . The kicking was-kept up with 'the utmost vigour and ejithusiasrn; the three-rftughsi taking sitrtultarieoa* -rWhriing . at the '' than,') *Mch wore so violent as to' hurl hiirbbdy*;

right across thqjrtreet,.. a* mav he imagined,! tha*UagjuroJ^w^^^ild_not pirt with] his sixpencedidJiotlangretain c 'nioioustiess, but the kicked were determined &bfc&4Jfivc any doubt on life or death so they did not leave off their exercise nnti they had broken every rib in his body, and until the'corpse \&i&ililo<&#iumsleSa;<lsss the fun—only one inter fered, and got i •public* p'VeanMi fend/}. ajuVthe- ,As'i, variation to kicking, which is getting vulgarly | ScOllietSfid ftfea vsame rblesst< [ and delightful county of Lancashire, 'who were out on the spree, and who were tired of the tame amusements highway .^cfbbejy;/^hatched~*i njost happf thought. They entered a house inhabited bt an aged couple-oft and fouhdvthernvat.tea..- ;The..fh;at,,parfr,Qf .thb performance consjated in" knocking' tfi'em both down,, which "was" done with great nealjness. i 'The' old%oman ; got lup iand 1 scrambled out of the house with-nothing more than twb or three playful taps, with arcoal hammer, and set to.work to raise an alarm. In the meantime, the old man was held "down liy"t\vo of his' visitors, I while the third—playful dJ»g-[-scooped out one of his eyes with his fjngers. As one witticism 'begets "another, so, looking round for further means of enjoyment, thejy discovered, a bucket of quicklime standing iin a corner.' With :: some of : this' so'o'tiiing nitaterialthS-empty- sdeket: of the ; was, quickly filled, and as a-screaming climax ijo the whole-joke the bucket wag emptied over the old "^d'|T^^,~affff : kicks he-was'4eft; fbrldead; .and although! quite blind and not-expected to live, he was enabledfto m'akea deposition. l - The-traordinary-part. the ; thing is! that the police ha ye captured these amusing rogues—the three colliers; ,V '••'". ' iambs' swimming match. I

We are beginning to follow the' Yankee example, andi every ;day¥(Tes lis-nearer the manners and customs which prevail across the. Atlantic. A public ladies' swimming match took place the other day atDlackrock, near : Dublin, when fivejadies swam a match of one hundred yards. There was an immense crowd'of-spectators; and^the competitors beguiled the time-before- the commencement of the race by taking " headers," and diving, &6.'f for the diversion of theTcompany. The-race was-won by a Miss Rounds, of Dundrum, by a length, Miss Adelaide Dixon coming in second. Swimming is now taught at the b«st girls' schooh as a portion of the programme of-calisthenics. r A SAD STORY FROM CANADA. A heartrending tragedy occurred near Ot towa the week before last.. - It appears that three little children named Farrin went into their-father's barn, which was full'of grain, arid set fire to it. After doing this they climbed to the top of the mow and jumped around in a merry mood until the flames 'began.to get too hot. They then tried to get down, but found escape impossible, and commenced to shout for help. Their mother, who was a short distance away, heard their cries of distress-,' and ran to their assistance. When she entered the barn she could see a dense cloud-of smoke-and" flame, and from it proceeded the most piteous screams and. cries of -her little children. With a mother's devotion the brave woman climbed into the burning ..mow. No sooner hM she done so than she was overcome 'by the 'heat and smoke ard fell on her face on the hay, a short distance from her children. 'Some of the neighbours were-by this time attracted by the smoke arising, from the building, and arrived just in time to see her roll out of the mow to the floor in an unconscious condition. They picked-her up,'"but • she was- dead. After the barn" was. burned down,.the bodies of the three little childrenwere also recovered, and now-await the action-of the coroner. Mr Forrin was absent from home when the unfortunate affair occurred, and. knew northing of it until he returned. Much sympathy is felt with .him among theneighbours.