HOME NEWS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 410, 25 February 1870, Page 2 (Supplement)

HOME NEWS.

English. • ¥*i lICI IC t T C , OL . E hab beeQ elect ed an associate of the Royal Academy of Arts. The movemunt in England in favour of a more cordial union between the mother country and the colonies ia highly applauded by the Canadian press. Next month the Bessemer Royalties are, it appears, to be redaoed to half-a-orown per ton, whioh e an announcement of some importance to the iron trade. It is reported that a marriage is arranged between the Marchioness of Hastings and Sir George Chetwynd, nephow of the late and cousin of the present Marquis of Downshiro. The senior wrangler for 1870 is Mr. George Pendlebnry, of Liverpool. The honours of the year fall to St. John's College, which has placed four of the first five wranglers. Mr. Pendlebury is the fortythird senior wrangler of the same college. At a meeting op miners, held at Ashton under-Lyne, resolutions were passed in favour of an Act for seouring proper inspection and ventilation of mines, and for preventing the employment of young children in oollieries. The obituary op a recent number op the ■Times contained tho deaths of six ladie3 and one . gentleman whose united ages amounted to 534 years, giving an average of 83 years and rather more than ,£ve months to each ; tho eldest lady was 87, and the ■youngest 80 years of age, the gentleman being 82. ' The land seized by the Crown on Mr. Peabody's death is about to be restored to the trustees. The property will be legally conveyed over by the Crown, and this will give the representatives of the late Mr. Peabody a legal title to the property. The land comprises 1G acres. There was a total eclipse op the moon on ■Monday afternoon, commencing at three minute 3 to one o'clock, and ending at 38 minutes past four. As, ''Vowever, the moon did not rise till about eleven iinutts before the end of the oalipao, very little of ■\lihe contact was observed. The President op tup Poor-law Board has promised to subscribe 10s. a head towards thi expense of each emigrant sent out by the British an< Colonial Emigration Fund during the present year uj to the Humber of 2,000 emigrants. Messrs. Fruhlin) and Goschen have also intimated their intention contributing a similar amount. A memorial has been addressed to Mr. Gladstone by gentlemen who have taken orders in the Church of England, and who complain of the disabilities which they suffer from being unable under existing laws to retire from the ministry. They ask that clergymen not engaged in the active discharge of clerical duties shall be relieved from canonical jurisdiction. The delegates of the Unitersitt of Oxford having consented to extend their local examinations to girls, it is proposed to hold an examination for girls in London in June, 1870. The comanittee of ladies, who havo for some years superintended the University of Cambridge local examinations, have undertaken tho management of these examinations likewise. A deputation recently had an interview with Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Goschen on the subject of State' aid to emigration. Mr. Gladstone, after listening to several speeches, promised briefly that the subject should have the best attention of the Government, and that the difficulties of the scheme proposed to him should be considered in an impartial spirit, and with a view to overcoming them. He wished, however, to take the opinion of his colleagues, especially of Earl Granville and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. A local paper gives the particulars of a wager recently decided at Avebury. Somebody offered to bet that no man could eat, at one sitting, a rabbit weighing 6ilb., a small loaf of bread, aud 21b. of cheese. Two men, one of whom was named Bull, accepted tho challenge, and in the presence of an enthusiastic crowd each competitor won the wager, devouring the provisions in the space of fifteen minutes. Hale, the other man, encouraged by the applause, finished up with a beefsteak, and drank three half pints of gin and half a pint of brandy. Another Fasting Case.—A correspondent writes: —" There is residing in Workhouse-street, Xeek, at this time, a man who has not eaten any solid food for nearly six years. The last tim'o he remembers eating anything was on April 27, 1864, and the ■edible was a portion.of a bun, which took him threequarters of an hour to swallow. At the Bight of potatoes or flesh meat he feels a sensation of sickness; and though he occasionally experiences a ravenous sensation of hunger, to attempt to swallow anything eolid would bring on violent pains and vomiting. Milk is now his only nutriment, and this is only suffered to betaken slowly."— Staffordshire Advertiser. The other morning a singular occurrence took place in Newton Dale. A shepherd was induced to follow his dog to the cliffs, and there found, at tho foot of a cliff of 40 or 50 feet deep, a man sitting on a rock in a state of great exhaustion. Ho stated 4hat his name waß Evans Williams, and that ie was a Welsh miner out of employment, and had tram«ped the country to the Yorkshire mines. In trying to scale the cliff he lost his foothold and fell back, and remembers no more till he found the dog was licking his hands and face. He remembered tho trains passing in the valley, but was too weak to move. Having been attented to, he was sent home to Bristol. ' LlVliltrOOL HAS BEEN LONG NOTORIOUS for its drunkenness, and from the investigations recently •made by a well-known analytical chemist, it appears that the liquor sold at houses of tho lower class is dangerously adulterated. A member of the select ivestry of Liverpool, Mr. Glover (who is himself a brewer), has taken up this question with a good deal of spirit, and has moved for a return of the number iflf'lunatio cases, the result of drinking, which had iincurred in tho town and parish. It was stated at <&re meeting of the vestry that bad as the beer was COtailed in the lowest public-houses, tho wine was sven worse. AS A FIRST-CLASS MISDEMEANANT in Cddbathlloids Prison, Dr. Shorthouso has availed himself of the special rules applicable to prisoners of that description and degree. In reßpect of accommodation in the gaol, of receiving visits, of being supplied with wine, a superior class of food, ample bedding and clothing, as well as of immunity from any kind of 'work, Dr. Shorthouse has many privileges, under the gules sanctioned by the magistrates, and approved by the Secretary of State. Upwards of twenty years have elapsed since a first-class misdemeanant was confined in Coldbath-fields, and tho visitiDg justices, ■who have placed certain restrictions on Dr. Shortiouse's movements, suggest that a revision of the roles is now desirable. .fi'ALL op a Granary.—An accident has occurred at Messrs. Swann and Co.'s vinegar brewery, at Stourport. One part of the premises consists of a four-storey granary. In a room on the third storey there wero 540 bags of barley, and about 28 tons of it had been emptied into a garner situated between the second and third floors, whea the garner gave way with tho weight. There were 160 bags of oats ■an tho floor beneath, and tho additional heavy weight earning suddenly on the floor also caused this to give ■way. Herbert Calladine, the engineer, was smothered by the barley, and tho Bteam from a pipo whioh was taoken by the crushing in of the floor was discharged against his body. The whole building was filled with tho steam set free from the engine pipo, and it was eome time before any one oould get into the interior. Starvation and Disease.—An inquest Has been hold at St. George's Hospital on the body of Mrs. Bridget Williams, aged 50, a lady until lately in an independent position, who died in St. Margaret's Workhouse. In August last the deceased arrived in London. She took lodgings in Palacestreet, Pimlioo, where she remained up to tbe 31st of December. For tho first few weeks she paid her rent regularly, but for some weeks past sho appeared to be without money or food. On tho 31st of December a Mr. and Mrs. Willott, relatives of the deceased, called at her lodgings and found her in a most deplorable state. They at once obtained an order for her removal to the infirmary, to whion place she was taken in tho evening. She was in » low state apparently from want of nourishment. Every attention was paid to her in the infirmary, but she never rallied, The cause of death was twofold, privation and disease, the latter being accelerated by the former.

Scotch. Sunday trains commenced to run between Glasgow and Paisley on Sunday. About 400 persons took advantage of the facilities thus afforded for leaving or returning to town. David (Jamphkll, a clerk, who was assaulted by thieve 9 in Wilson-street, Glasgow, a week ago, has since died. His alleged assailants, two men, are still in custody. A PLOT OF building-ground in Glasgow at the south-west corner of Buchanan and St. Viueentstreets, faoing tho Western Club, has been Bold for about .£30,000, or upwards of .£SO the Bquare yard. It is understood, says the Scotsmuu, crow ihe Scotch Law Commissioners have, by majorities, como to resolutions in favour (Ist) of making tho jurisdiction of the Sheriff Courts co-extensive, or almost coextensive, with the jurisdiction cf tho Court of Session; and (2nd) of retaining the double sheriffships. A heavy fall op coal recently took place in the Glascoto Colliery Works. Two men and a boy were working at the opening of a Btall, when tho horse attached to a tub ran against a tree, and a large fall of the roof took place, literally cutting one of tho men through, and seriously injuring another. The deceased leaves a large family. The other day the lioness City of London, forming one of a collection of animals now in Glasgow, gave birth to five cubs. This is the fifth time on whioh the same lioness has littered, and on one occasion she had as many as seven cubs, of whieh she reared six. These cub 3 are very valuable, being re"t-nTi"d n.t nhmit -6120 and upwards. a desperate hobbery took place early the other morning in the vicinity of Glassford-street, Glasgow. The victim, a young clerk, whom the conviviality of a soiree had rendered an easy prey, was so savagely handled by his assailants that murder, besides robbery, is expootodto be the ultimate oharge preferred against them. A serious collision took place the other night between a number of soldiers of the 90th Regiment and the police in the streets of .Edinburgh. Several of the constables sustained outs and bruises, and a few of tho military also received injuries from the bhws inflicted by the batons of the police-constables. In the course of a case argued in the Sheriff's Court at Dundee the other day, two publicans were examined 03 to the profit realised upon the sale of malt liquors, and they agreed that the nett profit was 30 per cent. Entering into particulars one stated that his gross profit on alo and porter was 50 per cent., upon brandy and rum 4G per cent., and upon other spirits 43 per Gent. The second witness fixed his average gross profit at £33 6s. Bd. per cent. The Solicitor General has been "applied to by tho Senatus of Aberdeen University for his opinion as to what steps Bhould bo taken in connection with the vacant Lord Rectorship. Tho Edinburgh Courant states the learned gentleman has now declared that in his opinion the late proceediugs in the election of Lord Rector are abortive, and that a now election should at once take place. A meeting of the senatus was therefore to be held immediately, to make the necessary arrangements for proceeding to another election. The other day three sisters, daughters of Mr. Steedman, merchant, of Kinross, were drowned in Loch Leven. One of the young women had ventured too far on the ice on the loch in order to rescue a dog which had fallen in. The ice broke and she sank. One of her sisters, who hastened to her assistance, also fell in. The third, in trying to save her two sisters, likewise sank, and before aid could be obtained all three were drowned. The dog came ashore safe. The unfortunate young womon had gone out for a walk along the margin of the loch. Wick has been visited by a dreadful hurri;ane from the south-east, accompanied by a surf the like of which has not been seen by tho oldest '.nhabitant. The sea came into the bay in terrific volume, striking against the now harbour works with the greatest violence, then rising up to the height of several hundred feet, and drifting before the wind like fog. Immense damage has been done to the new harbour works. Not only is the staging a!ang their line carried away, but a large portion of the noble pile of masonry, which was expected to resist the worst seas, is entirely having been thrown into tho bay. Extensive Landslip.—An extensive landslip at Monkland Glen, a valley about 250 ,'jti in depth, down which flows the Calder water, is reported. The southern side of the glen rises precipitowl? from the water, and as a farmer and his two sons wees walking along tho top of it they suddenly felt the ground moving under them. Taking to their heels, they soon reached a place of safety. The large mass of land which they had quitted s".:d rapidly down into the valley with a tremendous Boise. The course of the stream being completely blocked, lie wl'ey was soon flooded. This ooter night the Waledonian train which left the Bridge-street station at six o'clock for Greenock came into collision with a number of empty carriages, which were being shu-ated. As the passenger train was going at considerable speed, the shock was such that three of the empty carriages were thrown upon both the np and down lines. Although the passengers naturally got a fright, yet happily none of them were hurt. The driver and stoker of the engine, as well as the guard, escaped without injury. None of the carriages of the Greenook train wero damaged. A Scotch farmer has hit upon a new and ingenious way of making a load of hay weigh as much as two. Having a load of hay to deliver to a customer in Greenock, he commenced to load his wagon by placing at the bottom a Back filled with Eand weighing nearly four hundred-weight. Over this he laid the hay, and on arriving at the toll-bar to the east of Greenock he had tho load duly weighed, obtained the weigher's certificates of weight, upon which he would receive payment, and proceeded on to town. On the way, ho halted to get under the wagon, and with a knife made a few holes in tho sand bag, and before the loaded wagon arrived at its destination the sand had gradually become strewed alon" the road, and the emptyJsack left collapsed under the load of hay. He was found out, and will be prosecuted for attempted fraud. A Wonderful Calculator.—John Alexander, post-runner between Nairn and Cawdor, has proved himself to be one of the most astonishing mental calculators perhaps in tho kingdom. As a speoimen of his powers he gave the answers to the five following questions in less tßan a minute, in presence of Mr. William Raitt, Free Church Institution, Nairn, the other day Two chests tea, each 801b., at 3s. 6£d.; twelve ;bars brown soap, enoh 3£lb ,at 4Jd. j seventeen bars white soap, each 41b., at sjd.; three bags sago, each 271b., at 4Jd.; and seven baga barley, each 191b., at lsd." He answered the following question correctly without noting down a single figure, and that, too, in a few seconds : —" Fin 3 the amount of .£SOO from March 1 to January 9, both days inclusive, at 4| per cent?" Answer—- " .£519 19s. ljd.—6G-73." He was asked by Mr. Raitt how many letters there would be in a year's file of a daily newspaper of eight pages, each seven columns, each 190 lines, each forty-two letters. The answer, 139,873,440, was given in a few seconds. The report op tiib Kitual Commission upon " the lectionary " or calendars of lessons appointed to be read at Morning and Evening Prayer has been issued. It is only by a careful and comparative study of the now schednle of lessons that tho details of the ohange3 can bo arrived at. Generally the important points are that a series of alternative lessons are provided; that when there is a third service ob Sundays the second lesson may bo selected by the minister; and that upon speoial occasions also sell oted lessons may be adopted. The Banc* diamond is for sale at a jeweller's in Calcutta just now. Hero is tho account the jeweller gives of it: " This diamond is of an almond shape, and weighs 60J ruttiea. The Btono was found on the body of the Duke of Burgundy, and was j,f torwards, in 1479, bought by the King of Portugal In 1489 he sold it to Nicolas do Barly, Baron dt Sinoy, from whom it derives its name. Sancy sent it to the king as a present, by the hand of a servant, »ho, being attacked by robbers, swallowed the stone, ind after his death the stone was found in his body. It finally came into the hands of James 11. of Eng. land, who sold it to Louis XIV. for £25,000. Its itmond form, completely facetted over (a mode quit* unknown then or at any other time in Europe), indisputably proves that it was an Indian-out Btone."

Irish. The inhabitants op Cork havo agreed to aooept the Government offer of two ships for the establishment of naval industrial schools in that oity. It has been decided not to call out the Irish militia regiments for training this year as was proposed. A MEETING HAS BEEN nELD AT BELFAST, at which it was decided to establish a National Eduoation League for Ireland, on the baßis of etriot non-seo-tarian national eduoation. A coiuMsroNDKNT op THE Irish Times says that a recently appointed deputy-lieutenant for a northern county is scarcely of full ago, and was born deaf and dumb. Tun Lord Mayor of Dublin has introduced a novelty in tho way of mayoral banquets. Tho other night his lordship entertainod at the Mansion House about a hundred members of the Irish press. Among the guests was Sir John Gray, M.P. The athletes of the University of' Dublin aro anxious to contend against the Oxonians this year; but it is feared the meeting is very improbable owing to the many engagements the Oxonians have already in hand. The American correspondent of the Irishman states that Mrs. O'Donovan Rossa is about to return to Ireland, and that the lady is f urnishod with a letter from President Grant to Mr. Gladstone, requesting tho release of her husband. A report from Hilmallock says that the other afternoon a poor girl named Hogan, while in a state of temporary insanity, ascended tho abbey wall there to the height of about 30 feet, and stretched herself at full length on the summit of the wall and fell asleep. Two policemen mounted the wall, aroused her, and got her down in bafety. A correspondent writes : " Mr. P. Mackev. of Templemore, and hi 3 friends will again put Rossa in nomination for the county, if Gladstone refuses to give him his seat. They expect tho Conservatives will act as honourably as they did at the late eleotion by keeping out of the field and leaving the battle between them and Gladstone's supporters. They appear determined, and are raising funds.' - " A mysterious murder has been discovered in Tipperary. Two children observed the body of a man lying in a dry gully a short distance from Dundrum, and told the police. The body, which was in an advanced stage of decomposition, was removed. The skull was fractured in two places, and the throat deeply gashed. No money or valuables of any kir.'.?. were found. The stato of the corpse rendered identification almost impossible. An inquest has been held on the body, and an open verdict returned. A Dublin policeman has got into difficulties through excess of zeal. Ho found a child astray in the streets, and got it received into the Roman Cafchoho Church, afterwards applying for its admission to the workhouse. On being questioned by the unardiana as to the child's religion, he said he had no doubt upon that point, as he had just had it baptized by the priest, he himself standing godfather. Ine guardians thought he had been too hasty, as the child might belong to Protestant parents. A correspondent of Saunders's News Letter states that at one o'clock on the morning of the 27th ult. a shot was fired into the bedroom of Mr. Murray, a steward in the employ of the representatives of the late Mr. Mather, of Faltby, county of Roscommon, three miles distant from Ballinasloe. The weapon was loaded with a bullet and several slugs, whioh shattered the windows; but, fortunately, Mr. Murray slept in a part of the room which did not come within the assassin's range. A servant girl at Queensferry purchased a charm from a "wise woman," who strictly enjoined her never to open the bag in which the charm was sewn up lest its mystic qualities should desert it. For many days tho girl heroically refrained from solving the mystery which she carried about on ber bosom, but in the end tho temptation was too strong for her. She opened the bajr. and found it to oontain an old eh<>"v of tobacco. A warning to butchers dealing in diseased meat comes from Parscmtown, Ireland. A.buteher named Denis Marks, "who sometimes bought diseased animals," invested in a cow which had died from a malignant disease. Marks skinnned and dressed the carcass for sale, and died a couple of days afterwards with every symptom of having been poisoned. The medical evidence taken at the inquest showed that the blood of the deceased had been poisoned by absorption of diseased matter in the cow. The police authorities in Cork are engaged in the investigation of a strange statement made on oath before the magistrates by a sergeant of the 65th Regiment named Browne. He is stationed with his company at Ballincallig, five miles from Cork, and got leave to attend the theatre in that city on Saturday evening. Ho did not return to his quarters until after the hour at which his leave expired, and accounted for his detention by saying he was stopped on the Western-road by four men, one of whom, he said, presented a revolver at him and demanded his sword. Ho says that he refused to give up the sword, and, as the assailants were pressing in upon him, drew tho weapon to defend himself, whereupon they all jumped over the wall into the fields, and disappeared, leaving him to proceed oa his way without further molestation. The following is an extract from a private tetter, descriptive of life in the north of Ireland: —" On returning from the ball I passed by the ♦esidonce of Mr. , whose life has been threatened, tmd who was once shot at some time ago, when his fioor unoffending coachman was killed, instead of himself. In consequence of this his house is now garrisoned by a dozen constabulary, and is barricaded "rom top to bottom. I happened to come across the old gentleman going out for a constitutional, and a ...retty sight it was in a civilised land. First came i braei of policemen armed with carbines, and who kept a sharp look out round all che hedges and other places that might hide a murderer in thoin, at a distance of some 20 yards or so the old gentleman and •lis son, each with a double-barrelled gun over his shoulder, and flanked by other policemen, with two more in the rear. Nobody dared to Btop at his house lor the ball, lest they Bhould be shot at in passing to md fro." In the Irish Court of Queen's Bench, Dr. Battersby, Q. 0., recently called the attention of the court to a threatening letter he had received for acting as counsel in a case in which a Mr. Nicholson had brought an action for ejectment. The letter stated thatithid been resolved to visit with death any one who assisted in evicting tenants ; that law proceedings could not be carried oa without the aid of counsel; and that, for the sake of his (Dr. Battersby's) family, he ought to withdraw from Mr. Nioholson's case. It went on to say that if ho did not do so he would bo shot, as well as " the bloody exterminator" for whom he was acting. Dr. Battersby mentioned that, since proceedings had been taken, Mr. Nicholson had been fired at and dangerously wounded, and his coachman had been killed. The Chief Justice thanked Dr. Battersby for bringing the matter under the attention of the court, and said that the author of the letter deserved death on the scaffold or else expiation of Ins crime in penal servitude for life. Mr. Butt, Q.C., on the part of the defendant, disclaimed any knowledge of the writing of the letter. No Laytvers Need Apply.—Mr. Waters, Q. 0., has retired from the representation of Mallow, and the contest now lies between Mr. Munster and Major Knox. Mallow, it appears, having been successively represented by Mr. Longfield, sometime law adviser to Dublin Castle under the Duke of Aberoorn, and by tho prepent Master of the Rolls in Ireland, now declares against any more lawyers. Three other little Irish boroughs—Athlone, Ennia, and Portarlington—whieh formerly returned Mr. Justice Keogh, Mr. Justice Filzgerald, and Mr. Justice Lawson, now send rosident country gentlemen to Parliament. Tho best constituency in Ireland for introducing lawyers into the House of Commona is the University of Dublin. Sinoe tho passing of the Reform Act of 1832 it has been represented by the late and the present Chief Justices of the Queen'B Bench, the Recorder of Dublin, a late judge in tho Common Pleas, a former fiord Chancellor, the late Master of the Rolls, tho i>ro3ent "Vice-Chancellor of Ireland, the judge of the i'robate Court, and the ex-Attorney-General. ■*■ -V "William Philcox, footman to Mr. Keane Q.C., of Twickenham, has been killed. It appears that deceased was riding on the box of Kr. Keane'B nrougham, when the horse shied at a donkey and /art and ran away. The eoaehman told deceased to keep his seat, but in spite of the advice ha iujaped >ff tbe box and fell on his head acfi died, *