ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 783, 20 April 1877, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

The salmon and trout in tho river Lune, in Lancashire, have 'been poisoned by the contents of a barrel of creosote which had fallen into the river. The bed of the river is paved with dead fish, -and it is said that five hundred salmon are lying dead in a distance of ten miles below Tebay, while trout may be gathered by the bushel. It is feared that all the food has been destroyed, and that the river will for some time be barren as a fishing'ground. Instances of the ancient British custom of selling one’s wife have often enough been cited, but seldom has the bargain been carried out with the assistance of a lawyer. This, however, is said to have been done at Crowle, in Lincolnshire. The vendor was a pork-butcher •named Liggott, and the purchaser a widowed publican, one Chapman Pidd, who paid L4O for his prize. The deed of sale was drawn up and signed at a Solicitor’s office, and both parties are said to have gone away perfectly satisfied. Mr Redding Ware, a literary gentleman, who occupies chambers hi Lincoln’s Inn, has been refused an injunction for which he applied to restrain the occupant of the room below his own from playing on a “ chamber organ.” The judge held that although the nuisance was intolerable it was not actionable. Hippoghagy continues to increase in Paris, where, during the past year 9271 horses, asses, and mules were killed against CGGS in 1875. Celery as a remedy for weak nerves is recommended by the Albany Sunday Press, which states that many persons afflicted with nervous "complaints have been actually cured by eating celery salad. In New York a d'-iuk made of celery extract and Liebig is coming into favor : as far better and more nourishing than either coffee or tea. American Dead Meat.—-This is a trade which is growing, and probably in time it will e rrive at such magnitude that all over the United Kingdom we shall have beef at —what, well, perhaps a nominal value. It won’t be the fault of the philanthropists “ over the way ’ if we have not. The Liverpool butchers, we are told, are delighted at the sacrifices they are making for the good of the public and themselves by selling a penny per pound or so cheaper than they could have done but for these praine-rcare I animals, and chuckle over the fact that our own countrymen who feed good oxen have now to take 30s less for them if they mean trade. But the generous Liverpool butchers it would seem from another paragraph, are hut seconded-handod men after all, as a firm in the Metropolitan Meat Market arc “ sole agents ” ot this American commodity. The Board of Trade Returns, which ought to enlighten us if they do not, do not show that tho quantity of meat imported from the United States will legitimately lower the price of genuine beef in the market. Tho Tichborne Case Again. —Dr Kcnealy recently wrote to the Earl of Derby, calling his attention to tho alleged now evidence in tho Tichborne case, and asking whether, in tlie event of his going to Spain to inquire into the matter, his lordship would “give him any facilities for the elucidation of tho truth.” His lordship has 'replied that no special letters of recommendation are required, as Her Majesty’s Consuls in Spain will ho ready, if occasion should arise, to afford him, as to any other British subject, such assistance as they can render. Mr I 1 orster, M.P., replying to the secretary of a Magna Charta association, has promised to

give his best attention to the debate on the alleged ill-treatment of the Claimant at Dartmoor, should the subject bo brought before Parliament, and to vote according to the opinion ho is then able to form. Yet another effort has been made by the irrepressible Mr Cobbott to obtain the release of the Claimant. The Court of Appeal, however, refused amidst much laughter to entertain his application, the Lord Chief Justice explaining that the conviction must s'-and until reversed by a writ of error. Mr Cobbett’s intention is that “Sir Roger” was Illegally convicted under an Act which had been repealed five years previous to the trial, and even if the conviction was good, his sentence could not legally exceed seven years instead of fourteen. One William Macaoath (possibly a descendant of the celebrated “ Captain”) has been committed for trial for stealing a quantity of antique -firearms, and other curiosities, from the Brighton Museum. With the gallantry characteristic of ‘‘knfights of the road,” he had presented a gold watch, part of the spoil, to a young woman, who, being of a mercenary turn of mind, at once tried to sell it to a jeweller in town, whose recognition of the trinket led to the prisoner’s arrest. Recently a man who seems to have been either very reckless or very unfortunate, having been set up in business no fewer than three times, committed suicide in a coffeehouse m the City because bis friends refused to set him up a fourth time. It was found that'hehad taken 8s worth of vermin-killing powder, containing sufficient poison to kill forty-eight persona. Sir Edward Cunynchame, Bart., who with two other persons was lately committed for trial on a charge of conspiracy to defraud, died on Wednesday at an hotel in Covent Garden, whither he had been removed two days previously from Newgate, his solicitor having become bail for him. A wedding iu a circus has taken place in Philadelphia. After the performance of the evening the curtain was again rung up, and Miss Stokes, the bride, an accomplished equestrienne, entered with her bridesmaids, and was duly met by the bridegroom, also an accomplished equestrian, Mr Rodolph Mettie. The episcopal service was duly performed by the Rev. S. S. Huff; and, when he had pronounced the happy pair man and wife, applause, we are told, broke out from all parts of the house, to which Mr and Mrs Mettie duly bowed their recognition, and the curtain was once more run<* down amid loud congratulations. A boon for cavalry horses is reported by the Live Stock Journal—lo,ooo newly-in-vented horse hammocks are being placed iu the'transpovtdepartment of the Royal Dock yard at Woolwich. In the shipping and transport of horses in war time a mortality of 17 to 20 per cent, has hitherto occurred by the animals injuring their heads and getting off their feet during the rolling of the ship. When once a horse gets down under the circumstances it often struggles itself to death (if not previously killed) in vainly endeavoring to get up again. The new hammock is fixed under the body of the horse in such a manner that if in a rough sea the animal is unable to keep on its legs it becomes suspended until it recovers its feet. It is anticipated that these new hammocks will effect a saving of nearly a LIOOO for every 100 war horses sent abroad. A Metropolitan Railway iu Paris, similar to our own Underground, is now being discussed by the municipality. The head station would be close to the Palais Royal Garden, and the lines would be connected with the principal railway stations, the boulevards, the markets, and the Bourse. The expense of construction is estimated at L 6,000,000 for 17 miles, and it is calculated that the daily receipts would amount to L 5.600. Mr Chang Araaon, a servant to one of the members of the Chinese Embassy, while walking in Oxford-street was grossly assaulted by a drunken man, who has been very properly sentenced to hard labor for two months for his offence. An interesting incident during the hearing of the case was the administration of the Chinese form ot oath to the complainant by Dr Macartney, English Secretary to the Chinese Legation, who said to him, as he dashed a saucer on the floor at his feet, “You shall tell the truth, the whole truth ; the saucer is, cracked, and it you do not tell the truth your soul will be cracked like the saucer.” A man named Dance, who deserted his wife and three children and joined the Shakers in the New Forest, has been sentenced to three months imprisonment for the desertion and neglecting to provide his children with proper food Disclosures were made that the Shakers, men and women, were in the habit of dancing together in perfect nudity. A big swindle has been reported from the North of Ireland. Mr Devlin, U justice of the Peace, Chairman of Poor Law Guardians and of Town Commissioners, President of an Grange Lodge, and an osteutati ons convert of Sankey and Moody, has fled from Cookstown, leaving liabilities to the tune of L 60,000. A novel wager is reported An officer of the Blues has backed himself against a sporting baronet to ride ten miles over a fair hunting country while a snail walks ton inches on a greased board. By latest alrices from training quarters the snail was in splendid condition, and was being taken out daily for an afternoon crawl. The odds are said to be 5 to 4 on the snail. A couple of thieves who, for some time past, have been carrying on an extensive system ot robbery on the Scotch railways, have just fallen into the hands of the Glasgow police. The plan was to travel about, the one in the disguise of a gentleman, the other as hia livery servant, and as opportunity offered, to appropriate any luggage which they could got hold of, A largo quantity of property was found at their lodgings, besides pawn tickets, to the value of LIO.OOO, and the wife of one of them has confesse l to having burned L 5030 worth of foreign bonds.

Codham.—-How many of our reader# know what thia fgamo is ? And yet three wen of the Borough publicly advertised that they will play any other three men iu London at it, from LI to L 5 a aide. At the last meeting of the Middlesex magistrates, Mr Serjeant Cox gave an amusing account of a railway adventure with a party of card-sharpers with whom he had recently travelled. After the usual preliminary mock playing and betting had been gone through, Mr Cox was . invited to try his luck, but replied that he should not like to bet with them, as ho was a magistrate and chairman of theidivisioujjin which they then were, and might probably have to meet them again before the week was out. This delicate hint put the sharpers in a terrible fright, for they all a precipitate retreat at/the next station.