NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1984, 14 September 1869, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

An unfortunate case of divorce, associated ■with the name of the Prince of Wales, has been occasioning some amount of public scandal. The proceedings were instituted by Sir Charles Mordant, in order to annul his marriage with his wife, The plaintiff proposed to include the Prince’s name among the co-respondents, on account of revelations made by the lady while in a state of temporary insanity. The Prince has assured the plaintiff upon his honor that there was no pretext for the statements. The Prime Minister sent for the plaintiff, andto'dhim the course he contemplated adopting was regarded by the Queen as being unfrindly t<> royalty. Sir Charles was thereupon induced to abandon his determination. lord Rolls has been raised to the peerage of the United Kingdom by the title of Lord Dunning. Rumor has it that Sir Fitzroy Kelly will receive a peerage. The Spectator suggests that the Queen should make Archbishop Manning a peer, to represent the Catholic Church in the House of Lords,

The opening of the Suez Canal has been postponed to November. The promoters of the tunnel under the English Channel have had an interview with Mr Bright, who promised to bring the scheme under the consideration of the Government. The threatened demonstration of the Fenian Amnesty Committee has been prevented by the police. Meetings have been held in various Irish cities to demand the release of the prisoners. Several ri tons disturbances have taken place in Ireland. Arrangements for the great durbar at Agra, on the occasion of the v sit of the Duke of Edinburgh, have been commenced. The first re-marriage of a Hindoo widow has just taken place in Calcutta, and several Brahmins who took part in the ceremony have been excommunicated from their caste.

On the bringing up the report of the army estimates on June IS, Sir J. Hay called attention to the flying squadron that was about to be sent to various distant parts of the world. It was to consist of three frigates and four corvettes, and was to be manned by 2,500 men. It was to visit New Zealand, Japan, South America, and various other places, and would, he feared, give rise to false hopes with respect to _ settlers and rebels in New Zealand, and might also excite feelings of jealousy amongst the French and Americans in Oceania. A still more important objection was, however, that if any complication occurred nearer home requiring the action of our navy, it would be a very long time before these ships could be recalled from such remote parts of the world. Mr Chillers defended the flying squadron, which he said was to be sent out for the purpose, firs; of taking reliefs to the ships at distant stations, and second, to bring the relieved offici rs and men home. A more important object, however, would be to give the officers and men some experience of cruising in squadron, a thing which all naval men pronounced to be ai sulutely necessary. He thought the fears expressed by the right hon. baronet with respect to New Zealand chimerical; and with respect to the French and Americans in Oceania, he did not look for anything but tho interchange of friend'y offices between them and our squadron. There were three corvettes, not four, and the crews consisted of 1763 officers and men, 416 boys, 371 marines, and 348 men and boys, who were to relieve others who were to come home. He expected that this method of relief would be much more economical than bringing the time-expired men home. If any domestic complication should arise—he presumed the right hon baronet to mean a difference with some great Power—we should want our great ironclads, not wooden frigates and corvettes. The report was brought up and agreed to. One of Mr Ta lorman’s popularising experiments is in connexion with the ragged schools in the neighborhood of Norton Folgate, to the children attending which dinners had been provided at a coarge of 7s 6d per hundred. A dinner was lately given to several hundred workmen, costing only 3d y r head, the peculiarity of which was that 'he cooking was performed by their wives. But irrespeedve of special dietary experiments from time to time, cooked dinners at the rate of about 1,000 a day, are disposed of at Id each. These dinners consist of Irish stew or soup with bread. The hot weather of the last few weeks has brought sausage rolls into favour which may be procured at a penny each. As evidence of the subsidence of the prejudice with which these foreign imports were at one time regarded, I may mention that at a meeting recently held at Stepney, a resolution was sanctioned by several hundred workpeople, binding themselves to eat no other than Australian meat until the prices of the ordinary butchers are very materially reduced. Another great engine of social development is to be found in the telegraph, which is likely in a few years to play a far more important part in our ordinary life. The Marquis of Hartington has laid before the House of Commons the result of the negotiations by which the Government proposes to purchase a monopoly of the telegraphs. ft was arranged last year that the payment of the companies should be equal to twenty years' actual profits. It is now estimated that, to carry out this arrangement and make the necessary extensions, the Government will need to invest in the enterprise about six millions and a half of capital. They expect to realise a gross revenue of L 673.838, while they reckon their working expenses at L 359,484, and after deducting the r interest on capital hj ok for a profit of some L 50,000 as a beginniii". The number of teleg aph stations will be doubled ; every money order office is to bo made one, and a message may be dropped into the pillar boxes in the streets. There is to be one uniform rate of charge—one shilling for twenty words, whatever the distance, and this no doubt will be greatly reduced as the system gets into working order. A monopoly is asked to secure greater facilities and cheapness.