NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1985, 15 September 1869, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

The Spectator, criticising the recent batch of creations under the Order of St. Michael and St. George, says “ We hope Lord Granville will be careful in the distribution of the Order. It was a good idea to revive it for colonial d'gnitaries, who will value the handle to their wives’ names exceedingly, but we do not understand the principle of the first creations. The three Governors of Guiana, the Bahamas, and Nova Scotia, we dare say, deserve the Order. Mr biuckcertainly does, and so does Paul Ldmu'id de Strzelecki, and Sir H. Robinson, though the Ceylon settlers will not admit that ; but what is it given to colonial attorney-generals for ? Why does no Canadian get it, and no New Zealander? and what is the special fancy for Ceylon, that it should have three all at once f We dare say there are reasons for each nomination, but it will be well if the Secretary of State keeps the distribution much in his own hands.” Hokodateand Miaco have been captured by the Mikado’s troops. Several French officers and men were captured amongst the rebels. The Japanese refused to give them up without a heavy ransom. The French Minister threatened to bombard Yeddo within twenty-four hours unless they were handed over. The authorities ultimately surrendered the prisoners. Lord Derby is said to have written a very handsome letter to Mr Gladstone regarding his new book on Homer, just published. Besides the acknowledgment of the intrinsic merits of the “ Juventus Mundi,” the exPreinier expresses frankly his admiration and wonder how in the course of the last two years his indefatigable successor should have found time for his composition. Some amusing stories are told in connection .with the Paris riots. These are a few' Payment to Rioters. —It is said that all the persons arrested and interrogated make identical declarations as to° the sums which they have received and the manner in which the latter were handed to them. The distributors said, “ Veux-tu un balai?” (“ Go you want a broom?”), and on an affirmative answer being given, a sum of 12f, 50c, was presented

to each, and they went to work. The damage caused to the kiosks, the markets, ana the shops duiing the kite riots is estimated at GO.OOOf. But to this must he added the losses incurred by the cafes and other establishments on the Boulevards, closed early m the evening, and thus deprived of the sale necessary to meet their enormous expenses. It is said by some English papers that a shrewd suspicion exists of the riots being actively initiated and fomented by the Government. It is undeniable (observes the Thins) that the Government has gained much, and that the Opposition has lost a good deal, through that ill fated week; but the reasonable part of the public will nevertheless not easily be induced to believe that any Government is reckless enough to play, even now, with the lire oi a Parisian riot, however slight or apparently innocuous it may be. The second explanation, which obtains natural favor on the Governmental side, tends to make the Republican party, and especially its exiled members, responsible for these riots. It was an attempt, they say, to rouse the Parisian workman and tempt him to fight; it was begun with ruffians because they were the only men to be moved for money and without a just cause, but with the hope of attracting more respectable and more solid fighters to the battle ground. The hope was foiled, and labor and money were lost. This Governmental explanation of the riots is supported by the arrest of many Radical writers, accused not only of factious writing, but of “a plot against the safety of the State. Gustave Dor<s, the well-known painter, went out, like everyone else, to see the rioting in Paris. He was in his working clothes, that is, in a blouse, and, from his youthful appearance, was mistaken for a gamin. Some of the people who sow money to reap disturbance were doubtless led into error by that circumstance ; for, on Dore feeling some one touch his pocket, he put his hand Into it, and found there a piece of five francs; which he had never placed there. On the strength of his costume he was bribed to aid in the rot ! The Duke de Massa is said to have been arrested during the election riots, for attempting to prevent a sorgeant-'ie-ville from striking an inoffensive workman When taken to the station he was asked his name He give it. “The Duke de Massacre,” exclaimed the inspector, ‘do you suppose you are voing to ma c fun of us? The Duke would have been inevitably locked up had he not presented his card, when he was bowed out. Fifty-seven chignons are lying unclaimed at the police office, B ulevard Montmartre, and several dozen I'cptutirs —that is, long curls worn behind the earall lost during the late Paris riots. Will their fa ; r owners claim them ? In Paris the rage for velocipedes has become a public street nuisance. Horses are frightened, legs are broken, and, according to a medical report, dangerous illnesses may he brought on by the peculiar attitude and exertions of the rider. Many thousand velocipedes are sold every month, many being sent to England. In Paris the price varies from 150f (EG) to 3()0f (Ll2), Every French boy must have his velocipede. There is a velocipede journal and velocipede prizes are offered (one by the Emperor). Excursions and journeys are made on the two-wheeled, steel-backed steeds. The niapia promises to last. Some ladies—“real ladies ” are learning to ride in their gardens, in velocipede costumes !