NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1988, 18 September 1869, Page 2

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

An American correspondent of the Times writes as follows :—“ Some time ago the robbery of a savings bank in Philadelphia, in broad daylight on a Sunday morning, and the escape of the thieves with 1,000,000 dollars in bonds, jewellery, and diamonds, was announced, and in reporting it I took occasion to say that the usual American method of compounding these felonies would be resorted to, aud the thieves upon restoring the plunder be allowed to go free. The plan has been faithfully carried out, The directors of the savings bank, a religions institution attached to a church, offered 25,000 dollars reward for the recovery of the property, and employed detectives to negotiate \rith the thieves. No attempt was made by anyone to bring the’ robbers to justice, but the nego-

tiation was successfully conducted, and resulted in the restoration of all the stolen property, excepting about 10,000 dollars in cash, and diamonds valued at 10,000 dollars more. The diamonds belonged to a private depositor, and the thieves, in addition, got the 25,000 dollars reward. No business transaction on ’Change ever was better done. The thieves were not satisfied with the reward offered, so they claimed more, and got it in permission to retain the 10,000 dollars in cash. The money was paid to the * detectives ’ who acted as go-betweens, the stolen property returned, and the diamonds retain-d in order to make a separate bargain with their pwner. Every one was satisfied—the aavingSrbauk, that got back its property,‘as well as the

detectives and thieves, who divided 35,000 dollars among them. Robbery thus becomes a very safe and profitable business ; and no one is much astonished, considering the frequency of its repitition, at seeing a board of directors, most estimable gentlemen, and strict members of a Church, compounding a felony through the aid of a number of sworn officers of the law, who consent not to protect society in accordance with their oaths, in consideration of a certain proportion of 35,000 dollars, which they immediately proceed in an adjacent alehouse to divide with the supposed outlaws who earned it.” The hotels on and in the neighborhood of the Boulevards must have suffered by the panic caused by the election riots. From one great establishment over 80 families left in one day, and another was comp'etely

evacuated. On the whole, it is calculated that in two days at least 42,000 strangers quitted the capital.

R- A. well lately sunk at Ain Sala, Algeria, to the depth of 44 metres, threw up not w-ater, but fish, on an average half an inch long, and resembling whitebait in appearance and taste. From the fact of the sand m the well being identical with that m the bed ot the Nile, it is concluded that an underground communication exists between it and that river.

The John Bull says The daughter of an Irish member of Parliament, who has a very large fortune in her own right, has eloped. A gentleman* aware of the fact* obtained the assistance of a lady friend of the heiress, with the understanding that if an introduction led to a satisfactory result, the introducer should receive a portion of the inheritance. The introduction was given, and was turned to such good account that the fair inheritress of LIOO,OOO was induced to elope with her admirer. The pair were, however, stopped by the irate father within a few miles of London. A second attempt has proved more successful, and no doubt Mrs sion of LIO,OOO.

The New York papers of July Ist publish the following despatch “ San Francisco, Tuesday, June 29 : -Successful experiments hare been made in this city with a working model of an aerial navigation machine. It not only ascended into the air, but was propelled in any required direction by the machinery, and it has the capacity for carrying ei/ht or ten persons, being constructed for the purpose of making trips to New York. The inventor is confident that the trip can be made in 24 hours.

A really curious piece of musical patchwork will be the Grand Requiem now being written at the proposal of Verdi by no less than thirteen composers, as a monument to the memory of Rossini. The performance of this work is not to take more than one hour and a half, thus allowing about seven minutes to each composer. No restriction of key or time is laid on any one of them beyond the obligation of beginning and ending in the initial key. The following are the names of the contributors to this strange work, which is expected to be terminated on the 15th of September :—Bazzala, Bazini, Pedrotti, Cagnoni, Ricci, Nini, Boucheron, Coccia, Gaspari, Platancia, Petrella, Mabellini, and Verdi.

On Thursday morning, June 24, Mr G. K Noble, of Thirlby-house, Woodford-bridge, mounted on a bicycle, and accompanied by Mr H, E. Kaye, also of Woodford, started from the latter place at half-past 3 o’clock for Colchester (a distance of about 49 miles), where they arrived about 2 o’clock, and in order to make up the 100 miles, they rode in and around the the town about half an hour. After having sufficiently rested, the velocipedists started on the return journey, and reached home about one in the morning, having been absent just 22 hours. Seven hours were occupied in taking meals and rest, so that 15 hours were actually spent in the saddle, giving an average of about seven miles an hour for the whole journey.

The Times, in a leading article on the Maori war, makes the following suggestion ; “ Why should not the Colonial Government organise, on a scale sufficiently extensive to meet the present emergency, a force modelled on our Anglo-Indian system, consisting of Natives officered by white men ? It already adopts this principle to a certain extent by employing so-called 4 Friendlies, ’ and they seem by no means deficient either in fidelity or courage. According to recent intelligence some of them had actually repulsed and killed the redoubtable Te Koot', the chief who has spread so much consternation among the whites. The ‘Friendlies’ are, in fact, far better fitted for such irregular skirmishing and bush-fighting as have b eu going on in New Zealand than British troops, whose weight and solidity in manoeuvring tell against them in guerilla or savage warfare. They probably never appear to so little advantage as when ergated with such a foe as the New Zealander. It would take comparatively few white men ‘to oommand the Friendlies,’ and there would be no lack of British officers ready to volunteer for the work. When tl e New Zealand ‘ war ’ was over, the troops in a colony where able-bodied men trained to industrious habits are at a premium, could easily enough change the sword for the spade. We have seen it objected that,they might possibly prove dangerous or troublesome ; that in New Zealand, as in India, the Sepoy system m ght lead to a Sepoy mutiny ; but surely the objection, whatever on other grounds it might be worth, is disposed of by the simple fact that in New Zealand the aboriginal population is far outnumbered by the white.”