LATER ENGLISH NEWS.

Evening Star, Issue 4051, 19 February 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

LATER ENGLISH NEWS.

By 7 the arrival at Melbourne of the a.Bj f ,ffealandia, forty-six days out from Jr ryrnoxrth, we are in possession of Ebgiiah files to 18th December, twentytii'O days laterthan those brought by the last Suez mail. We make the following extracts : MISCELLANEOUS. ' The 'DiariadeNoticias' of Lisbon states th at arrangements have already been m?ule, ao cording to which the Prince of Wales on hfo return from India will visit MaJ'ca, Gibraltar, and Lisbon; embarking at Oporto for Sngland. It has been reported to the Glasgow rjlice that a clerk named Alexander Martin as forged the name of a stockbroker in the ti.ty on a cheque for L 4,800. Martin, it ajppears, had got into difficulties by speculating on the Stock Exchange. .. A suicide has been committed from the C'oluma of July, in the Palace de la Bastille. T-he guardian of the monument ascended to clear, the place of visitors. As he approached » man on the top spang over the railings, and was afterwards picked up horribly mutilated. Notbiag was found on him to prove iis identity. The second brother of the Czar, the Grand Duke Nicholas, has been exiled to the Caucasus for. four months on account of his heavy indebtedness and disorderly life. A balldt-dancer, supposed to be his paramour, has been compelled to leave St. Petersburgh, and ( is provisionally sent under arrest to Wenden. ; ,

Declarations were formally exchanged at Home between Signor Galliera and Signor Minghetti, Vice-President of the Council of Ministers, for completing the former's deed of gift, by which he makes a donation of 20,0Q0,Q00 lire (L 800,000) for the port of Genoa, and 2,000,000 lire (L 80,000) for the construction of working men's dwellings. It is stated that the Channel Tunnel is positively to be commenced in April next, the results of the experimental boring having ill every case proved so satisfactory. Further powers are required before commencing the grttnd shaft at the Bay of St. Margaret's, and it is not anticipated that the proposals of the company will meet with any oppogitdon. ,

A ■ervant girl named Rosina Rue, of Langport, Bristol, now in custody, on her own confession, for having burnt one of her master's hayricks, and drowned one of her mastei-'s children, has made a further confession to the effect that three years ago she drowned another little girl named Howard, at Pntnev, near Landport. Something, she Bays,'told her to do these things. The 'Hour' wishes to know whether the detectives, the Government, and others interested in the matter are aware of the present abode of Mr Alexander Collie, and states that he is in Barcelona, where, "safe from detectives, counsel and jury, he can laugh at the proceedings of our Courts, and possibly emulate, in some degree, his former splendor, happy, perhaps, in the enjoyment of the Mediterranean breeze instead of our north-easter." Another high tide in the Thames having been expected on 12th December, extraordinary precautions, far outstripping any previously adopted, were made to keep the overflow out from invading the houses, the tenants of which suffered bo severely the Eevious month. However, at the time of gh water, the tide just came up to the Joints beyond which it would have overowerwd, and all the inhabitants experienced a great relief. . A mysterious discovery has been made in the neighborhood of Fleet street. A body of workmen are engaged in excavating a site for new boilers on the premises of Messrs Bradbwry and Co., printers, in Lombard street. On reaching a depth of about sixteen feet t|iey came upon the skeletons of four or fivei full-grown persons, the skulls and larger bones being in excellent preservation. As thiis is a portion of the site where the " Dukedom of Alsatia " was situated, many strange conjectures have been started. Mr Gladstone has made the following reply to a correspondent in Sheffield, who wrote io. him on the subject of the inspection of convents:—" I conceive that no institution should be allowed in this country which restrains the personal liberty, as commonly understood, of its members or inmates j but I am not cognisant of the facts with respect to the liberty of the inmates of nunneries, on which the justification of the measure you suggest would have to rest, and I could not, therefore, undertake to introduce a measure on the subject, even were I taking a'larger share than is actually the case in the general legislation of the country." The Pitsburgb 'Leader' has a notice gathered; from, French Medical papers, and cotnfirmed by physicians of New York| regardinJEdiseases propagated by the free use of soap. The prevalence of diphtheria among washermen, first drew attention to the matter; the ohemical investigation traced the disease to the soap. It is well-known that domestic soap fat is foul stuff. It is long ga-tering; putresence usually sets in before it gets to the boiler of the factory.' ' Fat that comes from dead animals goes to the ,_ soap-boiler. Often the animal was diseased, and always is it tainted with mortuary matter. Continual rubbing in hot water causes absorption of the poison through the pores of the skin and it attacks the most susceptible organs' Lung fever and kidney diseases are traced to this morbid source in such a way as to leave noo doubt. Many diseases of children are caused; by impur* 80a p. The Commission in Paris reports this poison most apparent in ,toilet soap, and those most scented are the worst.

Some .idea of the extent to which the Chinese are migrating to other countries may be learned (says an exchange) from a memorwj tooths Imperial Government of China from the Government of Shanehae In this ammonal he urges the appointment Of fcplomatic and consular representatives m all countnea where Chinese are settled He estimates the number of Chinese in California at 250,000: <* Slam at 250,000; in Singapore, 100 <Ji. in Penang, 15,000; in Manilfa, in Japan, 10,000-making a total tf ™ o ' ff In this bst.no account fs taker, of fill Juba, or several other cqiiutrfS which have respocteble number of Chinamen Hw memorial is inilcS of

A of earthquake was exoeri at Naples on the 1& uUdwghW seconds, and proceeded from lath-west to south-east-was at first 4tang, .then vertical. The effect wm of •onrse, terrible, and not unlike wW ritne*ed and felt some aany lives were lost in the proving **"&-;$& ? aQ *' a „d fie walls of, houses in some directions were inaibly moved; but as a heavy storm was iging, the : maications, whichin some parts t the city were so strong, were mistaken as roceeding from the violence of the wind is may be expected, numbers of people left ■SSi'Sft fugitives,.who added to the CS«H^ m T ent . b y thei f cries - Those ££ffiS*! foge Cftra 'agee and omni-W-lW i W**> glad to obtain shelter in

them, but many were compelled to pass the night in the open air, exposed to a severe storm. It iB the opinion of some whose opinion is of value that the shock which created such a panic is not directly connected with Vesuvius, and that the centre.of disturbance may be at some distance.

A DARING SCHEME. A certain Captain Hamilton was recently sentenced to five years' penal servitude for fraud, remarking upon whose case an "English paper says that it was his determination to begin with nothing and end by becoming a millionaire. In view of this, he agreed to purchase an estate at Lancaster Gate for L 320.000; and according to his own calculations he was to borrow the L 320.000 at L 5 per cent, upon mortgage of the property, thus paying L 16.000 a-year as interest, while the property itself was to bring him in no less than L 64.000 a-year. The surplus, L 48,000, was to be set a-side as a sinking fund, and it was consequently as clear as figures ever can be that in some five or six years the estate at Lancaster Gate would have belonged to Captain Hamilton in fee simple, and would have transformed him from a penniless adventurer into a millionaire upon a small scale. Unfortunately for the " floating," if we may so term it, of this ingenious scheme, various petty disbursements were required, and in the course of the negotiations to which these small pecuniary difficulties gave occasion, the cap tain being of a sanguine temparament, made statements which as judged by the cold grey eye of the law, were false and fraudulent. Had he only had a few hundred pounds to meet the necessary expenses of "promoting," his scheme would, in all probability, have succeeded. As it is, there is nothing left for him except to patiently bide his five years and then burst upon the world, as the contractor for a foreign loan, THOMAS CARLYLE.

On the 4th December, the eightieth anniversary of the birth of Mr Thomas Carlyle, he was presented with the following address, signed by all the leading literary and scientific men of Great Britain:—"To Thomas Carlyle, 4th December, 1875.—Sir,—We beg leave, on this interesting and memorable anniversary, to tender yon the expression of our respectful good wishes. Not a few of the voices which it would have been dearest to you to hear to-day are Bilent in death. There may perhaps be some compensation in the assurance of the reverent sympathy and affectionate gratitude of many thousands of living men and women, throughout the British Islands and elsewhere, who have derived a delight and inspiration from the noble series of your writings, and who have noted also how powerfully the world has been influenced by your great personal example. A whole generation has elapsed since you described for us the hero as a man of letters. We congratulate you and ourselves on the spacious fulness of years which has enabled you to sustain this rare dignity among mankind in all its possible splendor and completeness. It is a matter for general rejoicing that a teacher whose genius and achievements have lent radiance to his time still dwells amidst us; and our hope is that you may yet long continue in fair health to feel how much you are loved and honored, and to rest in the retrospect of a brave and illustrious life. We request you to do us the honor to accept the accompanying copy ofa medal, designed by Mr J. E. Boehm, which has been struck in commemoration of the day." The medal mentioned in the address bears on one of its faces a medallion of Mr Carlyle by Mr Boehm, and on the obverse the words "In commemoration • 4th December, 1875." TENNYSON PLAGIARISING. A very curious charge of plagiarism has been brought against Tennyson. When his Queen Mary appeared, the admirers of'the .Foet Laureate complimented him on his versatility. The play was not at all Tennysoman. The reason why is made clear. A considerable part of it is merely Harrison Ainsworth's novel of "The Tower of Lon don turned into blank verse. It cannot be supposed for a moment that Tennyson deliberately cribbed from Ainsworth, but it I is very evident that the novelist and the poet are indebted to some source of inspira Jw £ ot 7 et diacove . red - It is not unliWy that the former copied verbatim and wholesale, while it is certain that the latter's production is in many places a very close paraphrase. As a specimen of many similarivtSy^o?a e f s u the foUowing s * eech *&

As these ifhei? children; surXwe&V^ and be sure your Queen fore, s£ST £**£"?■ So loves you, and so lov- reim hS» ■' Vem in?, needs must deem » to **»" This love by you returned anftK? lmlTs**i as heartily • ZT~ 7:HP * OV ™Jf you, I AndthSfohis common yC^IA/^ knot and bond of love fnii^Jl^ tllyandfaith - Doubt not they Jm be XS&T *&*• A nd speecmyo'ertLown- f^SSSSSS^I 4 uoubt not we shall be Üble to give these rebels •short and speedy overdc\e^vtZ\lT iona ' is deoi view tK ' m"? fr ° m a P° etical P° in * a x W * rhe blank verse is a clumw that Tel Itm , a y^^gedme X tenuS that Tennyson has done no more than Shakspearedid. But times have changed and what was allowable three centurieS wno longer permissible. Shakspeare was a geat author, but he was a sSll grS er

DREADFUL OCCURRENCE IN AN HOSPITAL m ?f 2 e . 13th ? ecemb er, before the Norwich magistrates, a feboring man, named BoS Edwards, was brought up on a charce of M^t nj f^ ee chSdren ' name <* wffiaS Martin, John Lacey, and Joseph Colmanin the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital ' • early hour on the morninc '• •* ftn About four or five o'- 1 % «* that day. clisse caUedDrß»~ mM1 £??» Nvi rSe Norquench of wl-', B „ I^f#T tt P- Iq *onsel«iked aiiitat«!? ** um S*rtn©r first wards! Si a 3 a^f G ° f A 6 other male wLrs rhi D a e n Tt k ' * ward No 19 had come from «»e boys' floor'' °? S^ 6 BaumgarC went shij/and a smaU flaSel c^VJ 5 ? * hiß had a pair of tongalnhw £L "•£"«*«* named Edward iuß^ ** w£d in bed * • <SS °o f f l e e "?M struck Edwards 0 D 22 Edwards dronned+!,» + •' &na ' or h 'ind and Dr BauZartner gS 1* C >T^ V **<*' seized him n ?? Bed **'* him until a rived, and *o ar-

gave the alarm. As soon as Drßaumgartner had given Edwards up to the porters he went into the other boys' room, and he saw there four boys lying in bed with their heada smashed. The first of these boys was named William Martin, aged eleven ; he was then breathing, but he died within an hour. The next was John Lacey, aged ten ; he was quite dead, and his brains were scattered on the pillows and wall. The next was Joseph Colman, aged eleven ; his head and face were smashed to pulp. The fourth was Alfred Clark, aged nine; this lad had sustained a severe fracture of the skull, but he still lingered up to a late hour. The prisoner was remanded. His manner unmistakeably indicated insanity, but he submitted quietly to be removed by the police constables. | AWFUL COLLIERY EXPLOSIONS. j Since 1866, when the frightful catastrophe ' occurred at tha Oaks pit, Barnsley, which caused the loss of 380 lives, there has been no such dreadful explosion in South Yorkshire, or indeed in the whole country, as that which has taken place at the Swaithe Main pit, between Barnsley and Sheffield, in the very heart of the South Yorkshire coalfield. The colliery is owned by Messrs Mitchell and Co., and is one of the very largest undertakings of the kind. Connected with it by an inclined plane is the Edmunds Main colliery, belonging to the same proprietory. This was fortunately the means of saving the lives of seventy or eighty men. At the Swaithe Main pit there are ordinarily some 300 men and boys employed, but as this was Monday, 16th December, a large number were "playing." As it was, however, 240 men and boys went down the pit at the usual time, and nothing was then noticed which led to the belief that the pit was likely to fire. It should be stated that the seam worked is the Barnsley, or nine feet hard coal, which is often fiery, and has always to be worked with great caution.

This particular part had never been noticed to be more than usually dangerous, but it was nevertheless carefully worked by means of safety lamps of the most approved con struction. About twenty minutes to ten on Monday morning the explosion took place, and was first made known to those on the pit bank by its fearful report, and a terrific rush of gas and air up the shaft. Those on the top knew that something was amiss, but it was not until afterwards that they fully comprehended the appalling nature of the frightful disaster. Exploring parties were promptly formed to descend the shaft, a work which was necessarily proceeded with very cautiously. When the first party, consisting of John Mitchell, George Hall, and Edward Williams, went down in the cage they found that the conductors, or side rods, were destroyed at the bottom of the

shaft for a distance of about nine feet, consequently the cage could not be fully lowered, and the remainder of the descent had to be completed by means of an extemporised ladder. This done, it was found that the explosion had wreakod its whole force on the south leve ! , in which everything in connection with the workings was noticed to be destroyed. To make matters fully intelligible, it should be stated that about 200 of the men worked down the incline from the Swaithe pit eastwards on what was known as the south level, Whilst the remainder worked on the incline which rose to the bottom of the Edmund's main shaft, a distance of about a mile on the surface, but somewhat less underground. As soon as the explorers reached the shaft bottom a fearful scene was witnessed, A few of the poor fellows who had been working nearest the shaft had escaped the force of the destroying blast, and hurried to the bottom, where they were found by the explorers, who were promptly reinforced by three other persons. They had literally gone mad with the effects of terror and the subtle influence of the gas. They had to be held down by force, and oould not be restrained until they had been pinioned and slung in blankets, by which means they were got into the cage. Another man employed as a hanger cfl, named George Lingford, was found in the sump hole, into £ * he had hurled him ; he was badly hurt, and was promptly sent up to the surface. A retreat had, however, to be beaten, as it was found, that the afterdamp was too strong. Indeed, one or two of the explorers temporarily sucoumbed to its effects. In this way, alternately trying to penetrate the unknown workings, and then retreating, in order to prevent further Jobs of life, several hours were spent, there being plenty of willing and able volunteers from the sub-managers and miners of the neighboring collieries. In the meantime great joy was manifested when it became known that about seventy men had escaped by means of the Edmund's main shaft, and great was the rejoicing of their wives and Families, who had awaited the result with fearful forebodings. FRIGHTFUL EXPLOSION ON BOARD A STKAMKH,

A disastrous explosion has occurred to board the Moseij one df fend jf oi'tE dermai Lloyd steamers, as she was on the point o leaving the port of Bremerhaven. The ex plosion is believed to be a diabolteai plot de signed by an AmoriCan named Thomas. Hi had introduced a mass of dynamite into thi cargo, intending to eoiltriVe that it £jh6iilc explode in jftid-rXteaa, he himself having lef the ship at Southampton, and hoping to re ahse profit out of the insurances Upon her The following partierthtfjj f the ex plosion are from the * Weizer Zeitung' : It appears that just before the wai about to set «att a cart, Containing foui cases and ft barrel was being unloaded fo] shipment. Suddenly a terrible explolior. occurred The offeOt Was horrible The quay was then thronged with peoplepartly belong*™ fa, tjfc ktem%», tfefcU 22SJS\i! Wd partly P^ B6 who had JJ"»a«a there to take a last farewell oi tUeir friends, An eye-witnesS, tfhb" stood under the gattgway of the' Moselle* on hearing the terrifid report, 6aw a number of blaok luhip-e flying ftbotit in the air, whilst very few of the persons on land remained Visible. Apprehending a boiler explosion, fie threw himself flat on the deck, where he received a volley of sand, broken glass, fragments of flesh, bones, &c. The devastation on board the Mosel was terrific, No skylight was left, the cabin* i% Starboard* aaa j)&* Wete either crushed in or bulged out by the pressure, or altogether smashed • the side plates of the ship werd thirst} the 1 tiorfo, with their glasses and rivets, forced inW&ms; and the whole ship was besmeared mth blood, and stuck over with pieces of flesh and other human debris. In the hold ind all parts of the ship were found arms, ; 8 gSi and oth.tr portions $i the human rams; thi>& the lower bold rt* e iYed some S™ through the open hatches, iv *u M of the ha *chway were burst av,W V™ B *™' and the front oi tn* S^P'^ 11 cabm on deck st °ve in. The ™?.eship was littered with glass shreds even filled the dishes from the «am kitchen as they were being served to ne tween decks or steerage passengers On and where the package hadlbeen unloaded uoie had been produced from 6ft to 7ft' eep. rhe whole place was strewn with mbs, sareds of dress, &c. In large reeking ools of blood you might see here an arm ad there a calf, mutilated busts, & c The ithorship of the terrible catastrophe is aced to W. K. Thomson, a passenger r the Mosel. Thomson has acknowaged that he was the owner of the I rr&l. which exploded, and that he initf.ed to take this barrel oh board'

the vessel for the purpose of sinking her. The motive of this diabolical wicked- I ness appears to have been the hope of gain- < ing a large sum by means of exaggerated i and fictitious insurances, and the sum thus i obtained was to have been shared with i others. A correspondent of the same paper ■ states that the scene of the hospital deadhouse was of the most harrowing character. Nearly every family in the little town has suffered severely. Thomson, alias Thomassen, died in the hospital. In his confession to the authorities he gave his name as William King Thomson, professing to be a native of Brooklyn, New York, and he is believed to be about thirty-five years of age. He stated that he had been captain of the vessel Old Dominion, and that he had changed his name to avoid being prosecuted for having run the blockade during the American civil war. The explosive material, he asserted, was bought by him in America, and he had it forwarded to his address, and the clockwork for igniting the dynamite at a given moment he had made in Germany. He set it at eight days. A late telegram says "the total number of the killed by the explosion is 123, and of the wounded, 56. The Bremen Aid Committee report that twenty of the injured are hopelessly maimed, and that there are fifty-six widows and 135 orphans, victims of the disaster, for the benefit of whom it proposes to raise a subscription of 7,000 dollars." A later despatch says :—The man who confessed to having caused the explosion at Bremerhaven died yesterday. He had told the police that his name was Thomson, aad that he was a native of Brooklyn, New York. The clockwork, he added, was made in Germany, and the dynamite was sent from America. The clockwork was constructed to go for ten days, working noiselessly, and at the expiration of that time to cause a lever to act which would strike with the force of a hammer weighing thirty pounds. Thomson refused to reveal the names of any accomplices. In the interests of the judicial inquiry now proceeding, no futher particulars are at present allowed to transpire.