MAIL NEWS.

Evening Star, Issue 4069, 11 March 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

MAIL NEWS.

|n- an action brought by Willis and Son, Shipowners, against Dr Feathefttone, for declining to use the Zenobia as an emigrant ship after it had been unfavorably reported on,, the verdict was for the defendant. ; The Eastern Telegraph Companies have been authorised by their shareholders to

duplicate; their lines between Rangoon and Penang, and between Suez and Bombay. ' Two servant girls were recently found ; lying in bed, near Portsmouth, with their -> • throats cut, and suffering from the effects of poison. Under medi«J treatment they recovered sufficiently to be taken into custody, charged with attempting, to commit suicide. They admit the-offence, and say it was the result of disappointed love. One of the blighted maidens has reached the mature age of “sweet sixteen ;”.the other is only a few years her senior.. An extraordinary feat of telegraphy—one that leaves all the daily papers completely in Hie shade—has been brought under , our ...notice; Tb® ‘ Pictorial. World, ’ on sale in * Fleet street on the forenoon of Thursday, the 18th inst., published an engraving of the • reception ; aocorded to the Prince ot Wales . at Government House, Pare!!, Bombay, on the afternoon of Monday, the Bth. As the - artist who' ’ drew : the sketch could not possibly have sent it Home by the P. and 0. steamer? which left Bombay at 7 p.m. on . the same date, and which, indeed, only arrived in Aden on the morning of the 19th, he must; have had the inspiration to-forward his ibmche, by submarine wire. This, is' a triumph to be hailed with fuller gladness that it distances the ‘New York Herald,’ . which was awfully conceited over the fact ' .that it;had succeeded, by means of anelaborate code, in cabling accurate representations .of .the targets.in tim late International. Biffe. Match at Dublin at the close of each day’s shooting. The only vagary the salt water' seema to have played .with the composition of the expeditious artist of ■ the ‘ Pictorial World jis in the uniform of the Prince’s esoort, which is identical with that of a '.regiment which was in Bombay on the occasion, of the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit, but has left it long since.. THE WHITECHAPEL MURDER—STRANGE PROCEEDINGS.

•r , Stokes, the witness in the trial of Wainwright fop the murder of Harriet Lane at Whitechapel, has been banquetted by the Lane family. Harriet Lane’s mother was 'harried: • from her bed, and made a long ,roeech presenting a memorial to be handed oown by Stokes to his posterity. Stokes is . burlesqued in a London pantomime, and is . not a favorite with the people.- He' has received a number of letters threatening his * Uf, . . ..... A. QUEER SUPERSTITION. . ; A Russian, paper announces that a belief da the approaching end of the world has seized on the Cossacks of the Don. Many, especially aged people, are giving up worldly affairs,, wearing a. shroud, and ordering tfaoir coffins. . On every road are seen men repairing to Moscow to be consecrated priests, in order that the smallest, village may have its own priest and church. The authorities are passive* hoping that the movement will die oat of its own accord... EMIGRANTS IN NEW ZEALAND. Under this heading “A Rector” writes to the * Aberdeen Free Press ’ with reference to the meeting. of “ the unemployed ” at Dunedin :—“Ayear ago I went onboard an emigrant ship off Gravesend, supposed to be taking out agricultural laborers only. • I flatter myself, from having lived among them twenty-five years I know ■an agricultural laborer when I see him, but I failed to get a glimpse of even a solitary specimen on board. There may have been some there, but I did not see them. I saw a great many . others, and spoke to several, and they all : hailed from London, and seemed to he men who had never done outdoor work of any kind. I had some conversation with a mission chaplain who came on board, and he told me nearly half of the emigrants came from London, and* too large a proportion of them were unmitigated loafers, of whom we yreip well rid at home.. Such men as these wonld hold strong language at an indignation meeting, but.not care for rough agricultural work even at the highest wages.” X4OO PAID FOR AN INTRODUCTION—CURIOUS '. ' CASE. Not long ago, in one of the English law courts, a case was tried in which a gentleman •sought to recover a sum of money for having introduced another gentleman to a lady of fortune with a view to marriage, A verdict was civen in the plaintiff’s favor, and the .<case, from its unusual nature, was much commented upon, at i the time. Another case ~ presenting; peculiar features has just been fried in one of the London courts.. It was at the instance of a Mr Pool, who sought to recover a sum of money for having given the name of a gentleman “likely to become * picture, deafer” to Mr Brooks, a wellknown picture seller in. Bond street, London, The case was heard before a jury, and

.Ms decided on Wednesday, when a verdict

.was found for the plaintiff for L4OO damages. * The evidence reveals some curious,.particulars as to the way in which the trade’ in pictures is conducted, and will repay perusal , by connoisseurs. It is- too much to expect' that the lesson it convey?; will be profitable to those who are not connoisseurs. death from tight lacing. On the 10th December the Westminster Coroner held an inquiry into the cause of the death , of Mrs Kezia Wheeler, aged 77, an independent lady, of 34 Stanley street. Mr H- Kicbolls said he resided a few doors from the deceased, who was his mother-in-law. She was always in excellent health. She. was put wjth a lady friend. Witness called at the house to see her, but on knocking could get no answer. Witness told the landlady he thought something must be wrong, and asked should he hurst the door ; but the landlady said .she did not like such a thing,, and declared.witness had no authority. Next jnorning he went with a snrgepn, had the door broken in, entered, and found de ceased dead on the floor, fully dressed, with a Bible m her hand, leaving no doubt she W» m fche act of going to church Mr WilFolwefl, surgeon, said she had been dead since the preceding morping, having filed, suddenly from the breaking of an aneurism, i, post mortem revealed a very sad state of things. The lower ribs were tightly jammed together, the sides nearly touching each other. The liver, intestines, stomach. apd Other organs were all jumbled tw together, and were remarkable for their Deceased .was a tall, and had been a .very lK»utifpl woman, and this was caused by former tight lacing, A verdict in accordance with the medical evidence was returned. ... A HUNDRED PER CENT. PevljWS for the first time during the present a Bank has declared a dividend of luff per cent. . This has occurred in the case of tfis New York County National Bank, which declared this dividend on the 22pd December last. The Melbourne ‘ Argus’ explains bow this was brought about;— 7 * It seems that the County Jfcnk has a fixed capital of 200,000 dollars surplus of 325.000 dollars- Of the ,latSer amount 200.000 dollars was distributed as a dividend, still leaving the institution 125,000 fiollaw.tp work with. But we call attention td ihe ■ incident. v bn account of the circumstances which gave rise to it, and because if the tsAtion of, prqpertj .. • '■ik'ifj i ■ ui-- >•. - • ■

Highly injurious to the public interests, By an Act of the State Legislature, passed by what is notoriously the most corrupt representative body in America, a local tax of 3 per cent, is imposed oU the reserve capital of all banks. It was thought that by converting such reserves into Government bonds,

they would escape impost. This, however, was not found to be the case, as the inter pretation placed upon the-Act by the Attor-ney-General and the Courts was adverse to the supposition. Hence the step taken by the directors.”

AN “HONORABLE MAN.” A challenge to fight a duel in England is now generally regarded as. a piece of theatrical bombast, but occasionally we find amongst half-pay officers and club colonels a lingering trace of the old spirit. Captain Butler, “half-pay unattached, ” having cause, as he believed, of deadly quarrel with Lord George Lofttts, sent to that nobleman a letter in which demands for the vindication of his outraged honor are curiously mingled with petty details respecting cash-balances, walk-ing-sticks, and portmanteaus. The captain demands “ ample satisfactionhints that Lord George “has one foot in the grave already, and that the other may soon follow;” and intimates that as soon as his two friends “ can arrange a day, which will be as soon as possible, they will let the fore-doomed nobleman know. Lord George placed the letter in the hands of bis solicitor, and Captain Butler was brought up at Bow street on a charge of writing a letter “calculated to incite a breach ofthe peace." The defendant wa& committed for trial after an attempt to settle the case had been frustrated by the magistrate, who remarked that it was better that such an affair should bo explained at the Central Criminal Court.

A ROMANCE AND ITS SEQUEL. A sad stoiy has just been'fittingly terminated by the death of the three persons who wete its herpes. One of these actors was a man of high scientific attainments, an astronomer, and a Fellow of the Royal Society ; the second was a pretty, but illiterate woman; the third a miscreant, who has died in prison. The learned man was Mr Carrington, who lived for many years in a lovely and romantic spot, at which he had constructed an observatory, at Cburt, near Farnham. One day Mr Carrington met in Regent street a good-looking and attractive young woman from Bristol, but of much lower station than he was. ’ Unfortunately for the happiness of all three she had relations with a man named Rod way, but although Mr Carrington knew partly her previous history, he married, the fan* and frail, one, who however deceived her husband to this extent, that she represented Rodway as her brother. This fellow kept Mrs Carrington in abject fear of him, and by working on her fears he continually received money from the frightened woman by threatening to reveal her desception to her husband. At length, desperate at losing his sweetheart and at being refused more money, and failing to induce Mrs Carrington to run off with him, he visited the lonely house at Churt, and so savagely assaulted her tha* she narrowly escaped death at his hands. Ho was aprpehem led, sentenced to twenty years’ penal servitude for attempted murder, and shortly afterwards died in gaol. About a fortnight ago Mrs Carrington was found dead in her bed by her husband when he awoke in the morning, and a few days after the inquest in this case was concluded the police, noticing an unusual quietness about the house, broke open the door and found Mr Carrington lying dead upon the mattrass. Thus ends a singular romance, the elements of which, if they had formed the foundation of a novel, would be regarded as impossible. A MOUSE-CATCHING BABY.

A singular phenomenon is creating quite a sensation a few miles from Erie, Pennsylvania, in the shape of a moase-catch'ng infant, surpassing in expertness the agility of the beat canine or feline in the country. The little girl in question is about a year old, and can just begin to run about. The moment she wakes and gets out of her crib she goes to. the old kitchen fireplace, which is infested with a species , of small house mice, and sits down by a hole in the corner,, very much like a cat, with her eyes intetmy fixed on the burrow. She sometimes occupies this position |or an hour without moving, till a mouse makes its appearance, ■ when, by a sudden dart, apparently without any effort, she seizes her victim by the neck. As soon as her prize is secured she seems to be electrified wish jqy,‘and trembles from head ,to foot, uttering a kind of wild murmur or growl; resembling the half-sup-pressed snarl of a wild cat. It seems as, if; the mouse, when once out of its hole, becomes charmed or magnetised, and has no power, or, at least, shows no disposition to ’ escape until caught until too late. If any' one approaches the child to take the mouse ‘ away from her, she will utter a wild scream, : and then try to conceal her prize by putting it into her mouth. . HOW THE FOUR MILLIONS WAS OBTAINED. , A London correspondent writes concerning the purchase by the English Government of the Suez Canal shares : —“Mr Disraeli and Baron Rothschild are old friends, neighbors in Buckinghamshire, and although one is a Christian and the other still a Hebrew of the Hebrews, one a Conservative and the other a Liberal, they are personally on, the best of terms, * Look in and see me to-morrow morning,’ the story runs that the Premier said in a note to the Baron; and next morning, when the Premier was still sipping his doffee, the Baron appeared in the Premier’s pleasant little breakfast-room overlooking \yhitehall Gardens. ‘ How do you do, Baron ? I want to ,borrow L4;000,000 till Parliament- can be called together,’ ‘ Wifi you lend it upon, my responsibility as the First Minister of the Crown?’ ‘Certainly—when do you want it?’ ‘To-day.’: * Draw upon me for the amount, and the note will be answered at sight.’ ‘Thank yon. J hope, Baron, you had a good day with your hounds yesterday.’ ‘ Yes, splendid sport; wish you could have a day with us.’ ‘Ah!J know I lo.se one of the greatest pleasures of life. But my salad days are over.’ • What the L 4,000,000 was wanted for the Baron never asked, and till ho was leaving the room the Premier did not think it necessary to explain, and then only in the shortest form possible. ‘ I have bought the Khedive’s 'interest in the Suez Canal ; the Chancellor of the Exchequer will perhaps be glad to see you as to the rest. ’ And that is how it was done.”

A QUICK-SIGHTED POLICEMAN. We feel pleasure, says the * British Workman," in commending to the notice of poUcemep throughout the country the good example of constable 446, John Pegg, of the city of London police, who has justly earned the title Of “The Horse’s Friend,”' for his extraordinary skill in detecting horses cruelly worked. whilst suffering from sores and wounds, He is on night-duty in the city, and woe betide the cabman-or carman who attempts to pass by John Pegg if the horse is in an unfit condition for worn ! To his. credit, this policeman brings up far more cases of cruelty to annuals before the magistrates than any other policeman in the City of London. Superintendent Foster writes us“ Police-constable 446, Pegg, to whom you referred in such complimentary terms at-the policemen’s temperance meeting* is indeed very skilful in detecting cases 6f>pruelty to horses. The. following return triU interest yon *—Pegg joined, the city police in 1864, and is on first-class pay.’’ pf tlje cases of cruelty to ftrihpaia , Ai;..' v- ■- ■•■■■ -

taken before the magistrates by police constable 446, John Pegg, during the past fiveyears, 1870-1874 ' Total number of horses ordered to be killed, 175; total number of defendants fined, 168 ; total number of defendants discharged, 5; total number of Cases, 348. That out of 348 cases this clever policeman has failed to secure convictions in only five instances is probably a result such as no other policeman can produce. THE BREMERHAVEN ATROCITV.

A gentleman who visited the scene of the disaster a few - hours after the event said it looked more terrible than a field of battle. Hospital attendants and policemen, aided by volunteers from all classes of the population, bad, indeed, removed those remnants of humanity in which the vital spark was not wholly extinct, but what remained was a human shambles. As in an anatomical dissecting* room, all the individual limbs of the human body might be seen lying about separately in ghastly isolation. Here a head was stuck on a railing, while a hand was seen pointing at empty space from a window-sill. More horrible, perhaps, than the lacerated limbs whose outward shape was sufficiently preserved to admit of recognition, were- the formless masses of flesti strewn in every direction, mixed up with arms, and feet. On the fatal spot were boots and shoes, coats and shawls, and countless splinters of iron and wood. Where the waggon stood from which the deadly chest was thrown yawned a hole over 6ft, deep and 7ft. wide. Horses, vehicle, driver, and porters were literally blown into atoms, without a trace of them left. On the brink of the opening, which marked the spot where they disappeared, an infant’s shoe was seen, empty, and asking ‘for the tiny foot which had tenanted it that morning. A note-bank was there containing the memoranda of a dead man. Later in the day the most horrid indications of the catastrophe were carefully collected and carried away to the churchyard preparatory to remoyal; but many of the shivered fragments were thrown too great a distance, and had been lodged in too improbable localities to be fonnd-at the first search. For two or three days after the event terrible discoveries were continually made in houses and courtyards, in stables and river boats. A man would go up to the loft to fetch fuel, and find a leg fiung across the coals. A woman feeding poultry in the hen house was shocked to behold a finger fought for by the feathery tribe. In the harbor bloody trunks rose and fell with the stream for several days, presenting a revolving aspect, and causing the authorities to have the river dredged. The most harrowing spectacle was that presented in the deadhouse of the churchyard before the first burial of the remains. Heads without trunks, trunks without hands, legs without feet, and arms without hands were displayed in hideous rows for identification. Picture for yourself a woman looking for her husband among these S relics, and the thought beggars option. For two consecutive days these visits to torn members continued. For two days farewells were taken of "beads and hands. For two days portions of the cadaverous array were gradually removed by relatives bringing full-sized coffins for a single limb, and having it carefully sewn up in linen before consigning it to its last enclosure. Then the grave hid its own. Meanwhile some thirty persons, not wholly killed by the explosion, were lying in an improvisedjiospital not far from the scene, an unascertained .number of other sufferers having been received in private houses. If there Was anything calculated to render the effects of the catastrophe more appalling, it Was that the infliction is confined to comparatively few families. Whole families having gone to see their relatives off, whole families were killed and wounded. A terrible instance is. that of Mr Etmer, who with all his nearest and dearest accompanied his elder son to the boat to wish him Godspeed on his departure to the West Indies. .The father, the elder and younger son, one son-in-law, the brother of another son-in-law, and a cousin are dead. The mother has had her arm broken. One of the daughters has lost her right hand ;. another daughter is wounded in face, hands, and legs, a .third daughter wounded in the arm; while the sister of one of the sons-in-law had her left foot blown off. That son’-iu-law whose brother is dead is terribly lacerated in the abdomen. This is the worst case, but others might be cited hardly less melan- | choly.