ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 581, 7 October 1869, Page 4

ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

—• — " Two young Hindoo ladies have gone u"p to matriculate for examination at the Calcutta University this j'ear. The coffee plantations in the Neilgherries have been destructively attacked by an insect named the. borer. The search for coal in Cfianda, in the Central P-rovince has been attended with great success. A quantity of Australian preserved meat, purchased by the Madras Government, will be served gut to the 45th Regiment as an experimental measure. It is believed that Prince K^assa, of Tigre, will take vengeance upou the murderers of Mr and Mrs Powell, in Abyssinia. Lord Napier, of Magdala, was liberally feted at Poona, previous tq his departure for England. The war in Japan is over, ai}d the army is returning home. It is believed that peace will be permanent. Several priests of high rank h^ve memorialised the Japanese Government against permitting the preaching of Christianity. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce at Shanghai has taken steps to form a Chinese association in England. Some amusement has been caused in Canton, by the French Consul sending the captain of a Chinese gunboat to arrest a French subject. A large patent slip has been opened at West Point, Hong Kong. A corporal of t]ie 2,nd battalion 7th Royal Fusiliers, named James Brett, was shot dead at Aldershot on July 20, by a private of the s,amp qorp3, named William Dtxon. Dixpn, it would appear, had been drinking freely, and the cause of the crime is attributed to Brett's intention to report him for refusing to fill some extra beds. The murderer will be handed over to the civil authorities. The Pacific Railroad is now bringing fresh fruits to New York from California, and the dispatch of a fruit car laden with plums, pears, and grapes for Chicago and New York opens up the prospect of a large fruit trade between -the Atlantic and Pacific States. The Californian fruits are surpassingly excellent in quality. It is said that it is the intention of the official authorities to have her Majesty's ship Scorpion, now lying in Cork harbor, immediately dismantled. It appears that on a recent trip to sea she proved herself a most dangerous craft, in consequence of her extraordinary low freeboard. Many I times she was almost submerged in the sea, and she occasioned such panic to her crew that they have protested against proceeding again to sea in her. The Scorpion was originally built for the Confederate States. It is stated that the owner of Restitution laid a wager tliat he would win the Brighton Cup, and have it on his dinnertable in London by seven o'clock the same evening. Immediately Daley, who rode Restitution, had passed the scales, the Baron rushed off with the Cup in his arms, and driving to the station, where a special train which had been ordered was in- waiting, sped with the trophy to his town mansion, and arrived in time to win his wager. The Queen has intimated, through Lord Spencer, that next year she will pay a — visit uf aoiiie-dmatloii-to-lrclaTlTn I'luTi announcement, which appears to be made j on sufficient authority, will gratify all ' classes of the British people. The Star $i Jiily }9 says :— "The presence of her 'Majesty on the soil of Ireland after the Imperial Parliament has given substantial proof of its determination to remove the causes of disaffection can scarcely fail to assist the work of remedial legislation, and to strengthen those now and better feelings which have already taken root." The rumor is revived that Mr Chichester Fortescue will be raised to the peerage guriug the pcess, and it is said that he wijl immediately succeed Earl Spencer in the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland. The Freeman's Journal of August 6 says it is currently reported that Mr Gladstone intends to visit Ireland during tile autumn. The Dublin paper promises him a hearty welcome. It is said that a threatening tetter was received by Lord Olqnbrock, reproving him for having opposed the Irish Church Bill, ajid that his" lordship assembled his employes and said he was convinced they knew the authors, and pledged himself if the slightest attempt were made to carry p*t the threats he would at once, with his family, leave the country, and never set jlis fpqt in. it again,. The communication, accompanied by the usual coffin, qkull,* and cro3s-bones, was transmitted through * the Ahascvagh Post Office, and informed his lordship that in the event of his iiot dismissing his land-steward and a gardener in his employment, he had- better make all the necessary arrangements for their respective funerals. . The Irish Times is responsible for the following $tory :— "Another remarkable illustration, of the Kachel frajuds will ghbrtjy be made public, in the present instanpe the dupe is a lady of good family and position in the North of Ireland. She claims the sum of L2OOO lent to Madame Rachel. This amount is but small in proportion to other money, about Lu'OOO, paid, but not recoverable. Application was made qn July 30 to the governor of Millbank Prison, where Madam,e Rachel is at present undergoing her sentence, to serve her with a writ. The governor refused, and an application will be made to a judge }n chambers to substitute service, and 16 proceed with the action. The transactions iii question disclose rare credulity seldom jnet with amongst canny northerners. The lady, in connected by marriage' with one of the most distinguished members of the House of Peers." On August 1 five private soldiers (bandsmen) of the 51st Regiment, le \ Weymouth in a small punt, to go for a sail. The weather was vbry squally, and it is said there were no oars on board, and that, there was a strong ebb tide. Neither the men nor the boat have been since heard of, and their disappearance has caused much excitement- and speculation in the district. Some boys who were bathing at ' Saudsfppt saw the boat off the Breakwater End, when the sails were flapping ; they looked again in a few minutes, and could not see her, ancl the inference is that she capsized arid* drifted away. Since the above was 'written, we are informed that the rudder of the boat has washed up, and that there is now no doubt that the unfortunate men have perished. We are indebted to a correspondent for the following ; — "A Dutchman owned a small house, which lie insured for eight ' hundred pounds. The house was burnt (lown, and 1 the Dutchman claimed the full amount; but the officers of the company refused to pay more than its actual value

—about six hundred pounds. 'If you "wish it, said the actuary, we will build you a house larger and better than the one burnt down, as it can be done for even less than six hundred ppunds,' The Dutchman objected, but at last was compelled to take the six hundred pqunds. Some weeks afterwards he was called upon by the same agent, who wanteH him to take Qiit a policy of life insurance on himself or on his wife. 'If you insure your wife's life for L 2,000,' the agent said, ' and she should die, you would have the sum to solace your heart.' ' No, no !' exclaimed the Dutchman ; • you surance fellows ish all tiefs ! |f I ensure my vife, and my vife dies, and if I goes to get my two thousand pounds, you will say to me, " She wasn't vorth two thousand pounds ; she was vorth about six hundred ; if yo\i don't Jike de six hundred pounds, we vill give you a bigger and better vife' ! " An American paper says :—^" A young man named Joseph Wagner, living in Charleston, West Virginia, professed to have the power of charming snakes. Having captured a rattlesnake, he was giving some of his friends an exibition of his power. After fondling the snake for a time in his arms, he threw it on the ground and switched it until it writhed with rage. He then took the reptile up in his arms again, a.nd saying, ' Are you mad ? kiss me and make it up,' he put its head in his mouth. The snake bit his tongue and he died in about an hour afterwards." A convict of the Ohio penitentiary chopped oft' his 1 ight hand at the wrist, a few days ago, in order to be relieved of work. A short time ago he cut off one of his fingers for the same reason. On the 22nd of July a surveyor went on the lands of Lisobehare, near the town of Tipperary, to mark the boundaries of two estates, when he was pounced upon by four men, armed with revolvers, who searched him, took away his papers, and, firing shots, told him if he did not at once quit the land they would shoot him. They supposed lie was making a survey to increase the rents. A large police force was sent to the spot, but no arrests were made. The Dublin papers report an "extraor- [ dinary scene at Fethard," during the visit of the Marchioness of Ely and the Marquis her sen, to their estates. Ahorse race and other sports had been arranged, and the people, who assembled in multitudes, applauded the young Marquis ; whereupon he called for a cheer for Mr Hare, the agent. According to the story, as told, a Roman Catholic Clergyman stepped forward, and is alleged to have cried out, "No, no; three groans for Hare," adding that "he deserved not cheers nor applause, but reprobation for his conduct as agent;" that "the blood and the curses of the people ejected from [ their dwellings in Killesk lay upon his guilty soul." The people hooted, and I " a Mr Powell making some observation that displeased the crowd, he was knocked down." Mr Hare, in the confusion, rode away. It is added that another Roman Catholic clergyman, at a later period of the day, endeavored to appease the crowd and protect two artillery men from Duncannon Fort,- but was himself knocked down by the crowd. One of the soldiers was beaten so brutally that he has since died.""" A curious illustration of the dense igno- ' ranee which yet overshadows a large portion of (lie population of Spain has been afforded at Lorea a thriving commercial town, numbering 20,000 inhabitants. The people there' are said firmly to "believe in the existence of certain wizards — mysterious beings with pale faces and long white beards, who, hid during the day, hunt at night for children whom they devour. The fat of these children they are said to keep sacredly for two purposes— first, as a sovereign cure for small-pox ; and secondly, to grease the wires of the electric telegraph, which is in itself a satanic invention, anil would not work at all were it not for the lubricating oil obtained from the bodies of innocent little children." A white bearded Englishman, walking one evening in the fields, excited their suspicion, and craftily surronndiug him, they beat him half dead, and then dragged him before the local magistrates, who, as it happened, knew Mm personally, but had great .difficulty in saving him from the infuriated mob. It does not add to our ideas of Spanish intelligence to learn that certain volunteers of Madrid have organised a band for the purpose o( "horsewhipping journalists and tradespeople known to be opposed to the present state of things." One editor has been nearly beaten to death. At the Ross Bridge Collieries, Ince, near Wigan, Mr Bingliam, manager to John Grant Morris, Esq., hits just prove! the seam of coal known as the Arley,- at the enormous depth of 810 yards. At this pit, on March 3, 3862, the celebrated Wigiin canal was (in this . belt) first found at a distance of 600 yards from the surface ; lately the yard mine w;is found at 673, and now tlie valuable Arley' is struck. It is stated that this pit is now the deepest perpendicular shaft in the world, and that it works the deepest mine yet proved in Britain. When the " dib hole" at the bottom is Bunk, the total depth will only be threescore yards short of half a mile. . All who live in what is called " the world" a,re accustomed to look with solemn awe upon the inner life of a convent, arid' the nun perhaps wins more sympathisers among those to whom she is an utter stranger, when persecuted or oppressed, by reason of her self-sucriQce. It is from this point .of view that "the world" is likely- to regard the disturbances which have lately taken place in front of the Carmelite Convent in Cracow as venial, especially when it is considered that in the horrible cruelties of which Sister Barbara U.bryk was the victim, there was cause sufficient to disturb even the best balanced minds. For twenty-one years had this poor creature been-the inhabitant of a cell situated between " the pantry and a dung-hole ;" the window was walled up, and the cell, which might have been, her grave, was " but seven paces long by six paces wide." Here she lingered ont in utter darkness— save when a ray of light flashed through the grating of the door when her persecutors supplied her with fop,d— the remembrance of her former self, sp that when the poor creature was discovered she. was found to be insane. The eell — for it cannot be called a chamber — to which we have alluded, contained all kinds of dirt and filth ; it was neither warmed by a tire nor by the rays of the sun, and was quite innocent of table, bed, or chair. Such was the den which had been selected by women who call Ihemsclveu the spiritual wives and brides of

heaven for one of their sisters. This horrible affair was first brought to the notice of the Vice-President of the Criminal Court on July 20 by an anonymous correspqndent, and it is to the credit of the VicerPresident that he lost no time in inquiring into the truth of the charge, and took steps to. have the matter investigated. When the authorities discovered the poor woman, she folded her arms and pitifully implored food. l( I am hungry," she said, "have pity on me !" and the.n added, " Give me meat and I shall be obedient." The judge — who was deeply moved, as well he might be — instantly ordered the nun to be clothed and went himself for Bishop Calecki. The bishop blushed for- the sisterhood, and, turning to the assembled nuns, he vehemently reproaphed then} for their inhumanity, "Is this," he said, "what you call love of your neighbor 1 Fu,ries, not women, that you are, is it thus that you purpose to enter the kingdom of heaven ?" The nuns ventured to excuse their conduct, but the bishop would not hear them. " Silence, you wretches !" he exclaimed ; " away, out of my sight, you who disgrace religion." The bishop and prelate at once suspended the father confessor, and also the superioress, who is descended from an old, honorable Polish noble family. He then ordered Nun Barbara Übryk to be brought into a olean cell, and there to be dressed and niirsed. When the unhappy sister was led away, she asked anxiously whether she would be brought back to her grave. To an inquiry why she had been imprisoned, she answered : "I have broken the vow of chastity, but," pointing with a fearfully wild gesture, and in great excitement to the sisters, added, " they are not angels." The investigation has commenced. The lady superior declared that Barbara Übryk was kept in close confinement since 1848 by order of the physician, because of her unsound mind. But this physician died in 1848, and the present physician, Dr Babrzynski, who has been practising in the convent for the last aeven years, has never seen Barbara Übryk. Such treatment, in the opinion of the doctors, is sufficient to drive a person mad. On account of the importance of the case, the Attorney-General has taken the matter in hand. The exasperation of the people know 3no bounds. It is stated that the bishop intends to dissolve the convent. Jefferson Davis's plantation is now leased to one of his former slaves, who pays 10,000 dnls. a year rent, and employs 150 hands to work it. There are no white men about the premises. At the usual weekly meeting of the Paddingion Board of Guardians, held on July 28, Mr F. J. Preacott, banker, in the chair, the chairman stated that while visiting the infirmary he had been accosted by a pauper inmate who, a few years ago, was in possession of property worth from L 50.000 to L 60,000, was a blood relation to one of the highest peers in the realm, and whose fortunes had been completely broken by the failure of Messrs. Overend and Gurney's concern. From subsequent enquiry it appears that Mr Hamilton Wood, the party referred to, disclaimed being a relation of the nobleman and gentleman previously referred to, and said that he had been misunderstood. He was born in Manchester, where his father was an opulent merchant. On arriving nt manhood he succeeded to a business in which he employed 500 men, and he eventually accumulated a large fortune, upon which he retired into private life to enjoy the fruits of his industry ; but finding the life of a country gentleman to him so monotonous as to become insupportable, hecameiip to London and embarked in various speculations. Eventually he became a prominent director of the Marylebone Bank ; and when that affair collapsed he was served with a writ for L 150,000, and thus became beggared. Ho then went to the Southern States of America, where he again succeeded in acquiring a large fortune, every penny of which he lost during the American civil war. Returning back to London he contrived to again start himself in business, and success again followed his footsteps, but his spirit of enterprise died out with his last failure, which was caused by the failure of Messrs Overend, Gnrney, and Co.'s concern, which left him a ruined destitute pauper. Mr Wood added that he has not a friend in England, but he ha 3 two- sons in Rome who are well-to-do artists. H<* declared that he has discovered something wonderful which will reduce the art of wood-carving to a minimum of labor, and that he should like to see his invention brought out before he dies. The authorities of the workhouse decided to allow him some ftttle indulgences. With the means of locomotion at present in use, a tour round the world may be made in 80 days, or about the time employed in the olden time for a journey from London to St. Petersburg. The itinerary is as follows :— Paris to New York, 11 days ; to San Francisco (rail), 7 ; Yokohama (steamer), 21 ; Hong Kong (steamer), 6 ; Calcutta (steamer), 12 ; Bon' bay (rail) 3, ; Cairo (steamer and rail), 14; Cairo to Paris (steamer and rail), 6 ; total, 80. Of that immense route, the only portion on which steam is not used is about 140 miles between Allahabad and Bombay, and that interruption will shortly cease, as the works for completing the railway are being carried on actively. j A> capital story is related of a child ad- ; mitted to the cabinet da travail of the present Pope. In preparation for the (Ecumenical Council, his Holiness ordered from his architect certain einbelliglnhents, the plan of which was brought for his inspection by that gentleman's little boy. Charmed by the plan, his Holiness opened a drawer full of gold, and said to the child, " Take a handful of coin as a reward for the beauty of your father's work." "Holy Father," replied the child, " take it out for me— your hand is bigger than mine !" Pius IX. , with the kind li ness which is - his characteristic, could not help smiling, and obeyed the child. The boy ought to be brought up to be a big Church dignitary. The case of Benjamin Higgs, the defaulting clerk to the Great Central Gas Consumers' Company, came before the Court of Bankruptcy on the 6th of August. It was nominally a sitting for examination and discharge, but as there was no bankrupt, of course there was no one either to examine or discharge. The bankrupt was described as of Tide -End House, Broom Lane, Teddington, " gentleman." A petition for adjudication of bankruptcy was presented on the 20th of March, about a fortnight after Higgs absconded. Owing to certain difficulties which intervened, the adjudication was not made till the 24th of May. The

first sitting was held on the 16th of June, when debts of about L9OOO were proved. The Gas Company sought to prove for upwards of L70,Q00. The proof was not admitted, but was allowed to be entered as a claim. The assignees have since obtained leave of the Court to take proceedings in Chancery against those parties to whom Higgs had conveyed his property shortly before his flight, and those proceedings are said to be going on favorably, with every prospect of a successful result. The bankrupt was ordered to be proclaimed. A colliery explosion took place on July 21, at Haydock, eight miles from Wigan. The pit belongs to Messrs Evans and Co. The pit will accommodate 350 men, but since the accident in January la.st, when thirty lives were lost, active operations have been almost wholly limited, On the morning of the accident, about 100 men .vent down in the pit, and an exploring party reported much damage done. Sixtythree men were got out alive, but one died from after-damp. Fifty-six bodies have been got out. The cause of the explosion is attributed to fire-damp, caused by a shot igniting the gas. At the Londonderry Assizes, on July 26, a true bill was found against ten policemen for firing at the mob in that city on the night of Prince Arthur's visit. A terrible accident is reported from Malta. Some officers of the garrison thinking to compliment the inhabitants of the island on one of their great festivals, that of the Madonna of Mount Cannel, added to the illuminations provided by the Roman Catholic authorities by fixing a number of lights from the stores which are always understood to be kept for the purpose of lighting up the port in the case of a night attack. The pieces were pearshaped and about two feet in length, but as soon as they were fired, they delivered a storm of grape shot. Fortunately, although there were crowds of spectators, little or no harm was done. The officers, seeing the mistake they had made, rushed forward, at the risk of annihilation, ancl threw several of the infernal machines into the sea when they exploded under the water with a tremendous noise. A wine-merchant of Walbrook, George Motson, became bankrupt some two or three years ago, owing upwards of L 20,000. As he had for some time been a partner in the distillery of Messrs Grimble and Co., in Albany street, his share in that business formed a valuable asset. This the assignees disposed of for upwards of LI 2,000, and on the sth August a dividend sitting was held before Mr Registrar Spring Rice, at which they proposed to i declare a dividend of 19s in the pound on all the debts proved. Bnt to this objection was taken by a large body of creditors, including Messrs Bass and Co., on the ground that the bankrupt's interest in the distillery had been undersold, not to say sacrificed, by the assignees. These matters are decided by the creditors voting according to the amount of their debts ; and on the vote being taken, the resolution rejecting the dividend was carried. The passenger-train from Manchester to j Preston was entering Bolton station at 5 o'clock on August 4, when a goods train I crossing the line ran into the middle of it. i Four carriages were smashed, one of them j to atoms, and many persons were injured. ! Three were taken to the infirmary. John I Parkinson, oil- me reliant, of Proston, had his spine injured aud legs lacerated ; Jiis. Morgan, a sailor, was suffering from i lacerated sheulder and injured knee-cap ; i Rachael Addison, a factory operative, J from Openshaw, had her legs and head lacerated ; and Thomas H. Winder, a Bolton solicitor, sustained confusion on the head. The line was blocked for an hour-and-a-half .• At Rio de Janeiro seven victims have been added to the number sacrificed by that unsteady compound nitro-glycerine. A quantity had been procured by the military arsenal for experiment, but in consequence of its evil reputation its use was declined upon the public works in progress, and orders were therefore given to get rid of it. Accordingly, on June 9, six cans of it, containing 601b5., were taken in a launch to about a furlong's distance from the arsenal to be sunk in the bay ; but, unhappily, on throwing ont the fii-st can it exploded, the explosion extending to the others; the boat was blown to pieces with six of the orew, and the seventh man was rescued only to die soon after. About the middle of July a serious accident occurred in Buhner village to a picnic parly going to Castle Howard, who made the journey in an omnibus. It seems that the wifo of one of the men hesitated to jointhem, and tried to persuade her husband not to go, because she had dreamt a week before that they were in an omnibus and were upset on going through a village and greatly injured, fright awakening her. The man and his wife, however, did go, but on reaching Bulmer | the woman became greatly excited. Not only, she remarked, was the omnibus that which she had seen in her dream, but the village was that in which the accident she dreamt of happened. The words were scarcely uttered when the omnibus was upset, and those on the outside were thrown to the ground with great violence. One man was rendered insensible by the omnibus falling upon him, and several sustained rather serious injuries. • The woman to whom the accident was revealed was badly hurt, but her husband sustained a dislocation of an ankle. Every incident of the accident seems to have beeu pictured in the premonitory dream. A French paper, copying from a Belgian contemporary, and boing slightly anti-dynastic iii its colour, announces the death of the Sieur Cantillon, who had long enjoyed 10,000 francs a year settled on him by Napoleon 1. for' firing at the Duke of Wellington when the allies were in Paris. The annuity used to be paid by the French Government tilr a few years ago, when some member of Parliament put a question to the Foregin Minister on the subject, and a lump sum was handed to Oantillon in lieu of the pension. The London correspondent of the Leeds Mercury fears that the House of Lords is destined to suffer from another scandal before long. In addition to' those which have lately beeu made public with regard to its members, it is now whispered that another of them — holding high rank in the peerage and representing an ancient family — has added to the not uncommon aristocratic failing of inability to meet hia debts, the crime— happily not yet acclimatised in the House of Lords— of forgery.