NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 593, 4 November 1869, Page 4

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

The Duke of Edinburgh is to visit Ceylon, and a sum of L 24,000 has been voted for his reception. A locomotive ran, on August 28, for the first time, on the newly laid-down line of railway on the Thames Embankment. Andrew Jenkins intends to cross the Niagara on a velocipede over a tight r-ope. Andrew's obituary is in preparation. Mr Mark Firth has been elected Master Cutler of Sheffield for the third time in succession. Sir William Mantlp, it is. stated, has received the appointment of stipendiary magistrate for the Manchester division, rendered vacant by the death of Mr H. L. Trafford. The money sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for conscience sake in the financial year ending March, 1869, amounted to L 4194. In the preceding year the amount was L 4688. The sum of LI 2OO, the fur.ds of the ' ' Deptford spec," forfeited in consequence of the illegality of the lottery, has been distributed among the Deptford charities. Mr Murphy has some ardent lady admirers. A lady friend of his has presented him with LjJOQ for his own private use and benefit. He announced this fact amidst tremendous cheers, prior to lecturing iq Birmingham. A contemporary has been requested to state that Lord Stanley of Alderley was married in 1862 to Senorsta F, San Roman, daughter of the late Senor Don Sederico Santiago Federico San Roman, of Seville. It was reported that the L.ord Justice, Clerk of Scotland (Right Hon. George Patton) died on Aug. 28, whilst shooting grouse on the Glenahnond hills, but it turns out that it was the honorable gentle? man's brother who met his. death thus suddenly, In the case of Benjamin Higgs, a, private meeting was held in the Bankruptcy Court on Aug. 21, when it was resolved to continue the allowau.ee of L 6. per week to his family. It is thought there will be a good estate.. ... . A dreadful fight took place, on August 31, at Mexborough, near Sheffield, between unionists and non-unionists. The new Union Inn, where a terrific scene occurred, was completely wrecke.d, Several non-union mon were seriously injured, and had to be conveyed to their homes. The whole of the neighborhood is in a very excited and unsettled state. The London Irishman says that official information has been received, by the friends,, of Martin Hanley Carey, lenian conviot at Millbank, that owing to his mental condition he is to be at once removed to.Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, with a view to his release. The equine hero "Balaclava," and the charger ■which waa ridden by Colonel Jenyns at the renowned charge of the Light Brigade, has been shipped on board the steamer Corinthian, for Montreal, en route for England. The animals are retained by the officers of the regiment in consequence of their illustrious antecedents. In consequence of the water famine in Edinburgh, orders have been given to discontinue watering the streets. The contest for the representation of Caithness, which had been rendered vacant by the resignation of the late member, tooH place on August 25. Sir G. T. Sinclair polled 432 votes, and Mr Traill 360. Sir Tollemache Sinclair was thus returned by a majority of 72. Robert Campbell, the champion sculler of Scotland, died at Glasgow, on August 19, at the age of forty-five, from the effects of bursting a blood vessel. He was born at Kilbarchan, in Renfrewshire, on July 20, 1824/ The Btuetnar Gathering was, held at Mar Castle on September 2, in, the presence of the Prince of Wales, from Abergeldie, and Prince and Princess Christian, and Prince Leopold from Balmoral. ; The weather wai splendid, and the attendance of strangers was large. The Prince of Wales attended the ball at New Mar Lodge in the evening. L.ochinver House, one of the family seats of the Duke of Sutherland, situated on the west coast of Sutherland, took tire a few days ago, and before the flames were extinguished, much of the fine furniture was destroyed, and the building was seriously injured. No lives were |osi. The Duke.Tiad left Lochinyer for Bunrobin shortly before. The China Cup, won at Wimbledon by the Lanarkshire (Glasgow) team of Volunteers was handed over on August 27, to Sir Edward Thomas Colebrooke, 'Start,, of Crauford, M.P. of North Lanarkshire, who is the custodian of the trophy as Lord-Lieutenant of the county, and in fulfilment of one of the conditions of the competition. The presentation was made pn the occasion of the worthy "baronet entertaining the whole of his tenantry and a select circle of friends at a supper and ball. It is said, apparently on authority, that at the forthcoming Council, on December 8, the. Pope will be urged to relax the rule enforcing celibacy on the clergy, in the hope of winning to the Church of Rome certain ordained members of the Anglican and other Protestant Churches.. The following notice,, says an American paper, wa^ found posted on a large box which passed over the Pacific Railroad a short time since: — "Baggage smashers are requested to handle this box with care, 3<rit~sohtains hitro-glycerine, Greek fire, gun cotton, and two. live gorillas." The hox was not broken, Mr George Peabody, whq is. still at the White Sulphur Springs in Virginia, although yet feeble; has slightly improved in health. His latest donation, ha£ beun COjjQOQdol. to Washington College, Virginia, of which General Robert E. Lee is president, to found an additional professorship. He and General Lee have become close companions at. Whiter Sulphur. Numerous American joiirnals express surprise and regret at the report that. Prince Arthur will ; not visit the. United,' States, as the reception of the. Priu(X},o,f Wales there and the general regard for the Queen throughout the country are guarantees that the Prin.ce woukl be cordially welcomed. It is announced that Warsaw is. to converted into a fortress of the first rank, General Tbdleben, the defender- of Sebastopol, will be charged with the execution pf the design. In view of the opening of the Suez Canal, the Triesie Chamber of Commerce have granted permission for a line of steamships to be established, and to bo subsidised by the State, to vim between Trieste and Bombay, via the Suez Canal.

A St. Petersburg telegram ia published in the French papers, which states that the Miuister of Justice has resolved that a special commission shall draw up a measure for the introduction of the institution of the jury into Russia, directly the reports expected from foreign countries respecting the working of that institution have been examined by the competent legal authorities. A French journal comments on this news by mentioning that trial by jury ha 3 been in operation in Russia for the last three years, and says that several Paris journals recently criticised a verdict given by a jury at Odessa. News comes to us from Persia, by way of Berlin, that a conspiracy has been discovered to assassinate the Shah. The intelligence is to the effect that " a band of the Bahi sect, from Constantinople," have been arrested at Teheran, and it is added that many persons occupying high positions are said to be implicated in the plot. Mexican advices state that the conspiracy discovered against the life of President Juarez was found to have been rather widely organised, five generals having been arrested for complicity in it. The Mexican army, it is said, is henceforth to be filled up by enlistment instead of conscription, "Recruiting parties will be sent throughout the country, and extra inducements offered. " The Madrid correspondent of the Inde^ pendent Beige, writing on August 24, says that a new journal has just appeared, entitled the GuiUotii\a. The conductors recommend the permanent establishment of the scaffold upon the public places of the principal towns in Spain, and the execution of many of the inhabitants. It would be singular if the originators of this bloodthirsty idea should share the fate of the man who invented the gallows. The New York newspapers recently contained thi9 mysterious advertisement : -=•" Don Carlos and the Throne of Spain. — Gentlemen of military experience please Call on Colonel George W. Gibbons, special envoy, 446 Broome Street, near Broadway." This is supposed to be a new phase of Cuban filibustering operations, and the Government and Spanish agents are keeping a watch on the " Colonel," He is said to have had only indifferent success at enlistment. The Rey, Paul Bagley, American missionary, ieft London on Sept. 6, and sailed by the Aleppo on the 7th for the United States, to lay before the President a correspondence with Mr Gladstone and [ others. Mr Bagley was the bearer of a petition for the release of the American Fenian prisoners, signed by a number of members of the two houses of Congress, and by about thirty members of Parliament. • The Belgian papers speak of a curious wager made by a young man of Antwerp, who engaged to swim on his back in the Scheldt for a quarter of an hour with his spectacles oh ; but when he had swum a few yards the sun game out, and acting on the spectacles, as on a magnifying glass, gave him such pain that he was obliged to swim to shore before completing his task. It is said the unfortunate swimmer has I not only lost his bet, but his eyesight. The physician of the Prussian Admiralty has proposed the adoption by all civilized States of a flag of distress to be used on every occasion, both in peace and war. It is suggested that the flag should be of a dark yellow color, with a red cross upon it. . Two young men, says the Central Med. Zeit. of Berlin, died at Jena after eating raw pork. The meat had not been subjected to microscopical examination, and this being an infringement of the law, the proprietor of the animal was punished with two months', and the butcher with four months', imprisonment. ; A meeting of 2000 persons was held in Berlin on August 29, demauding the suppression of convents and the expulsion of the Jesuits from the country. These demonstrations probably have some connection with the recent attack on a monastery in the neighborhood of that city, and the excitement caused in reference to the proposed (Ecumenical Council. A strange tale is told about the U.S. frigate Subine at Cherburg. It is said that a train was discovered to the origazine, which a few seconds would have "sauted" the vessel. An immediate investigation was made, twenty-two of the crew were put in irons, and the frigate standing out sea, seven were hanged at the yard-arms, in sight of the boatmen on shore. The tale is a startling one, and has since been contradicted. The Duke of lit. Alban's has done a good-natured tiling, if not a very wise one. The living of Redbourne being vacant, of which the Duke is the patron, his Grace wrote to- one of his tenants, named Hall, inviting the parishioners to choose their own clergyman, expressing at the same time his opinion that "if the laity generally had more voice in the selection of their ministers, it would immensely strengthen the hands and materially increase the usefulness of the clergy." The Suez Canal is to bo opened for navigation on the 17th of November. The depth of the canal is 26 feet, and the draught of vessels must not exceed 24 feet 4£ inches — rather a close shave. The Empress of the French will not be present at the formal opening. New Zealand must look to its laurels in flax-growing. A circular has been issued by a gentleman in Wiltshire inviting respectable families to join him in forming a colony in the River Plate district for the purpose of growing wheat and flax. The scheme is said to be supported by the authorities at the River Plate, an d is likely to ba very profitable if properly carried out. We have heard nothiug as yet as to how the proposal has been received in this country. It may now be said that the "Cock Lane Ghost" is in the way to be fairly laid. At all events, the south side of the lave — -which lay-behind the recently demolished iiiin of the Saracen's Head on Snow Hill, whence Mr Sqneere and Nichols Nicldeby started per coach for Yorkshire -—has jbeen pulled down within the last few^dalysyand the name of "Cock Lane" will, we suppose, pass -away.. I The statue of Marshal Keith, presented I by the King of Prussia to the town of j Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, was unveiled on August 16; It will be recollected that th'tt statue is a duplicate in bronze of a statue of the Marshal now standing in the VVilhelm, Platz,, Berlin, which was presented to the town of Peterhead in reply to a request made to the King of Prussia for the original marble fit ituc of Keith, which was erroneously understood had been removed not to be a^uin erected. Great and perplexing hesitation baa been brought a.bout at the Tiiileries by

the announcement of the marriage of Prince Pierre Bonaparte. The motive is noble in the extreme, the bride chosen by Prince Pierre being the mother of his children, and for the sake of legitimising them has he risked the displeasure of his Imperial relatives. The Princess Pierre Bonaparte is a young workwoman of the Faubourg St, Antoine, whose peculiar grace in holding the Prince's horse while her father adjusted the girths of the saddle, which had got out of order one day on his return from the races at Vincennes, at once laid the axe to the root of all prejudice concerning the exclusive possession of distinction by aristocratic birth alone which might have existed in the bosom of Prince Pierre, who continued his visits until, having been for some years mistress of the prince's heart, the workman's daughter has at last become mistress of his fortune likewise, and the Imperial couple have arrived in Paris to obtain the acknowledgment of their claims as of the blood Imperial, the occasion of the 15th August being always seized upon for presentation of petitions on the one hand, and the granting of favors on the other, The Emperor is said to be ready to receive the saddler's daughter with open arms, but the Empress objects on many scores ; she will not rwk the reception of this plebeian element at the grand ceremonials to be held before her departure for Egypt. Another agrarian murder of the worst kind has been perpetrated ; a Scotchman, named Hunter, who had been levying a decree on a tenant, having been shot dead in oj>en day. Hitherto this description of crime has been confined to Tipperary, Westmeath, and King's County ; but this occurred in County Mayo, at the extreme north-west of the island, where no such occurrence has taken place for 100 years. As the Times says, happening just now, when it ia necessary, for a proper settlemeut of the land question, {that passion and prejudice should be laid aside, this is nothing short of a national misfortune ; for who can advocate treating murderers and assassins with generosity and consideration ? Yet something of the kind must be done, though a more apparently hopeless task never presented itself to the statesman. It seems as if no less were required than to bring about a radical chatige in the very nature of the whole people. Can it be hoped that the Ethiopian will change his skin 1 A shocking case of cruelty to a lunatic has just come to light in Leicestershire. In consequence of cortaiu information, a gentleman sent by the Commissioners of Lunacy, accompanied by Mr J. Buck, medical officer of the Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum, several magistrates, and a police superintendent, visited a lodge house in the parish of Sheepshed, near Loughborough, occupied by a small farmer named Henry Black. There a shocking spectacle was revealed to them. A poor demented creature, 74 years old, with his hands fastened in front of him by handcuffs, and his feet encircled by manacles, occupied a small apartment, being chained to the wall of the room. From the keeper Black it was elicited that the wretched prisoner's name was Bagley Wild, a relative of the late Mr Wild, J.P., of Costock, Notts. He had been Under Black's care for 30 year?, and previously in another man's custody for a like period. During the whole of this time he had been kept chained up in the manner described. Black has been receiving LI a week for his charge, and it is only fair to state he was found well nourished, healthy, and clean. He was never, it seems, relieved from his chains, asleep or awake. When taking his meals he was fastened to a chair, and when he retired to bed at night he was fastened by the chains to the bed, while the handcuffs encircled his wrists. He has now been removed to the Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum. Le Eoi est Mori — Vive Le Boi The Irish Church has no sooner been disposed of, than a still more difficult and perhaps more vital question for the pacification and well-doing of Ireland, has come forward to take its place. The Irish Land question has long been looming in the distance, and in the next session of Parliament, Government must be prepared with a scheme for its settlement. It lies at the very root of the Irish difficulty, and cannot be put out of sight. The Times has sent a Special Commissioner to rsport upon the matter, and he has begun with the hot-bed of disaffection and agrarian outrage, Tipperary. He reports that the laboring classes there are well off, but that ho elements of good feeling between the farming class and the landlords can be discovered ; that a lurking dissatisfaction exists, which makes the tenants ready to combine for their own " protection" as they regard it, and that evictions, ''except for non-payment of rent," could be made only at the peril of the landlord's life. The wording of the correspondent's letter would imply that eviction for non-paymeut of rent would not be resented ; but if so, considerable misapprehension prevails in this country, which is supported even by the testimony of such authorities as Mr Trench, and it is very important that this doubt should be cleared away. A terrible story, reported from Agen, and attested by a doctor and by the Dir.ecteur des Pompe3 Funebres, shows that fears of premature burial in France are not nnfonVuded in consequence of the law commanding interment within twenty four hours after death. A young laly of Agen died about a year ago, and wa3 buried in the cemetery of Sainte Foi. A few days since her mother alao expired, haying before her death expressed a wish to repose in the same coffin with her daughter. A large coffin was accordingly constructed to contain the two corpses, and the body of the young lady was exhumed. It was then discovered that the winding-sheet had been torn open, and the right hand, which was disengaged from it& folds, was deeply marked with bites. On the lid of the coffin were some marks made with the crucifix which lay on her breast, and the whole circuui- ' stances of the the case left no doubt that the unfortunate young lady had been a victim to the horrors of premature burial. Intense excitement prevails in the neighborhood, and an official enquiry is to be made on the subject. On August 14 the Emperor remitted the sentences of court-martials on 82 soldiers and sailors, and reduced the term of pnnishment of 69. The following are the terms of the decree :— " Wishing to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Napoleon I. by an act which responds to our feelings, we decree a full and complete amnesty for all political crimes and misdemeanours, offences against the Press laws, the. l«\ys on public meetings, and

coalition of working men, as well as other political offences." The Journal Official of August 26 states that the amnesty does not apply to those who have been convicted of offences against the life of his Majesty or any other political pei* sonage. A letter from Brussels gives the following information relative to the situation of the Empress Charlotte :-— " Her Majesty's physical health is good ; she makes long excursions in the neighborhood of Tervueren, She was met the other day, near Augderghem, on foot, accompanied by a tall, tine man with grey hair, who seemed a superior officer. Behind her was a lady with a gentleman in black, probably the physician. The Empress wore a grey dress, a small black bonnet, and long cloak of a dark color. She looked extremely well, and was conversing tranquilly with her companion. Near the party were two empty carriages following the same road. Her Majesty walks out very frequently, and is often to be seen in the vicinity of the chateau." A phenomenon of a most extraordinary nature has lately been witnessed by the inhabitants of the borders of the Oaapain Sea. This huge lake is dotted with numerous islands which prodnce yearly a quantity of naphtha, and it is no uncommon occurrence for fires to break out in the works and burn for many days before they can be extinguished. Early last month, owing to some subterraneous disturbances, enormous quantities of this inflammable substance were projected from the naphtha wells, and spread over the entire surface of the water, and becoming ignited, notwithstanding every precaution, converted the whole sea into the semblance of a gigantic flaming punchbowl, many thousands of square, miles in extent. The fire burnt itself out in about forty-eight hours, leaving the surface strewed with the bodies of innumerable fishes. Herodotus mentions a tradition that the same phenomenon was once before observed hy the tribes inhabiting the shores of the Caspian Sea. — Pall Mall Gazette. A sad and curious instance of lingering superstition is recorded in a letter from Spain, where it appears xo be believed that the fat of the innocents is required for the purpose of greasing the wires of the electric telegraph. An English gentleman named Jencken, in the old Moorish town of Lorca, in Murcia, had the misfortune to be mistaken for a kidnapper. A woman whom he met on the public promenade commenced the attack by calling on three men < who seized on the unfortunate Englishman, stabbed him with knives in several places, bound him with a cord, and dragged him a considerable distance amid cries of " Cut off his head." When at length he was rescued by his friends he was in a deplorable state. It is suggested that the outrage may have had in some way a political motive, although it is not easy to understand what end could be served by it. Mr Jencktn has received letters expressive of sympathy from the Regent and from other official persons. Quite a panic has been created amongst parents of the working classes in and around Cork by the mysterious disappearance of a number of children, mostly of tender years, during the last fortnight. So numerous are the cases stated to have occurred that ah extensive system of kidnapping seems the only possible explanation. Placards posted throughout the city state that two little girls of twelve and five years respectively have been missing from Mayfield. No less than five children have disappeared from Blackpool ; two are reported as missing from the neighborhood of Lady's Well, two from Fair Lane, and wo others from Evergreen. In the majority of instances the children were sent on errands by their parents, and never returned. The police had their attention directed to the matter, but as yet no explanation of the circumI stances has, in any case, been arrived at. A Mr " Ed. Lacy Garbett" has como to the conclusion that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by a rain of falling stars, charged with sodium and magnesium, the two elements most abounding in the Dead Sea region, or what is now commonly known to astronomers as the " November shower," which observers have found by spectrum analysis to be strongly charged with these matters. It is known that H.M.S. Eolipse has recently lost her commander and first lieutenant from yellow fever, and that the crew have had to thank the strength of their constitutions that they survived the pest. . A contemporary remarks :— "At the trial trip of this ship, it was found that the ventilation was seriously faulty, and the fact was reported, backed by the recommendations of the officers in charge at the trial. The engine-room hatch vomited all its hot air and impurities close to the ward-room door, and nothing was provided in the way of ventilation to carry off the poison. The Admiralty demanded an estimate for the additions necessary, and finding that they would cost L3OO, preferred topuison men and officers rather than put such an item on the estimates. Captain Harvey, in a letter to a friend, says, ' There are some alterations as regards ventilation which, when I meet the Commander-in-chief,! shall endeavor to persuade him to let me carry out.' Captain Harvey is dead now, to the bitter sorrow of those whom he commanded. Nearly all the ward-room officers had the fever, and narrowly escaped with life, and the men also came in for their share. No wonder that the Navy detests tiie Admiralty with all its l:eirt and soul." ■ The people of Waterford and the neighborhood have been horrified by a frightful domestic trage.ly, of which the village of Kilmeadon, about seven miles from the city, was the scene, on August 27. There resided in that village a retired officer of the naval medical service— Dr Lannigan — who held the situation of physician to the local infirmary. He was united about two years ago to his second wife, a Miss Lecky, a Waterford lady, of very respectable connections. The marriage, unfortunately, did not prove a happy one. The lady was of a rather hot temper, and Dr Lannigan took to' drink. The extent to which the demon of intemperance possessed him may be judged from the fact that on the day of the tragedy he consumed; fourteen pint bottles of porter, besides a quantity of wine. It appears that a quarrel arose between the parties out of a wish, on the part of the doctor, to have his child christened in the house. The wife fled, but subsequently returned; and, soon after, a girl heard a couple of shots fired. Some of the neighbors then effected an entrance into the house through a window, and in the parlor they found Mrs Lannigan quite de.ad, bleeding

profusely from a wound in the left cheek, while across her lay her husband, with a bullet wound in his temple from which the brain protruded. A revolver, the instrument of the double murder, was grasped in his right hand. He was then alive, but died within two hours. The interment of the remains of Dr Lannigan took place at midnight on August 28, in Waterford New Cemetery. Permission had been given for the interment of the body in the old graveyard of Kilmeaden, but the parishioners objected to the burial of the body among the remains of their kindred. The body arrived at the graveyard, but so great was the excitement among the people that all intention of burying the body then had to be abandoned. The cortege then left Kilmeaden for Waterford at half -past nine o'clock. Bands of armed men guarded every approach to the churchyard of Kilmeaden. The excitement throughout the whole district was terrible, The murderer and suicide was at length buried in the same grave with his father. Th* body of the murdered wife, Mrs Lannigan, was buried in the Abbey. A touching instance of the gratitude of the Irish peasant was afforded at the ii • terment of Mr Moore, M.P., on August 21. The burial ground at Latten is four miles from the church in Tipperary, where the body lay in state, and the Ballycoohy tenantry, who cherished a deep sense of gratitude to the deceased gentleman for having taken them out of the hands of Mr Scully, insisted on being permitted to bear the remains to the grave. The monrnf ul privilege having been conceded, four of them took the coffin on their shoulders, and carried it to the churchyard. Twenty thousand persons were present at the Drogheda Fenian amnesty meeting, held on Agust 22, headed by bands from Dublin. The multitude wore green decorations of various kinds. Fenian airs were played by the bands. Resolutions were adopted, declaring that the detention of the Fenian prisoners by English statesman is iinwise, impolitic, and inconsistent. There was another open-air demonstration on September 5, in the quiet and fashionable watering-place at Bray in favor of the release of the Fenian convicts. Immense numbers proceeded from Dublin and came in from the rural districts to take part in it. It was estimated that 15,000 or 20,000— a1l of the trades or farm-laboring classes — were present. The bands, wearing green badges, followed by large crowds, paraded the streets all day, but there was no other disturbance. The resolutions were of the usual kind. Some of the processionists wore green and orange. A Swiss journal mentions that- the neighborhood of Mendrisio, in the Ticnio, ia infested with a plague of black caterpillars, which enter the house, creep into the beds, and cause painful swellings by their touch. Some persons have endeavored to protect their dwellings by laying a train of sulphur around, but without avail. Thousands of those insects have been killed, but the number does not seem to decrease. In some localities prayers have even been offered for the removal of this scourge. At midnight, on Sept. 3, a fire was discovered raging, oh the extensive range of premises known as Day and Martin's blacking manufactory. No. 97, High Holborn, by some persons passing by the front of the building, who noticed a dense ma 33 of fire break through the clock in the grand entrance to the works. The firemen of the brigade station hastening across the road, found the interior of the building in flames, which, in a few minutes, rolled up in immense bodies through the roof, and illuminated the greater part of the metropolis. Engines from all parts of. London, about six land steamers, the London Salvage Corps, and a li-r^e body, of firemen were soon at work, and although the rush from each hose was tremendous, no pars- m sustained the slightest injury. At one time it was feared that the flames would extend to the adjoining premises, but every precaution was made, in case of such an event occurring, of removing the inmates. Some hundred tons weight of water were thrown upon and into the blazing premises, but the fire continued to rage, and compartment after compartment fell in, until the whole of the workshops in the rear were destroyed. Eventually the fire burnt itself out. .The loss, which is very considerable, is covered by insurance. According to the American journals a novelty in railway management is^to be introduced by the Erie Company, who propose to illuminate the whole line of that road at night by electric lights at the ferries, in the tunnels, on all dangerous curves, and on every engine. Mr E. C. Moore, who has charge of the matter, states that he has made several important I improvements, among others a plan for preserving the carbon points from wasting away and keeping them for months in good condition, a self-sustaining- battery; and an invantion by which the turning of the wheels of the engine shall collect electricity for use in illumination. There will be a light at each end of the ferry, which it is believed will make a collision practically impossible on the darkest and foggiest night... Even with the diminution of light caused by the jarring of the locomotive, it is estimated tuat the head-lights will show the track to the engineer on a straight line for three miles. An interesting experiment was lately made by the East Frese branch of the German society for aid of the shipwrecked. It was a trial of the so-called monitor liferaft off the':-.. coast of Norderney, which consists of two sacks of gutta-percha filled with air and united by stron? sail-cloth. It lias one advantage over a life-boat, as it can never upset, but, on the other hand, all upon it are sure to be wetted through and liable to be washed off. The crew are not to row, but to pull the raft by means of a rope attached to the ship, or fastened to the, bottom of the sea by means of a rocket. The first two attempts proved unsuccessful, as the projectile got unscrewed from the line, and the crew, therefore, instead of drawing the raft out, drew the rope in. The trial was about to be given up when the Crown Prince appeared on the shore, and desired that another attempt might be made. This time it was completely successful, and the men drew the raft with ease over a pretty heavy surf while only one steered. It is of course still a question whether it will answer in a violent storm. All the extraordinary proceedings of the many fanatical sects whose rapid increase has excited so much anxiety in Russia, are fairly thrown into the shade by a terrible act of self-immolation which is reported from. the. Go.vqrnn;e.nt of. Saratow. A few

months ago the prophets of a new religion made their appearance in that, part of the empire, preaching self-destruction by firp as the only sure road to salvation i and so readily was their dreadful doctrine received by the ignorant and superstitious peasantry, that in one large village no less than 1700 persons assembled in some wooden houses, and, having barricaded the doors and windows, set the building on fire and perished in the flames. The authorities are doing all they can to stay the progress of |his hew madness, but their task is obviously a difficult one. The punishments which the law can inflict must have little terror for enthusiasts who deliberately choose a death so horrible as the true road to heaven.