ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 645, 8 March 1870, Page 4

ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

A large number of emigrants are leaving Ireland for Algeria. There are now sixteen cardinals* hats at the disposal of the Pope. The Grand Cross of Pius IX, has been conferred by the Pope on the Earl of Denbigh and Lord Petre, The widow of Abraham Lincoln is about to marry a Chamberlain of the Grand Duke of Baden, Count Schneidenbutsen. Edwin M. Stnnton died at Washington on DticeaiUer 23, aged 55, of general debility. . The Gumey Horse, said to have been iifty-one years old, died reoently at Alexandria, Ohio.. are being made to induce tl1« Indian Government to substitute Yarrah wood from Western Australia instead of iron fur railway sleepers, M. M. Itaiuhenheim, bankers at Berlin, have presented the Jewish community of that city with 250,000 thalera; for the erection of au orphan asylum. The steamers . lately arriving from Liverpool at Queenstown have been closely searched for arms, Pere Hyacinthe has sailed from NewYork for France in the Pereire. He gave a lecture, which was well attended, in aid of some French charitable institutions in Jfew York, but refused an offer of L2OOO for ten public address. All Rome is. laughing at an adventure of two representatives of the London (lemi-mande, who, on their way to Rome, fastened themselves on an innocent prelate, and were presented by him to Cardinal Anto.ne.lli as English ladies, of fashion. The return of O'Donovan Rossa for Tipperary has not been appealed against ; and consequently the House of Commons ■will have to determine the question as to the validity of his election. - His Royal Highness Prin<je Leopold is Buffering from a severe illness. Medical men are understood to he almost constantly in attendance upon him. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell has commenced the practice of medicine in London. She is the daughter of a Bristol sugar-refiner, who emigrated to the United States in 1832. The rank of cornet and ensign is to be abolished. These grades will accordingly disappear from the Army List at the c >mniencement of the next financial year. Dr. Wilberforce was confirmed Bishop of Winchester at Bow Church on . Decenw "ber ; 11. There was no of position, and he was formally enthroned in the cathedral of his new diocese on December 16: The. miners' exodus will soon receive a further imjjetns,. as about thirty miners, nine smiths, carpenters, and masons have I>een engaged for the General Brazilian Gold Mining Company. At length it has been decided to make no re-appointment to the office of Master of tha Mint. The present Deputy-Master, Mr Freemantle, will preside over the establishment, which will be attached to the Treasury. A " World's Fair" is to be held at "Washington in 1871, and subsciptions fcqual to L 240,000. are said to have been already obtained from persons willing to guarantee the required funds, President Grant-being Hinong the nurtiberfor LIOOO. The south-eastern section of the East London Railway, which connects New <Jross:with Wapping and Shad well, was formally opened, on December 61 This line, which utilises the Thames Tunnel, is ftb.mt three mile 3in length. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, at a Meeting held in Dublin on Dec. 9, expelled Mr Dalw ay, M. P., for supporting £>ir Shafto Adair at the late Antrim election. The proceedings at the Orange banquet in -the, Ulster Hall, at Belfast, -were remarkable for an outburst of feeling fi*ainstthe LoixULieutenant, whose health ipa? received with groans and hisses. The Duke of Devonshire is about to construct, at.' his own sole cost, a line of yailw^ f rom Fermoy to Lismore, Parliamentary powers for the _ work were obtained last session, and the . preliminaries being nearly concluded, it i» expected tkat the works will be commenced in February next. The estimated cost is L 120,000. The first suicide from the new bridge at Blackfriar.3 took place on December 17. A man apparently between twenty and thirty years old, jumped into the river and was drowned. He rose five or six times, and several parties endeavored to save him. The body, has not been recovered. On December 7, President Grant. sent a message to the Senate announcing; that the French Government had unfavorably received a proposal ; f or a telegraphic^ Convention between France and the United ' States, securing immunity from interference to ocean cables in case of war, and providing reciprocal concessions. The, President urges the participation of all nations in this Convention, • ■■ A modem illustration of the moral of the old comedy is just now to be witnessed. A lady of noble birth has taken the saloons of the New Greenwich Theatre for the purpose of giving the profits to the unemployed in Deptford Dockyard.' This benevolent aud distinguished person 4 ' enters so heartily into her work that she is to be seen nightly,, attended.by her two pages, dispensing soda and brandies, #c., With a grace and fascination that draw her numerous customers." The simplest post-office in the world is to be found on the southern extienity of America. For some years past a small; barrel has been fastened by an iron chain .to the outermost rock of ; the mo.iintains overhanging the Straits of. Magellan,: opposite Terra del Fiiego.; It is opened by every ship which passes through the. Straits, eitlfler to place letters iv, it or to take letters from it. This" post-office,.; therefore, takes care of itself, : it is confided to the protection of seafarei'3, and; Ihere is no example of any breach of this trust having occurred. Each ship undertakes the voluntary transmission, of the : contents of the barrel if their destination is within the limits of its. voyage. The London correspondent of a provincial journal s»ys : — I understand that the acouchmeiit of the Princess of Wales was quite unexpected. At eleven on the night iv question, the Prince oame home and retired to rest, and so did the Princess ; but by half-past twelve o'clock the yonrg Princess was in the arms of her nurse." Her Royal Highness, was churched at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, on December 20, and the infant Princess was christened on December 24. It is stated, under date Ottawa, Dec. £5, that the Canadian Government, in c>nstqiH!nce of the resistance it has met with in talcing possession cf the Hudson's

Bay territory, will not pay the purchase money until the spring, It appears that the insurgents have issued a declaration of independence, in ivhieh they protest against their transfer to Canada, but at the same time express their willingness to negotiate with her iv order to, secure- a good Government. A heavy fall of snow commenced in various parts of Scotland on Christmas Day. On December 28., two engines, with a snow plough and van full of surfacemen, left Aberdeen to clear the Great North of Scotland Railway of snow. About two miles from Huntley the snow plough and both the engines- were thrown down an embankment GO feet deep. Four men who were upon them were killed,, and one escaped. The men in the van were not injured. The roof af a new station, building for the Caledonian Railway Company, in the Lnthi in Roady Edinburgh, fell in on Dccc nber Ofcli. The station is a temporary one, "built mostly of wood, and was intended fop the use of passengers till the company co.u.ld build a. greater one on the same site,. ', It »vas being slated, and the workmen had just gone when the roof fell, so that no one was hurt. The; damage is estimated at about LI2OO. The cause of the accident is unknown. It must be in honour of the union of the seas, and a compliment to M. de Lesseps, that the world of fashion has adopted the now. raging colour— *3ea blue. Of the new toilettes, if they are not darkly a.nd deeply, they are " beautifully blue," Jupons a,re still: worn short in the new-coloured stuff, but without flounces ; over the jnpon is a, robe of blue material, trimmed with blue velvet, fitting closely to the figure, and falling in a skirt, equally trimmed Avith blue velvet. The hats are iv black chenille, with a border of blue velvet, and a tovffb of dahlias of all shades. The Jtforth. German Correspondent ir.-. forms us that earthquakes still occur at intervals. Since the last report, and ; down to the evening of Nov. 28, the : shocks were frequent hut slight. On the : 27th they were rarer than usual, and on tlie following day only two were observed. At nineteen minutes past ten o'clock in the evening,, however, without any previon.3 warning, the ground began to tremble far more violently than it had previously done. Three separate, shocks were distinguished, and they lasted together seven or eight seconds. The sensation is described as resembling what would be felt if the whole surface of the . ci rih wu\) sliding down an inclined plane. No other shocks were observed during the night, but this only increased the terror- of the inhabitant!', who h. v ) begun to look on every cessation of these interesting but uncomfortable phenomena. A3 onty a sign that an outbreak of more than usual violence is at 1 a ul. For some time past credulous people in Wales have been deceived by the tale of a " fasting girl," who was said to live in good health, without tasting food of any kind, fcr months together. So much attention was. drawn to the case, an 1 what, physiologists dccl.ire. to. bo an impossibility, was so strongly vouched for by. persons of respectability, that at length measures \\e>e taken for testing the matter thoroughly and conclusively. Trustworthy nurses were sent down from a London hospital, and the girl was' watched night and day. The result is that the poor creature, after boing eight •d iys without food, as might' have .been expectid, beca;ae delirious and- died- a result in the highest degree discreditable to the professional men in charge, who ailowel the experiment to be carried so far. An inquest has been held, and a verdict of "manslaughter" was returned against hhe father, who has been committed for trial. : .. .•. • ; . ■ . Private advices have been received in London from New York, stating that the honor done to the remains of the late Mr Peabody, and to the fact of our Government having conveyed his body to America in a ship of war, has had a great effect on the. States, and has gfine far towards doing a.w.ay with the ill-feeling caused by the Alabama difficulty. There ie a story goin,g ab<n*t to the. effect that the special correspondent in London of a well-known American paper Vely telegraphed to ask his employe* s. what line he should take upon the Alabama question.; The- reply, through the cable, was "Let the matter drop ; it's played out.*' The Canadian papers report that Miss Rye's Homej for Children at Niagara was formally opened on December" Ist. A I number of- invitations had been sent to those interested in the work, and the attendance of visitors in response was higliiy satisfactory. . In the course of some remarks explaining the objects of the Home, Miss Rye said it was not the lack; of money that invented a larger flow^of young emigrants t) Canada. The British public only-wanted to see that a suitable outlet could be had for its homeless little ones, and the means for sliding and maintaining them for a time would not be wanting. More than a hundred thousand could be had at once if the colony could find home 3 for them.. Miss Rye said she did not ask the people of Canada for money, but for their sympathy and moral support in finding place for the orphan children. On December 6th', the roof iof the dining hall of King's College suddenly gave way. It was; supported by iron girders* which have broken in half. The briokwoa-k and the superincumbent earth and turf, falling suddenly upon the floor of the dining hall, descended with the rest of the falling mass into the lower storey^ Most fortunately, no one was injured. The servants^ who hadibeen cleaning, had left the room a few minutes previously, and one maid, who was in the kitchen, hearing the first intimation of the destruction, was able to make good her escape. Had the accident happened in the middle. of the day, it is probable that some 200 persons would have perished. The cause of the catastrophe is unknown,"; but is supposed to be connected with ;, the great work in progress in front pftha basement. v : On the evening of the 29tlv December, a most alarming accident occurred at the New Theatre, "Croydon, during the per-' formnKce of the paiitomime^ib Aljtvßaba, The introduction has just coifa&ided, aiid the transformation scene has taken place, when the dress of Mdlle d'Arnauld, the Columbine, burst into a blaze: A panic ensued,; and Mr Clarence Holt, the manager, who had just quitted the stage, on which he had been called by the audience to testify their approbation of the scene, again rushed on, and divesting himself of a large winier coat he was wearing, threw the lady down t and by

wrapping the coat around her, succeeded in extinguishing the fire. Mdlle. d'Arnauld was, we regret to state, however, very severely burnt on the. thighs and arms, besides: sustaining a severe shock to the nervous system. She had, it appears, unconsciously placed herself, while forming a group with the other pantomimists, too near some floor lights behind the first set, Dr Sutherland was immediately in attendance, and every attention was rendered to the unfortunate young lady, who remains in a critical state. Mr Holt, the manager, and Mr Griffin, reoeived some burns in rendering assistance. They appear to be. unearthing a considerable number of horrors just now in France, The corpse of a man has been discovered at Leyallois-Perrot with one leg frightfully mangled with a hand-saw. It is also stated in one. of the Paris papers that during the works of demolition rendered necessary by the construction of a new street in the Qnartier Saint^Marcel, a cemeteiy used in the days of the first Revolution has been uncovered. Among other human remains, was found a remarkably beautiful head 1 of a woman iv a wonderful sMtw of preservation. The fair hair- still adhering to the skull bears the coiffure in fashion 1793-4, with twisted and powdered tresses. Thera is no doubt that the head belonged to one of the victims; of the revolutionary tribunal, but it is a singular circumstance that the eyes are covered with a black frontlet. As no mention, is made in the chronicles of the time of any one among those executed being blindfolded before mounting the. scaffold, this discovery has much p izzleJ the workmen who have been conducting the excavations. Le Eeveil says they have sent the head to M. Jules Claretie, who has made the customs and particulars of the Revolution his especial study, on the-, chance of his being able to solve the mystery which at present envelopes this accidental discovery. The Times of Natal gives an account of a most extraordinary occurrence, which took place at Pietermaritzburg on October H.:— " ,lt . appears that Fort . Napier is situated on a hill abounding- with iron stone, and that while the 2Qth Regt. were paraded during a violent storm, about fourteen of the me,n, belonging to Capt, M'Namee's company, were struck by lightning. The right-hand man was. instantaneously killed by the shock, his rifle being split from top to bottom. Two other rifles were similarly damaged. Four of the men were removed to the hospital. It seems it was fortunate for the men that their arms; were at the 'order,' with bayonets unfixed, for if it had happened when the men were standing with bayonets fixed, it is impossible to conceive the loss of life that might have followed. The other men who were thrown by the shock are in a fair way of recovery. We understand that about the year 1855 a patrol was knocked down .by lightning, and two or three men killed, so that with this precedent the military authorities should have been, to say the least, .q ireful, and not have exposed the men to unnecessary danger. A few days previous to the occurrence a Kaffir leader and seven men were killed by a flash in tho immediate vicinity of the present accident." Those who are interested in the game of billiards cannot have failed to observe the increasing attention paid to, and the great advantages derived from what is known as the "spot stroke." Roberts, the champion player, may be considered as the father of the stroke as at present played. By diligent cultivation in private of t'.iis phase of the game the champion player was enabled to astonish the billiard world, and it was in a great measure by means of this. particular stroke that he made scores that were unprecedented in th-J English ga-i c, and that have r- - mained unequalled until very recently. But the younger professional players were not slow to perceive the desirableness of specially cultivating this particular stroke, a id amongst these the champion's son and Mr W. Cook have been pre-eminent. Cook especially ha 3 become famous diiring the present year for his complete mastery over this stroke. His scores have been rising surprisingly. In one game not long ago he made one hundred aud fiftyrfour spot strokes, eighty-two of them being in one break. On another occasion — when the champion's son made one hundred and eleven of these strokes— Cook struck no less -thaii one 'hundred and sixty-five spot hazards, ninety-one and sixty-one of them being in unbroken sequences, or as they are now called "consecutive." Again, on December 15, he scored a thousand points in an hour and a half, the fastest scoring ever known, in. Louden. But on the. day following Cook surpassed himself and every one else by making at once the largest break — namely, three hundred and eighty-eight— and the greatest number of consecutive spot strokes; in one game on record. For one hundred and nineteen times in succession he holed the red ball without a breakdown or ; a r misti.k.3.