ITEMS BY THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1204, 7 June 1872, Page 2

ITEMS BY THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

The French Government has organised two battalions of police, of 650 men each, for the special protection of isolated quarters of Paris at night. It is asserted on good authority that all* the Powers having treaties of commerce with France, and with which negotiations have been opened in order to modify those treaties, have expressed their firm resolution not to accept auy modification of the existing treaties. A convention has been concluded between France and Italy for establishing international stations on the lines connecting the two countries, one at Modane and another at Yintimille. The lines from Bardoneche to Mfldane, and from Modane to Vintimille are considered international lines. Mr W. H. Bullock, who acted as the Commissioner of the French Peasant Relief Fund, instituted by the Daily' Neivs during the war between France and Germany, has been appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French Government. The warehouses of Messrs Woolley and Sons, wholesale and retail chemists, «f Manchester, were destroyed by fire. The damage is estimated at considerably over L 20,000. The first instalment of the work by the German Btaff on the late war will Boon appear. The work will be published in twelve parts, of which the last will be completed in three years from the present time. The price of the work, maps and plans included, will be 18 thalera. The marbles from the temple of Diana, at Ephesus, recently taken by H.M.S. Caledonia, will soon be safely housed in the British Museum. A decree has been issued ordering that the amount of 3,225,000 lire granted in perpetuity to the Holy See by the Italian Government shall be inscribed separately in the Great Book of the Public Debt of the Kingdom. The payment of this sum is to commence from the 12th day of January, 1871, and to be exempt from all taxes. The Lancet has much pleasure in announcing that the Government of Ver-

sailles Have awarded to Mr Gordon Leslie (now studying in the Edinburgh Uiriversity), son of Dr Leslie, of Alton, the ribbon and cross of merit, together with their special diploma, as "a token of gratitude for devoted services in behalf of the Bick and wounded." Cambridge took the lead in the interUniversity athletic sports this year a3 well as at the boat race. Out of nine, events Oxford won three, and two seconds; Cambridge five, and six seconds. The most important event of the day, however — the three-mile race— resulted in a dead heat between MrR. H. Benson,- of Balliol College, and Mr Hawtrey, Trinity Hall, Cambridge. The Rev. Bruno Rigby, a Roman Catholic clergyman, of Batley, was grilled at the Midland Railway station, Lancaster. The reverend gentleman had been attending a funeral, and was about to leave for Morecambe by the seven o'clock train on a visit to a friend. He was pressed for time, and in attempting to enter a carriage in motion he missed his footing, fell under the train, and was killed on the spot. Mr Pigott, proprietor of the Irishman, having undergone the sentence of four months' imprisonment for publishing in his paper paragraphs relating to the- trial of Robert Kelly, in October last, held to be in contempt of court, was released on the. 13th March. A small crowd assent bled at the prison gate and cheered him as he drove away in a carriage which had been in waiting. He was afterwards entertained .at a public breakfast in the Imperial Hotel, and presented with an address congratulating him on his liberation. In the Court of Admiralty Sir R. Phillimore gave judgment against the Government as to the seizure of two steamers, the Great Northern and Midland, at Birkenhead, on the ground that . they were to be employed in the Cuban insurrection. The vessels were detained by the Government on information which was given by the Spanish Ambassador. The Attorney-General admitted that he could not produce the confidential information which had. been furnished to the Foreign Secretary, and that judgment must therefore go against the Crown.' The Registrar of the Court to assess" the damages. : ' A new tenor named Hervey, lately made his first appearance at the Malta Opera House in " La Favorita." Having, been accused by the papers' of coldness/ he warmed up so much at the second performance that, in the. "Scena della Spada," he wounded the baritone under the eye and himself in the leg. Among other items, of musical and theatrical gossip from the Continent are the following :— M. Carvalho, the husband of the celebrated prima donna, has undertaken the direction of the Vaudeville Theatre at Paris. The death, at the age of sixty-six, of Madajne Puere?, the wife of the famous tenor, herself an artiste of merit, is announced. Signor Verdi has been decorated by the Viceroy of Egypt with the Order of the Osmali.; It is said that Madme. Parepa-Rosa is engaged as principal soprano for the coming Rhenish Festival, which this year will be held at Dusseldorf. The Belgian Government has purchased the library of the late M. Fetis for L6OBO. A narrow escape from being cut to pieces occurred near the West Hartlepool station of the North-Eastern Railway. John Haswell, a coke filler at the station, was returning home from work, when he jumped upon the step of a passing goods engine, to ride to the Bride-street crossing, a few* hundred yards southward. Owing to the impetus of the engine, he was not able to bring up, when he leaped off, until he had run into the four-foot of the next line of rails. Scarcely had his feet touched the ground when a down train from. Stockton came up at a speed of fully twelve miles an hour, and before he could escape Haswell was struck by the front of the engine and thrown face down ward^ between the rai}s, .where he lay until the entire train passed over his body without touching it. Beyond a few slight bruises and scratches, he found himself little the worse for his hairbreadth escape. - An important discovery has been made in Sweden. An extensive coal-bed of remarkable depth and excellent quality has been struck near Raus, in Schonsn. An enterprising company formed some time ago was encouraged by promising geological indications to institute borings," but the first results were hardly satisfactory. At a depth of 666 ft eleven strata of coal had indeed been pierced, but none of these exceeded in depth l£ft. Five feet farther down, however, a bed was struck with a thickness of BJf t. The borings have been continued, and are believed to prove satisfactorily the existence oi an extensive coal-bed. The 'shares of the company have consequently risen at a bound from 100 to 700, and great schemes are already afoot for monopolising . the Eastern markets. The John Bull reports a meeting held last week, under the presidency of Earl Beauchamp, of peers, members of Parliament, and representative clergy, to consider what course should be taken with reference to the Athanasian Creed. With the exception of , one clergyman, who objected to the use of the words "in its integrity," there was an unanimpus determination to. maintain the Creed as it stands and in its present position. No less than five different memorials to the Lower Home of the Convocations of Canterbury and York were drawn up for signature, all with one prayer for the maintenance of the Creed, but assigning different reasons, one very brief to be signed by the laity generally, as suggested by Mr Brewer ; and . while those of Archdeacon Churton and Canon Liddon drew special attention to' the great schism an alteration would cause, one, drafted by the Marquis of Salisbury, Inserted a special reference to the danger which an alteration would cause to the Establishment, an opinion stated to have been shared by the Prime Minister himself. A singular/defence to a breach of promise case was made at Exeter the other day — that of dipsomania. The litigants were a Miss Penny, of Buckfastleigh, and Mr Rees, a gentleman of independent means. The defendant, according to the evidence, had repeatedly promised to many the young lady, and had even gone so far as to order the wedding cake, and made a promise to make over to her L2OOO. His brother, however, interposed, and succeeded in breaking off the match, and Mr Rees subsequently mairifed another young lady. He admitted writing a letter to Miss Penny which contained expressions of never-dying love and demotion, but he must have done it, he said,

under the influence of drink. Witnesses were called who deposed that the defendant was addicted to drink, and had suffered irony delirium tremens, and that he was considered to be and treated as a dipsomaniac. Baron Martin strongly animadverted on the defendant's evidence; and said he had admitted, in effect, that he was a drunken wretch, and. not fit to marry any womam. The jury gave a verdict for the plaintift— damagesj L 220, .