English and Foreign Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 778, 14 April 1870, Page 3

English and Foreign Items.

On Christmas Day, says the Daily Tele graph, five hundred poor children, together with a few lame women, sat down to dinner in Gambler* alley Hall, and were regaled with roast mutton and plum-pud-ding,-out of money subscribed in reply to an appeal in the columns of the Daily Telegraph. This dinner may be taken as a sample of many given through the same means on that day. Twelve o'clock was the hour fixed for the dinner, and long before the cooks were ready the entrance to the hall was more than filled by the invited guests, the rear of the force lingering in the alley. Each was expected to bring "fork, knife, and plate." When all had taken their seats, it was curious to observe the cutlery, and the doubts which the owners seemed to have as to their capabilities. Amongst the five hundred sets there was not one bright knife : all were deeply rusted, scores were worn-out shoemakers' knives, and a majority appeared to have been picked out of dust-heaps in anticipation of the feast. The forks were equally varied in appearance : prongs were turned in so many ways as to make it impossible to raise meat upon them, onefourth were handleless, and scores were mere skewers. There were several notable little sufferers at the table. Clara, eleven years of age, hobbled in upon crutches.. Seven years ago she was run over in the street, and has not grown an inch since. Maria had a cut-extending across her forehead, given her by a drunken father. Many of the boys had bruised faces, but they would not tell how they were thus marked. Phoebe was asked what she had had for dinner on Friday, and she replied, "Two ha'penny pieces of fried fish, and 'twas 'atween my big brother, and my little brother, and my father, and my mother, and me." Hundreds of the children represented families that arc* chiefly sustained on bread and tea. In only a single instance was difficulty experienced about the guests. There were two sisters, nam,'d Elizabeth and Sarah, and they had only one pair of boots and one shawl between them; but it was ultimately arranged so that the one who stopped at home had her dinner sent. In another case, three little ones, the children of a widow, could not be found until Christmas Eve. Then the Bible-women discovered theui about 10 o'clock at night, shivering on the doorstep of their lodgings, waiting for their mother's return. When they were toid about the feast they appeared to forget their sufferings, and shouted in the exuberance of their joy. Amongst the women there was a young widow, whose case was one of special hardship. She had lost her bus band, and falling into ill-health, became lame. They had occupied a respectable position, but, to maintain herself and her little girl, she is obliged to sit in a public street all day, offering iron-holders for sale, by which she realises 2d per diem. To that income the parish adds Is 6d a week. She walked up one of the aisles preceded by her little daughter, who appeared very proud of her protectress, and the child gave her mother's hair several furtive touches with her hand, as though to make the most of her appearance. When all were seated, some minutes elapsed before the meat appealed, and the time was diligently occupied in straightening the prongs of forks, brightening the knives, and drawing patterns on the table cloths. Grace was at length sung; and then a conflict of no ordinary kind commenced. The knives would not cut; the forks were useless. Some of the boys changed the usual mode of handling the dinner weapons, and hacked away with the knife in the left hand. Others gave their knives a lick to put an edge on; a few applied the knife with rapid motion to their boots. One little fellow, to get the better purchase, rested his elbows on the shoulders of his neighbors, and this led to a short row. At length by common consent, the majority of the knives and forks were laid down, and nimble fingers effected a speedy clearance of the plates. Then followed a pause, during which all the waiters mysteriously disappeared. A hum was raised as of partial satisfaction ; but many an anxious look was directed towards a certain door. At length it opened, and a waiter appeared holding in each hand a plum-pudding. A second waiter followed the first, a third the second, until it seemed the line would never end; and it was only when the fortieth waiter with the eightieth plumpudding had appeared that the magic door closed. The meat and potatoes had been

received in silence j hut this was too muefe. for discipline. Not one of the five hundred had tasted plum-pudding.since Ah# previous Christmas, and these pudding* wero> the realisation of a year's dream. In vain the Superintendent gave tho signal for silence. The first couple of puddings were greeted with a cheer, and ever/ succeeding couple provoked an addition to the volume of sound. They shouted until people ran in from the neighborhood to know what had occurred; they shouted until the very last pudding had been cub up, and was under course of distribution. Plum-pudding was monarch of the day. The second course was more quickly disposed of than than the first; and mauy a little girl was allowed to " take a bit 'oine for mother." The problem of tea culture in California is solved, and the there is no doubt but as good teas as are produced in China and Japan can be raised there. A late English paper says that one of the most remarkable events of last year happened at its very close. This was the rush of bankrupts to seek shelter under the old Act from the rigour of the new one, which came into force on January Ist. i'he scene at Basinghall-street on Dec. 31, was of the most editing character. The throng of people wishing to be declared bankrupt was sd great that as the day wore on, and many still found themselves outside, they sought to gain entrance through the windows as well as the doors. 300 petitions were fully filed. "The number of bankruptcies during the month has been unusually small. One day only fourteen notices were given. In September, 1868, a reference was made in Lloyd's Newspaper to the wrongful conviction of a lad named Joseph Jones, who was charged with stealing 13 sheep, the property of his master, Mr Lath bury. At the trial he was sentenced to two years' hard labor on account of what the Judge called his " obstinacy " in refusing to acknowledge his guilt. While the lad was in the House of Correction a notorious sheep-stealer, named Frederick Winder, was arrested on the charge of stealing some sheep, and he was found " guilty." After his trial it was ascertained that a young man named James Bell had been previously charged with stealing the same sheep, and sentenced to imprisonment for the offence named. Bell's innocence having been clearly demonstrated, the Home Secretary 2ranted him a free pardon. Winder, it has now been ascertained, not only stole the sheep that Bell was charged with stealing, but that he also stole Mr Latlibury's sheep, and after he was sentenced he said, "That young man Jones never stole the sheep that he is doing his sentence for; I know all about them." Notwithstanding the fact that Winder confessed his guilt, Jones was kept in prison for the whole two years of his sentence. His sentence expired a few weeks ago, and he is now at large in a consumptive state, and a wound on one leg from bad treatment in prison. Several persons state that he was not consumptive before he entered the prison, though he appears to be so now. It is the intention of some gentlemen connected with the cattle trade to wait upon the Home Secretary, and request that he will allow a magistrate to go to the Portland prison, where Frederick Winder is now undergoing a sentence of 14 years' penal servitude, for the purpose of getting the prisoner to make his confession, of stealing Mr Lathbury's sheep, on oath, and if that course is adopted it will, it is hoped, remove the stigma cast upon the character of the young man Jones, by the fact of his conviction. On January the 23rd, while the evening service was in progress, a drunken man created a disturbance in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Chapel, Liverpool. During the excitement some persons cried "Fire!" The crowded congregation rushed en masse to the doors. After the crush had passed, sixteen dead bodies, all grown up were found, and a number were badly hurt. Twelve of the bodies have been identified. Active efforts are being made to discover men who cried "Fire!" and raised the disturbance.

The old house in Plough Court, Lorn-bard-street, which tradition points out as the birth-place and early residence of the poet Pope, is, in consequence of recent demolitions, now exposed to view. Hitherto it has been concealed by buildings, and was only to be found by the curious,, or by people who called to have prescriptions prepared by Messrs Allen and Hanbury, the druggists who have long occupied .the hdiUse.