ENGLISH AND AMERICAN MAILS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4271, 27 November 1874, Page 1 (Supplement)

ENGLISH AND AMERICAN MAILS.

From tho journals to hand by the Suez and San Francisco mails, wb make tho following extracts : ENGLAND. Her Majesty the Queen and the Princess Beatrice are at Balmoral in the enjoyment of good health. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princes 3 of Wales are still on the Continent. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh returned to London from Balmoral on September 22. On September 28 his Royal Highness visited Liverpool and laid the foundation-stone of the new Art Gallery. Marshal de MaeMahon has just sent as a wedding present to the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh two handsome vases of Sevres china, manufactured especially for their royal highnesses. They are said to be marvels of ornamentation, and are decorated with copies of pictures by Boucher and Watteau, executed by some of the first artists in Paris. The annals of crime for the month are for the most part confined to numerous instances of wife-beating and kicking and wife-murder. Wife-beating has assumed propoi'tions so formidable that punishment more adequate than that now accorded for the offence is loudly called for. From every part of England news of this class of outrage is received almost daily. Nor is the crime confined to country places. Staffordshire and Lancashire lead the way, it is true, but London by no means lacks its experience of wife-beating. A few days ago. a navvy living -within stone-throw of Leicester square, so recently beautified in order to elevate the working classes, literally kicked to death the woman with whom he had been living for years. On the south side of the Thames a man has just been cast for death for murdering his wife in a fit of passion, and only recently news was received from Plymouth of a wife-murder and the suicide of the murderer. Attempts at self-murder have been more plentiful than usual of late, and altogether the bright days of September have, nearly every one of them, been darkened by a reported crime. It is almost needless to say that nearly every one of them has been directly attributable to drink. One very terrible murder has been committed. Captain Bird, of the 20th Hussars, stationed at Aldershot, was shot dead by a private in the regiment whilst engaged in ball-practice at the rifle-range. That the deed was premeditated appears certain. Captain Bird had found occasion on the previous day to sentence the accused to a few days' imprisonment fv,r an infraction of duty, and he had been heard to use threats towards his officer. Pure revenge appears to have prompted the crime, and an esteemed officer and tolerably good soldier have been sacrificed to the feeling. Lady Victoria Kirwan, sister of the late Marquis of Hastings and the Countess of Loudoun, ha 3 recently joined the Roman Catholic faith at Bournemouth.

The other day 500 agricultural laborers, with their wives and families, from Aylesbury, Oxfordshire, Scotland, and Wales, left the East India docks on board the Indus, upwards of 2000 ton 3 burthen, belonging to the London line (Messrs. Taylor, Bethell and Hoberts), which has been expressly chartered by the Queensland Government for the conveyance of emigrants to that colony. _A painful incident occurred in connection

with the late fatal railway accident near Norwich. M 133 Murray, who was mortally injured in the collision, was about to be married. Her lover, who was travelling with her, escaped with a broken leg, but death has for ever separated the attached couple. Lieutenant Boyne, of the 38th regiment, who a short time ago walked from Aldershot to London in 1e33 than seven hours, has accomplished another pedestrian feat, also on a by walking from Aldershot to London and back, a distance of seventy miles, within seventeen hours. He started from the officers' mess for London at three p.m. on September 2, and arrived at the mess at 7.39 a.m. the next day, thus winning by more than half-an-hour. He was heartily cheered by the officers and men of his regiment on passing through the lines, and appeared to be quite fresh and nothing the worae for his forced march. A considerable amount of money changed hands over the affair. Mr. Thomas Banister, barrister, of Child's place, Temple Court, died suddenly on September 26, at his residence, Acre-lane, Brixton. On that day he went to meet his wife, who was returning from a visit to the country and accompanied her home, apparently in good health. About half-an-hour afterwards, on Mrs. Banister going into the drawing-room, she found her husband very ill, and in a short time he expired. The deceased gentleman was called to the bar in 1842, and was for some years a judge in Australia. On Sept. 29, a most disgraceful scene took place in the parish church, Preston. The daughter of a respectable tradesman was about to be married to a butcher whom she had only seen twice previously, when the father of the bride, hearing of the wedding, went to the church before the ceremony had commenced. It is said he swore at the clergyman, who refused to show him the licence, seized hold of the bridegroom, and, with the aid of his son, endeavored to get the girl away. She refused to go, and clung to the bridegroom. On the police entering the church the father demanded that the bride should be taken into custody for stealing the watch which she was wearing and also the apparel which she had on. The girl, who was much terrified, gave the watch up, but the father continued to denounce the conduct of his daughter, who, he averred, had lost £3OOO by marrying without his consent. The policeman refused to take the bride into custody, and at last ejected the father and son from the church, when the marriage ceremony was proceeded with. The revenue by penny stamps realised in the financial year ended the 31st of March last was in gross £764,282 Is. 5d., and in net £733,158 10a.

Mr. Frank Buckland, Inspector of Fisheries, speaking recently at Southport, expressed his opinion, that recent legislation with respect to salmon and eels would in three years treble the supply of those fish for the food of the people. A large number of the miners engaged in the North Warwickshire collieries refused to resume work on September 21, in consequence of having heard certain sounds in the mine, popularly known as "The Seven Whistlers," and generally looked upon as omens of some catastrophe. It is stated that several of the employers intend to prosecute the men for nsgleet of work, and that a number of them have been discharged. The prosperity enjoyed by the country for the jjast few years continues. One result of the abundant harvest to which we referred last month has been somewhat unexpected. In the midst of the rejoicings and thanksgiving services that have been common of late, comes the news of the reduction of the wages of farm laborers from twelve to eleven shillings per week. The reason given for the reduction is the low price of bread. The following is a list of articles discovered on a post-mortem examination in the stomach and intestines of a lunatic who died in the Prestv/ich Asylum on September 18 :—IC39 shoemakers' sparables, six 4-inch cut nails, twelve 3-inch cut nails, eight 2s-inch cut nails, eighteen 2-inch cut nails, four lj-inch cut nails, seven J-inch cut nails, thirty-nine tacks, five brass nails, nine brass brace-buttons, twenty pieces of buckles, one pin, fourteen bits of gla*", ten small pebbles, three pioce« of string, one piece of leather three inches long, one piece of lead four inches long, one American pegging-awl two inches long ; total number, 1841 ; total -weight, lib. 10oz. Pineapples from the Azores are now on sale in London, on eostormongers' barrows. As they are sent in flower-pots, with protecting wooden cages to preserve the fruit intact, they attract considerable attention in the street, and appear to find a ready sale. They are many degrees better in quality than the cheap West Indian pines, and very many degrees handsomer. William lloupell has at length succeeded in obtaining a ticket-of-leave ou account of his good conduct. Ho will be greatly missed in

the infirmary of the prison, for he has proved himself an excellent nurse, both kind and patient, and many dying and sick convicts have thanked him for his careful attention to them. During the past year upwards of twenty inquests have been held within the prison walls, and at most of these Roupell has giveu evidence. For some time after he arrived on the heights of Portland he looked ill, but during the present year his health has appeared better, and since he cultivated, by permission, his beard and moustache, he has looked remarkably well, although his dark hair is well streaked with grey. Several times during the year his mother bait visited him. The exact day of Roupell's discharge from the prison has been purposely kept secret, to save him from any unnecessary annoyance.

An extraordinary accident recently happened at Eastbourne, involving a miraculous escape from immediate death to a young lady visitor, eldest daughter of Mr. Thomas Rogers, of Hanover-square, London. Miss Rogers had been sitting on i cliff engaged in reading, and was in the act of getting up to occupy a seat just vacated by a lady, when she trod on her dress and fell headlong over. She alighted on a projecting piece of rock twelve or fourteen feet down, but, bounding off, fell to the bottom. Fortunately assistance was at hand ; a boatman saw her fall, and running to the spot, picked her up insensible, and bleeding from the head. She was taken to the Convalescent Hospital, and placed in a private ward. On examination both bones of her left leg were found to be fractured, as well as her collar-bone, and she was much cut and bruised about the left side and face. The wonder is that her injuries were limited to this extent, the cliff being very high. The young lady is progressing favorably, and appears to be in a fair way of recovery. On September 12 an accident occurred at Stockton-on-Tees, in the Moor Ironworks. Joseph Wicks, seventeen years of age, was standing upon a block of wood in front of the moving rollers of the plate-mill, when he accidentally slipped from the wood, and his feet being caught by the rollers, the whole body was drawn through them. The boy's thighs were much torn, and the remainder of the body was dreadfully crushed. Death was instantaneous. Mr. David Stanton, of Hornsey Rise, who matched himself for £2OO, to ride a bicycle with a wheel sG£in. in diameter, on September 12, from Bath to London, a distance of 107 miles, in eight hours, was made the victim during his journey of a dastardly, and it is thought premeditated, attack, which might have terminated fatally. The following particulars are given by Mr. Stanton :—On leaving Bath at 7 a.m., Mr. Stanton proceeded as far as Box Hill where he was run into by a cart, which caused a delay of twenty minutes; remounting, he rode through Reading at 12.25, and when within four miles of Colnbroolc, he was met by four men, who hurled four heavy clubs at him ; two, he managed to dodge, the third struck him over the right eye, and felled him to the ground, Whilst the fourth broke the middle wheel of the machine. Although stunned, he managed to walk the machine as far as Colnbrooke, when he mounted another machine belonging to a Mr. Percy. The wheel of this machine was eight inches less than his own, and consequently required extra exertion to propel it, which in his bruised state produced the greatest pain. He struggled on, escorted by Mr. Spencer (the third in the great John o' Groats match), and reached the gaol at the Three Tuns, Kensington, Highstreet, at 3.54, thu3 losing the match by fiftyfour minutes. On his arrival, bleeding, battered, and covered with mud, he was, by the order of the timekeeper and referee, placed in a hot bath, and medical assistance wa3 sent for, and, after resting for four hours, he was taken home in a cab.

Sarah Merrett, a laborer's wife, living at Mortimer, a village near Heading, was stung the other day on her neck by a hornet. She went indoors, and a neighbor bathed her neck with water and vinegar. The woman fainted almost immediately, and died in a few minutes, before a medical man could reach the house. Mi-. G. H. Davis, surgeon, stated at the inquest that he knew Mrs. Merrett as a nervous excitable woman, and he believed the immeJlate. cause, ofLher death ..was _svncor>e t-na-result of a nervous shock caused by the sting of the hornet. The Cambridgeshire stakes were won by Prentice, with Chieftain second, and Lord Gonoran third. Forty horses ran. According to a Neapolitan journal, Marie Taglioni, the famous danseuse, is in great distress in London. It is reported that Mdme. Christine Nilsson, after a tour in America, and a farewell season at her Majesty's Opera, will retire into private life. THE CHANNEL TUNNEL. The line of the main tunnel under the Channel, the preliminary surveys for which are now taking place, is to be large enough for a double line of railway. It is drawn straight from St. Margaret's Bay, South Foreland, to a point very nearly midway between Calais and Sandgate. On the English line the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway will turn off between the suburb of Charlton and the town of Dover, whilst the South-Eastern Railway will branch off from about Shakespear's Cliff and join the line to St. Margaret's. On the French side the connecting line bends diagonally to the westward, and joins by a fork the Boulogne and Calais Railway. In longitudinal section the proposed tunnel presents a fall of 1 in 2640 from the centre towards either extremity, and the vertical depth of the highest point of its floor is 436 feet from Trinity highwater mark, and 200 feet beneath the sea bottom itself. From the land levels of the existing railways the two approaches make long descents of over four miles each, with a gradient of 1 in 80 into the tunnel ends, over two miles being under the sea, the total of the whole amount of tunnelling amounting to 30 miles. The geological section given by the engineers is made to show white or upper chalk above the grey chalk, unbroken and horizontal for the whole distance, and the tunnel boring rather above the medium line of the grey chalk beds. The greatest depth of water over the sea bed above the tunnel is stated to be 180 feet. The shaft will be 19 feet in diameter, built round with 24 inches of brick laid in cement, and the headings, which will be driven by machine, will be lined with 14 inches of brickwork, and have internal diameters of 7 feet. Their form will be horseshoe, with straight sides and a flat inverted arch below the floor. FEARFUL EXPLOSION AT REGENT'S PARK. At five o'clock this morning (Oct. 2) while a barge, loaded with blasting-powder, in company with four other barges, was proceeding along Regent'B Park Canal, it suddenly blew up with fearful effect. At the time the accident happened the barge, which it is supposed was leading, was passing directly under the North Bridge, North Gate, near Lancasterterrace. So tremendous was the explosion that the bridge, which was strongly built of stone, and supported by large iron columns, was literally blown away from the banks, lifted bodily into the river, as if a mine had been sprung, and then fell in a confused mass into the canal. Immediately adjoining the bridge is the North Gate park lodge, occupied by the park superintendent, his wife, three sons, and one daughter. They had a most providential escape from death. Their house was almost built upon the bridge, and was shaken as by an earthquake. Its present appearance is as if it had been within the line of shell practice. Every trace of the barge, and those on board, was instantly lost. The craft and its unfortunate crew must have been shattered to fragments, which were either scattered along the banks of the canal or now lie buried beneath the debris of tho fallen bridge. Not only in the immediate neighborhood of Lancaster-terrace, St. James's-terraco, and Avenue-road, but for a long distance round, tho terrific force of the disaster caused intense alarm. Within the area of the park itself, houses weio shaken as if the foundations had given way; doors and windows were instantaneously destroyed as by a heavy discharge of shot. North House, a handsome villa, standing prominently within its own grounds, opposite the North Gate, is a complete wreck. Tho garden walls and railings were blown down, and the habitation looks as if it had been taken by assault after a desperate resistance. Lancaster-terrace, St. James's-ter-raco, and tho other linen of houses near remind

I one of the sad scenes round cities subjected to I bombardment. It is very serious and wide- ; spread. The monetary loss, however, is not to . be compared with the effects of the fright, which was the more trying, as the source of danger was unknown, and people knew not what might follow. Fortunately, the loss of life has not extended beyond the crews of one or two barges. Two bodies have been recovered, and two men, not seriously burnt, taken to the hospital. RESCUED AT SEA. A Norwegian paper is relating a tale of an almost miraculous preservation. The captain of the schooner Amazon, of Stavanger, recently arrived at Bergen with a cargo of salt, reports that in passing the British Channel he had the opportunity of saving a British lad of fifteen under very peculiar circumstances. The Amazon was about twelve geographical miles from the British shore, when the captain thought he observed through his telescope something floating on the water. He altered his course so as to get nearer, and soon discovered that it was a small boat, in which a lad was lying fast asleep. The shouting from the schooner did not awaken him, but when a small log was thrown over into the boat he awoke with a sudden start ; an end of line was thrown to him, and he was just able to fasten it when he swooned, and had to be carried on board the vessel. In the boat nothing was found but a pair of oars and a Bible. The lad, when brought back to life and strength by the tender care shown to him, gave the following account of his fate :—He was sitting on the shore, reading his Bible, when some of his companions came down to him and teazed him with the manner in which he spent his leisure time. To escape from their banter he got into a boat, and kept on reading, when suddenly he discovered to his great dismay, that his persecutors had cut the line and left his frail boat to the power of the quickly running ebb. He tried to use the oars, but struggled in vain against wind and water, and, as a dense fog set in, he soon lost sight of land. After several hours of alternate struggle and powerless despair he fell asleep, and sleep remained, in fact, his only comfort against hunger, cold, and the deep pangs of his isolation during the three days and two nights which he had spent in his frail boat when he was at last seen and saved. OFFICER CHARGED WITH BEGGING. Pringle Shortreed, sixty-four, retired Colonel of the 17th Reg. Ben. N. 1., living at Wellington - terrace, Leighton - road, Kentishtown, London, was charged with begging of gentlemen. The defendant has been charged witli a similar offence previously, and it was then stated by Alfred Mortimer, an officer of the Mendicity Society, that between five and six o'clock one evening he saw the defendant in the Broad Walk. He went up to some gentlemen who were sitting on the seats there, and he then came to the "witness, and said that he was the founder of an invention for making boots last for fourteen or fifteen years, and that he was the benefactor of the working classes. He then asked the witness to give him some " coppers " to buy a cigar. At the station he said that he "was in receipt of £3OO or £4OO a year. A park constable said that he had known the defendant since March last, and he was constantly annoying gentlemen in the park. The defendant was discharged on ' his promising not to repeat the offence, but the same evening he was again seen in the J park begging pieces of cigars from gentlemen, and telling them that he did so as the money he received was not yet due. It was stated that the defendant had had a serious fall, and , was subject to delusions about his boots. , While in India he had suffered from a sun- , stroke. He was now receiving a pension from i the Government. The magistrate discharged the defendant on his son promising to look • after him.

DREADFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT. —TWENTY-FOUR PERSONS KILLED AND SIXTY SERIOUSLY INJURED.

The following are the particulars of a terrible accident on the Great Eastern Railway at Thorpe, near Norwich, on the night of September 10th. A train carrying mails leaves Great Yarmouth every evening at 8.40,; and i»: joineci ■- xu -xieeanam"' oy'" another" train from Lowestoft. This junction was effected on the night of the accident in the ordinary course, and the combined train proceeded to Brundall, three stations further on. Here it had to wait, in consequence of the line becoming single, until the arrival of the evening express from Norwich to Great Yarmouth, or until permission was given to the engine-driver to proceed. Through some sad fatality, the night inspector at Norwich (Thorpe) station allowed the down express to leave Norwich while the combined mail train from Great Yarmouth was suffered to come on from Brundall, on the same line of raiLs. The consequences were disastrous in the extreme. The doomed trains met at Thorpe, about two miles from Norwich, and the shock was appalling. The rails were slippery from rain ; there was a slight curve in the line at the fatal spot, so that the lights of neither train could bo seen till they were close to each other, when there was no time to apply the breaks, and the two engines rushed at each other at a collective speed of at least fifty miles per hour. The engine drawing the combined mail train was one of the most approved modern construction and of great power. The engine drawing the train from Norwich was a lighter one, but had also acquired, with its train, a considerable momentum. In the crash which followed the collision the funnel of the mail engine was carried away, and the engine from Norwich rushed on the top of its assailant, some of the carriages of either train following, until a ghastly pyramid was formed of hissing locomotives, shattered carriages, and moaning, and in some cases dying, passengers. So instantaneous was the shock that the driver of the engine does not appear to have had time to turn off his regulator, so that the steam remained for some time in operation. The engine was, however, forced off the rails, and was unable to make any further advance in the general ruin. The driver and his fireman, named respectively John Prior and James Light, must have been killed instantaneously, and a similar fate probably befel Thomas Clark and James Sewell, the driver and fireman of

the train from Norwich. The crash was heard throughout the village of Thorpe, and many of the inhabitants hastened to the scene and rendered 'such assistance as they were able to afford to the suffering passengers. With as little loss of time as possible a relief train was despatched from Norwich (Thorpe) to the scene of the disaster, and a number of medical men were also sent down from Norwich. Dr. Eade was in the Lowestoft portion of the combined mail train. He was cut about the face and greatly shaken, but he at. once set to work and did what he could to alleviate the general misery. Mr. Francis, surgeon, who was also a passenger by the combined mail train, could not render any help, as he himself sustained a fracture of the right thigh, while ho had also four ribs broken. The force of men collected by the officials at once began to clear away the debris, and in some cases to cut out the Buffering passengers. The wounded were carried to Norwich, and in most cases removed to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. When daylight broke, the railway men, who worked with a will, had succeeded in clearing away the wreck of the carriages, which had become piled one upon another; they had turned the Norwich engine on its back on the ballast, where it lay sputtering ; and they had begun to deal with the Yarmouth engine, which was embedded in the ground. Several hours were occupied iu removing the dismal wreck, and at last it was dragged away somehow, and the lino was once more ready for the passage of trains, as the permanent way had sustained very little injury. Meanwhile the medical men and their assistants had been equally busy, and morning brought with it the knowledge that eighteen persons had beou killed and many more injured. JEFF DAVIS'S GLASGOW I'IIIEND. The following appears in the Weekly Slate Qazelte—a. paper published in Austin, Texas : Mr. James Smith, with whom ex-President Jeff Davis has been sojourning at his palatial residence in Scotland, was at one time engaged in the cutlery business at Jackson, Mississippi. Mr. Smith was the proprietor, though the business was conducted by his nephew. It was on Mr. Davis's visits to Jackson that ho made his acquaintance. Sympathising tfcoply with the South, Mr. Smith volun-

tarily equipped a company of still further complimented the city ofjjackaon, by presenting it with a battery of artillery. A man of great wealth and influence, he procured his own appointment as chief of the Liverpool police department, and was thus enabled to protect the Confederate shipping interest. When after the surrender Mr. Davis made his first visit to Europe, he spent a considerable period at Mr. Smith's residence. We have in our possession a photograph of his house and grounds, which also contains miniature portraits of his entire family and that of his guest, Mr. Dnvie. Sir. Smith's previous life has not been altogether uneventful. He was on board the ill-fated Atlantic that parted amidships in the middle of the Atlantic. A few moments before the vessel went down he procured a bread basket from the pantry, put food and water therein, and getting into it carefully lowered himself over the ship's side and was carried away by the huge waves. For three days and nights he was tossed up and down at the mercy of the wind and waves on the bosom of the deep. On the third day he signalled a sailing vessel by standing on tiptoe in his little craft and waving a handkerchief. A passenger on the cross-trees of the vessel was amusing himself with a telescope and sighted what he supposed to be a large bird. He prevailed upon the captain to tack and get nearer to it. The captain humored his whim and Mr. Smith was discovered and rescued. He was nearly dead from want and exhaustion, but managed to hairexclaim Eureka ! Eureka! and to make the grand hailing sign of distress used by the Masonic fraternity. He was rescued for noble work. The South will always cherish his name. These reminiscences were called forth by the announcement in the papers that Jeff Davis had been visiting this noble hearted Scotch- ■ man.

SCOTLAND. [ The Cathedral at Inverness, built some years ago, has just been consecrated. The Bishops of Derby and Bombay officiated ; the Bishops of Edinburgh, Brechin, Aberdeen and Argyle, were also present on the occasion. The other day the steam yacht Columba, with the Marquis of Lome and the Princess Louise on board, went to Tobermory Harbor, in order that a search might be commenced with grappling-irons for the ship Florida, of the Spanish Armada, which was wrecked in that harbor in 1588. After a close search something heavy was hooked, and a diver proceeded to see whether the veritable hulk had been discovered. In making the descent the air-pipe of the machine burst, and the man was at once]drawn up, not, howover, until he was much exhausted. Buoys have been thrown over, and it is intended to resume the search in a few days. A murder of a fearfully cold-blooded character was committed in Greenock on September 22. A man named Campbell went out with one of his children, aged about nine months, waded into the water and drowned it. On his returning home without the child, suspicion was aroused, and the body was found. Campbell absconded ; but the authorities judging he would go to Glasgow, captured him in a house there.

The Rev. Dr. Cook, chief clerk of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, died at his residence, at Haddington, on September 15. He had been unwell for several months. IRELAND. The other day a man named Thomas Doyle, farmer, residing near Ross, was bathiiig in Tramore Bay, and was carried out to sea. A fearful panic ensued on the strand. The bathing boat was launched. At this time poor Doyle was resolutely swimming against the current. He succeeded in getting within 50 yards of the shore when his strength failed him, and he began to sink. When the life-boat was launched no person was found gallant enough to man her and go to the rescue, and before the gaze of about sixty persons the unfortunate man sank. The body was found in the evening. The Belfast Strike, by which over £IOO,OOO .Vm.fl lOS&.XO Ene:"SVnr>femo»>,-:J.~- ■ i--~x*iu%txni. The wife of a merchant in Waterford, named Nelson, is missing. She was bathing at Tramore and lost a gold brooch. Next day she repaired to the place for the purpose of searching for it, and is supposed to have fallen off the rocks. The Marchioness of Queensberry writes to Mr. A. M. Sullivan, M.P., proprietor of the Nation and Weekly News, desiring that neither of these papers should be forwarded to her in future. Her ladyship pursues this course, it is stated, in consequence of the persistent opposition of these journals to the repeal of the Union. A respectable farmer named Scanlan was shot dead on Sunday evening, Sept. 13, while entering the door of his own house at Killenaule, county Tipperary, within about three miles of Parsonstown. The bullet entered his left ear and passed out through the right cheek, '. killing him instantaneously. The crime originated in a dispute about land. Scanlan was married to the daughter of a farmer named Burke, seventyfive years age, with whom he and his wife lived. The old man assigned the farm to him for a sum of money, and Burke's son, named Michael, about thirty-two years of age, who recently returned from America, was indignant, as were his friontUi also, at the land going into the hands of one who was regarded as a stranger and an intruder. The quarrel became lately more bitter ; Michael Burke assaulted Scanlan, and was heard to threaten his Jife. The agent of the property, which belongs to Lord llosse, endeavored, with the parish priest and others, to make peace, and it was supposed that the dispute had been amicably settled. Scanlan attended mass on the day of the murder at Parsonstown, and drove on a car with a servant in the afternoon to see a relative in another place. At about six o'clock in the evening he reached home. He was in the act of alighting from the car when he was shot dead. His wife in a state of frenzy threw herself on his body, and charged her father and brother with the murder. The old man and two servants have been arrested. Michael Burke is still at large. The telegraph offices being closed on Sunday, the police could not communicate with the different towns as rapidly as ttay otherwise might have done. The peasantry gave them every assistance, but not the friends of the Burkes. The deceased was respectably connected. His brother, now deceased, was a parish priest of great influence.

Monster meetings are contemplated to bo held through Ireland in furtherance of the Home-rule movement. The first will bo held early in October in Limerick and Maryborough, and will be accompanied with banquets in both places. Messrs. Butt,, Mitchell Henry, and other M.P.'s will be present on these occasions. An audacious robbery of an extraordinary character has just been perpetrated in Cork. A clerk in the office of Messrs. Beamish and Craford, brewers, left the browery for the purpose of lodging some money in the bank. The money was concealed in a box, which was carried by a porter. They took a short cut down a narrow thoroughfare called Post-office-lane. When they had got about twenty yards down this lane, a man passed them, and suddenly turning round, seized the cashbox. The clerk took hold of the box, but as he did so a second man rußhed forward, seized hiin, shoved him against the waL', and presented a revolver at his head. The first man at the same time placed a revolver at the head of the porter, took the cashbox, and handed it to a little boy, who placed it in a bag and made off. As soon'as the boy was out of sight, the robbers themselves followed, running towards the Grand Parado. The clerk followed, but could find no trace of them. There was nobody in the lane at the time oxcept themselves and a woman. The stolen money amounts to £350, in ten and fivepound notes. A statu* is to bo erected to the memory of Thomas Francis Moaghor, at Waterford. £IO,OOO has been raised as a fund for the family of the deceased. The announcement that Mr. Disraeli had been obliged to abandon his intention of visiting Ireland this year was promptly telegraphed to Dublin as soon as it was decided upon, aud nevor was intelligence less welcome. When the report of the expected ovent first appeared,

some doubts were expressed as to its probability, but they had been set at rest and all parties were confidently awaiting its fulfilment. The news of the postponement has produced a feeling of general disappointment, proportionate to the pleasure with which the arrival of the Premier was anticipated.

CONTINENTAL. FRANCE..! It is stated that the Bank of France intends to replace by gold its notes of twenty francs, as they return from circulation. The amount of these notes, which on January 1 last was 628 millions of francs, is now reduced to 500 millions. _ The Bien Public mentions a Ministerial decision requesting Dona Margarita,' the wife of Don Carlos, to leave within a.short period her residence at Pan, or any other locality near the Spanish frontier. ',"• ''. r : C. ! "-~ The French imports during the past eight months .of 1874 amounted to 2,481,000,000 fr., being an increase of 280,000,000 fr., as compared with the first eight months of 1873. The imports of breadstuffs amounted in value to 15,000,000 fr. The total value of the exports was 2,401,000,000 fr., a decrease of 133,000,000. fr. The Treasury receipts from the customs and indirect taxes were 716,000,000 fr., or an 1 increase of 24,000,000 fr. over the corresponding eight months of 1873. ' -A man has just died in the Bicetre Asylum whose'duriacy had a very singular origin. His name was Justin, and he exhibited waxwork figures Jat' Montrouge, his galleiy consisting of contemporary celebrities and great criminals. On -a .pedestal iri. the centre was the figure of a young girl, remarkable for her graceful figure and perfect features, her"hair~~iaUing~'nr~iong~ curls over her naked shoulders. Justin had named her Eliza, and was so struck by her beauty that he passed hours in contemplating her. She seemed to him to speak, and her blue eyes, with her long eyelashes, seemed to respond to his passion. Under the influence of this illusion he neglected his business, and for want of a showman to puff it people no longer visited the gallery. Poverty succeeded easy circumstances ; the modern Pygmalion could not separate himself from Eliza. His wife was obliged to sleep on a bare mattrass, and when she remonstrated he ill-treated her. Irritated at the unjust harshness, she one day destroyed the wax figure. Justin was furious on seeing the fragments, and seizing a broomstick he struck his wife, and would have killed her had not her cries drawn the neighbors to her assistance. Justin, who had lost his reason, had to be secured, anil was an inmate of Bicetre for five years, living up to the last under the charm of Eliza, whose image seemed always before him.

The Pays officially announces that theßonapartists and the Government have made it up. The attempt which the Constitutional party had made to shake off its Imperialist allies has proved a disastrous failure. Rather than join the moderate Republicau or Left Centre party, the party now in office determined to make it up with the Bonapartists, and avail themselves of their co-operation to put down the Republicans and the Legitimists. The Bonapartists have exacted securities, and the Septennalists, or rather the Orleanists, to call them by their right name, have had to pay a heavy price for the support of their new friends. They have agreed to support Imperialist candidates at the coming elections in the Pas de Calais and the Alpes Maritimes. The France says : —" We have to announce the melancholy suicide of a most distinguished member of the Spanish colony in Paris, the Duke de Santiago d'Arcos. He had been for a long time suffering from a terrible malady, a caries of the jaw, complicated with a cancer of the cheek. Being in continued pain, and scarcely able to eat, he resolved to destroy himself, and accordingly one evening he quitted his residence in the Rue Newton without informing either his wife or son, and drove in a cab to the bridge of Argenteuil. When there he dismissed the driver, and, climbing over the parapet, precipitated himself writteu"Hi-lettei —tu~uiit>—vr-iiio -**-:*—«!«._..+,%..« nounce his determination. The next morning the river was dragged, and the corpse found near the spot indicated by his letter. The cancer had made such ravages in his cheek that some persons thought at first that he must have discharged a pistol into his face before throwing himself into the water. He was a distinguished man of letters, having written in particular a very remarkable ' History of La Plata.'" The Russian Embassy in Paris contradicts the statement that, the. Czar has invited the Prince Imperial to be present at the forthcoming military manoeuvres. THB IATE BARON ANSELM KOTHSCHILD. This nobleman, the head of the Vienna establishment of the world-renowned family of financiers whose name he bore, died at Vienna towards the end of July. His will has since been opened, and the property he has left is estimated at £22,000,000. He leaves nothing to his daughters, who are supposed to have received their share during his lifetime, added to which the deceased Baron always had a strong desire to leave as much as possible of his fortune to his male descendants. The daughters, however, according to the Austrian law, will be entitled to receive a " compulsory portion" of £IOO,OOO each. One of them is still unmarried. There,is said to be some probability of the daughters disputing the validity of the will, in which case there will no doubt be Bome pretty pickings for the lawyers, The Baron's funeral was unostentatious even to meanness, the body being taken from the railway station in a carrier's van.

THE ESCAPE OP BAZAINE —TRIAL OF THE ACCOMPLICES. The trial of the accomplices in the escape of ex-Marshal Basaine has taken place. _ The accused were Colonel Villette; Marchi, the governor of the prison; Captain Doineau; Barreau, the prisoner's servant, and four gaolers, named Gigoux, Plantin, Leterme, and Lefrangois. The governor and gaolers were charged only with neglect of duty. The prosecution against two other gaolers was abandoned. On the first day evidence was given as to the chartering of the Baron Ricasoli by Madame Bazaine and her nephew, who represented themselves as the Duke and Duchess Kovilla; their landing at Cannes, and hiring a boat, Madame Bazaine, according to one witness, rowing admirably. They must have reached the isle before 9.30. Bazaine and Villette dined between seven and eight, and, joined by the governor, walked on the terrace till 9.30. Villette had announced that he should leave the next day. It was unusual for them to retire quite bo early. The governor left the terrace immediately and went to bed. Bazaine and Villette were heard to make a slight noise in the salle A manga; which is above the gaolers' court, but it ceased immediately. The escape, according to the case for the prosecution, must have been effected between 9.30 and 10, for at 9.30 Bazaine and Villette were seen to enter the building, and after 10 the prisoner would have run the risk of being observed by the sentinel on the terrace. The Baron Ricasoli left Juan Bay at 11, and Bazaine, his wife, and Rull must have been an hour in reaching Juan Bay, and proceeding thence in the steamer's boat, which was awaiting them, to the Baron Ricasoli. Had the escape been effected later, however, Plantin, who held the keys, must have connived at it, which there is no - reason to think was the case. After a short deliberation, the Court gave judgment convicting M. Bull (Madame Bazaine's nephew) —who did not appear—Colonel Villette, Captain Doineau, and the gaolers, Plantin and Gigoux. Hull, Villette, and Plantin were sentenced to six months' imprisonment, Doineau to two mouths', and Gigoux to one month. Marchi, the governor of the prison, Le Frangois and Leterme, gaolers, and Barreau, the marshal's sorvant, were acquitted. On hearing the decision, Mtsdames Villette and Doineau throw themselves into their husbands' arms, and Doineau smiled, while Marchi shod tears. Tho people in court carefully avoided any demonstration, part of the building having been cleared the previous day, on account of the murmurs which wero indulged in when Villette doclared that Bazaine's Christian sentiments preclude the supposition of suicide.

SPAIN. The course of events have beeu heightened by a little set-to between the Carlista at Guetaria and the German gun-boats Albatross and Nautilus. The boats were cruising too near the shore to please the Carlists, and from some cause, not yet explained, shots were exchanged. The sensation-mongers saw in this atta'ck good reason to suppose that it was intentional, with the view to afford Germany an opportunity of intervening in favor of the Republicans ; but it appears that Prince Bismarck will disappoint them. According to particulars received at Barcelona of the recent success gained by General Lopez Dominguez at Castella the Carlists had 6000 men engaged on that occasion. Owing to a thick fog prevailing at the time Saballs' troops placed themselves between two fires, and were decimated. The remnants of the Carlist force assembled at liipoll, in Catalonia, under the command of Saballs, having lost their Artillery. The Republicans had 12 killed and 100 wounded. Seventy-six Carlist dead were found on the battle-field. Saballs is stated to be greatly exasperated at this defeat, and to contemplate a fresh attack on Puycerda. The Carlists have laid siege to Pamplona, the capital of Navarre, but the Republicans hastened to the relief of the city, and so caused the besiegers to beat a hasty retreat. It is said that if Don Carlos had been successful in this attack he would at once have marched upon Madrid, which is distant about 200 miles in a north-east direction. It is complained that petty jealousy and party views interfere with the energetic prosecution of the war, and that, but for these, the war might have presented a very different aspect. Marshal Serrano has changed his advisers ; Zabala has resigned, and 4 the chief of the Executive -has called Sagasta to office. The tion, but all that is announced is that the foreign policy of the new Government will be " directed towards securing the friendship and moral support of the nations of Europe, but will not countenance any foreign intervention that might be offensive to the sense -of national independence." The return of Senor Zorilla to public life has been much canvassed in the Spanish papers. Zorilla is the most trusted leader of the Radical party; but he has taken no part in political affairs since the abdication of King Amadeus. Zorilla, it is asserted, has now frankly declared himself favorable to the principle of a Democratic and Conservative republic.

RUSSIA. The cattle plague has broken out in the province of Suwalki (Russian Poland), causing a mortality of 1000 head of cattle in two districts. Intelligence has been received from St. Petersburg, which professes to confirm the news given by the Tages Presse of Vienna that Prince Bismarck has made overtures to the Cabinet of Copenhagen, with a view to causing Denmark to enter into the German Confederation. It is added that Russia felt greatly irritated on receiving this intelligence, and would never allow Germany to hold the key to the Baltic. This incident is said to have exercised great influence upon Russia's policy with regard to Spain ; and Don Carlos having written to the Czar to thank him for not having recognised Marshal Serrano's Government, His Imperial Majesty sent an immediate reply. The Emperor Alexander's letter, which has recently been the topic of discussion, is, according to this account, of quite recent date, and was certainly written as stated. It is declared to have produced a great sensation in Berlin.

GERMANY. A report of the German Federal. Council shows that the extraordinary expenses incurred by Germany during the late war, amounted to 336,875,000 thalera, or over £50,000,000. SWITZERLAND. An old Catholic priest is about to follow Father Hyacinthe's example, abandoning celibacy. St. Ange Lievre, of Biel, in announcing his betrothal to a Protestant lady, says : proverbial expression to say, 'As corrupt" as a' priest,' and this might be said to-day. I marry, therefore, because I wish to go out of the Ultramontane slough." During the last two years, sixty-seven Roman Catholic priests have been convicted of immorality in France and Switzerland. In view of such facts, he says it is time to restore by marriage the good name of the Romish priesthood, which the misconduct of too many of its members has covered with infamy. BALLOON ASCENTS. The same day that M. Duruof commenced his balloon adventure at Calais, an ascent was made at Copenhagen by the celebrated aeronaut, Sivel, who for the sixth time this year crossed the Sound and landed in Sweden. He has no fear whatever of alighting in the sea, as he has invented a little safety apparatus which would have been of great service to his French colleague. He drops into the sea a sort of canvas cylinder of a conical form, and held by a guide rope to the car. It fills with water, and is kept down by the weight of the liquid. He then throws out a little ballast, and the balloon rises but is retained like a captive a short distance above the sea. He can thus wait until a vessel comes to deliver him or until he drifts on shore; should he wish to rise he pulls a cord attached to the point of the cone, and which turns it upside down. The water escapes, and the balloon is freed. This invention has been tried by him over twenty times at sea with perfect success. A second ascent was made at Antwerp by the balloon Me'teore on September 13. In the car were Baron Van de Werve, M. de Schilde, and three other persons, besides M. Godard, the aeronaut. A monkey was also taken up, and when at the height of COO or 700 metres, was detached in a parachute and descended safely in one of the squares of the city. The aerial machine rose slowly and disappeared in the clouds, the sky being overcast and rain falling. The travellers returned about one o'clock in the morning, having effected their descent at Westmalle. Curiously enough they alighted close to the estate of one of the voyagers, Baron Van de Werve, who at once placed his equipages at the disposal of his companions to take them back to Antwerp.

SOUTH AFRICA. The goldfields continue to cause the greatest excitement. A nugget weighing 71bs. 4ozs. has been found and forwarded to Cape Town, where it is on view at the Oriental Bank. At the diamond fields business is somewhat stagnant, owing to a fall in the price of stones. The machinery set up for pumping water out of the claims is doing good service. A 10-carat black diamond has been discovered, and its value is believed to be large, from the extraordinary scarcity of stones of this color. AMERICA. The report of the Agricultural Bureau of the United States for October, states that the wheat crop is nearly up to the average of 1873. The corn crop will be less, and oats about the same as last year. Tobacco will only yield half a ci-op. If red-tape rule is not supposed to exist other than under the English flag, the following case will disprove the assertion: —ln President Buchanan's time (1859), the postmaster of a small village in New Jersey resigned his office in order to come to California. He made out his account, showing that the General Government owed him a balance of 12doL 28c. That was the last ho heard of the matter till a day or so ago, when he received a letter from Washington, dated 17th July, 1874, enclosing a draft on the postmaster of this city for the amount. THE BIGGEST THING ON EARTH. New York has had a real sensation in the world of amusement. The Great Roman Hippodrome, which Barnum announced some time ago, is completed, opened, and described in the local papers. Everybody who had stared with amazement at the enormous structure, so rapidly spreading itself over the entire block between Madison and Fourth Avenues on Twenty-sixth-street, desired to get into it when it was opened. A private rehearsal was attended only by about 6000 people, but at least 50,000 desired to be admitted. The hippodrome or circus seats 12,000. It encloses a space inside the track that is 84ft.

broad and 270 ft. longhand the track itself, laid out in an ellipse, is one-fifth of a mile in length. Rising nearly SOft. all round it are the seats for the spectators, divided by grades of upholstery into gallery, dress-circle, parquet, &c. Filled as it was by an assembly of 10,000 or 12,000 persons, and brilliantly lighted by hundreds of gas jets, the scene was one of interest. SOUTH AMERICA. An attempt was made by a band of assassins to murder President Pardo at Peru, at noon on August 22. The President was walking from the Government Palace to his private residence, accompanied by three aides-de-camps, when he was attacked and several shots were fired at him, but none took effect. The police and guard coming to the rescue, the assassins decamped ; two were, however, captured, and the3e have since turned State's evidence. Their depositions implicate about sixty persons in the conspiracy, of whom twenty have since been arrested. The conspirators are retired army officers. ANGLO-NEW ZEALAND ITEMS. SS The Queen has made the following appointments to the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George : —To be Ordinary Members of the Second Class, or Knights Commanders of the said Order—The Right Honorable Sir James Eergusson, Bart., lately Governor of the colony of New Zealand and its dependencies ; Edward Deas Thomson, Esq., C. 8., Member of the Lecjislative Council of the colony of New South Wales, and formerly for many years Colonial Secretary for that colony.

Mr. John Pinches has just executed, through Mr. J. H. Coleman, of New Zealand, a medal -iaE-the.Hawke'B Bay Agricultural Society, and he has certainly avoided the conventional manner of treating designs for this purpose by designing in equal prominence the heads only of a bull, horse and merino ram in separate circles or medallions. The outer spaces have been judiciously filled in' with accessories consisting of agricultural produce, implements, &c. On the reverse is the New Zealand fern tree, flax, &c, with tablet ■ for engraving the name of a successful competitor —the title of the society surrounding the whole. The work is worthy of the artist, and I have no doubt it will give great satisfaction to those for whom it is intended. Quite " a correspondence" has taken place on the subject of Australia, New Zealand, and California as health resorts. The writer of the Anglo-Australian notes in the European Mail says : —" All I can say is, give me a log hut in any part of the two former to a palacein the latter." I find, from a return issued from the office of the Agent-General for New Zealand, that up to June 30, 1874, 39,325 emigrants had been forwarded to New Zealand, and as about 9000more have been sent since that date the total number of emigrants despatched to New Zealand is not far short of 50,000. This great number will be further increased by nine ships fixed to sail in this month (October), and six or seven to be laid on in each of the months of November, December, January, and February, which are likely to make a grand total of 60,000 souls forwarded during about three years—a very sufficient number, one would imagine, to develope your resources and increase your public revenue.

An accident has just happened to the Sappho, composite sloop, which will detain her at Chatham for some little time longer, although she was nearly ready to leave for Australia. The screw propeller was being lifted from its position in order to test the taclde, when an eyebolt fixed in the deck gave way and the fan of the screw fell to the bed of the river, and has not yet been recovered, as it is several tons in weight. Mr. Charles Fellows, late of Dur\?din, but now established in business at Wolverhampton, has published for the guidance of his Australian and New Zealand clients and friends, a work giving in a simple form, trade lists of various articles and other information likely to prove serviceable to Australian buyers.

that Mr. Brudenell Carter concluded his address on the Waste of Public Life before the Medical Society of London by recommending, among other things, that it be made a statutory duty of every doctor as soon as he saw a case of self-propagating disease, such as fever, scarlet fever, small-pox, and some others, at once to give notice to the local sanitary authority. Mr. Carter suggested that a small fee should be attached to the notice, and that neglect of the duty should be punished by a sharp penalty. The Legislature of New Zealand has passed a Public Health Act, the 17th clause of which exactly realises Mr. Carter's suggestions, with the shabby exception that, while requiring both information and advice from the medical attendant, there is no mention of any fee for this great service. Our object at present is more particularly to notice an objection to comply with the statute on the part of Dr. William McClure, M.R.C.S. England. Dr. McClure objects that when he became a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England he made a declaration not to divulge information entrusted to him professionally, and that any breach of this undertaking woxild expose him to the penalties of perjury. Dr. McClure is perhaps right in raising the ethical question. But we cannot agree with him in his views concerning it. As far as we remember, there is no specific undertaking of the kind he mentions. There is a general undertaking on the part of the new member to demean himself honorably in the practice of his profession. But even if a byelaw of the College forbad the disclosure of inforniation acquired in a professional way, this could not override the obligation to divulge such information at the bidding of the law, for State purposes or for the ends of justice. It may be a question whether the State should, impose the duty on the medical man or on the friends of the patient. But every week's experience teaches us that the State has the deepest interest in such information. And it is entitled to demand it. The consequences of not receiving it promptly are the spread of disease and the occurrence of perfectly preventable deaths. If the State imposes such a duty on medical men it should pay them for discharging it, and pay them well. On reflection, and especially considering that the declaration does not contain such words as he supposes, Dr. McClure will probably agree with Mr. Carter, a Fellow, by the way, of his College, in approving of the principle of the clause in the Public Health Act of the Legislature of New Zealand. It would be unpleasant, apart from law, to compel a medical man to disclose information, but for great public purposes, and at the bidding of the law, it is highly reasonable to do so.

INDIA AND THE EAST. From Shinano, we have this interesting piece of intelligence. There is a certain stone bridge there, on one of the centre stones of which are the seven characters Namu Amida Butsu. These were believed by the inhabitants to have been carved by Nichi-ren himself—the founder of the Hokki religion. They therefore took it into their heads that it is very irreverent to Nichi-ren to walk above it, and made formal application to the Kenrei that a temple might be placed over it. Of course the Kenrei laughed at them, and asked how many of all who had passed over it since it was first placed there had been punished by Nichi-ren ? " This," he added, " proves that Nichi-ren is no divinity. If he were divine he would punish me for allowing it, not you for doing it." The people seemed only as those who are " convinced against their will" ; but they continued to use the bridge. Nana Sahib has described his wanderiugs in Bhootan, Assam, and Bareilly, but denies going to Nepaul. The doctors differ as to his age, aud Mr. Tressider, who was a surgeon at Oawnpore in 1857, fails to identify him ; other witnesses have been called, including Mr. Mowbray Thompson. The Maharajah Seindia is, however, convinced of the identity of the prisoner with Nana Sahib. «