NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 177, 14 November 1876, Page 2

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

THE TIOHBORNJE CLAIMANT AT DAETMOOB. Although a considerable period has elapsed since the Claimant to the Tichborne Estates was lolged in safe and solitary confinement in t.ie Government establishment at Dartmoor, there are many who still cherish a strong desire to know how the prisoner is undergoing the striking change of circumstances which t.ie result of his tedious trial brought about. Tiie convict rises every morning at 5 o'clock. He then has to dress iiini3elf, clean his cell, get his breakfast, "wash up the utensils employed therein, and then to be in readiness for chapel at a quarter to seven. The service is brief, lasting only 11» minutes, and s.iould the weather permit, at its conclusion tiie prisoner is taken out for parale. Before commencing hia day's labor, which he is supposed to enter upon at half-past seven, iie has, like tiie whole of his fellow-convicts, to undergo the operation of searching. We should state tuat his daily task is to work a sewingmachine, at W-iic 1 he lias become quite an adept. After working for three-q carters of an hour he is allowed a quarter of an hour's rest. At the termination of this respite he is summoned to dinnei', and conaudd to his cell until one o'clock. Previous to resuming his task he is again searcied, and tlien works the machine entrusted to him until ten minutes past five. Ha day's employment is then at an end ; he is escorted to his cell, served wish t a. and at a quarter to eight on week nights and an hour ca.'lier oa Sundays, he retires to rest. Tne only privilege he enjoys over other convicts is an extra allowance of a Jib. of bread and an ounce of meat daily, and this concession is stated to be allowed at the special direction of the doctor. It may be of interest to know what iiis principal daily meal consists of. On Monday he dines upon beef, on Tuesday soup, Wednesday mutton, Thursday pudding, Friday soup, Saturday beef, and Sunday c.iecse. This stern dietary has naturally brought tae Claimant a little nearer to Sir Jo in Coleridge's idea of the real Roger. We hear that his knickerbockers have hal to be altered several times, and some significance may be attached to the Tact tiiat he is reduced in girth about seventeen inches ! Yet his general health is stated to be good, although he begins to assume a careworn and haggard appearance. He is uniformly courteous and obedient to the prison officials, and from six to eight marks per day for good conduct fall to his share. By reason ox his exemplary behaviour he has lately been promoted, and is now what is termed a second-class prisoner. Should he continue to conform to prison discipline and conduct himself as heretofore his sentence will be reduced three months in every year, so that the entire term of fourteen years will be at an end in about nine years and eleven months. The Claimant appears to be on good terms with every one around him, with the solitary exception of the Catholic priest, to whom he appears to manifest some slight aversion. THE PRINCE AND THE MACFARQUHARSON'. A London correspondent is responsible for the following story, which appears in the London Scottish Journal. " The late Prince Consort was not jocose, but he was genial and desirous to please. He told an anecdote of himself at one of the meetings of the Trinity Board which will bear repetition. Wuen Balmoral was being built for himself and the Queen, he, knowing the pride of the Highland chieftains, made it a point to call upon them and pay hia respects. Early one morning he went to the castle of the Macfarquharson and knocked several times without eliciting any reply beyond the deep baying of some mastiffs and staghounds, Persevering, he saw the massive doqr cautiously open just ajar, and a bronzed face, surmounted with a sh, ggy mass of r<d hair, thrnst itself forth between the door and the jamb. ' What for,' asked the owner of the shock of red hair, 'ye mak' sic' a deevil's din this unearthly hour o' the morn V 'I desire to see the Macfarquharson,' answered the Prince. ' Are ye daft, moa V What

for should the Macfarquharson- rise toe see siccan a loon as ye? And here the gillie opened the fullest extent, letting the visitor -st? four or five big dogs close behind him. In real alarm the Prince replied, 'I am Albert, the Queen's husband!' The natural hue of the Hielandman's face became incarnadined with indignation as he exclaimed, ' You a prince ! A pretty chiel, you, for a prince ! Gang awa' tie noo, or I'll set the dogs on ye !' But here the Macfarquharson himself, who had heard the voice of his servitor, rushed half-dressed, to the rescue,' and the father of the British kings to be was saved from dismemberment." ROBBERY FROM VISCOUNT DUPPLIN. During last week Viscount Dupplin w« a visitor at York racss, and put up at the North-Eastern Hotel. One night a breaatpin, with horse-shoe head composed of diamonds and white and rose-coloured pearls,. and valued at £350, was missed from his lords rip's bedroom by his valet. The police were communicated with, and a search made of the premises resulted in the discovery of the missing pin concealed beneath the mattress of the bed upon which slept a waiter, who was at once charged with having stolen it, to which he replied, " Don't charge me with stealing it, but on suspicion of stealing it." The case went before the York magistrate!, when a remand was granted.

MISCELLANEOUS,

The Paris Figaro seems to keep a correspondent in London who, although he rejoices in the very English name of Joimson, has a most hazy and truly Parisian acquaintance with English affairs. This gentleman cannot discover the difference between Sir William Gull and Dr. Gully, and wrote recently of the iatter's having attended Mr. Bravo on tm deathbed. This week "Mr. T. Johnson" has been making some more amusing blunders. Writing of the Civil List, he mentions among those who receive pensions Le Due de Cambridge, 300,000 franct; et la duehesse sa femme, 150,000 /raws. It will, 1 fancy, be news -o the Com-mander-in-Chief that he has a wife a duchess with £6,000 a year. It will alao be news—very agreeable if true—to Sir George Grey, Mr. Milner Gibson, and Mr. Walpole, that they have des pension* hsreditaires of £2.000 apiece. With all respect for " T. Johnson," I am afraid those ex-Cabinet Ministers' pensions an only for life. In another Paris paper, h Sport, I find some details about Alton Towers which will be of interest to Lord Shrewsbury. To me at least it is new that t:iere is an octagon room at Alton Towers with eight marble tombs, ceux dti Comte Talbot et de Sairit Tliomas de Cm terbury notamment. Very " notably" in< deed, for most people thought that Thorns a Becket was buried in the cathedral in which he was martyred. But we live ant ieirn. Here is at last a good sound in vestment} Mr. Ralph Stott intends to travel on Mon day, October 29, from Dover to Calaii, and back, in an aerial machine. Thi entire journey will not take more thai sixty minutes, which, except to those n]j are in the habit of using the Or Eastern Railway, will appear tolerabl fast travelling. The machine is aboal 3001b. in weight, and, what is even mor important, contains "no wings, aao planes, screws, tails, or rudders." It re sembles in appearance a combined wash ing-tub and mangle. I merely mentio! these particulars in order to inspire con fidence in Mr. Stott's modest proposalviz., that, previous to the forthcomiii| feat, he cau only offer (for £4,000) on share, entitling the purchaser to on? twentieth of whatever the discover) realises; but that, after the feat, an exut ing agreement precludes him (under i penalty of £25,000) for selling the dia» very for less than half-a-million sterling Mr. Stott will be dr.ubtLss inundated b; letters from widows, half-pay coloneli clergymen, and generally from those per sons whose financial notions are obtain* from that edition of Cocker which Hal well loves and Earlswood swears by ; bo my advice to them all is that the discover] wUI be cheaper at half-a-million than a £4,000. The Detroit Fost of August 18 says :- " One of the arrivals at this port yestei day was that of a man named Gay, wh< started to row from Boston to this city oi a wager of §3,000 made between two Bos ton men 103 clays ago, he to receive SSO if reaching this city in four months. Ti trip covered a distance of something lei than 1,600 miles, via the Atlantic Coast o Maine, Gulf of St. Lawrence, the lake and their connections to this point. Th time allowed him being 120 days, thelinw necessitated but a speed of thirteen mile and a-half per day, a very moderate raU Gay, who is ahead of his time eleven dayi is a native of Keene, N.H., and hasspen most of his life on the water. He hj» probably had an easier time while attempt ing to win his prize than when pursuia his usual vocation, the only mishap \ has suffered being the capsiaing of 1 skiff by the swell of a steamer when abo» five miles from Portland, Me. He w provided with an ample supply of pf visions, but had leisure enough to enjq the farmers' hospitality along the line o his row. Gay himself states that he hj» no very dangerous adventures, but thi his voyage was almost monotonous, in $ freedom from stirring incident. Hi 3 bolt which weighs but 160 pounds, served as< roof on nights when too remote fW dwellings to enjoy their security. Alt" gether the trip seems to have been ofl which a man, inured to exposure, and wit a powerful physique, would consider pastime, rather than a labour, especiall; with a certain prize of SSOO held out» the finish." The New Orleans Republican say3-'' " The Rev. J. Sella Martin, the rm

know colored preacher, was found dead in bjjk room in Gasket-street, on the morn* jT* of the lit!* August, with a half-empty of fciudannmi bf hi* bedside. He had fallen into intemperate habits of late years, ami »tst> was »ccu»tf>roed **» use drugsfor tiuiofcmg hi:* nerves. Whether he intended fcV Cuke his we life or perished from an overdose of iam-hinura, remains a mystery. Mr. liar tin was a remarkable man of his race; a man of great natural ability, and an eloquent and effective speaker, fie was burn about 1832, in Sooth Carolina, passed his younger years in slavery, and attained his freedom by escaping to Canada. His talent for public speaking attracted the attention of the anti-slavery leaders. He became pastor of a Baptist church in Boston, ana was chosen to represent the American Missionary Association in England, with special reference to his ability to tabottr abroad for the anti-slavery cause. While in London he preached regularly to a large congregation. Retornmg to the United States, he was a popular preacher in Washington. After the war he wont south, drifted into the political arena, iktiti latterly has been unemployed and despondent. Reared as a slave, he made a man of himself, and labored earnestly for the advancement of his race. Be will be kindly remembered for the good he lias done. He was bad only t*> lumsdf.'" The faintly of Sir Isaac Newton is at the present day represented by the Earl of Portsmouth,, whose ancestor married a daughter of the philosophers niece ; and a large mass of Newton's manuscripts have been carefully preserved at Huratbourne. We are informed that the noble owuer has recently submitted these papers to the inspection of Professor Adams and other Cambridge men of science, with a view of presenting to the University stich its are of purely scientific interest. A strange case has lately occupied the attention of the Plymouth coroner and a jury. A man named Stoyles, by trade a cooper, was taken to the hospital suti'ering from extensive wounds in the throat. He affirmed positively that while sitting on one of the seats by the sea-shore at Plymouth a man, whose description he gave. came behind him and drew some suarp instrument across his throat and ran away. Stoyles persisted in this story until f.e died. Ttie jury, however, alter a protracted inquiry, and having regard to several minor circumstances, returned a verdict of suicido. A new thoroughfare from New Oxfordstreet into Shoreditch is being rapidly proceeded with, and a portion of it is now opened for carriage traftie. Tue foil length of Che street is 2,000 feet. It is 60 fust wide, with footways of York atone and carriageways of granite. The cost of the whole street will be nearly a million. Old-street will be widened on the north side, a new road will be formed from St. John-street, Clerkenwell, to Farringdon* road, and another new road to Liquor-pond-struet. A wrought-iron girder bridge to carry the nsw street over the Metropolitan .Railway at Farringdon-road has been completed at a cost of £18,350. Fruperty along the line of the new thoroughfare has been obtained to the exta»t at over £632,000, the compensation p.*H b'ung in many cases very heavy. In CUnrln nweU above £IO,OOO was paid for lno t'r, oliotd of a pu'dic-iioine. A co-respondent in the ffhikhttU Reeint observes toat it is " no* wonder that the London theatres don't draw in the dull season. Of the few houses that are open, more than half tho lariiua of tue respective companies are absent. A si::k certificate is not difficult to- obtain ; and as no salary is granted daring their abuence, managers can hardly rofusi) them what tie doctor says is requisite, via., a week or twVs rej lief from the stage. Bit some of the | places these ladies resort to for the'r cure I seem «ngi* r arty ctosea. I know two charming women who were both seized with a 1 rone >i» 1 affection about t'e v. ry suae time. They are together »n board the same yacht, which t ie own«r la* not only placed at their disposal, but has actually volunteered to accompany tham on a cruise in the ClanneL and over to France; as has also, a fartctttsr m&L Ltiend of Lis. The manager of tue theatre they belong to befievestaem to be at Buxton for their health, but he is n*vt a it t!e mistaken. Ntrdol telicv,? thei* «a*.»tr> bo singular. At a cert ud Hi ,'uhi.n 1 shoot-ing-bi x, not a t un lie I m les from Dingwall, n>■ less than tnree ladies of the same profession —supposed to- be sutTering from severu and almost c'ronic neuralgia— r.re havi ig a very good time of it, and l;a/e no Idea of returning to London before t.se eiut oi next month." According to the Tetejmph, information has reached Brisbane from a reliable source of the discovery of a tribe of aborigines located between t c »ree and four hundred miles west of the Diamantina River, wha are so far civilised that they live in houses, and aje '" settled'" on the tract of land they occupy. The place in question mnst be close tov or »*er the South Australian border, pretty near to Burke and Wills' track, and in the direction that Br. Leichardt'» party were suppos«d to have taketi. Is it possible that the higher civilisation of this tribe of nborigines is due to some European stragglers having joined them years ago> I