NEWS BY THE. ENGLISH MAIL.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2219, 28 April 1880, Page 2

NEWS BY THE. ENGLISH MAIL.

A STRANGE COLONY. A queer story (says the “ European Mail ”) is told of the Winter Palace of the Czar, which may be given as illustrating the great extent of the place, and the possibilities of mischief, it affords. In the time of Nicholas, the father of the present Czar, a number of sentries were posted on the roof to guard against fire or foes. Finding the climate up there uot altogether so comfortable as could he wished, this permanent watch at length contrived to convey on to the roof the materials for a number of huts or cabins, which in course of time they erected under the shelter of the chimney stacks. So snug and cos} r did they manage to make themselves that it at length occurred to the married men among them, that as there was plenty of room up there, they might as well enlarge their establishments. Accordingly wives and families, one after another, found their way out on to the Imperial leads. Several of the single members of the guard, finding such a tempting opportunity of setting up housekeeping economically, took wives to themselves and after a while quite a considerably colony had sprung up. How far the developcmcut might have gone on if the individuals composing this parasitic little village had been reasonably cautious and careful in their behavior it is difficult to guess ; but the establishment of families among the chiranics of the palace led gradually to the accumulation of domestic animals. Fowls multiplied amazingly, and goats became numerous and flourished so well in the bracing atmosphere, that at length it was suggested that a cow might conveniently be added to the farm stock. How the animal was elevated wc arc not informed, hut it is stated as a fact that it was by some means hoisted to the roof, and was eventually the ruin of the community. The lowing of the cow came to certain official cars, and led to an investigation and the total breaking up of the queer little society. Even at that time it is said that the Rnisian Emperor felt so little confidence in his personal security that nobody ever knew in which bedroom he was going to sleep. A. large number wore always kept ready and unoccupied, and at bedtime the Czar would quietly slip into any one of them selected at the moment.

THE SLEIGH ACCIDENT TO PRINCESS LOUISE IN CANADA. AVc take the following interesting account from the “ Work! ” of ■Alarch 2 ;—“On ;Saturday evening - , Ecb. 14, the A'iceregal sleigh, a covered one, containing - His Excellency the GovemorHeneral, Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise, the Hon. Airs Langhani, find Colonel M’Neill, left Government House shortly before nine o’clock, cn route for the Senate Chandler in the House of Parliament, in driving - down the avenue the horses became umuly, and by the time they reached the lodge at the main entrance were completely out of the control of the coachman Slade. It appeal's that Slade gave one rein fo the ■footman, retaining the other himself, and in turning the corner just outside (he gate, the footman pulled too strongly on the rein he held, causing the sleigh to swing round with great force, and the runner of the sleigh coming into contact with a lump of ice, upset the sleigh, sending the coachman and footman ilying into a snow-bank. The infuriated imises increased their pace and dragged the sleigh on its side 1 a distance of over four hundred yards, the viceregal party being still inside and 'unable to escape. Just before reaching the bridge over the Rideau river, the Hun. AV. Ragot, A.D.C., who, with the Hon. C. Harbord, A.D.C., and a groom, occupied an open sleigh in front

of that containing the v’cerogal party, observed what be thought to bo a farmer’s team dsshing towards them, and said, ‘ Pull np on one side, Charlie, or else this runaway will ba into us.’ Just then Mr Bagot recognised the horses, and exclaiming, ‘ Croat Cod i it’s the Prim-ess!’ jumped from his seat in Hie sleigh, seized the near horse by the ■lead, and succeeded in cheeking the speed of the animals snllicicntly to enable the groom from Mr Ilarbord's sleigh to; get at (ho head of the other horse, when, by their united efforts, they prevented what, in all probability, would otherwise have been a fatal runaway accident. The occupants of the overturned sleigh were at once assisted out, and the sleigh righted. They were then driven to Kideau Hall, and a messenger despatched for Dr Grant, who on reaching the Hall found that Her Koval Highness had received a contusion on the right side of the head, and the lobe of the right ear was also cut. The Hon. Mrs Langham was very much bruised on the left arm ; and his Excellency received a severe contusion on the forehead. When the sleigh upset, Colonel M'Neill managed to get Ids arm round Her Koyal Highness, ami held her up as much as possible, which accounts for her injuries not being more severe. Mr Ihignt’s conduct was exceedingly plucky; and in consequence of a kick from one of the horses he can only limp about in a most painful manner. Her Koyal Highness is progressing very favourably, having passed two good nights. .She lost several of her diamonds, some of which were found, however, in the sleigh robes.”

Further details by another account stale that the Princess was thrown head foremost against one of the iron upright rods supporting thereof, which inflicted a most severe bruise ; had the blow been direct the doctor says the consequences might have been fatal ; the inside gristle of the car was cut through to the lobe. Her Boyal Highness’s head must have first been on the ground. Mrs Langham, being on the lower side, was dragged along with her shoulder on the ground, only partly protected by the leather cover, and suffered very severe bruises. His Excellcnc3 r , also on the lower side, was incapable of moving, but supported the body of the Princess. Colonel M‘Neil was thrown headforemost towards the lower side, but fortunately was able, by catching his spur under the scat, to steady himself, and then succeeded in getting his left hand under the head of the Princess, raising and supporting it. The bleeding from the car was so profuse that the whole sleeve was saturated. The Princess’s hand at this time was under Mrs Langham’s head. In this position, in darkness and perfect silence the sleigh was dragged some 400 yards, when the horses gradually slackened their pace—so much so that Mr Bagot and a groom, jumping from a sleigh containing the suite, when the overturned vehicle was passing it, managed to run in front and catch the horses’ heads. The door was then opened and

he occupants extracted some difficulty. Excepting immediately after the blow, the Princess wus perfectly sensible during the whole time, and nothing could exceed the courage shown both by Her Royal Highness and by Airs Langham under the most trying circumstances.

SERVING A WRIT. One morning recently an Irish M.P. received a letter, dated from a remote corner of his constituency and duly signed, announcing that a meeting had been hold with intent to encourage him in his patriotic obstruction of the Sason; and that a had _ been appointed to wait upon him with the resolutions. Where and when might they bo received? The M.P., promptly taking up his pen, made an appointment for an early day, and, renewing his injunctions about the bailiff, gave orders that the deputation was to be admitted. With the hour came the honest voters, wearing greeu ribbons and brimful of loyalty. ' The MM?- received them in a private room, and holding out his hand to receive from the spokesman the resolution’s agreed upon at the meeting of his constituents, had placed in it—a writ! The meeting, the deputation, the green ribbons, and the copy of the resolutions, were all a device of au astute firm of Dublin solicitors.

NOVEL CLOCKS. Wonders will never cease. The last idea is to record time by means of atmosphere pressure, and a Pneumatic Clock Company has been started in Pans which promises to provide clocks and lay on the time with as much regularity as water or gas. The charge per clock is to be five centimes, or a halfpenny per diem, and for this sum the company will supply the clock, set it going by air current, and regulate it exactly to observatory time. The invention is not entirely new. It was to be scon in full swing three years ago in 'Vienna, but it was only brought to Paris at the time of the Exhibition of 1878. The arrangement seems perfectly simple. Steampowor is utilised at the headquarters station to fill large reservoirs with compressed air; this air is released minute by minute, and under a very slight pressure is directed into another receptacle wherein are the mouthpieces of the various tubes leading as gas or water pipes do, to all parts of the town. Pushing along these the air acts instantaneously upon all the clocks belonging to the that variations and irregularities will be reduced to a minimum. The air clocks are little likely to get out of order, their machinery being so simple and so entirely independent of those changes of temperature that affects metals. The Pneumatic Clock Company has the support of science, it is said, and among its directors are to be found many of the most distinguished scientists and capitalists of Prance. Already these clocks arc being established in the streets and thoroughfares, and there is every reason to suppose that they will shortly be generally adopted in hotels, places of business, and private houses. An interesting and useful suggestion .for a scheme of universal time reckoning lias just been made by the engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway, air Sandford Fleming. Lis idea is a clock whose dial is to ho divided into spaces significant of the twenty-four hours, and whose hour hand follows the sun round the equator. These universal hours arc. to lie marked, not by numerals, hut by letters, and (here can be no reason why clocks constructed in this fashion should md show both universal and local time. The plan has the merit of extreme simplicity, and in the despatch of telegrams and other matters would obviously prevent much inconvenience.

THE TAV BRIDGE ACCIDENT. Tlic- Lnmlnn “Builder" publishes the following observation mi tbuTay bridge disaster ; —That the bridge went with the train is now indubitable. That the lir.st fracture took place at the lil’th pier, almost at the moment when the engine went upon it, is as much shown by the mode in which the pillars on that pier are described as having fallen to east and west. t.)n the sixth pier the ironwork was cut oIE as if with a knife. The cause was taken to be that, breaking at the fifth pier, and weighted with a part at least of the train, the girder had an impetus of movement which at once swept away the connection at the west front. Cleanness of fracture betokens great superiority of breaking to resisting force. There con ho no doubt that the force was greater at the moment of its action on the clean cut piece than at that of its action on the more splintered and ragged pieces—that is, supposing the strength, of the piers to be lire same. We come thus very close to what a witness must have seen had there been one on the spot. The practical lesson, then, is so far already clear that scientific enquiry must assume this form. For how great a pressure on the upper part of the bridge, when transferred by the leverage of the piers to the top of the impost, was provision made ? Had an iron plate been built in at the bottom of the concrete of the piers, and bolts of adequate strength made fast to this been carried up to the superstructure, the girders could not have been blown over. From the tenacity possessed by this part of the structure it ma3 r be possible to calculate the force of the disturbing power.

AMERICAN SHARPERS, The Allistou '• Herald” says : —Some five or six weeks ago a pair of “ sharpers,” one of whom, it is said, hails from Bradford, the other a stranger with several aliases, took a trip through Mulmur and Mono, along the town line, west of liosemouth. Calling on a farmer, they showed a sample of the “ Champion Mower Sickle Grinder,” expatiated on its useful labour-saving and economic qualities, and wound up by asking the party to take one on trial offering the agency for the neighbourhood, no pay until delivered to purchasers, Ac. By this means J. Swanzey, H. Parsons, S. Liddy, W. Hall, M. Punt, and others whoso names we have not learned, were induced to sign what they believed to be an order for one Grinder on trial, but which turned out to be a bona fide order for one package containing a dozen to be paid for in cash when received. The packages were promptly shipped, but all the parties above named detected the swindle, and refused to take the articles from the station at Shelburne. An agent came round a few days ago demanding pay. On being refused lie left, saying the orders would be sued in Toronto. The worst case in the lot of victims is that of a Mr Jackson of Mono, who

thoughtlessly took the package home, and when the agent called was induced by threats to pay over all the cash he had in the house (§2O) and - to give his note for the balance of §lO, the wholesale - price being §3O per dozen. The matter has been placed in the hands of a legal firm in Toronto, and the “ sharpers ” will doubtless bo brought to time if caught. Mr P. Eobinson, Postmaster of Violet Hill was called on by one of the agents, and refusing to sign the order when presented (at the barn by thewwa r ) asked the party into the house, and demanded the order to read for himself, discovered the dodge, and ordered the fellow out. Those who have tried the Grinder pronounce it utterly useless in every way. COWARDICE REPROVED. At the Lancashire Assizes Lord Justice Brett, in sentencing a young fanner to two mouth’s imprisonment for manslaughter during - a fight, was led to lament the degeneracy of the times. Ho said he could remember the time when in no village in England would a man fight unfairly, for if he did every one would scout him ; but now Englishmen fought like cowards. Although fighting was contrary to the law, he had made up his mind that if a man fought fairly he would not punish him should an accident .result from the light; but in this case the prisoner had struck his antagonist in the stomach, and had also kicked him when he was down. MISCELLANEOUS. The Paris “ Globe ” states that France has entered into negotiations with England and the United States with a view to bringing the war between Chili and Peru to a conclusion.

As the Prince of Bulgaria was the other day driving in one of the principal streets of St. Petersburg, a shot was fired at his carriage which smashed a lantern. Probably the Prince was mistaken for a Russian Grand Duke. The criminal lias not boon discovered.

Tlie boring' of the SL Gothard tunnel bus just been completed. 31 any persons walked through the tunnel on the first day. The journey there and back occupied seven hours. On the night of the St. Petersburg explosion, a young man, of about twentylive years of age, was found murdered on the ice. He had been stabbed in the head and the left breast. His name according to his pass, was Alexander SharkoJf, from Saratov, lie was well clad, and had not been robbed. Itis consequently thought that the murder is a political one. Some say he was in the service of the St. Petersburg police, others that he had been a Nihilist who had turned traitor, but nothing positive is yet known. Some correspondence appeared in the London papers a few weeks ago tending to prove the existence of a system for entrapping young English girls into immoral houses in Belgium. It is now stated that a judicial enquiry into the allegations has been ordered. The following despatch from Hong Kong has been received by the “ New York Herald” at its London office : “China, is making heavy war preparations, and purchasing small arms extensively. The Russian complication is the chief cause, but a delimit attitude is shown in a less degree towards foreign Powers generally.” We learn from St Petersburg that the idinistor of the Interior is making arrangements for the despatch next summer of four steamers, laden with ox slns, to the Island of Saghalieu, in the Paclic. Each vessel will take out live or six hundred exiles, among them being many Nihilists at present confined in the provincial prisons of Russia. There is, I understand (says Atlas in the “ World every reason to believe that a contract of marriage will shortly be entered into between a prince of our royal house, whoso modesty and learning have won for him golden opinions, and a debutante who was universally admitted to hear away the palm for beauty at the last Drawing-room, and who is the daughter-in-law of a Scottish earl distinguished for his gallant bearing and literary attainments. Lady Hewitt, the wife of Admiral Sir William Hewitt, K.C.8., of Sonthsea, has just met with an unfortunate accident. She was feeding a favorite parrot, when, her attention being momentarily diverted, the bird bit the forefinger of her right hand, and bloodpoisoning having supervened, the linger has been amputated. Those who have seen the Empress Eugenic lately say that, although she has recovered her health, the terrible blow which fell upon her last year has left indelible traces upon her face. The features, which were once considered as a ongst the fairest in Europe, are marked by deep lines of grief and care, and as she walks on foot to the little chapel of Father Goddard, dressed in deep mourning, the Empress inspires feelings of the deepest compassion. Several officers of the Chinese navy visited Birmingham on Feb. 27, for a purpose at variance with the principles of the Peace Association, namely, to “ collect information regarding manufactures which may be of use in China, more particularly with reference to the manufacture of arms and ammunition.”

In the farther correspondence respecting South Africa, just published, is the following message from Cctcwayo to the Queen,dated Oct. 28 : —“Cetewayo begs permission to be allowed to send his bumble respects to the Queen. He is staying here awaiting the Queen’s pleasure, and will willingly and cheerfully live wherever the Queen decides. At the same time he is living in hopes that at some future time he may be pardoned. He feels greatly honored that his portrait is going to the Queen, whom he always looked upon as a mother, and still regards in that light.’