NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2499, 9 January 1877, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Cfbom the home news.)

Thirty-two students were arrested about a fortnight ago at St. Petersburg on a charge of agitating against tbeir Government for the deposition of the Czar, the adoption of representative Government, and for various other reforms considered incompatible with the State Bystem of Russia. The Odessa Messenger states that 5000 workmen are employed in the construction of coast defences near Odessa, and that the fortifications and armaments of the ports of Odessa, Sebastopol, and Kertch are carried on actively. Prince Henry of Prussia. ,the second son of the German Crown Prince, and second grandson of the Queen, has successfully passed the examination qualifying'him for service in the German navy. The Cologne Gazette states that the prince displayed considerable ability in answering the questions put to him. A shocking murder, followed by suicide, took place last week at Charleroy. The wife of a man named Vanhorbeck, who kept an estwminet, was . on terms of improper intimacy with her brother-in-law, Maarschalk, a widower, and the father of six children. She having for some time refused to have any further pk communication with him, he had on several occasions been heard to utter threats of revenge. One afternoon he went to her house, and soon after the

woman ran to the door, and exclaiming

" Mon Dieu," fell lifeless in the street, the murderer having discharged a pistol

at her. Maarschalk made his escape, and was found at his own cottage, seated on a chair, and leaning on the table, with the pistol lying on the When the neighbours arrived' the was a corpse. Vanhorbeck, the husband, was fortunately away, or he would probably have met the lame fate as his wife. Maarschalk was a man of bad character, spending all his money in drink. An amusing instance of police impertinence occurred during the sitting of the county magistrates at Liverpool the other day. While Mr Bartlett a solicitor, was conducting the defence of a client, the superintendent, whose name is Martin, submitted that the solicitor was, acting

irregularly. Mr Bartlett then ventured to ask what a policeman knew about irregularities, and the learned superintendent replied by showing an extensive practical acquaintance with them. He called Mr Bartlett a pettifogging solicitor,, : complained that he had been insulted by him on more than one occasion, and said that he knew quite as'much as the attorney did. The incident was terminated by the magistrates gently asking Mr Martin whether he thought it was right " to say all this before them." The superintendent did not answer this question. The Pall Mall Gazette has been per* mitted to made the following extracts from a private letter from Teheran. The . statements, it is said, are those of a trustworthy and well-informed man:—"X. has just returned from a most interesting journey in the Khorassan. The Russians seem to be the actual masters of the prorince. • All merchandise is Russian. They count by Russian weight and measure, and Russian money is better known than Persian; Russian agents in every town, and so on. X. has inquired very' particularly about the late English expedition to the Attrek frontier, and it stems that the members, being known as English officers; have received false information everywhere. In several instances it is perfectly proved. If you see any of them you had better hint to them that they ought to be very prudent as to all which they have not seen themselves. I know, for instance, that their notions about the roads from the Caspian to Mushed are quite erroneous. It is very natural that the Russians have a great influence in that part of the country, especially since they sent home the prisoners from Khiva.. The whole people consider the Russians as their benefactors, and as the moat powerful nation in the world. I must mention to you a curious fact. X. wanted to go to Herat, but the English agent in Mushed, as well as several other Afghans, told him that under the actual circumstances it was impossible for an Englishman (as X. had reported himself to be) to enter Afghanistan—at least, the part of it which is near Persia—where Russinn subjects had any liberty they could ask for." Mr Justice Eeogh has jnst administered a very severe but salutary lesson to the roughs of Dublin, especially those of the Fenian type. The playing of bands through the streets on Sunday evenings, followed by mobs, during the hours of Divine worship, has been bitterly complained of as a serious annoyance, and the attempts of the police to abate the nuisance have led to many collisions with the refractory and lawless portion of the/ populace. On Sunday evening, August 13th, a band was passing* a Roman Catholic Church in Thomas street during the hours of worship. A constable called upon the bandmaster to stop playing, but was told to " stand back," and was struck in the mouth with the bandmaster's staff, one of his teeth being broken. He attempted to arrest his assailantsj but was knocked down and

kicked with great violence. Two other came up to help him, but met the same usage, the mob being called upon to " wire in," and obeying the command by throwing stones and bricks at the constables and also at two respectable residents in the neighbourhood who went to their assistance. The constables behaved with great-spirit, and in spite of the fierce attack upon them by a hostile crowd, succeeded, with the aid of two more colleagues, in arresting four of the rioters, including the bandmaster. When • the case came on for trial two of the prisoners pleaded " Guilty." The other two were convicted. Mr Justice Keogh commented strongly on the dastardly and savage.nature of the attack, and eulogised the conduct of the two civilians who went to their assistance. He sentenced the four prisoners to five years' penal servitude. The severity of the punishment caused great sensation in the court. The American correspondent of the Times telegraphs that arrangements have been matured for continuing after November 10th the Philadelphia Exhibition in the mala industrial building by a company chartered under the laws of Pennsylvania, including the chief managers of the present Exhibition. A museum is also to be opened in the Memorial building, known as the Pennsylvania Musuem. The chief part of the British Art Educational Collection from South Kensington now at Philadelphia has been presented by the Duke of Richmond partly to the Pennsylvania Museum and partly to the new Educational Museum at "Washington. The British Ordnance Survey maps

will also be presented; while arrangements are being made for the loan to. the Pennsylvania Museum of the British East Indian display now in the Exhibition for one year. TKs generosity on the part of the British authorities, with the gift of the St. George's House to Philadelphia, and the handsome coni ducfc of England throughout the. exhibition, has made a most excellent impression upon the Amercan people. The closing ceremonies of the Exhibition began on. Nov. 9 with a banquet and a grand display of fireworks jointly by English and .American manufacturers, Brock furnishing the English portion. Some strange proceedings are reported from Gainsborough. The body of a person who had committed suicide was floating in the Hum her, and a boatman secured it but negligently tied it to a stake in a peculiarly isolated spot. Here it might have remained for weeks without discovery, had not a gentleman witnessed the occurrence. He gave information to the police, but they declined to interfere, and in viewing the body for the inquest the coroner and jury waded knee-deep through mud. Tne coroner censured the police, and threatened to report the case to the chief constable of the county. A man named Thomas Fountain, residing at Great Bourton, near Banbury, has been apprehended on a warrant and lodged in prison for fourteen days for refusing to comply with a vaccination order. Fountain was ordered to have his child vaccinated about eighteen months ago, and was fined, but he had no goods to distrain upon. A warrant was then issued for his apprehension, but as the magistrates did not wish to send him to prison without giving him every opportunity of complying with the law, the matter lay in abeyance for some time. He was, however, apprehended last week, and conveyed to Oxford Castle.