General Summary.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2541, 27 February 1877, Page 2

General Summary.

(COMPILED FBOM THE HOME NEWS.) It i 3 stated that Polish refugees in Switzerland have addressed a memorial to Lord Salisbury petitioning him to use his influence with the Conference in order to obtain for their countrymen under Kussian rule, at -present "shamefully oppressed," the same concessions' which Eussia demands on behalf of the South Slavonians in Turkey. The treasures discovered by Dr. SchUemann at Mjcenee have arrived at Athens, with the exception of the sculptures. They have been deposited in the Hellenic Bank until a proper place can be provided where they may be properly arranged aria* exhibited. At present they are not accessible to the public. The terrible catastrope in tfie I^tooklyn Theatre has jbeen followed by the issue of a memorandum to' the' managers' of the London theatres bj.-the Lord' Chamberlain, in ivuiph attention is called to the very serious responsibility under which they must personally be hejd with regard to the safety of the public in case of jjxe, and thje importance to them of carrying out the i-eguUVtippg for providing abuudant of egres?. ' ' ' ' ■ An extraordinary tonibsto.no dispute Jjas arisen at W»dsley Bridge, near SJaef-

field. The widow of one Benjamin Keeton, a recently-deceased cricketer of some local renown, has erected a tombstone to her husband's memory, on which is carved a set of stumps about a foot high, with bat and ball. The vicar and church-war-dens declare the stone was surreptitiously fixed, and have ordered its removal, which has caused intense local excitement.

John Wing, station-master employed by the Severn and Wye Eailway Company at Lydbrook, was brought up before the local magistrates charged, with neglecting his duties, whereby the lives of passengers were in danger. The prisoner pleaded guilty. He had received a summons for coal-stealing, and to evade this absconded. Two trains arrived -at Lydbrook railway-station—a goods and passenger—nobody being there to pass them on; and, as the block. system was used, great delay arose. The Bench sent the prisoner to gaol for one month, with hard labour, telling bim that a most serious accident might have arisen in consequence of his conduct. . . ■■-

During the. year closed the> tbtaL receipts of the three masonic charitable institutions amounted to £39,3357s 6d. Of this sum £15,359 5s 4d was received ' by the boys' school; £12,540 15s 7d by the Benevolent Institution; and £1-1,435 6s 7d by the girls' 'school. These are the ; largest totals ever yet reached,'and th* aggregate amount exceeds that of the former year by some £70001 - Great efforts are being made by the secretaries of the institutions to obtain in the present year even a larger total, and they coma t&forev the craft with an excellent pleff that the* ; claims on their institution are daily-in-creasing. The Benevolent Institution in .7 the past; year paid £8972 in annuitiwito aged Masons and widows; the boys'/ school maintains, clothes, i and ' educated. 189 boys; and the girls' school. 162 girls. These figures, however, do not represent a fixed maximum, but are constantly increased. ■ ■- r'\ ■"•;"." '-'- ] :/^-:.... : y[i"'r--'

It is very' seldom that in England elephant labour is- utilised, but "an instance occurred last week which is worthy of re- , cord. The road at the junction of Waterloo and York Toads has been lately broken up, and the other, evening an omnibus proceeding from Stamford street towards .the ; Wands worth road, was so heavily laden that the horses were unable - to drag the load. Several of the passengers alighted, and while the horses were eudeavering in vain to get over the piece of ground, one of Sauger's elephants, ' under the charge of a keeper, passed along the road. Seeing the helplessness of the horses, the keeper gave instructions to the elephant, who lowered his head and, placing his forehead at the rear of the 'bus, pushed horses, vehicle and passengers beyond the obstacle which impeded their progress. This was witnessed by a larpe number of .persons, who' loudly cheered the actors in this incident. --

A shocking occurrence took place near Farnborough the other morning. Dr. Turner, of Bagshot, during a temporary absence from home, his three - dogs, a mastiff, a bull-dog, and a retriever,* in the stables of the Alma Inn, near the railway station at Farnborough, and directed his brotherj Mr-Henry: Turner, a professional gentleman, of London, to ldok after' them. Mr Turner went to feed- the dogs, when the mastiff sprung upon him and knocked him down. The < three dogs then attacked Mm ferociously. The unfortunate gentleman's cries brought a man named' Crocker to his assistance, and he was rescued with difficulty, when it was found that his upper, lip was bitten off, his nose and cheeks frightfully torn, bis stomach torn up, and his legs badly mangled. He waj attended by Dr. Maybury, and by his advice removed, to the Surrey County Hospital. He is not expected to recover. The funeral of the late Sir Robert Gore Booth, Bart., M.P., took place on Dec. ' 28. lhe remains, which had lain in state from the day of his death, wore conyeyed from. Lissadell for interment in the family vault of St. John's, Sligo. The hearse which conveyed the deceased baronet only preceded by a short distance 'the hearse which conveyed the remains of Miss Isabella M'Caul-Gore Booth, niece to the deceased Sir Bobert, and daughter of Mr Henry Gore Booth, his brother. Her death took place at Lissadell also, on Dec. 21, occasioned by the shock of her uncle's death and the fatigue she underwent during his illness; It appears that the deceased Miss Gore Booth, with her brother and sister, was staying on a visit to Lissadell for the last month and was v in the full enjoyment of health at; the harvest home given by -the late Sir 'Robert about a fortnight ago. The funeral was the largest that has been seen in Sligo for many years. It extended nearly two miles after leaving Lissadell. Hardly a gentleman of position belonging to the country was not either, present or represented, notwithstanding the inclemenpy of the mornings as it blew a hurricane mingled with sleet and rain. All the tenantry from the several estates of the late baronet assembled on horseback, and took up the rear of the carriages and vehicles^ . Sir Henry W. Gore Booth, Bart., son of deceased, now succeeds to. the estates and titles,

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, on Dec. 19, gave a dinner in the Mansion House to his Masonic brethren, and for this act of hospitality he is severely censured by one of the newspapers, which considers this.use of the Mansion House an insult to, the Catholics of the City and to thos,e members of the Corporation who placed him in the position by which he obtained the honor of knighthood ; and this at a time when tt)e cardinal archbishop is emphatically condemning the freemasons and other secret • societies that have been productive of so mnch evil to society and to individual happiness. The., write? hopes Sir George Owenß will bring on himself tbe expression of the outraged^ feelings of the Cathqlic population. -

A law case, Kae v. Vivers, tl}© parties of which are Spofcch, and which involves the claim or succession to a large amount ■of property in Australia, has been commenced in the Chancery" Division of the High Court of Justice, before ViceChancellor Sir If obert Malms. The case is full of extraordinary and romantic' elements, which, as the plaintiff's counsel remarked in his opening statement, would afford the materials for four three-volume novels; but as the further hearing stands adjourned till this mqnth f owing to the, illness of a principal wilnes, we, m'Usfc defer, our report/ ' ••-■.- < i A visit to the convict Ortou at Dartmoor was paid a few days ago by Mr Gupdford Onslow ? Mr Helsby, and aMr Stjjbbs,. whose family haVe'.l^een jtenanls of the Tichbqrne estates for the past two hundred years. Instead qf the visitqrs ■ seeing the prisoner in the deputy* gorerngrVqffipe.as on previous fcocasipn^ tlip newiyap'pointed" governor jnsfsted upon the prison rules being bbaeryed, ao4

the interview taking place in the ordinary three-compartment room, with a warder between the convict and his friends. Orton was more downhearted than on any previous occasion, and complained that ho was tr. ated cruelly, and expressed a hope that the matter would be brought before Parliament, so that there might bo a commission of inquiry into his case. He seemed to. be in good health, but complained of an affection of the throat and head resembling erysipelas; The Home Secretary had declined to allow more than the regulation twenty minutes, and at the expiration of that period the visitors quitted the prison. The New Hall of Balliol College, Oxford, will be formally opened on Jan. 17, when a number of old members of the college will be present. Am6ng those expected are the Archbishop of Canterbury,- Cardinal Manning, the Marquis of Land^downe, the Earl of Jersey, the Bishops of Salisbury and Oxford, Lord Coleridge, and the Dean of Westminster.

Over 600 parishioners of Christchurcb, Wolverhampton,,. having complained to Bishop Selwyn of ritualistic practices in their church, the bishop handed the complaint to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who offered to decide the matter. The parishioners agreed; but the Rev. C. H. V. Pixell, the vicar, who is complained ©f, declined. The archbishop has thereupon sent the case for decision under the Public ■Worship Regulation Act.' A committee of petitioners are about to leave Wcrlverhampton to make the affidavits «nd give security for costs. The Queen has been pleased to sanction the appointment of William Wellington Cairns, Esq., (J.M.G-. (now Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the colony of Queensland), to be Governor and-i.CommandeI v-in-Chief"*of the colony of South Australia and its dependencies. ■■?■ ' ■ ' " ■ ■ •

The Queen has also been pleased to sanction the appointment of Sir Arthur Edward Kennedy, K.C.M.G., C.B. (now Governor and" Commander-ins Chief of the colony of Hong Kong), to be Gorernor and Commander-in-Chief of the •colonyof Queensland and its dependencies.

The death is announced of Mr Alfred Smee, F.K.S., surgeon to the Bank of England, in his fifty-ninth year. Mr Smee was well known for his practical knowledge of electricity, and had given his name to a galvanic battery; he was besides the author of many-works connected with electricity and professional subjects. He was the inventor of the present mode of printing Bank of England notes, was the chairman of several public companies, and was an unsuccessful candidate in the Conservative interest for Rochester at the general election of July, 1865.

The New York World remarks that at least one of Messrs Moody and Sankey's converts has shown practical evidence of his repentance of past wrong-doing. About a year Sgo (the World says) there was a heavy robbery of the Adams Express Company near Akron, Ohio, and a telegraph operator fiamed Brenizer was accused of the crime. He was tried and acquitted, and afterwards left the place and settled in Chicago. During the recent revival there he fell tinder the influence of Moody's preaching, experienced religion, and confessed that he was guilty of the crime with which he had --been charged. He immediately returned to Akron,. surrendered himself, and as he could not be again put into jeopardy for the crime of which he had been acquitted, he was indicted for perjury for the" false testimony which he had given in his own favour on the former trial, and was convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in the penitentiary. It is not itrange that under such* circumstances the judge should have expressed himself with great feeling in pronouncing the sentence, nor;that he should have declared the case without a,parallel in all his experience. It is.to be.regretted that few revival converts have the courage to be as honest with ; themselves as he was. The religion that was willing to stand the test of a reparation for wrong-doing that involved three years afc hard labor'in the penitentiary, ought to be "the genuine article. Can Messrs Moody and Sankey give Tis any more of it ? The Emperor of Brazil, who is at present travelling in Egypt, met with a disagreeable adventure the other day in Cairo. His Majesty, it appears, is very fond of donkeyiriding, and one morning, having descended into the street in a jacket and small cap, with a light switch under his arm, mounted one of these intelligent little animals, and trotted off on an expe- ■ dition through a labyrinth of back streets better known to the donkey than to its rider. Oft returning from his ride, not wishing to alight from the donkey in front of hi> hotel, he pulled it up. a few hundred yards from the building, and, not having any " small change " in his pocket gave the donkey-driver a guinea instead of a piastre. The donkey-driver, however, Ijadfleyer foefgre seen a coin of this nature, and, looking jfirst at the guinea and then at the Emperor, came to the conclusion that the guinea was merely' a worthless counter, and that an attempt was being made to " chisel"- him. The row he made was terrific crushing after the Emperor, who had walked off at a rapid pace towards the hotel where his suite were anxiously awaiting him, the donkey driver assailed His Imperial Majesty, with all the most horrible paths *in the. Arab vocabulary. The Emperor,. who does not understand :a: single word of Arabici but saw ; that the man waa laboring under a misapprehension, endeayored in vain to explain: to-him that the coin was gold arid not copper. In the meantime other donkey drivers hurried to the spot, and t^iftg the part pf their male; followed the Emperor with, a §tor,m of imprecations. Thus surrounded by a mob of donkeys and their drivers, the hapless, Dora Pedro..at last reached his hotel, where, the whole affair was explained, and .the donkey drivers, discovering the true state of the ease, miraculously disappeared in the twinkling of an eye. .

(FEOM AMERICAN PAPEBS).

THE FftANCO-GER^AIT PIFFI- , -oulty. - •

■London, January 22.-t-A dispatch from' Paris says: The recent hostile utterance 3 of the German pfress have caused a very serious impression here. ,The French journals adyppate a strict attitude of -noninterference in regard to foreign affairs. They deny that any extraordinary measurea.6f army organization are on foot.

The Standard's Paris dispatch says «,— The recent killing of a jjrprinan sailor by some French seamen at Smyrna is un.duly magnified by the German press into an

international difficulty. The French Government has ordered inquiry and will give evci'3 7 satisfaeti.n. The affair was the result of a drunken brawl.

CARDINALS TO Bfi NO.UINATED. London, January' 22.—A telegram, to the Dail}' News from .h'oiuo says the Pope has privately notified four Italian, two French, two Spanish, and two Austrian ecclesiastics that they are to he nominated Cardinals at the next Consistory. ' ' •■'.';