Miscellaneous.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2882, 11 May 1878, Page 3

Miscellaneous.

The wedding cake which stood on the breakfast table at the marriage party of Lord Bosebery was built in three tiers, and weighed about 1 cwt. The lowest tier was wreathed with flowers and adorned with birds beautifully modelled; the second was decorated with medallions of silk painted with orange blossoms and cornucopias; the third tier was festooned flowers. Each tier had an ornamental gallery of sugar-work, and the top was surmounted with a rase of flowers. The Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says;—" The French and English Governments have agreed on joint intervention in the affairs of Egypt. Both Governments have not only addresHed strong remonstrances to the Eehdive, but both have also offered to send out officials to' conduct an inquiry into the finances of the country. Such an inquiry, to be effective, must of necessity take cognisance of the administration, and the consideration of this subject may lead far; indeed, it is now evident; as I have said all along, that France is anxious to make a move in conjunction with England, in order that the latter Power shall not take the law in her own hands. I understand that England has offered the services of Mr Baring or of Mr Rivers Wilson. I hear also that Austria has evinced some solicitude about Egypt am affairs, and it is probable that the entire question of the management of the Khedive's business may thus come under the consideration of the Conference." A terrible accident happened on Feb. 24, in the Grand Boulevard dcs Capucines, Paris. The lift of a staircase having lost its balance by the fracture of the chain, bounded up with fearful velocity, crushing against the roof three persons inside it, and very seriously injuring the fourth. •Among the three persons killed was a Russian lady who was living on the secend floor, and who was ascending by the lift while her husband preceded her by the stairs. He had arrived on the second floor, and was waiting for her when the lift shot up past him like an arrow. Prince Orloff, on being 7 informed of what had happened, hastened to pay a visit of condolence to his unhappy countryman. Of the other victims, one was a Frenchman staying at the hotel, and the remainder were attendants.

An artillery officer and six men were trying to uproot an old horse-chestnut tree with dynamite in the public promenade at Parms, when, owing to the officer's carelessness, an explosion ensued, killing six persons^ and wounding sixty-three. Among the killed are the officer, two soldiers, and two children^ Among the seriously wounded are four noblemen and several gentlemen who were out for their afternoon walk, and attracted to the spot from curiosity to see the experiment. Some of them are not expected to survive. . . ■

Official returns that the Russian losses in killed and wounded during the late war amounted to 89,304 officers and men. Among these were ten generals killed and eleven wounded. One Prince of the Imperial family and thirty-four members of the higher .nobility of Russia fell on the field of battle. Of the wounded, 36,824 are already perfectly recovered, and 10,000 more will, at is expected, be able to leave the hospitals during the next few weeks. 121 men were prisoners in the hands of the Turks when the armistice was concluded. The proportion of killed and wounded to the total number engaged was very large; one but 6f every six men who went into action being either injured or left dead on the field of battle. In the great actions of the. late Franco-German war the proportion of killed and wounded to men engaged was nearly the same; being one-sixth in the battles of Worth and Spicheren, and one-eighth in the battle of Vionville or Mars-la-Tour. At At G-ravelotte the proportion was only one-eleventh, and at - Wissemberg onetwelfth. In some of the earlier battles of .the present century, however, the losses were far heavier in proportion. to the number engaged ; amounting to one-third of the entire forces engaged at Salamanca, Borodina, and Eylau, to one-fourth at Marengp, and to one-fifth at Friedland. Further, the returns show that one out of every eleven wounded men received into the Russian hospitals died from the effects of the injuries received. During the •whole campaign, it is added, only two men were punished with death; one for i&Bj crime of desertion, the other for robbery accompanied with violence. On the other hand, 20,000 rewards were given in, the form of decorations, promotions, or awards of money; the Bth corps, which to long held and defended the Schipka Pass, receiving the greatest proportion. On "March 2 King Humbert was presented with the Order of the Garter by the Duke, of Abercorn with great ceremony. The Duke in handing to the King the insignia of»the Order, said that Queen Victoria had charged him to give expression to the feelings of most sincere friendship entertained by Her Majesty towards the King of Italy. " The Queen," the Duke said, " added that these sentiments were rendered the niore heartfelt by the precious remembrance which she should ever preserve of the great king, your illustrious father, who was also a Knight of the Garter, and who, as the first King of Italy, was enabled, by his enlightened mind, by the nobleness of his purpose, and the loyalty of his character to make himself immortal in the hearts of the Italian people and to draw upon himself the admiration of the civilised world." King Humbert, in reply, said that the mission which the Queen had confided to his grace, as well as the sentiments which he had expressed in her name, were for himself, for his Queen, and for his family, a source of just pride and heartful emotion, fiis'Majesty. added :-r-" The bonds of mutual friendship and confidence which attach me to your gracious Sovereign and unite our respective, States possess the most solid foundation in the traditions of

our houses and the history of our peoples, whose mutual sympathies have^ never for a single moment been checked." A correspondent, writing from Amelie les Bains, says:—A very singular bluuder was cotnmittecl the other day by the officials of a railway station between Perpignan and Toulon. A gentleman who had been spending the winter here with his family, left last week for Marseilles ; taking with him the body of his mother-in-law, who died six weeks ago, and who had expressed a wish to be buried in the family vault at Marseilles. When he reached Marseilles and went with the Commissioner of police—whose presence ■is required upon the^e occasions— to ireceive the body from the railway officials, he noticed to his great surprise that the coffin was of a different shape and construction from Jhat which he had brought away from here. It turned out on further enquiry that a mistake had been committed by the officials, who had sent on to Toulon the coffin containing his mother in-laws body, believing that it held the remains of a deceased admiral, which were to be erabarked for interment in Algeria, while the coffin awaiting delivery was the one which should have been sent on. The gentleman, who was-placed in this awkward predicament, having, requested the railway officials to communicate at once with Toulon by telegraph, proceeded thither himself with the coffin of the admiral, but the intimation had arrived too late. He ascertained when he got there that the coffin had been duly received,takenon board, amid " the thunder of fort and of fleet," the State vessel which was waiting for it, and despatched to. Algeria. , He at once called upon the maritime prefect of Toulon and explained the circumstances of the case, but though a despatch-boat was sent in pursuit, the othe.r vessel was not overtaken. He is" now at Toulon awaiting her return, and I believe that he declines to give up the coffin containing the deceased admiral until he regains possession of his mother-in-law's remains.

A most extraordinary scene occurred at St. Paul's Church, Clapham, during morning service on Sunday, Feb; 24 The Rev. Mr Batson officiated in the temporary absence of the vicar. During the earlier part of the service his wi!d and eccentric manner was noticed by the congregation, but as he proceeded if'was more and more marked. The first psalm for the day he read in a loud and excited tone, and when he came.to the verse, "The pains of hell get hold upon me, I shall find trouble and heaviness, and I.will call upon the name of the Lord," he suddenly stopped short, glared wildly at the congregation, and throwing his arms around his head, shouted again and again, " I will call on Him. les, by heaven, I will!" The congregation were greatly alarmed, the ladies present ran to the doors, while several gentlemen ran and secured Mr Batson in the reading .desk. Several ladies screamed and fainted. He however, made such desperate struggles to get away that it took eight persons, to hold him down, while at the same time he kept shouting out, "I will, I will call on His name. I will. O Lord,- deliver me ! " A doctor arrived, and Mr Batson, who had new become very weak, was taken home; The reverend gentleman, on entering the vestry in the morning, told the sexton he had not slept for four nights, and seemed unusually haggard and excited. He has, it is believed, been studying lately for. an examination, and so overworked his brain. A few days after the above sad affair, the reverend gentleman jumped from a window at his residence, and received some severe injuries. He was at once conveyed to a private lunatic asylum, where he died last week.

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