EXTRACTS.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 344, 7 September 1868, Page 2

EXTRACTS.

An Innocent Man Lynched.—An American paper mentions an instance in which lynch law has miscarried in the State of lowa. A vigilance committee took upon itself to hang one Mr Boberts, a supposed horse thief, between Jonesville andWaverley. It subsequently turned out that the horses alleged to have been stolen had not been stolen at all, but had only been " borrowed" by two tipsy men, who had ridden them as far as Cedar Falls, and had then turned them loose. Warrants have been takeu out against the perpetrators of this murder, one oi whom is said to be the sub-sheriff of the county; but a wealthy and influential party has declared itself in favor of lynch law and its administrators, on the constitutional principle that authority must be supported, even at the cost of the life of an innocent man. The Empress Charlotte.—The following interesting details are given of the state of the Empress Charlotte's health, which is represented as in a much-improved condition:—The Empress now has periods of perfect lucidity, during which she is painfully conscious of her afflictions, and aware of the state of her mind. Attacks of lunacy come on immediately after eating, and so well aware is she of this, that she withdraws into complete solitude in the hope of thus escaping observation. When she dines with her-sister-in-law, the Queen, and the youthful bride the Countess of Flanders is at table, the Empress refuses to partake of Jany food lest the attack should come on in presence of the Countess, who has but lately become part of the family. The Empress has lately written to several friends in Paris who once formed part of her household. In her letter she speaks of her husband, and of her adoration or his heroic death. She has besides sent to them photographs of a picture drawn by her self, representing the Emperor Maximilian in the costume

of a sailor, grasping the Mexican flag whilst sinking on a shipwrecked vessel. On the reverse, she has translated into Spanish the Gospel read at Miramar during the last mass at whieh she and her hushaud were present before sailing on their fatal expedition. Shocking Accident.—A lamentable accident occurred on Tuesday at Farmwellgate Moor Colliery, Durham. It appears that when dinner hour arrived, a lad named Jonathan Briggs entered the engine-room of the colliery, where Septimus Turnbull, the engineman, was getting his dinner. As the lad came in, Turnbull observed that the belt of the screening machinery was not working right, aud he told Briggs to try and put it right. Briggs went to the belt, and endeavored to rectify it, but before he could do so, the cog wheel caught a portion of his jacket sleeve, and dragged him in among the revolving machinery. The boy screamed out when caught by the machinery and Turnbull, seeing his position, sprang to his assistance. He stumbled and fell, however, as he got to the unfortunate lad, and the fly-wheel, which was making forty revolutions per minute, striking him upon the head, killed him instantaneously, his head and shoulders being also dragged in among the machinery. The impediment of the two bodies brought the machinery to a standstill aud as quickly as possible the poor fellows were extricated, tliey presented a shocking sight. Briggs had his ri°-ht arm severely mangled, while his leg was nearly severed from his body. The chief seat of his injuries appeared to be his bowels, which were protruding from the effects of the excessive pressure they had been subject to. Notwithstanding this, he still lived, and when rescued continued to utter the most piteous cries. Turnbull's injuries were also extensive, but were confined chiefly to the head, the blow which ended his life having been apparently delivered by the fly-wheel across the back of the skull. The injured lad expired during the afternoon. An Earthquake at Sea.—Those who arrived on the ship Rose of Australia, from Newcastle, New South "Wales, which arrived at San Francisco, on 27th June, report, that shortly after passing between Curtis and Macauley Islands, of the Kermadec group, in latitude 30 degrees south, longitude 179 degrees east, they experienced a severe shock of an earthquake, which lasted about four seconds and was accompanied by a low rumbling sound. Those on board thought the vessel had grounded. Another, but slight shock was felt about seven hours after the first.

Impohtakt Gold Discovery at the Society Islands. —By the arrival of the schooner Kate Grant after a long cruise among the islands, we learn that a very valuable discovery of gold has been made at Bapa, one of the Society Islands. A large number of Europeans are already on the diggings, and it is said are doing well. One person had found a nugget of solid gold, which weighed nearly one pound. Captain Heymet informs us that coal has also been found at the Society nroup.— New Zealand Herald.

Bishop Selwyn attended at the village of Cubar, England, to consecrate a new church. In responding to hi health at a luncheon which (subsequently took place, his Lordship, referring to the work that called them together that day, expressed a hope that they would not cease in their endeavors in connection with this church until schoolrooms and a parsonage had been also erected. Let them on no account have a bazaar. He thought that was a very unmanly way of raising money. The meanest thing men could do was to throw work on the women. He said that advisedly, because having lived 25 years among savages he recognised that their distinguishing mark was to make women do the work of men. That was the system on which bazaars were held. He hoped they would complete their endeavors by direct taxation, not indirect. "When he returned from New Zealand he hopedhe should find tbatthe remainder of the money necessary for the schools and parsonage had been raised. But his last words were, " Dont have a Bazaar." From the last census taken m Pans and London, a French contemporary publishes the following : —Paris occupies seven millions of hectares, and contains two millions of inhabitants and fifty thousand houses. London covers thirty-one millions of hectares, and about three millions of inhabitants and three hundred and sixty thousand houses. The population in Paris averages forty per house, and that of London eight. Most of the houses in Paris range from four to five stories, while in London they are chiefly only two stories high.