The Aberdare Times

July 7, the Royal Assent was given Municipal Corporation (Evl erce) les (Loans) Bill, the Vagrant Law rs Bill, and a number of private were the Lord Chancellor, the Earl 3;ssborough. 31ey asked theunder-,gecretary of nent whether arrangements might ilemen who had qualified for direct ght have to wait for appointments, ttu. y at Sandhurst. He pointed parsing a stiff and open examina- learned their duty were sent back ttady. rne said delays seldom occurred, It was in a high degree improbable 1 have time to complete the course the interim. leemed'the new system had an un- B officers and upon discipline. vlrg for an Address pi ay lug the iS>under which men were induced Reserve Force from 18 8 to 1872 rospt ctively, as proposed by a War- ril, 1873, observed that those men btainea only-a bounty of iC5 instead ered they were entitled óhat since he last answered a ques- d submitted the documents for the :ellor, and the result was that those j66. ch expressed satisfaction at this oway then withdrew h;s motion. 11 the Second Rfadicc: of the Preven- ible Funds Bill, not with the view vith the measure in the present it might be circulated through the is; but on Lord Salisbury ana the rarious very forcible objections to I eventually withdrawn. on Bill, and the Slave Tra d(East ving for its object to regulate and i matters connected with the Slave iralty Court at Aden, and of the eatles with the Sovereigns of Zin- jascar, and under future treaties, lldatlon) Bill was also read a second iness having been disposed of, the mons, In reply to Vicount Sandon, L-vernment had thensual knowledge by the archbishops its to confession which they had seen in the Dews- 'od report of the Commission on Lolken into consideration any mea- heir duty to submit to Parliament 4ht the principle of giving protec- ainst the alteration of the ritual sers. notice that at the beginning of next the Government did so, bring In a inexpensive rf medy against the in- ntrary to the law of the Church. opportunity of a question addressed u to the prospects of the Bank of ke the first step towards clearing uainttss which it is not intended to rbe following bills are withdrawn- Notes, "Brade Marks' Registration, ding Societies (No. 8), Fisheiies(Ire- ana Consolidated Rate Bills. Mr. uildirig Societies Bill. Questioned as Gladstone said that Mr. Stuufeld is ihortly announce what course he it was fixed for Mr. Bouverie's shools, if after the meeting of the i Mr. Bouverie still finds it neces Mr. Gladstone declined to find a the Bab:t tal Drunkards Bill, or for to the relations of Landlord and other engagements and other bills, a decision until the Judicature Bill littee; and when Mr Forster made es about the Education Bill, there draw." nket's motion, carried on Friday ounoed that a Departmental C im- 1 to inquire into the emoluments, of service of the Civil Servants in Into C mmittee on the Judicature consideration of Mr. Harcourt's to Vacations, on which progress 1. After a long conversation the to provide In the following Clause ndon or Middlesex of any cause the Vacation which may be at any changes made in the with the corsent of the Lord his concession Mr. Harcourt ent, and Clauses Y4 and 25 as d to. In the next Cltuse, 26, relat- yilliams moved an Amendment de- onl of law, or mixed law and fact, tmt he did not press it on being -General that it was not intended Banco on Circuit. On the next sed the question of Provincial elude Lancashire in the provision or continuous sittings In Middle- Attorney Gener-1 admitted the lot, and his own leaning towards nexpedlency of raising it now, and hdrew his Amendment. O. Clause lvisions of the High Court of Justice, y 48 to 13 in an endeavour to give ench Division precedence over the Mr. C. Lewis failed by 65 to 20 to the Courts and to distinguish them Division, and so on. )\vcr to alter Divisions by order of newh^t warm conversation on the i Mr. H. James, Mr. Amphlett, and sduced too low, and JIlr. 0 Morgan mernl of playing "fast and loose Lately the Clause was amended so der altering the Divisions shall re- 1 number oi Judges. ilgns business to particular Divisions mendment moved by the Attorney- inkruptcy Bufiness from the Chan- )ivhlon, gave rise to much opposi- hlett, Dr. Ball, and Mr. U. James before midnight. Mr. West moved which the Government concurred, lers resisted it, pointing out tb»t le controversy would be renewed, taken part in it would be DtCeS- sion the motion to report progress and the Attorney-General then un- bould not be brought on to-day. es Bill was read a second time, and been disposed of, the House ad- io two o'clock.

Lofds, July 8, Earl Granville proceeded, ie first older of the day, to address a few lIe with reference to a notice standing on l Cairns with respect to the Judlcatute Bill. had always understood from the highest "■cant with the practice of the Honse of *as sot customary to give such a notice as in th*t House, and he thought it could not practice of their lordships' House. Mosted tilat the noble lord should have at he had ti say about the notice before he and assumed' that he (Lord Caitns) was out said he had ascertained the point from undoubted right .Q tell him. and when the It was an Insult to their lordships' Hou$e toville) should ascertain the fact, it showed nohie lord was In to fljake the slightest Int put to him. an dropped. Commons, Mr. Wballey askefl the Secre. the Home Department, with refeTence to 'oaecution, whether be had taken any steps atf,ct and punish the author of the Itftttrs flrse of the petding trial, bad been recop- rt a. forgerje". And whether It was the fact ad been brought to London to Identify the being Roger Tichborne, and that on such **8 to give evidence to that effect, they had and their expenses paid. hope my hon. friend will acquit me of any to him if I altogether decline to *°**» I do not pmom to caayaw notlves of my hon. friend, but it is clear that the tions is to Influence the ttial now pending by imputing to the Government misconduct in the of the pro- secution. My hon. friend must excuse me U I decline in any way to contribute to that object. (Hear, hear.) The House then went into committee on the Supreme Court of Judicature Bill.

WHAT ARE WE WITHOUT COAL? The Times has the following leader on the proceedings of the Coal Committee of thd House of Commons Coal will never again be so cheap as it was two years ago." Such is the unanimous voice of the wit- nesses examined before the Coal Committee. It sounds like a note of warning, and tells of dear labour, dear iron, dear gas, and dear manu- facture of decadence, difficulty, class movements, shifting of burdens, and all that well-to-do, peace- loving men eigh to think of. But everything conspires to this result, even though over-pro- duction may lead to comparative and tt-mpo- rary cheapness. Amid a considerable diversity of opinion expressed before the Committee, generally traceable to local experience, the consent is great, and the conclusions are natural and intelligible. For several years there has been a steady increase in the out-put of Coal, stimulated by an increasing de- mand. The increase in the three years 1870, 1871, 1872, was respectively three, seven, and six millions. In the last two vears the exportation was respectively 12,748,000 tons and 13,212,000. The importance of these figures appears by comparison with the total out-put, which was last year 123.386,758 tons. Here is a sufficient account of the rise in prices-suiffcient, that is to say, so far as regards the predisposing cause, which is the true cause. A demand and a pro- duction rising annually five per cent., with the whole world for a customer, and the supply from a limited area, a limited population, and a still more limited class of workmen, could not but raise the prices. This I was sure to be the result soon or late, and could only be deferred to come in a heap, so to say. Little was wanted to start the upward movement. The men, finding pressure put upon tnem, maae new ana larger combinations, with a view to more wages and less work. As prices rose, they asked their share. Then came Parliament with its humane interference, regu- lating the employment of boys, the qualification of the managers, the safety and the ventilation of mines. It now appears that fourpence or sixpence a ton is the utmost that can be set down to this cause. But the masters were justified, they thought, in laying this tax on the humane public, and, as usual, they did so with interest. All at once prices jumped up three shillings a ton. Then came a panic. Strikes, foreign de- mand, and the increasing consumption by the iron trade, legislation, the alarming statistics of the Coal Fields, and our prosperity, which was in everybody's mouth, all contributed to the result. The public began, as they are doing now, to lay in stocks, and over- whelmed the dealers with orders. This was to throw everything into the hands of the Coal merchants, the Coalmasters, the pitmen, and the .Railway Companies. Though these did not all quite pull together, yet one thing they did which answered the purpose of all. They doubled the price of C6aL There are several aspects of the question-the in- dustrial, the domestic, the commercial and the public interest, ineluding that of our remote posterity. The industrial is that which has been laterly most before the public. Including all classes, whether in the pit or at the pit's mouth, about four hundred thousand persons are employed in the production of CoaL We may thus set down a ton a week day to the work of every person employed in any capacity whatever. This is the population which has managed to double the price of its commodity in the open market to the rest of the public. The truth is the entire public depend upon it more or le-s, and are to that extent at its mercy. The whole world assists us in the supply of Corn and in the demand for Coal. We have deposed the former from its supremacy as the standard of values only to find ourselves bound hand and foot to the latter. It appears, too, on the evidence given to the Committee, that our new lords and misters, the pitmen, cannot be rapidly or much increased. It takes a whole life for a miner to be- come a real adept at holing," which is the mostdiffi- cultpartof this woik. It takes severalyearsfor a labourer to learn hewing, and even then he cannot do it as well as if he had learnt from a boy. Machinery may economize, but it will not much increase the work done, and will require great skill. Legal difficulties regard- ing the rights of way above and below stand in the way of drainage, and at this moment are answerable for the flooding of pits which would otherwise j ield a million and a half tons a year. It usually takes years to sink a new pit. Throughout England generally the masters and men have not yet arrived at any plan or principle for settling their differences, except by the rumour process of "strikes In the North they can and do confer to some purpose by means of their re- spective associations but elsewhere the Coal-masters resent the interference of outsiders too strongly for an easy settlement of pending questions. Finally, it appears to be taken for granted that all will come to the double shift system at last, and that it will be costly to the employers by diminishing each man s working time. The miners themselves do not see it in this light. What they fear is that more Coal means cheap Coal and low wages. They have always observed the two latter go together, and they are slow to believe in an increasing demand. The witnesses are of opiuion that the demand will increase so as to sustain the price of Coal, whatever the system or regulations of the em- ployment. It will, too, be very lorg indeed before double shIrt means twice the number of men. The men are not to be got. When they are got they learn their business slowly, and very few can ever acquire at all the knowledge and skill necessary to direct the masB of the men. The public has entirely dismissed from its thoughts the prospect of entire Coal exhaustion at the end of the present millennium, or earlier, that it now thinks only of cheapness and plenty. It wants the goose to go on laying the golden egg, even though the process cannot last for ever. The last thing it thinks of is the underground Bank on which our great grandchildren are to draw checks when our acres on the surface are too few for our population, or are exhausted. So we are inquiring whether the various classes concerned in the production and Bale of Coal are not unwise in check- ing consumption by their extortionate demands. Coal- masters and pitmen depend on manufacture and tiade, and they are frightening it away. Our Continental neighbours, and still more those across the Atlantic, are taking advantage of the increased costs we are at by our Coal dearth, and are beating us out of their markets. Just now, indeed, the case cannot be very hard, for both France and Belgium find themselves obliged to come to us for Coal. But, no doubt, many manufacturers must be largely affected by the rise of 100 per cent. in the chief and most indis- pensable element of production. It is Coal that pays our debt; Coal that sustains our credit; Coal that speeds our commerce Coal that rules the waves; Coal that holds together all this scattered people and this divided Empire. What are we without Coal ? All the distant fears that lately haunted us as to the future of England have given way to the more real and sensible apprehension affecting the present generation. Next to no Coal at all, dear Coal is the greatest ill that can befall us. It is not merely that the British hearth depends on the pit, and that the Englishman's castle would be a very cold and cheerless one without this substitute for the log and the fagot; but industry itselt threatens to flag for want of the genial aid. A little economy or common-sense may help us out of our trouble in our own houses, and teach us that to waste not is to want not; but what is to be done with the workshop, the forge, and the mid? Here is all this forest of tall chimney stalks. Will it ever cease to offer up its dark and daily incense of honest, though not always grateful, industry? We have not yet come to that. Such changes are, happily, gradual.

AUSTRALIA AND THE INTERNA- TIONAL EXHIBITION. Visitors to the International Exhibition will this week find an important and highly interesting addition to it in the shape of the Australian annexe. Last winter the Victorian Exhibition was held, under a Royal Commission, at Melbourne, and from that col- lection specimens illustrative of the arts, industry, and physical features of the colonies have been gathered together and brought to South Kensington, under the intelligent direction of Mr. Jjevey, the Secretary to the Royal Commissions for Victoria. The annexe is of goodly proportions, forming an exhibition of itself. The walls are enriched with choice photographs, bringing to our very doors all the famous towns and scenery of the antipodes, thus enabling us the more readily to comprehend the industrial and natural advantages they enjoy. The three oolonits have each an apartment of its own where the rich products of the earth are plentifully displayed, not omitting the curious looking quarts and models of great historic nuzgets. Here we have unmistakable evidence that Australia can supply us with other products quite as useful as wool or gold. Wine and fruit she, perhaps, prefers to keep for home consumption, but she recently sent over Bome rich cargoes of wheat, and it is said Northamptonshire indus- tries are beginning to discover there is nothing like Aus- tralian leather. In pickles and preserves she mav some day compete in the English markets, while the United States must look to it or Australia may be upon their heels in the matter of-cheese and bacon. These will, doubtless, be some of the reflections following a visit to the annexe. Many will already have become familiar with the sight, if not the taste, of Australian meat, and they will be glad to learn when at the Exhibition that Mr. James Harrison, an enterprising Australian g ntleman, is now on his way to this country to arrange for the transport to our shores of the veritable Australian joint, without being first boiled up and compressed into tin cans. At the Victorian Exhibition he exhibited fresh meat frozen and packed as if for a voyage, so that tha refrigerating process may be continued for any required period and the catalogue adds, by this process the hold of a ship can be filled with the careves of sheep and cattle, which are frozen in the act of being stowed. The expense of freezing 500 to s before starting will be £ 100 and of keeping the cargo in a freezing state during a voyage of three months £ 75, or 7s. per ton in all.

PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. The annual general meeting of friends of the Roval Society for the Prevemioo of Cruelty to Animals wa lld in Lonln on Monday, under the presidency of the Earl of Harrowby, who was mppo:ru*d by the Duke and Duchess of Teck Lady Burdett-Coutts, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, Bishop Ryan, bir Walter Stirling, Archdeacon Fearon, the Rev. IVeDen dary Jackson, Colonel Higgins, Captain Rogers, r. Fraeer, and othere. i Mr. Colam, the secretary read a lengthy report de- tailing the work of the society during the past year in the United Kingdom, on the Continent, and in the Uuited States, all of which had been of the most satis- factory nature. In June next, the 50th year of the society's existence would be celebrated by a Coneresa in London, at which representatives from all parts of the civil zed world would be present. The work and objects of the society bad been laid before the Shah of Persia and the Japanese Ambassadors during their recent visits, and appeared to be highly appreciated bv them. The prosecutions instituted by the society in England during the pa..t year had resulted in 1.508 convictions, of which 1,232 had been for cruelty tohorees. Of the per- aona thus convicted 110 had been punished with im- prisonment and 1,396 by fines. The report referred to the cruelty practised upon the horses employed in the Commissariat Department at the Autumn Manwurres, and notice had this year been given to the War Office that the officers of the so ;iety would prosecute all cases ,.f cruelty which came under their notice. The ciuelty inflicted upon cattle and other animals on their transit by railway and steamboats was also engaging the at teution of the society. rho report concludes wihh reference to the great services of the Ladies' Com- mittee, under the direction of Lady Burdett-Coutts, in the cause of humanity. The financial statement showed the total income for the year. including the balance of £1,400, to have been j5995218s. 5d, and the expenditure, including £1,000 invested, jE9,632 15:i. A legacy of R10 000 has been received from the late Mr. Thomas Holme, and has been invested, making the total sum invested £3:1,000. The chairman paid in past years he had felt it his duty at these annual meetings to speak at some length upon the great value and importance of the society, but he cjnsidered the time had now arrived when no pleading on his part was required. Public opinion in this country entirely endorsed the objects of the society, and the feeling in its favour till over the civilized world war rapidly growing. He hoped the Legislature would take measures for the abolition of private slaughter- housef. Archdeacon Fearon, on moving the adoption of the report, said it was qui, e refreshing to him as a clergy- man to attend a public meeting which had nothing to discuss about Church rubrics, but was held in the in- terests of humanity. Mr. Mocatta seconded the resolu- tion, which was agreed to. The Duchess of Teck, as- sisted by Lady Burdett-Coutts, then proceeded to dis- tribute prizes, in the shape of suitable books, testimonials on vellum, &c., to 360 boys and girls, con- nected with as many metropolitan schools, for the best essays written by scholars in such schools On the Duty of Kindness to animals." The distribution occupied about an hour. The Bishop of Giocester moved a vote of thanks to the Duchess of Teck for her kindness in attending the meeting to present the prizes. The.Duke of Teck briefly acknowledged the vote.

THE EMPEROR WILLIAM'S HEALTH. The most, as well as the worst, that can be said about the Emperor's health (writes a Berlin correspon- dent) is that he is reaching an age at which his friends muse be prepared for any event. The rumours about his dangerous illness are unfounded. He is living quietly at Potsdam, and performing with great punctuality his accustomed work; and he hopes early in July to go to Ems. It is not generally known, but it is true, that he fainted in his apart- ments at Bahelsberg some two weeks since, and though he is fully recovered in body, his mind seems to have suffered a shock, of which traces now and then ap- pear. He is less patient with his friends. He is keenly irritated at slight disappointments, especially in public affairs, and he shows in other ways the growing nervous- ness peculiar to old age. This is the substance of what may be said about the case. A regency is hardly yet a political possibility. Tbementionof sucha-scheme would not be tolerated by the Emperor, and might accelerate a crisis in his condition. But the most aignincitn. proof that Prince Bismnk does not mean to be taken by surprise is the fact, now beyond dispute, that he has made his peace with the Crown Prince. The overtures came from the Chancellor himself. The appointment of Count Munster, a personal friend of the Crown Prince, as Ambassador to England, was interpreted at the time as a concession to the necessities of the situation and it is possible that, with a view to flattering his future master, the Prince may have suggested, in his suave manner, that in certain contingencies it might be expedient to appoint a regent, &c. That the rumour about a regency never had any more substantial basis, the correspondent is convinced.

MR. LOWE ON THE CIVIL SERVICE. On Thursday, in last week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was examined before the Select Committee of the House of Commons inquiring into the Civil Service expenditure. Mr. Childers occupied the chair. In reply to questions put by the Chairman, Mr. Lowe said that when the Government proceeded, in 1869, to supply the departments with clerks on the competitive principle, and generally to see how economy could be promoted in the Civil Service, th«y had to drive a hud bargain with the Board of Trade, which wanted an addition of 45fi. st-class clerks, and to raise the salaries of the chiefs; for instance, Mr. Farrer, the permanent secretary of the Board of Trade, wanted RSW a year added to his salary, which the Treasury reduced to JE300, and his opinion was that there was no necessity for even that addition. The Treasury was met fairly by the Colonial ald the Local Government Board De- partments, and on the whole satisfactory arrangements wer* made with the other Departments The number of 45 first-cla-s clerks asked for by the Board of Trade was reduced with great difficulty to 25. It was suggested that the principle of competition should be applied, so as to allow the second class to get into the first class, by doing away with the limit °f age. What is your opinion? Mr, Lowe When a clerk accepts a position in the second class he ought to be content to learn his busi- ness, and not be encourged to take up his time to get higher. I am not a fanatical admirer of competition. It does not give you all you want or secure that a man is fit for the place, but it is better than having no test at all, and you can go back to his examination to find some of his merits. We are tending more to uni- formity in ability. You are not favourable to the abolition of super- annuation ?-I think superannuation is a good institu- tion. We get men young, weteach them their business, and thf-y became very valuable, and by superannua- tion we retain their services. If we had not superan- nuation, we would get persons whs would be carrying their talents elsewhere. Superannuation, therefore, was extremely economical. By Sir Stafford Northcote The object of the Go. veroment in introducing competition was to do away with the mischief of patronage and to improve the public service generally. It gave a great stimulus to the working classes by placing a large number of re- wards within their reach. You did not make an idol of competition ?—I was in the position of a General of a Division, when told to go to a particular place His business was to do it, and not consider whether it was good or not. You might introduce competition between the two classes?—I think it would fail, for the moment you substitute examination for lising you substitute an inferior for a superior test. Personal knowledge is better than anything else. You don't propose competition for rising ?—No it has been proposed. Having been admitted into the office a clerk's future promotion t-hould be according to the judgment of his superiors as to his merits as tested by his work ?—Yes. So far as the internal work of the department is con- cerned, it is not of much cons quence wh ther a clerk has a good classical education or is a good mathe- matician • but as far as knowl< dge of the world is con- cerned you ought to have some whose associations be- long to the clat-8 with whom .hey have to deal. The Treasury would Buffer if they had not men with the best education competent to converse prope ly with gentlemen from all parts of the country in fact, the public s-rvice would suffer without them. In the Board of Trade I would only have one class, and that the lowest. Have you seen the scheme prepared by Mr. Farrer and Mr. Lefevre?—Which do you refer to? The Board of Trade has always made now schemes; I don't know how many but if you refer to a document in 1869 sent to the treasury, when the Goverment pledged themselves to introduce competition, I can only say that was a confidential document handed in to thtm. Have you heard that greater economy would be effected by that scheme than the one proposed by the Government ? —I shall rather pws by that. I think that gentlemea in the position of Mr. Ferrer, who ec- enpies a position of great trut-fand confidence, have a perfect right to form any opinion as to the steps taken v by the Government under which they serve. They have an absolute right, and it is their duty, to com- municate with the heads of Departments so long as the matter is under consideration; but when the act is once done and become the act of the Government, I hold it objectionable to make charges out of materials got in the confidential position wh eh they occupy. For that reason I would rather that the Committee dispensed with my evidence on that. I do not wish to countenance this irreguia. r proceeding. The room was then cleared for the Committee to consider what course to adopt. On Mr. Lowe being recalled into the room, The Chairman said the Committee had excluded the confidential correspondence that passed between Mr. Farrer and Mr. Lefevre, but the paper of 1869 had been made an official document, and the Commit ee thought Mr. Farrer should give them the history of the arrangements and discussions which passed previous to the Bteps taken in 1869. The Committeee had had it before them that the scheme approved by the Govern- ment was less economical than that desired by the Board of Trade, and the Committee were anxious to know if Mr. Lowe would favour them with his views on the matter. Mr. Lowe: The only way to do that would be to lay the whole correspondence before the Committee. I am unable to give an abstract, but I will answer any questions. By Sir Stafford Northcote I understand the main points objected to by the Board of Trade in their scheme were that it involved the creation of a distinc- tion between two classes of established clerks and con- sequent raising of the salaries ?-They insisted upon the raising of the salaries, and they put a larize number of clerks in the first division who had no business there. Is it desirable as a general principle that young men in this upper class should begin with j3200 a year ?— Ye*, I think it is. because we are competing with Fellowships at the University, and you get better men; and it is much better to raise their salaries rather slowly. Do you think that the system of paying the writers at so much an hour without any hope of promotion is one calculated to produce good work?—You don't want good work. You want copyists who can do a little arithmetic. If we wanted anything more from them, we should have them in the establishmeuts. Would not there be an improvement in the writing if you told a man to write well and bis pay would be increased from lOd. to 12d. per hour ?—He ought not to have anything at all if be does not write well, and it does not signify if he writes a little better than welL It is merely mechanical work. We can get plenty of writers, and we won't give more than the market price of the labour. Do you consider that reorganizations of this kind are conducted by the Treasury or the Departments, or by the Treasury in correspondence with theDepartments ?— I do not know how it could be done otherwise than by the joint action of the Treasury and the Department. By Mr. White Your opinion is that the greater part of the public servants should be in the second category ?—Yes, Speaking about reorganization you said that you had to negotiate and make terms with the heads of "Depart- ments as you best could 1- Y.I. Has not the Treasury, as holding the purse-strings of the nation, a controlling power over all the Depart- ments of the Government?—No; but the Treasury has control in this way. If they come to me for an in- crease of expenditure, I refuse it. (A laugh.) But, in all other respects, I have no power except with the consent of the Department. No statutory power to compel* reduction in any public department ?—No I can refuse an increase, but 1 nave no power to reduce anything. When a thing has once got upon the Estimates there is no power to take it off. he Chairman We can prevent its coming on the L-*timates in the first instance, but cannot deal with it when once it is there. We cannot force a De- par ment to withdraw anything. By Mr. Wnite: It not that a serious defect in the power of the Treasury 1- We are not a governing power, and we are only one Department side by side with others, and we have very limited power. It is more the effect of moral suasion than any power. But is not it absolutely necessary that there should be in some Department the power to regulate and control the expenditure of the Departments ?—I don't know that so much power should be intrusted to one Department. We are all equal in power; but are often pointed at for not doing that which we have no power to do. Then it is a popular delusion that the Treasury exercises a direct or habitual control over the expendi- ture of the different Departments ?—I don't know that it is popular, but it is a delusion. (Laughter.) By Mr. Hermon: The highest clerks have very large salaries?—They work very hard. Do they ever get any overtime?—No; they fre- quently take the work home. They would never get it done otherwise. Is there no fear of anything being divulged for instance, no commercial firm would allow a clerk to take away the ledger?—Tae whole business of the secretaries is carried on by the circulation of boxes, and there is no fear of anything being divulged. If they did not take the work home to get a little quiet, they would never get through it. By Mr. Vernon Harcourt: The scheme at present adopted would prevent the clerks ever reaching the highest point in the office ?—Yes. His your attention been called to the evidence of ]"r* Farrer, who states that the most efficient people in the Board of Trade entered at 15s. per week ?—Y es. It has been bought very dearly. It is the result of the uniform system of rising by seniority. Though you may have some good men, you have others very inefficient and receiving large salaries. You said that one of your great objects was to get men with a different sort education ?—Yes, the best education in public schools, which gives a sort of freemasonry which cannot well be described. At least, those offices brought into contact with the upper clashes should have such men who could hold their own, and not be overawed by any one. Based on Latin and Greek ?-BaAed on a general education. Not necessarily Latin and Greek. Is not the be t education the experience of office ?— Certainly. Is it not a hardship that a man cannot pass up from tbe second class to the highest simply because he bad not the advantage of being at a public school?—He accepts the situation with the knowledge; but there are all the staff a pointments open to him, some bav. ing ax mach as JE500 a year. He might have all the qualifications for his own division and yet might be found wanting in things to which I attach much value. Perhaps, if he did not pronounce his h's properly, he might occasion the most serious damage. (Laugh- ter.) I understand that the Treasury has now power to reduce a Department unless the Department itself takes the initiative.—That is so. I can remonstrate, and if not attended to I can apoeal to the Cabinet. You can prevent casual expenditure and make their lives uneasy, but nothing more. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he makes a little remonstrance, and gives good reasons for it, very often works out in the end what he wants. There is a moral suasion ex- ercised. You have no power to put a s'op order upon a vacancy ?—No; and there is no difference between the legal and the other Departmenti except that the legal Departments are regulated by statutes. I am not learned enough to draw a distinction between the posi- tion of the Postmaster General and a secretary of a Department. (Stanch) The Committee adjourned.

A REMINISCENCE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. The story of the late President Lincoln's duel has been recalled by the murder lately committed in New York by Frank Walworth, the parricide, which has attracted so much attention. Walworth's mother, it seems, is the daughter of Colonel Hardin, who on the occasion of a meeting between Mr. Lincoln and General Shieids, by his interference at the last moment, prevented the serious results which would otherwise have ensued. Mr. Lincoln and General Shields were intimate friends, and their quarrel arose from the following circumstances (says the Pall Mall Gazette) A young lady sent a contribution to one of the Sprinfield newspapers which, in General Soield's opinion, contained passages personally offensive to him- self. He therefore called upon the editor to give up the name of his correspondent, or take the choice of being horsewhipped in three days. The editor, un- willing to break faith with the young lady, consulted Mr. Lincoln as to the course he should adopt. Mr. Lincoln could think of but one plan to save the editor. When Shields comes round with his club," he said, tell huxi that Abe Lincoln wrote that letter." The suggestion was acted on, and the indignant general was requested to c*ll on Mr. Lincoln for satisfaction. This altered the view of the case entirely. General Shields knew it was uselets to come fooling about Lincoln with a cane. The late President was in those days a great long-armed muscular fellow, gooil natured but resolute, and could deal such blows with his fists as to make his antagonists think that rail-splitting was his pastime. It was too late, however, for Shields to draw back after all his bluster, and he therefore sent a challenge to Mr. Lincoln, which was accepted, and, to the dis- may of the challenger, I)ng swords "were selected by that gentleman as the weapons. Mr. Lincoln had no skill with the sword, but his tremendous length of arm and muscular power would have enabled him to chop off General Shields' head before the latter could get himself into position for a scientific thrust. When the fatal morning arrived Mr. Lincoln, with his seoond, was the first on the ground, and on the arrival of the others was dis- covered clearing away with a hatchet the bushes that would have interfered with the fight. This incident provoked a smile, and Colonel Hardm who then ap- peared on the field, took advantage of the momentary mirth to appeal to both parties not to make fools of themselves. This appeal f« fortunately successful, and Mr. Lincoln often said afterwards that he looked (Upon his own participation in the affair as the meanest act of his life. Colmel B!\Tdm was subsequently killed at the battle of Buena Vista.

AMERICAN CUTTINGS. The following question is now being discussed before the Bungtown Debating SocietyCan a bIg man ache harder than a little one I" An enthusiastic Yankee editor, speaking of a new prima donna, says: Eer voice 1» as s°lt as a roll ot velvet, and as tender as a pair of slop-shop pantaloons. Young lady nhvsicans »re multiplying throughout our country, and a« a result, it 1» yoUDg men are be- coming more sickly than they used to De. A Jefferson County farmer has named his pet ram Eugene. He calls him the modem Eugene, A ram. A puzzling question is about to be disciMsed by the Chicago bar. It Is, What may a lawyer not do for money A Chicago paper says of a "It has doubled Its circulation. Another man takes a copy A reporter who attended ft k^^utement'th^??* concluded his description with a .14 is not distinctly remembered by anybody present who made the last speech." Smith, the American poet-laureate, haa done the following for fourpence I wud not dy in Ortum, With peaches fit for eatto, When the wavy korn is gejtin w™Pe. And the candidates aretreatln When sassage meat is pMylD»» &hlckery nuis is thick, Ow! who wild think of dyln, Or even gettln' sick f" We have often looked for a that w»uld clearly explain it A Western pa^rktndlysuppUes the want in this beautiful simile— You fE try to shampoo an elephant with attttniWef „P U(*g as to at- tempt to do bftiinees and Ignore advert "45-^ The title of a book we observe d. Was she en- gaged ?" We ot course have no personal knowledge of tlle subject; but, on general principles, we should say that it was not her fault if she wasn't. It rained the other evening in J«™ian°polia, and there was an entertainment. A young gentleman said ta a young lady, "May I have the protecting you with my umbrella ?" Said she, found, ex- with my umbrella ?" Said she, found, ex- pressive eyes looking full into his, P your damned old rag." A Western paper, de8cribin| tbe d^wf of a young orator, says He broke the ice J°U £ itowriiy wiith his open. Ing, and was almost immediately drowned with applaUae." A Massachusetts 1^1? woman who had been lately converted. 81 to fly luto a passion over the ^er neigh- bour's youne'ters Har mistress remarked upon the impro- priety of ^mjh conduct iu the caseof one ab t tojointhe Church and received thU frank response :i haT9 'soerienced religion, an' T *e gwino to join a Church but, Miss Bole, I'll trash dat niggerlur3t- A bar-keeper in^Virginia*ortfr Neviid»,, posts up the following "regulations" by b.1* J't iunch Pjf'^rlnka; buy them at this bar eat alS > !P J «oin for what von iret: drink light but often, SSK axi :y°ur friQn(j, t0 drink • don't be* toothpicks d'>nit try to spar the bar- keeper keep six-shooters unooclt d dont steal the daUy papers be virtuous, and jou will be happy^ There are 80 m»ny tb^ve. m N^ York that they Ellturs—What did you S y maters ln your papurs for it Is none of your wife di,1 have twins I pays lor them andPunched you had better tend to yer own bizaess is the advice of G L The wild man has been caught once more, this time in Titus colly, Texas. Of course he eats nothing but raw meat, and be barks like a dog. In the South west it is said that when the members of the leaislavire wlsb to describe ttie effects of lynching, they speak of a man" kicking at the r oited States from the end of a tight rope." a el from the A Titusville man, being 3ealo"f> his wife to get him some DoUon. She ooeyed, led him to taue it, looked through tbe keyhole, and saw him pour it out of the window. Then she came back and he began to die for her benefit, kioking about and m alt ing » „l,'o a,nce- Th,,n *he said she would die too, d off the rest off the poison, and after he had ca ltd in all the neighbours and four physicians, she told him that the poison was liquorice water. The Detroit papers have discovered a new method of driving away the organ grinders. Every day or two they have a small psrsgt^ Orgai-grtaders to Memphis make about ten dollars a day." A man broke a chair over his wife's head a short I time ago. When he go'g»ol- and the clergyman under- took to talk with hino, ^e displayed a good deal of. penitence, Ho said he was very sorry hat he had permitted ula aneer to obtain the mastery of him, and to suffer him to do such an act, because it was a jo. _ch»ir, one of those good old- fashioned Wiudsor chairs, which was an heirloom ln his laml y, and be knew he never could replace it. In the Louisiana State prisoners are always washed before they are ironed. Of course. The latest in the way of srl'-praise is an Indiana editor who played a few tunes on an old banjo under his office window, and then thanked the seranader ln his next office window, and then thanked the teranador in hi* nejLt tuue for delightful music. e IØlADadbr.in hla next

THE MINNESOTA EMIGRANTS In an Interesting letter to the Liverpool Daily Albion, a correspondfnt says:— You have lately called attention to the organisation of the Yeovil and Fwrness Colonies in Minnesota. These communities have left England not with any hazy adventurous idea of set km); their fortunes in an unknown land amid circumstances of which they were ignorant, but with a definite and prudent purpose in view. They are all respectable and for the most part Wtll-to do men, and the eystematic foresight which they have shown in making arrangements and taking pre- cautions beforehand to prevent the possibility of disaster, or even discomfort, is simply admirable. Before going out themselves they despatched trusted committees to secure suitable lands and build commodious houses; and to all appearances their hopes of a prosperous future are likely to be realized. Now it is certain that within the next few years the example set by these Minnesota colonists will be followed on a scale ot great magnitude. Aba., d of German emigrants have just established in the adjoining territory of Dakota a large colony which they have named Bismark and there is ni doubt that within a very few years the fertile lands along the Northern Pacific route will be teeming with an iudu«triouB agricultural population. The vast grain- growing tracts of Manitoba and Western Canada, and other parts of North America are working in the same direction. Can nothing be done on the same scale, and with the same kind of organization to people and cultivate the almost limitless regions of Australia ? As long as England remains what she is—an enterprising though over-populated country- emigration will be carried on. Is it not well, then, that it should be carried on in an organised manner like that adopted by the colonists referred to, thus avoid- ing the evils and disappointments which have so often been associated with emigration ? Mr. Richard Bailey, of Barrow-in-Furness, secretary of the Fumess Colony Organisation, has returned from Minnesota in the Inman steamer City of Brooklyn, having with his fellow-committeemen, secured the necessary lands for the colony, and completed the arrangements for their settlement.

LORD COLCHESTER v. LAW. In the Vice-Chancellors' Court, in London, the above suit was instituted by Lord Colchester and Sir Robert Dallas, the ixecutors of the late Earl of Ellen- borough, who died on December 22, 1871, to have the trusts of his will administered under the direction of the Court, and in the course of such administration a question arose si o the right of the executors to claim certain Exchequer Bills and moneys in the hands of Messrs. Hoare, the bankers, which were standing to an account called the account of the Chief Clerk's Gua- rantee Fund," under the following circumstances:— The late Lord Ellen borough, the testator, at one period of his life held the office of Chief Clerk to the Court of King's Bench. In the capacity of such Chief Clerk he was from timu to time in receipt of moneys paid into court by the suitors to await the result of actions com- menced by them. He considered himself during his life as custodian of such moneys in the capacity of banker. He did not consider he was bound to invest them or to deal with them in any way otherwise than to hand them over to the suitors by direction of the Court when orders were from time to time made for payment out thereof; nevertheless, his predecessor in office ior his own security from time to time invested certain balances, and when Lord Ellenborough was appointed to the office in Michaelmas Term, 1811, he found a sum of £5!OOO invested in Exchequer bills, which were deposited with Messrs. Hoare, the bankers, who banked for him, in respect of all suitors' moueys from time to time in his hands. The testator's father, the Lord Chief Justice, disposed et the income arising therefrom for his own private purposes, and after his death in December, 1818, his son, the testator, always received and appropriated the divi- dends and interest accruing therefrom up to the date of a certain report of the S lect Committee of the House of Commons on sinecure offices, from which time, in deference to, but not as being bound by, the opinion expressed by the Committte in such report, he re- frained from receiving any further dividends. When, however, the office of Chief Clerk was abolished under the provisions of the Act 7ch William IV. and 1st Victoria, cap. 30 (parsedin consequence of such report), he, under the provisions of the 8th section thereof, paid over to the Master of the Court of Queen's Bench appointed by such Act the balance of suitors' moneys then in his hand-, and rendered an account thereof, but he neither pa'd over nor in any way accounted for the interest which had accumulated on the said £5,000 Exchequer Bills as from the date of such re- port, and suoh interest he allowed to remain at the bank of Messrs. H)-e. partly invested in Exchequer Bills and partly in cash up to the time of his death, and with regard thereto he left the following memo- randum addressed to his executors:- "My executors will find a few Exchequer Btll), and a small balance at Messrs. Hoares, under the head of Chief Cierk's Guarantee Fund, the whole rot amounting to much more than £700 The origin 01 this sum is this. A com- mittee of the House of Commons came to the opinion that the Chief Clerk should not derive any ad van tax e from the interest on the £ 5 000 Exchequer Bills, in which a portion of the bilanee of the suitors' money in his custody was in- vested, and from that time, about 182N or 1830, I have not derived any benefit from it; but what was I to do with the interest? The public had nothing to do with the money. It was the money of the suitors temporarily deposited with the Chief Clerk as the banker of the C,)urt, and be had always dealt with it as any other banker would. When the office fell under my father's management, he directed £6,000 Exchequer Bills to be sold, and the money produced by the sale was added to the balance in Messrs Hoares' bands, because my father not banking with them, they ought, he thought, to have ample profit npsn the business they transaote i for him. I thus have done what the Committee of the House of Commons decided, in deriving no profit from the custody of the suitors' money, but my executors must consider what shall be done with it." The moneys in question now amounted to about £1,100, and the executors took out a summons in order to raise the question as to who was entitled to them. Mr. Glasse, Q.C., and Mr. Nalder appeared for the executors in support of the summons, and contended that the moneys form-d part of the late Lord Ellen- borough's personal estate. „ The Solicitor General and Mr. Hemming, on behalf of the Crown, claimed the moneys as being the pro- perty of the public. Mr. Cotton, Q.C., and Mr. Owen appeared for the residuary legatees under Lord Ellenborough's wi'L The Vice-Chancellor considered that the moneys be- longed to the Crown as being public moneys, and ordered them to be paid over to the Paymaster-General.

A DECEASED WIFE'S SISTER QUESTION; The Lord Chancellor, sitting for the Master of the Rolls, had before him on Monday the suit of Ayerat v. Jenkins," which was instituted by the legal personal representative of the late William Hardinge, of Aston, near Birmingham, for the purpose of setting as:de, as contrary to public morality and illegal, a defd of settlement executed by William Hardmge in 1861, whereby he transferred ten shares in the Alliance Marine Insurance Company, and sixteen shares in the London Chartered Bank of Australia to certain per- sons in trust for Isabella Jenkins, a lister of his de- ceased wife, and any children that might be born of a marriage between her and William Hardinge. It ap- peared that after the death of his first wife he lived for some time with Isabella Jenkins, and then they went through the form of a marriage ceremony. William Hardinge died in 1862. No step was taken to set aside the deed of settlement by the first adminis- trator of William Hardinge. The present suit was instituted by the successor of that administrator in the interest of relatives of William Hardinge. Mr. Fry, Q.C„ and Mr. William Barber were ooun- sel for the plaintiff, and Mr. Roxburgh, Q.C., and Mr. C. Walker for the defendants. The Lord Chancellor said there was no evidence with respect to the reason why the settlement was made beyond the statement of Isabella Jenkins that William Hardinge executed it some months after the cohabitation had been agreed upon, that she regarded it as a free and voluntary gift, and that it was not offered to her or accepted by her for the purpose of continuing a promise of cohabitation previously made. It was argued that it waa the duty of the court to discourage, on the ground of public policy, fictitious marriages between persons who were within the pro- hibited decrees of consanguinity or affinity; but he (the Lord Chancellor) was not aware of any law which imposed that particular duty on a court of equity. That matter belonged to a different court. He knew no doctrine of public policy which required a court of equity to give relief to a particeps criminit against a voluntary gift to his accomplice in crime in respect o a past consideration. In pari delicto rrulior at conditio possidentis. There wtre no creditors of William Hardinge, and he (the Lord Chancellor) was not aware of any case in which except there were creditors' propel ty in a case of this kind, property was taken out of the woman's hands. The decision, therefore cf the court must be in favour of the defendant, and the bill must be dif missed with costs.

THE CHESTERFIELD PEERAGE. The claim of George Philip Stanhope to the earldom of Chesterfield has been before the House of Lords. The peerage was created in the fourth year of Charles I. in the person of Baron Stanhope. The first line having failed in male heirs in the person of Philip Dormer, who died in 1773, the peerage went to the de- scendants of the eleventh son of the first earl. whose granoson Michael was a D. D. and a Canon of Win,isor. This M'chael married a daughter of Sir Salathiel Lowell, a Briron of the Exchequer, and had by her five sons. The eldest ot these sons, Arthur Char es Stanhope, married Mi.s Headiam, of Yorkshire, and his sec md soo. Philip, became the fifth earl The peerage descended through this second line until the latter faiiled in the person of Arthur Philip, the seventh earl, who died in Dec^m^er, 1871. The present claimant traced his descent from the first earl through Ferdinand Stan- hope, the fourth son of Michael, the Canon of Windsor. Mr. F lemming, Q.C., and Mr. H. Sutton appeared for the claimant; the Attorney-General and Mr. Charled Clark watched the case on the part of the Crown. Evidence having been adduced in support of the claim, Their Lordships decided that the claim had been established to their satisfaction. Claim allowed ac- cordingly.

PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE! The Times of Friday, ln the following leader, makes the sensible suggestion that Prevention is better than cure,' and is suggestive to most of our readers :— A warning against Cholera has been already sounded, [ and, though there is at present little occasion ror a'arm, it is not without good warrant that our sanitary au- | thorities and the public at large are recommended to j observe the precautions desirable, and to set their houses in timely order. According to ordinary pre- cedent, the Weekly Report of the Public Health would convey something like an aspuranoe against any serious outbreak of the epidemic during the current year. We have now got past Midsummer not only without any appearance of tbe disease, but with a singular immunity from those kindred c mplaints which usually prevail at the present season. Tne deaths from dijirrhse* last week were not a fourth of the average number, and the mortality from all causes was unusually small. It should, however, be im. pressed upon the public mind that sinoe the year 1665 the movements of Cholera have been exceedingly capricious, and not in accordance with the established course. In fact, we can no longer speak of the course of the disease. It does not advance con- tinuously from East to West along ai rack oa which its stages can be clearly marked. It appears rather to be localized or domesticated in Europe, and, indeed, in America too. The other day it broke out suddenly at Nashville, in Tennessee, without, so far as we are told, any previous warning. It was busy in Hungary last year, and has since re-appeared in Austria and al«ng the Danube. It seems as likely to move eastwards as west- ward", but wherever it has raged recently there seems a chance of its breaking out again, and at this moment it is rather active on the coasts of the Baltic, where it proved so fatal in 187L It may any day be commu- nicated from those ports to our seaports, and hence the necessity for vigilance and preparation. Two years ago, when a like attack was apprehended, Mr. John Simon, the Medical Officer of the Local Go. vernment Board, issued a Memorandum containing some information on the subject by no means dis- couraging, and some instructions calculated to be eminently serviceable. It happened, fortunately, that the emergencies anticipated did not occur, and we may hope, therefore, to escape again; but it i< our bounden duty to be on our guard, and henoe the value of the document referred to. Be it remembered that not only can we lose nothing by making the needful preparation, but we must infallibly gain. Whatever tends to protect us against a possible epidemic will as certainly assist us against diseases from which the oonntry is never free. It may, peraaps, be acknowledged- indeed, the highest authorities are the first to confess the fact— that we know as little of this mysterious plague as was known at its first appearance here in 1831 32. No cure has been discovered for it, nor can any course of treat- ment be described as BuccessfuL In India, the sup- posed home of the disease, where it has been most anxiously studied, the best resource is found in escape from infection, and that, practically speaking, is what is recommended to us here. An encampment of soldiers can be promptly moved from one place to another, but such migration is impracticable under ordinary circumstances at home, and so the true course is to dutroy the infection itself by preventing it from gaining head and spreading. This, happily, for us, can be done both easily and, for the most part, effectually. Cholera, terrible as it is, is not in. fectious like small-pox or scarlet fever, and the agents by which its infection wprks can be readily neutralized. The discharges from the stomach and bowels of the patient are infective, but they can be disinfected with- out any difficulty aad rendered harmless. In default of this precaution their agency may be formidable in the extreme. Not only the air we breathe, but, in a still greater degree, the water we drink, may be made the vehicle of contagion. Enormous volumes of wattr may be infeoted by a very small infusion of poison, and whole communities may suffer. The piwer of infec- tion is tremendous, bu- it is not beyond our control, especially if the dan {er is grappled with at once. Hence the importance of the present warning. We are at this time free from Cholera, but it is obvious that at any moment a traveller from Eastern or Northern Europe might bring the disease with him to an English seaport, or possibly to an inland town. In fact, the sanitary authorities at Vienna, apologise for the cases of Cholera in their city as a foreign importation, but they forget that a disease which comes into a town by railway may chance to domicile itself there. Railway communication, indeed, renders the communication of disease far easier and more probably than formerlv. but it is satisfactory to find that we are more able than formerly to extinguish the infection when im. ported. We are less competent to keep the Cholera out of the country, but more competent to deal with it if it should arrive. It is a further source of satisfaction to remember if it should arrive. It is a further source of satisfaction to remember that, with one notable exception, our resources against the possible invader are now pretty wall^ organized. Sanitary authorities are now established with definite duties and powers, and at all our ports but one the means of defence exists. It is, we suppose, charac- teristic of our national ways that the port of London has hitherto remained unprotected against the importa- tion of Cholera or any other infectious disease, and that while carefully fastening up our windows we have left the front door wide open. We are glad to hear, however, that the Common Council decided yesterday upon doing something even in the Thames, and it is at any rate a welcome announcement that generally the requsite organization has been in a fair degree accomplished. We escaped last year and the year before; indeed, we may be said to have escaped every year since 1866, for there has hardiy been a Summer since that tune when Cholera was not more or lesi active in certain parts of Europe. We may, however, be less fortunate this year or next, and, at any rate, it behoves us to do as we are advised. Obscure and mysterious as is the disease, the instruc- tions for dealing with it are plain and simple. We need not inquire whether the plague comes fresh from the East, or whether an outbreak of it represents merely a recrudescence of past epidemics. It is on the coasts of the Baltic, and may I.-e brought to our shores in any one of the vessels constantly arriving from those parts. That is enough as regards facts how we have to act upon them is here clearly told. If we | apply certain disinfectants to the infectious matter, we stop the propagation of the disease. j The public health of late has been remarkably good, but then the seasons have hitherto been favourable. A wet Winter and a cold ungenial Spring brought with them advantages of their own. People were disposed to repine at the absence of clear frosts at one period and of balmy winds at another, but the temperature of the year has been beneficial nevertheless. We are now, however, approaching the season of epidemics, and the sultry heats of early Autumn are uot very distant. It is time to be on our guard. As we have remarked above, we can no longer expect to see the Cholera slowly advancing from one point of the Continent to another, so that we may measure its dis- tance from our own shores and calculate the period of its possible arrival. It may show itBelf amon^ us atomy time, and that is why the prescribed precautions should be carefully studied and preparations be duly made. The work is not difficult, nor costly, nor will it in any case be thrown away. Supposing, &8, indeed, we may hope, that the Cholera should not come, every step taken in the way of sanitary improvement will not the less bear its fruit. Some disease or other is almost always epidemic, and there is no epidemic against which pure air and water are not the best of preservatives.

THE PLACE TO GO TO IN DEAR TIMES I People who find it hard to get food to put into their mouths cannot do better than fit up a portable kitchen in a small vessel and spend their lives in fishing off the coast of Ireland (remarks the Pall Mall Gazette). To judge by a report of the harbour master of Dunmore, which appears in the appendix of the forty -first report of the Commissioners of Public Works (Ireland), just issued, there seems to be no lack of provisions in that place. Throughout the past year, he says, we have had from twelve to twenty large cutters trawling in W>e deep waters of the channel off here, aud from fifteen to twenty small craft fi«hing within the limits of Waterford harbour. The fisherman has followed hiscall- ing with good success, making fine hauls of turbot, brill, sole, and dories, while plaice and skate were unusually abundant, aud occasionally fine takes were bad of cod. ling, conger, hake, gurnet, and whiting so that, with the exception of ølaellfish-lobstt-rs and crabs— which were very scarce, it will be seen that there was a large supply of prime fish to be bad all through the pabt season, which but for the boisterous state of the weather would probably have proved one of the beat on record. During the better part of last summer large shoals of mackerel and pilchards visited the coast, but owing to the want of proper means for cap- turing these valuable fish very few of them, compara- tively speaking, were taken.

AN INQUIRY AS TO NEXT OF KIN. In London, In the Vice-Chancellor'i Court, in the matter of the trusts of the share of George Westbrook, under the will of John Weptbrook," the petition raised some novel points as to the legal presumption of a person who has not been heard of for a long time, having died, and without having been married John Westbrook, the testator, left JE700 to his son George, to be paid at the death of the testator's widow. George went to Australia in September, 18il, being then 24 years of age and unmarried, and the last letter receivod from him was in the summer of 1851. in which he wrote most affectionately, and expressed his intention of coming home in a few months he was then at the gold diggings in California, and the family, not having heard from him since, had come to the con- clusion that be must have lost his life in the floods in which many people were then said to have perished. The question now arose whether his death could be presumed, and, if so, who would be entitled to the J3700. There were six brothers and sisters of George Weat- brook, some of whom had married and had children, and some of whom had died before 1851 and some after 1861, when George Westbrojk was last heard of; so that in order to discover who were entitled to the .£700 it was important to fix a period at which George Westbrook might be presumed to have died. Tae son of one of George Westbrook's sisteis, who died in 1847, petitioned for a share of the fuud. Mr. Cotton and Mr. Sbebbeare, for the petitioner, argued that George Westbrook's death must be pre. sumed. Mr. Chaloner Chute, for other brothers and a sister who was married, cited" Phene's Trusts," 5 Ch. Ap., 139, and Lewts's Trusts," 6 Ch. Ap., 366, as to the period at which death must be presumed to have oc- curred. Vice-Chancellor Malins, afterconsulticg these autho- rities, said that the most convenient and proper form of decree would be to direot an inquiry as to who were the next-of.kin of George Weatbrook seven years after the date of his last letter. He still thought that, even in cases where an affirmative title had to be made out as against the residuary legatee, the most just rule would be to hold that the continuance of life tor seven years from the date when the person was last heard of was a presumption of law. The cases cited had, how. ever, decided this otherwise but here, where some date must be fixed, he thought seven years would be the right period. Mr. Chute asked that the inquiries for next-of-kin in Australia might be dispensed with. Vice-Chancellor Malins considered that, so long a time having elapsed it might be presumed that George Westbrook had left no widow or next-of-kin abroad, and he Bhould direct an inquiry as to next-of-kin limited to brothers and sisters and their representatives. French 6rm of

A discovery has been made by a tereat Buglish SKf past '<"> >» ""ItUi mium and various other vegetable products, have been nreswdlnto the service, but have rot p^ved entirely satis- factory. ATOug other drawbacks the fibres obtained from these are short an<i not sufficiency supple. Such faults do not exist ln the new product, which has been hitherto re- garded as uteless, namely, the textile sheath of the hop stglik By removing this outer skin, and subjecting it to a certain chemical process, a textile substance possessing the qualities which m..ke rags so valuable in paper-iraktng, length, supplet es% and delicacy of texture, has betn pro- duced. The invention is patented, and further protected by the novel character tof the chemical process.

Pisallaiuous Intelligence, HOME, FOREIGN, AND CCL0N7AL, A STORM IN THE COFFKE-CUF.—The follow- ing rules for weather wisdom have been founded on long observation by a gentleman of ValenciaWhen you put sugar into your coffes cup without stirring the lluid, you must watch the bubbles which come to the surface. If they form a circu'ar mass in the centre, you may count on lasting fine weather; if they form a ring at the edge, you may expect lots of rain should they remain between the edge and the centre, change- able whether is to be looked for if they go in a body towards any part of the circumference, moderate rain will follow. The observer has consulted his barometer and thermometer in conjunction with his coffee-cup, and only publishes these facts [to the world after pro- found investigation. AN INDIAN STORY.-It is stated that there is an officer in the Central Provinces whose business it is to avert storms. His official title is Garpagari." This would be a useful official to attach to our present Government in England. He receives a regular salary of grain from the inhabitants of the circle of villages who maintain him. If he should succeed in averting atmospheric calamities at a critical emergency, or in brin gi i) g an opportunestorm of rain after a long drought, his official salaiy is-supplemented by a liberal bonus. So great is the conndence reposed in the skill of this officer that on the occasion of the visit of any distinguished European to the locality over which he presides, he is solemnly led out into the jungle, and instructed to howl for the public benefit. As a rule, pays the informant, the vox clamantis deserto seldom fails to produce the desired effect. Should his pious yells, however, not propitiate Jupiter Pluvius—we beg his pardon, Indri—the fate that awaits him is a melan- choly one. Like Belisariua, he is hurled from the highest pinnacle of human power to the lowest abyss of degradation. From having been a "cloud com- peller" he becomes temporarily the most despised individual in the community. He is summarily sus- pended," his .fficial salary is taken from him, and he is severely chastised with shoes by an indignant public. Should, however, a temporary abstinence give back to him his former powers, he is once more restored to favour. NOT" ALL RIGHT.A clever trick has lately been played by one of the London police de- tectives (says the Court Journal). It is a frequent practice for men-servants in large establishments to lay the dinner-table early in the afternoon, and as tbe windows are usually open at this period of the year, thieves have in several instances effected an entrance thereby, and cleared off all the plate. One afternoon a detective called at a house in a fashionable neighbour- hood, and on the door being opened he said he had oome to warn the inhabitants that a good many plate robberies had taken place. All right," said the ser- vant. But is it all right ?" replied the detective. Oh, yes, I left the dining-room only a few minutes ago." Well there would be no barm in making sure." So rather scornfully the servant went into the dining-room, and then scorn gave way to dismay. The man was ready to faint, for every spoon and furk had vanished. The detective then quietly opened a carpet- bag which he had with him, and revealed h his gaze the missing articles. The detective had himself got in at the window and swept off all the plate. It was rather a dangerous experiment for him, bat a very in- structive lesson for Jeames. ARTISTIC J UBI8PBUDENCJ:A case just ad- judged in Paris will have an interest for all engaged in or devoted to art (says the Architect). M. Aldama gave a commission to the late painter Adrien Daux«ta fur four pictures of subjects from the Arabian Nighte, at the price of 2,000f. each, one-half to be payable when the sketch was made, and the remainder on the completion of the picture. The first subject selected was that of Sinbad the Sailor," the artist having re- ceived the first moiety of the money, but dying before the work was absolutely completed. M. AlHa.m» claimed the work on payment of the second l,000f., but the brother and heir of the painter refused to give it up, on the ground that it would b« disrespectful to the memory of an artist to part with an incomplete pic lure. The judges decided that the defendant could not refuse to give up what had been sold that it was not for him to judge of the completion of the work, seeing that the purchaser was content; and. finally, that such a point was inadmissible from the fact that the late artist had himself thought fit to show it at some public exhibition. The painting was ordered to be delivered on payment of 1,000/ or 3,000f. were to be forfeited. SOMETHING LIKE A STORM.-The "graphic details given of the cylone in Iowa by the New York Herald are introduced by headings in the following style :—" A Baby's Head Cut Off, and its Mother torn into Four Pieces. A School Girl Blown a Quarter- of a-Mite and Mashed to Jelly;" but it would be diffi- cult for the most sensational writer to exaggerate the violence of the hurricane, and the ghastly nature of its results in some cases. As to the former, Mr. Gibson had the finest house and out buildings in the country. Toe wind blew the barns to bits. The house was in two parts. One of these was turned quite round; the other "soared away like a bird," dropping the five in- habitants iutu thn cellar. A comseller, weighing come six hundred pounds, was blown about 120 rods. A teamster named Baker was, with his waggon and team, blown clean over a fence, and a large flock of sheep was destroyed by being tossed into the air till, as an eye- witness affirmed, they looked like so many birds." The total loss is estimated in money at 175,000 dollars, including 35 houseB, 1,200 sheep, 2,500 hogs, 100 head of cattle, 40 horses, and all the crops along the track of the storm. Twelve persons were killed on the spot; 29 were more or less seriously injured.

THE MARKETS. MABX.LANE.—MONDAY. Quietness has been the feature of the grain trade at Mark- lane to-day. The demand for English wheat haa been on a very moderate scale, but owing to the good samples prices have been maintained. With foreign wheat the market has been fairly supplied. The trade has been dull, and forced sales have only been concluded on lower terms. All kinds of barley have been scarce. The trade has been firm, and full prices have been realised. Malt has changed hands at steady currencies. The oat trade has been leu active, and some difficulty has been experleuodA in obtaining late rates. For maize there has been more in. quiry, and prices are 3d. to fid. per qr. higher on the week Beans have been iteady in value, with a moderate demand. Peas have been quiet, at late rates. The flour market has been quiet, on former terms. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MABKET.—MOHDAT. The cattle trade has been without Important feature to- day. The supply of beasts has been rather liberal. owing to a good show ot Tonnlng stock. On the foreign side of the market there have been 1005 Tonning, 446 Spaolsh, 100 Patch, 32 C .penhagen, and 21 Gothenburgh. The demand for them has been less active, but steady rates have beea paid for choice breeds. As regards English breaft the exports from our own grazing districts have been moderate, and some prime breeds have been exhibited. The trade has been quiet, but the be*t Scots and crosies nave made as. 2-1. to 61 41. per Sib. From Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Cambridge wa have received a^oat 960, from Lincolnshire about ISO, from ot.her part* of Eagland about 600, and from-Ireiund about 260 head. There has been a fair supply of sheep 10 the pens. A rather better tone has pervaded the trade, and prices have been lirmer. The best Downs a) d half breds have sold at 6-. 4a to as e4 per 81 h. Lambs have been in moderate request, at from 7s. ad to So. 6d. per SIb. Calves have changed hands quietly, at late rates. Pigs have baen nominally without change. At Dept- ford there have been 150 German beasts. Per 81b. to sink the oflaL a. d s. d. I s. d. t. d. Ooarseand Inf. beasts 6 06 6 Prime South downs 6 4 6 Second quality ditto 6 6 6 10 lArgeeoarse calves 4 6 8 0 Prime large oxen 6 0 6 2 Prime small ditto e « t Prime Scots, 4c. 6 2 6 4 Large hogs 4 24 4 Coarse and Inf. sheep 6 0 6 6 Neat small porkers 6 0 6 4 Second quality ditto 6 8 6 0 Lamba 7 6 8 6 Prime coarse woolld 6064 METROPOLITAN MEAT MARKET.-MOKDAT. A short supply of meat was on sale here to-day. Trade was moderately active, and prioes ruled as under: Per 81b. by the earcaae. s. d. s. d. s. d s. 4. Inferior beef. 8 0 3 4 Inferior mutton., 4 0 6 0 Middling ditto 2 6 Middliaa ditto 6 0 6 6 Prime large ditto 6 4 6 10 Prime ditto 6 0 6 4 Prime small ditto 6 8 6 < Large pork 4 0 4 6 Veal 6 6 a Small pork 6 0 6 6 Lambs, 7s. 4d. to 7s. 8d. POTATOES. Throughout the week the demand for new potatoes, both Bo<; fh and foreign, has been steady, and prices have re- mained remarkably even. Old potatoes are exoausted. New foreign kidneys, lis. to Ith. rOUt d, 10s to lit. 6d. new E-iglish ware, 10.1. to 12s. middling descriptions, 6s. to 7s. per owt. HOPS. The hop market Is quiet, and prices occasionally are slightly easier. With regard to the coming crop opinion is divided, inasmuch as while the plant is spoken of as looking strong and promising In some places, in others it is described as being Irregular and weak from the effects of vermin. East Kent goldiugs, £6 to £ ? 15s,; Weald of Kent, i.5 6s. to AtU. Mid Kents, P.5 12s. to jM 15s. Sussex, je5 Ñ. to AS 16.. W orcesters, £6 to 47 12.. Farnham and country, .£6 12s. to £77M, Yearling!, £3 I'. toe4 10s. New Bavarians, R.7 to £8; New AUase, 46 !2s. to .£7 and Americans, 1870, et & to 43 Be. FISH. Pickled: herrings, 28s. to 85s. red ditto, 16s. to 91s. ronMd ditto, 19 i. ed. to tresh ditto, 20s. to 80e. per barrel kippers 3s, to 6s. bloaters, 2s. 6d. to 6s. per basket; smoked haddocks, 20J. to 80s. pei barrel; trawl ditto, 18s. to 22s. ditto plaice, 19s. to 26s. ditto, whiting, 16s. to 2is. ed, per basket; soles la td. to 6a per pair turbot, Be. 6d. to 12s. 6d. brill, 2s to 6s. each mackrel 11. 6d. to St.; lobsters, 6s. to 25s. crabs, 6s. to 24s. per dozen native oytteit CIA IOL per bushel. SEED LONDON, Monday, July 7.-There was nothing passing In agricultural reed-, and pric,s were nominally the tatue as previously for all a(irts. Some inqniry was male for new Trifoliutn, and French was offered for forward delivery, at mi derate prices; quality tolerably goud. Canary- seed was rather dearer. Some parcels of foreun have been taken sfl >at for Holland. Large Hem?*e<d WM fuj'y )n, dttar. with a fair tale. Foreign Tares were purchased iluwly at no quotable change ln the value of either large or small. A few small parcels of white Mustardseed have been purchased at full rates; but nothmg passing in brown for wwit of supply, gime new French Rapeseed was shown of fair black quality. Price demanded 60s. per qr. PROVISIONS. LoKDOH.Mohday, July 7 -The arrlvalg last week from Ireland were 619 firkins Butter and 8,716 bales Bacon, aud from foreign ports 28 7991 packages Butter, 1,481 bales Bacon. With good supplies of foreign Butter prioes of fluest are weU supported, otiier descriptions move slowly at lowrr rates. In Irish little doing, a few sales of Clonmalsare rtported at 112s. t^r^aed for S*w°? aud fr«*h sells well, other sorta Tari L i at Irregular prices. -Hams ln good de- Son bring on « dlmaui m-oderate prIcM mait bring on a dtmend. Per cwt- s. s. Cheese per cwt. s. s. S0™* 112 to 120 Cheshire 70 to 86 r nosland 100 108 Dble. Olouc., new 70 84 „Jer?fy 88 96 Cheddar 80 92 Kng. Fresh, per dos. 12 16 American 66 68 Bacon, per cwt. Hams York. 98 102 Wiltshire, dried 70 76 Cumberland. #6 100 Irish, green, f.o.b. 74 84 Irish 84 100 Bacon, per cwt. Hams York. 98 102 Wiltshire, dried 70 76 Cumberland. #6 100 Irish, green, f.o.b. 74 84 Irish 84 100 TALLOW. LONDON, Monday, July 7.—The tallow trade is dull, and prices have a downward ti tdjncy. P. Y. C, is now quoted at 42s. 6d. to 42<. 91. per cwt. on the spot. Rough fat haa fallen to 18. Ili 1. per 81bs. «• *• Town Tallow, per cwt. 42 9 Rough Stuff, pec cwt. 16 0 Rough Fat, per 81 bs. 1 11} Graves „ 19 Melted Stuff, per cwt. 82 o Good Dregs „ 6 O Yellow Russian, new. 48s. Od. per ewl. Australian Mutton Tallow. 42s. Od. Ditto Beef Ditto. (Oi. td. „