The Aberystwith Observer

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THE NEW PRESIDENT AND THE NEW AMBASSADOR. Lord Lytton, the new English Ambassador to France, went in State to the Ely see the other afternoon, accom- panied by M. Mollard, Introdmteur d-es Ambassadeurs, and attended by all the members of his Staff at present in Paris. Mr. Edwin Egerton, C.B., Secretary of Embassy; Colonel the Hon. George Villiers, C.M.G., Military Attaché; Mr. Joseph A. Crowe, C.B., Com- mercial Attaché; Mr. Francis Carew, Private Secretary; Messrs. Austin Lee, G. E. Welby, M. de Bunsen, Second Secretaries; and Mr. Walter Townley, Third Secretary. They were conveyed in three State carriages sent from the Elysee and one of the Ambassa- dor's carriages for the junior members of the Staff. A squadron of Cavalry escorted the cortege, which was received with military honours by a battalion of infantry, the band of which performed the National Anthem. A large crowd gathered in front of the Elysee and the Embassy to gaze at the show. On pre- senting his credentials Lord Lytton delivered the fol- lowing speech in French:— M. le President,—The Queen, my august Sovereign, has done me the signal honour to accredit me as her Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Government of the French Republic. I am the more deeply sensible of that honour that it enables me once more to return to a country where I have already ful- filled diplomatic missions, and where I have been able to form friendly relations of which I have never ceased to retain the most agreeable recollections. The orders of the Queen, M. le President, instruct me to spare no effort to maintain and consolidate the good relations existing for so many years past between the Governments of France and Great Britain. I will devote my best endeavours to attain that object, and the duty incumbent on me cannot but be powerfully seconded by the personal sym- pathies which I entertain towards the French nation. Moreover, M. le President, I feel persuaded that your kind indulgence will aid me to fulfil the high mission with which my august Sovereign has deigned to entrust me. In placing in your Excel- lency's hands the letters which accredit me as Ambas- sador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, I am most happy, M. le President, to avail myself of this circumstance to once more convey from her Majesty the Queen and her Government their most cordial con- gratulations on the decision by which your country- men have called upon you to preside over the high destinies of France. I will not conclude without pay- ing a tribute to my eminent and deeply-regretted pre- decessor, Lord Lyons, who met in France with so much esteem and confidencee, and whose loss was deeply felt by her Majesty the Queen and her Govern- ment." President Carnot replied as follows Monsieur FAmbassadeur,—It is with pleasure I receive from your hands the letters which accredit you in the quality of Ambassador to the Government of the French Republic. You have said to me that the orders of your august Sovereign prescribe that you shall spare nothing to maintain and consolidate the good relations which exist, and have already existed for so many years between the Governments of France and Great Britain. I attach too high a value to the realisation of that idea not to respond to the sentiments of which you are the interpreter, and I, on my side, will not fail to assist in the strengthening of the bonds of friendship which so happily unite the two peoples, and are the best guarantee for the triumph of ideas of progress, peace, and liberty. In thanking your august Sovereign for the congratulations she has been so gracious as to send me on the occasion of my elevation to the First Magistrature of the Republic, you will tell her that she could not had made choice for the accom- plishment of the mission with which she has charged you of a personality more sympathetic, more qualified by his name, by his antecedents among us, and by his literary talents, so highly appreciated in France. I wish to add that such qualities were needed in the successor of the eminent Lord Lyons to diminish the regret which his loss has caused us."

AN OLD MAN SUFFOCATED. A fire broke out at five minutes past five on Mon- day morning at 60, Gowrie-street, Battersea. The house was a private one, occupied by Mr. W. Menton, who let out the back room on the first floor to a lodger named Charles Saby, aged 67. At the time mentioned Mr. Menton and his wife smelt fire, and when they opened the door found that the room occu- pied by Saby was on fire. The house was nearly filled with smoke, and it was found impossible to ap- proach the room, so the firemen were sent for. By the time they arrived the room was well alight, and it was some time before the flames could be subdued. By that time the room was burnt out, and serious damage was caused to the house of seven rooms and the contents. On a search being made the dead body of the old man was found, death having evidently ensued from suffocation.

ROBBERY AND MURDER IN MOROCCO. News just received from Tangiers states that a band of Moors, after cruelly beating the native in charge of the English post near Rabat, robbed him of his mails. The British Minister, Sir Kirby Green, at once sent a strongly-worded protest to Sid Mohammed Torres, the Moorish Minister of Foreign Affairs, with a demand for compensation, and orders have been sent to the governors of the provinces to make every possible search for the robbers, and also for the missing bag of letters. The Moorish Government has received from the Spanish Minister a claim for 20,000 dols. as compensation for the death of a Spaniard who was killed by the Moors.

AN INGENIOUS MONARCH. The King of the Belgians is an ingenious monarch. He has devised a very cunning scheme for introducing the railway into Morocco. He has sent a mission to Sultan Muley Hassan which, among other presents, has taken with it a complete railway train with a supply of rails and sleepers, and a contingent of engineers to build a short road. Whether the Sultan will allow his prejudice against European institutions to be got over in this fashion remains to be seen. King Leopold is a clever man, and his innooent ruse, deserves to succeed. When Morocco is opened to commerce, as before very long it assuredly will be, Belgium may reasonably expect to do a considerable trade with the Moors, since she has no ambitions likely to frighten the Sultan, who has reasons of his own for looking askance both upon France and Spain, his two nearest neighbours in Europe.

ATROCIOUS CRUELTY TO A CHILD. -Derbyshire Quarter Sessions on pi • f(f returned a verdict of guilty against Alice Sflt'fW trWn? V(;tei;mary suroeon at Cromford, for A f fo i »S 0(llIy harm on her daughter in August, 1884: A servant, named Riley, who was in the service of the prisoner at the time, said she heard the child, aged about six screaming, and went into the bed-room,where she found Mrs. Clay just putting down the poker, which was hot. She afterwards found bits of flesh adhering to the poker. The child was evidently in great pain, and was taken to the nursery Where witness shortly after found Mrs. Clay beating her with a whip. She afterwards found tha child blistered between the legs, and she had wheals on the ant^ b°dy- It was proved by medical evidence that the child had many bruises and scars, and was permanently i njured. The jury recommended the P isoner to mercy on account of the lapse of time and m consideration for her family. The Chairman, Sir ]a," Evans' m. sentencing her to six months' hard s slie had been guilty of a horrible and atrocious crime and if it had not been for the recom- endation of the jury the seutence would have been from the court pnsoner faintcd> and was carried

EPITOME OF NEWS. Mr. T. N. Johnson, Deputy Coroner, held an inquest on Tuesday at Stockport Infirmary, touching the death of James Harkin, 32, of Cheadle. On October 22, as a professional football player, he played in a match for Heaton-park against Darwen Old Wanderers. Accord- ing to his own statement, one of the players acci- dentally fell upon him with his knee upon his thigh. This produced an abscess, from which Harkin died in Stockport Infirmary last Saturday. The jury found a verdict of "Accidental Death." Lord Aveland referred to the Allotments Act in charging the Grand Jury at Kesteven Quarter Sessions, Bourn, on Tuesday. He said the new Act had caused a good deal of agitation amongst the agricultural labourers in that district, and he was pleased to see the spirit in which their applications for land had been met, both by tenant farmers and landlords. Speaking for himself personally, he was ready to afford every facility to the labourers, so far as lay in his power, for the ac- quirement of allotments. During Monday night the church of St. Lawrence at Ludlow was burglariously entered. It was discovered in the morning that the lead work and glass of one of the windows at the north end had been torn away, and an endeavour had also been made to break open the front door, which bore the marks of a chisel. Inside the church were the footmarks of a man and a boy, and from these marks it would appear that the depre- dators, after first obtaining a candle from the pulpit, went to the porch and broke open a collection-box. Fortunately, however, the money which the box con- tained had been taken out on Saturday. At Maryport three months ago a woman named Corkindale, living in the town, picked up in the street, whilst on a visit to some friends, a dynamite cartridge. Not knowing what it was, she took it home and allowed her son to play with it. The boy took it to school with him every day for a fortnight, and he and his schoolfellows played with it. On one occasion young Corkindale sat very near to the fire, and, point- ing to his trousers pocket where his dangerous toy was, said Feel how warm it is." The mother had almost forgotten the cartridge, but on Tuesday her son and another boy quarrelled about the thing, and fought for its possession. She thereupon took it from them, and placed it upon the mantelshelf. Shortly afterwards she accidently knocked it into the fire. A loud explo- sion ensued, and the poor woman was dreadfully wounded about the head and face. An infant she had in her arms at the time escaped unhurt. The Queen, through Sir Spencer Ponsonby Fane, of the Lord Chamberlain's department, has expressed to the Chief Commissioner of Metropolitan Police her desire to present the sum of £100 to be divided among the 42 men of the A Reserve, who so carefully kept guard over the Jubilee presents of her Majesty during their exhibition at St. James's Palace. The French Government has issued a Yellow-book containing the correspondence with the British Go- vernment in respect to the New Hebrides and the islands west of Tahiti, of which Raiatea is the most important. The negotiations and documents with respect to the neutralisation of the Suez Canal form the subject of a Yellow-book, just issued in Paris. The official corre- spondence dates from the 6th of January, 1886, and extends to the 2nd December last. It records the diplomatic events which led up to the Anglo-French Convention with respect to the Canal. The Reading Railway strike is practically over, the men being defeated but this has been succeeded by a strike of colliers in Pennsylvania, which affects 22,000 men, and threatens to cause inconvenience to the consumers of coal owing to the scantiness of the supply. Under the presidency of Lord Hobhouse, a meeting was held on Tuesday night at the Lambeth Baths on the subject of the incidence of taxation. He main- tained that local financial burdens were not fairly dis- tributed, being levied on occupiers, while owners, whose property had increased, escaped. A resolution in favour of direct assessment on ground-rents and lands increased in value by buildings was adopted. Sir E. Clarke, M.P., speaking at Plymouth on Tuesday night, said it was a remarkable testimony to the way in which Lord Salisbury had conducted our foreign affairs that there was not a cloud between us and any other country in the world. The proposed revision of county boundaries engaged the attention of the magistrates in Quarter Sessions in several counties on Tuesday. The Birmingham Town Council have decided to take advantage of the visit of an Assistant Boundary Commissioner to promote an extension of the boundaries of the borough. The receipts on account of revenue from the 1st of April, 1887, when there was a balance of £5,950,107, to December 31, 1887, were Y-59,053,610, against £ 59,463,598 in the corresponding period of the pre- ceding financial year, which began with a balance of £ 5,625,944. The net expenditure was Y-60,818,565, against £ 62,733,632 to the same date in the previous year. The Treasury balances on December 31, 1887, amounted to £2,666,514, and at the same date in 1886 t> £ 2,110,277. As a train of the London and South-Western Com- pany was entering Tulse-hill Station early on Tuesday morning, the engine left the rails and fell over on its side, dragging with it three carriages. The passengers were shaken, but no one was injured except the engine- driver, and he not seriously. The line of the company and the Brighton line were obstructed for several hours. The East London Waterworks Company were sum- moned to the Worship-street Police-court on Tuesday by Mr. W. C. Green, a baker, at Mile-end for neglect- ing to supply water to his premises. The company maintained that they could not be expected to do so unless the complainant paid six quarters' rates due by the previous occupier, and they relied on the provisions of the Act rendering the complainant liable, although, without prejudice to their proceedings, they had laid on the water. The magistrate dismissed the summons. George Parkinson, clerk in Holy Orders, was indicted at the Bath Quarter Sessions, on Tuesday, on three charges of obtaining money by false pretences. He was found guilty and sentenced to one month's imprison- ment without hard labour. At Rutherglen, Glasgow, on Tuesday, a little boy named James Wighton, in the absence of his mother, took a bottle of whisky from a shelf, and consumed such a quantity of the liquor that he died from alcoholic poisoning. Mr. Benjamin Davies, booking clerk of the Pembroke and Tenby Railway at Pembroke Station, was on Mon- day night attacked by three men near the town, and the keys of the station were taken from him. The assistance of the police was sought, but before they could reach the station the thieves had succeeded in entering it, and in extracting S34 from the safe. No clue to the thieves has yet been obtained. The two men, Sharp and Buckmaster, described as bookmakers, who were charged with alleged welshing at Ascot at Berks Michaelmas Quarter Sessions and found guilty, and which decision has been upheld on appeal to the Court for the Consideration of Crown Cases, on Tuesday surrendered themselves at the Berks Epiphany Sessions, and were each sentenced to three months' hard labour. The measles epidemic in Canterbury continues to spread, and a large proportion of deaths from this disease is recorded. On Sunday there were as many as 13 funerals of children who had died from it. The malady prevails principally among the poorer classes. In the villages in East Kent, where the epidemic started, there is a now sensible diminution in the number of cases. The captain of the Umbria, which arrived at Queens- town on Saturday from New York, reports a painful occurrence which took place that morning off the Irish coast. A passenger named Charles Coffin, an English- man, in presence of his wife, his four children, and his brother-in-law, threw his baby, which he had been hold- ing in his arms, into the sea, and then leapt overboard himself, both being drowned. On the night before he had given his wife all his money, 1500 dols. He had previously made an attempt to commit suicide during the passage. In consequence of the new circuit arrangements, whereby the business of the winter assizes will com- mence in February instead of January, the services of all the judges of the Queen's Bench Division will be available for over a month at the commencement of the ensuing Hilary sittings for the disposal of the work arising in that division. Arrangements have therefore been made that, as far as practicable, four Courts in banco and six Courts to try special and common jury causes and actions without juries shall sit daily from the beginning of the sittings until the judges are called away to attend the winter assizes, the date for holding which is expected to be about the first week in February. The business in the two Courts of Appeal, the Chancery Division, and the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division will be carried on uninterruptedly during the whole of the Hilary sittings. A Jewish benevolent society in Vienna announces the receipt of a yearly subscription of 14,0000. from Baron Hirsch. The Rev. J. Gibson, of Philadelphia-a coloured minister of Philadelphia-is 117 years old. His long hair is perfectly white. He wears no beard, and his skin, which is almost coal black, is a mass of wrinkles. He says he feels as well as he did 30 years ago, and that he expects to live to be at least 125 years old. In his younger days Gibson was a Virginian slave. The funeral of Mrs. Jane Sharpies, 37, the lady who was found drowned, under mysterious circumstances, in Bitterscote Pool, Tamworth, and upon whose remains the Coroner's Jury on Friday returned an open verdict, took place on Saturday, the body being interred at Tamworth. Some of her relatives are of high position in Scotland. Her sister, Mrs. Johnstone, and Miss Margaret M'Neil, of Dundee, attended the funeral. How the deceased lady got into the Pool, which is a mile from the station, and what induced her to leave the train at Tamworth, where she had no friends, is still a mystery. It is stated that when she left Euston she was seen into the train by a lady, who asked the guard to see her safely to Stafford, but that .when the latter station was reached the guard discovered that she had alighted at Tamworth, although she had a ticket for Shrewsbury, and was on her way to Scot- land. The Portuguese Cortes were opened on Monday by the King. In his Speech from the Throne he referred to the opening of the Delagoa Bay railway, and to various measures which had been carried out in the colony of Delagoa Bay for the development of its re- sources. In conclusion his Majesty said the financial situation was satisfactory. Several charges of burglary came before metropolitan police magistrates on Monday. At Marylebone, Albert Harding, described as a clerk, was remanded on a charge of being concerned with another man, not in custody, in breaking into a dwelling-house at Kilburn and stealing various articles of jewellery. He was also charged with assaulting Detective Langford, and it was shown that a desperate struggle took place on the police endeavouring to arrest him. At Westminster, Daniel Golliker, a labourer, was remanded, and John Cronin, a stoker, sent for trial, on different charges of attempt- ing to break into houses at Pimlico. Charged with committing a burglary at 30, George-street, Hanover- square, Thomas Smith, a hawker, was sent by the Marl- borough-street magistrate for trial. At the Thames Police-court, London, on Monday, Margaret Cain, 45, who has been convicted at this and other courts in the metropolis upwards of 230 times, was again charged with the usual offence of being drunk, disorderly, and using obscene language. On Sunday night she was on Tower-hill behaving in a dis- graceful way. When Constable 72 H requested her to go away she said, I want to go home to see my inspector." The officer took her into custody, and on passing a Roman Catholic church she remarked, "My priest is here." Defendant then dropped on her knees, and commenced saying her prayers. The constable got her up, when she offered. to race him to the police station, and, in order to get her there without further trouble, the officer allowed her to run on in front of him, which she did till they arrived at the station, where she was charged. Mr. Saunders: You are always either here or in prison. I think you are better off in prison than out. I shall now send you back again for seven days, with hard labour. Defendant: A happy new year to you. A violent fire oetmrred on Sunday night in the Alhambra Theatre, at Antwerp. No one was in the building at the time exoept the ooncierge and her family, who were saved. A portion of the Wirral railway scheme, which will connect West Kirby, Hoylake, and the parish of Wallasey with the Mersey Tunnel Railway, was opened on Monday morning for traffic, without any formal cerempny. Pleuro-pneumonia is spreading in Dorsetshire. Another serious outbreak was reported on Monday on the farm of Mr. Joseph Coombs, at Cherry Orchard, Shaftesbury. Tha herd in this case numbers about 70 head. The Northampton boot and shoe opera tires resumed work at all the factories on Monday morning, with the exception of that of Messrs. Cove and West, where the original dispute broke out. The unionists decline to work with the aeoommodators at this factory, but it is anticipated that the difficulty will be arranged by making separate shops. Another explosion, eaused by an escape of gas into the sewer, took place on Monday in Percy-street, Newcastle, near the spot where the previous explosion occurred. A portion of the carriage-way was lifted up, and some of the stonework in the street was dis- placed. In Seaham Harbour on Monday a young man named Thomas Spence was drowned. The deceased had gone into the sea on "the back of a horse to wash its legs. The animal got beyond control, and swam out to sea. The rider fell off, and before assistance could be obtained he was drowned. The body was afterwards washed on shore. The melancholy circumstance was witnessed by a brother, who could render no help. At the Coventry City Petty Sessions on Monday, a local firm, trading as the Danish Butter Company, were summoned for selling as butter a substance which contained 90 per cent. of foreign fat, and only 10 per cent. of butter. The defendants admitted that under the Margarine Act they would have to describe the substance as margarine. The Bench imposed a fine of il. At the West Riding Sessions at Leeds on Monday a grant of S-200 was made out of the police superannua- tion fund to the widow of Superintendent Birkhill, who was shot dead at Otley while attempting to appre- hend a man named William Taylor, who had attempted to murder his wife, and afterwards fatally shot his child. Regret was expressed that the Court had not power to make a larger grant. The extensive warehouse and works of Messrs. Fredk. Turney and Sons, leather dressers, of Bobber's Mill, Nottingham, were on Monday night destroyed by fire. The flames originated in the drying-room, and as the contents of the building were oily the fire spread throughout the building very quickly. The damage is estimated at £ 40,000. Owing to the exertions of the Borough Fire Brigade a naptha store in the immediate vicinity of the fire was uninjured. The annual council meeting of the Yorkshire Miners' Association, held at Barnsley on Monday, considered the demand previously made on the coal owners for an advance of 10 per cent. Resolutions were passed regretting that the owners had declined to entertain the proposal for an advance or the formation of a board of conciliation, and the association instructed their secretaries again to write to the secretaries and presidents of the Coal Owners' Association in Yorkshire respecting an advance. The Wirral (Cheshire) Highway Board have sent in an account of JE620 to Mr. Walker, contractor for the Manchester Ship Canal, for extraordinary expenses incurred by the heavy traffic of machinery passing on to the Ship Canal Works. Mr. Walker refuses to pay the account, on the ground that it is excessive, and the Highway Board on Monday resolved to press for pay- ment. The whole of this sum was spent by the board duiing two months alone, when the roads were con- siderably cut up. An explosion occurred on Monday morning at the Bal- hurst workings of Diglake Colliery, Audley, North Staf- fordshire. A portion of the mine firedspontancously last week, and the manager had had the horses removed, and had prevented the 600 men engaged at the colliery from descending the mine. The fire was built off, but on Monday morning flames communicated with some gas, and a destructive explosion followed, rendering descent to the mine impossible. No lives were lost. Another attempt was on Monday made by the agent of Mrs. M'Intosh, the lady of the manor, to put down a weigh-bridge in the Romford Market-place, but the efforts of the men employed by the agent were frustrated by a number of men employed by the Local Board, who threw back the earth as fast as it was removed. The agent at the end gave up the attempt, but stated that as no toll could be charged for cattle brought into the market unless the weigh-bridge was put down, the Local Board would be held responsible for the loss. Smallpox, which has been alarmingly epidemic in Yorkshire of late, has appeared in Bradford. A labourer named Alfred Dawson, living in a common lodging-house, was on Monday discovered to be suf- fering from the disease in an acute form. He was sent to the Fever Hospital, but had been in the lodging-house a week, and had been ill for the greater portion of that time. During this period there was the usual number of lodgers in the house, and it is to be feared that other cases may be developed. Joseph Bishop, a carter in the employ of Lord Hil- lingdon, was charged at Uxbridge on Monday with cruelly ill-treating a horse on Christmas Day. The defendant agreed to take charge of a horse during the afternoon of Christmas Day while a youth who gene- rally looked after it had a holiday. In the course of the afternoon the animal escaped from its stable and ran into a neighbouring field. Bishop caught the horse, and for ten minutes beat it severely. The animal was afterwards found to be very much exhausted, and died on the following Thursday morning, a veterinary sur- geon stating that death was due to exhaustion, conse- quent upon lock-jaw, arising from the injuries the animal had received. The defendant was fined JE3. At Cambridge Town Council on Monday it was decided, by 25 votes to five, that early application be made for an Act of Parliament to enable the Corpora- tion and the Chesterton Local Board to construct a bridge or bridges over the River Cam. It was also determined, by 22 votes to ten, that it was desirable to enlarge the Guildhall by building additional rooms, and to give authority to employ an architect, to whom it is to be an instruction "to arrange his plans so that any new buildings erected may form part of a complete and consistent block of municipal buildings." On Saturday last and Monday, at the rent audits held at Aylesbury, Mr. Leopold de Rothschild returned 30 per cent. of the rents due from the tenants on his Buckinghamshire estates for the half-year ended Michaelmas last. This is the third half-year in which the remission has been extended to 30 per cent. The Prime Minister has forwarded to the Lord Mayor of London, at the Mansion House, a cheque for JE100, in aid of the fund for the unemployed. Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Alison, G.C.B., commanding at Aldershot, has appointed Major- General Philip Smith, C.B., to preside over a com mittee which is to consider and submit proposals for the silent movement of troops by signal. The other members of the committee are Colonel Yeatman Biggs, R.A., Colonel Ward Bennitt, 5th Lancers; Lieutenant-Colonel Coke, 2nd Battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers; and Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, 1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment. The barque Carleton has arrived at San Francisco with eight survivors of the barque Johanna, bound from Shields for Iquique, which was burned at sea. Eight men other than those on board the Johanna were lost. A Vienna correspondent reports The Crown Prince Stephanie met with a singular accident on Mon- day. While arranging her hair with a pair of over- heated curling-irons her Imperial Highness burnt her- self in the right eye, and for a short time there was some fear that the sight had been injured. The doctor, who was immediately sent for, declared the burn to be slight, and is of opinion that it will be better in the course of a week." Speaking at the anniversary dinner of the Druids at Oxford on Monday night, the Earl of Jersey strongly supported the principle of Free Trade, contending that if Protection were adopted everyone would have to pay dearer all round." Mr. A. W. Hall, the Con- servative member for the City of Oxford, also defended Free Trade, and said he felt that Oxford had been disgraced by the resolution passed at the recent Con- servative Conference. A great popular demonstration took place on Sunday at Florence, at the house of Signor Lacaita, in honour of Mr. Gladstone. The right hon. gentleman, in response to the acclamations of the crowd, appeared at the window, and afterwards received a deputation from the assemblage, who expressed to him the admiration felt by the Democratic Liberal party of Florence for his political achievements. Mr. Gladstone, who spoke in Italian, thanked the deputation in cordial terms for their kind expressions towards himself. The facts relating to a desperate poaching affray which took place some weeks ago at Redgrave, were brought out before a bench of magistrates at Eye on Monday, when Philip Wilby, labourer, and Frederick Bryant, dealer, were charged with having with other persons unknown, armed with guns, entered upon en- closed lands to take game, and further with murder- ously assaulting a gamekeeper named Taylor. The keepers were attracted during the night by gun shots in the wood, and soon afterwards encountered a gang of poachers. A desperate fight ensued, in the course of which Taylor was felled to the ground and left for dead, his injuries being so serious that he was unable to give evidence until Monday. The poachers de- camped, but the prisoners were afterwards appre- hended, Wilby bearing traces of severe ill-usage. Bryant proved an alibi, and was discharged. Wilby was committed for trial. The Duke of Cambridge returned to Gloucester House, Park-lane, on Saturday evening from West- acre, Norfolk, where his Royal Highness has had four days' shooting with Sir Henry James's party. The German Emperor on Sunday morning received the congratulations of the generals and colonels of the Imperial Life Guards, on the occasion of the New Year. His Majesty subsequently gave audience to the Ministers and the Diplomatic Corps. On Saturday the Crown Prince of Germany took a drive, and in the afternoon walked out in the gardens of the Villa Zirio, San Remo. The sun shone brightly, but the weather was cold. There was no snow there, although it had fallen in the neighbourhood. In consequence of Lord Rosebery having again caught cold, his meeting at Airdrie, Lanarkshire, on Janual-y 13, has been postponed. Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne, G.C.B., according to the latest accounts from Inveresk, is repre- sented as progressing towards recovery from his recent serious attack of illness. Duchess Maria Wilhelmina, mother of the reigning Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, died at Meiningen, on Sun- day morning. Her Highness had attained her 83rd year, having been born in 1804. A general order issued by the Russian Minister of War on December 17 announces that the Imperial sanction has been given to the establishment of a third- class provision depot at Rovno (Volhyllia), in addition to the second-class magazine already existing there. Two fish salesmen of Aberdeen were fined at the London Mansion House on Saturday for having unseasonable salmon in their possession, contrary to the statute. The fish had been seized at Cannon-street Station while in course of transit between Aberdeen and Paris, and the question of jurisdiction, as well as other legal points, was raised. In a similar case a short time ago notice of appeal was given but, that appeal having been abandoned, the Lord Mayor now dealt with the present cases, which had been adjourned pending the judgment of the higher court. On Sunday the members of the Liberal party in the Hungarian Diet waited on M. Tisza to offer to him their congratulations on the new year. In replying M. Tisza said he was not one of those who regarded the danger of war as imminent. He still hoped it might be averted. Should, however, war be forced upon her, Hungary would be found at her post. Mr. Chamberlain has been entertained at the annual dinner of the Toronto Board of Trade. In the course of a speech which was much applauded he said the prospects of improved relations with the United States never looked more hopeful. It was not too much to expect that the tariff against Great Britain would dis- appear altogether in a few years. Intelligence from China states that a powder maga- zine exploded in Amoy and entirely destroyed one quarter of the town. Fifty soldiers were blown to atoms, and several hundred other persons are said to have been killed. About midnight on Saturday the temperature, which had for some hours previously been above freezing point, suddenly fell, and on Sunday skating was re- newed in the London parks. There were a few immer- sions. but no serious accident. Early on Monday morn- ing the weather again became much milder. Three traders at Drangan were sentenced at Mullina- hone, county Tipperary, on Saturday to six months' imprisonment with hard labour for conspiring not to deal with an emergency man named Mitchell. Notice of appeal was given and bail allowed. In the Revenue returns for the quarter and three- quarters ending Dec. 31 decreases are shown respec- tively of £ 438,965 and £ 409,988. The principal items, so far as these figures of the National account are indi- cative of the state of trade, under which a falling off is shown are Customs £ 105,000 for the quarter, and Income-tax £ 220,000 the former being accounted for probably by the reduction of 4d. in the duty on tobacco, and the latter by the remission of Id. in the Income- tax, which is now beginnng to take effect in the re- ceipts. On the other side of the account, stamps show an increase of £ 70,000, and the post and telegraph ser- vices of £ 30,000; both factors giving evidence of in- creased trading activity. On the nine months the Excise and stamps show augmentations of £300,000, and £550,000 respectively. The results now published, it will be seen, are in general conformity with the Budget anticipations. The Queen has approved of the appointment by the Home Secretary of Mr. John Forbes, Q.C., of the North-Eastern Circuit, to the Recordership of Hull, vacant by the resignation of Mr. Beasley, Q.C., through ill-health. Mr. Forbes, who was only recently appointed Attorney-General for the County Palatine of Durham, was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1862, and was created a Queen's Counsel in 1881. A Society paper says that Dr. Stainer contemplates resigning his post as organist of St. Paul's Cathedral. An Amati violin has been sold at Buda-Pesth for JE700. It, however, originally belonged to Louis XIV. A fine specimen of the Golden eagle has just been killed at Bagshot by one of her Majesty's keepers. Its spread was fully 9ft. It is known that the Germany military authorities have for some time past been making experiments with carrier pigeons. These, our Berlin correspondent states, have recently been followed by still more in- teresting and successful trials with falcons. The latter birds are being trained to catch pigeons, especially with a view to capture those employed for the convey- ance of messages. The DuUín Gazette has published an order signed by Mr. Litton, Q.C., and Mr. Wrench, Land Commis- sioners under the Act of 1887, prescribing alterations in the judicial rents fixed for the years 1881 to 1885 in areas (specified in a schedule) which comprise the whole of 162 Poor Law Unions in Ireland. The alterations are, in all cases, abatements of the judicial rents, rang- ing from 6 to 22 per cent., the average being about 14 per cent. Mr. Justice O'Hagan publishes a note to the order regretting that he is obliged to dissent from his colleagues, and cannot concur in it. The order affects the whole of the judicial rents fixed up to the year 1885. An International Musical Exhibition, under the pre- sidency of Signor Verdi, will be held at Bologna from the 1st of May till the 31st of October next. During the new financial year an extensive series of experiments will be carried out by the naval authori- ties to test the value of the spur rams which have been affixed to so many of our war ships without being in anyway supported by armour. The opponent of this mode of ship construction contend that an unsupported ram is a source of weakness, for whenever it comes to be used the portion of the ship immediately behind it will crumble up. The recent collision of the Canada with a timber-laden barque in the St. Lawrence is con- sidered to strengthen the contention, for the unsup- ported spur was uninjured, but the frames adjoining were broken and twisted right round. It is not generally known that Sir Morell Mackenzie is the son of the late distinguished and much-respected actor, Mr. Compton, who was for years a member of Mr. Buckstone's company. Mr. Compton's name was Mackenzie. A notable man, Professor William Wordsworth, a grandson of the great poet, is on the eve of arriving in England from India. He has been for more than 25 years an officer of the Bombay Department of Public Instruction, and for some years past has been principal of the Elphinstone Institute. It has been decided at the War Office to complete the armament of the Irish Militia with the Martini- Henry rifle before the next drill season commences in March. The London and China Telegraph states that after nearly eight years' hesitation the Chinese Government is about to fulfil the agreement into which it entered with the German Minister in 1880 for the constitution of bonded warehouses at Shanghai. The concession itself is somewhat tardy, and the Telegraph observes that it may probably be made in such a manner as to convert it into a grievance. A paper was read the other night before the Vienna Hygienic Society in which it was stated that the soft part of a loaf is an excellent disinfector for polished wood, paper, and like substances, and that experiments made in several hospitals have given very satisfactory results. The Government of India have consented to lead to the Amir of Afghanistan for two years the services of Mr. C. L. Griesbach, of the Geological Survey. Mr. Griesbach accompanied the Southern Force on the second Afghan campaign as geologist, in which capacity he was also a member of the Afghan Boundary Com- mission. Intellectual progress is sometimes attended with strange manifestations. A young lady in the city of Mexico, Senorita Matilda Montaga, having been the first of her sex to devote herself to medical studies, the young men of the city were struck with such admiration of her courage that they got up a bullfight in her honour lately. It was a real fight, as the fact that two of the toreros were seriously hurt proved. The receipts were devoted to the purchase of books and instruments for the outfit of the lady. The King of Siam has sent four of his sons to Europe, and given them some very good advice. He tells them not to assume the title of prince in Europe, and not to boast that they are princes. The boys are told that a prince who shall become noted and re- ceive an elevated appointment can do so only when he s possessed of superior abilities." In consequence of the closing of the Russian univer- sities, large numbers of the students are leaving the country to take up their residence in Switzerland. It has been decided that the statue of the late Sir Hugh Owen, of the Local Government Board, which is being presented to the Principality by a committee of London subscribers, shall be erected in Castle-square, Carnarvon, close to the fountain which was opened some years ago by the Prince of Wales. The number of applications for patents during the past year amounted to 18,029. A communication reached Limerick on Saturday from the Irish Prisons Board, stating that the Rev.. Father Ryan would be permitted to procure his owa. under-clothing during his imprisonment. In the majority of the churches and chapels through- out London, and all the provincial cities and towns on, Saturday, special midnight services were held to see the old year out and the new year in." As a rule the: services consisted of hymns, prayers, and an address, but the distinguishing feature was a short period of silent prayer just before and during the stroke of the- midnight hour. In several instances the congregations were very large. The Board of Trade have intimated to the pro- moters of the Channel Tunnel that if the bill, which has been recently deposited by them in the Private Bill Office, is persevered with, it will be the duty of the Government to oppose it in Parliament. On Saturday the private views of the "Old Masters," at the Royal Academy, and of the Cen- tury of British Art," at the Grosvenor Gallery, were largely attended. At the London Royal Institution, on Saturday, the third lecture to children, by Sir R. S. Ball, Royal Astronomer of Ireland, was given, the subject being The Small Planets." Sir George Bowen and Mr. G. Baden Powell, M.P., who have been appointed Commissioners to settle the new electoral boundaries for the islands of Malta and Gozo, expect to leave for Malta on Wednesday next. Mr. Parnell has so far recovered that he will resume the active leadership of the Nationalist party early this month. He will shortly hold a conference with his leading colleagues in the Irish representation. According to a Reuter's telegram from Brisbane Sir Samuel Griffith, the Queensland Premier, has proposed to invite Lord Wolseley to visit Australia to inspect the military force and advise upon the defences of the various colonies. The Colonial Governments are now considering the proposal. On the arrival of the 12.20 train from King's-cross at the Great Northern Station at Peterborough on Saturday morning, a gentleman was found in a first- class carriage with his brains blown out. In his pocket was discovered a memorandum—" If I am found shot, I have committed suicide. My name is Alfred Paget, of 17, Bedford-row, W.C., solicitor. Kindly communicate with my parents. Mr. John Paget, 18, Victor-street, Loughborough, is my father." Alfred Mann, a football player, who had lived at Bradford, died on Saturday from injuries received while playing at football. He was playing half-back for a Manningham team, and during the progress of the match he was hurt in the back. and it appears that his kidneys had been ruptured. He had been under constant medical care since. An accident happened about 11 o'clock on Saturday night on the Great Eastern Railway, between Hoe- street and St. James's-street stations, Walthamstow. The engine ran off the line, taking all the carriages with it and falling about 20ft. down an embankment. Several of the carriages were smashed, but no pas- sengers were in the train. The driver was rather seriously injured. At the West Riding PoLce-court at Pontefract on Saturday, David Pilmore, charged with murdering Edward George Copley, gamekeeper, at Badsworth, on April 29th, by shooting him with attempting to shoot William Illingworth with intent; and with wounding Illingworth. On Wednesday, the 29th ult., Superin- tendent Whincup received the prisoner into custody at Reading, and on being charged he replied, "Not guilty: that's all I have to say at present." The superintendent asked for a remand. Her Majesty's ship Victory, renowned as the flag- ship of Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar, underwent a careful examination in dock on Saturday at the hands of the dockyard authorities, with the result that the old historical craft was found, in spite of her great age and lengthy services, to be in a really marvellous state of preservation. The leak which some time since threatened to sink her does not appear to have been so serious as was feared, leaving no doubt that the weather-beaten man-of-war will shortly be able to re- turn to her old moorings in Portsmouth Harbour. By an Order in Council just issued Croydon will in future cease to be a place for the holding of Assizes for the county of Surrey. In spite of the efforts of the authorities at Sheffield, smallpox is said to be increasing. The death-rate last week, which was 21, was higher than, with an excep- tion or two, during any week since the disease made its appearance last March. With the exception of one death from smallpox in London, and two in Bristol, there were no deaths from this disease in any other of the large towns. The Sheffield authorities are now building a hospital some distance from the town, and on the edge of the Derbyshire moors, in order to isolate future cases. David Blore, the Middlewick schoolmaster who it was reported was robbed of JE30, and afterwards thrown into the canal, a few nights ago, died on Friday. At the inquest held on Saturday, the death was attributed by the doctor to peritonitis, induced by exposure to the cold. Mr. Blore, who was about to be married, left home stating he was going to a situation offered him by Messrs. Bottomley and Co., of Bradford. From Man- chester he telegraphed that he was returning at once, owing to illness. The only letter found upon him relating to the situation was one purporting to be from the manager of the firm to himself. This is alleged to be in the handwriting of the deceased. The inquest was adjourned.

THE MARKETS. MARK-LANE. At Mark-lane a fair business was done. The sales of home-grown wheat in the leading markets of England and Wales during the first eighteen weeks of the season were 1,161,309 qrs., against 918,645 qrs. last year, at an average of 29s lid, against 31s 9d per qr. barley, 1,601,527 qrs., against 1,504,333 qrs., average 28s 9d, against 27s 2d and oats, 127,667 qrs., against 173,377 qrs., average 15s 5d, against 17s 6d per qr. English wheat was in fair request at an advance of about Is per qr. on the week. Foreign wheat was firm, and about 9d to Is dearer on the week. The flour market was firm, at 6d advance. The barley trade was steady malting produce was firm, and fully as dear. Oats changed hands at full prices. The maize market was steady, and prices were rather higher on the week. Beans were 6d cheaper. Egyptian, 29s to 31s; Smyrna, 28s to 29s 6d. White peas nothing doing. Great Calcutta 3d and 6d dearer, at 22s 9d to 24s. Lentils unaltered Egyptian, 28s to 29s. METROPOLITAN CATTLE. The cattle trade has been quiet in tone. Supplies were not large, but they were sufficient for the demand. Beasts from our own grazing districts came forward in average numbers, and the quality and condition were on the whole satisfactory. The market was deficient in animation, but for all that was not without a certain display of firmness. The best Scots and crosses were disposed of at 5s to 5s 2d per 81b. Foreign beasts were in moderate supply and slow request at about late rates. The sheep pens were fairly well supplied. Business was slow throughout. The choicest small 8st Downs reach 5s 4d, but heavier sheep were difficult to move and irregular in value. Calves were quiet, at late rates. Pigs sold slowly on former terms Coarse and inferior beasts, 2s 4d to 3s second quality ditto, 3s to 4s; prime large oxen, 4s 6d to 5s ditto Scots, &c., 5s to 5s 2d coarse and inferior sheep, 3s 4d to 4s second quality ditto, 4s to 4s 8d prime coarse-woolled ditto, 4s 10d to 5s prime Southdown ditto, 5s 2d to 5s 4d; large coarse calves, 3s to 4s prime small ditto, 4s to 4s lOd large hogs, 2s 4d to 3s neat small porkers, 3s to 3s 8d per 81b to sink the offal. METROPOLITAN MEAT. The supply was short, but the demand was very limited, and the market was not clear. Inferior beef, 2s Od to 2s 8d middling ditto, 3s Od to 3s 6d prime ditto, 3s 8d to 4s Od Scotch ditto, 4s to 4s 2d Ameri- can, Liverpool killed, 3s 8d to 3s lOd; ditto killed, hind-quarters, 3s 8d to 4s ditto, ditto, fore-quarters, 2s 4d to 2s 8d; English veal, 3s 8d to 4s 4d; Dutch ditto, 2s 4d to 3s 4d inferior mutton, 2s Od to 2s Sel; middling ditto, 3s to 3s 8d prime ditto, 4s Od to 4s 4d Scotch ditto, 4s 2d to 4s 6d New Zealand ditto, 2s 4d to 2s 8d large pork, 2s 8d to 3s 2d small ditto, 3s 4d to 4s Od per 81b. by the carcase. FISH. Fair supply and demand. Prices Wholesale Cod, 2s to 8s each John Dorey s, 2s to 3s each brill, 8s per stone turbot, 14s per stone; soles, 110s per box; plaice, 20s per box; fresh haddocks, 8s per box; whiting, 6s per box; mackerel, 6s per score; red mullets, 12s per dozen live eels, 18s per draft; dead eels, 8s per draft; lobsters, 20s per score; crabs, 20s per pad sprats, 12s per barrel; smelts, 2s per basket; dried haddocks; 2s to 6s per dozen bloaters, 3s per box; kippers, 4s per box oysters, 3s to 16s per 100; shrimps, Is to 2s per gallon. Retail: Sturgeon, 8d per lb. cod, 4d to 6d per Ib.; brill, 10d per lb. turbot, Is 2d per lb. soles, Is 4d per lfe;; fresh haddocks, 3d per lb. sprats, III per lb, live eels, Is 2d per lb. 2 dead eels, lOd per lb. red nrijUets, Is 3d each plaice, 6d to Is each mackerel, 4d each; whiting, 4d each; lobsters, Is to 2s 6d each crabs, Is to 3s each; dried haddocks, 3d to Is each; smelts, 6d per dozen bloaters, 6d to 9d per dozen; kippers, 9d to Is -per dozen; oysters, 4d to 3s per dozen shrimps, 4d per pint. POTATO. There was a moderate supply of potatoes on sale. The trade was dull at the annexed prices: Magnum bonums, 80s to 100s Regents, 60s to 100s Hebrons, 80s to 110s and champions, 60s to 70s per ton.