Papurau Newydd Cymru
Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru
2 erthygl ar y dudalen hon
FEARFUL EXPLOSION AND FIRE.
FEARFUL EXPLOSION AND FIRE. On Wednesday, the 9th inst., an explosion, resulting in s'serious fire, and attended with melancholy loss of life, occurred in the Cannonsate of Edinburgh. Shortly before one o'clock the neighbourhood was startled and shocked with the sound of an explosion resembling the simultaneous discharge of several pieces of artillery, the reverberation being heard even in the suburbs of the town. Immediately a great volume of flame was seen to Epont forth from the door and windows of the premises cf Mr? Hammond, general dealer and fireworks maker, situated a little above Chessels-conrt, in a building front- ing the street. The inmates of the populous tenement, -who were dreadfully alarmed, found to their horror that the staircase was barred by a fierce volume of flame issuing from Hammond's back door. Being daytime most. of the husbands of the women and fathers of the children were away at work, but it is estimated that there must have been between seventy and eighty per- sons hemmed in by the fire. Many made a frantic rush at the staircase, but the heat was so intense as to force them back. The fire engines were speedily on the spot, but at first it was not possible to obtain a sufficient supply of -water. When that was obtained the flames were speedily mastered, but dense volumes of sroove continued to ascend and penetrated every room of the vast building, stifling the inmates. These rushed to the windows and cried frantically for assistance to those b^Iow. Some of the scenes witnessed have scarcely ever been paralleled. The following are some of the incidents as described in the Scotsman, Two of t io most active in rescuing the imprisoned people were Police-sergeant Auld and a chimneysweep, named George Riddle. Auld was on the epot very soon after tbe fire broke out. The first of the terrible sights that met his eye was that of a woman, named Henderson, throwing a girl over a third-storey window into a court. This woman's husband, Walter Henderson, was the owner of the whole half-flat on the third storey, and a portion of it he had let off in furnished apartments. Mrs Henderson was in her own house when the fire broke out, with her four chidren, one a girl of eleven years, and the others aged respectively seven, five, and three. To remain longer in the room was impossible; to attempt to escape by the stair would, in all probability, have been equally fatal. There was ao alternative but to risk the fall; at the worst it was merely another way of dying. And yet, on looking out irom the window afterwards the distance down into the court seemed frightful. The window could only be leached by clambering on the top of a table. Standing there with such a yawning outlook, the mother must have been filled with a mad despair before she could have dropped her children one by one from her arms to whllt to any sane person must. have seemed certain death, and only with the prospect of falling herself after them, The poor children, as they were raised, screamed and clung back with all their power, but the mother proved the stronger, and one by one they were dropped. Ser- geant Au]d arrived under the window just in time to catch the first of the children-the girl of eleven-and as she struggled very much to save herself from the fal!, she came down partly doubled, and when set on her feet, poor creature, she was unable to walk. It was painful TO look upon her pale terror-stricken face, and she was trembling violently from fear. She was safely caught in her descent in Auld's arms, as were al-o the other three children. One of them a boy, struck the sergeant a severe blow on the chest in his fall. The officer was stunned, and fainted, but he had no sooner recovered than he was again foremost among the foremost of the workers. He was George Riddle's chief assistant in afterwards rescuing Mrs Henderson and a woman who was with her in the house. Riddle ascended a ladder, and tying a rope round each of the women, swung them gently down the ladder. The brave men who bad eaved them had no time to receive thanks—from many windows there were still loud and bitter cries for help. A poor woman, Mrs Ferguson, leaping from a fourth storey window in the west wing of the building, fell on the hard pavement and died almost immediately. One of the most exciting incidents in connection with the calamity was the rescue of two women from a win- dow on the fourth floor of the building, in the west wing, immediately adjoining Pirrie's close. One of the women' 'Was Mrs Rae, mother of Mrs Ferguson, the poor woman "who flung herself into the court, as stated above; and the other was a Mrs Johnson, who resided on the fourth floor. Mrs Rae appeared first at the window, from which the smoke was issuing in dense volumes, and cried out piteously for help. Mr John Watson, a baker, a young man who had been assisting some others to escape, ran tip the staircase in Pirrie's close, nearest to where the woman was standing, and made his way into a house on the top flat. Looking out of the window, he found that there was one window between him and the poor woman, and that he was separated from her by eight or nine feet. -He took a blanket off the bed, tore away the under sash of the window, and flung one end of the blanket across to the woman, who seized hold of it, crying out, as she did PO, 'Thank Heaven, some one has come to save me.' The excited crowd =below cried Hold fast,' and others Jump;' but Watson urged her to keep hold of the blan- ket, and promised to do his best to save her. A journey- man butcher named Greig had by this time gone up to Watson's assistance; and Sergeant Auld and Constable M'lntyre, who had been exerting themselves to the utmost to save life, had also rushed to the spot, and they took up a position at an open window in Pirrie's-cloee, on the floor beneath Watson, out of which they held a ladder with the view of getting hold of the woman if she should be lowered down. A rope was got and thrown to the woman, who had by this time got outside of the window, and was in at evidently dangerous position. The rope which was thrown to the woman somehow got round her neck, and Watson called out to her, Remove the rope and put it round your waist, or you will hang yourself;' and she replied, 4 I'll try my best, but I am choking with smoke.' She got the rope over her shoul- ders, and when it was under her arms she was told to let go. She did so, clutching by the blanket, and held pp by the rope. The excitement of the crowd below was intense, as for a moment the woman swung in the air, and struck against the wall; but Sergeant Auld and those who were with him in the flat below in Pirrie's- close, succeeded in catching hold of her as she swung to the side, and rescued her amidst the cheers of the spectators below. No sooner was this rescue effected than Mrs Johnstone appeared at the same window, and cried out, 'For heaven's sake, save me alsol' A rope was flung to her, and after she had fastened it round her waist, she was speedily and safely swung across to Pirrie's-close, and taken in at the third storey window by Sergeant Auld. One little boy bad a narrow escape. He bad been playing on the staircase when the explosion took place, and the stair filling with smoke, he had managed to get out of the stair window on the second storey, and hung by his hands on the outside for some time, afraid to drop to the ground, and waiting for some one to come to his rescue. The ladders, however, were all engaged at the time at the other windows, and some of the people below, seeing that the boy's strength was failing, called to him to drop. Mr M'Kenzie, builder, was among those below, and as the boy fell, his feet struck Mr M'Kenzie; but the boy, so far as we can learn, was not seriously injured. Two women were rescued from a first storey window by George Riddle; and from another room the same individual carried out three other women and an old man. The poor people when found by their deliverer were quite lively and sensible, but totally unable to help themselves in their dangerous position. In each case the people were rescued by being lowered by ropes. A sailor, whose name did not trans- pire, was seen to leap from one of the high windows upon some mattresses with a young child under his arms, which he happily preserved from all danger, and he himself escaped with only a bruised head. A poor basket-maker, Luke Duffy-who occupied the underground premises beneath Mr Hammond—was sorely to be pitied. At the time of the explosion there were with him in his premises three workmen, two young women, and his two children. He had not the slightest warning of the danger, for the first thing to befal him was the fall of his ceiling, and the debris darkened the place, and almost blinded all who were in it. After making his escape, in the fear and alarm of the moment, Duffy broke open a window and crept back into the room and brought out his youngest child which was lying in the cradle. And even then he believed that the house was not empty. His daughter Mary, aged four and a half, and a young woman named Bella Horriaon, were still missing, and he-was confident that they were buried in the burning debrzs. The poor man was sorely troubled, and again crept through the win- dow to look for the missing ones. They were not -in the room, and it was evident to him that they must have perished in the passage in making their way round to the front door. To settle all doubt, he attempted to ex- plore the passage, and groped his way amid the fire and emoke, until bit burning hair compelled him to return. { He gave the two p.fe&Vilrea lib for lost-no Attedpt could afterwards be made to expire the cellar, fetei poor Duffy lingered about among tte crowd in hioat distracted state of mind. Later in the aNVnoon, however, he learned to his infinite relief and tomfott that the two persons whom be believed to have perished were both safe. The young woman, Vno was slightly injured on the head, apparently by apiece of a rocket, bad managed to scramble over the Vubbish and baskets with the child clinging to her go'ifin, and so found the door. When the Bremen bad been somewhat successful in quenching the flames, it was determined to explore the rooms, as) although all the persons who had appeared at the windows had been rescued, it was still believed that there were okher persons who might be so overcome by fright or by the suffocating power of the smoke, as to be unable to make any effort to escape, A Mr Slater, Mr M'Pherson, an inspector of streets and buildings, and Mr Ballantvne resolved to ascend the stairs for exploring purposes. Mr M'Pherson was compelled by the smoke to return in a few minutes, but Mr Slater and Mr Bal. lantyne, keeping their heads as'low as possible, succeeded in making their way up to the fourth storey. Some idea of the difficulty and Sanger of this search may be formed from the fact that Mr Ballantyne had to go four times to the windows 'to get a little air while en- gaged in the search. In one of the houses Mr Slater and Mr Ballantyne found a young girl lying on the floor not far from the door. Mr Slater took the poor girl in his arms and carried her swiftly downstairs to the court, and through the pend into the front street, where his appearance, bearing in his arms the motionless child, caused intense excitement in the vast crowd which had gathered round the building. As be crossed the vacant space in the street left immediately in hunt of the building, a thrill of anxiety and excitement seemed to run through every one. Mr Slater carried the child into the shop of Mr Davidson, followed by one or two medical men, who did all that could be done to restore anima- tion but in a little while the body was carried out muffled up and motionless—the child was, dead. Mr Slater rushed back to the building to resume his search and scarcely had the excitement among the crowd in the Canongate caused by the removal of the little girl passed away, when he was seen putting his head out of one of the windows in the top storey, and calling out to those below that theie were still some inmates. Thereupon their anxiety grew feverish. At length Mr Slater reappeared on the streets, but this time without any burden. Two women were yet in the building, he said, and he required help to rescue them. The help was obtained, and in a short time the bodies of the poor women were carried downstairs into the court. They were laid on mattresses at the west side of the court and covered with blankets, and every effort was made to restore animation. A hard and hopeless struggle it proved to be in the case of one of the poor women, Helen Milne, or Wilson, who died in the court. With the other woman, a Mrs Taylor, the labours of the medi- cal men were more successful; for in a short time she showed signs of recovery. She was removed, under the care of Dr. Arthur Wright, to the infirmary, where, we believe, her recovery was speedily com- pleted. There was something almost horrible in the way in which the crowd swayed about with excitement as body after body of the dead or injured was carried from the building or through the close. Among the first of the sufferers brought into the back court was a poor woman who had been confined to bed, and had been carried out on bedding by a man and two policemen. She was not in any way burned, but was suffering from suffo- cation. An exploration of the premises was made as soon as the subjugation of the fire would permit—between four and five o'clock. At every step, and at each fresh ascent, grievous and destructive scenes met the ex- plorers. The body of Mary Ann Emslie, twelve years of age, a message-girl in the service of Mr Hammond, was dug out of the ruins about eight o'clock in the evening. When the explosion took place, she attempted to leave by the passage leading to the back door. The floor gave way, and she was precipitated into a cellar beneath. Ber body was sadly mutilated. This dis- covery caused great consternation, In all live were killed at the time, and about twelve others were very Meriously injured. A FACT WORTH RECORDING.- While travelling on the Great Western Railway from Bristol to London, a member of the British Service Club lost his purse con- taining £ 17 10s. All he knew was that he had been asleep, and that there were other persons in the car- riage. On applying at the Lost Property office next morning, and describing the purse, it was at once handed to him, and a charge of 2d only made. MUNIFICENT GIFT.—Mr R. H. Morris, who has re- cently passed a highly successful competitive examina- tion for the Civil Service of India, has addressed a letter to Mr Alfred Eames, the Secretary of the Royal Naval School, in which he enclosed a cheque for £500, in re- cognition of the advantages received by himself and his brothers, and in gratitude for the way in which his old school meets the wants of professions themselves contributing to the just glory of England.' This muni- ficent donation constitutes Mr Morris a vice-president and life-governor of his old school, and gives him the privilege of nominating a gratuitous pupil during his life. DESPERATE FIGHT WITH A ROBBER.—Considerable excitement was created on Friday in the quiet village of Loudwater, a few miles from Wycombe, by the report of a desperate struggle between a constable and a man whom he 'wanted' for a robbery which had been com- I mitted at a public house at Wycombe. It appears that I a constable named Deacon, who keeps the lock-up at Wycombe, obtained information of the where-abouts of the supposed robber, and took train at eight o'clock in the morning to Taplow, in pursuit. When the train reached Loudwater Station the constable chanced to look out of the carriage window, and saw the man he was after walking on the platform. The constable, who was dressed in private clothes, at once left the train, with the intention of taking the man into custody. Only a minute or two before that the station-master had issued a ticket for Victoria Station to the man on the platform, and he was rather astonished to see him hur- riedly deliver the same ticket to his son, who stood at the gate, and make his way rapidly from the station. He was followed by the constable. When he reached the station yard the man started running, as if he recognised Deacon, who, of course, at once gave chase. lie ran his man down as he reached a low wall near the village post-office. The postman, who was just then at break- fast with bis wife, chancing to look out, saw the two men close as if they were having a wrestling bout, and was rather horrified as he saw the robber draw a knife from his pocket and then stab the constable with it re- peatedly on the arm and on other parts of the body. He went to the door, intending to give what assistance he could to the stabbed man, but both the wrestlers, as he thought them, ran past him as he stood on the thres- hold. He saw that the hindmost man was getting faint; and that as he approached the Happy Man' public house he was forced to give up the chase. The landlord of the public house, and some men who chanced to be lounging about there, saw the constable fall, and went to lum. They learned who he was, and upon what errand he had been. They put him into a cart, and had him driven to Wycombe, where medical attendance was obtained, and where the constable now lies in a very dangerous state. Whilst this was being done a bov, the son of the landlord of the Happy Man,' and who was only fifteen years old, mounted a pony, and went after the man who had stabbed the constable. He missed the man in some way, but went on and informed the police at Wooburn-green and Beaconsfield. He then returned towards home, and was astonished to meet the man whom he thought he had followed. The man looked at him rather curiously, and then passed on, whilst the lad at once rode on to the police, who ran the robber down in the evening. He was taken to Wycombe, when the charges of robbery and of woundiDg the constable were entered against him.
EXERCISE. 1
EXERCISE. Again, let us turn our attention to the health of those men whose occupations are essentially sedentary. Per- haps there are few if any who sit so closely and so long during the day, as our great lawyers and our church dignitaries. For r ays and weeks and teonths together a judge has no opportunity of taking exercise, and a bishop is so tied to his study by hh various duties, that the day is often too short tor them to fulfil them. Men, also, who are at the head of the state, and have not, only to originate investigations and draw up schemes for the general improvement, but to defend their position through many hours of weary debate, have scant time for a gallop in Rotten Row or a constitutional in the Park. Yet, as a rule, none are so long-lived, and on the whole have better health than such men as we have described. On the other hand, we know that both men and horses succumb under excessive labour. A hunter too often used, a dog too often put on the scent, a man kept in a sinking ship for too long « at the pump,' will all lie down and die. To be more particular, we know that excess of muscular exertion will bring on a singular disease of which no care is known, and which consists in a gradual wasting of all the muscles in the body, until the eye, indeed, is unable to give a glance of love to the dearest friend, and the tongue is unable to utter a sentiment of gratitude to a dovoted nurse, until the throat refuses to swallow, and at last the chest becomes unable to breathe. Such cases are, however, rare. Much more common is it to see a young man train himself so as to be able to do feats of strength which are all but astounding; yet when he has attained this end he suddenly breaks down and dies. Something like this occurred to the American pugilist Heenan, who after his fight with Mace became so enervated as barely to escape. I have had under my own charge somewhat similar cases. The first was a sturdy-looking irishman, who seemed so ill that I augured badly for his life. The nature of the complaint was at first doubtful, but it had clearly been induced by a race against time' in which he had run some two miles alotlg a crowded street in some such period as ten minutes. As the symptoms developed themselves it wascleeir that the man had brought on acute consumption. Since then I have met with another instance of precisely similar kind, in which the winner of a foot raca was immediately (within two days) affected by decline,1 and a third, in which a similar result, followed from a pedestrian expedition, during which the patient had shown himself the most active and enduring of the party. A fourth occurred in the person ef a fine young man, who was the stroke oar of his college, and apparently one of the most powerful athletes of his university, yet be broke down in a week, and when 1 saw him he had a largo cavity in one lung. All these cases survived for a time, but became complete wrecks; two died of consumption within three years, and two I am now unable to trace. Whilst attending the patient last mentioned the family doctor told me that a brother had broken down in a similar fashion. Apparentlv of powerful frame, he had worked at gymnastics until his father, proud of his son's muscular development, had taken him, as a show, to the leading surgeon of the town. His biceps'waa enormous, his pectorals'won- derful, his 'deltoids' immense, there were few feats of strength that he could not compass—yet in a fortnight from that proud visit the youth was dead of consumption. Again, 1 have seen in the dead.house the pericardium of one whose equal in rowing was scarcely to be found amongst all the amateurs of his city, yet that not only did not prevent ill-health, but positively seemed to induce it. Being determined myself 'to prove all things,' I essayed for a time to adopt the exercise in- volved in hunting the hare with beagles. Whilst doing so, I was struck with the remarkable activity of the huntsman, who, after a long run, when all the amateurs were glad to rest, and take breath, continued to run and shout as if it was as easy for him to run as for a swaliow to fly. For two seasons only did I see him thus, at the third he was very sluggish, got leave of absence and means to consult a doctor, his heart was found seriously diseased, and after his second visit to the distant phy- sician, which was effected on foot, he reached just in time to lie down aed die. Now, in all these cases, except two, there was no constitutional tendency to disease, and the effects were due solely to excessive bodily exertion and fatigue. This surely suffices to demonstrate that muscular power and constitutional vigour are not synonymous—and that gymnastic training may being on decline rather than tend to longevity. Now, if an excess of exercise will induce fatal effects in the healthy, it is far more likely to do so in those whose health is some- what impaired-and though these essays are chiefly intended to apply to the preservation rather than to the restoration of health, I will give a few illustrations of the effect of exertion, when the frame is from any cause enfeebled. I shall never forget the first- a decent- looking seaman applied to the Liverpool Infirmary, whilst I was house surgeon, for admission, he told us that he had walked from a certain dock, a distance of about a mile and a half, the road being a continuous but not rapid ascent. He said that he had bronchitis and was obliged to knock off work. Seeing that he was a fit case I at once took him in, and directed the porter to see him at once to his ward—up one flight of stairs—and no sooner did he reach his bed but he lay down and died. During the same winter two such events occurred, and in all the occurrence was as unforeseen as unexpected. Since then I have known a walk across the room to be fatal, the patient falling dead between his bed and the night chair; and another only just able to reach the bed, and there dying within three hours in spite of the most energetic means for restoration. I have known auch simple exercise as walking from room to room bring on the most distressing symptoms of heart disease, which has been again quelled by the most rigid enforcement of laziness. Between the extremes thus indicated there i, a great number of degrees. Some simply find that they have indigestion, which being attributed, as it too ofcen is, to want of exercise, the individual attempts to cure by still farther exhausting himself. Many is the instance which has come under my notice, in which a man or woman, not content with the toil which his daily business imposes, undertakes to supplement it daily by an hour's^walk, and often by two; thus increasing his sufferings till they force him to take a perfect rest.— Preservation of Health,' by Thomas Inman, M.IK, in the Medical Mirror. « FIRE AT DAXHOUSIE CASTLE.—A fire broke out at Dalhouaie Castle, near Edinburg, on Thursday morning. Flames were observed to issue from theroof of the sky parlour' by some colliers who were passing the castle on their way to work, at about four o'clock. An alarm was given, and prompt means taken to extinguish the fire. Several engines arrived at the castle from neigh- bouring places, but the fire was not got under until about nine o'clock. The damage done is estimated at about £ '3,000. THE ALTON MURDER;-—During the past week some additional facts have been brought to light in relation to this horrible tragedy. From a statement made by a ¡ little boy whose parents reside near those of the de- ceased girl, it seems that the details of the murder are likely to receive a fuller revelation at the trial of the pri- soner than has yet been given. The boy states that about two o'clock on the day of the murder he was passing towards the hollows,' when he saw the prisoner leave the hop-garden, his hands and clothes saturated with blood, and walk to the brook, where, stooping down, he washed his hands. He then took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his breast. This was at some dis- tance from the spot where the eyes of the murdered girl were subsequently found. Prompted by curiosity, the boy, who had been walking a few yards behind the pri- soner, stayed to watch his proceedings, when the pri- soner sternly told him to go home. As he did not imme- diately comply, Baker repeated the command, and, again rinsing his hands in,the brook, walked away in the direc- tion of the turnpike road, a fact which fully bears out the evidence given by the toll-keeper at the coroner's inquest. On hearing of the murder, the boy communi- cated the circumstance to his mother, who, for some un- explained reason, kept the matter secret until a few days ago, when, in the course of a conversation at a public house, she inadvertently alluded to it. Information was given to the police, and the woman and boy ques- tioned concerning the statement. Acting upon the par- ticulars related by the latter, Superintendent Cheney and three policemen dragged that portion of the brook which had been described by the boy, and which, as it happened, had not been previously searched. Nothing, however, was found, nor was a knife or any other weapon seen by the boy in the hands of the prisoner. The incident has revived the excitement at Alton, which had in a great measure subsided, and the murder is again the subject of conversation ia all circles, « SELF SACRIFICE.—A young woman of nineteen, 0^ rmarkable personal attractions named Julie S hafl just drowned herself at Champigny, France. She left a letter to a young man who was paying his addresses to her, saying that she was much attached to him, but that being subject to epileptic fits she could not marry him, and therefore she preferred death. BLACK CURRANT LEAVES FOR TEA,—The Journal des Connaissances Medicates contains an article on the virtues of the leaves of black currants or quinsey berries (Ribes nigrum). These leaves, when greenv are much used by the country peop'o for tea in cases of difficult digestion. With sugar this beverage is agreeable, aromatic, and possessed of exciting properties. M. Blucher of Point d'Ouilly, in the department of the Calvados, has been induced to distil these leaves in the same way as those Of peppermint, balm, &c, the operation being stopped whell the liquid obtained is equal in weight to the substance employed. The leaves should be handled as little as possible, in order not to crush their oderiferous glands. This distilled water is a good vehicle for all stomachic potions, and will keep two years. DESTRUCTION OF A MILL BY FIRE.—SEVERAL PEB- HONS INJURED.—A disastrous fire broke out at the will of Messrs. John liaslam and Co, Bolton, on Saturday. The fire was discovered about one o'clock, and so rapid was its operation that within about an hour the south wall fell into the lodge. An hour and three-quarters after the fire commenced the greater part of the east end wall fell with a crn!\h into Cullen's-lane. The mill WOO erected in I860, and contained about 30,000 spindles. The value of the property destroyed will not be less than. jE30,000, but the lojs is fully insured. At the flrgt, alarm a number of the affrighted hands jumped from tbe windows of the mill and were more or less injurod. The following are the names of the Xay, a piecer, aged 15; Catherine Lee, piecer; Blel" Waterworth, piecer; John Henry Nield, self-acting minder, 11; and Samuel Shipley, self-acting minder> THE GREAT SHIP RACE.—The whole fleet of «lipper shigs engaged in the great race from China to LondoØ having arrived, it may be interesting to learn the tiroe' taken by each of them in the contest;—Ariel, 1S8 days; Taeping, 102; Fiery Cross, 110; Flying Spur, 115; Maicland, 116 Taitsing, 1 IS Black Prince, 118 ;■ Se' rica, 119 Ziba, 120 Yang Tsze, 120 Chinaman, 123. The Ariel, it should be mentioned, met with three days' detention in the chops of the Channel, and some of the others met with very tempestuous weather, losing sparfr sails, and sustaining other damage by shipping heavy seas. One of them reports seeing a vessel go down with all hands. The cargoes of teas they brought over a3 follows :-The Ariel, 1,208,960 lbs; Taeping, 1,136,961; Fiery Cross, 940,510 lbs; Flying Spur, 943,716 lbs; Maitland, 1,198,708 lbs; Taitsing, 1,098,310 lbs j Black Prince, 1,163,114 lbii; Serica, 1,030,526 lbs; Ziba, 742,207 lbs; Yang Tsze, 875,972 Ibs, and ChinamsO 856,576 lbs. A CHEMIST CHARGED WITH ASSAULT.-At bury on Friday Mr Thomas Andrews, chemist and drug' gist, appeared in answer to a summons charging biJll with the committal of an agravated assault upon Jane Cheeseman. The prosecutrix, who is 16 years age, on Saturday last, being in great pain from the tooth' ache, went to the defendant's shop and asked for sonte" thing to relieve it. The assault complained of was alleged to have been committed. The prosecutrix nothing about it until Monday, when she told the ser- vant, who subsequently informed her mistress, and en Wednesday the girl was sent over to Oswestry to co&' municate with her mother, who at once came to ShreWs" bury and instituted the present proceedings. The &e' fendant totally denied the charge, and called his shop" man and a boy to support his statement.-The M"gIS' trates said that the case was very clearly proved and they sentenced the defendant to prison for one montb, with hard labour, and without the option of paying a fine. THE VINTAGERS' FAIR.-The annual vintagers' fait was held at Argenteuil on Thursday last week. Toward evening the little town was nothing more than an ID1' mense bivouac, the surplus population being estimated at 12.006 strangers. Some dance the farandoles otbero are singing randos; some, again, are sleopin o. or trffg to sleep, upon the ground others, quarreliing' should. &!id pushing one another about \vhil0 in many fires are lighted, and potatoes and chestnuts are cooked on wood cinders. Police agents pass the night in the midst of immense crowds, to keep the disorder witbic bounds. These officers are assisted by detachments 0 brigades from Saint-Germain and Saint-Cloud. 'I'M. vine-growers do not arrive at the fair until about three o'clock in the morning, when all ainging ceases, as if bY some irresistible command; angry disputants calm do*0' the sleepers awake, and each cultivator is immediately surrounded, interrogated, and beset by troops of vintage'8' clamouring to be hired, all boasting of their and aptitudes, and all speaking at the same time;"9 veritable hubbub. Towards five o'olock in the mornlllg the bargains are all made, and then the filing off begi08' Tbe vine growers, like offieers commanding a regime^* advance towards home, followed by their little srooy 0 vintagers, whose joyous songs awake the echoes of surrout ding neighbourhood. AN IRISH STORY.—The Times Dublin correspondent vouches for the truth of the following :-In one of thO workhouses of Dublin an old woman died who had long been an inmate. Boards are generally as hard as thef ought to be, but never omit, however, to show a be* coming consideration for bereaved friends. According! in this instance word was promptly sent to Bridge* Murphy, as we assume her name to be, informing hot that her mother was no more. Bridget hastened to the workhouse, and was brought by an officer of the hou8! into the deadhouse where the body lay. He unmoved the outburst of Bridget's grief, being famil'8?. with such scenes. After it had subsided she more minutely the features of the deceased, and at length exclaimed, 'That is not my mother at all!' He calB^Sj observed, Well, you ought to know best.' She looked again, and, more perplexed than before, remarked, l} cannot be my mother-sure my mother had a Williamite nose It may be well to explain that the Celtic ao'1' pathy to the glorious memory of King William not extend to his nose, which is regarded with respect as the type of true gentility. The officer 'Well, you had better leave her where she is.' 'Is1 to leave her in this cold place ?' she said no, I m°s take her away.' She had the remains accordingly to, moved to her lodgings. Her friends and neighbor- assembled that night at the wake,' which was COil: ducted with the customary observances-thle chief essell tials on such occasions being innumerable candles- unlimited whisky, and an inexhaustible mixture 0 sacred and secular things, lamentation and love-makiogf snuff-taking, story-telling, smoking, joking, gibing, aD<J' to crown all, an indiscriminate row at the end. Matte*9 went on as usual until an advanced hour in the nig'" when misgivings as to theiden!ity of the deceased to increase as the liquor began to fail. At last they *ete convinced that they had been 'waking' the wrong Veti son. A hearse was obtained, the body was brought b»c. to the workhouse, and next day they discovered that was another Mrs Murphy who had died, and that the D°0 in whose honour the wake' had been celebrated still a living charge upon the rates. Now comes sequel of the tale. In a few days a bill, of which, following is an exact copy, was furnished to the to recover expenses incurred through their mistake' the notice:Bread and butter, 4s 6d oflSce (for f dead), 10s; four extra angels, 8d. bringing the 1 a ceased home, 4s 8d; candles, Is 6d; snuffers 8 sheets, Is 4Jd whisky, 49 8d porter, 2s pipes, and snuff, Is 3|d; paid for washing sheets after cot? was taken away, Is; cleaning the place, Is; loS3?r0f tamed by two grandsons kept from work on beha' the diseased," 7s 6d. Notbin' charged for grief.' s, modest liberality of the last item is worthy of all Pr £ !,fli> One cannot help wondering that 'angels' were so only twopence a piece—while spirits of another K cost 4s 8d. It is enough to say that the little bill settled. 'etOr& Printed and Published, on behalf of the Propf1 f;, íØ by JOSEPH POTTER, at the Office in the Parish of Saint Mary, in the County <>i Town of Haverfordwest. Wedaesd&yv October 16, 1867.