The Cambrian

IRELAND. DUBLIN, MONDAY NIGHT.-Two actions against one defendant for breach of promise, slander, and seduction came before the Queen's Bench Division to-day on a motion to remit the cases to the County Court Judge of Kilkenny. The actions are brought by Eilen Dillon for breach of promise of marriage, and Margaret Meany for alleged slander. The defendant in both actions is JohnDarcy, a farmer, residing near Callan, and who was formerly a cattle dealer. His affidavit stated that about two years ago he was drinking with the plaintiff and her brother in a public-house, when the plaintiff's brother asked him would he marry his sister. Defend- ant asked him what fortune would he get, and the brother said £200. Defendant said he would not marry her unless he got £ 300. That he could get that, elsewhere. In June last the plaintiff informed the defendant that she was pregnant, and accused the de- fendant of being the father of her child, which he entirely denied. Afterwards she again a'-ked him to marry her, to which bis reply was that be would not then do 1"0, no matter what fortune he got. The action for slander was brought by a married sister, of Ellen Dillon, who accused defendant ol having said that she stole money from him. He admitted having said that plaintiff, her sister, and her mother were the only persons in the house at the time, and that if they had not taken the money, she must have done so.—Mr. Holmes, for the plaintiff, opposed the motion, and said from the affidavits it appeared that the defendant must be a double-dyed rascal, for he had kept company with this girl for two years, positively promised marriage to her, purchased her a ring, which he put on her finger, and then seduced her. He was worth £ 10,000,—The motions were refused.

Three boats with thirty men, engaged in shark-fishing in the Taxafiord, have been lust. Miss Richardson, the well-known lady member of the L )ndon School Board, has gone into co-operation. She has become proprietress of the stores at Bedford Park The polling for the election of a member for Cork took place on Saturday, and resulted in the return of Mr. Deasy, the Nationalist candidate, by a majority of 997 votes over his Conservative oppouent, Mr. W. Goulding. The announcement of the figures was received with great enthusiasm by a large crowd. BEEF-TEA. — Whenever beef-tea is ordered for an invalid it is true economy to buy the best meat. Ask, for beef-steak, as though to be cooked as beef-steak; then you'll get the right thing. Slices from the blade- bone are excellent. But be sure that the meat is as freshly killed as possible it will then be fuller of gravy. Meat that has been hanging is only fit for roasting; it will not answer for any other purpose. Set the jar into a saucepan of cold water, which bring as slowly as possible to the boil. Never mind how long it takes the longer it is the better for the tea. Earthenware is a slow con- ductor of heat; that is why stews are better if cooked in a dish or jar in the oven than in a saucepan on the fire, for the slower the heating process the more readily will the meat yield its juices, and the richer will be the tea. A pound of meat at.d a pint of water are the average quantities, or, in cases of extreme weakness, less water still, and sometimes no water at all; the meat if cooked as I have described, will yield its own juice, and that is the richest and strongest beef-tea it is possible to obtain. A mixture of mutton and beef, or mutton alone-the thick end of the loin is excellent—will prove a welcome change when the patient has tired of the beef flavour and, as convalescence progresses, a little additional seasoning of herbs and spices is permissible; but salt should be the only seasoning during severe illness; don't add pepper, especially if the throat and chest are irritated. Sometimes people have a fancy for cold beef irritated. Sometimes people have a fancy for cold beef tea, or the doctor may order it, and beef jelly is very nice. To make it, put half a pint of beef-tea into a saucepan, with half an ounce of isinglass: stir until dissolved, and put into a mould until set. DANGERS OF THE SAFETY LAMP -The report fur- nished by Mr. Arnold Moiley, M.P., upon the disastrous colliery explosion at Altham Colliery, by which sixty- eight men and boys lost their livos, on November 7.1883. has been printed by order of Parliament. So far as a report on such a subject can be satisfactory, this is emi- nently so, since, after a careful and thorough investi- gation. Mr. Morley is able to report that the catastrophe was due to no neglect upon the part of either owners or men, that the former a< neglected no precaution, and that the latter had nei er opened their lamps nor used matches for pipes, but that the explosion was caused by a great and sudden emotion of inflammable gas, which, owing to the velocity of the current was fired at the Davy lamps in use in the mine. Mr Morley recommends that the use of these lamps should be discontined, and that they should be replaced by fer ones. Curiously enough, the miners cling to the Davy lamp, ln spite of its feeble light and its well-known dangerous character. In places where the current of air flows languidly the Davy is absolutely safe; but in passages where the air passes along at a rate exceeding seven feet a second-and Mr. Morley had no doubt that this rate was exceeded in the narrow air passages of the Altham mme the Davy ceases to be any protection whate e e perfect miners' lamp has not yet been discovered a lamp that shall be at once absolutely safe, and free from risk of breakage, which shall give a good light, and defy all attempts to open it when in the men s hands but there are lamps which approach very much more nearly than does the Davy to these conditions.

DYNAMITE EXPLOSION IN LONDON. GREAT DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY. On Tuesday morning, at four minutes past one, the few persons on duty "t the Victoria Station of the London, Brighton, and South Coast R together with the inhabitants (,f a wide district currounding that place, were star led by a terrible explosion, which was heaid for a distance of fully three miles in all di- rections. The greatest alarm was caused to those both in and out of the immediate vicinity. Policemen, cab-drivers, and persons roused out of bed, rushed about in all directions, the first idea of many being that an attempt had been made by Fenians to blow up Buckingham Palace, and thousands of persons flocked to that spot in consequence. From information obtained at the station we learn that the ordinary traffic of the Brighton Railway ceased a few minutes before the explosion took place. Not more than six or seven persons were about the station ot the time. It is the custom the instant the passenger traffic ceases, for the night inspector and a few assistants to come on duty, their first work being to fix the hose pipes to the hydrants, and to see thiit all gas lights are put out, &e. The latter duty had been performed, no smell of gas was detected, and In- spector Manning was in tne act of fixing the hose- pipes to the hydrants, when he was startled by a loud report, which he describes as something liko the sound of a small cannon, followed by a brilliant red flame, the whole station and the ground underneath trembling as though moved by an earthquake. He was, in fact. nearly lifted off his feet. The scene of the occurrence was in the cloak-room, almost directly opposite the main line platform. The buildings at this portion of the station are mostly constructed of light materials, so that the force of the expiopion effected great destruc- tion, the crash of walls and floors, and particularly the glass roof overhead, being very great. The Inspector, without an instant's delay, turned on his hose-pipe, and a messenger was sent to the fire brigade station close at hand. The flames for a short time gained ground on the inflammable material of the building, but on the brigade getting fairly to work they were soon extinguished. An inspection of the premises shows that the ladies, waiting room, booking office, superintendent s office, and general manager's office, all adjoining, are com- pletely wrecked. The walls are strewn about, the glass roof has fallen down, the doors and windows are blown out, the furniture and papers are lying in confusion, and a mountain of debris litters the flooring. Fortunately a thick partition wall separates the station from the London, Chatham and Dover's premises, otherwise that building would have suffered considerable damage. Outside the glass verandah was seriously damaged, while some slight damage was done on the opposite side to the Metropolitan District Railway Station. The Shakespeare Tavern at the corner of Buckingham Palace-road, and several houses in Wilton-street and the neighbourhood, had some of their plate-glass windows blown in, the occupants being mostly roused out of their beds in great fright. Policemen on duty in Buckingham Palace-road. Grosvenor-gardpns, and Gloucester-place declare that they were lifted off their feet by the force of the explosion, while one man was turned com- pletely round. Owing to the fact, as aiready stated, that the ordinary riffic had ceased, and few people in consequence, being about, the personal injuries were very few. A carriage cleaner named Karl Kittan, while assisting io putting out. the lire, met with an injury to his neck from a falling beam. Another man named Edward Grady, of 31, Manor-Gardens, King's-road, who was near the spot at the t;me, and who rushed into the station to render assistance, fell from a window-sill, where he was endeavouring to estinguish a gas jet (the explosion having severed the gas pi pes, and lit up a portion of the gaslights). He was cut about the head. Both sufferers wire removed to St. George's Hospital, where they were attended to by Mr. Lotes, house surgeon. Early on Tuesday morning Colonel Pearson of the Metropolitan Police, visited the place, and on his suggestion everything was left as it was after the explosion until the arrival of Colonel Majendie the Cnief of tne Explosives Department at Woolwich to whom a le'er was at once sent. At present the belief of the experts is that the explosion is to be attributed to dynamite. Mr. Wright, the station-master, and all the officials on duty on Monday night, coneur in stating that they did not notice any suspicious characters about the station. Colonel Majendie and his staff have been engaged on the spot during the whole of the morning. Under the instructions of the Colonel seven or eight photo- graphic views of the wrecked premises were taken after which be employed a number of men to begin the removal of the wreckage with the greatest care, believing that some clue to the cause of the explosion might be met with. Colonel Majendie bas exunined every part of the building in which the explosion occurred, and he gives it as his opinion tiiat in. order to have caused such an explosion a most powerful explosive must have been employed, and that it was most probably nitro-glycerine or dynamite. Amongst the heap of rubbish in the cloak-room, have been found the remains of a Gladstone bag about 2ft. by 18in. The leather, which is strong, is not cut or jagged much, the bag having been burst open, apparently from the inside, every seam having given way, and the iron framework being bent. Thomas does not identify the bag as the one mentioned by him on Tuesday morning. The inside of the bag is covered with dust, and there are no traces of its contents. OFFICIAL REPORT.—The official report returned to Captain Chaw by Superintendent Palmer is as follows The cloak-room, a building of one floor, about 30 feet by 36 feet, and contents nearly destroyed by fire and explosion booking offices and restaurant adjoiuing and contents seriously damaged by explosion covered way bv breakage. W. Fulford, aged 27 years, and Karl Katton, aged 22 ears, both seriously nurt, and taken to St. George's Hospital."

LONDON GAZETTE (From Friday Night's Gazette.) BANKRUPTS.—WiMiam Aikman Storry, 51, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Middlesex, solicitor. Lawrence Saunders late 12, Crane-court, Fleet-street, newspaper manager and proprietor, now 51, Threadneedle-street, and 3, Bell- yard. City-road, all of London, manager of the Railway Printing and Publishing Company (Limited), of same places. William Down, 8, Stoke Newington-road, Stoke Newington, Middlesex, out of business. BANKRUPTCY ACT, 1883.-Receiving Orders and Dates of Public Examinations.—David Lewis, 3, Hall-street Carmarthen, chemist and druggist. Carmarthen, March 18. George Ace, 20, High-street, Swansea, cyclist, dealer in bicycles, tricycles, and athletic implements. Swansea Court, March 20. Frank Edward Clark, 2, Amblewell- street, Walsall, grocer and provision dealer. Walsall Court, March 10. FIRST MEETINGS. — George Ace, 20, High-street, Gic Swansea, cyclist and dealer in bicycles and athletic implements. March 5, 11 a.m., at Official Receiver's Office, Swansea. (From. Tuesday Nights Gazette■) THE BANKRUPTCY ACT. 1883.-Receiving Orders and Dates of Public Kxaminatwns.—William Perrott Francis, Murray-street, Llanelly, fruit and potatoe merchant. Carmarthen Court, March 18. Richard Smale, Caebank, Sketty, Swansea, solicitor's clerk. Swansea Court, FIRST MEETINGS.—Richard Smale, Caebank, Sketty, Swansea, solicitor's clerk. March 6, 11 a.m., Official Receiver's office, Swansea, David Lewis, 3 Hall-street, Carmarthen, chemist and druggist, March o, 10 30 a.m., Anderton's hotel, London. William Perrott Irancis, Murray-street. Llanellv, fruit and potatoe merchant. March 6, 2 30 p.m., 2, Frederick-street Llanelly.

COMMERCIAL FAILURES. According to "Stubbs' Weekly Gazette," the number of failures in England and WaJe.s ffazetted during the week ending Feb. 23 was 74. number in the corresponding week of last year diWriV, a decrease of 153. The Allures were distributed amongst the following trades, and fo^ compnson we give the number in each in the corresp S ks of iOM -LOOJ" 1884. 1883. 1882. Builders, Building Materials ^8 Chemists and Drysalters c China, Glass, Earthenware ••• Confectionery, Toys, Fancy Goods "3 6 t Com, Coals, Minerals ••• 03 -so Drapery, Clothing Textures 17 Farmers 5 Furniture, Upholstery 4 5 Horses, Vehicles 4 5 Jewellery, Watches •• in Leather S « Metals ••• 2 3 { Paper, Printing, &c. ••• 5 43 g7 Provisions 7 29 30 Wines, Spirits, Beer, Tobacco •• 34 9 Miscellaneous ••• JZ_ 74 227 235 The number of bills of sale publico ^as^G^^ Wales for the week ending Feb 2^ The number m the corresponding wee s 247, and the corresponding weeKs vious years 973, 973, and 1,153.

„ "Tfailures l»Bt week' as comPared There were 9^ commercial,a1 ? ()f 1883. with 228 in the corresponlmg TTo8333l,000persons went Durintr the last six months 0 ConPliny ^a8 Paid a on to the pier at Hastings. Lhe V r J a dividend ot 9 per cent. under remand at Sunder- land on a charge of starving and otherwise cruelly ill. land on a charge of starving SSS s WbS ^h^ld^e'referred jo^a Select ( Toothy Rin? was remanded JlZlt revolver m a proclaim^. gg yotfig tQ 11> have decided The Dublin wur'ot loop-line *o connect the Kings. IowTBaVw»ywUhfhe Great Northern and tfat Midland.

ffleuewl InteUiflnw. The Queen's New book is being translated into German. At Newcastle last week, William Wardroper, 61, was renitndedou.tch.trge"fshooM!igah:).rm:.t.t. The Secre aiy of the Orphanage for the Children of Railway Servants writes to s:ty thiit the doj; has Lot been killed. The Kev. John J. Teague, curate of Christ Church, Streatnom, has been appointed to the chaplaincy of Credition Church, Devon. Mr. Gladstone's speech on the Vote of Censure motion has been printed for Liberal Central Association, and is issued at a penny, by the National Press Agency. The Working Men's Lord's Day Rest Association have asked trades unions throughout the country to resist the proposals to open museums and picture galleries on Sunday. The emigrant ships Stirlingshire, from Glasgow, and Lusitania, from Plymouth, have arrived safely at Sydney, James Newton. 88 years of age, the oldest Freemason in England, died suddenly from exposure, at Richmond, Yorkshire, on Friday. • V -VT „ T1T The ancient pansn cnurcu oi ^ciyu.s, near inoiu, which has been restored at a cost of £2,000, was re- opened on Friday, by the Bishop of St. Asaph. Arrangements have been completed whereby the whole of the docks of the port of Bristol shall be united under the management of the Corporation. The parishioners of Gillingham, Dorset, have been can- vassed on the Sunday closing question. The result was- 477 in favour, 3 against, and 60 neutral. Telegraphic communication has just been^opened be- tween the room used by the Conservative Whips of the House of Commons and the Carlton Club. A sum of upwards £60,000 has been bequeathed by the late Mr. Moffat, merchant, Port-Glasgow, to erect and endow an orphanage for Renfrewshire. The London publicans are going to hold a gigantic demonstration in defence of their trade.—Probably the Agricultural Hall will be engaged for the occasion. There were last year in the United Kingdom 15,937 persons holding licenses to sell beer, and there was paid to the Exchequer in respect of licenses and of beer duty a sum of almost 81 millions. 2 Mr. Gladstone, in response to the request of the Bangor Liberal Club for a piece of timber to be utilised in framing his portrait, has forwarded a portion of a lime tree which he felled in Harwarden Park. Accused at Westminster of having paraded placards, "sandwich fashion," declaring the Army and Navy Co- operative Association. Victoria-street, a den of swindlers," Joseph Philip Barge has been committed for trial. It was decided at Sheffield, on Friday, to erect a build- ing at Weston Park, at a cost of not less than el5,000, to accommodate the collection of paintings, value £ 80,000. recently left to the town by the late Mr. Mappin, of Bucklands. The Citizen states that Clement's Inn, London, has been sold to two of the present controlling body, of which there are nine; and the price obtained was £ 63,000. It has been arranged that the Bank of England shall occupy the old hall. Three officers of the Salvation Army, who had been fined 5.1. and costs each by the Burnley magistrates, on a charge of obstructing the street, were on Friday removed tcfPreston Gaol for seven days' imprisonment in default of paying the fines An old soldier namfdEllis has just died at Shrewsbury. He was one of thirty men of the 45th Regiment who held the Westgate Hotel, Newport, against the Chartist rioters in 1839. Mr. W. Joseph Hanley, editor and proprietor of the Colchester Chronicle, ha.s been committed for trial on a charge of publishing a false and defamatory libel on a young married woman. The friends of the R tilvay mission held a meeting last week at the residence of Mr. Arthur Hill, in Lansdowne- road, Notting-hill. There are 400,000 railway servants in Great. Britain. At a meeting of the.Woolwich Liberals on Wednesday, a resolution was enthusiastically adopted congratulating the Government upon the expression of confidence in their Egyptian policy, as shown by the division of Tues- day night. I have fallen out with a lass, and I thought I would jump over the bridge." So a young man named James Gordon told the Sutherland police on Friday, on his being given into custody after jumping from a bridge ISffc high into the River Wear. Carl Gruiber, a German mathematical instrument maker, has been committed for trial at Sutton, for the wilful murder of his wife. The evidence went to show that the unfortunate woman had been much illused and graduaily starved to death. A find" of silver coins was made lately in the bed of a stream near Poitree. in the Isle of Skye. Fifty-three of them have reached the hands of the Government officials, including one of Elizabeth (1573), one of Henry of Navarre (1603), and several Jacobuses. William Hathaway, one of the few survivors of the gallant "Six Hundred" of Balaclava, has just died at Eastbourne. His widow is left almost in a state of desti- tution and unless subscriptions are forthcoming she will be compelled to allow her husband to be buried by the parish. Hathaway's last request was that he might not fill a pauper's grave. Eliaa Brooks, wife of a compositor, of Greenard Road, Peckham, who has been lying in a very precarious condition at Guy's Hospital since the 9th inst., suffering from burns, alleged to have been caused by her husband throwing a lighted paraffin lamp at her during a drunken quarrel, ditd on Friday. On Sunday evening an impudent and heartless burglary was perpetrated at the dwelling house occupied by Mr. Oliver Whittle, Draycott Street, Bolton. DuriBg the temporary absence of the family between seven and nine o'clock the door was forced open by robbers, and a num- ber of money-boxes, containing £ 150, stolen. The bulk of the money was the savings of the occupier for years, and the remainder the small hoardings of the children. Queen Marahu of Tahiti arrived in Paris on Sunday from the United States. Her title comes from her mar- riage with Ariiane, the heir of Queen Pomara. His kingly title of Pomare V., however, became merely nominal when he ceded his sovereign rights to France. The Royal pair ..f-t a<*ree in their married relations, and arranged to hve apart The Queen is the daughter of Mr. Salmon, an English colonist, and Arutainivahine, who belongs to one of the most important families of Tahiti. fbRnnT Woo Tsang, a Chinaman, twenty-three years of acrp annfied for naturalisation at the office of the clerk of the'District Court, in Washington, on February 9. He said he came to this country at the age of fifteen bad lived here continuously, excepting a short visit to China, wa! a Christian, and desired to remain in the United State" His application was refused under a sectiou of the Act of May 6, 1882, which provide, that "hereafter no State court or court 01 tne umutu OWIBS AUMA Chinese to citizenship." A distressing case of domestic trouble has come to light within the past week at Hogaaston, near Derby. On Tuesday the wife of a farmer, named Henry Riley, was found dead in a ditch by the roadside. At the inquest, held on Wednesday, the jury returned a verdict that deceased fell into the ditch whilst under the influence of liquor, and died through exposure to the cold. This seems to have preyed upon the miua of the husband to such an extent that on Saturday he committed suicide by drown- ing himself in the river Henmore. Admirers of the beautiful Cashmere silver-work with its delicate lacelike engraving, .may be interested to know that most of the ware seen in this country is not silver at all, but merely plated. Owing to our heavy duty on silver goods, copper ware is now made in Cashmere with as much care as if it were of the most precious metal, and despatched to London, where it is heavily platei, and frequently sold, it is whispered, for "solid silver. —Whitehall Review. it is whispered, for "solid silver. —Whitehall Review. THE BATH MURDER.—Charles Kite, labourer, was on Monday morning executeu wiumu xdumon uaOl ror tne murder of Albert Miles at Bath. Binns was executioner. The prison bell began to toll at a quarter to eight o'clock, and the black fljg was hoisted at eight. The representa- tives of the Press were not admitted to the gaol, but it was ascertained that the culprit walked firmly to the scaffold, and that death was almost instantaneous. Only a small'number of people assembled outside the gaol. The convict being of a very slight figure, Binns gave him a long drop, and the body was allowed to bang one hour. An inquest was held, and a formal verdict was returned that the deceased had been executed according to law. THE NEW EDITOR OT THE "TIMES."—Mr. G. E. Buckle's ascension to the throne of journalism is a very striking event. He is a young man-only a few years on the shady side of thirty—qualified by high y attainments, excellent training in skill and grace as a writer, «nd knowledge Winchester seholLhip. »d classes in ch»l» 'witt and a fellowship at All Souls, vv 1 B f » to emhark in another career he resisted tnem an, and resolutely adopted journalism as his profess,on, with esoiutely wj h]Jg own power raay be inferred from the fact of bis refusing a tempting offer from the ,».L •' ? „f the Manchester Guardian, when only Fur ars years of years of age. Soon after he wenty.five y ditor 0f Mr. Chenery, thus justifying TUT, 1,FT™F.TIANT SHIPPING BILL.—VVe have received a comfnf HIP Merchant Shipping Bill to be introduced by MrPyA wlain. It is entitled "A Bill to provide for Mr Chamberlam and Property at Sea," and is divi?T^„Ee principal parts. The first deals with thi* n6 inofi alterations in the law, the second with the 2X°P01Procedure for detention of unseaworthy ships and ermuiries into shipping casualties, and the third with the svstem of tonnage measurement. As regards in- surance the general principles of the Bill are first to prevent'persons, by means of insurance, obtaining, in any case more than an indemnity for any loss he may actuallv'suffer, and to prevent a shipowner recovering anything if his ship is unseaworthy at starting, or if the loss is?lne ?d unseaworthiness which might have been Prevented The bill also extends the Employers Liabi- lit, Act Se»»en, »nd shfpowner now enjoys from liability for negligent naviga- tion where the employment of a pilot is compulsory will cease. When a ship is detained it will hereafter be ITth the concurrence of the representative of the ship- owners or by the order of the Admiralty Court. Pro- Sn is made for the establishment of local marine courts consisting in each district of the shipowners' renresentative, the officers' representative, and the sunerior Board of Trade officer, with the right of appeal Ida.ir.ltr Cc», t. The «« measurement of tonnage are intended to carry out the recommendations of the Royal Commission which re- ported in 1881. Advance notes for not more than one month's wages are made valid. Provision is also made for the early record of collisions and strandmgs, addi- tional powers to Lloyds, for signal stations, and other matters. The strike in the shipbuilding trade at Dundee has terminated. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Nottingham has just issued a Lenten Pastoral of a somewhat Radical charac- j ter. After declaring that in former times the Canon Law would not grant depopulators either the privilege of pane u-iry or Christian burial, he asks: "What are we to say when wefio that twelve millions of the best land it, Ireland, is under grass or clover, and out of cultivation, producing less than one-eighth of what it might produce for the support of man, that three million acres more lie waste which might be cultivated, and that of Ireland's twenty millions of acres only three produce crops for human iood ? What when we hear that in England a million acres in the last ten years have ceased to be culti- vated? Surely landowners do not hold their lands for their own benefit only, but in trust to produce food from them for the support of the nation." THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.—The annual meeting of the British Bee-Keepers' Association was held in the rooms of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Jermyn-street. The Baroness Burdert-Ooutts occupied the chair. The report states that 95 new members had joined the association, in- cluding the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, the Earl of Harewood, &c. 47 had withdrawn, two had died the present total being 460. Duiing the past year the committee have endeavoured to carry out the aims and objects of the association, in the first place by the formation of county bee keepers' associations, and in assisting several of those established in previous years by sending lecturers and experts for the purpose of giving instruction in the art of bee-keeping. Such assistance had been given during the past year to the counties of Carmarthen and Brecon, in South Wales; TSorthamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Somersetshire, Be Ifordshire, Staffordshire, and Huntingdonshire, at a cost of nearly £50. The demand for the books and pamphlets published by the association continues to increase, and during the past year several new works have been added to the library. CREMATION. Argus," in Land and Water, says:- A few weeks ago I referred to the case of Dr. Price the Welsh Druid, which raised the question of the legality of cremation. There appeared to be considerable doubt on this point, and diversity of opinion, so that it is a relief to find Mr. Justice Stephen laying it down that there is no law absolutely prohibiting burning, but that -L __L -1-1.] such burning musu uoi ue couuueceu so as to cause a public nuisance. Cremation is a very ancient method of disposing of the bodies of the dead. It was the practice among the Romans, and the Hindoos at the present day practise it. It is healthy, and, in my opinion, far prefer- able to the indecent crowding together of bodies that takes place in some of the cemeteries attached to large towns, and even in small village churchyards. We have all seen human bones in a more or less advanced stage of decomposition thrown up in a village churchyard to make way for another coffin. A meeting was lately held in Boston to organise a Cremation Society, and in France it has been recognised and a crematory built for the unre- claimed bodies of Paris paupers. The objections to it are purely sentimental, and should in time yield to the dictates of common sense and to the testimony of science. FKIENDLY CRITICISM. — Vo.nity Fair, one of the most, bitter organs of Toryism, thus criticises Sir Stafford Northcote and his vote of want of confidence in the Government:—"The vote of censure moved by Sir Stafford Northcote has proved the greatest fizzle' ever yet perpetrated by the Opposition. In spite of the accession to their ranks of the Irish members-number- ing 29-and of four Liberals, they have been beaten by a majority of 49 in a House of 577 members. But this i, not the worst of it. They are not only beaten in the House, but they are discredited out of it; for they have displaved the most singular and lamentable weakness in debating power in an attack on the Government in which they had the whole weight of argument with them and the vast majority of the country behind thpm, and have dislosed that the Egyptian policy which they would pursue is to the full as dangerous in one direction as that of the Government is in another. But they have neither known how to use the arguments that lay ready to their hands or to marshal the forces that called out to be led, or to better in any way the policy that all men joined in condemning." And again, If the Con- servative leaders had been hired by the other side to have broken up the Conservative party they could n it have taken moans more calculated to do it." THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT ■—-On Monday evening Dr. Drysdale delivered a lecture Oil The Death Rate of Abstainers and Non-Abstainers," at the Lecture Hall of the Young Men's Chiistian Association. Aldersgate-street. The lecturer commenced by attacking Dr. Leibig's theory as to alcohol being a food. He contended that it was 110 more a food than paraffin, for that contained the essen- tials of food, viz., carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. He regarded alcohol as a poison, and as such it would in time be classified with ether and chloroform. Many diseases, as dyspepsia, dropsy, syncope, and gout, were due to the undue use of stimulants, as also were numerous cases of pulmonary affections and a large proportion of insanity cases. If alcohol was classified as a food it was undoubtedly a very bad one, and it could not be favour- ably compared with roast beef, bread, or water, and such articles of diet. In France the proportion of deaths in the hospitals caused by strong drink was one in twenty, and in hot climates its excessive use meant certain death. Dr. Drysdale then entered into a number of statistics received from life assurance societies, all of which showed in favour of total abstinence. In one societv, which kept two distinct records of abstainers and non-abstainers, the figures showed between the years 1866 and 1881 that, whilst 2,418 deaths were expected to occur in the tenr- perance section, only 1,704, or 70 per cent., died. In the general section, however, 4,044 deaths occurred out of the expected 4.080-an average of 90 per cent. Aga.in, the amount claimed by legatees on life policies by the non-abstaining section was £862.000, when it was calcu- lated that only j6833,000 would be required. The tem- perance section, on the other hand, claimed £159,000 instead of as was expected, which left a balance in their favour of £159,000. Speaking as a medical man, as a servant of humanity," whose object was to prolong man's life and enhance its happiness, he considered alcohol as a poison and not as a food, and its use was therefore to be greatly deprecated. THE MERCHANT SHIPPING BIIX.—A numerously at- tended special meeting of the North of England Steam Shipowners' Association was held on Monday in New- castle-on-Tyne, under the presidency of Mr. W. D. Stephens, to consider the proposal of which Mr. C. M. Palmer, M.P., has given notice in the House of Commons, to refer the Merchant Shipping Bill to a Select Com- mittee. Mr. Palmer wrote to the effect that the Bill WPlS of such a novel and sweeping character that the President of the Board of Trade was bound to hear evidence before a proper and disinterested tribunal from the representa- tives of such a large industry before proceeding to legis- late, and such evidence should be from shipowners, sailors underwriters, insurance associations, and others. The secretary intimated that he had received letters from the Hartlepool, Sunderland, and Glasgow Shipowners' Associations expressing approval of Mr. Palmer's pro- posal. Mr. G. A. Laws moved That in the opinion of the members of the North of England Steam Ship- owners' Association the Merchant Shipping Bill, 1S84, which proposes to subject the shipping interests of this country to penalties hitherto unknown in maritime legis- lation, and to subvert the position in which the progress of free commercial enterprise has placed the British ship- owner in relation to his underwriters, his servants, his foreign competitors, and the mercantile community at large, cannot be fairly and properly discussed in Parlia- ment until it has been considered by a Select Committee in whose hearing the views of all parties interested may find adequate expression." Mr. George Bell seconded the resolution, which was carried unammously. Mr. J. D. Milburn moved, and Mr. G. Luckley seconded, the following resolution, which was also carried-nimelv, That the members of this association, protesting against the precipitate legislation on a matter of vital nnportance ti,„ „nmmpwaof Great Britain, accord their unanimous to the proposal of their President (Mr. C. M. Palmer M P ) that the Bill be referred to a Select Com- rn?ft«P 'and solicit the acquiescence of the Right Hon. the President of the Board of Trade m this their most the Pr reasonable request. It was agreed to convene a meeting of shipbolders of the United -Kingdom, and a committee was appointed to wait upon local members of Parliament on the subject. THE USE OF OIL AT SEA.—A Board of Trade inquiry has just been held at Liverpool into the abandonment of the ship Lauderdale, of Liverpool, while on a voyage from Junin, in Peru, to Hamburg. It appeared that the vessel left Junin on the 10th October, bound for Ham- burg, with a crew of 20 hands all told. Nothing occurred until the 26th January. On the afternoon of that day, a heavy sea struck the vessel and damaged her deck. She laboured heavily and began to make water, and though the pumps were worked the water continued to increase. Next morning the Medea, a Greenock vessel, hove in sight, and ultimately the crew got on board her, and were landed at Queenstown two days later. Captain Jonathan Frith, the master of the Lauderdale, was called, and said On the 26th of January it came on to blow very hard, and on the following day it was increased to a hurricane. At about five o'clock in the evening of that day the ship was struck by a succession of heavy seas, one of which split the rudder stock, started the combings of the forward house, and lifted the forecastle deck, besides doing minor injuries. A short time afterwards another sea carried away the rudder entirely. The vessel got into the trough of the sea and strained so heavily that she began to leak badly. On the morning of the 28th they sighted the Medea. She bore down to them and asked them to lower their boats, but owing to the heavy sea and the unmanageable condition of the vessel they were unable to do this. About half-past twelve on the afternoon of that day, the Medea, which was then about a quarter of a mile off, lowered a beat with five men in her, and started for the Lauderdale. When about half-way a north-west squall, accompanied bv snow, struok her, and nothing more was seen of the boat or the men, the former having evidently capsized, and all on board being lost. If the boat had got off a little nearer to the Lauderdale she would have been in calm water, as on board the latter vessel they were pouring oil on to the sea through a pipe in the forecastle, and this had a wonderful effect on the water all around. After the loss of the boat the Medea approached closely, and stayed by them all night, and the next morning the crew of the Lauderdale left in their own boat and got on board the Medea. Three trips were made in the boat, which was supplied with a can containing about five gallons of oil, from which a stream about the thickness of a pencil was allowed to flow into the water; and the result was that the sea was calm, and no water broke on board with the exception of during the last trip, when the stock fell short and the sea immediately rose and began to break over the boat, in consequence Of which she had great difficulty in reaching the Medea. Witness considered the Medea was handled most skilfBdly, and if it had not been for her services all on board the Lauder- dale must have been lost. At this stage the court adjourned. The Court on Saturday decided that nobody was to blame for the loss of life that occurred, and that the Lauderdale was not prematurely abandoned. The gallant conduct of Captain Thomson, the master of the Medea, was highly eulogised. A contract has been signed with a Glasgow firm for the construction of ttree gunboats for the Greek Navy. A united mee: ing of all the Shipowners' Associations will be held in London in a few days—Earl Ravensworth presiding-to support Mr. C. M. Palmer's proposal to refer the Government Merchant Shipping Bill to a select committee. The President of the Board of TL de w.U resist this proposal, and press for a reference of the measure to the Grand Committee on Trade. SCHOOL BOAHD EXPENDITURE.—The Metropolitan Association fur Limiting the Expenditure of the London School Board have received a large number of letters from members of Parliament in reference to their me- morial and proposed deputation to the Education Depart- ment. Mr. Mundella promises to give careful attention to the memorial, and to write again in reference to the deputation. Earl Percy expresses his general approval of the views and action of the association." Mr. J. C. Hubbard writes I quite agree with your memorial; and will gladly present the deputation to the Education Depaitment. The Hon. M Lowther has joined the asso. ciation. Colonel E. Kennard and Mr. W. E. M. Tom. Inson have done the same, and promised (as has also Sir H. H. Bruce) to go with the deputation if di.-engaged. Mr. A. H Ross writes I shall certainly support any morion for limiting the School Board expenditure, and will, if disengaged, attend with the deputation." Sir F. Milner writes I am quite in accord with the subject and object of the memorial, and shall be glad to give my support." Another letter runs as follows :—" Mr. Raikes is much obliged for your interesting and important me- morial, and is in entire accord with your views, which he will always support in Parliament." REMARKABLE VOYAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC —A telegram from Plymouth states that many vessels put back to that port on Saturday and Sunday, through stress of weather, or in consequence of having sustained damage. On Monday morning a pilot towed into port the brigan- tine Rosevear, of St. John's, Newfoundland, which was boarded off the Eddystone, after a most disastrous and remarkable voyage across the Atlantic. She left Newfoundland on the 2nd inst. with a crew of eight all told, and a cargo of codfish. During the voyage heavy gales were experienced, which necessitated cutting away the maintopmast and jettisoning some of the cargo. Sub- sequently on the 14th, a terrific storm carried away the bulwarks and stanchions, with companions and skylights, and the main and after hatches were stove in. The mate, William Down, was washed overboard and drowned. rne cargo having shifted, the vessel lay on her beam ends, and the seas made clean breaches over her. One of the crew was lashed to the wheel, while the captain and crew werelashe i to the pumps. By continuous work at the pumps and throwing cargo overboard they managed to keep her afloat, but on reaching Plymouth the captain and crew were thoroughly incapacitated from exiaustion an.1 badly cut and bruised by wreckage, which was washed about the deck during the gale. A MUCH NEEDED RAILWAY REFORM.—The present regulation as to the time of issuing tickets sh >,lj certainly be modified or abolished. To say the least, a passenger should be able to obtain a ticket at any time during office hours for whatever train might be despatched to his destination during the day. But we should he glad to see some system established of issuing tickets available at whatever time the holder might wish, or if a lunir, he necessary, let the regulation ordain, if it will, that the ticket can only be used some time within the year of issue. Such a plan would often prove a great convenience to travellers, without entailing, we venture to think, any extra trouble or loss on the railway concerned. It would enable the ordinary passenger secure his ticket, and yet to postpone his journey should occasion require it, while in the case of invalids, whose condition often changes from day to day, such a piiviiege would be a still greater boon. It may he objected to this that the company might ocasionaily lose a "fare" through tickets pu; chased beforehand getting transferred. To this we reply that they would as often find ODe through the instrument tlity of lost tickets, and in any case, with the present means of checking they need never carry more than a single passenger for a single fare. Meanwhile the public convenience would be greatly served, ani the unseemly "crush" so often endured at the booking offices under present arrangements in great part avoided. The purchase and use of railway tickets would indeed be rendered as easy and convenient as that of i os'age s'amps. CURIOUS ADDRESSES AND INCLOSURES IN LETTERS. But time flies, and there are one or two corners of the main room to be seen before the bags are made up. One of them is devoted to the task of extracting from their hopeless situation the letters which, through the in- chorence of their addresses, have got into a blind turning. Experienced officials searc.h the Post-Office Guide and Directories, and if a probable destination is found, the endorsement we have all sometimes seen on our letters, Try so and so," is made. Some of the most extraordinary pervisions of addresses which have been detected by this process have been preserved by the department in a book which is shown to visitors. One would not at first sight recognise that Santlings, Hilewite," was intended for St. Helen's Isle of Wight," or that "Haselfeach in no famtshere." meant" Hazel- heach, Northamptonshire." Metropolital places come in for their share of distortion. Holborn Via- duct is consolidated into "Obanvidock." and Mile End appears as "Mailand." Either an excess of loyalty, or some haziness as to the precise division of labour between the Sovereign and her Ministers must have prompted the person who addressed a letter to the Sectery of Wore, Chelsey Osbitile, London, Queen Victoria." while the importance of preserving a broad distinction between urban and rural districts may perhaps have animated Lord Northbrook's correspondent, who addressed his lordship as Lordnorthbrook, Stroton House, Countiy." Of course there are addresses which are absolutely hopeless, and there are letters which bear no address at all. One can quite understand from one's personal experience that a letter must occasionally be slipped into the post in a blank envelope. But it is somewhat startling to be told that in each of the last two years there were more than 26,000 of such letters and perhaps still more so to find that carelessness is not precluded when money is at stake, for in this batch was inclosed in each year about £6,000 in cash, cheques or some other form. It was perhaps, however, confidence in the Post-Office rather than negligence which was exemplified by the man who in 1881 posted a £5 Bank of England note without any cover whatever, but merely folded in two, and bearing a penny postage stamp. BABY FARMING. —VERDICT OF WILFUL MURDER._ The adjourned inquiry on the bodies of Henry James Kempton and Charles Kobert Reynolds, two of the five children found in the house occupied by the two women Esther Williams and Emily Charlotte Green, was resumed on Monday in the schoolroom adjoining St. John's Church, Middleton-road, Milton.—Jane Elizabeth Reynolds, a domestic servant, said that one of the two deceased children was her illegitimate offspring. She left the child with Green on the 7th of November last. The .] 1 '1,'1. uewaseu vras uucn wen auu neaxtny, but was when she last saw it, a month ago, in a fearfully emaciated condi- tion. Dr. James Francis Waring, the medical superin- tendent of the Royal Infirmary, Milton, stated that he was called upon to attend this child on the morning of the 1st January last. It was then in a very dirtv condi- tion, and suffering from congestion of the lungs. He supplied Green and Williams with some essence of meat for the child, and told them to supply it with some cough mixture, which, with care and attention, would save the child's life. He saw deceased on the following day, and several times before its death, and he was sur- prised to notice how alarmingly it wasted away. He spoke to Green about it, and she said it would not take its food. Witness asked her if she had given him the balsam he had ordered for his chest affection and the essence of meat. She replied that she was only allowed 5s. per week for each child's support, and she could not spare the money for such things. He had, since the last examination, opened both the bodies of the deceased children, and he had no doubt they had been starved to death.—Inspector Melay stated that every effort had .L- ueeu mHteie 10 trace tne parents ot the other child Kemp- ton, and the three others which were removed from the prisoners' house to the infirmary, but withont any good result. He did not think by another adjournment he could produce any more of the relatives, as he had no doubt they were illegitimate children, and the parents did not care about facing the disgrace.-Dr. Waring, in answer to the Coroner, said the other three children were going on satisfactory. At first it was feared their lives were in danger, and for some days they remained so. They had doubtless been treated in a similar manner to the deceased children.—The Coroner having summed up, the jury returned a verdict of Wilful nmrder against Greea and Williams, and they were fully committed for trial. THE CORN TRADE.—During the past week the weather has continued mild and stormy, the rainfall having been sufficient to make the clay lands again wet and unwork. able. On the lighter soils spring work is in a forward state, and a considerable amount of seeding has been done. The wheats now begin to show signs of more active growth, distinct progress being visible in respect of the week just passed. The hours of daylight being longer, and the sun having now attained some power, these April-like showers will probably cause a very rapid growth if this mild weather continues. The consumption of breadstufis is still small for the the time of year. and every branch of the trade is exceedingly dull. Fine native white wheats are getting scarce enough to occasion a fair enquiry for them, with an occasional improvement on the very low rates current. The sales of English wheat noted last week were 53.198 quarters at 36s. lid., against 48,263 quarlers at 41s. 9d. in the corresponding week of last year. The London average for the week ending Tuesday was 40s. Id. on 1,827 6-8 quarters. The trade for foreign wheat off stands in London has not shown any improvement, and there does not seem to be the faintest sign of life left in it. Receipts still continue on a small scale, the arrivals of foreign wheat in the port of London down to Friday inclusive having been 12,435 qrs. from Persia, 6,340 qrs. from U.S. Pacific ports, 6,215 quarters from India, 5 376 quarters from U.S. Atlantic ports, 4 069 quarters from New Zealand, and 2,103 quarters from Germany, together quarters foreign, which with 4,172 quarters Bn|Jls^pms^eat>tal of 40,701 quarters for the week At the^ same: tune the receipts of flour have been heavy, namely Jb,041 sacks foreign and 15 554 sacks English, » equal to 32,35^q^rters of STbe week ended with Friday ^adstuffs,nt0 LoDf°tn P53 queers of wheat. been very n values have not shown any quotable K Dgft ^fg- f Week" The new crop Californian whea inferior quality and are not finding much favour in Liverpool, which is the chief market for them American red winters are also of poor quality; but the spring wheats, as a rule, are good. There has been no change to note with regard to maize, excepting that in Liverpool values for new crop mixed American declined id. per cental on Friday. Barleys have oiet a demand, at previous rates. Oats have improved in valnp with smaller supplies: inferior descriptions especially having gained 3d. on Monday, and again 3d. on Frida/ Beans and peas have not shown anv change during the week. Linsftd has advanced about 9d. during the week. and cotton-seed is also dearer but rapeseed is rather easier.