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12 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

TOWN

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TOWN BT OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. --+- 0. readers wiB understand, that we do not hold ourselves respon- sible for 01W able Correspondent's opimens, U IF you really want to assist me, find me subjects for two leading articles." This is what a great friend of mine asked me to do when I went to pay him a visit towards the end of an unusually dull week in his editorial sanctum. He is given to writing leading articles, and keeps a regular score showing how many times he has rung the changes on various subjects. He gravely assured me that he had written eighty-five leaders on the • American question, and that his average on the "coming elections was gradually and surely in- creasing. He longed for novelty. Of course, you will have to write about these accidents," I suggested; and I am sure that can't be a new subject: if they go on increasing at this alarming extent you will be as sick of commenting on them as you are with regard to the American question and the coming elections." Of course, after this I could not be bold enough to commence arguing out this railway accident question. It has been discussed over and over again by my friend the leader- writer and by all his companions in journalism. Perhaps, however, there are one or two little bits of gossip in connection with them which you I may not have heard. You remember, of course, the Queen's memorable letter to the directors of all railway companies some short time since, and I what a thrill it sent all through the land. How often, indeed, does her Majesty show that besides possessing the name of Queen, she can boast of the heart of an Eaglish Christian lady. Directly after the last accident the Queen telegraphed special instructions to her Ministry anent these awful catastrophes. The upshot of this we shall all be most anxious to know. I myself heard a graphic account of the Staplehurst accident from the lips of a lady who was in one of the carriages that went over the bridge, but was miraculously saved. I wish I had an opportunity of telling you all she told me. She described the silence directly after the accident as something awful. A wild shriek would have been a relief. But the car- riages kept sinking lower and lower into the mud, and all was still as death.. This lady was rescued when the water was up to her chin We may expect an excellent account of the Staple- hurst disaster from the pen of Mr. Charles Dickens. He behaved in the most noble manner, and, though terribly shaken and nervous, did all he could to alleviate the misery of the sufferers. In his hat he carried clean water to more than one dying person. The leading journal of England, and perhaps the beat-conducted daily newspaper in the world, I « has been doing some rather eccentric things lately. Mr. Reuter is perhaps responsible for the hoax about the defeat of the Russians at Khokan but surely the editor is answerable for the two strange and inconsistent leading articles on the same sub- ject. And then about Lord Cranbourne! The late Viscount Cranbourne died as Lord Robert Cecil was speaking in the House; and the next morning, to our astonishment, we find, on reading .our Times at breakfast, the death of Lord Cran- bourne reported in one corner of the paper, and in another Lord Robert Cecil's speech, as proceeding iroiii Loxd Cranbourne, This, we presume, was on the principle of Le roi est lJwri; vive le roi and may be safely ascribed to some superlatively sharp ¡ subordinate. I don't think the printers or readers would have dared to have taken a liberty of this I kind. Perhaps the reporter in the House, on transcribing his shorthand notes, heard the rumour of the Viscount's decease just as he got I to Lord Robert Cecil's speech. Oh thought he, "Lord Robert is now Lord Cranbourne;" and down it went. Because Lord Palmerston did not issue any address for seme time, a report was immediately spread that he was going to retire after the gene- ral election. The report was strengthened from I' the fact of its never having been officially con- tradicted. But surely a canard which is not originated in official circles does sot require an j' official contradiction. It is really not because the "silly season "has commenced a little before its time this year that the daily newspapers are inundated with letters about unmuzzled dogs and fears of hydrophobia. These are no false alarms, as a reference to the house surgeons of any of our London-hospitals will prove. I can speak from experience, I happened to be going through a not very aristocratic neigh- bourhood "down east" the other day, and my attention was attracted by a large crowd. Being a curious person, I, too, went to look, and found a circle of people round a dog, which was evidently in an advanced stage of madness. The dog kept darting out from its corner every now and then, 'bent upon worrying somebody's legs, and great was the agility displayed by the roughs in getting out of the way of the furious animal, and clever the generalship exhibited in keeping the beast at bay. There was no dot whatever that the dog ought to have been instantly destroyed. We all thought so we all said so; but who was to kill the dog ? A butcher, who lived hard by," and had a cleaver handy, refused. The police de- clared they had no power, and would be exceeding their duty did they attempt it. During all this discussion the dog was still meditating onslaughts in a state of mad foam. The inspector eventually allowed us to take the law into our own hands. A brave bystander was tempted with half-a-crown, and the dog died an ignominious death. So, the little Prince is to be called Christian," out of compliment to his grandfather, the King of Denmark. A Danish name, after the string of German ones we have always had to submit to, will be a little relief. But how much preferable an English one would have been? Great preparations are being made for the great Metropolitan Horse Show, which is to take place at that great home for shows of all sorts, from j fowls to donkeys—the Agricultural-hall, at Isling- j ton. The aggregate value of the prizes to be [ competed for considerably exceeds £ 1,000. This exhibition is always exciting, because we have an amateur hurdle-race every now and then, and, of course, plenty of tumbles. The excursion season has set in with more than usual severity this year, and it is really a difficult problem to say from what point you cannot get anywhere for almost nothing. Between Saturday at four and Monday at an early hour, London is comparatively deserted. Who can wonder at it ? We are all better for a breath of fresh air and I am sure the country folks, though they may be bothered by the intrusion, don't grudge us a sight of the fresh green fields. Lord Kingsale died last week at his residence in Eaton-square, at the early age of thirty-seven. It is not generally known that this noble lord had a privilege which no other subject can claim, that of remaining with his hat on in the presence of the Sovereign, and having a cover laid for him on all state occasions at the Royal table. These privileges were granted to the ancestor of the De Courcy family by King John, and each succeeding De Courcy (or as they are now, Lords Kingsale) has exercised his right. Z.

OUTLINES OF THE WEEK. --

---------CHILD MURDER AND…

DEATH OF VISCOUNT CRANBORNE.

CALAMITOUS FIRE AND LOSS OF…

---------'--DEFRAUDING THE…

A NEW CLAIMANT TO THE THRONE.

[No title]

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS. [ ^i

ANOTHER RAILWAY A CCIDENT.

.\ EXTRAORDINARY CAREER OF…

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