The Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser

f PAfiUAIEKTASY JOTTINGS. |, WE had a variety of business on the paper for ^th Houses of Parliament to discuss during the r week of May, bat nothing occupies the M>lie mind so much as the Reform BilJ.. On this P°mt the campaign to the Government has beer; ^duous, the fortunes of war have been variable: 20me great eaptafcis have been beatea, and have their defeat; others have failed in moving roisters, and have retired like Achilles from the Another contest was promised us on the ode of enfranchising the compound householder. m 0r 110 ref°rm or no reform—nay, for many extinction or existence, it was said, waited on I a 6 issue of Mr. Hodgkinson's amendment. Post- ^ed day after day, th.s came before the committee 11 Friday, and a crowded House met, expecting a division, iri. ^hich, for a third time during 6 present month, the fate of Ministers was-tofoe ^(aded. —v before noticing the debate upojrEKs particular Jening, it may be necessary, perhaps, to explain f5 some of my readers what a compoand house- V' W reall-v is* Uritii the queatfon was brought the House the members generally appeared "atirel ignorant of the existence of such persons, ?<* I am firmly convinced that when Mr. Disraeli ^lBa8elf introduced the present Reform Bill he had ever studied the peculiarities of such house- °'aerg. I asked an M.P. the other day, "What ia compound householder?" He replied, "I don't but it seems a bugbear to the Govern- "Ch and so it was for a time, but the ftQcellor of the Exchequer appears to have got hnUi What is the compound house- h a' ^en,? 1^50, Sir William Clay intro jr.Ce<* a bill into Parliament which passed both of }?S8Sj an<^ became law. This made all occupiers l0]?Usea rat''<i at and under compound house- g ?era > at is to say, it makts the landlords of jj .,oc^npiers the persons responsible to the r i. ^0r the rates incident on their occupation, Acg provides that the rates payable by ij^^dlords shall be three-fourths of the rates 1 'dent on their occupation, but that the land- y* shall be liable to this contract rate whether tenements be occupied or not. In other tb a ra^e be levied at a shilling in pound, the landlord compounding for the rates small tenements shall pay no more than nine- •v iece in the pound on their rateable value. This the 8 worke<^ particularly well in large towns; Ce Parochial authorities, even with the 25 per lif tJin ^scount, have received more money value 4,? wher.i the responsibility fell upon the tenant. ja and working men prefer pajing the rates 4 Jea 1 r Weekly rents to giving it in a lump half- j-t V- 'In'admitting the compound householder aE 0franchise Mr. Disraeli first proposed that OQl-fc ant wh° chos^e could put his name down ?at ra^e"books, but would have to pay the full w^ereas he could only deduct from bis w 75 per cent: thus he was "fined"—as if, ]:I re-threepence in every shilling for the .jVUegQ of exercising the franchise. This the b off"186 would not Bubinitto. Then the Chancellor c]JQe Exchequer suggested that every tenant who dp^1116^ right should pay the full rating and bei w^0'e from his landlord, the latter helng empowered to lessen his contract for one j, 'j.186 or several, as the case may be, and so ^r&M- any responsibility. Mr. Bright, Snff an<^ °^htrs went in for pure household einl a^6' the Government adhered to the prin- ,Ple of their bill—" personal rating." It-, was »lown that the- Small ^Tenements Act", was ptionaUy adopted, and although in Manchester II 4114 Birmingham there were thousands of com- ^ound householders, in Sheffield and Stockport were none.. On Friday the compound question was opened j s a different shape. In Clause 3 of the Eepre- &t&tion of the People Bill, Mr. Hodgkin»oa th Ve^ as an amend meut, "That no person other the occupier shall be rated to parochial rates }• of premises occupied by him within the a Parliamentary borough, all Acts to the ^ptrary not withstanding." He said this proposi- ti? was not inconsistent with the principle of the p and might well be accepted by the d ov-ernment. If Stockport and Sheffield could Without compounding, he did not see Jay Manchester and Birmingham could not. was tantamount to doing away with compound householder altogether, the dif- £ as a friend remarked to me, between Disraeli s clause and the amendment is this, that the one says the tenant may be placed on the a an<i become entitled to his vote, and the ^endment sajs he shall." Mr. Gladstone now j n°SeJ and in most conciliatory language aeked the overnment to accept this amendment, which wpnld extend the franchise far beyond the limits any provisoes hitherto introduced. He called ( t, pon Minifiters emphatically to consider the ques- "On- "Here was now an opportunity for them- ) Perhaps the last that would offer-of peace and Loncord in the settlement of the Reform question. et them consider that the Government of this ^nntry went beyond the walls of that house, ( Mien, on a vital question of this kind, the people fQt in thousands in every part of the country Or the purpose of protesting against the pto- ceedings of Parliament." Mr. Bass, of bitter beer celebrity, supported the amendment, and then all were on the tiptoe of anxiety to hear "hat Ministers would say. Mr. Diaraeli. rose 4mid cheers; he had a smile upon his face, he ^ttiled upon his friends around him, he smiled at Mr. Dodson, and he stniled on the Opposition, and, addressing the chair, said, "Mr. Dodsoa, really sir, I should like to carry out the principle of this bill; in our original scheme the Ge- vernment introduced a similar provision to this, but on consideration we came to the conclusion Uiat it would so encumber the ship as to imperil jtae voyage* we therefore struck it out." He further said that he should offer no opposition to the proviso. It was exactly one of those questions that the House should decide. But it was a subject which would be best dealt with by separate legislatioo, nd if the amendment were withdrawn he would Undertake to bring in a bill to carry out the object of the a.mendment. They had made dark allusions to the state of the country, which it was said was n a state of great dissausfacbion, but he did not Relieve in anything of the kind. This was a sur- prise to the whole House. Mr. Sandford, Mr. iieresford Hope, and others sitting beside Lord Granborne, aeemed electrified; even the Attorney- general in a few words conveyed a notion T-hat Mr. Disraeli had gone beyond the sentiments ot his own party. The Opposition seemed ready to shake hands with the Chancellor of the Exche- quer Mr. Gladstone looked nonplussed; Mr. Bright left the House; it was a decision they did Hot expect. Mr. T. Chambers, the member for Marylebone, applauded the Government to the fkies, and said he would be ready to support them "pon every division. Even Mr. Bernal Osborne W¡¡s dumbfeunded, and thought he was dreaming; 4za after abusing the lawyers, especially Mr. phambers, thinking there were too many of them Ili comparison to common-sense men in that liouse, ftdvised the members to leave their case in .b.e hands of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, in his opinion, was the greatest radical in the House; and he sarcastically remarked that he believed that Mr. Disraeli would not only settle She Eeforna question, but that of the Irish Church, :11 conjunction with Liberals which sat on the opposition side of the House. After sonae further discussion the question was Monday, when, instead of a bill upon the subject- *> i" '¡ ° ah. the clauc-e was to be altered to meet the views of the House. MR. LOWE'S ATTACK UPON THE GOVERN. MENT. When the House met" on "Monday; all appeared smooth with the Reform Bill. Mr. Disraeli's statements were received with,' cheers when he announced the death and Burial of the compound householder. It appeared such plain sailing for the Government, that the Chancellor ouhe Exche- quer said he would on Thursday state the course which it was proposed to take with the bill in order to get it quickly into the House of Lords. But all was not to be quite, unruffled. When the Chairman put the question that the 3rd clause stand part of the bill, up rose Mr. Lowe and gave the House a speech,, the tone of which, was cheered by the present Ministers last year when in Opposition, £ ut>. the taunts of the riglit" hon, gentleman were iiow'as bitter against the present Government as they were formerly against Eitri Russell's Administration. He suggested that the whole of clause three, in which was embodied the borough franchise, should be reprinted for further consideration. He said that until a fe^ minutes ago it was impossible for the House to know whiit the clause meant; but now for the ,first time be heard from the Chancellor of t^e Exchequer^own lips that it meant household suffrage with the admission of any one who chose to call himself a lodger. He admired the dexterity of the leader ot the House, who, in bringing his party up to house- hold suffrage, reminded him of the*plan adopted to conquer a shy horse. There may be a lamp-post, a mile-post, or a perambulator which the animal will not pass, so the groom or master takes him gently up, walks him round the object, shows him what is the real cause of his fright, and makes him touch it if he can; and then, when the process has been repeated often enough, he hopes to get the creature to pass it quietly. Now, this was the process the right hon. gentleman, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had adopted with his own party, and he had done it—not privately and secretly, but in the eight of the whole country and the whole empire. He only hoped the party liked it, and trusted that the publicity given to the world that their master had been placing with them for the last three months until he got them in the right humour would? be elevating to their minds. In a similar strain to this Mr. Lowe for some time launched solemn warnings against democracy, and stated that household suffra,ge would soon lead us to this. Then, turn- ing his white head and diminutive eyes to the Ministerial benches, said, emphatically, I am not the' least surprised that the fertile genius I see opposite me has hit upon this scheme there is nothing-new in it; ih has ever been a part of the tactics of an oligarchy to ally itself to the lower sections Of a democracy. It was so in the ,course of the French Revolution, and it is re-, corded over and over again in the annals of other countries. I say, I am not the least surprised at this; but what I am surprised at is that you, the gentlemen of England; you, with all you have at stake; you, with your ancestry behind you and your posterity before you, with your great estates, with your titles, with your honour, with your state of every kind, with the amount of imperial prosperity and happiness, of dignity and honour, which you have enjoyed for the last 200 years, such as never before fell to the lot of any class in the world-—that you, ,will fiingl111 this away without, as far as I can see, .the shadow of an equivalent of any kind. Do you loolc for au equivalent in any personal good ? Your interests are diametrically opposed to the course you are pursuing. Is it for the good of your country? Have you so totally u.nlear.trt..tKe simplest lessons as to believe that it is by going into the dept-hs of poverty and ignorance that we are to find the wisdom to manage the delicate affairs of this great empire? I believe you have; and by so doing you have branded yourself with a stigma that your party can never escape from." In his manly, practical fashion, Mr. Henley. pointed out the logical inevitability of the point at which the borough suffrage had 'arrived; and the Govern- ment appeared to be content to leave the defence of the clause in his hands, for the rest of the dis- cussion was left to protesting Conservatives of the third or fourth degree, of whom Sir Riinald Knightley- who let o Lit that he and the rest of his party were" whipped" up on Friday to oppose Mr, Hodgkinson's amendment, and were proportion- ately astonished at its prompt acceptance by their leader—Mr. Baillie Cochrane, Mr. Beresford Hope, and Mr. Sohreiber were specimens. These gentle- men delayed the passing of the clause for a while, but at length it was finally incorporated in the measure, and the few members who remained to witness the formal operation cheered lustily. Space will not permit me to dwell upon Mr. Mill and his Female Franchise. It was humorously received and humorously replied to by various members, and eventually Mr. Mill found seventy- three members to vote with him; but as 196 were opposed to him, the word person" could not be si) bstituted for "man."

THE SUICIDE AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE. Mr. Carter, the coroner for East Surrey, held an inquest on the body of the workman who on Thursday jumped from the North Water Tower of the Crystal Palace. It was testified that the deceased Thomas Jennings was 43 years of age, and had been employed as a workman by the Crystal Palace Company, off and on, during eleven years. His occupation On Thursday was with a gang of men collecting tbebroken iron, so that it could be weighed, from the ruinfed end of the Palace, next Rockhills, where the great fire had been. They were working at the base of the Water Tower. Jennings, after making some ordinary inquiry of a man with whom he was engaged, walked away from the gang. In a few minutes his voice was heard from the top of the 'tower. He shouted loudly, Good-bye, chaps. He was standing on the rail that surrounds the gallery at the "base of the great tank, and was waving. his cap. In- stantly he threw his cap up into the air, and sprang from the gallery. As he. descended the body turned once-round, and it struck the grovuM shoulder foremost. t The height from which lie had fallen was 220 feet. His corpse wahorribly mutilated. 1 lie had for some days previouslybeen very desponding, and had "been on the drink," one witness said, on Monday night, and had re- marked that it would be the death of him, that he never intended to have drunk again, and that he could see all manner of colours." On Tuesday night he was very low spirited, and said to his wife that he thought "something would happen" to him. On Thursday morning when he left home his wife remarked that he particularly kissed her and the youngest of his five children to whom he said'" Good-bye." This was unusual with him. The jury, after some deliberation, returned a verdict- That the deceased destroyed his own life by leaping from the top of the North Water Tower of the Crystal Palace while in a state of sudden temporary insanity, and the jury requested, that as the act committed might be an incitement to others of a similar character, that the Crystal Palace Company should take the precaution of so closing the tower that no other workman should be able to go up there without having first obtained the leave of some person in authority. Mr. Edwin Rose, the Crystal Palace Company's Clerk- of Works, said that instant arrangements would be made to prevent the possibility of any similar Occurrence for the future. J

A VEHICLE OF FUN.-A well-executed photo- graphic likeness of Tom Hood was being exhibited the other night where Bruton was. The portrait was handed-.to him with the remark, There is a Vehicle of Kunl", "Nay,: two Vehicles of Fan," said Bruton, for tip* is »■<$$<<< j f ■' ti.i- ,J'>j*, lid "{1.C: o I,-I

THE SUPPOSED POISONING CASE IN DERBYSHIRE. An adjourned inquest on the bodies of the two children, named Joseph and Martha Tomlinson, was held at Alfreton, near Chesterfield, on Tuesday. The inquiry first arose from the girl having died from symptoms of arsenical poisoning, but the coroner deeming the case one for proper investigation, ordered the body of the other child to be exhumed, and the stomachs and viscera of each to be sent to Professor Taylor for analysis. Meanwhile the services of a detective were enlisted, and as the result of his inquiries, the servant girl, Elizabeth Wheeldon, was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the death of the children. It will be remembered that the father, at the previous inquiries, stated that he kept arsenic in the house, but out of the reach of the children. The servant girl had access to it, and was in the habit of v laying it down for the purpose of killing rats, &c., and also putting it upon rows of peas and beans in the garden. On Tuesday the inquiry was first directed to the death of Joseph Tomlinson, who had died on the 9th of April, aged one month. The father, who is a respectable farmer, was the first witness, and described the death of his son, under the symptoms of a convulsive fit with great sickness. In answer to Professor Taylor, the witness stated that the symptoms described bad not been manifested before. He stated that the suspicions of himself and his wife had been aroused by the circum- stances of the death of the child, as it had been taken ill very shortly after the servant girl had fed it. The witness said that the poison they had in the house was laid down twice in the barn before the baby was born, and once afterwards he laid some down. No one could get to it, as the children were away except the baby, which was upstairs with his mother. On one occasion five fowls got to some that was laid down in the pan and died, and a dog died after- wards. Subsequently he bought some other rat poison of a man named Davis, of Derby, which was kept in the same place. The whole o.f that was laid down and de- voured by the rats. The witness also spoke to the servant girl having been much out of temper the two days preceding the death of the child, because she had been found fault with by her mistress for staying out too late. He had himself spoken to the girl about her immoral conduct, and her speaking on improper sub- jects to his young children. That was subsequent to the death of the first child. In consequence of that he decided to part with her, and informed her father, who expressed a wish that witness would send her to Derby prison. The Coroner then read the evidence given at the last sitting as to the death of the second child, Martha Tomlinson. It was shortly stated that the deceased was taken ill, and died in less than two days, with all the symptoms of arsenical poisoning-great sickness, convulsions, &c. The witness added to his previous depositions in this case that the vomit which the child Martha threw up was thrown into the farmyard,, and two hens died next day. Mrs. Ann Tomlinson, the mother of the deceased children, also deposed to the circumstances of their death. Dr. Tay- lor, F.R.S., gave evidence that the deceased child's (Joseph's) stomach was delivered to him, and on analysis he found four grains of arsenic in the stomach, which showed that the child had died from arsenic adminis- tered in comparatively large quantities. There was no natural cause to account for death, the child being generally healthy. The arsenic was found in lungs, thymus gland, and generally throughout the body. The quantity of arsenic found in the stomach alone was sufficient to cause the death of two adults. In the case of the second child, the witness re- ported that he had found dark patches on the stomach, and found, them to contain arsenic. On further testing the stomach particles of arsenic and fluid mercury were found. The arsenic was also found largely in the intes- tines, and also mercury. The testing of the ratcatcher's powder showed the presence of" veratria." The con- clusion arrived at was that there was no natural cause for death, but that the deceased Martha died from arsenic. The mercury was stated to be due to the calomel powder given deceased by Mr. Turner's direction. In the course of his evidence Dr. Taylor remarked that he had never met two clearer cases of poisoning by arsenic. The in- quiry was then adjourned. "'i'liØj¡Ii.('W:UI,'iI'1fIØt':

DREADFUL ACCIDENT AT THE NEW BLACKFRIARS BPTIBGE. A very serious occurrence, took place on the South- wark side of the new bridge now in course of construc- tion at Blackfriars, on Saturday. About 20 minutes to 10 o'clock in the morning a number of men, acting under the orders of Mr. Bryant, the engineer of the con- tractors for the construction of the bridge, were at work on the No. 3 pier from the Surrey side lowering a large iron caisson, weighing about 30 tons, into the bed of the river, when it suddenly swerved out of its place, and knocked two of the timber supports of the large plat- form aside, and a beam gave way and caused some boards to fall into the water. At the time four men were standing on the platform, and they were struck off. Two of the men in falling were thrown against the iron caisson, and they were seriously injured. The two other men fell into the water, and while they were in it the two first men fell off the caisson alongside them. All four were dreadfully bruised by a mass of floating timber in the river. Several men rushed to their assistance, and they were rescued. They were at once carried to Guy's Hospital. At the time of the catastrophe there were three groups of men at work on the top of the platform. The platform stands at a distance of about ;35 feet from the water. It rests on 13 large timber supports. Those supports are placed at equal distances from each other, and they are let into the bed of the river. The caisson to which the accident occurred was the sixth and last one of No. 3 pier. It was what is called a cutwater caisson, and it was about 20 feet in diameter. It was intended to have lowered it into the bed of the river for the purpose of allowing the men to work inside it while they were making the foundations of one of the new piers for the bridge. It was raised on to a wooden stage alongside the place where it was in- tended to lower it. It was then raised from its tem- porary resting-place by means of crabs and chains. When it had been lifted several feet it suddenly slipped, it is supposed owing to the breaking of the chain. The large caisson then knocked against two of the timber supports of the platform, and they were struck out of their place. A portion of the platform on which the four unfortunate men were standing then fell. No part of the platform on which the other two batches of men were at work gave way The report from Guy's Hospital was that the four men had been severely injured. They were all suffering from the effects of shock to the system caused by the fall into the water. Their names are :-Th,mas Cole, r. aged 2b, a labourer, lividg at iNo. Zv, .brunswicit-streeT;, Blackfriars, arm broken and body bruised Thomas Crowfield, aged 37, No. 14, John-street, Commercial- road, leg broken and shock to system George Bra- bazon, aged 35, 24, Carlton-cottages, Trinity-square, Borough, wound on head; and a fourth man, named Oranfield, died on Sunday from the injuries he received. Large crowds gathered during Saturday evening and Sunday on the temporary bridge at Blackfriars for the purpose of viewing the scene of the accident. — —

LUNACY INQUIRY. Mr. Samuel Warren, Q.C., and a jury concluded an inquiry at Gateshead, on Friday, as to the state of mind of Mr. Charles Murdue, a gentleman who took a somewhat prominent part in public affairs in Newcastle some time ago, and who has recently been an inmate of a private asylum at Dunston. A few years since Mr. Murdue lost a lawsuit, and in consequence, it was alleged by his son, a medical man, he took to drink and became subject to hallucinations. He had been confined in an asylum upon the certificate of two medical gentlemen, and he had escaped and had been reconfined. There was a considerable conflict of evidence, one set of medical gentlemen asserting that Mr. Murdue was, and another set that he was not, insane. The jury examined the alleged lunatic them- selves and after deliberation a majprity of 12 deter- mined that he was of sound mind and capable of ( managing his own. affairs, an announcement which was hailed with great cheering outside the court. •;v 4 1 I<:r < t '} f;

OUR CITY" ARTICLE. 'ii J4..fí i\'¡' c. THE prospects of financial and commercial, affairs have suddenly changed. The favourable state. of the weather for the crops, the easier c*. n- ditioti of the Money Market, and the confidence evinced by the public in a recovery of prices, have produced quite a rally, and the result is a, better business throughout the departments than has beea transacted for a long while past. Toe opera- tions in the discount market, the payment of the Australian bills on Saturday, with thw favourable advices from the Continent, indicate most clearly a turn in the right direction, and if only discretion be exercised, there is every hope that the next- three or four months will be most prosperous. r Now we are emerging from the gloom which has surrounded us since the middle of last year, a word of caution is requisite with regard to the stimulus given to ordinary engagements. Any strong endeavours to excite an unhealthy busitsess should be avoided, the general public havixs« suffered, so greatly from the "limited liability" mania, not that there is any great chance of it, the lessons of experience gained being thoroughly appreciated. Still promoters and others may set-k to push their schemes forward, and if encouraged in the least may endanger the steady restoration to good order and tranquillity, the advent of which appears to be approaching. The amalgamation of the railways that have been competing with each other, and with suuh frightful results, is now advocated in almost every quarter. The success of the committee of tbe London, Brighton, and South Coast Company shows that the shareholders were in the rVnt, and the directors will now have to smccumb. It is believed, however, that there is no intention to tight them ahard battle; the desire is, if possible, I to restore the property. This will be properly accomplished if the arrangement witti. the South I Eastern shall be effected, and working plans matured with the London, Chatham, and Dover, and the South Western Companies. The majority of our readers will remember the beneficial con- sequences that followed the North Eastei n arrange- ment, when the York and North Midland, the York, Newcastle, and Berwick, and other lines entered into that alliance. If in different dis- tricts throughout other parts of the country similar arrangements could be made with otaer undertakings the great rivalry which previously existed will be arrested, and little ground will be J left for the inroads of contractors or the expenses J of lawyers which have resulted from all these ] Parliamentary contests. The business transacted in Consols during the j third week in May was on a moderate scale, with j prices steadily ascending. The absence of any political uneasiness at home or abroad, coupled with the expectation of large bullion arrivals from J Australia and America, whilst the letters from j Paris countermanding orders to some of our large J firms for the transmission of gold thither, have I been received; although the exports of the precious metals will thus be materially diminished, yet remittances will be made to Spain and Italy. An impression, therefore, prevails that, provided no untoward, event occur, the directors of the Bank of England may reduce the minimum ra, e of discount to 2| per cent. The Government broker has not as yet commenced his purchases for the Sinking Fund, although the Chancellor of the Exchequer may apply his surplus to some other purpose. Should, however, the £ 340,000, as is expected, be bought in the box," the effect upon the market will be favourable, as the supply of Consols is now very smallin the hauds of the dealers. Exchequer Bills are scarcely obtainable, and the quotations are consequently exceedingly firm. In the Foreign Market the dealings have been on an ex- tensive scale. The solid dividend-paying securities show at length signs of recovery from their late prostration. The Egyptain Railway Loan, also the Five per Cent. Peruvian, neither of which has hitherto been well placed among the public, COrti- mence to attract attention, and a quiet daily- absorption by investors is experienced. In regard to the more t-peoulative stocks, Spanish Passive and Certificates have been extensively purchased, founded en the expectation that at last some reasonable view ia entertained of Spain making a satisfactory arrangement with her foreign creditors. Very little animation has been exhibited in the market for Miscellaneous and Finance shares, and prices have not varied to any important extent, with the exception of Atlantic Telegraph. Eight, per Cents., which have receded 10. An^lo-American Telegraph have also declined â, Telegraph Con- struction and Maintenance 1, Peninsular and Oriental Steam 3, and City Offices i, while Electric and International Telegraph have imoroved 1 to 134 138, London Financial 1 to 23 21 dis., Peel River Land 1 to 36 39, South Australian Land 1 to 33 35, Ebbw Vale f to 151141 dis., National 4 q 2 Discount Company i to n prem., East India Land Credit J to 7 6 die., Hudson's Bay Company i to 16f and Universal Marine Insurance i to 2' 2 dis. Bank Shares have been dealt in to a very great extent, but in a few instances prices have shewn more firmness. London and River PJate have advanced 2 to 7 9 prem London and Westminster 1 to 93 95, National Bank 1 to 61 63, Imperial Ottoman f to 1^- f dis., City Bank to 12^ 13^, English, Scottish and Australian Chartered i to 17 18, and Atiglo-Austrian, ito It If prem., while 4 4 Land Mortgage Bank of India declined to 2121 4 4 dis. Ailiance Bank 1 to 11 10 dis., and Merchant Bank New Shares 1 to 13 11 dis. The market for American Securities during the past week has been devoid of any special feature of interest, and the smail amount of business transacted has not resulted in any material altera- tion in quotations. United States Government Six per Cent. 5.20 Bonds 1862 have improved t to 72i 72f, ditto 1865 issue £ to 7li 71 Erie Railway shares, however, have declined J to 41f Illinois shares -4- to 76 76h. Atlantic and Great Western Railway Debentures do not show any change, closing at 28 30 ex div., and the Con- solidated Mortgage Bonds at 21A 22 In the Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning a vigorous attempt was made to drive rail way stocks up still higher, the bulla having sought to trade upon the impression produced on Monday that the public were coming in to buy. The attempt succeeded for a little time, but it was too trans- parent an effort to rig the market, and a reaction 'et in which reduced prices from their morning quotations fully 1 per cent. At the close of the evening the Great Western were quoted at f lower, North Western | lower, Midland 1, and Brighton f lower. Great Northern are i better, South Eastern i better, Lancashire and Yorkshire J better, Metropolitan t, ditto Extension J, and ditto District 1 better. The quotations are: Great Eastern, 3If, §; Great Western, 43, i; Great Northern, 111, 13; ditto A, 114, i; North Western, 114, J j North British, 341, 51; North Eastern, 102, 3; South Eastern, 662, 7; London, Chatham, and Dover. 18, i Lan- cashire and Yorkshire, 1261 HMetropolitan, 120|, 11; ditto Extension, 106 £ 7i; ditto Dis- trict, 78, 80; Sheffield, 48, t; Midland, 1031, Brighton, 58,

THE CATTLE PLAGUE.-The cattle plague is reported to have again made its appearance in Cornwall, and great uneasiness prevails in consequence. A cow, the property of Mr. Joll, farmer, of Calstock, suddenly became ill during the past week, and on Friday a veterinary surgeon declared it to be a bad case off cattle plague. The animal was ordered to be killed. i

PRICES OF BUTTER. CHEESE, HAMS, at per mit; -Butter: Friesland, 84.s to 86j; Jersey, 80s to 93i; Dorset, 110s to 1141. Fresh: per doz., lis Od to 143 Cheese: Cheshire, 783 to 88s; Double Gloucester, 74s to 78?; Cheddar, 80s to 90s; American, 66s to 74s. Hams: York, now • 80s to 86s; Cumberland, new, 80s to SSsj Irish, new, 0 863. Bacon: Wiltshire, 6to 68s Iriflh, green, 58. to G,k1. COTTON, LIVERPOOL, MAY 21.-The tcao of the mai-ke is rather quiet, but healthy. Sales about 10,000 bales. HOPS, BOROUGH, MAY 20,-Messrs. Pattenden and Saith report more activity in the trade, at slightly advanced prices. The reports from the plantations this morn ug- speak of a general attack of fly-from one to ten on a HAY MARKETS. | Smithfield. Cumberlaad. | Whitech^el. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.j s. d. a. a. Meadow Hay.. tOOto 85 0 60 0 to 87 6i 60 0 to 90 f> Clover 80 0 110 6 80 0 110 0> 80 0 no 0 Straw 0 46 0, 40 0 46 Oj 40 0 40 0 b, iu \fnejn r* r.( :;v( "\1::)", J