Flintshire Observer Mining Journal and General Advertiser for the Counties of Flint Denbigh

SUICIDE ON THE RAILWAY. On Monday Dr. Danford Thomas held an inquest at the Welsh Harp Railway Station at Hendon on the body of Winifred Jessie Spray, 21, who com- mitted suicide on the previous Friday on the Midland Railway. The evidence went to show that the de- ceased, a milliner, had twice been confined in a lunatic asylum, but had been discharged as cured. On Thursday in last week she left Child's-hill, where she bad been staying, and went to Kilburn in search of a situation. Afterwards she was to have gone to the home of her brother, a schoolmaster, of Highgate- road, but this she never did. On Friday morning her mutilated body was found on the metals of the Midland Railway a short distance from the Welsh Harp. Upon the bank:were found a hat, two bottles, and a knife. The bottles contained paraffin oil and turpentine. On a piece of paper the deceased had written: I am mad—everybody knows it. I am going to the bottomless pit. It is an awful thing. It is a rash act. I am now going," The driver of an express train from Lincoln to St. Pancras, on arriving at the terminus, found fragments of flesh and clothes on the wheels of the engine, and it was the opinion of the officials that the deceased bad placed herself on the metals and been killed. The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide while of unsound mind."

ALARMING ACCIDENT at PORTSMOUTH BARRACKS. A serious accident occurred on Monday morning at the new barracks, Southsea, which are now approach- ing completion, having been built by convict labour under the superintendence of the Royal Engineers. 1, Connecting the two blocks, consisting of officers and men's quarters, are ornamental archways, each con- sisting of two lines of seven arches, secured at the top to each other by iron girders with a cemented floor- ing, the corridor being thus formed in the middle of each archway. The centring was struck a short time since in each of the arches, and it is supposed that this m' have been done before the cement had been well set At all events a crack had been observed in one of the arches, and on Monday morning it bad been decided to shore up part of the work before beginning to lay the cement flooring, the girders being al- ready in position. A gang of twenty-four convicts had been told off for employment upon this archway, either under or upon it, and they were in charge of Assistant Warders Goldsmith and Casey, a corporal of the Royal Engineers directing the labours of the party. They were preparing to hoist in up the cement for laying upon the flooring, when, without any warning, one of the centre pillars of the archway collapsed, carrying away with it most of the arches. Warder Goldsmith was standing upon the top of the archway, and several convicts were working near him, while others were employed under the arches, so that it is marvellous how they escaped with their lives. They probably owe their preservation to the scaffolding, which, in falling away, helped to break the fall of the detached portions of the arches. Major Clayton, deputy governor of the prison, who was neai at the time, at once took measures for extricating the men from the debris. It was found that the worst cases numbered seven, and they were sent in cabs to the convict prison infirmary. Several others of the party received slight injuries, and few, if any, of the twenty-four escaped without some mark. Six of the cases are regarded as of a serious character.

TERRIBLE RAILWAY DISASTER IN SPAIN. On Saturday evening a serious railway accident occurred a short distance from Ciudad Real. A train was passing over a bridge, when the structure gave way, and all the carriages, with the exception of the guard's van, were precipitated into the river below. A telegram from Madrid, dated April 28, says Thirty-eight corpses have already been recovered, and it is not known how many more may be entangled in the three carriages that still lie at the bottom of the river. Thirty persons are known to be injured, while 56 soldiers, a large party of whom were travel- ling by the ill-fated train, have failed to answer the muster-roll. Some civilians are also to be numbered among the latter, and the worst fears are entertained as to their fate. Three of the carriages that re- mained on the viaduct were completely smashed. On the news of the disaster becoming known along the line the authorities at once despatched to the scene a special train conveying doctors, officials, and a gang of navvies to assist in the clearance of the debris. The affair is now asserted on all hands to be the work of some evil-minded persons, and is believed to be connected with a band of Republicans, whom it is stated have received orders from their chiefs to serve other lines in the same way. The crime, for so it is looked upon, has excited the greatest indignation throughout the province. What has tended to throw somewhat more of a sinister aspect over the tragedy is the fact of the telegraph fiosts for some distance along the line having been lewn down, the idea, no doubt, being to delay the news of the disaster, and thus give the perpetrators time to make good their escape. C,

A F\T\L FrurrT. -On Monday a verdict of Man- slaughter was returned by a coroner's jury at Bir- mingham ngainst William Finchett, a potato salesman, who is charged with causing the death of a man named George Norris, by knocking him down and fracturing his skull. The two men had been drinking together, when a quarrel which arose between them led to a fight, in the course of which the fatal blow was struck. Finchett was committed to the assizes, but admitted to bail. PRJZE FIGHT.—On Monday, John Jvelley, a power- fully-built man, was charged at Leicester with having taken part m a prize fight near that town on Sunday. It appeared that police-constable Bloomfield saw parties of men from different directions go to a field. Here Kelley and another man stripped and fought six rounds, in presence of over 100 spectators. Both men were severely punished. Bloomfield appre- hended Kelloy, but his second and others threw the constable into a ditch, after giving him a terrible beating about the head and face, Kellev was re- manded. A NEW ATHLETIC RECORD.—The champion athlete, W. G. George, placed another record to his credit at Liliie-bridge on Saturday. The race was a two miles handicap, for which the London Athletic Club had offered a special medal. Of thirty-three entrants no fewer than twenty-six came to the post, George, of course, being placed scratch. At te end of the first mile lie was two seconds behind the previous (his own) record, while half a mile later his time was nearly level. George had then, however, got through all his men, and, coming away strongly, he finished an easy winner in 9 min. 17 2-5 sec., cutting the record by 8 1-.) sec. J. T. Wills (145 yards start) was second, 100 yards behind, and O. A. Chalon (2;)0 yards startj was third. The previous record—9 min. 25 3-5 sees. was accomplished bv the same winner at the London Midland Sports in 1882. NEW IIoMEroR ENr;LI.sII GIRLS IN PARI?.—Bishop Tit- comb, coad jutor to the Bishop of London for Northern and Central Europe, opened on Saturday night a new home for English girls employed in shops and houses of business in Paris, at 26, Faubourg, St. Honore, this being the fourth of Miss Leigh's homes for respectable English girls. The Bishop expressed the pleasure with which he had visited the associated institutions, of which lie has become patron, and his hope that this new agency might elicit sympathy and help from friends in England.

THE SECRET OF SUCCESS. In one of a series of articles entitled "Topics of the Day by the Heroes of the Hour," the Pall-mall Gazette gives an account of an interview between its representative and Mr. W. Whiteley, the Universal Provider," of Westbourne-grove, London. We make the following extract: I began with good taste; I knew a good article when I saw it. I had the faculty of hitting the public taste, and I had a knowledge of how to display goods when I had bought them in a nice, tasteful way. Above all I was determined that I would sell them at the very lowest possible price so as to give me a re- turn on the bargain. I object, sir, to swindle the public. Honesty is the best policy, and I regard myself as a mere distributing agent who is bound by his duty to the commonwealth to levy the smallest tax and toll that he can upon the goods which it is his mission to pass on from the producer to the consumer. I am a gigantic middleman, a juggernaut, as my enemiessay; but show me one tradesman who keeps his prices down as close to their absolute cost as my- self. That is to say, show me the man who is more scrupulous about plundering the public for the benefit of his own purse. My question has ever been not how much can I stick on to the price, but how little can I possibly charge. At first it was not known generally that I was going on this principle. People g thought that I was no better than my neighbours. But, sir, good wine needs no bush,' and a really honest, conscientious tradesman is certain to be un- earthed before long. My time came. The fame of Whiteley's goods became known in a very curious way. A lady who was displeased with a fall which she had bought at a neighbour's shop brought it back by mistake to mine to have it changed. She had paid Is. 6d. for it. I offered to exchange it, and said the price was only 8,fd. (Eightpence three- farthings said the lady. I paid Is. 6d. for it just now.' 'I beg your pardon,' said I, 'our price is 8" id., as you can see. She then dis- covered that she had come to the wrong shop; but,' said she, do you really mean to say that you are selling these for 8fd,, for which Mr. is charging Is. 6d.?' 'Certainly I am.' A reduction of more than 50 per cent. created a profound impres- sion. A similar case occurred a few days afterwards, in which a lady discovered that a lace pelerin, for which she had paid 7s. 9d. down the street, could be bought in my shop for 3s. lid. The news spread. These ladies told their friends, and they in turn told their friends, and so the news got about, until twelve months after I had taken down the shutters, I had no fewer than sixteen young ladies in my shop- fifteen serving customers in a room of 12 £ yards long. and one in the counting-house. They hardly had room to turn, for the shop was always full. That was the beginning of everything. From that time to this I have never looked behind me. Business, in fact, has thrust itself upon me more rapidly than I could open my hands to receive it. I have been compelled almost reluctantly to extend my premises year after year, almost month after month, until at the present time my buildings cover an area of I don't know how many acres, and I have now in my constant employ, not reckoning those who are occa- sionally employed outside, but limiting the census to those on the premises, no fewer than 5000 men and women. When I began I confined myself solely to ladies' hosiery, gloves, ribbons, flowers, feathers, lace, furs, sunshades, and umbrellas." "And now, Mr. Whiteley ? And now," said he, I deal in every- thing that the world produces, except fresh milk." Except fresh milk Why that strange limitation ?" "Fresh milk," said Mr. Whiteley, "is against my principles. Condensed milk you shall have in any quantity, but fresh milk—not one gill." "But why ? Because," said Mr. Whiteley, with an air of con- scious rectitude which made him appear forthe moment like the Fourth Commandment personified, because it is against the Sabbath." All through my business career," said he, speaking with the emphasis of a Presbyterian minister, I have never broken the Sab- bath. I would not allow anything to be done on the Sunday. Only on one occasion, when it was a matter of life and death, did I allow workmen in my employ to do any manner of work on the day of rest. But, sir, fresh milk must be served up fresh at least once every twenty-four hours; the cows keep no Sabbath and hitherto I have resisted the utmost pressure that could be put upon me to induce me to supply milk to my customers. With that single exception there is nothing under the sky I am not prepared to supply at a moment's notice. An ironclad, a wife, or a child, it is all the same to me. I receive your order, and execute it in the ordinary course."

INSPECTION OF TROOPS. On Monday the Duke of Cambridge, accompanied by Lord Wols-eley, General Sir A. Herbert, and Colonel Stephens, A.D.C., visited Dover and inspected the 6.5th, York and Lancaster Regiment (Colonel Byam commanding) on their return from the Soudan. The regiment was drawn up at Archeliffe Fort, and, after the inspection, the Duke of Cambridge addressed the troops as follows: It always gives me great pleasure to have an opportunity, when a battalion or part of a battalion returns home, of seeing the troops and of judging personally on their condition. I take particular pleasure in doing so when that regiment has bad the advantage and honour of taking part in any active operations in the field. I am very gratified this morning to see the efficient state in which this regiment has paraded. As far as I can judge, it appears to me that the men look wonderfully welf and healthy, considering all the hard work they have had and the changes of climate they have experienced during their long service abroad. As regards the conduct of the regiment, I am glad to say nothing can be said against it. After a lot of hard service in India, the regiment was returning home, when it was suddenly required to take part in the recent operations in the Soudan, and the manner in which it did its duty there was most creditable. You may well be proud of being a portion of her Majesty's service. I always feel persuaded that the English army is in a condition to meet any emergency, and the circumstances in which this regiment found itself hi the Soudan is an instance of what I mean. The regiment was ordered home after long service in India; suddenly the emergency arose, and it was called upon to take the field. There was no regular preparation made; it was ready to take the field at once. I believe either the same night, or the morning after it lauded, it actually had a sharp en- gagement, and had an opportunity of distinguishing itself. This shows how very necessary it is for any y portion of the army to be prepared for the field in any circumstances. It also shows the necessity for officers being well qualified to adapt themselves to any emergency that may arise. I congratulate you, Colonel Byam, with your battalion, on having had the opportunity of seeing active and hard service, and on having rendered such a good account of yourselves, and I am glad to welcome the battalion home now to ordinary duty, which I hope it will perform with as much credit to itself as it did by its conduct in the field." Subsequently all the officers stepped forward from the ranks, and were addressed, some of them per- sonally, by the Duke of Cambridge.

RECOMMENDED TO MERCY. On Monday at the Durham Assizes before Mr. Justice Hawkins, John Smith, 31, labourer, was charged with the wilful murder of his wife, Selina- Smith, at Stockton, on the 30th of January last. January 2G, Selina Smith eloped with her husband's half-brother, who had formerly lodged with them, and went to live with him at Stockton. On the following Tuesday the prisoner, having ascertained where she was living, went over from Darlington to try to induce her to return home with him. They spent several hours together, apparently on friendly terms, but early on Wednesday morning the prisoner gave himself up at the police station and stated that he had murdered his wife. A policeman accompanied him to his house, when the unfortunate woman was found lying dead upon the floor, in a pool of blood, stabbed to the heart. The prisoner looked at his half-brother, who had just returned from working on the ni^ht shift, and said, It is all through you. I loved her as dearly as I loved my life." The jury found the pri- soner guilty, but recommended him to mercy. He was sentenced to death.

THE RED CP.OSS.-In Vienna, on Sunday, the yearly meeting of the Austrian Red Cross Society took place in the grounds of the exhibition building in the Prater. In the presence of the Emperor, several of the Arch- dukes, and a number of officers, including the Minister of War, a mimic battle was fought. The Red Cross men bound up like practised surgeons the imaginary wounds of the fallen, and then carried their patients to the waggons. His Majesty expressed his high satisfac- tion with the proceedings.

CONSECRATION OF THE BISHOP OF CHESTER. On Friday in last week the ceremony of consecrating the Rev. William Stubbs, D.D., as Bishop of Chester was performed in York Minster by the Archbishop of York, assisted by several bishops. The ceremony was witnessed by a large number of persons, the choir of the cathedral, in which the proceedings took place, being crowded. Shortly after ten o'clock clergy from various places in the diocese of Chester and from different parts of Yorkshire began to assemble in the Lady Chapel, where they robed, afterwards marching in procession to seats allotted to them in the choir. Here also were assembled the Lord Mayor of York (Alderman W.B.Richardson), the Sheriff of York (Mr. T.F.Wood), several of the aldermen, and the Mayor and ex-Mayor of Chester, who had come in state from the Mansion- house. Shortly before eleven a procession, consisting of the Dean and Chapter and clergy, proceeded from the south aisle to the west door of the nave, where they opened out into two parallel lines, awaiting the entrance of the Archbishop, the assistant Bishops, the Bishop-elect, and the officials, who had robed in the Minster library. These having arrived the procession moved into the choir, while Dr. Naylor played a voluntary on the organ. The service was opened by the Archbishop reading the service for the Holy Communion, the responses of the choir being sung to Garrett in E flat. The Epistle Acts xx., 17, was read by the Bishop of Manchester, and the Gospel, St. John, xxi., 15, by the Bishop of Durham. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Kay, who took for his text, Jeremiah vi., 16:—"Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." In con- cluding his discourse he said a few words with regard to him who was shortly to be commended to their prayers. The Bishop-Elect was then conducted by the Archdeacon of Chester and Chancellor Espin, followed by the Dean of York, the Bishop of Durham, and the Bishop of St. Alban's, to Archbishop Zouche's chapel, where he put on his rochet, the choir during his absence singing the anthem, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace.' During the singing the Bishop- Elect returned, and was conducted by the presenting Bishops-the Bishops of Durham and St. Albans —to the front of the altar rails, where the Registrar read the Queen's mandate. The Archbishop then com- mended the Bishop-Elect to the prayers of the con- gregation, and conducted the Litany service. At its conclusion, the Archbishop, sitting in his chair within the Communion rails, put the customary questions to the Bishop-Elect, who stood outside the rails. He then retired accompanied by two or three of the clergy, and returned, robed in his episcopal habit, during the singing of the anthem Now we are ambassadors "— Mendelssohn. After the anthem, the Bishop-Elect knelt before the Archbishop, standing at the entrance to the altar table, who offered a prayer, and with the assistant Bishops laid hands on his head. The Arch- bishop delivered to the Bishop of Chester a Bible, accompanying the action with the reading of the customary charge. The Archbishop and Bishops resumed their former places, the Bishop of Chester taking his seat among them. The offertory having been taken and the prayer for the Church Militant offered, the Archbishop proceeded with the Com- munion service, which terminated the solemn cere- mony.

TRADES AND PROFESSIONS. If a boy reads the papers in these days, he will see much about work and learning to work. He will hear much said of the difficulty of getting good workmen. He will hear of the new schools for boys, where car- pentry, bricklaying, painting, carriage-making and many other trades are taught. Of course, he means to do something himself, but somehow he does not care for these splendid new schools. It is nothing to him that good workmen are scarce, and always find good wages. He is going into a store or an office, he means to be a doctor or a lawyer. Ho does not pro- pose to soil his hands, and wear rough clothes like a workman. If there is any such boy, who may read this, let him consider a moment. My cheerful young man, are you sure that you know what you are talking about ? What do clerks earn ? How much does a young doctor receive ? Oh but you don't mean to be a poor clerk. You intend to be a great lawyer with 10,000 dollars a year, or a doctor with a carriage. Charmed to hear it. It is a noble resolve, but are you sure you will get there ? Really, now, how can a young man tell, how can be be sure he will succeed ? In this way. A man succeeds who falls in lore with the work. He thinks about it day and night, he studies it; he reads all he can on the subject. He tries and tries till he can do it well. Then he succeeds. You do not care much about medicine; you have no burning desire to study this magnificent machine—the human body. You don't care very much for the dreadful work of hospitals, and yet you mean to be a doctor. You would, secretly, much prefer to have a kit of carvers' tools; but, of course, you could never be a carver by trade Let us stop here. This is the summing up of a vast deal of homely wisdom. Do you love any work? Is there anything that if you were independent, vou would do before anything else ? If there is-do that. There is your success; that way lies all the money, the rewards, the respect of others, and all the real honest happiness you will ever find. Boys make a mistake in thinking that only the lawyers and doctors and merchants succeed. It is a terrible blunder to leave a trade in which you may make a first- class workman and have a chance to win a home, comfort and independence, to go into a pro- fession you do not love. There is only one end to that road -a life of ill-paid drudgery and failure after all. Look at yourself; you are to yourself the most im- portant personage in the world. Find out what sort of a man you have in the little. What is your body good for? What sort of mind have you re- ceived ? Look at your tools your hands, your senses, your brain. What will they do best-make shoes or preach a sermon ? Choose now according to your tools, according to your love of work. Shoe- making may lead to a great fortune, while preaching may bring you to the Home for Decayed Parsons." On the other hand, preaching may be the thing. There is only one fellow can decide this for you, and he lives in your liouse.-Detroil Free Press.

SERIOUS RESULT OF PRACTICAL JOKING. In London, at the Marylebone Police-court, Samuel Coleman, 17, described as an engine cleaner, was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to George Greenwood, by striking him on the head with an iron rake on the 10th inst. Detective-inspector Morgan, X division, said that on Thursday night he was sent for to St. George's Hospital, where he saw George Greenwood, who was apparently dying from the effects of a blow on the head. He afterwards went to the Great Western Railway engine shed at Westbourne- park, where he arrested the prisoner on the charge of causing the injuries. Coleman accompanied him to the hospital, and the injured man pointed him out as the person who had caused his injuries. As the doctors stated that in all probability the injured man would die in a few minutes, and there was no time to secure the attendance of a magistrate, he at once took down his statement in writing, in the presence of the; doctor and the prisoner. It was to the effect that about seven o'clock on the morning of the 10th inst., he was drinking some tea near the furnace, and in play squirted some of it over Coleman, who thereupon picked up an iron rake and struck him on the head with it. It was only one blow, but it ren- dered him insensible, and he remained unconscious until he found himself in the hospital. The blow was deliberately given, and not by accident. There were several persons present at the time. He had never quarrelled with Coleman, and believed that the blow was the result of a momentary impulse, and was not intended to result as it had done. Coleman, who asked no questions, also made a statement, which was taken down in writing. It was to the effect that he had warned Geo. Greenwood several times against throwing water over him, messing him about, and aiming chewed bread at him." Two men named Wilks and Smith were present when he warned Greenwood. The prisoner was remanded.

AN UxLrcKY LOT.-A man picked up a purse in the street one day, and advertised the fact. In ten days he was visited by sixty-one men, women, boys and girls, all claiming to have lost money. The sum found was but eleven and six but of each visitor who called, the finder asked, "So you lost two pound ten, did you ?" Nine-tenths of the applicants promptly re- plied, "Yes, sir." "Ah," said he, "yours was another purse."

PRESS OPINIONS ON THE BUDGET The Spectator recommends the good financial record presented by Mr. Childers on Thursday night to those Conservatives who attack the Government so fiercely and so ignorantly, and it also asks them to compare it with the negative financial quantities by which their own landed Government distinguished the budgets of previous years. The steadily increasing yield of every penny of the income-tax ought to give satisfaction to both Conservatives and Liberals alike. Then comes the wise proposal to meet wasting of gold coinage by the issue of token gold pieces worth 9s. The opposition to this scheme is not intelligible to the Spectator, which thinks it idle for persons who are not experts to set up their opinion against that of the Government. Of course, the El note fanatics will cry out against it, simply because they hoped to get a £ 1 note into English circulation through the necessities of the Government. But it is clear that all the objections apply to the issue of £1 notes which apply to the issue of a token gold coin, and apply in a very much stronger form. If the gain of a coiner who puts 9s. worth of gold coin into circulation at the value of 10s is great, the gain of a forger who puts a note intrinsically valueless into circulation at the value of £1 is vastly greater. So far as we can judge, -Mr. Childers' proposal is not only the most convenient, but much the most cautious of all those which have been made for the purpose of defraying the cost of renovating the gold coinage." The Economist cannot approve of the scheme brought forward by Mr. Childers for improving the state of our gold coinage. The plan it pronounces ingenious, and much may be said in its favour, yet it is not a new proposal. For one thing there is a general feeling against tampering with gold coinage. Stability of standard is essential to the stability of business. "It is quite true that the debasement of the half sovereign will not really affect the gold standard, ,hich will be maintained in the sovereign. But most people do not draw fine distinctions of this kind, and there is besides a vague fear that, if for the sake of cheapness we consent to adulterate the half sovereign, we shall be led in time to do the same with the sovereign. Nor are there only sentimental objections to be urged against Mr. Childers' scheme. Yery practical questions arise in connection with it. Are we to understand, for instance, that the Bank of England is to be permitted to include the token ten-shilling pieces in its reserve, and issue notes against them ? If it is, then we shall have an issue of notes based, not upon gold coin,' as required by the Act of 1844, but against coin which is partly gold and partly alloy. There is, for instance, the important question as to whether, since the legal tender limit of the ten- shilling pieces is reduced to E5, their efficiency as a reserve or their circulation will not be largely diminished. And we are certainly inclined to doubt very much the expediency of the suggested change. If it be really the case that we cannot afford the luxury of a small gold coinage of full weight, had we not better dispense with it ? The Statist selects for comment that part of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's statement dealing with gold coinage. It points out that there has long been a consensus of opinion among economic authorities that, whatever may be done with the sovereign, there is no good reason for maintaining the half-sovereign as a full valued coin. The half-sovereign is now used merely as a token coin, and all the arrangements regarding it ought to be made on that footing. It may be a question, perhaps, whether the reduction of the value of its intrinsic contents from ten shillings to nine shillings is the ht amount of reduction but this is really a question more for the Mint authorities than for the Government. The reduction ought, if possible, to be carried as far as the safety of the coin against forgery will permit and on this point it is absolutely necessary to follow the Mint authorities and the practical experts in these matters. It may be assumed that in fixing the reduction of the intrinsic contents at 10 per cent. the Government are acting on a full consideration of all the facts." The Bullionist speaks favourably of many features of the Budget, but cannot allude in similar terms to that part which relates to the proposed dealing with light gold. The proper plan would be to face the difficulty boldly, and throw the loss on the community. The expedient of Mr. Childers is eccentric, and full of mischievQus tendencies. He forgets that this miser- able makeshift device of his can bring temporary relief only. The new-fangled ten-shilling gold pieces will, in their turn, become light; and the consequence will be, either that their weight will become of no importance, and thus they will be firmly established as mere tokens, or if they are to be maintained at a certain legal weight and value, further successive degradation will become necessary, and no one can foresee the end of such a mischievous development. The loss is an unavoid- able incidence, and properly belongs to the public. A more miserable and temporising device could not have been contrived than the one under review. If we mistake not, both the bankers and the public will condemn it unconditionally. It involves a disturbance of the principles on which the currency is established, which is not warranted by the facts of the case, and could not be warranted, except under extremity. This great commercial country is not yet in extremis.

PENNY FRIGHTENERS. At the Brentford Petty Sessions on Saturday, Thomas Charles Symonds, of New Bridge-road, was summoned by the Incorporated Law Society, for falsely and wilfully pretending to be a solicitor, on the 13th of February last. Mr. C. 0, Humphreys prosecuted; Mr. S. Woodbridge defending. The defendant who is a partner in the firm of Messrs. Layton and Hardy, coal merchants, Kew Bridge- wliarf, sent to a debtor named Scott, the follow- ing document Final Notice. Before pro- ceeding in the County Court for the recovery of small debts as per Act of Parlia- ment, I hereby give you notice that unless the sum of £1 2s. 6d., due by you to Messrs. Layton and Hardy, is paid before the 21st of February, I shall proceed against you under the above Act." For the defence, it was contended that the debt being due to the defendant as ons of the firm he was justified in so writing on his own behalf the letter containing an assertion that he was a solicitor. The circular was handed to the magistrates, and the chairman re- marked that he understood the forms were purposely got up and widely used, and that, in fact, they were generally known as Penny Frigliteners." (Laughter.) A fine of 10s. was inflicted. The magistrate granted a case for a superior court.

PRINCE RUDOLPH'S TOUR. The Austrian Crown Prince and Princess left Rustchuk at midnight on Saturday and proceeded up the Danube. Next day they passed the Iron Gates, where the tableauz vivants, representing the different national groups were prepared, and proved a great success. The journey from Giurgevo to Bucharest was one triumphal march, and in the Roumanian capital itself the reception by the populace left nothing to be desired. In spite of the rain the whole population was out of doors, constantly cheering the Imperial guests and the King, who for the first time showed himself to his people in the uniform of an Austrian Colonel. The enthusiasm was at its height when the people learnt that the Crown Princess, driving with the Queen in a close carriage from the station to the Palace, and seeing two little girls waiting in the streets with bouquets, ordered the carriage to stop and took up the two children and conveyed them to the Palace. From this mo- ment Princess Stephanie was greeted with enthusiasm wherever she appeared, and her popularity attained its climax when she attended the Court ball in the Roumanian national costume—a long woollen dress covered with gold and silver embroidery, and with a necklace and head-dress of coins. Owing to the heavy rain the review had to be abandoned; but twenty battalions, sixteen squadrons, and forty-four batteries of artillery defiled before the Palace, on the balcony of which stood the Queen, Princess Stephanie, and the Diplomatic Corps. At a banquet given at Rustchuk in honour of the Crown Prince and Princess of Austria Prince Alex- ander proposed the following toast: "I npg your Highnesses' permission to express on my own behalf and in the name of my people the profound joy and happiness felt by us at having you in our midst. It is from the bottom of my heart that I bid you welcome to Bulgaria, and drink to the health of the Emperor and Empress of Austria and of your Highnesses." The Crown Prince Rudolph replied as follows "I am deeply moved with gratitude for the reception which has been extended to us. I drink to the health of the Prince of Bulgaria and the prosperity of his people, whose destinies enlist our warmest sym- pathies."

REVOLUTIONARY PLOT IN SPAIN. The Madrid correspondent of the Standard says that arrests have been made of a number of civilians, officers, serjeants, and other persons well knovn to be advanced Republicans in Barcelona, Lerida, Reus, Alicante, Valencia, Carthagena, Cadiz, Cordoba, and other places, in consequence of information received a few days ago from abroad and from Catalonia that put the authorities on the track of a revolutionary movement, which had been skilfully designed to create agitation in many provinces on the eve of the general election. The credit of the discovery and of the energetic steps taken to defeat the movement, which is said to have been planned by Zorilla, is entirely due to Marshal Quesada and the Home Secretary, Senor Romero Robledo, who for several nights have been in telegraphic communication with the civil and military authorities. These functionaries simultaneously sur- prised the conspirators, and seized documents which, it is reported, show that the plan of the Revolutionists was to attempt a rising in the towns, and also to start bands in the mountains of Catalonia, for which pur- pose they had procured arms and money.

THE CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKES. The other night, at the rooms of the Balloon Society of Great Britain, Royal Aquarium, Westminster, a paper was read by Mr. W. H. Le Fevre, president of the society, on the subject of Earthquakes: their Causes and Effects." After some preliminary re- marks, Mr. Le Fevre stated that he had been chosen as representative of this country on a commission of inquiry relative to earthquakes, appointed by the Swiss Society of Natural Sciences, and consequently had devoted some time to the consideration of the sub- ject before them. Notwithstanding the frequency of earthquakes, and although we possessed accounts of many thousands of instances of such disturbances of earth, there still remained a great deal to be done before they could thoroughly understand the nature of the phenomenon, together with the effects and relations with other natural phe- nomena. It was only within the last few years that this study had made any steps in advance, but the progress was of so important a character that they might hope soon to arrive at a solution of some inte- resting questions in this chapter of natural history. Observations of earthquakes were difficult to take. Earthquakes took people by surprise, and the phe- nomenon was over before they had sufficient time to recover themselves so as to be able to study it with attention. The history of Europe recorded some awful catastrophes. In the year 56, for example, 120,000 people perished from a single shock of earth- quake, and in Sicily, in 1695, some 60,000 human beings fell victims to one of these convulsions. The celebrated earthquake of Lisbon took place in 1755, and those of Calabria in 1782, 1854, and 1870. From the impression produced upon our senses, the forms of mechanical effect of these different kinds of earth- quake were distinguishable. In the first place, there was the disturbance or vertical shaking movement, of which the shock was from below upwards. Secondly, there was the disturbance or horizontal concussion, with a lateral shock; and thirdly, there was the undulating movement, during which the ground oscillated as if it were agitated by waves. Having given some examples of the mechanical effects of these various phenomena, the author said that the shock of earthquakes was propagated with a velocity of from 350 to 500 metres per second. In some exceptional instances this rapidity increased to 800 metres, or diminished to 150 metres per second. Thus the average was about the same as the average velocity of sound-namely, 340 metres a second. The theories advanced as to the cause of such natural convulsions were next dwelt upon by the author, who considered the late phenomenon in Eng- land to have been, not an earthquake," but an "earth tremor," and, he maintained, could be ex- plained meteorologically. They had had a very mild winter, as they all knew, during which the rainfall was the smallest known within the present century. The resul t bad been a different state of things to what would otherwise be the case. With a clay soil along our Eastern Counties, and after such a small rainfall, with the ice coming down from the North Pole by the North Sea, and with a peculiar east wind blowing, the late phenomenon was, in his opinion, rather a depres- sion in the land than an earthquake. It was particularly local, and went to no great depth.

ROSE CULTURETN POTS. The growing of rose trees for exhibition is not nearly so important as their culture for the decoration of the green-house or conservatory, and to supply choice cut flowers when they cannot be obtained out-of-doors. For this purpose large bushes are not required. A big rose tree that four men could move with difficulty, would be as useless in most gardens as the proverbial whiLe elephant. Indeed, they have scarcely a place in any garden, public or private. In a large exhibition tent they have their place of honour; they have been grown, trained, and watched over with anxious solici- tude for this, and when people have admired them, and wondered how they were brought there; their work for that season is finished they have shown what skill and science can accomplish, and what the rose is capable of being grown to by years of patient and trying labour. A big exhibi- tion pot rose may have been in training for a quarter of a century. Few people would covet such plants, and if they did it is not likely that they would obtain them. The kind of roses that every owner;of a green- house might have are those that can be grown and flowered in pots from 8 to 11 inches in diameter, inside measure; as a rule, the plants are budded or grafted on the briar or manetti stock, but they are often also on their own roots. Some roses do not strike so freely from cuttings as others, but the largest proportion of them can be propagated in this way with but little trouble. The mistake is ofttimes made by neglecting to put in the cuttings at the right time. The best time to do so is early in the autumn. The cuttings should be taken off with a heel attached, and they must not be too long about three or four inches of stem may be inserted in the ground, and two or three eyes above ground. If a greater length of stem is left to dry up above the surface, the cutting may die off altogether.-Gardeners' Chronicle.

MANAGEMENT OF A LAWN. It must be recollected that in the keeping of a lawn in good condition it is of the utmost importance to remember that grasses and clovers require for their well-doing a highly-nourishing soil (remarks Land and, Water). It matters not how good the soil may be in the first instance, if we cut and carry we labour con- stantly to impoverish the top crust. In every barrow- ful of grass removed there will be a certain quantity of alkalies, phosphates, and other constituents of vege- tation abstracted from the soil. To be always taking off and putting nothing on must result in the starva- tion of the grass, and we shall find that as the grasses and clover disappear through the exhaustion of the soil, daisies, plantains, knot-grass, self-heal, and other weeds will take their place. The simple remedy for this state of things is manuring, and the best mode of manuring is to scatter over the turf a succession of thin dressings of guano and fine mould mixed together. This should be done in autumn and spring, at times when there is not much traffic on the grass and there is a likelihood of rain to follow. If appearances are of no consequence in the later autumn or in the early spring months a good coat of half-rotten manure may be spread over the turf; but this proceeding cannot be recommended for genei-al adoption. In place of guano, nitrate of soda or nitrate of potash may be employed, being first mixed with fine earth or sand, and then scattered at the rate of one pound of nitrate to every square yard. The employment of an alkali will promote the growth of grass, but not of clover, which requires the aid of phosphates. A cheap and most serviceable dress- ing for old lawns may be occasionally obtained in dis- tricts where building works are in progress, the rubbish should be screened, to separate from it the dust of old mortar, plaster, and broken brick to the size of walnuts at the utmost. This may be spread thinly two or three times in autumn and spring, and will greatly benefit the texture and density of the turf. The mowing machine has no doubt already been set to work on many lawns. If the grass be kept rather low now the cutting will be more lightly and neatly performed through the remainder of the season. The edges to beds, and indeed any narrow strips of turf used as boundary lines, require to be heavily beaten down or rolled before being cut at the sides with the edging iron, otherwise the walk or border will become gradually widened, but not improved, at the expense of the turf, and turf edges should never be cut down without the use of a line, properly pegged into posi- tion, as by no other means can the work be done regularly or neatly. For the rest of the season the weekly use of the edging shears is necessary for keep- ing grass edges neat.

A SINGULAR APPLICANT. In London on Saturday, at the Marylebone Police- court, at the end of the business a respectably-attired middle-aged woman suddenly made her appearance in court, stepped into the witness-box, and addressing the magistrate somewhat brusquely, said Are you Mr. Rutzen ? Mr. Cooke No. Applicant: Mr. Cooke Yes. Applicant: You don't know me, do you ? Mr. Cooke: No, what do you want? Applicant: Well, I will tell you. One of you magistrates sent me to an asylum twice, and I have since been in the Paddington Infirmary. Mr. Cooke: I don't remember. Appli- cant Well I do remember. I have had eight months in the Couniy Asylum. Mr. Cooke Are you quite right now ? Applicant: Yes, my only complaint is poverty. I was in an asylum, and when I came out they gave me ten shillings. I have spent all the money, because, of course, I could not live for a fort- night on ten shillings. I am now in poverty. I am now living at Eden-place with an old lady, and she can't assist me, and of course I have a deal of trouble to get a living. Mr. Cooke: When did you leave the asylum ? Applicant On the 8th of this month. I have been in a great many asylums—at least, I have been in a great many institutions. Mr. Cooke: Have you any friends ? Applicant: No, that's the pity. You know Mr. Nicholls, don't you? He's the reliev- ing officer. He brought me here. I went into a little room behind there, and you popped your name down on the paper, and never asked me any ques- tions, but sent me off. Mr. Cooke: Well, you don't seem quite right now. Applicant: Oh, yes I am all right now. You know Dr. Gay ? Mr. Cooke No. I do not. Warrant-officer Carden (interposing) Mr. Nicholls is the relieving officer, and Dr. Gay is the medical officer for Paddington parish. Mr. Cooke Well, if you get a note to Dr. Gay, no doubt he will do what is right for you. Where are you living now ? Applicant: At Eden place, Fulham. I went there because my mother is buried there. Mr. Cooke: But you should go to the police-court in that district. Ap- plicant I have been to the Charity Organisation Society, and they called at my house on Thursday and made inquiries, but they have done nothing more for me. Mr. Cooke: On Thursday. Well, that is not long ago. Applicant: No; but I have nowhere to go to, as God is my judge (kissing the Bible which lay before her). I am speaking the truth. I slept in an omnibus last night. Mr. Cooke Now, have you been to Dr. Gay ? Applicant: No, sir; I asked him for a shilling when I came out, and he said, No, you must go to your friends." They do all they can for you while you are in, but when they turn you out you have to trust in Providence. I have been living on Providence, and am doing so now. Mr. Cooke: Well, you will no doubt hear from the Charity Organisation Society. Applicant: Yes; but won't you give me something to get some dinner with with ? Mr. Cooke: Oh, yes. Applicant: Thank you, sir. One of the officers of the Court then handed her something, and she left the Court.

THE PORT OF TRIESTE. The new port which has recently been opened at Trieste has been in course of construction for fifteen years, and has cost altogether 14,600,000 florins ( £ 1,460,000). JBy the building of three jetties, 700 feet long by 300 feet broad, the former north-eastern harbour of Trieste has been converted into three basins, with nearly two miles of quay. As a protection against the winds from the north-east, the south-east, and the south-west, a jetty nearly three-quarters of a mile in length has been built parallel with the coast. It is about 1000 feet from the shore, and is 200 feet broad at the base, GO feet broad at the sur- face of the water, and 65 feet high. At a distance of 660 feet from the noth-eastern end a pier 250 feet long has been run out at right angles, thus affording a well-protected entrance more than 300 feet wide. The three new basins inside the jetties have a depth of water varying from 25 to 45 feet. Owing to the softness of the soil, great difficulty was experienced in completing the work, as the walls of the quays, though 4 feet thick, gave way and had to be rebuilt in 1878, since which date they have, how- ever, withstood two of the most severe tempests of the century.

THE RETRIEVER. The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News says: A well-broken retriever is an animal which you can always take out shooting, whatever the time of year, whatever the class of sport you propose indulging in, and that with a certainty of his being of some use and in no one's way, besides being a source of satis- faction and pleasure to you, his proprietor. In part- ridge shooting especially, how invaluable is a well- broken dog at the gun's side; he marks the fallen bird infinitely better than a gun (probably on the look out for another shot, or to mark the remainder of the covey) can possibly hope to do, and is ready to bring it to hand without loss of time and temper. Moreover, a bird not killed abso- lutely dead is apt to crouch in clover, or what- soever the covert may be, so that the best marker, however accurately he may think he has spotted the place, cannot lay his hands on him: but the retriever, being provided with a nose as well as a pair of eyes, has not half the difficulty of the biped, under such circumstances, in bringing his game to bag. One great mistake many sportsmen make, which materially adds to the retriever's diffi- culties, is, if the dog is not on the spot directly, they proceed to trample about in search of the fallen bird, and, even after the dog has been brought up, continue to do so. Now, the scent of a man must be stronger than that of a partridge, so how can the retriever, however excellent his nose, be expected to detect the smell of the smaller object (unless, indeed, he fortuitously puts his nose right on to it) when the ground on aU sides is tainted with the odour of sundry shooting boots and leather gaiters, not to speak of the dead game which the wearer of those garments is in all probability carrying in his hand within a short distance of the object of his search. If a bird cannot be found at once, depend upon it the best plan is to keep quite still until the dog has at any rate had a chance. The proper course is not to pick up the bird, touch it, or go nearer to it than can be helped, until the dog has been brought to the place and been shown that there is really some reason for his con- tinued hunt. Also, it is a very bad plan to let a dog continually retrieve birds which fall dead in the open, and which there is no difficulty in gathering. If a dog is constantly used for this purpose, it must make him slack in hunting for birds accustomed as he has been to see them at once, he gets to trust to his eyes instead of his nose, and to carry his head high instead of close to the ground.

DYNAMITE PLOT IN GERMANY. A statement made in the German Reichstag Com- mittee upon the bill for the prolongation of the Anti- Socialist Law has caused a great sensation. It ap- pears by the concurrent confession of two anarchists recently arrested at Elberfeld, that there was a plot to cause a disastrous explosion during the inaugura- tion of the national monument at Ruedeslieim, which came off last September in the presence of the Emperor and most of the members of the Royal Family and the German Princes. For this pur- pose it is alleged that a large quantity of dynamite was placed in a drain pipe underneath the monument, but that the rainy weather and the moisture of the ground prevented the explosion of the dynamite, which was removed by the Anarchists two days after. Although the story is not yet fully confirmed, the committee was sufficiently impressed thereby to pass a unanimous resolution asking the Government to prepare a bill for preventing the criminal use and un- authorised fabrication of explosives.

STREET ROBBERY IN LONDON.—At an early hour on Sunday morning, as Dr. Thomas Loane, of Beaumont- square, was passing along the Mile-end-road, on his way home from a professional visit, he was set upon by a gang cf roughs, who knocked him down and other- wise ill-used him. Some of the fellows then held him whilst the others rifled his pockets, taking £ 25 in notes, gold, and silver, but by some chance missing his watch. The thieves then all made off as fast as they could. Dr. Loane, upon recovering himself, at once went to the nearest police-station and gave information of the robbery. DISASTERS AT SEA.—The Bureau Veritas has just published the following statistics of maritime disasters, reported during the month of March, 1884, concerning all flags :—Sailing vessels reported lost: 4 American, 2 Austrian, 35 British, 2 Danish, 8 French, 5 German, 1 Greek, 4 Italian, 7 Norwegian, 1 Portuguese, 2 Swedish total 71. In this number are included 10 vessels, reported missing. Steamers reported lost: 11 British, 2 French, 1 Spanish total 14. In this numbec is included one steamer reported missing.