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

AMERICAN CROP PROSPECTS. According to the May returns of the United States ap;< department of Agriculture the wheat prospect is lo i'ii almost as favourable as that of last month. At that of .il»oi £ !it*he general average was within 5 per cent, of the ]t ncUt-aodard full condition. The May average is 94 per iiivbeoW lEicepting changes which may occur in the a rfutul1e it is esbhlluted that the winter wheat will yield to habt)utl &ViJ,I)()I},OOOtllShe Is. The rye-crop promises as hr.viaRjfli as' the wheat ,i't he general average being 96 per boi fensfctr The eoitditltin of barley is 101 per cent. The no .sprin-TlqtigIiingL iii the entire) dduntry. is two-thirds in atchaaqiltfed.v iaxiBKa^t'iyaaiiaiiQttlciiiito 75 per ba mMtrtuistddiiis'C^rk ,1 an additi'jtp^gi-^toH°dsi&^pd'Wery- the 't>V slower indi^iyhtejJ'W^tfe'pTOiipsii Kfe{dn"tfi& ° £ sf'#f "HlftV opl! 1 ifrtJN0M1 somcp^MH ft#, 7$,' toe 80; Ark&tffeh^'Tyiiiressee 52 per cent.

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THE QUEEN AND BIRMINGHAM. An interesting ceremony took place at the Central Free Library at Birmingham on Friday in last week, when a marble statue of the Queen by Mr. Woolner was presented to the town on behalf of the committee which some years ago placed in the same building the noble statue by Foley of the late Prince Consort. At the death of the Prince Consort, at the close of 1861, a committee was formed to raise a statue in his honour, the commission being given to the late Mr. Foley. After the payment of all expenses a surplus of £1000 remained, and it was decided that this should form the nucleus of a fund for a companion statue of the Queen. Mr. Foley, to whom the com- mission was originally given, died before the com- pletion of the work, which was then taken up by Mr. Woolner. It represents her Majesty as she appeared in Royal robes twenty years ago, so as to make it in all respects a fit companion to the other statue. While successfully seizing the likeness, the sculptor has invested the figure with considerable dignity, and has been especially happy in his treatment of the drapery. The ceremony of unveiling and presenting the statue was presented by a large and representative assembly, including many members of the Town Council, the Mayor, and various public bodies. Mr. Jaffray, in making the presentation, said that whatever differences of opinion on questions of Im- perial politics might exist in that town-and they were happily blessed with an independent activity of healthy political thought that must issue in divergence --they were all agreed in sentiments of loyalty and devotion to the titular ruler of this great kingdom. That was neither the time nor the place to discuss theories of government, but he ventured to say that if ever during the long reign of the Queen a bias existed in the minds of ardent politicians in favour of more democratic institutions, the constitution action of the Queen in all her relations with her Ministers and her people must have convinced the most sceptical that monarchy so administered was consistent with the greatest political freedom and the utmost individual liberty. Under the benign influence of such a ruler, the national life in all its phases-social, industrial, intellectual, and political—had undergone marvellous development. Contrast any former range of years known to history with the period spanned by Queen Victoria's reign; and even the spacious times of Great Elizabeth" were barren of results of a kind that gave happiness to a people and prosperity to a nation. In the Queen the monarch was simply the outcome of the woman, admirable in all her relations of life as wife, mother, and the friend of her people. A sense of duty manifested itself in the midst of her sorrows as of her joys. She had drank deeply of the common cares and woes of humanity, and so her sympathies were touched by the trials and sorrows even of the humblest of her subjects. He felt sure that the municipality of Birmingham would guard the statue with loving care. The Mayor, on behalf of the town, accepted the r statue, and the proceedings shortly afterwards termi- nated. Until the Art Gallery is completed the statue will remain in the vestibule of the Free Library.

THE DEPRECIATION OF DIAMONDS. Noticing the recent discovery of a diamond of unusual size, the Standard, in a leader, says:— It will interest the people who possess, or deal in, diamonds to learn that a diamond weighing three hundred and two carats has just been unearthed in the Kimberley Mines. An octohedron measuring an inch and three-quarters in length, and only half an inch less in its shorter diameter, would, a few years ago, have been appraised at an enormous figure. The stone in question is only smaller than the Pitt gem in its uncut state, and the latter bit of glittering carbon was sold in 1717 to the Regent Orleans for one hundred and thirty thousand pounds, and at this time, it is believed, would bring twice this sum, pro- vided it were in the market, and that a customer could be found who was capable of paying such a price for the gratification of his fancy. Unhappily, how- ever, the diamond trade has fallen on evil times and the latest find of the South African drift is of that off colour which is now so little in favour with connoisseurs that the highest ransom as yet offered, '1 0 and refused, for the jewel is three thousand pounds, or no more than the sum paid by Mr. Pitt for the mere cutting of the celebrated stone which, according to Pope's lines, asleep and naked as the Indian lay, the honest factor stole away. South African diamonds, in fact, have suffered a rapid depreciation, though the size of the stones found continually in- creases. Fourteen years ago the Stewart stone, found on the Vaal River, though only two hundred and eighty-eight and three-eighths carats, was the largest known, but being of a pure water, though with a light yellow tinge after being cut, its value was infinitely greater than the stone which is at present exciting the diamondiferous region. The Porter- Rhodes was still larger, though what value was put upon it there is no record to show, and unless the three hundred and two carat gem of Kimberley fetches something more than three thousand pounds, diamond digging will fall very low in public esteem. In the best days of the trade Cape diamonds, as they were called, brought, when yellow and under five carats, forty shillings to fifty shillings the carat, and above that weight three to four pounds. Pure white stones under five carats were rated at three pounds to four pounds, and above five carats at from four pounds to seven pounds, or even more, according to size or lustre. So much, however, depends on colour, shape, size, and lustre, that it is difficult for any one not an expert to fix the price at which a stone should be sold. The largest gems, owing to there being few purchasers for them, fetch proportionately less, and if, as has been the case lately, the supply is greater than the demand, the price will sink to a figure which renders digging an even more precarious business than it naturally is. There will also be a proportionate diminution in- the nominal fortunes which holders of stones imagine themselves in possession of. No doubt the depreciation in diamonds, especially of the Cape sort, has of late years been alarmingly rapid. In 1867, when the Dutch farmer obtained from a brother Boer a bright stone tnat his children were playing with and sold it in Cape Town for five hundred pounds, such an easy mode of finding wealth was believed to have dawned on the world that a gold mine was despised as only a sort of plodding industry, while hundreds left the silver leads of Nevada, con- fident that a vast fortune could be washed out of the arid earth of South Africa in half the time that it took to earn the most modest competency in the scarcely less sterile wastes of the American Sierras. And, no doubt, the expectations of a fortu- nate few were to some degree realised, though, as in the race for riches generally, those who earned nothing, or barely as much as they would have wan by the same amount of labour elsewhere, formed the vast majority of the crowds who so feverishly ran up rude towns in the vicinity of the different rushes, since known as De Beers, Du Toits, Pan, Bultfontein, and Kimberley. At the same time, the amount of gems extracted from the soil has been immense, for it has been calculated that from Kimberley alone there have been exported at least thirteen million pounds- worth of these glittering stones, while the total addi- tions to the wealth of the world in this shape must, if the whole of the fields are taken into account, be something fabulous. The result is only natural. The value of the stcnes has fallen, for while the supply of moneyed, or vain, or foolish people is a never-failing factor in the dia- mond merchant's calculations, the amount of stones extracted from the different mines was more than could be absorbed, even had the South African gems been of a higher quality. It is little likely that any such prices as used to be given for fine brilliants will be offered again.

FUIGIITEXED BY A RABBIT.—A certain young gay sporter, who spends his evenings at a farm house in the Loop, was frightened out of a year's growth on last Saturday night. He was seated at the big open kitchen fire watching the sparks as they went up the I I chimney, while making love to his affinity. The fire had burned low, and as the mercury was at zero it became necessary to add fuel to the embers, and the iyt)iiiSg-man, as he had often done before, went out to !M:-lie> JWbft&pile and brought in a billet of wood, which t -<vi«ld&p(Mted where it would do the most good. It Wlx^a'littllow shell, and no sooner had the y&uftg' mart 'sat dotfrt' than a rabbit that was in the log "jammed Tire filIat impression of both was that a ■'Vffia Cflt' haJ 'cdmtt 'dowtl tbo ''big chimney, and the 1-vtfiti&pS11 feh&t'f^kArfed1 alarmed the old tIIéh- nfihteaps. When discovered the old farmer advised his prospective son-in-law to join the regular arniy.-Ainerican Paper,

A MISSION STATION ATTACKED. A telegram, dated Durban, May 11th, says that the latest news from Zululand tends to show the existence of an intention on the part of the Usutus to drive all missionaries from the country. On May 4 the congregation at the Norwegian station at Inhlabatki was attacked by a Usutu impi on leaving the church. Three persons were killed and all the cattle were taken. The remainder of the Christians escaped. Although the missionaries were spared, the marauders threatened to return by night. They afterwards did so, and killed all the Christians whom they could find. One missionary, with his wife, escaped during the night on foot; the other was too old to flee, and his fate is unknown. It is reported that the well-known missionary, Mr. Robert- son, has been burnt out.

FRANCE, CHINA, AND TONQUIN. In a telegram, dated Shanghai, May 11, the cor- respondent of The Tilnes says:— At Tientsin to-day a treaty was signed by Captain Fournier, acting for France, and Li Hung Chang, representing China. China recognizes the French Protectorate of Ton- quin and Annain, with their existing frontiers. The contracting parties will together regulate the questions of the frontier police and the customs. The provinces of Kuang-si, Quang-tang, and Yun-nan are opened to general trade, on con- ditions to be hereafter arranged. No indemnity will be paid. The following despatch has been received at the London office of the New York Herald from one of its special correspondents in Tonquin. "Haiphong, May 11. There has been a renewal of hostilities in Ton- quin. A column of 400 French troops, recruited entirely from the Algerian Light Infantry, has now been out for ten days conducting operations against the Annamite and Chinese pirates in the Elephant Mountain and the hills which lie to the east of Quang Yen. The expedition was under Commandant Dugenne. After a series of bloodless skirmishes, in whiob the enemy retreated before the French advance, they were yesterday brought to a stand, and four hours' hard fighting took place. One gun was captured by the French, whose losses were five wounded and one killed. The commander of the expedition received three wounds, and has been brought to this place."

BUILDING LEASES. Sir John Jenkins, M.P., and Mr. Powell, M.P., have introduced a bill relating to building leases. They propose that, when land is leased for building purposes for twenty-one years or any longer term, the lease shall in all cases operate as if for a perpetual term of years, whatever agreement there may be to the contrary. And the bill declares that all contracts inconsistent with its purpose are to be void. Thus any provision in the lease for forfeiture or re-entry on the breach of any condition or on the happening of any event is to be of no effect. Passing to a different subject the Bill empowers local authorities to acquire land for building purposes. When it is represented by fifty ratepayers that there is insufficient accommodation for the proper housing of the inhabitants of the district, and that it is not possible for them to obtain land within the district for building purposes on fair and reasonable terms, the local authority on being satisfied of the truth of these representations, is empowered to acquire 30 much of any available land as is reasonably necessary for supplying the insufficiency of accommodation. As to the mode of getting the land, it is said to oe the same as under the 176th section of the Public Health Act. Thus the Local Government Board would hold an inquiry and then grant a provisional order for putting in force the powers of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act with respect to the purchase of lands. However, a special direction of the bill is that the service by the local authority on a landowner of a notice to treat is "in all proceedings in any court" to be conclusive evidence of the neces- sity for the acquisition of the land for building pur- poses, and of their being available. When land is thus acquired by a local authority, they may dispose of it as they may determine; the only restriction being that any one who purchases from them must undertake to build on the land according to a plan agreed upon.

THE CAPTURE OF MERV. A Turcoman eye-witness has furnished the follow- ing particulars of the capture of Merv. lIe arrived at Merv on March 6 last, and found that some weeks before Colonel Alikhanoff, with two Russian officers and fifty Akhal horsemen, had been there and per- suaded a deputation of elders to accompany them to Askabad. Some of the elders, however, refused to accompany the deputation, and declared that they would resist the Russians and the tribes were divided in opinion. On the 8th the deputation returned with the news that the Russian troops were close at hand, and invited the tribesmen to take water to them on camels. Some were about to comply with this request, when Baba Khan and Kajjar Khan, the leaders of the anti-Russian party, threatened to kill any camels they might start, and exhorted their followers to resist the Russians. Colonel Alikhanoff arrived on the 10th, with 100 Russian and Akhal cavalry, but on the advice of some friendly Turco- mans he retired to Ata, where the Eussian camp was pitched. On the same night Kajjar Khan's men fired at the Russian pickets, but fell back when their fire was returned. Next day all the Tekke elders, except Baba Khan, Kaiiar Khan, and Hakim Khan, went to Ata, and escorted the Russians to Merv. The Russian force consisted of 2000 horse and foot, with two guns. Shortly after Baba Khan was bribed into submis- sion, but Kajjar Khan refused to accept a bribe and collected 8000 men, with whom he attacked the Russians, who opposed him with a body of 400. A skirmish followed, the Tekkes being beaten with the loss of three or four of their number. Thereupon all idea of offering further resistance was abandoned.

ATTEMPTED MURDER IN PARIS. A terrible attempt at murder by a madman, fol- lowed by an endeavour on the part of the latter to commit suicide, was perpetrated on Saturday at Clichy, in the environs of Paris. A middle-aged mar- ried couple, named Guillonneau, living in that locality, had for a long time been noted by their neighbours on account of the frequency of their domestic quarrels. The man, it appears, was jealous of his wife, whom he suspected of deceiving him during his absence at work. For the purpose of more closely watching his wife he left off work altogether, which caused his friends to suspect his mental derangement, especially as his wife—a hard-working 0 person with five children — bore an excellent character in the neighbourhood. Madame Guillonneau, acting on the'advice of her friends, had her husband examined by a doctor, who said the man was not dangerously insane. On Saturday morning, however, one of the persons living in the same house as that inhabited by the Guillonneaus was awakened by the screams of the children of the latter, a boy, who ran about the land- ing of the house, crying out that his father was murdering his mother. This person-a woman who was on intimate terms with the Guillonneaus-imme- diately rushed into their apartment, where she found Madame Guillonneau lying apparently lifeless on the floor, in a pool of blood. In the middle of the room Guillonneau stood furiously brandishing in his hand a bar of iron, with which he threatened the woman, who instantly fled for her life. Some of the persons passing by in the street having heard the shouts of the would-be homicide and cries of the neigh- bour whom he had threatened, rushed to the room, but no one dared to approach the maniac. Suddenly the latter made a spring through the window and fell stunned on the pavement beneath. The Commissary of Police now arrived with a doctor, who discovered that Madame Guillonneau was not quite dead, although her injuries were so serious as to leave little hope of her recovery. Her body was muti- lated in a horrible manner. Her breast was cut by a knife in several places, her skull fractured by the blows from the iron bar, and her face chipped by a chisel similar to those used by stonemasons in their work. In an adjoining closet was found a cord which the madman had intended either for the purpose of hanging his victim or himself. The unfortunate woman was taken to the hospital in a precarious state. Guillonneau also received medical care, although his injuries from the fall on the pavement were com- paratively slight.

GENERAL GORDON'S POSITION AT KHARTOUM. A Parliamentary paper has been issued containing the following despatch: Earl Granville to Mr. Egerton. Foreign Office, May 1, 1884. Sir,-I forwarded to you on the 23rd ultimo a tele- graphic despatch instructing you to send several messengers to General Gordon, through Dongola as well as Berber, or in such other way as might on the spot be deemed most prompt and certain. I in- structed you that the messengers should be dispatched at intervals, and should carry a message in cypher to the following effect: That he should keep her Majesty's Government informed, to the best of his ability, not only as to the immediate danger to which Khartoum may be exposed, but also as to any prospective danger which may arise later; that in order to be prepared to meet such danger, he should advise us as to the force that would be neces- sary, under the circumstances, to secure his safe re- moval, giving his views as to its amount and compo- sition, and as to the route by which it should approach Khartoum, and the time at which the operation should take place. General Gordon should, at the same time, understand that her Majesty's Government do not propose to supply him with a Turkish or other force for the purpose of undertaking military expedi- tions against the Mahdi, such expeditions being beyond the scope of the commission which he holds, and at variance with the pacific policy which was for the purpose of his mission to the Soudan. If, with the knowledge of this fact, General Gordon decides on remaining at Khartoum, he should state the cause of his decision, and the intention with which he so con- tinues. I requested you to add to this message the expression of the respect and gratitude felt by her Majesty's Government towards General Gordon for his gallant and self-sacrificing conduct, and for the good results which he has achieved. In my despatch to Sir E. Baring of the 24th March I recapitulated at some length the circumstances under despatch to Sir E. Baring of the 24th March I recapitulated at some length the circumstances under which General Gordon was despatched to Egypt, and the instructions with which he was furnished on leaving England, and subsequently on his departure from Cairo to Khartoum. The object of his mission was to accomplish the evacuation of the Soudan, and the safe withdrawal, if possible, of the Egyptian garrisons. The intention was that this should be effected by pacific means, or at least with no more recourse to force than might be necessary in self-defence. It was not intended that the opera- tion should include or involve measures, for the pur- pose of crushing the Mahdi, or of suppressing the rebellion by force. Her Majesty's Government fully acknowledge their debt of gratitude to General Gordon for the heroic courage with which he has proceeded upon a mission which presented difficul- ties insurmountable by ordinary means, together with the possibility of serious danger. They recognise the benefits which have resulted from it, the confidence which, at all events for a time, he restored in Khar- toum, the despatch of the women and children in safety from that place, and his success, perhaps, in arresting any military movements upon Egypt, certainly in dispelling the alarms connected with the expectation of such an event. Immediately after General Gordon's arrival at Khartoum he expressed his opinion that arrangements should be made for the future administration of the Soudan, and he urged the appointment of Zebehr Pacha as Governor-General, with a commission from her Majesty's Government and a promise of their moral support. The reasons for which her Majesty's Government found themselves unable to sanction such an arrange- ment are given in another despatch. On the 4th c March a telegram was received from Sir E. Baring stating that General Gordon and Colonel Stewart ad- vised the despatch of a small force of British or Indian cavalry to Berber, as soon as the road was opened be- tween that place and Suakin, but Sir E. Baring him- self did not agree in this proposal. It appeared that the object of the expedition was to overawe the tribes between Berber and Khartoum, and reassure the popu- lation of the towns. The military information in the possession of her Majesty's Government showed that it was unsafe to send a small body of cavalry from Suakin, and impossible to send a large force. They could not, therefore authorise the advance of any troops in the direction of Berber until they were in- formed of the military conditions on which it was to be made, and were satisfied that the expedition was necessary for General Gordon's safety, and would be confined to that purpose. This decision was recon- sidered, at the request of Sir E. Baring, on learning that General Gordon was still expecting the arrival of troops at Berber, but having regard to the danger of the climate and the extraordmary military risk, her Majesty's Government did not feel justified in altering lit. General Gordon had recently suggested the employment of Turkish troops lent by the Sultan, variously estimating the number required at from 2000 to 4000 men. The employment of Turkish troops in the Soudan would be contrary to the views advocated by him on former occasions. I need not remind you that in his proclamation issued at Berber and Khartoum, of which copies were inclosed in Sir E. Baring's despatch of the 17th March, he declared that he had averted the despatch of troops by the Sultan, and had come in person to prevent further bloodshed. Moreover, such a course would involve a reversal of the original policy of her Majesty's Government which was to detach the Soudan from Egypt, and res- tore to its inhabitants their former independence. The request is not founded on any necessities of defence in Khartoum, as according to Sir E. Baring's telegrams of the 9th April General Gordon considered himself safe for a certain time; the town was pro- visioned for some months, and the market was well supplied. It is clear from his messages to Sir E. Baring and also to Sir S. Baker, reported in the tele- grams of the 18th and 19th ultimo from Sir E. Baring, that his object in asking for these troops is to effect the withdrawal of the Soudan garrisons by military expedi- tions, and to bring about the collapse of the Mahdi. .tier Majesty s Government, while labouring under the disadvantage of insufficient information, have taken General Gordon's operations in the vicinity of Khartoum to be required for the defence of the place, and they can well understand that such action may be necessary even for defensive purposes. But with respect to his request for Turkish troops, with a view JO offensive operations, General Gordon cannot too clearly understand that these operations cannot re- ceive the sanction of her Majesty's Government, and hat they are beyond the scope of his riiission.-I till, &c., (Signed) GRANVILLE. Another Parliamentary paper contains the follow- ng despatch: lir. Egerton to Earl Granville.- (Received May 10.) (Telegraphic.) Cairo, May 10, 1884. The messengers sent in succession by the Governor of Dongola with the cyphered message for Gordon lave returned. He telegraphed yesterday that they jeport that the rebels have invested Khartoum; that, in consequence, excursions in steamers are made on the White Nile in order to attack those en the banks; that the rebels have constructed vooden shelters to protect themselves ngainst the projectiles; when the Government forces pursue them into those shelters, the rebels take flight hto the country beyond gun-shot; that this iate of things makes it impossible to get into thartoum. The Governor of Dongola adds that, on sccount of the importance that these messages should leach their destination, each copy of the message has leen given to a special messenger, with orders to do tverything in their power to get into Khartoum and Iring back an answer. A return has been issued showing the dates on vhich the substance and also the full text of telegrams from General Gordon were received at the foreign Office.

A SHOCKING OCCURRENCE. A shocking affair occurred at Walmer Barracks on Monday morning. A sergeant in the Royal Marines named Carr shot himself through the head after making a terrible attack upon his wife, who is not ex- pected to survive. At an early hour the unfortunate man entered the bedroom of his wife, who had been recently confined. He was only partially dressed, and carried his rifle and side arms with him, and was very excited. Before his wife had time to call for help he attacked her with the rifle, beating her about the head and body with the butt end of it. The poor woman tried to defend herself by putting her arm over her head, and in doing so had one of her fingers cut off. Hearing the woman scream several persons in the barracks hurried to the room, but before they reached there the urliappy man was a corpse. Believing his wife to be dead, and hearing someone approaching, he loaded his rifle, fastened a string to the trigger, and fired it off with his foot, the bullet passing through his head. At the inquest a verdict of Temporary insanity" was returned. It is stated that Carr had been strange in his manner for some time, but his conduct did not excite any particular notice.

AMATEUR DRAMATIC REPRESENTA- TIONS. In the Court of Appeal, on Monday, before the Master of the Rolls and Lords Justices Bowen and Fry, the case of Duck v. Bates" was concluded. The question was to what extent private theatricals can be performed without infringing upon statutory rights of dramatic authors. The performance in question took place in the board-room of Guy's Hospital by the members of an amateur theatrical club, for the amusement of the nurses, the officers, and the physicians and surgeons connected with the institution, their families, and friends, and, in addi- tion, tickets in blank were issued to the members of the amateur club, to be distributed by them among their families and friends. The plaintiff was assignee of the copyright of a dramatic piece called Our Boys," and the defendant was a member of the amateur dramatic club in question. The county- court judge of Southwark found that the defendant was not liable to penalties, and the Queen's Bench division upheld his decision Their Lordships delivered judgments, lasting an hour and a half, with the tesult that the Master of the Rolls and Lord Justice Bowen concurred in affirming the judgment of the Divisional Court, Lord Justice Fry differing. The Master of the Rolls said there could be no doubt that a dramatic piece had been acted, and the only question was whether the defendant was liable under 3 and 4 Will. IV., chap. 15, sections 1 and 2. The Act intended to protect the value to an author, from a commercial point of view, of his property in a dramatic invention-viz., the power of himself causing it to be represented for value and for allowing other people to do so. That right might be injured, not only by persons acting a piece for profit, but, as had been decided, by those who acted for nothing, and thereby enticed the public who might afterwards come to them for profit. It could not be a right construction of the statute to say that there could only be an infringement by representing a dramatic piece in a place which is habitually used for that purpose, for by taking a drawing-room or changing the place of amusement each evening, the actors might obtain the same audience as would go to a licensed theatre. It was obvious that the section meant that there might be a representation of a dramatic piece without infringement, for the section requires not only a representation of a dramatic entertainment, but that it shall be at a place of dramatic entertainment. The Legislature did not foresee the present peculiar fashion of people rushing about the country and acting; if they had, they would probably have used other words. If children acted before their parents in the nursery or drawing-room, 'no one could call those places of dramatic entertainment, because they are strictly and obviously private and domestic. The place must be where there is performed a representation which is other than internal, domestic, and private. Itneednot be paid for, but it must be public in the sense that the spectators are such a part of the public, as public, that it could be said that they are part of a body which might, but for the entertainment im question, be entertained at a place where the author might be acting his play as a commercial transaction. It does not follow that a representation is not public in that sense, because it is confined to less than the whole public. A representation in a country town, to which all the neighbourhood might come would be public in that sense. Nor could there be any doubt as to where ladies and gentlemen went round the country, calling themselves this or that, and acting protected pieces in any room they could get, the proceeds being given to charity. Whether a representation was private, domestic, and internal, was a question of fact in each case, and his lordship would not advise people by any manipulation to make that appear to be private, which was really public in the sense described. His lordship's view of section 1 was strengthened by considering the damages given by section 2, which pointed to an infringe- ment by persons acting for profit, and also by those acting for nothing. As to the facts of the case, the object of the entertainment was to give amuse- ment to the nurses, who were benefactors of the suf- ferers in the hospital, and to the officers of the hos- pital who work with the nurses, and to their friends. It was only natural that the amateur actors should wish their friends to be present. The entertainment was within the limits of the hospital, and in his lord- ship's opinion it was domestic and anything but public. The invitation to the repor ters was a mere piece of vanity on the part of the actors, and did not add to the publicity of the matter. The representation was a domestic representation within the walls of the hospital, and was intended mostly to amuse those connected with the hospital and their friends, and was not within the purview of the Act. His lordship desired again to express a strong view that no one who goes beyond a private and domestic representation among his private friends, and by any pretence or means brings in the public, or those who are really a part of the public, to witness his performances, should be protected from the operation of the statute. Lord Justice Bowen agreed, remarking that the performance, though approaching dangerously near the line, was still a domestic and not a public one. Lord Justice Fry said that it was with considerable regret that he found himself compelled to differ from the opinion expressed by the county court judge, by the Divisional Court, and by the majority of the Ccurt of Appeal. In his opinion, keeping in view the numbers present, and that there was no security against the indiscriminate transfer of the tickets, there was such an element of publicity introduced as brought the performance within the terms of the statute. The appeal was then dismissed, with costs.

f". m —r THE GARRISONS IN THE SOUDAN. In a telegram dated Monday, the Cairo corre- spondent of the Standard says: The Commandant of the Dongola Garrison has telegraphed to the Khedive that the Mahdi has sent emissaries to raise troops for the purpose of taking Dongola, and then of marching direct upon Cairo. The Commandant further says that the telegraph posts between Berber and Merawe have been burnt by the rebels, and begs the Khedive to send him immediate support, or categorical instructions for the Dongola garrison. The Superintendent of the Telegraph Department at Berber also telegraphs from Korosko that he has fled.from Berber, that his employes had stayed at Berber waiting for camels, but had not received them, nor any instructions, owing to the interrup- tion of all communications. They had then started for Aboo-Hamad, but had all been captured and massacred in the Desert. He adds that the route between Berber and Korosko is now quite imprac- ticable, being completely in the hands of the rebels.

THE ROBBERY AT WINDSOR CASTLE. On Monday the following notice was distributed at Windsor Metropolitan Police. S50 reward. Stolen Whereas, on Saturday, March 8, 1884, the following articles of jewellery were stolen from a room in Windsor Castle. Description.Teii gold scarf pins—one horseshoe, diamond, and sapphires; two pearl; one portrait of Duke of Coburg, sur- rounded with diamonds and emeralds; one fly- shaped, diamonds and sapphires; one opal, sur- rounded with diamonds; one letter L reversed, diamonds and rubies; one Queen's medallion; one photograph of the Prince Consort; one photograph of Grand Duchess of Hesse; eight sets of studs and sleeve links; one coral mounted in gold, one carbuncle one turquoise, one pebble, one gold, man's head in centre two twisted patterns, one onyx. The above reward will be paid by Mr. R. Lochlein, Windsor Castle, tc any person who will give such information as shall lead to the apprehension of the thief or thieves and recovery of the property. Infor- mation to be given to the director of criminal investigations, Great Scotland-yard, London, S.W., or at any police station.—E. V. W. HENDERSON, Com- missioner of Police of the metropolis, Metropolitan Police Office, 4, Whitehall-place, May 5, 1884."

THE FINGER NAILS.— Most persons are familiar with those troublesome bits of skin which loosen at the root of the finger nails; it is caused by their adhering to the nail, which, growing outward, drags the skin along with it, stretching it until one end gives way. To prevent this, the skin should be loosened from the nails once a week, not with a knife or scissors, but with something blunt, such as the end of an ivory paper cutter. This is best done after soaking the fingers in warm water, then pushing the skin back gently and slowly. The white specks on the nail are made by scraping the nail with a knife at I a point where it emerges from the skin.

Pisrcll;mmus |ntcllrgm«. HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL. GLASS MANUFACTURING IN EUROPE.—Each of the various countries on the Continent where glass is manufactured produces an article peculiar to itself and unlike its neighbours; and one of the specialities of Austrian glass-making is the manufacture of various fabrics for ladies' wear from spun glass. The glass is spun into threads, like ordinary silk or cotton, and woven into different coloured fabrics, sometimes .entirely of glass, and sometimes with a warp of silk or cotton. Collars, neckties, cords and tassels, fringes, pincushions, feathers, belts, &c., are all made of this material. At the Paris Exposition in 1878 a bonnet made entirely of spun glass, with feather and ribbons, lined with silk, was shown, as well as cloaks and other articles of wear. This spun glass is also used for watch chains, brushes, &c. Glass flowers are also made to a considerable extent, but it is difficult for these to com- pete with those made from china. SMUGGLING ToBACCO.-At the West Ham Police- court on Saturday, Samuel Nichols, 29, employed on board the steamer Lul 1 mbar, was charged with concealing 3jlb. of tobacco, single value and duty XI 3s. 2d., with intent to defraud her Majesty's Customs; and Louis Jacobson, a quartermaster, of the same vessel, was charged with concealing 21b. of tobacco, single value and duty 13s. 8d. John Hole, an examining officer, deposed to searching the prisoners' berths, and ques- tioning them as to what tobacco they had besides what they had produced. Both said they had none, but in the case of Nichols the tobacco produced was found in single layers at the bottom of a bird-cage, in which there were two pigeons sitting on eggs. On Jacobson 21b. of tobacco was found in his pocket. Prisoners both protested that the tobacco was for their own use, and that they had no intention of defrauding the Customs; Nichols adding that he put the tobacco in the bird-cage on the impulse of the moment. Mr. Phillips fined both prisoners the double value and duty. —A coloured man, named Chain, was also fined double value and duty, C2 14s. 8d., for concealing 21b. of to- bacco and 4oz. of cigars, on the steamship Karmania; and Charles Wright, a stoker, was fined 13s. 8d. for con- cealing 21b. of tobacco on the steamer Lulimbar. THE TAUCHNTZ LEGACIES.—Leipsic newspapers re- port that the value of the property left by the lately deceased well-known bookseller, is estimated at 4,052,000 marks (about £ 202,600), together with a valuable piece of landed property. The city of Leipsic is appointed universal heir. From this inherit- ance are to be deducted the sum of 124,500 marks ( £ 6,225) left in various bequests, and a yearly income of 14,750 marks (1737) derived from public funds, the life interest in which he has also bequeathed. He has directed that the principal must never be alienated or expended, and for the first 200 years after his death ten per cent. of the annual income is to be added to the principal. He has declared that his wish was that the income should be expended for humanitarian purposes; but he has abstained from laying down any special directions. DEPREDATIONS IN ASIATIC RUSSIA. — Intelligence received from Baku states that all the villages on the right bank of the rivers Kura and Araxes have been completely plundered by Persian nomadic robbers, who have even carried off some women. The Govern- ment surveyors in the Maganen Steppe were compelled to stop their work in consequence of attacks made upon them by these bands. The audacity of these robbers is increasing. They do not even fear to engage in open conflict with the Cossacks, whose pickets they attack, The Russian Commissary in those regions, who has held the office for fourteen years and who is well acquainted with Persian politics, is completely powerless against the marauders. MONUMENT TO GARIBALDI.—Sunday being the anni- versary of the landing of Garibaldi with his famous thousand at Marsala, the first completed one of the many monuments to be erected to him throughout Italy was inaugurated at Pavia, in the presence o Signor Cairoli, Signor Nicotera Garibaldi's youngest son, Manlio, the civil and military authorities, and a large crowd of other persons. The monument, executed by the sculptor Egidio Pozzi, is in the form of a statue of the hero looking from the summit of the rock of Caprera, in front of which is the defending angel, with uplifted sword, and at the base is a lion couchant. COURAGE REWARDED.—The Naples correspondent of the Times" describes a singular scene which was recently enacted in the Piazza Plebiscite in front of the Royal Palace. A Custom-house officer called Ferdinando Cicalese was decorated with the gold medal of military valour. Each corps in garrison sent its representative, and when the medal was fastened to the breast of Cicalese the soldiers presented arms. It was during a violent storm in midwinter, when the waves were dashing over the rocks at Possuoli, two fishing barques were running to port when one was upset and a man thrown into the sea. His companion did not hesitate to throw himself in and attempt to save him. Both were swallowed up, when Cicalese, who was on guard in his sentinel's box, threw off his clothes in a moment, plunged into the boiling sea, and brought both men to land. 1 MELTING SOVEREIGNS.—It not unnaturally surprises many persons that the coins of the realm may legally be melted down and devoted to less dignified uses; but the practice was undoubtedly legalised by 59 Geo. |i III. c. 49, s. 11, when melting and exporting were treated together, and both expressly permitted. That statute repealed 9 Edward III., by which the melting of sterling half-pennies or farthings was forbidden; 17 Richard II., c. 1. in virtue of which no groat or I' half-groat" was to be melted; and 13 Charles II., by which the same prohibition was extended generally to current silver. There appears to have been no statute forbidding the melting of gold coin, but this was speei- Ifically allowed in the Act of 1819; and, although the Act is repealed, it cannot be said to be an offence at 'common law for a man to put his own gold or silver into the melting-pot because it happens to be stamped with ian impression of the Sovereign's head. If that con- sideration were sufficient, it would be a mis- demeanour to light one's cigar with a sheet of postage stamps. The illegality of meting coin is as old as the Lex Cornelia," which forbade melting as well as de- basing and washing;" but according to modern ideas the subject is allowed to test practically whether the 'sovereign is worth its weight in gold by turning it into Birmingham jewellery, notwithstanding the disrespect shown to the Queen's image and subscription.—" Law Journal." AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.-The following are the average prices of British corn for last week, as received from the inspectors and officers of Excise Wheat, 38s. 2d.; barley, 30s. 4d.; oats, 20s. 5d. per imperial qr. Corresponding week last year: Wheat, 43s.; barley, 31s. 4d. oats, 22s. STABBING CASE.—In London, on Monday, Annie Carnell, aged 33, living in King's-cross-road, was charged at Clerkenwell Police-court with assaulting her husband, John Carnell, a cooper. The prosecutor said that when he came home late on Saturday night he found his wife the worse for drink. They had some high words about the children's clothes, and in the course of the dispute the prisoner struck one of the children. He stepped in between her and the child, and held her by the hands. She struggled and escaped from him, and opening a table-drawer took out a knife, with which she stabbed him on the head and arm. He bled a good deal from the wound on his head, which was strapped up by a surgeon. He called a constable, and gave his wife into custody. She was a good wife enough when sober, but dangerous when in drink. Mr. Hosack committed her for trial. THE DYNAMITE EXPLosIOx.-The scene at Stevenston on Saturday, when the remains of the ten girls, who suffered death by the explosion of dynamite at Messrs. Nobel's powder works last week, were interred, was a sad one. The funeral was attended by most of the villagers. Special sermons were preached in various churches on Sunday-one clergyman who had seen the mangled remains of many persons who have been acci- dentally killed remarking he had never before wit- nessed such a spectacle. The injured are all doing well. YELLOWS.—Looking across a broad belt of deep rich yellow wallflowers, there is seen beyond a big mass of alyssum saxatilc compacium in full bloom; and, curiously enough, we see in these two undoubtedly yellow-flowered plants a contrast of a most striking yet pleasing kind. Somehow, in massing or mixing colours, we, to create strong contrasts, associate yellow with some other very distinctive hue, and vice versa, thus creating 1 ombinations that are seldom artistic and too often odious. But if we were to keep our masses of mixed plants to particular hues of colour, what charm- ing combinations might be obtained, as seen in this present instance, where the truly lovely pale soft delicate yellow of the alyssum seems to find a bold and effectual contrast in the deep orange-yellow of the wallflower. It would not be difficult to mix with these some other distinctive intermediate yellow shades, and these skilfully arrai ged would give a beautiful effect. Pity 'tis the alyssum is such a common plant, for were it not it would be much more highly prized, and yet in the production during the month of May of a perfect mass of exquisitely beautiful yellow it is unrivalled. It is a curious fact that in the autumn we get our most striking contrasts in yellows in one annual plant, the African marigold. With this the orange is of the deepest, and the sulphur or lemon hue of the palest, whilst in some good strains several other intermediate hues of yellow and golden are found. Grand, indeed, are the effects obtained from large clumps of these mari- golds in the autumn when planted amidst evergreens, or where they may be seen at remote distances. Pansies, again, give a great variety in yellows, making Sjilendiil spring and summer masses. As a rule, how- ever, yellow show best in spring and in tb.^> dullev ever, yellow show best in spring and in tb.. dullev months of aujbumn.—" Gardeners' Chronicle,"