The Brecon County Times Neath Gazette and General Advertiser for the Counties of Brecon Carmarthen Radnor Monmouth Glamorgan Cardigan Montgomery Hereford

A FATHER AND SON DROWNED AT LEEDS. As Mr. Thomas Hanby, grocer and provision dealer, Hunslet, was returning from a visit he had been paying to his mother, who resides at the Bank Houses, canal side, near Thwaite Mills, and just beyond the boundary of Leeds, he and his son met with their death under the following circumstances. The deceased, ia company with a youth named Calverley, were driving along the canal side in a spring cart, when the horse, from some unexplained cause, became restive, and, despite Mr. Hanby's endeavours to-restrain and direct its course, plunged into the canal with its living freight. The youth Calverley almost immediately sprang out and suc- ceeded in scrambling to the bank, when he at once gave an alarm. Meanwhile Mr. Hanby and his son, a fine boy of about eight years of age, appear to have been thrown into the middle of the canal, where he was seen holding his son in his arms above the water, but, un- happily, before assistance could be rendered they both sank, and about an hour elapsed before the bodies were recovered, when, of course, life was quite extinct. The body of the boy was recovered in the presence of his grandmother and three of his sisters, and their grief was so poignant that a most heart-rending scene ensued on the banks of the canal.

WORKHOUSE SUGAR. At a recent meeting of the Board of Guardians of St. Pancras, Mr. Blake, the master of the workhouse, re- ported that the contractor for supplying the workhouse with groceries had supplied sugar to the house the value of which he was not able to say, but the component parts, according to Mr. Peel's analysis, were sugar, woody fibre, chalk, and sand. One ton of the compound yielded 50 pounds of sand, and probably as much chalk, and a smaller quantity of wood fibre. The sand is deposited at the bottom of the vessel, while the,chalk is almost taken up and passed off with the tea. served up to the people in the house. A dish of the rubbish extracted from the sugar was laid before the board, looking like street sweepings mixed with sawdust and wood chippings. It was resolved at f once to terminate the contract for the supply of groceries.

THE LORD MAYOR ELECT AND THE POLICE. At a meeting held at the Lambeth Baths, to hear an address from Mr. Alderman J. C. Lawrence (Lord Mayor elect), a question with respect to police inter- ference with children's hoops in the metropolis was put by an elector, to which Mr. Alderman Lawrence gave the following answer:—I think that the bowling of hoops is, on the whole, an amusement to which we all, when we were young, were addicted, and I hope that places may be found in which children may safely and freely bowl their hoops (cheers). But I have seen and known of accidents occurring through hoops, by which elderly people have been laid up for life. It is the duty of the police to see that no such accidents occur, and I may include accidents to horses-but at the same time I entirely disapprove of an arbitrary exercise of power by the police (cheers). It is on that account I should be glad to see the police of the metropolis under the control of the magistracy of the municipalities rather than under the control of Sir Richard Mayne (loud cheers). And I may say further that I would not place the police under the control of the Metropolitan Board of Works (cheers).

AN UNNATURAL MOTHER. Mr. Blake, master of St. Pancras Workhouse, reported to the Board of Guardians that a woman named Emma Watson was brought to the workhouse in a cab on Monday evening last, at ten p.m., stating that she was in labour. She was at once taken to the lying-in ward, but en examination it was found that she had been delivered before coming to the house. She at last confessed that she had left it in the coal cellar at the house of her mistress, in Leighton-villas. The child was found in the cellar, as stated, buried among the coals. It still lived, and receiving proper medical treatment, it gradually improved, but is still in a very precarious condition.

EUROPEAN EDUCATION IN OHINA. China is receiving from the Roman Catholics as well as from the Protestants a good deal of valuable educa- tional aid. In each of the 24 missions into which the country is divided-each under the charge of ecclesi- astics of Italian, French, Spanish, or Belgian nationality, and containing from 2,000 to 10,000 Christians-there is a college for natives, where they are taught Latin, philosophy, and theology together with numerous schools and orphanages. The most important is the college kept by the Germans and Italians at Si-ka-wi, three or four miles from Shanghai, where nearly 300 pupils are taught trades, painting, drawing, and Chinese literature, and several of them are sent up to Pekin to take their degrees. The Sisters of Charity, moreover, have eight schools of different kinds at various points. Like the Protestants, the Romanists are also doing a good deal in the way of translating and printing and otherwise providing food for the Oriental mind.-Round Table.

FALSE IMPRISONMENT. A curious action has been brought before the Court of Queen's bench by Mrs. Moon, a widow, against the keeper of the Devon county gaol for false imprisonment. The plaintiff was tenant for life of a small estate in Devonshire, and upon her cutting down a few old apple trees a bill in Chancery was filed against her, and, as she did not put in an answer, she was committed for contempt under the Lord Chancellor's war- rant. After being in prison several months, she peti- tioned the Lord Chancellor, who immediately ordered i her release. Her argument was that the gaoler should have discharged her from custody after 30 days had elapsed without her being brought to the bar of the Court of Chancery. The other side, however, ultimately obtained a rule calling upon the plaintiff to show cause why the verdict should not be entered for the defendant on points reserved by the judges.

STORY OF A PICTURE. At a sale of the effects of the Rev. Canon Benson, a few months ago, there was sold for a trifle a picture representing an incident in the Passion of Our Lord- e, Christ bearing His Cross" seems to be its fit title. The picture looked almost worthless at the time of its sale, and its massive gilt frame appeared to be the most valuable part of it. A local broker was the purchaser of the work at the auction, and in his lumber room it lay for several days, comparatively unnoticed, certainly unvalued. But a working painter, named Albert, who himself has some honest pretensions to a knowledge of art, saw the picture, and purchased it of the broker for X6. He carefully cleaned it, and set about its restoration. Then it dawned upon him that there was something about the picture more than he had at first supposed. There was a master's touch about some parts of it that delighted the possessor, and he invited several gentlemen acquainted with art matters to inspect the picture. They did so, and bestowed more or less praise upon it. Then visitors became more numerous ladies, as well as gentlemen, flocked to the humble studio of Mr. Albert, in The Trinity," and the picture became town talk. As for Albert, he spent his days and nights looking at his pur- chase, and never left it without discovering some fresh beauty. Some bids were made for the picture— £ 50, iilOO, and £ 150 were offered for it; but Mr, Albert persistently refused to sell it an these terms and at length 2500 was offered him for it. This was tempting, but not sufficiently so to make the pos- sessor of the treasure inclined to selL The excitement increased daily, until it grew into a furore. Then a citizen came forward with an offer of 700 guineas for the picture, and for this sum Mr. Albert disposed of it, attaching, however, certain conditions to the sale. By seme connoisseurs the 11 Christ bearing His Cross has been considered to be a Raphael, or a Correggio but we are inclined, after examination, to pronounce it the work of one of the Carraccio, one of whom was the famous founder of the Bolognese school of painting. The picture is unquestionably unequal in parts; but that it is a work of great excellence as a whole is indu- bitable.—Birmingham Post.

TWO DEAD BODIES FOUND IN A BOAT. An inquest has been held at Wbicham, in the west of Cumberland, upon the bodies of two youths, John Layles and John Joughin, aged respectively 16 and 19, who were found dead in a boat on the sea beach near Syle- croft. The two young men were fishermen's assistants, and belonged to the Isle of Man. On the 24th ult. they left the island in a boat, in company with two other men, who have not since been heard of, for the purpose of taking up fishing lines, and the probability is that the storm drove them out of their course, towards the Cumberland coast. Four days elapsed between their setting out and the discovery of the bodies, and four such days, passed in an open boat on as turbulent a sea as has not been experienced for years, made it impossible that they could survive. The other two, no doubt, were washed out of the boat.

KIDNAPPING CHILDREN FOR IMMORAL PURPOSES. An extraordinary case of kidnapping children came before Mr. Assheton Cross, deputy chairman of the Kirk- dale sessions (near Liverpool). A woman named Ann Knowles was charged with having kidnapped a little girl between four and five years of ags, in Derby-road, Bootle. The child's mother had gone into a provision shop, and had left her little girl standing outside. When she came out of the shop the child was missing, and nothing was heard of her for several days, when she was discovered in a den of infamy kept by the prisoner in Liverpool. It appeared that the prisoner had been making a practice of kidnapping female children for im- moral purposes, and that she had previously twice under- gone imprisonment for the same crime. Mr. Cross, in passing sentence, strongly denounced the prisoner's con- duct, and said that he would take care that, for some years at least, it would be out of her power so to outrage society again. Knowles was then sentenced to seven years' penal servitude.

GREAT COST OF PAUPER CHILDREN A committee of the Guardians of the City of London Union has for several months been engaged in inquiring into certain matters connected with Central London District Schools at HanweU, and has at length made a report, in which it is stated that for the nine years ending Michaelmas, 1867, the average contribution for each child belonging to the Union was £ 29 13s. lOd. per annum. For the year ending Michaelmas last the amount of contribution of the Union to the schools was £11,469, and the average number of children 283, the average contribution for each child being thus 240 10s. 7d. per annum. The contribution for the current half-year ending Christmas next is X7,400, the average number of children belonging to the Union being under 300, making the cost of each child nearly .£50 per annum.

J KILLED BY A METEOR. The Brisbane Courier of the 25th of August states that several of the vessels just arrived from the south- ward reported that there was a great deal of electrical atmospheric disturbance on Monday and Tuesday n-ights, but whether it was the effect of or was simply coincident with the eclipse our informants could not say. In one case it was attended with fatal results, and a man was killed on board the schooner Urania by the explosion of an elec- tric meteor. The vessel was off Crowdy Head on Monday, August 17, about midnight, when a heavy south-westarly squall came on, and all hands were called to shorten sail. A seaman named H. Go Sales was steering, and at 12.30 a.m. on Tuesday, tha 18th, a meteor, like a ball of fire, fell' immediately over the vessel's stern, and exploded with a loud report resembling that of a heavy piece of ordnance. Sparks of fire were scattered all about the deck, and the steersman was killed by the shock. Every one on board felt a violent shock like that of a galvanic battery but none of the crew were injured except Sales, who was at his laet gasp picked up. His body showed no marks, but appeared to be blackened, and some six or seven hours after decom- position set in, and the poor fellow was buried over the side. The fire-ball apparently travelled with the wind, which was from the south-west, and when it burst, the flash was so intensely brilliant that the steward, who was lying in his berth below, declared that he saw the fire through the seams of the deck. The cabin at the same moment was filled with smoke, which blackened papers lying about. Captain Johnstone informs us that the discolouration of the paint was like that produced by "smoking the ship" with charcoal. A peculiar and indescribable smell was perceived for some time after the explosion, and a quantity of flakes like the soot from a steamer's funnel were scattered about. Cap- tain Milman, of the Lady Young (steamer), informs us that on his last trip to Sydney a fire-ball was observed passing ahead of his ship, about one a.m. on Monday, the 17th. It travelled in a horizontal direction from north- west to south-east. Apparently it was so near the ship that the officer of the watch altered her course to avoid it, when it burst, and for the moment the whole heavens seemed to be in a blaze of light, and at the same time there was terrific thunder. Lightning and thunder continued at intervals throughout the night and the next day (Tuesday), until about half-past eight o'clock, when the weather cleared up.

EXTRAORDINARY DEATH OF A MILI- TARY OFFICER BY FIRE. Mr. Carter, coroner, held an inquest at the Duke of Clarence Tavern, Penton-place, Walworth, tending the death of Mr. B. M. Hallams, aged 40 years. Mrs. Sarah Hallams, in the course of her evidence, said that the deceased was a lieutenant in the army on half-pay. At four o'clock on Wednesday morning he woke her by calling out, Nanny, Nanny, come here." She jumped out of bed, and she saw him near the mantel-shelf. His shirt was all on fire. There was a rushlight on the table. He had been ill, and that was the reason why he kept the candle lighted. He said, My nose wis bad, and I took the candle to look at it in the glass, and then I went to put some oil on it. While I was doing so my shirt took fire. I tried to pull it off not to alarm you. Then it blazed up." Coroner Was your husband sober when he went to bed ? Witness He had had a little too much. Mr. W. Inglis, surgeon, said that the deceased died:on Monday. He was fearfully burned all over the body and legs. The Coroner having summed up, the jury re- turned a verdict of "Accidental death by tire."

THE RIOTS AT BLACKBURN. The inquest on the body of the man, Patrick Gal- lagher, who was killed in the riot which occurred at Blackburn on the day of the municipal elections, has been held before the local coroner and 23 jurors. The medical evidence proved that Gallagher, who was engaged as a "bludgeon man," and paid on the day of the riots by one of the election committees for his services, was taking part in the riot. He had knocked a man named Pomfret down and was striking him with a stone when Police-constable Ramsbottom jumped over the barricades, and struck the deceased a blow at the back of the head, causing compression of the brain, from which the man died in two days afterwards. The coroner explained to the jury that, inasmuch as it had been proved that the Riot Act had been read prior to the blow being struck, should they come to the conclusion that the deceased was killed by a blow from the policeman's truncheon the law would protect him. There were no other marks of violence upon the body of the deceased. The jury, after deliberating half an hour, found that Gallagher came to | his-death by the blow from the policeman's truncheon, r and retmaad tmanimously a verdioi of justifiable homi- t eide.

A LADY BURNT TO DEATH. On the 20th ult. Mrs. Hartley, a lady of large for- tune, was burnt to death. She had been of unsound mind for many years, and was living, under the care of attendants placed by the Court of Chancery, at one of her estates, Rosewerne-house, Cambourne, Cornwall. Her only son (a lunatic) was with his attendants living in the same house. Mrs. Hartley was in her apartment alone, and about seven o'clock in the evening she went to the room of her attendants and spoke to them. On returning to her own apartment a cry was heard, and one of the attendants on entering found the unfortunate lady enveloped in flames. She died in a few hours. Mrs. Hartley has left landed property worth from four to five thousand a year, and a large sum of money.

THE PBINOB OF WALES'S BIRTHDAY. The 9th of November being the twenty-seventh anni- versary of the birth of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, her Majesty the Queen provided a most agreeable surprise for the Prince and Princess, who were staying at Windsor Castle. At a quarter to eight o'clock Dr. Elvey, the organist of the Chapel Royal of St. George, with Messrs. Marriott, H. Barnby, Adams, Hunt, Tolly, Dyson, Briggs, Bridgewater, Mitchell, Bransome, and Mr. Keeton (pupil to Dr. Elvey), with the chanters, assembled in the Horseshoe- cloisters, and proceeded to the corridor of the York Tower, one of the principal towers of the castle facing the Long-walk, in which their Royal Highnesses occupied a magnificent suite of apartments. Upon the arrival of Dr. Elvey and his choir in the tower, the singers serenaded the Prince and Princess with several glees and madrigals, concluding with the National Anthem. The voices of the choir had a very beautiful effect within the tower, and at the close of the serenade the choristers were hospitably entertained with break- fast at the Castle. The bells of the Chapel Royal pealed merrily, as did also those of the parish church. The union jack, Danish flag, and Prussian ensign were con- spicuous amid the gorgeous show of bunting which deco- rated High-street, Thames-street, and the other thorough- fares. About eleven o'clock their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, Prince Frederick Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia, and Count Gleichen, attended by Major-General Seymour and suite, went out shooting, and on their way drove through the town by way of Beascod-street, in order to see the decorations. A one o'clock a royal salute of 21 guns was fired by the town bombardier in the Long-walk, and answered from the Royal Adelaide frigate and Fort Belvedere at Virginia- water, The Prince of Wales and Crown Prince of Prussia returned to the Castle at three o'clock in the afternoon. In the evening there was a grand dinner- party at the Castle. At the White Hart Hotel the newly-elected Mayor (Mr. Councillor Chamberlain) and corporation gave a banquet to a large number of guests. In the evening, the Prince of Wales's tradesmen, over 200 in number, dined at Willis's Rooms, Mr. Graves, of Pall-mall, presiding, when the various loyal toasts were drunk with much enthusiasm. By express command of -his Royal Highness, a most bountiful supply of venison was provided.

THE BRITISH CORN TRADE, The weather of the past week, though with a change to frost, has been favourable to every description at field work, but the growth of esculents has received a check. There is, however, a good bite of grass for cattle, and the late rains have been pretty well absorbed. All the young wheat that appears above ground has a healthy aspect, but it is much too early to place any reliance on such appearances. The sound, heavy character of the seed, and the almost perfect tillage which preceded its planting, nevertheless, give it every chance of success. These favourable signs, and the hitherto open character of the weather, have contributed farther to ,depress prices but the Mark-lane example of Monday has only been partially followed, and we cannot say that, on the average, we are Is. lower; and even Lon- don at the close of the week gave more strength to the opinion that we have about reached our lowest. With spring corn at such prices, there need be no reserve in the use of wheat for stock feeding and should this come to be general, our well-housed surplus would be very quickly reduced. The financial state of Spain will make exporters very careful in their transactions with that country, but the better prices paid there ,cannot fail to produce gradually increasing sup- plies. Already the Government in some places has made a free distribution of corn to the poor; and at all hazards, and any price, the populace must be sufficiently fed to prevent any reactionary movement. France, whose markets were declining at the commencement of 'the week, shows more of an upward tendency in flour in Paris, and in wheat at some country markets. Belgium and Holland have continued about the same. Hambro' and Danzic, though somewhat easier, have not shaped their quotations so as to leave any profitable margin for shipments here; while the interior of Germany and Hungary have about maintained the previous currency. Odessa, with reduced freights, is forwarding a few cargoes during the opportunity, but we have sufficient hints of frost to come to the conclusion that both the Black Sea and Baltic will only be able to send limited supplies by steam. American spring wheat has rather cheapened, but it is still too high for 4any free export trad p.

THE BIGHT OF WOMEN TO VOTE. On Saturday the Court of Common Pleas commenced the hearing of appeals from the decisions of revising bar- risters, which both in numbers and importance are the heaviest that have been lodged for many years. The first case taken was that which bears upon the right of women to vote at Parliamentary elections, and was brought from Manchester. The revising barrister had expunged the names of 5,346 female claimants from the list, and Mr. Coleridge, the leading coun- sel for the appellant, now contended that women had a right to the franchise, which they exercised in ancient times, and which modern legislation had not taken from them. The court, which consists of the Lord Chief Justice and the three most experienced puisne judges, delivered judgment on Monday. The Lord Chief Justice and the other judges delivered separate judgments, but they all agreed that there was no sufficient authority for saying that by the common law women had had a right to vote for members of Par- liament, whilst on other hand there was the un- interrupted practice of centuries to show that women ,had not voted. There was no reported case in favour ,of the vote, except that in a note to Olive v. Ingram there was reference to a manuscript report of a case to show that women could vote. This note, how- ever, was only to be found in seven modern reports, whiist there was no reference to any such case in .Strange and Lord Coke gave his express opinion the other way. In his (the Chief Justice's) opinion the Reform Act of 1867, in saying that men should vote, although considered in conjunction with Sir John Romilly's Act, did not entitle women to vote. The term men in the Reform Act did not include women; and even if it did, then women would come within the term incapacitated." For these reasons he thought that the decision of the revising barrister refusing the vote should be affirmed, but he also thought that it was a case in which no costs should be allowed. Mr. Justice Byles, after going over the same grounds, said that he hoped that their unanimous decision, coupled with the unanimous decision of the Court of Session in Scotland, would for ever exorcise and lay the ghost of a doubt which ought never to have arisen. Appeal dismissed.

THE SPANISH LEADERS- OLOZAGA AND PRlM. A correspondent of the New Free Press of Vienna thus describes the two principal leaders of the Spanish revolution General Prim wears a common military tunic, with two golden stars on the collar, and a white Idpi similar to that of the Spanish cavalry, with a broad gold border. This is all that shows him to be a soldier. When in a civilian's dress he gives you the idea of a drawing-room dandy, with a hobby for riding, hunting, and love adventures. There is nothing martial about him, no roughness, not even soldierly plain- ness ia his character; and his manner is not in the' slightest degree that of a swash-buckler. He is slight, well formed, barely above the middle height, and when on horseback looks like anything but a Mars. But his head is far more attractive than a dozen ordinary soldiers' heads. There is a mysterious brilliancy about it like that which distinguishes the fancy portraits of Tintoretto. The deep, intense black- ness of his large eyes his hair, and his silky whiskers and moustache, are striking even in the South, where dark people are not wanting, and, combined with his olive complexion, gives an expression of strong passion. His countenance is constantly working under the impulse ,of an internal restlessness ° Olozaga is a short .t bread-shouldered man, certainly 60 years old° but strong and hardy-looking. His head l00ks like' that of a German, or rather of a savant; there is no trace in it of the feverish physiognomy of a Spaniard; it indicates much clear, quiet, and orderly thought. His Ia3(nlage 13 fluent, [and his voice strong and harmonious" he gesticulates a good deal, but does not speak with excessive rapidity, as Spaniards usually do. There is a great deal of dignity both inJ his appearance and ^manner.

— ♦ SMUGGLING. A body of officers of her Majesty's Customs paid a visit to her Majesty's screw Indian Relief troopship Serapis, Captain John C. Soady, 'now lying in dock at Portsmouth, and, proceeding direct to the foretank-room, pulled out, apparently to the great astonishment of those of the officers and crew standing by, 38 bags filled with leaf tobacco, which had been stowed away between the tops of the tanks and the deck beams. The whole was, of course, seized and con- veyed to the Custom-house, where it was found to weigh within a few pounds of 18 cwt. No "owner" was forthcoming.

SHOCKING OASE OF VITRIOL THROWING. Edward Staples, aged 50, of Snow's-fields, Bermondsey, was charged at the Greenwich Police-court, on remand, with throwing vitriol over Alice O'Niel, and seriously injuring her. The complainant, who was burnt upon the forehead, neck, and arms and hands, said she had lived with the prisoner as his wife on and off for the past seven years, having left him for two years, but re- turning to live with him four months since. On the afternoon of Tuesday, the 27th ult., she left home to proceed to Deptford to redeem a shawl at a pawn- broker's, and at five o'clock she was about entering the pawnbroker's, when the prisoner met her and said, Come along, I want you." The prisoner did not seem out of temper, and, asking her for the money she had, took 3s. 6d. out of her hand. She told him she wished to go to her sister's house, and they walked to- gether. On reaching her sister's house, which is situate in a dark turning, and as she was about knocking at the door, the prisoner seized her by the arm, and pushed her against the wall, saying, "I have got you now, and I mean to do for you," at the same time putting his face against her face. She was frightened and screamed, seeing that he had a bottle full of something. She put her hand up to protect her face, and while the prisoner held her she felt something go over her, and thought he had stabbed her, her hands being all over red. Before the prisoner did this he pulled off her bonnet and both her boots. The prisoner then ran away, and her sister, hearing her screams, opened the door, and she went in and found that her forehead and hands were burnt, as also other parts of her body. From the manner in which the prisoner held her she believed he attempted to put something into her mouth. In answer to the prisoner, the complainant said she left him three weeks ago, but returned again the same ni°ht hp (the prisoner) having come to Deptford and threatened to murder her if she did not do so. Mr. Patteson com- mitted the prisoner for trial at the next Old Bailey Sessions,

COMMITTAL OF WHOLESALE RE- CEir-BRS. George Plummer and Sarah Plummer, husband and wife, were brought up on remand at Bow-street charged with stealing and receiving a considerable quantity of wearing apparel. The male prisoner is a hairdresser, carrying on business in Museum-street, and had attained some degree of notoriety by advertising, by means of placards posted on the walls, and stencilling on the pavement the couplet- Trust your hair To Plummer's care." His wife also dealt in female wearing apparel. For some time past the police had suspected Plummer of receiving stolen goods, and about three weeks back Sergeants Dowdell and Chappel, of the F division, apprehended him, with a couple of Paisley shawls and a large collection of pawnbrokers' duplicates, chiefly for wearing apparel. On inquiry it was found that portions of the property could be identified as having been stolen, and a much larger proportion was somewhat doubtfully recognised, the marks (initial letters worked in cotton or silk) having been picked oat. Finding that nearly the whole of the articles in pawn had been pledged by Mrs. Plummer, the officers took her also into custody, and they were remanded together. No owner had been found for the Paisley shawls. Three of the cases in which property had been identified were selected for prosecution. In each of these cases it was supposed that the entry was effected by means of false keys. The prisoners were committed for triaL

THE SHEPHERD'S DOG TAX. Ah, ah!" exclaimed the shepherd, with a scowl, which to me was incomprehensible, here's another He whistled his dog, and the animal not coming up, with a Gaelic execration, he smashed every egg in the grouse's nest. I asked him indignantly what he meant by a destruction so wanton. Mean ?" he replied, and stared at me as if I had been the party on whom he would fain have had his revenge. What I mean is this, Mr" and I'll put the question to yourself. All we shepherds in A-shire have to a man agreed to train our dogs to eat the grouse eggs in every nest on the hills, and break ourselves every egg we ceme across, as a revenge for making us poor shepherds pay 5s. a year for each of our dogs. Our Scottish gentry in your Parliament ought to have stood to us, and kept us out of this damnable tax, because we can't do without our dogs. I am a poor man. I have a wife and nine children, and my wages are only X25 a year. Last winter we lost our boy. We lost him, and we are X2 in debt to this day for the doctor and the funeral expenses. Now, Mr., I'll leave it to yourself. Where am I to get the money to pay this tax for my four dogs ? Those men who make such laws in London ought to exempt us, or the landowners should agree to pay it for us. If not," he said, stretching out his arms, while there is life in these limbs I swear, as the other shepherds have done, when your Sassenachs come down again, that their sport will be like my wife's gown and my children's meal-not so plentiful as it used to be." -London Scotsman.

THE IMAUM OF MUSCAT IN DIFFICULTY. The piratical Shiek of Barhien, who has been doing an extensive amount of piracy on his own account, has at last come to grief. In September last her Majesty's ship Vigilant, a gunboat belonging to her Majesty's Bombay Marine, and her Majesty's ship Scinde, sta- tioned at Bushire, proceeded to the piratical stronghold at Barhien, and after two days' bombardment reduced the place and destroyed the fort. The ships then pro- ceeded down the coast levying fines, the whole of which, amounting to a quarter of a million, was safely stowed on board the Scinde. Colonel Pelly, the Resi- dent at Bushire, left the Scinde for the Vigilant, in which vessel he proceeded to Kurrachee, while the Scinde and Hugh Rose gunboat were ordered to Mussen- dorn, a telegraphic station in the Gulf, to coal, and from thence were dispatched, with all haste, to Muscat, where they arrived on the last day f September, being the first civilised place they had touched at for a month. Here they found all in disorder, the place being besieged by the rebels, who had taken the town the day before, the Sultan or Imaum escaping with difficulty to a fort, where he had been blazing away at the enemy in the town ever since. He managed to get his harem and valu- ables on board one of his frigates, but as she was heavily laden and poorly manned, and considering the nature of her freight, not quite in fighting order, Captain Cecil Westbrook, commanding H.M.S. Scinde, was ordered to protect her, as the rebels had declared their intention of attacking her that night. Captain Westbrook accord- ingly took his ship alongside on the night of the 1st of October, with guns shotted, and his ralb. rocket tubes (the same that were used by the Naval Brigade in Abys- sinia) all ready to give them a warm reception. The Scinde's boat rowed guard outside the harbour all night, while the gunboat, inside, was protecting anotherfriaate But the rebels did not come out. They were, however' expected on the night of the 2nd, on which evening the mail steamer left with the above intelligence.

"LE SPORT" IN FRANCE. The "first Monday in November was marked by a curious incident in the annals 0f the hunting field. M. Sauron mayor of Anost, keeps a scratch" or catholic pack of hounds, which is not above hunting anything. On Monday they found a deer in Roue-wood, got away with him on good terms, and, after a fine run, lost him near a cottage. They cast round and round, but in vain, and were going home, when an awful row was heard in the cottage. The whip rushed in, found the deer under a bed, two children screaming like mad, and an aged woman, the mother of the hamlet and grandmother of the babes, killing the quarry with a crutch.

THE SIAMESE TV/INS. Articles have been appearing of late about the above persons and their visit to Paris, with the object, as it has been asserted, of securing the surgical skill of M. Nelaton in making an artificial separation of that bond by which Nature has joined them together in a way which no Divorce Court can overcome. The subject was a good one on which to hang a little sen- sational writing and the mysterious nature of the union of Messrs. Chang and Eng, the Siamese in ques- tion, as well as the intensely interesting nature of the operation, have been dwelt upon. We gather, however, from a short and interesting article by Dr. Eve, the late Professor of Surgery in the University of Nashville, in the number of the Richmond and Louisville Medical Journal for this month, that the twins have probably no intention of the kind, and that all the accounts about the physical, moral, and mental unity between them are incorrect; the twins are two beings, possessing as separate and complete organisations as any other two individuals, the only connection being a short cartilaginous and integumental band common to both, the severance of which would, in all probability, be perfectly harmless. It has never been the opinion among medical men in America or Europe that the death of one of the brothers would be instantly followed by that of the other, or that their separation was surrounded by any fearful difficulty, or that the link between them is a means of perfect physical union by which sensa- tions or, impressions are conveyed from one to the other. So far from it, the band is almost insensible, and on ship- board they weae pulled about by a rope tied to it. Dr. Eve tells us that no pulsating vessel has ever been de- tected in it, though, undoubtedly, it is just in the centre of this cord, made up of gristle and skin, and for about an inch on either side, that there are vessels and nerves communicating from one to the other. Here. but nowhere else, a touch on the space indicated is felt by both. Precisely here, and here alone in the band uniting them, there is sensation, and nothing else whatever common to both. The decision of the profession 38 years ago, when this case was first exhibited, was that the ligament was cartilaginous, probably a prolongation of the ensiform cartilage of the sternum and the chief, if not the only objection to its division has been that the peritoneum might be involved in the operation. The question of separation was with themselves or their guardians, and not with the profession. In 1830 we declared that the case was more rare than curious. If one of them died, it would 'certainly be the duty of some one to make the attempt, taking care to divide the parts nearer the one deceased.—Lancet.

HAMPSTEAD HEATH. The Master of the Rolls has at length given his decision in the suit against Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson, involving the respective rights of the lord of the manor and the Hampstead copyholders to the use of Hamp- stead-beath. His lordship held it to be more in accordance with aneient usage that questions of fact should be tried by a jury, and he had prepared ten issues to be so tried. They involve various inquiries as to the practice of cutting turf, digging gravel, common of pasture, and walking and riding on the heath, on the part both of the copyholders and the lord of the manor. These issues are to be tried before another judge, and by a special jury.

FIGHT WITH A BEAR. On the 10th October, says a Canadian paper, Thomas Tyley, foreman in Priest and Gay's lumber camp, near Aylmer, had a tussle with a bear, which rushed on him unawares. The paper says it was a struggle for life and death, both wrestling and tumbling to the ground. Tyley, who is a powerful Michigan ex-soldier, six feet four in height, broke from the bear's embrace, and gave him a charge from his gun at close quarters, and several blows from the barrel. The bear, with a sore head, concluded then to retreat, leaving Tyley very badly bruised, and ready to give up the contest. He returned to camp covered with blood and dust, and says if anyone wants to fight a bear he is willing they should have the chance, but he is satisfied with what he got. His left arm and shoulder are pretty badly bruised.

SOLD.—A few weeks since a gentleman mounted upon a skeleton of a horse, met another who was riding a superb animal upon one of the bridges in Paris which cross the Seine. The gentleman laughed at the poor beast, when his rider offered to bet him a thousand francs that he could not do with his horse what he could do with his poor beast. The bet was accepted. The poor man lifted his horse, upon the parapet, and ahoved bial into the river.

Extracts from Our Comic Journals, (From Punch.) "FULL OF SOUND AND FURY."—A captured cod-fish. HOW TO EXTINGUISH POLICE MIS-MANAGEMENT.— Turn it off at the Mayne. A NEW ROUNDABOUT PAPER.—The last police order. PREVAILING EPIDEMIC.—We hear distressing accounts of the health of the police. In consequence of the ardu- ous duties they have lately had to perform, numbers of them are laid up with—hooping-cough. A GREAT IMPROVEMENT.—Sir Richard Mayne's last edict has had one good effect. It has put an end to that absence of the police when wanted so often complained of, for now they are always ready to come with a hoop and come with a call." "PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE, PARTIES." Two roads to power the election opes Both end in smoke as Punch discerns 'Tis Short-cut" for which Gladstone hopes, While Diz and Co. count on Returns. WORSE AND WORSE,frfr. Punch lately remarked on the suspicion that must be felt as to the previous career of candidates who announced themselves to be un- fettered." But what must be thought of a candidate who appeals for support on the ground that he is a tred member? HOUSEHOLD HINTS FOR ECONOMICAL MANAGERS.— How to Obtain a good Serviceable Light Porter Take a pint of stout, and add a quart of spring water. There you have him.—How to make Hats last Make every- thing else first.-How to Prevent Ale from Spoiling Drink it.—How to Avoid being Considered above your Business Never live over your shop.—How to make your Servants rise Send them up to sleep in the attics. POLICE INTELLIGENCE,-It is understood in the best areas that the next things to be seized are the perambu- lators. Their freights and attendants will be confiscated, and disposed of to pay the expenses of detention, if not claimed within one week from the time of capture. Great inconvenience having been caused by the strings attached to the kites boys are in the habit of flying in the parks and other public places, the police have had strict orders to take down all these aerial machines, and deposit them with the meteorological department of the Board of Trade. If necessary, they are to form a cordon round the parks, to prevent the escape of the delinquents. In consequence of numerous complaints that have been made at Scotland-yard, all toy-carts, carriages, rail wpy- edgines, wagons, &c., are prohibited from being drawn on the public pavement, unless in charge of the family footman or upper nursemaid. Foot passengers having been seriously incommoded by the increased dimensions of certain popular favourites, the maximum size allowed for dolls when carried out of doors, may be learned on application to the Chief Commissioner, Whitehall-place, S.W. N.B.—A licence must be obtained before any doll can be allowed to speak. (From Fun.) No FEATHER-BED SOLDIER.—One who "reposes on his laurels." To SPORTING MEN.—Given, a horse that shies at everything he sees-can he be termed a good starter?" CHESS PLAYING can hardly be considered a sedentary game, seeing that its followers are invariably so intent upon the move." THE man whose acquaintance the lover of a glass of good port should cultivate—One of the "has bins." NEW AND IMPROVED READING OF AN OLD PROVERB —(submitted to all rascally .shopkeepers who rob the public in weight and measure). Short reckonings don't make long friends." WHAT IS THE FIRST HISTORICAL MENTION OF A HIPPOPHAGIST BANQUET ?—When Cscsar's Ghost said to Brutus, We shall meet again at filly-pie AFTER what distinguished traveller might a Yorkshire cloth manufacturer appropriately name his country seat ?—Mungo Park. WHAT "A STORY."—Bibbintuck is not a little proud of the strength of lungs of his tirst-born. The ether evening, says B., the youngster actually "raised the house." ARGUING IN A CIRCLE.—A classical correspondent at Oxford begs that we will ask Mr. Henry Lee, of Land and Water, whether Lesbia's pet bird, eulogised by Catullus, might not have been a ring-dove, but was called a sparrer merely because of its proficiency in that circle. WOULD You ?-What poet was mad enough to sing about a jolly bird attempting to draw wine from the wood?—Tom Moore, when he sang about" the wood- pecker tapping the hollow beech-tree," to be sure LAIRD !-That Brute Burley What, Popling you in the London Scottish ? I thought some connection with Scotland was necessary ? Popling Well, I've Scotch property Burley: Nonsense Polling: Yes, I have Three penn'orth o' whisky at home in a bottle A MAYNIAC.—We believe there is no truth in the report that an over-zealous myrmidon of Sir Richard Mayne's recently locked up a decayed, attenuated feeble old gentleman on the ground that he was walking about the streets without any muscle. (From Judy.) THE "BEST ILLUSTRATED PAPER OUT.A Bank- note A RACING FIXTURE."—A horse that won't start. AN OLD SCREW.—The Great Britain, long life to her IN THE PRESS.—"He Thought he was Paul Bedford," by the author of He Knew he was Right." AVAST BELAY YOU SWABs.-Whcn the weather is, in nautical language, dirty, clearly the right thing for the sailor to do is to sweep the horizon. STRANGE.- When an Oxford undergraduate "wastes the midnight cil "-although, being a "reading man," he, of course, leads a quiet life-he nevertheless uses terIL" oil. for the purpose. WHAT NOT TO EAT.—The editor of the Boston Post, United States, has been startled by the following query, put by a correspondent, wether strychnine, what the police gives to dogs, won't pizen the human being after sassingers has been fried." The question opens up a little history which we considered had always been con- fined to our own country. We sympathise with the Americans, and say, no, undoubtedly not; if report speaks true, the British youth hath often thriven on the diet in question. ELECTION QUERIES. To be answered by all Candidates for Seats in Parliament. Does it necessarily follow that a cracked man gives a split vote when he goes to the poll ? Does a profusion of banners, in your opinion, betoken a flagging interest in the cause ? Are the terms, completing a canvas," and" finishing s sail," synonymous ? If not, why not ? In the House of Commons, when the ayes have it, is it parliamentary to blow the noes ? Is it customary for members to melt into tears when Ithe 11 House is dissolved ? Cannot the member who polls the most" plumpers" reasonably assert that he has the weight of the consti- tuency on his side ? At what rate per cent. is local interest ?" Are you correct in calling going to vote a Polar Expedition ?" Can Palace "Yard" be said to be a royal "mea- sure ?" When a member stands for a whole borough, does he not render himself liable to the penalties of the Bribery Act ? Does it follow that when the House is in committee there can be no spicy debates because the mace is not on the table ? Do not members of the prize ring exercise a H fancy franchise ? In directing letters to candidates, is it usual to use their election address ? Polling "booths are to be much increased this elec- tion. Does not that show that the contest will, at any rate. have a fair appearance ?

SENDING BAD MEAT TO THE LONDON MARKETS.. Mr. Andrew Burley, a hotel keeper at Lynn, in Norfolk, was charged, at Guildhall, with sending a pig to Newgate-market for sale as human food, the same being diseased, unsonnd, unwholesome, and unfit for the food of man. James Newman said that on the 15th of October he was called to the shop of Messrs. Baker, in Newgate-market, where there was a pig weighing about 1201bs. It was very poor, and bad its back broken. The bones were all smashed to bits, and the plates of the stomach were all cut to bits. It was in a very bad condition. The meat was so bad and poor that he did not think it would have been fit for anything even if it had been killed in the usual way. It was unwholesome and unfit for human food. He went to Lynn and saw the defendant, who told him that the pig had been run over, and he bad sent it up to London. In answer to Mr. Poncione, he said that the meat was not diseased, but it was unsound and unfit for human food. It was one mass of blood and bruises. The sides were cut to pieces by the accident of the omnibus running over it. There was none of the carcase cut away for the purpose of conceal- ment, but it was very badly bruised. A pig badly bruised might be fit for human food when the bruised part was cut away. Alderman Owden fined the defen- dant tiO, and -83 8s. costs, which were at once paid.

TRAVELLING NEAR ROME. A correspondent of the Italia di Napoli says that owing to the brigands the trains from Ceprano to Rome are escorted by twenty Pontifical carbineers, half in a compartment by the engine, and the other half at the rear. They have their muskets with them ready for service, as though they expected to be attacked at any moment. Between Ceccano and Velletri. all the stations are guarded, and at night advanced sentinels are every- where to be seen. The band which gives most trouble to the Papal authorities is said to be commanded by a French sergeant, who has deserted from a line regiment of the army of occupation.

THE DERWENTWATER ESTA'i^. At the Hexham Petty Sessions, Amelia Radeliffe, the soi disant Ceuntess of Derwentv/ater, was summoned for wilfully creating an obstruction, and trespassing on the Dilston-road. The court was crowded, and in the course of the proceedings there were some enthusiastic demon- strations in favour of the Countess," which eventually led to an intimation from the bench that any more exhi- bitions of that kind would lead to the committal of the offenders and to the court being cleared. Mr. Pattinson, who appeared for the prosecution, said that he had nothing to do with the claims of the Countess of Der- wentwater he merely appeared in support of the sum- ni!wis, which was for an encroachment and obstruction on the public highway. On behalf of the defendant, Mr. Welford submitted that the road in question had not been proved to be a highway and, further, that it was Crown land, and that it could not belong to the Highway Board. The bench eventually decided that the road in question was a highway, and considered the obstruction proved. They therefore fined the defendant 10s. and costs. Mr. Welford will apply for a case for a higher court.

WHO'S FOR SPAIN? Juan Prim has ecarted his queen, but finds it im- possible to turn up a king. The game has been going all his own way, but Spain wants a king A kingdom for a king As kings are not to be obtained like governesses, by applying at the Soho Bazaar between the hours of ten and four, the country of the Cid has no head to crown, and Bavieca neighs in vain for a royal rider. The Emperor would not hear of such a thing as allowing the Duke of Montpensier to ascend that throne or any other. The Duke of Edinburgh prefers ruling the waves in "a more absolute throne," as the Sea-captain has it, "than Ccesar filled- his v>ar-slzip." (The idea of calling Cassar "his wor- ship." -Ed.) The King of the Belgians has been brought up peacefully, and likes to cultivate his Brussels sprouts without a lot of Spanish flies buzzing round his ears. The King of Portugal will see Spain further. Who, then, will appear ts settle in that field of thistles which divinity hedges, and which at present is more like an empty pound than a national throne f There's Plon- PIon-but then he is much more useful at present as a special diplomatist across the Alps than he could be on the other side of the Pyrenees. There's Peabody-but he is too great a philanthropist, and has property in Hungary. Austria might not like that. There's Sala (G. A.), who knows Madrid as well as he does Nijni Novgorod or San Francisco—but he has so many friends all over the Continent, in Jerusalem and Madagascar, that the balance of power would be upset. N@, Sala is out of the question. There's Charles Lever-the very man he has been educating himself and his readers for the highest diplomatic position attainable he has become an average bore, and- No he has too many cardinal virtues, and just now the cardinals are not quite so popular in Spain as they might be. Who, then, is to be King of Spain ? Echo answers "Payne Of course! as soon as the pantomime season is over, let the vacant throne be offered to old Payne, and just see how he will fill it. As well as most kings as far as appearance goes and for business—well! we don't know any dummy answer- ing to the name of king who can come near him for business. Room for El Re Zapateado! Payne for ever !—Tomahawk.

SEVERE GALE. During the whole of Tuesday a violent gale of wind blew over the metropolis and its suburbs, causing con- siderable destruction to property, and in one case loss of life. Monday night, though beautifully fine, the moon shining brightly for eight or nine hours was yet close and oppressive, and eonsiderable atmo- spherical disturbance was observed. Towards morn- ing, however, the wind, which previously had blown from the west, shitted round to south- west, and was strong. Its strength increased at noon, and afterwards it attained the full force of a gale, which continued to blow during the whole of the afternoon and evening. There was no rain, but as the light, vapoury clouds were blown along by the force of the wind they were observed to 8e beautifully tinted by the rays of the sun. Reports received by Mr. Glaisher state that a terrific gale was blowing round the coast, and that the force of the wind was very great. The sea was very high and rough in all parts, but more especially in the Channel and on the south coast and reports received from other quarters already mention several disasters to shipping. Near Deptford, two men fell into the water, through two barges coming iH contact, one of whom was rescued. The other, whose name is believed to be Cranstone, was carried away by the tide. Considerable damage was done to property in the metropolis on Tuesday by the force of the wind, chimney-pots, tiles, sign-boards, &c., having been blown from their places, with slight injury to several persons. The Grand Bonny, 701 tons register, with upwards of 1,000 tons of valuable cargo on board, was driven ashore at Waterloo, about ten miles to the north of Liverpool. Her cargo must be discharged before she can be got off the bank.