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

LORD MONCK, who presided at a meeting of the French Atlantic Cable Company, stated that dur- ing the 13 weeks in which the line had been open, its earnings had reached the sum of £ 21,110. THE Levant Herald says that the last com- tnunication from the Viceroy of Egypt to the Sultan °Pjhe subject of the dispute between them, leaves thefaaatter exactly where it was before. The Viceroy will not give up the power he possesses of contracting loans, but maintains that it is a prerogative which is necessary to his position and authority. His letter is said to be deferential in tone, but this point appears to be firmly maintained in it. Both the Sultan and the Grand Vizier it is represented. axe resolved not to give way.

WANTED A LICENSE. An interesting cident occurred at Dolgelly the other day. A wedding was arranged to take place in the parish church, tlie husband elect, hailing from Festiniog, having wooed and won a fair daughter of an old and much-esteemed family in that town, arrived the day before' without the license. He paid a visit to the recfcsr, and, having explained the object of his call, was astounded to learn that the rector had no licenses "in stock." The poor fellow returned to his fiancee, a family council was sum- moned, the upshot of which was that a car was hastily sent for, and the groom-elect started in search of a license. Barmouth, Llwynywril or Llangelynin, Towyn, Llanegryn, and Aberdovey, were all tried in vain, no license turned up, and they were obliged to return to Dolgelly, which was reached in the early morn, after a fruitless journey, performed in the midst of fearful weather, over nearly 40 miles of hilly country. The ceremony had to be post- poned. Our friend having beaten one portion of the country with such ill-success, again tried. At Maentwrog his wanderings ended, for there the rector gratified him, and sent him on his way rejoicing, his journeys in search of a'license having embraced some. thing like a hundred miles, and the ceremony took place the next day.

A CLEVER THIEF. John Williams, a youth, was lately charged at the Manchester Police-court with robbery. On Saturday afternoon Mr. Morgan sent an office boy to the General Post-office to cash a post-office order for X4 4s. 6d., and as the lad was returning the prisoner accosted him, and told him that there was something wrong, and that he should return to the office and see Mr. Kennedy. The lad, believing him, turned back, and the prisoner told him that he had better give him the money which he had received for the order, a request with which the lad complied. The prisoner tried to escape from the boy, but the latter followed him closely. The prisoner, handing him some. thing wrapped in a paper, said, There is your money," and ran off. Brown opened the paper, and found it contained only 3s. 6d. The prisoner was stopped and taken into custody. On the 8th of October, a lad, an office boy in the employment of Mr. J. W. Williamson, was passing with a sum of £ 45, which he had just received for his master from Mr. Duncan, when he was met by the prisoner, who appeared to have got some information about the payment, and who told him that Mr. Duncan had sent him after him to say that there was something wrong about the money which the boy had just received, and to get it back from him. He produced a receipt which he said he had got from Mr. Duncan, and which he gave to the boy, who thereupon handed him the money. The prisoner at once disappeared, and the boy, on looking at the receipt, saw that it was not in Mr. Duncan's hand- writing. He returned to Mr. Duncan, who, on hearing the story, told him he had been robbed.

A FAITHLESS HUSBAND: HIS WIFE AND HIS PARAMOUR. Great local interest was excited in a case of criminal assault which has come before the Leamington magis- trates. The defendant, Daniel Brooks, is an hydro- pathic practitioner, and his wife keeps a baby linen warehouse. The complainant, whose name is Sarah Ann Lavender, was engaged as an assistant in the shop. According to her statement, she arranged to meet defendant. She represented to her mistress that she was going to a Bible class, while defendant made out that he was going to a religious meeting. Meeting the defendant, he told her to follow him, and she did so, not walking together, in order to avoid suspicion. On reaching the suburbs of Lea- mington, the defendant opened a gate leading into a field, and walked forward, followed by the girl. It was then dark, and he caught hold of her and threw her down, and after effecting his purpose defendant lifted her up, and told her he had not hurt her. She at first denied having ever kissed the defendant, but ultimately admitted that she had frequently done so to get rid of him when he teased and bothered her. He told her a month ago that he liked her, and she replied that she liked him; but she did not say Oh! I do love you so Mr. Overell, for the defendant, said he could ad- duce a great many things damnatory of the complain. ant's character. A charge of assault against Mrs. Brooks was then gone into. It appeared that on the morning after the above occurrence, Mrs. Brooks asked the complainant if what was reported of her and her husband was true. Lavender frankly admitted her misfortune, if not her fault. Mrs. Brooks at once administered condign punishment to the hapless girl. She belaboured her with a tin instrument used in the hydropathic department, disfigured her frontispiece, blacked her eyes, pushed her about, and kicked her, and, brandishing a poker, threatened her life. Mr. Brooks was in the room during a portion of the time while this operation was going on, but did not, or durst not, interfere. Mr. Overell said that the girl richly deserved what she got. Mr. Kennedy said he should not have complained if the wife had given her husband a thrashing instead of making his client a victim. The bench suggested that the summons should be withdrawn. The case having thus collapsed, the summons was formally dismissed.

JUVENILE LABOUR. Mr. Tremenheere, reporting to the commission upon the education of children and women in agri- culture, says that great numbers of children, young persons, and women who reside in the small villages around the coast of Morecambe Bay go upon the sands on every recession of the tide in parties of from 10 to 20, and pursue their occupation until the advancing tide compels them to return. The stoop- ing posture required by this work for several hours is very trying. An expert cockier will sometimes obtain eight quarts in an hour, if cockling is good." The extent of this business may be conceived from the fact that the carriage of cookies and mussels amounts to more than £2,000 a year. The children employed, however, go upon the sands as young as seven or eight; they get no education, rarely going even to an infant school. The occupation is continuous throughout the year. One of the principal cocklers of the village has seven children on the sands, not one of whom has had the slightest education. All the children and young persons engaged in this occupation are in a very demoralised condition; their habitual language is shocking, and they never enter a place of worship. At 14 both boys and girls become so independent that they frequently leave their parents and board and lodge with strangers, spending their earnings, even at that early age, in drunkenness/'

A DUEL WITH SWORDS took place the other morning in the Bois du Vesinet between M. Angel de Miranda and M. Raymond do Erazza. The seconds of the former were MM. Lopategui and Sanchez de Bodoya; those of the latter MM. Ferdixand do Espeleta and Alphonso do Aldama. The first-named antagonist received two wounds, one in the shoulder and the other in the thigh, and the combat terminated. TAGANROG.—The Odessa Jowmal of the 16th of October publishes the following announcement :— The arrivals of grain in our market succeed each other without interruption, and, according to advices received from the interior, will continue to do so as long as the weather will permit. The depots have still a large quantity in store, and every year shows a steadily-increasing desire on the part of the owners to sell before the cloee of the navigation." KILLING TIGERS.—An ingenious method of destroying tigers is used in Persia and Hindostan. This device consists of a large hemispherical cage, made of strong bamboos, or other efficient materials, woven together, but leaving intervals throughout of three or four inches broad. Under this cover, which is fastened to the ground by means of pickets, in some places where tigers abound, a man provided with two or three short strong spears takes post at night. Being accompanied by a dog, which gives the alarm, or by a goat, which by its agitation answers the same purpose, the adventurer wraps himself in his quilt, and very composedly goes to sleep, in full confidence of his safety. When a tiger comes, and, perhaps, after smelling all round, begins to rear against the cage, anxious for a closer acquaintance with. the man or the goat, the man then stabs him with Quo of the spears, through the interstices of the wicker-work; and, with- out injury to himself or his fellow-prisoners in the cage, the man rarely fails of killing the tiger, wluflh, is ordinarily found dead in the morning from the wounds of the spear inflicted, ugaa the most anprot tected part of the animal's body. Thus tlw- tiger's- strength, swiftness, ancL ferocity are out-matcihed by the. ingenuity of man..

A RIVAL TO ST. PAIVCBAS. The Burnley guardians, for five or six years past, have had under consideration the propriety of build- ing a new workhouse, and at a meeting held recently all the resolutions which had been passed in favour of erecting a new building were reversed. The Rev. W. Thursby, who, as executor of the late John Har- greaves, Esq., owns one-eighth of the ratable property in Burnley, spoke strongly in condemnation of the present workhouse. He said he visited the work- house on the previous day in company with another guardian, and he found it quite full of poor,wretched, and old people. He spoke to an old lady of 90, and to another of 81, and, as he was 74 himself, their united wisdom amounted to that of 245 years (laughter); and he was sorry to have found such classification as he had seen. His idea of hell was to have to live for ever with the reprobate, and the wretched, and the miserable. God forbid that he should say that the people in the workhouse were reprobates; but those who were sane had to live amongst those who were insane—people that had no minds, that were imbecile. Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth, Bart., said that, having experienced visits to hundreds of workhouses in England in the old parishes, before unions were constructed, and in the metropolitan district some 30 or 40 years ago, he assured them he did not utter one word of exaggeration. Taking into account the relative population and wealth of that district, he never saw a workhouse which could be less justified than the one Burnley had that day. Several guardians expressed the opinion that the Rev. W. Thursby was not warranted in speaking in the strong terms he had done. The guardians dis- cussed the matter for nearly three hours, and at last they agreed not to build a new workhouse, but to erect an infirmary for the sick and wards for the vagrants.

YOUTH AND AGE. The inhabitants of a village situated within a few miles of Airdrie were considerably startled a few days ago by a rumour that a man, about 50 years of age, who was well known in the place, had suddenly left the village, taking with him a young girl, whose parents were also well known and much respected, and whose age is stated to be 13 years last St. Patrick's Day. It was soon discovered that the rumour was unhappily but too well-founded. It would appear that the man in question had been smitten with the charms of the girl, young as she was, and he came about the house courting her. Her parents, however, very naturally, considering the extreme youth of their daughter, objected to his con- tinuing his attentions, and the would-be Benedict was forbidden the house. The visits were thereafter dis- continued, but the loving pair would seem to have had opportunities for holding sweet converse," for the next thing the unhappy parents discovered was that their daughter was non est, and that the man had also left the village. After some days' absence, during which all attempts to find their whereabouts proved in vain, the ill-assorted couple returned to the village man and wife, having had the nuptial knot legally tied during their absence. Seeing that they could not mend matters, it is stated, the parents have made a virtue of necessity, and become recon- ciled to their precipitate, though by no means youth- ful, son-in-law.

TRADES' UNIONS IN AUSTRIA. The Vienna correspondent of the Eastern Budget says: The cessation of the strikes which a few months ago threatened to lead to serious riots here is only to be regarded as an armistice in the great conflict which has broken out between masters and men in Austria. The centres of the trade union agitation are Vienna, Prague, Britnn, Pesth, and Trieste. Owing chiefly to the tact and moderation of the authorities, the agita- tion in the capital has been divested ef its menacing character; but at Briinn and Trieste it was found more difficult to arrange matters, as the trade union leaders were supported by the national opposition. Though some of the meetings at which the workmen set forth their grievances were very turbulent, there is no doubt that they have done much good in clearly defining the chief points at issue between the employers and employed. Even in such trifling cases as that which formed the subject of a very warm debate at a bakers' meeting the other day, when the bakers' assistants complained that their masters addressed them in the second person singular (thou, du) instead of in the secondfjplural (you, i-e.), an arrangement was ultimately arrived at by which the practice objected to was discontinued. Wages, too, have been increased in almost every department of labour, and the number of working hours shortened. These partial concessions, however, have not satis- fied the extreme leaders of the movement, who are endeavouring to extend into Austria the socialist doctrines which have become so popular with a certain section of the working class in Germany and Switzerland.

BROKERS AND "KiVOCIII-OUTS." i A correspondent writes to the Echo on the subject of swindling brokers at auctions. He say a:—It is amusing to hear the brokers, who live on the result: of the knock-out," expatiate on the beauties of a piece of furniture, and afterwards hear them on its defects, if their customer refuses to buy, and the biddings are confined to the brokers. When feather beds are offered, the bully" cuts open the tick with hia penknife and pretends to pull out a handful jof dirty, bad-smelling feathers, which were previously taken from his pocket, where some are always kept in case of emergency. These he shows to th& company, and the result is that the private buyers cannot be persuaded to buy it, and the brokers get it for a mere song. I remember an instance, in which a splendid feather bed, quite clean, was amongst the lots for sale, and when the usual device of pretending to extract the beastly feathers-dissecting, they term it-failed, through the obstinacy of an old gentle- man who would afterwards bid, one of the feather- bed gentry" put his. nose to the tick, and then looking up, with a demoniacal grin, addressing one: of his companions, said, So help me Got, Moses, I knew something was wrong; a cholera pa-tient died on this bed; I can tell by the smell. Look at the marks, too." It had the desired effect. There were no biddings afterwards. After the sale they make for a private room in the nearest public-house, and there thereby genuine sale —the knock-out—is conducted. A chairman, gene- rally the oldest hand of the party, is appointed, and each lot is, by their rules, bound to be put up to auction, and the sums realised-and they are often considerable—beyond the price to fee paid to the auctioneer are placed on the table and divided equally amongst the buyers, and the" bullies" are paid according to the services rendered by them and the amount made.

r LITERATURE AND THE AETS. MB. A. R. SPOFFORD, the librarian of the National Library at Washington, states that there is not a library in that country which has yet reached the -number of 200,000 volumes, although there are not less than twenty in Europe which can claim that nuiaber. The ten largest of American public collec- tions of books are, the National Library, 183,000; .Boston City, 153,000; Astor, 138,000; Harvard, College, 118,000; Mercantile of New York, 104,000; Athenaeum, of Boston, 100,000; Philadelphia, 85,000; New York State, 76,000; New York Society, 57,000; and Yale College, 50,000. Some months age, Dr. James Rush bequeathed to the Philadelphia Library the sum of 1,000,000 dollars to be expended in books and the stockholders recently accepted the gift by the small majority of five votes. A VERY important sale has taken place in Am- sterdam, viz., the famous library of Mr. Meulman, which will be sold by Mr. Frederick Miiller. The former is renowned as a collector; the latter equally so as a bi bliopolist, with a knowledge of books seldom equalled, except, perhaps, by the late Mr. Watts, of the British Museum. MADAME CSILLA.G has appeared at Naum's Theatre, in Constantinople, in La Favorita. On the following day she was introduced to the Sultan at the Palace of Dolma Bakche, and presented with a diamond and sapphire bracelet. AN Itaiian Opera troupe has arrived in Calcutta. A NOVEL scheme of universalism has been broached at Benares, in a project for a Church of Truism, one- Shird to be appropriated to Christian worship, one- third to the Mussulmans, and one-third to the Hindoos. THE education of European children in the healthy regions of the hills in India is making such progress that thE schools are found insufficient, and efforts are being made to extend the Lawrence and Bishop Cotton Schools. This is one of the many benefits of the hills in developing English population. A "CENTENARY edition" of the Waverley Novels is in preparation. It especially recommends itself by the fact that it will contain notes by Scott which have never before been printed. This edition will be dedi- cat ad to tae novelist's great grand-daughter, Miss Hope Scott,- of Abbotsford. A tTiied volume of Mr. A. W. Ward's translation of Dr.,E, i-r-est Curtius's "History of Greece" will appear early next year. I THBATEICAL SUMIIAR.Y.—Christmas, with its pan- tomime so dear to childhood, draws near, and at several of the London theatres the painters and pro- perty masters are busy concocting the gorgeous transparencies and gigantic masks which figure in the I usual Christmas entertainment. At present only the pantomimes at the old Drury and Astley's are iixed, or at least made public, but several other theatres will doubtless present their patrons with the customary Boxing-day bill of fare. At Drury-lane, Forhiosa, now within six nights of the centenary representation, is soon to be withdrawn, while at the Queen's The Turn of the Tide is in its last dozen nights, ana will be replaced 1 y a new drama, from the pen of Mr. Burnand. The Lyceum still gives its patrons Romeo and Juliet, with Mr. Allerton as "Borneo," a part which exactly suits his style but here, too, novelty is to reign, and the enterprising lessee intends pro- ducing on Nov. 27 a new play entitled The Siren, trans- lated from the French Dalii a, by Palgrave Simpson. Little E-m'Zy reigns supreme at the Olympic, and has been witnessed by a whole string of fashionables, headed by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Mr. Bowe, as Micawber," has earned a genuine success, and we presume will remain in England for some time. The Gaiety has A Life Chase, a piece of intense interest, in which Miss Neilson plays the heroine, and Mr. Alfred Wigan the hero, in an un- deniably natural and life-like manner. At the Adelphi Lost at Sea, by Boucicault and H. J. Byron, is drawing good houses, as is She Stoops to Conquer, -at the St. James's Theatre, where INIrs. IVoid will appear on November 27 as "Princess Pocohantes," in La Belle Sattvage. At the Globe, H. J. Byron is attracting crowded houses; his excellent acting, com- bined with the latent humour of Mr. Clarke, being sufficient guarantee for the character of the piece- Not Such a- Fool a,s He Loolcs—which is by Mr. Byron himself. Mrs. Pitt is doing well at the Surrey, and Mr. E. T. Smith has promised a new excitement at Astley's, in the shape of a gorilla monkey on the high rope. It is to appear on the 27th, tand will add materially to the attractions already provided in Mazeppa. The pieces at the other theatres are un- changed.

FACTS AND FACETLE. —♦— AN ambitious fellow appeals, over his own signature, to the mechannicks and laburing men of my native town. I will reprizent you in the Stait assemblee irrespectif of pollytics, relijion or eddicashun. A GENTLEMAN of Boston, who takes a business view of most things, when recently asked respecting a person of quite a poetic temperament, replied, Oh, he is one of those men who have soarings after the infinite and divings after the unfathomable, but who never pay cash." SAID Lord John Russell to Mr. Hume at a social dinner, What do you consider the object of legislation?" "The greatest good to the greatest number." "What do you consider the greatest number?" continued his lordship. Number one, my lord," was the commoner's prompt reply. MEI-CHANTS think nothing of paying five pounds for one sign, with nothing but their name on it. Well! what do you think of having 5,000 signs a week in a newspaper ? In it you can show your whole establishment to the public every week. If you are wise, just rub your eyes, and go to work and advertise. A SMALL LAD asked permission to go to a ball. I His mother said it was a bad place for little boys. Why, mother, didn't you and father go to balls when you were young ? "Yes, but we have seen the folly of I it," said the parent. Well," said he, I want to see the folly of it, too." Nouns& ANNOYS A MAN more than to be eagerly questioned when he comes home tired.. Give him a neatly-served dinner, or a pair of easy slippers and a cup of tea, and let him eat and drink in peace, and in time he will tell you of his own proper motion all yon wish to know. But if you begin the attack too soon, the chances are that you will be rewarded by curtly- oken monosyllables. Put down that piece ol ciora in your note-book, girls; it will serve you well some day.

THE RICEEST MAN. The New York Herald gives a memoir of William B. Astor, owner of the Astor House, and founder of the Astor Library. He is the richest man in America. His fortune has been variously estimated, but it is thought to be about 60,000,000 dols. He is very reticent on the subject, even to his most inti- snate friends. His father kept a fur store in Broad- ly, on the site of the Astor House, and finding his health increasing, he sent his son to finish his educa- tion at Heidelberg. Besides inheriting his father's business and wealth, which he greatly increased by his operations in real estate, William Astor was the recipient of his uncle's money, amounting to half a million. The Astor House was built by his father in 1835. The elder Astor died in 1848, his estate being estimated at twenty million dollars. William Astor was little affected by his sudden fame. His father left a large sum for the benefit of Waldorf, his birth- place in Germany, and Mr. Astor sent one of his sons over to superintend the erection of an institu- tion for the relief of the poor of that town irrespec- tive of age, sex, religions belief, or colour. The Astor Library, built in* obedience to the will of the elder Astor, is a noble building, having originally 65 feet front and 120 feet depth, and since greatly enlarged. The steam heating apparatus cost 10,000 dols. The books, which now number 139,000 volumes, have cost about 3,000,000 dols., and the sum total of the expenditure is over 750,000 dols.

t AGRICULTURE. FARMYARD MANURE.—What food is to the stock so is manure to the crops of the farm. Without the one the farmer cannot expect to maintain his cattle in health, or to fatten them for the shambles; I without the other he cannot expect to add to the fertility of his soils, and thereby increase the produce of his crops; and, of all the manures at the command of the farm, that of the farmyard is the most valuable, and plays the most important part in the role of his cultivating processes. In fresh farmyard manure the ammonia is pre-present in a very small proportion, the major part of the nitrogen being present in the state of insoluble, nitrogenous materials; these, however, as the dung increases in rottenness increases in solubility, and the per centage of ammonia is raised. Hence is deduced the recom- mendation that in order to prevent the escape of the volatile products, the manure should not be exposed to the air, but kept covered up. These pits should not only be covered at top, open of course at the sides but the bottom part, in which the manure lies, should be made perfectly water-tight, so that the liquid shall not be suffered to escape and be lost. This liquid will best be preserved in a tank which communicates with the bottom of the pit. As this is the season for carting out manure in the stubble-fields, we shall glance very briefly at the way in which this should be left. The point is much disputed as to whether it is best to plough the dung into the soil in the autumn, or to spread it on the surface of the same, allowing it to lie all the winter, and be ploughed in at spring-time. We put out of court altogether the practice of carting the dung into the fields, placing it in heaps, and then allowing those heaps to lie all the winter, er at least a large portion of it. The practice of spreading the manure on the soil, and allowing it to lie all winter, ploughing it in spring, meets with the approval, not only of practical men (whose opinion is worth listening to, if not of following), but also of high scientific authority. One of our agricultural savants who recommends this practice, maintains that, being washed into the soil by the rains, it is much more uniformly distributed than by plough- ing it in. Now, before being washed in, it may happen (as in practice, in fact, it does happen) that a long tack of dry weather takes place after the manure will be spread on the surface; and in this case the manure is placed in the very worst position for re- turning its fertilising constituents, for the ammonia must be distributed in the air. That it is so, our olfactory sense tells us in crossing a field treated in this way. If we are told to keep our manure in covered pits, in the farm steading, in order to pre- vent the ammonia from being dissipated in the air, how can we reconcile this with the advice to spread it out upon the surface of our fields, and allow of its exposure for weeks, if not for months, in the action of the air ? For our part we would rather not trust to the matter of fertility present in the dung being washed into the soil. We would then be inclined to allow the general practice of ploughing in the manure to the soil as shortly after it is spread on the surface as possible to be persisted in as the safest.—Mark- lane Express. AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS.—The week opened drizzling and thick. West Riding of Yorkshire The weather since last week has been very variable, one or two nights frosty, with the wind from the north-west. This week it is unseasonably mild, with wind from the south-west to south. The land is now full of moisture, and a few hours' heavy rain brings down the freshets very quickly, so that any wet land still unsown will be bad to manage. The pastures continue fresh and green, and the potatoes are mostly in the pits, also mangolds and turnips." East Riding The weather is now mild and open, favourable for outdoor labour. Farmers are now occupied with autumn sowing, which so far has proceeded under the most favourable auspices, and is almost completed." Lancashire: "The weather during the greater part of the past week has proved more favourable for agricultural work than the preceding one, which bore an aspect of a prematurely wintry character, and though tried with many fluctuations, the season may be considered as having been on the whole auspicious for autumnal sowing, as well as for the provision of out-door green feeding, almost up to the verge of winter." Norfolk "Field work has gone on rapidly, and in all the early districts this is nearly finished, and in the most favourable state." Suffolk:" The weather during the past week has been extremely mild, the last day or so being close and foggy." The farmers Ily will now have an opportunity of thrashing out their grain. Some of them will not go on to wheat at all, but continue exclusively on barley, the price of the latter being more remunerative than that of wheat; and for the present this seems likely to be the case, owing to the immense imports on the aggregate into the United Kingdom. These keep prices of home- grown below the rates at which it should be sold, when the yield is so short as that of the past season. The deliveries of barley are much larger than those cf wheat; and this may be the case during the remainder of the present year. A great calm in the trade is now experienced, which can only be accounted for by the superabundance of foreign imports; and so long as these last the prospects are much against the farmer's interest.-Illo.-)-k--lane Ezpi-ess.

HINTS UPON GARDENING. HARDY-FLOWER GARDEN. I suggest the pro- priety at this time of slightly uprooting such plants as weigelas, lilacs, syringas, deutzias, prunus, which have been grown without pots in the open border, and which are intended for forcing. If this be done, it will not only prepare the roots for the latter pro- cess, but, by checking the plants, will materially tend to make them bloom more freely. It will cause a somewhat late-formed wood to ripen more freely, and so to economise its resources. Of course, the roots, though released in greater part from the soil, must nevertheless not be exposed to the outer elements. Let sufficient litter be procured within which to plunge the pots of such things as the above, as a protec- tion against frosts, and within which the roots may lie by until required. This advice, I scarcely need add, applies only to those places where such an amount of room does not exist as to enable them to be stored into more comfortable quarters. The above remark also applies to pot roses, which should receive such attention atconce. HARDY FRUIT GARDEN.—Immediately the main part of the leaves are off peach and nectarine trees set about loosening all the lesser flowering branchlets from the wall. Be careful in so doing not to let any dangle about them in such a manner as that injury can possibly accrue to them through the action of violent wind storms, whether by actually breaking them, or by producing wounds through frequent friction against the walls themselves; such wounds, however alight, often act as incentives to gum forma- tion, which is often very injurious in its oonsequences. Any kind of fruit trees may now be shifted or trans. planted with impunity, where alterations on hand demand the operation thus early. KITCHEN GARDEN—Those who followed my sug. gestions regarding planting cabbages intended for spring use upon the old onion bed, without first digging it over, will do well-the plants having now fairly taken hold and established themselves for the winter-to neatly turn in the surface soil with a spade, and thus to bury those weeds which have sprung up lately, and to leave all fresh and nice amongst the plants. In greatly exposed gardens, and especially where the soil is a very moist or re- tentive one, it will be advisable to lay down the main crop of broccoli. This may be done by using the spade neatly, loosening the soil on one side, so that the plant may fall nicely on to the ground, with its head to the north. In pushing forward the work of digging, trenching, &c., some amount of care will be needed in regard to the crops which are best adapted to follow in the spring those which have already been grown and taken off certain quarters this autumn.— Gardeners' Magazine.

THE PURITY OF ELECTION. We (iManchester Times) referred a day oytwo ago to the unblushing bribesy which, we fears#, had characterised not a few f the recent municipal elections. We have now im our hands a s tat amen t respecting the town of Wakefield so extraordinary that it deserves the widest publicity. "After the nomination, the- called a council of the chosea, not only of Wakefield, but of the Southern Division, to some extent, and' of the Wakefield district in par- ticular, and there subscribed funds to buy all the contested seats. We do-not hesitate to say that the, municipal elections of the present year have cost the- well nigh £ 3,000. An equally reckless expen- diture took place in the other wards. We have the- names of three of these gentlemen whose relatives or friends have confessed to .£500, .£400, and 4100 respectively. In South Westgate, voters were assailed in the streets openly as they would be in a market, and asked if they had voted, and if they said no,' they were asked what they would take. The last thirty votes for cost the general fund of the 4300. An amusing incident happened in Northgate. A voter was met, and, as usual, asked what he wanted. After some hesitation, he said, You are giving £ > You shall have it.' The man demanded cash down. When paid he was walking away, and was told to come and vote. Oh, said he, I voted for this morning.' He kept the money." And this is the municipal election.

AN ADVERTISEMENT. What do you think of a riding-school in New York, under the charge of Mrs. Middie Morgan, a journalist of that city, and reputed an accom- plished horsewoman. Mr. Leonard Jerome gives 20,000 dols. towards the project; and he gives, too, a grand opportunity for advertising her school by letting her ride his famous horse" Trovatore" in Central Park. By the way, speaking of Mr. Jerome. I am reminded that he some time ago gave [a. splendid premium for the best specimen of a gen- tleman at some college, or the best essay on the character of a gentleman—I forget which. And he will figure, too, I suppose, in the libel suit which General Butterfield is to bring shortly against one of the New York papers. Libel suits are always rich and racy, if not rare, and here is some of the cream to be skimmed in this one. It is said that Butterfield was chief of the staff to General Hooker at the battle of Chancellorsville, and that he not only used the army telegraph for a gold speculation, but kept back all other despatches. His own despatches will compare with those of Csesar for terseness and eloquence; and were sent, says a correspondent of the New York World, to this Mr. Jerome. No* I. was as follows: "The boy is wounded D.B." No. II. "The boy is badly wounded.-D.B." No. III. "The boy, we fear, is mortally woanded." The eleventh corps smashed, Hooker" doubled up," and doubting whether he stood on his head or his heels, and the boy mortally wounded," why should not gold rise like a balloon, and Butterfield make some money by it. I do not vouoh for the truth of the story, but I am glad to see something really funny to enliven our partisan bitterness. If this story be not true, then it should be.-New York Correspondent,

THE COURT or QUEENS. EENCR has decided, upon the appeal which hoo. been brought from, the Cambridgeshire County Court, in which Mr. Iiiehard Young, formerly M.P. fur,that county, had bean/held liable for some damage- committed at "Wiisbeach dujring the last election. The judges hav.a now held that although M» Young acted impudently in standing in his carriage and waving hie- hand to an. ssoited crowd,, he coul-I Not be hell-i liable for. the. damage which, was done, and reverdecision;of; the County Qowtjjidget..

THE CORN TRADE. Gre changes in the temperature and weather1 have again ruled. After commencing with rain,- which was welcome to the country, a brilliant Tues- day was followed by a dense fog, and then we relapsed into the ordinary course. But still greater variations have occurred in Northern Europe, with a severe frost in Germany, and so mlUiüh wet in Belgium as to prevent the completion of' wheat-sowing. Nothing, however, of a serious kind has transpired; and so our course of prices, with continued heavy imports, has ruled downwards to the extent of fully Is. per qr. As the public are being roused by these successive reductions to a consideration of the price of bread, we think it fair to all parties to state a few facts. The sack of flour, weighing 2801bs., contains 70 quarterns of flour, and may be made into about 90 41bs. loaves. Fine country flour, at 35s., can therefore be sold at 6Jd. per quartern, which just leaves the baker 1d. profit. If bread be sold for 6d., he gets 10s. for kneading, baking, yeast, delivery, and the credit he gives, as we think he well deserves this for his pains. The higher-class flour made by London millers, and now reduced to 43s. per sack, is chiefly from of fine old Dantzic wheat, costing 56s. to 58s. even now, and most difficult to procure, while fine new English only brings about 48s. This flour then costs the baker nearly 71d. per quartern, and with id. profit he can sell at 8d., and the bread at about 7id. per quar- tern. As to the lion's share, which is said to fall to the millers, we think these customers would like to find it; for if they buy their extra fine -wheat at 58s., and 5 qrs. make but 7 sacks, the sack costs them 41s 6d., and all they get for their toil and risk is the bran, pollard, and offal. We are not for high prices at any time; but "Fair play is a jewel," is an adage well worthy the attention of those who walk on stilts to find out the peccadilloes of every business but their own. The present weight upon the trade is the extraordinary imports. For the first quarter we have: been going on at the rate of 12,000,000 qrs. a-year, when, by calculation, only 10 are wanted, and these imports, coming in at the wrong; end of the year, make the pressure extreme. It does not follow, however, that they either will or could be continued; and we think a farther fall of 5s. would turn the tables; and though there is no likelihood of this taking place suddenly, the present lingering process may bring it about. Foreign prices show more resistance to decline than our own. The Baltic differs but little from last reports; and Dantzic is even firm, but France and the near countries are lower, as well as America. The sales; of English wheat noted last week were 57,089 qrs.'at 46s. lid., against 64,842 qrs. at 52s. in 1868. The London averages were 48s. 3d. on 4,108 qrs.—Mark- lane Express.

CIVILISATION AT BOLTON. At the Bolton borough court, two men, West Greenhalgh and John Ainsworth, were lately charged with creating a breach of the peace, and also with indecently exposing themselves. Police-constable Fletcher deposed that he saw the two prisoners in a state of nudity, ■ fighting, surrounded by a large crowd; neither of them had anything on except their clogs. The Rev. ft. C. Weston said that he saw a large crowd, amoiqg whom were many women of various ages, surrounding the two prisoners, who were stark naked, with the exception of having their clogs on, and fighting in a most brutal manner, kicking each other with their clogs till the blood flowed freely. He interfered to put a stop to the fighting, when an attempt was made to hustle him. He considered it his duty to give information to the police, in order that an example might be made of the parties and such conduct prevented in the future. The exhibition took place just before his windows, from whence his female servants and daughters could see all that was going on. All he wished was to prevent such a scene taking place again in a civilised town. The bench thanked Mr. Weston for bringing the case before them, and ordered the prisoners to find sureties of the peace for six months and pay expenses.

TOO BAD FOR HANGING. William Howell, a man of respectable exterior, has been charged before Mr. Selfe with assaulting Eliza- beth his wife, and also his son, a boy, 14 years of age. The wife, a decent-looking woman, said she lived at Chelsea. The prisoner was a good workman, but a frightful drunkard, and she had three years ago been obliged to charge him with assaulting her, on which occasion he got four months' hard labour. A week after he came out he gave her a black eye, and had since murderously beaten her and the children, making use of language too horrible to pollute the magistrate's ears with. He had so beaten his son that he had the scars all over him, and was a cripple for life. The other night he came home drunk, and made the boy stand naked for hours in the cold passage, and on Saturday, between five and six, he again came home drunk, and seizing the boy, thrust him in a corner, punched him in the nose and mouth, kicked him brutally, and twisted his arms. The wife interfered, when he struck her in the eye and blackened it, and cut her mouth open, and fearing murder would be committed, she ran into the street and gave him in charge. The police proved the violent character of the prisoner. Mr. Selfe said the legislature had thought it wise not to give magistrates power o order ruffians like the prisoner to be flogged, or he was a fit subject for the cat-o'-nine-tails, and he (Mr. Selfe), if he had the power; would take care it was not laid on sparingly. For the assault on the boy, he sentenced him to six months' hard labour; for that on the wife, two months, and at the expiratibn of those terms he would have to find bail in £,20 to keep the peace for six months longer.

— AT MARLBOROUGK-STREE.'S, Mary Moore, de- scribed. 'as "a good-looking, well-dressed young woman," was charged with stealing a X5 note from Mr. Thomas Inglis rAnson, trainer, of Malton. No prosecutor appeared, and in reply to Mr. Knox's in- quiries a policeman stated that after Mr. I'Anson had, made the charge he found the note in the breast pocket of his coat. Mr. Knox discharged her, and advised her to oonsult a respectable solicitor. THE PRESENTS, BW-UGIIT BY THE SON. OF THB. EHIB OE BOUKHASA, and destined to?, the Imperial1 family of Russia* we been deliveredito the Minister of Foreign affains.. They are—For. the gxaperor, three magnificent sjaitea of sable 4nd ith-rea Astrakan sets of rare quality, all lining valuable c&ohemires, and; four haatisoime sets of saddle, harness, studded with preciosaa- atones; also, for the Empress, a. diamond rlgreat val^ a cashensre handkes- ohief of xmBit, -delicate workmanship, a.wiiole piece-off I similar aiuJS of grmt va&g,, and- cfek&fflm set wth. f t>reei<mscf2ffles..

GLEANINGS. -+-- THERE is nicely-enveloped nonsense, just as there are vrsfl-dressed fools. THE philosopher who wishes to extinguish Ms passions is like a chemist wishing to extinguish the fire of his furnace. MAN appears more corrupt through his reasons than through his passions. His. passions havs preserved in our social system the little amount of nature which is still found in it. WE are so far removed from nature, thai those who love to depict it are accused of being romantic. Ambition seizes on little minds sooner than on great ones as the thatch of the hut is more easily set fire to than the roof of the palace. HOT AND COLD BÅTHS. If the cold douche bath is taken at am early age, it should be persevered with throughout life, and only relinquished temporarily in febrile ailments. The best time for every one to take the cold bath is immediately on getting out of bed before the body becomes chilled. The test whether the bath does good or harm is io be found in the occurrences of shiverings, sold feet, a 2ense of coldness over the body, and an absence of "glow" over the surface. In such circumstances, the water taken must be tepid, and friction with towels must be freely employed. Hot baths should only be taken, as a rule, as a cleansing operation; in fact, for the "Saturday night's wash," so to speak. Those who are taking active exercise, on the one hand, in their occupation, and those, on the other, who lead a sedentary life, are benefited by a good soaping all over and a rinsing in warm water every fortnight, in addition to their cold douche each day.—Cassell's Household Guide. AN INDIAN VERSION OF THE ORIGIN OF WOMEN. —There was a time throughout the great world, say the Kickapoos, when neither on land nor in the water was there a woman to be found. Men were in plenty, made of clay, and sun dried, and they were then so happy, oh so. happy. Wars were none then, quarrels were none. These first men were not quite like the men now, for they had tails. The men doted on their tails, and they painted and adorned them; they plaited the hair into beautiful tresses, and wove bright beads and shells and wampum with the hair. But the red men got proud; they were so happy, all went so well with them that they forgot the Great Spirit. Where- fore he sent his chief Manitou to humble man, by robbing them of what they most valued, and bestow- ing upon them a scourge and affliction adequate to their offence. The spirit obeyed his master, and, coming on earth, reached the ground in the land of the Kickapoos. Summoning together all the Indians, he acquainted them with the will of the Wahconda, and demanded the instant sacrifice of the cherished member. Tail after tail was laid upon the block and was amputated. The mission of the spirit was in part performed. He now took the severed tails and converted them into vain, noisy, chattering, and frisky women. Upon these objects the Kickapoos now lavished their admiration; they loaded them as before with beads and wampum, and paint, and decorated them with tinkling ornaments and coloured ribbons. Yet the women had lost one essential quality which as tails they had possessed. The caudal appendage had brushed off man the worry- ing insects which sought to sting or suck his blood, whereas the new article was itself provided with a sharp sting, called by us a tongue and far from brushing annoyances off man, it became an instrument of accumulating them upon his back and shoulders.- Curiosities of Olden Times. NATIONAL GAMES IN MESOPOTAMIA.—A circle is formed, and within it five or six of their number enter, and leisurely walking round for some time, each challenges one of the spectators by striking him gently with the flat of his sword. The adversary thus selected leaps forth, and a feigned combat ensues. They do not parry, either with the sword' or shield, but avoid the blows by leaping backwards, or spring- ing on one side with great agility. Their swords are about three feet in length, straight, and thin-bladed. The shield is about fourteen inches in diameter, and is generally used to parry the thrust of the spear or "jainbeer." They also entertained us with foot-races and wrestling, and with a camel race, which last was very entertaining. Two swift camels were matched and ridden with nose-strings as well as bridles; I the sport somewhat resembled that in vogue in certain fairs in England, when donkeys are pitted against each other, to the intense amusement of bystanders and to the manifest disgust of the quadrupeds, who seem to take the pastime in very ill part. The camels at first wouldn't go," and when they were induced to start did not attain a very high rate of speed. On quitting the encampment we expressed ourselves as highly delighted with the entertainment we had received, and made, according to the Oriental custom, some little sort of an acknowledgment in the presenta- tion of cotton, cloth, and navy buttons. Cassell's Illustrated Travels. A STALL AT THE OPERA.-Lend me a guinest and for a whole evening, from eight to nearly mid- night, I can sit supreme in a stall, solitary, grand, absolute for who shall dare to turn me out ? The stall is mine, to have and to hold corporeally until the curtain has fallen on the last tableau of the ballet, and (in imagination at least) I can hang my banner a.nd my casque over my stall, and deem myself a high, mighty, and puissant prince. As the process, put into practice, might interfere with the comfort of the patrons of the Royal Italian Opera., I content myself with hanging my overcoat over the back of my stall, and placing my collapsible Gibus beneath it. I notice a large party of beautiful dames and damsels in a box on the pit tier, who I am vain enough, to think are intently inspecting me through their opera-glasses. I plume myself, I, pull down my wristbands, I smooth my shirt-front, and caress the bows of my cravat. I turn the favourite facet of my diamond ring well on to the box on the pit tier. If you are the sun shall you not shine ? I am taken, I fondly hope, for one of the Upper Ten. I am aware, from eyesight acquaintance with the aristocracy, that my neighbour on the right, with the purple wig, the varnished pumps, and the ear-trump, is Field-Marshal Lord Viscount Dumdum, that great Indian hero; and that the yellow-faced little man on my left, with the yellow ribbon at his button-hole, is the Troglodyte am. bassador. Behind me is Sir Hercules Hoof, of the 2nd Life Guards. In front of me is the broad back-I wish, in respect to the back, that it wasn't quite so broad—of Mr. Bargebeam, Q-C. How are that family in the pit tier to know that I am not a nobleman, a diplomatist, a guardsman, or a Queen's Counsel? I am clean. I had my hair dyed the day before yester. day. My boots are polished, my neckcloth is starched stiff, my stall is as big as anybody else's. How is beauty in the boxes to tell that I came in (maybe) with an order ?'-Dickens's All the Year Round. THE ROPE TRICE.—I suppose that the dupes of the Davenport brothers thought—and think now, if the conjurers are still performing—that the rope- tying trick is a novelty. No such thing. A century ago a Moravian missionary told of Greenland sorcerers- who did it to perfection. One of them would put his- head between his legs and his arms behind his back, and allow himself to be bound securely. Then the lamps were put out and the windows darkened, while, it was said, the angekbk 4went to the spirit world. No one was to move or scratch his head during: the, performance, for fear the spiritual agencies should be disturbed. Presently there would be hideous noises, and after a while the messenger was- shown, pale and excited, and unbound! The Shamans of Siberia are also adepts at this rope business. They- sit down and are bound, hand and foot, darknesses* produced, and the spirits are invoked. Then, are ghostly noises heard bears growl, raps. are made, squirrels leap about the room. Wnen quiet, is restored, in walk the Shamans free ami unfettered. Did the Davenports take a hint from either of, these. savages ? And while wo are on the spiritual tapis,, may we ask where Mr.; Home graduated m furniture- moving a.nd air-floating ? Was it among the Buddhists,, whose tiprtop saints are said to be able to jisa in the- air without balloons ? Or. did he learn, the s scret of that Archbishop of Canterbury, who was ;diay found skimissaing about beneath, the ceiling, of the, oathedraj, taking a> spiritual ailing,? Once more,, how about Hplanohette ?" Do you know, how, the Chineso consult a god ? Two of tliam, hold a stlok wit4 its end in a dish of sand, set before the image;. the deity ia invokad and the stick wriggles, the serawl it laakea being iaierpre ted, somehow or other as an, answer to the question asked. It is.no use sending, pJaJMshaitea to the^lestials.-—QasstiU's Magazine g

< t.l!h i ¡:):")R CoofsiDEBABiJB w!U probably attorfAy be announced in the Custom Souse. IT IS A CURIOUS FACT THAT t/he new Garter u. King of s. is the son, ofr a gentleman who wa& Garter "'before hj,nir-it),e la«te Si? William