The Aberystwith Observer

A fTTlADT A CHAPLAIN"OSTORY. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] CHAPTER IT.—{Continued.) PAPA GOOCSEI/X'S energies were in full play. He rode and drove in all directions. No effort to obtain in- formation was deemed superfluous. A large reward was offered for the detection of the offending parties. Bow-street runners were brought down, and stimu- lated by golden promises to bring their known tact and experience into successful exercise. But in vain. Some parties were taken up on suspicion, and dis- charged for want of evidence. Nothing clear or definite could be elicited. The inquest was adjourned again and again, in the hope that some clue would be found to the gamekeeper's fate. But impenetrable mystery seemed to shroud it. And with the comfortable conviction that he was thoroughly foiled; the pleasure arising from an unsuccessful attempt to satisfy the expectations of two police officers; and the repeated assurance that the lamentable event in his park had excited intense interest throughout the neighbourhood, Mr. Gougely was doomed for the present to rest contented. But no state of quiescence had the fates reserved for the landed proprietor. Fresh annoyances arose to harass him. True, a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown had been returned, and the remains of his late servant com- mitted to their kindred earth; and with the perfor- mance of this last office the wary man presumed that to his late subordinate he had bidden a final farewell. But he was mistaken. It was averred that the cidevant poacher slumbered sot calmly within his unhonoured grave. More than one quivering lip per- sisted in maintaining that he had been seen in the twilight hour resting against the tree near which he fell, and gazing the while, earnestly and fixedly, in the direction of his empty and now carefully-shunned cottage. The impression gained ground. The servants at the hall took the alarm and one of the first to "tender her resignation" was that paragon of waiting-maids, Bethia Keating. H As long as they are alive," said that faithful crea- ture, no one fears the men less than I do"—aa admission which many thought Mrs. Bethia need not have troubled herself to make. "But," continued she, when they come again, and walk at all hours, and stand at their cottage door, and stare at one, then it's no longer flesh and blood I have to face, but what I've dreaded from my very cradle—a light and airy spirit. I'm sorry to leave you, ma.'a.m bat stay I cannot. A visit from a ghost would be my death." And this gamekeeper will cause mine I" cried her agitated mistress. Is there on earth a woman so truly to be pitied ? One in sufficiently tried with living servants but to be bothered with them after death is really monstrous." Still the vexation of the lady, poignant as it was, paled before the anger of her lord. Mr. Gougely was furious when Bethia's statement was repeated to him. Her former services were forgotten, and her present sins alone remembered. She was despatched from the hall that fame evening; and the servants for- bidden, on pain of dismissal, ever to repeat or allude to her folly. He would tolerate, he affirmed, no such nonsense. Matters should soon be placed on a proper footing, and, following up his scheme, he took posses- sion of the dead man's cottage; had it put in proper repair, and desired his successor in office to occupy it forthwith. Mangstone, the new gamekeeper, hesitated. The order was repeated. The man looked uneasy shifted his position; fumbled with his hat; talked about the walls being damp; then about its situation being lonesome; then about its distance from the covers but, finally, finding his employer peremptory, gave an unwilling assent to his plan in the words, he would endeavour to please him." Ten days from that date he again sought his master's presence, to—relinquish his situation. The cottage," said Mangstone, has two sets of tenants one by day and another by night. There are sounds in it by the hour together, which are caused by no human being that I can make out. You are a liberal and kind master, sir, I own but in that cottage I cannot stay." "What! they have infected you with their non- sense and humbug, eh ? Yon I looked upon as a man!" Mangstone coloured. I thought you were proof sga'nst such nursery nonsense. 1 imagined I was dealing with a msn, not a baby." ° Sir, said^ Mangstone, respectfully, I fear no mortal being m a fair stand-up fight, by night or b*? day; but to listen to the pranks of the dead forms no part of my bargain." u A precious fellow for a gsmekeeoef!" cried Mr. Gougely, passionately; H you. expect, I presume, a character, or some sort of recommendation from me' Whatcan I say ? Nothing—nothing for such a chickea- hearted simpleton Well, sir, be it as it may, I must go. "By all means! Go this hour Go this moment! Go, for a thorough craven as you are." You will find one day or other that you have misjudged me, sir," said the keeper calmlv, but with feeling. J' h;» assuredly in point of courage," returnee presence01"' bifcterly' aa(3 waved his servant from his Tha.t same evening, vexed with himself, with hie piespnt keeper, with his lata favourite with all the world, the owner of the ball was returning home- ward to dinner. He War. heated and weary; and it occurred to him tha* hy striking into a by-path which led Bast the cottage, he could materially shorten his route. Having decided on this course, he hurried onwards, and soon reached the open space where keeper's dwelling stood. The sun had get; bat the evening was calm and clear, and sur- rounding objects were distinctly visible in the mellow twilight. He paused for a moment, and scanned th< cottage. It was silent. Mangstone and his family had already quitted it. He turned aside a few paces to look at the spot where bis former servant fell, and then glanced at the noble ash which stood out from the brushwood, and fronted the cottage. What sees he at its base ? What makes his flesh creep and his heart beat ? What induces fiim to strain his vision upon some object before him, and then to walk hurriedly and impatiently towards it ? The impression that there stands, or seems to stand, the murdered keeper, pallid, calm, and immovable, with his gaze bent in the direction of his former dwelling. He rushes towards the figure strikes at it-once and again. His weapon encounters no re- sistance, and seems to pass, as it were, through the shadow. Again he raises his arm again strikes with the same result. The figure gazes on him; becomes dimmer; fades, and disappears. With a scream, echoed by the woods around, the panic-stricken man falls to the earth. Days grew into weeks ere Mr. Gougely rallied from the effects of his saunter on that eventful evening. His medical men treated the affair lightly enough told him that the excitement attendant on the death of his late keeper, followed up by Mangstone's absurd statements, bad proved too much for him and there "was considerable derangement in his nervous system," and that his digestive organs were in fault. They added that his own good sense must long since have convinced him that all he saw, or presumed he saw, was fantasy and delusion, the idle coinage of the over-wrought brain; and ended by prescribing horse-exercise, change of air, and the Harrowgate waters. The patient listened in silence. He never attempted to controvert the view taken of his case nor did he ¡ by word or gesture express acquiescence in it. He sat. much alone; looked grave and thoughtful, and care- fully shunned all reference to recent transactions, I But that his mind was engrossed by them was proved by the orders issued the first morning he was able to get abroad. He desired the remarkable tree-now known by the name of The Keeper's Ash "—to be felled, and the cottage itself razed to the ground. His instructions were carried out with extraordinary alacrity. There seemed to be a general wish to be rid of these mementos of the past. But results arose from Mr. Gougely's orders which neither the principal nor any of his subordinates had anticipated. In removing the tree, the earth was necessarily dis- turbed for some few yards around it, and in the mould a gun-stctk was found, deeply stained with blood. On this gun-stock were some initials, which designated the party to whom it had belonged; and rumour instantly connected the keeper's fate more or less directly with this relic. The next morning another source of painful con- jecture was opened up. Prior to razing the cottage, the squire had given orders that the garden and premises should be dug over in every direction. His motive for issuing these instructions, he afterwards wowed, was scarcely apparent to himself. But this result attended them In the middle of the keeping- !oom. about three feet below the surface, buried Bvidently in haste, in his clothes, and apparently to cloak some deed of blood-was a male skeleton By whom was be placed there, and when ? CHAPTER III. WHO WAS HE, AND WHENCE CAME HE THE antiquarian, devoted to the mouldering relics of a former age, will sieze with avidity, and study with earnestness, some cankered Antoninus, or question- able Vespasian, every faculty absorbed in the deter- mination to master some inscription which never existed The race of Jonathan Oldbuck, while the world endures, will flourisbupon its surface. But no ardour in collecting and deciphering the decayed mementos of the past could rival in intensity the eagerness with which Mr. Gougely pored over the gun-stock so unexpectedly submitted to him. To the most searching inspection his wary eyes could bestow it was immediately subjected, and ere long the initials, G. B. V., distinctly traced in deep Unman characters, gladdened his very soul. The party in- dicated by these letters-George Barras Vamplew— had long been obnoxious to the squire in a double capacity to wit, for what he would not do, andfor what he would do-i.e., his republican bearing and preda- tory habits. He was to the tenacious and morbidly sensitive Mr. Gougely a Mordecai, who never could be brought to make obeisance to the owner of Abbot's-Stoke, or do him reverence. This was his sin of omission. That of commission was of a more aggravated description. He never could be brought to understand, far more to respect, Mr. Gougely's vested interest" in the Abbot's-Stoke pheasants. His obtuseness on the subject of the game- laws was, in truth, unparalleled and insuperable. And of it he gave many a startling proof during the season. That such a mauvais sujet in his propensities and personal bearing should be an accessory to Ky t-e'e death was, the squire declared, a very natural conclu- sion, and one he had no difficulty in adopting! He had always regarded Vamplew, he averred, as one of the worst fellows on his estate; and had calculated upon hearing one day or other some frightful dis- closures affecting him. The culprit's neigbbours held an opposite creed. With them he was a favourite. He was a sort of natural genius, an off-hand carpenter, and no bad locksmith. His judgment in horse-flesh was rarely questioned. Nor was his repute mean as a farrier. Above all, he possessed a recipe for lameness, which had never yet been known to fail either with horse or dog. That he was fond of his gun, and took especial delight in thinning Mr. Gougely's preserves, were points that made rather for than against him in the estimation of his familiars. Altogether, George Barras Vamplew was a popular man. But his evil genius was now in the ascendant. No popularity could ward off the sifting ordeal that menaced him. The clue, once given, was followed up with untiring vigilance, and a chain of circumstantial evidence established against him. His cottage was searched; and in it was found a knife which belonged to the late keeper, bore his initials, and which K\ te was known to have had in his possession the evening before he died. It was further proved on oath that, an hour or two previous to the murdered man being found, Vamplew was seen returning to his home, in clothes torn and blood-stained and with the hurried step and disordered look of a man who had just been a. party to some desperate struggle. To deepen the impression of the coroner's jury against him, a youth- ful but competent witness testified to a boast publicly made by the accused party soon after Kyte's appointment as keeper at Abbot's-Stoke—" Kyte has made a bad bargain; he won't hold the place long; not over the turn of winter, I'm certain; it seems a warm berth, but will soon end in a cold grave!" No defence was set up or explooation given. The coroner charged the jury. A verdict of "wilful murder" against Vamplew was returned, and an order for his commitment to prison made out, signed, and, within a few hours, executed. This unfortunate thus disposed of, speculation became rife as to the man whose remains had been so unexpectedly exhumed in the keeper's cottage. Who was he, and whence came he ? That there had been foul play, and that hasty burial had been adopted to conceal a deed of blood was the general impres- sion. But evidence to support it was scanty. Here, apparently, was the victim but where were the aggressors, and what the provocation ? No one was missing from the parish; no ona from the neighbour- ing hamlets. Was the inference, iJien, correct that thesuifeierwasa. stranger; his erraal to Abbot's- Stoke a poaching adventure; and his life-blood another offering to the Moloch of the game laws ? Whilst all sorts of conjectures, probable and visionary, were hazarded, an old man, a veritable gossip, stepped out from the throng, and boldly de- clared the dead man to be no other than 11 Waterloo Liggins." He identified him by his clothes. The idea once started was taken up and confirmed by another hoary-headed proser. A third followed with a like assertion and all three professing their willingness to take their oath as to the accuracy of their statement, coroner, jury, and spectators declared themselves satisfied and a conclusion was come to that the deceased, "Waterloo Liggins, had been found dead, but by what means he came to his end the jury had no information." Slocum Liggins was a. disbanded trooper, to whom the alias of Waterloo ha.d been given in conse- quence of his having shared the glories of the ever- memorable 18th of June. He was a man of many dwellings, and cultivated an extensive circle of ac- quaintance emphatic in his delivery, and not over- nice in his language not particular as to a shade; con- sidered change of air beneficial to his constitution, and therefore limited his residence to three weeks in each domicile; boasted of The Duke's personal acquaintance, and declared that his Grace invariably recognised him, meet where they [would; had been the bearer of an official order from the great warrior to Sir John Elley during the beat of the bloody battle on the eventful 18th an incident he waa proud of relating, and which he thus recorded: Liggins! this for Sir John Elley ride, you daring villain! ride as if you were racing with the devil!"—a mode of expression which the lower orders among his auditory thought wonderfully energetic and thoroughly characteristic: others—the more discerning-somewhat apocryphal; but which Waterloo stoutly maintained was true as Gospel. After considerable discussion the conclusion be- came general that the stout campaigner 11 Slept the sleep that knows no waJrlnll." and the usual routine of talk was spoken on the occasion. fl Sad that one who escaped the carnage of Waterloo should perish by an assassin's hand in some midnight brawl 1" cried the sentimental. The close of his life accords well with its restless, roving tenor," observed the profound. If Can you not read in this Incident a high moral lesson, and trace in it a judg- ment upon aa inveterate transgressor ?" suggested the censorious. Alas I what so easy to utter as hasty judgment ? The impression gained ground. The curate of the parish, who favoured total abstinence tenets, and wore Father Matthew's medal, delivered on the fol- lowing Sunday a lengthened and elaborate funeral oration, in which shrewd allusions were made to Waterloo's bibulous propensities; and an inference drawn that to them was to be attributed his fearful end. For once the public was satisfied Ample justice, all agreed, had been done to tbe old soldier's memory Ten days after his funeral sermon had been preached, his knell rang, and his character enlarged upon, Waterloo—as alert and upright as ever-walked boldly up the village-green. ¡ What the plague possessed them," he inquired, as soon as his ire allowed him utterance, to go singing psalms over him ?" I It was tremulously suggested in reply that he was -or at least ought to be—dead. He knew," was the rejoinder, if they didnt, whether he was alive or not;" and then commented freely upon recent proceedings. He attacked the verdict; hinted that Mr. Gougely possessed the brains of an old applewoman said the jury were a pack of simpletons and bestowed a sobriquet upon that respectable functionary, the coroner, which, to his infinite annoyance, stuck by him for the rest of his days. Waterloo's reappearance capped the climax of the whole affair and the laugh of the entire county went against Mr. Gougely un- interruptedly, and more vivaciously than ever. While these minor incidents, trenching on broad farce, were causing infinite merriment in the cottages around Abbot's-Stoke, a scene of deeper and graver Interest was gradually unfolding itself within the walls of the county prison. In an unfaltering declara- tion of his innocence Vamplew sturdily persisted. But it carried with it no conviction of sincerity to my mind. It was not cordial, hearty, frank, and indignant. It was measured, uniform, and chilling. Constant collision with the callous and the desperate had given me, unhappily, a knowledge of human nature not easily overreached. I could distinguish- I fancied readily--between the eager, manly, and anguished avowal of innocence made by a spirit conscious of its integrity, and smarting under unjust accusation, and the hollow, sullen, and uniforn assertion of not guilty reiterated by one who had come to the conclusion that such would be the safest line for him to adopt, and with settled purpose adhered to it accordingly. As unsatisfactory and as unconvincing was the bearing of Vamplew. He con- tented himself with a uniform disclaimer of guilt, gave no explanation, cleared up no suspicious circum- stance. Nor could he, by argument or admonition, ever be brought to admit the evils of the life he had led. Your intentions are good, sir, I believe," was his strange reply on one occasion but all the clergy- men in the country shall never convince me that I break a command of God by killing game which is destroying the produce of my garden-my main dependence for paying my rent. It's against reason and common sense so to argue; and hundreds will tell you so as well as I." You talk, sir," was his extraordinary comment at another time, about this being a Christian country; and say that because Scripture is so freely circulated amongst us, our lives should be better than they are, But is this a Christian country ? The game laws have brought about a state of oppression and tyranny on the one hand, and of resistance and crime on the other, which would disgrace a land inhabited wholly by heathens. Poachers are hunted down Ly laud- owners and their game-keepers as keenly and fiercely as the early settlers in America hunted down the natives. Being but men, they naturally resist. Hot words are followed by fierce blows. Life in some instances is taken. The law then steps in; and the upshot is the scaffold, and the hangman, and the drop, and the noose, and the dying struggle, and the death shriek. And all this for what ? A partridge or a pheasant!" These remarks by no means befit your situation; the peril you are in should prompt fee!ings of greater humility and submission." Say you so ? then you know nothing of the work- ings of a poor man's spirit. I tell you, sir, no artisan who has been once in gaol for any offence growing out of the game laws, but becomes thence- forth thoroughly hardened hates from the bottom of his soul all landed proprietors, and lords of the manor, and becomes worse than a Radical in his opinions you make him little short of a Republican! But all this is beside the business. I want no exhor- tations about repentance, for my heart does not con- demn me. I require no admonitions about pre- paration for death, bscause I'm satisfied no English jury will convict me. I doalt say this to you, sir, either from ignorance or impertinence but because your time can be better bestowed elsewhere." I acquiesced in his conclusion, and quitted him. (To be continued). !!I-

EPITOME OF NEWS, The cost of the City of London Police in the past year was £ 85,335. The Metropolitan District Police entailed an expen- diture last year of £ 1,284,561. Mr, Bradlaugh is now on his way to England, after having been the object of an enthusiastic demonstration on the Apollo Bunder at Bombay. Mrs. Bertha Wolstenholme, a highly respected Hey wood lady, swallowed a linament composed of belladonna and ammonia. It had, of course, a fatal result. The population of Australasia is increasing apace. It grew from 1,924,770 in 1871 to 2,742,550 in 1881, and at the latest date given in a return which has just come to hand, it stood at 3.672,803. Mr. Robert Purvis, of Wimbledon, is not dis- heartened. He is willing to enter the lists as the Unionist champion at the next election at Peter- borough. Some reminiscences of the late Mr. Swan in connec- tion with Carlyle are published, from which it is clear that he regarded the Sage of Chelsea, with whom he was always a favourite, with the utmost awe. We are not surprised at that. When Mr. Swan was Provost of Kirkcaldy he used to make no secret of the fact that during the time he was at Carlyle's school the sage was in the habit of castigating him strenuously on the smallest provocation, though in that respect he only shared the fate of the other boys in his class. They used to say in the North that Mr. Swan was so devout a hero- worshipper that he would have died happy had he been only able to preserve for exhibition an honourable scar which he could conscientiously aver had been inflicted by the great man's iron hand. We understand that at a competition between rail- way locomotives of various designs which took place quite recently in France, and extended over several days, the prize was awarded to the II Onward," which had been built at the Ashford Works of the South-Eastern Railway Company, from the designs of Mr. Stirling. Competing engines had been sent by the Midland, Brighton, and other companies, including several French lines, but the Onward fully justified its title by proving itself the fastest. In the course of an inqaest on Wednesday on the body of an aged Hungarian who lately died at Lime- house, it was elicited that the deceased refused to have .a doctor, though at last one was called in—too late, however, to effect any good. He believed only in healing by faith," and in the practice of anointing with oil. The coroner observed that no one was to blame but the man himself and the jury found that, according to the medical testimony, death was due to chronic bronchitis. We are enabled to state that there is no foundation for the report that Prince George of Wales is suffering from influenza. In company with the other guests of Mr. Tyssen-Amherst, his Royal Highness had on Wed- nesday another day's shooting in the covers at Didling- ton. Equally unfounded are the rumours of the in- disposition of the Princesses Victoria and Maud. A despatch from Sandringham states that their Royal Highnesses are quite well. The Kaiser Wilhelm gave Count Moltke a valuable 1 golden snuff-box, bearing the portrait of the Empress ] in enamel, as a Christmas present. The total debt of Australasia is S167,816,401, or an average per head of the population of JE45 12s. 6d. Addressing a jury at the Poplar Town Hall on Mon- day, Mr. Wynne E. Baxter, the coroner for East London, said that in the course of the day he had held four inquests, and in each case poverty had hastened death. As to the system of outdoor reliei, which a juror declared was rotten to the core, Mr. Baxter affirmed that those really in need were not reached, while those with a glib tongue and brazen manner obtained what was not meant for them. It was a pity that the inquests were not held in Eaton-square, so that the rich of the West-end might see how the poor of the East-end I existed. Three strikes were commenced on Monday. At Cardiff the whole of the ballastmen employed at the East Dock came out to enforce a demand for a penny per hour more than they have been paid during the last eight years. Many men were thrown out of work at Middlesbrough owing to the platers and helpers at various shipyards striking for an increase of pay. A number of firebrick workers in the Stourbridge district are also on strike. 'ra An application was made to the county magistrates at Luton on Monday for a license to enable two or three children under 10 years of age to take part in a school entertainment at Stadham, Bedfordshire. It was stated, however, that according to the provisions of the Act a week's notice must be given of the application, and the Bench bad no alternative but to decline to grant it. At a meeting of the Dublin Corporation on Monday, Mr. Dodson moved a resolution inviting the Queen to visit Dublin in the summer, for the purpose of opening the New Science and Art Museum. The motion was opposed by the Nationalist members, on the ground that the Corporation had no control over the new museum that the resolution would be used against them politically, and that it would be proceeding under the auspices of the present Government, which the Irish people detested. The motion was negatived by a large majority. Before the Windsor Justices, on Monday, two labourers, named Clark and Wells, were charged with trespassing on Saturday night in the Great Park in search of game. Both pleaded guilty. A gamekeeper in the service of the Crown stated that he found a live ferret, a sack, and several rabbit nets upon the pri- soners. They were sentenced to two months' hard labour, and at the end of that period to be bound over in their own recognisances of £ 5 each not to commit a similar offence for a year. A respectably-dressed woman, about 50 years of age, committed suicide on Monday by jumping from Clifton Suspension Bridge. The body fell in the mud on the Somersetshire bank of the Avon, and it was after- wards conveyed to a neighbouring house, where it awaits identification. A Post-office receipt found in a pocket bears the name of Stinchcombe. This makes the thirty-second suicide from this bridge, and the third in about a month. Thomas Gill, lessee of St. James's Hall, Liverpool, was, by the police magistrate of that city on Monday, fined £10 and costs for using the hall as a place of en- tertainment on Sunday, December 29. The defendant did not appear. The entertainment was given by Samson, described as the strongest man in the world." The prosecution was taken under aa old Act, which gave the authorities control over exhibitions given in the city. The inquest on Elizabeth Taylor, aged 50, who was found murdered at 7, Hodgskin-street, Sunderland, on Christmas morning, was concluded on Monday. The county analyst's examination of the axe found in the building showed that there were no signs of blood on it. The coroner said no evidence had been obtained on which the police could act, and the jury returned a verdict of murder against some person or persons unknown. A shocking discovery was made on Monday in a manufactory at Hanley owned by Messrs. Johnson Brothers, earthenware makers. The body of a sweep, named Moore, of no fixed abode, was found roasted to death. It is supposed that on Sunday night, the weather being cold, he crept into the oven, which had been fired the day before, and, going to sleep, was dis- covered only next day, when the oven was drawn, and he was found roasted to death. Patrick Murphy, the engine-driver of the train which came into collision with the runaway carriages contain- ing the children of the Sunday-school excursion from Armagh to Newry, on June 12 last, and by which over 70 persons were killed and a large number wounded, died on Monday, at his residence, Bally Macdermott, Newry, from injuries received in the collision. The dead body of a married woman, named Isabella Law, aged 67, was found on Sunday night in a quarry at Warmden, near Acerington. The old woman's mind had been affected for some time, and, during a long walk from Newchurchto Accrington, she seems to have lost her way. Benumbed and dazed by the bitter weather, she strayed into the quarry, laid down, and died. A Grimsby tradesman sent a prize goose as a present to the Prince of Wales, and received a letter stating that it is against the rule for his Royal Highness to accept presents, but that this would be kept on con- dition that a bill for it was sent. This was done, and the sender received a cheque for JE1, with an inti- mation that the prize goose was served at the Royal table. A largely-attended meeting of the firebrick makers on strike in the Stourbridge district was held on Mon- day, when it was reported that the men at another works had come out, this being due to the full advance having been refused to the women, though conceded to the men. The strike now affects more than half the fireclay works in the district. The workmen of the seven large collieries of the Ocean Company, Rhondda Valley, unanimously resolved, at a mass meeting held on Monday, at Pentre, to de- mand 10 per cent. advance in wages, and to join the National Federation of Miners. Seven thousand work- men were represented. William Chandos Hicks, baker, waF, at Birmingham Quarter Sessions on Monday, sentenced to six months' hard labour for obtaining 30 sacks of flour, he being an undischarged bankrupt at the time. When buying the flour on credit he did not say that he was a bank- rupt. The Emperor William is still profuse in his presents. He has just given Count Waldersee two magnificent crystal goblets, with gold lids. James Foubister had lived at his farm at East House, St. Andrews, Orkney, for 61 years. He has just gone to his rest-after a life of 101§ years. Mr. Childers, who has been staying in Calcutta lately, has left for Darjeeiing. He proposes to visit Pesha- wur, Quetta, and the North-West frontier before leav- ing India. Gregor Grant, a Mid-Calder labourer, has been found dead on the railway near Oakbank. He had been knocked down by a train about midnight, while going home from Oakbank. The existence of numerous small municipalities in Australia, which can only pay the necessary salaries and current expenses, is found to be a great bar to sanitary advancement. The Patent Office continues to expand, and there is again a heavy increase for 1889 against 1888. The applications for patents during 1889 figured up to 20,993, against 19,070 in 1881, an increase of 1923. There are amiable lions at a Birmingham menagerie. A local publican entered a den of three—merely to de- cide a bet-and remained with the beasts 10 minutes. An elephant in the same show possesses a different dis. position. He severely crushed a woman who, the night before, had taken a box of fusees from him. Germany's estimated revenue for 1890-91 is £ 60,433,000. Of this more than one-third is for military purposes The ordinary expenditure on the maintenance of the army is estimated at £ 1S,840,041, but twelve millions more is required for extraordinary purposes, making a grand total of £ 31,038,139. Pita, the new remedy for hydrophobia, recently dis- covered in Spain, seems to be a name given to the flower-stalk of the aloe, a plant common in some parts of Spain. The story goes that its virtues were dis- covered accidentally by a man in a fit of hydrophobia falling upon an aloe plant and unconsciously biting the stem. Seldom does the exchequer of public celebrations go in so timely a way as it did on the occasion of the Prince of Wales's visit to Dunmow the other day. It was found, on settling up accounts, that there was a sufficient sum left in hand to give 60 of the poorest people a good supply of coals to hold them over the winter. An elderly woman went to the Aberdeen Hospital and confusedly confessed that she had taken sixpennyworth of laudanum. The stomach-pump was at once applied, when it was seen that, in addition to the laudanum (of which the woman was entirely relieved), her stomach was over-charged with alcohol, and that as much alcoholic poison remained in her system as to preclude all hope of her recovery. She died shortly after. The Queen's annual "oblation of gold, frankincense, and myrrh" at the altar of the Chapel Royal, St. James's, was made on Monday, the Feast of Epiphany. This traditional custom of the sovereigns of England was long observed by the sovereign in person in com- memoration of the visit of the Wise Men of the East to Bethlehem with similar treasures on the birth of Christ. The gifts are now presented by deputy. According to Colonel Yule, whose death was reported only the other day, the old Persian legend is that the gold signified the Kingship, the frankincense the Divinity, and the myrrh the healing powers of the Child born in the manger. The offering was presented by Gentlemen Ushers in Waiting, Mr. E. Hamilton Anson and the Hon. Aubrey Fitzclarence, son of Lord Munster. The Bishop of London, Dean of her Majesty's Chapel Royal officiated, assisted by the Revs. E. W. Kempe, H. A, Sheringham, and W. Dalrymple Fanshawe. Two young men were passing along the road between Gullatown aud Dysart, whtu they came upon a man lying on the roadside. The poor fellow was dead. Among the working men's clubs registered during the year the political tendency was a trifle less marked than before, being confined to 26 out of a total of 56. William Embaaks, a widower, living at Lea Gaias, California, in a mad rage with his daughter because she refused to give him her wages, shot her dead. He then unsuccessfully attempted to end his own life. John Thompson, of Pensacola, Florida, married the divorced wife of John Carter. Meeting Mr. and Mrs. Thompson in the street, Carter applied an opprobrious epithet towards the lady. His life was the penalty for the insult. Thompson stabbed him to death. The Secolo newspaper of Milan organises every year a Christmas treat for the poor children of Milan. LaeT year this took the form of "The biggest Christmas- tree in the world," which supplied 80,000 gifts to little ones who otherwise might have had no Christmas- cheer. King Humbert was riding outside the Porta :Tagn giore, Rome, when he was thrown from his horse, and fell somewhat heavily to the ground. Fortunately, his Majesty was not hurt, and was able to rise and mount another horse, none the worse except for having fallen in the mud. Owen Morgan, a labourer of Kingscavel, had occasion to go out during the night without his boots. When crossing the road there, he stopped on a broken bottle and cut one of the main arteries of the foot. Ail efforts to stop the flow of blood proved fruitless, and he slowly bled to death. Dauga, the French imitator of the Whitechapel murderer, is to be "guillotined" at an early date, as the Paris Court of Cassation has rejected his appeal. He murdered several women near Pont-a-Mousson, and was recently condemned to death at the Assizes of the Department of the Mourthe et Moselle. Count Chotek, who lately died in Vienna, unmarried, and possessed of an immense fortune, seems to have caused dismay to his heir-expectant, Count Kheven- hiiller, Austrian Minister at Brussels, by leaving him only 50,000 florins. The Count had expected to inherit about 2,000,000 florins, and is a miserable man. The waste lands of the United States occupy as much as two-fifths of the entire territory of the Union,. principally in the western parts of Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, and the Indian reserve. They are for the most part naturally fertile, but they want water and a thorough system of irrigation would make them bear the richest crops. This tragedy is reported in the Philadelphia Ledger: Mr. J. R. Kevan, a wealthy Englishman from Liver- pool, committed suicide near Austin, Texas. He was in love with the daughter of Captain Staniforth, a re- tired English officer, and she refused to marry him. He left her, and, walking about 200 yards from the house, placed the muzzle of a pistol in his mouth, and blew the top of his head off. A Transatlantic novelty in art furniture is what is called the" kidney table." It is shaped exactly like that devilled delicacy, a lamb's kidney, painted with white enamel, and covered with velvet, red shot with a blue grey, heightening the resemblance to the article from which the table is named. The velvet runs to about three inches of the edge, leaving a margin of enamel. With a silver-bound blotter, a tiny silver banje for holding stamps, and other silver fittings, the kidney table" makes a dainty boudoir escritoire. It is proposed to transport a representative Sooth African show to London, to include delegates of all the tribes under British protection, specimens of all the weapons, tools, implements, utensils, furniture, and dwellings of settlers and aborigines, a selection of domesticated and wild beasts, birds and reptiles, the riches of the field and the forest, and of the gold, pre- cious stones, and minerals, &c. A circus" or similar programme of action will be arranged. No doubt con- siderable information will be thus gathered by the public, and some amusement and excitement, particu- larly if a few Zulus, Swazis, and Kaffirs should break loose and try to play their native pranks. Both at Berlin and at Vienna the Emperors are (writes the Berlin correspondent of the GZa"90w Herald) growing to be less tolerant of scandals which affect the aristocracy. The two Emperors do much for their nobles, and expect them to behave up to the doctrine noblesse obUr/e. They hush up all malicious re- ports against the aristocracy, and, so far as they can, all law-suits which might bring discredit upon them but they are wise enough to require that their proteges;- shall not abuse these favours, and when occasionally some thick-headed nobleman shows that he has not the sense to understand what is done for him, they punish such a. one by tabooing him from the Court circle. The Scottish peers elect 16 representatives, not for life, but for each Parliament, the meeting of the whole body being held at Holyrood after each general election and when vacancies occur. There are at present two vacancies, caused by the death of the Earl of Leven and Melville and the Earl of Orkney, and a meeting will be held in course of a day or two to elect their suc- cessors. The proposed visit of the Queen to Ireland (remarks one who holds authority) has got past the idle rumour stage, and that definite arrangements are likely, to be settled in February. The presence of her Majesty is sure to be popular with the simple Irish people, and will put an end to a grievance of long standing. The coalition of the Liberal parties in Spain, if brought about by Senor Sagasta, promises to be ob- tained only by the sacrifice of Free Trade principles. The price to be paid to the Protectionist Liberals will be the renunciation of the commercial treaties in. 1892. Mr. Charles Lever, well known in the electrical and scientific world as an inventor of many useful appli- ances, as a member of most of the Electrical Societies of Europe and America, and as the holder of a diploma. from her Majesty's Government for services rendered at the London Fisheries Exhibition, died suddenly on Sunday morning at the residence of his father, Mr. E. Lever, Tanboya, Colwyn Bay. The President of the Board of Trade has appointed Mr. Walter J. Howell to be his private secretary, in the place of Sir Thomas Blomefield, who has been com- pelled to resign that post in consequence of the pressure of his work as clerk in charge of the work under the Electric Lighting Acts. The Board of Trade has been officially informed by two of the inspectors that the works for the construc- tion of the bridge over the Firth of Forth, at Queens- ferry, are now nearly completed, and that the bridge can now be traversed from end to end. The dimensions of this extraordinary structure may be judged from the statement that the piers are nearly the height of St. Paul's, and the principal spans a third of a mile in length. Twelve months ago over two millions and a half sterling had been expended upon it. The number of men daily employed averaged over seventeen hun- dred. The King of Sedang is in London. Sedang is &- territory in the congeries of States of which Siam, Tonkin, and Burmah are examples. His object in visit- ing London is to charter a steamer and finance" the development of the country. Lord Salisbury will also be asked to declare a Protectorate over it. The official return of the number of students attend- ing the University of Berlin for the first half of 1690 may well bring a blush to the cheek of such as are re- sponsible for the university education of London. There are no fewer than 7676 names on the roll of the University of Berlin. Philosophy attracts the largest number of votaries, 1865 Jaw follows closely with 1646 medicine has 1373, and theology 847. Compared with this, the higher education of London is in a con- dition that is all but deplorable. The co-ordination of the educational forces of the metropolis is a work of extreme urgency. Yet it has taken years of agitation and inquiry and delay to bring us within range of a chastened hope that one day we shall have established in our midst a teaching University of London. According to the seventieth annual report of the Lambeth Savings Bank, just issued, the character of the work performed during the past year, which in- volved the revision of the bank rules and the adaptation. of the savings banks regulations introduced by order of the Treasury, has made that period one of the greatest importance since the foundation of the institution. The investments in Government stock, which at the close of the preceding year amounted to £ 2400, reached a total of £6000, showing the extraordinary increase of £3600. During the same period the number of de- positors and the amount deposited rose from 6989 and £ 26,800 to 7681 and £ 28,600, and the payments fell from E3300 to JE3100. When the accounts were closed and the accrued interest on the aggregate deposits placed to the credit of the bank, the total invested balance in its favour amounted to £ 97,800. The Arch- bishop of Canterbury is president of the bank. The death is announced of Countess Fleurv, widow of the General who aided Napoleon III. in his coup d etat. Madame Fleury was one of the brilliant women of the Empire, and took rankas such contemporaneously with the Empress, they both having been married in the same year. A Paris correspondent says that she and same year. A Paris correspondent says that she and her husband never counted the money they spent; it was considered as being invested for the good of the Empire, and^ all debts contracted were paid by the Empire. When a war with Prussia was being medi- tated, General Count Fleury was sent to St. Petersburg as Ambassador, with instructions ■to make friends on all sides, and no enemies. The Ambassador and his wife made a conquest of the late Czar and his family, but were not long enough there to bring about an entente with France. The elegance of the countess, her dresses, dinners, and balls, and the stud of the General dazzled even the fashionable world at St. Petersburg. They, however, failed to see tlxat J a war between Prussia and France was hoped for by | the Court of St. Petersburg, which wished to undo the j Treaty of Paris. The Imperial Family of Russia have ( telegraphed condolences to the sons of the lat^ countess.