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[No title]
AMERICAN LAWYERS.—A New York paper gives the following indictment as a specimen of the ver- bosity °f American law And that whereas the said Thomas, at the said place on the year and day afore- said, in and upon the body of the said Richard, against the peace and dignity of the State, did make a most violent assault, and inflicted a great many and divers blows, kicks, cuffs, thumps, pumps, contusions, gashes, hurts, wounds, damages, and injuries in and upon the head, neck, breast, stomach, hips, knees, shins, and heels of said Richard, with divers sticks, canes, poles, clubs, logs of wood, stones, daggers, dirks,' swords, pistols, cutlasses, bludgeons, blunder- busses and boarding pikes, then and there held in the hands, fists, claws, and clutches of him the said Thomas."
MEERSCHAUM MINES IN ASIA MINOR
MEERSCHAUM MINES IN ASIA MINOR The most extensive deposits of Meerschaum in Asia Minor are about twenty-four miles south-east of the city of Eskischer, formerly Dorylea, the inhabit- ants of which, numbering about twelve thousand Armenians and Turks, are principally employed in collecting or dealing in this mineral. It is obtained down in the earth, shafts or pits being sunk to a depth of twenty-seven to thirty-three feet. Forty to fifty miners work in one mine and form a com- pany, clividing the profits among themselves. The stones are generally irregular in shape, and vary greatly in size, being from the size of a nut to a square foot or more in bigness. The largest pieces are the most in demand, and the dearest. The mineral, when freshly dug, is of a yellowish-white colour, and covered about a finger thick with a red, greasy earth, so soft that it can be cut with a knife. The treatment which the meerschaum must be sub- jected to before it is fit for export is very expensive and tedious. The pieces must first be freed from the-adhering earth, and dried for five or six day? in the sun, or for eight or ten days in warm rooms. The mineral is then cleaned a second time, and po- lished with wax. After this it is sorted into differ- ent grades, of which there are ten, and carefully packed with cotton into boxes for export.. The stones lose two-thirds of their weight and volume in the operation of cleaning and drying. The price depends upon the demand. The largest quantity is sent to Vienna and Germany.
[No title]
The young ladies who have returned from the sea-shore and country have now a new amusement. They while away the dull afternoons counting each other's freckles.
[No title]
THE SICILIAN VESI'ER, Sicilian Y espers" is a name given to the massacre of the French in Sicily on the day after Easter, in the year 1282, the signal for the commencement of which was said to be the first- stroke of the vesper-bell. The popular version of the so-called Sicilian Vespers is as follows The Norman Prince, Roger I., son of Tancred, had, in 1058, driven the Greeks and Arabs from the island, and later had taken the title of Count of Sicily, his son, Roger II., in 1131, uniting Sicily with Naples as the Kingdom of the two Sicilies. In 1266, Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis of France, deposed the Norman princes, and settled himself in their place, being crowned King by Pope Clement IV. Incredible stories are told by the old chroniclers of the oppression to which the people, especially in the island, were sub- jected by their French rulers. The 30th of March, 1282, was Easter Monday, and, as was customary with the in- habitants of Palermo, they went in procession to a church without the walls of the town to hear vespers. The French not only regarded such gatherings with suspicion, but availed themselves of such occasions to search the people for arms. On this evening, as a young Sicilian bride was entering the church, she was brutally assaulted by a French soldier. This gross outrage so enraged the townspeople that, headed by her father and husband, they rescued her, and with such weapons as they could command, butchered the French without regard to age or sex. The rising rapidly spread to other parts of the islands. The French were hunted like wild beasts. More than 8000 were slain by Palermitans alone. The king besieged Messina, which would have. surrendered but for the severity of the terms offered by the French troops. The people held out in desperation, till Don Pedro took the field to assert his claim by force of arms, and- compelled the besiegers to raise the siege, subsequently occupying the whole of the island, while Naples was left in the possession of the house of Anjou.
BRITISH TRADE UNDER THE CONGO…
BRITISH TRADE UNDER THE CONGO TREATY. Under the above heading the PJ-JI MCU Gazette publishes an account of "-In Interview with an Old Congo Trader," from which we extract the follow- ing; X, A Portuguese is poison wherever you find him, fit- any rate out of Portugal." Such was the compre- hensive summing up of an old British trader who has had many years' experience on both sides of the African continent. He was a tall, spare, grizzled Englishman without an ounce of superfluous flesh on his body, but showing a little trace of the succession of fevers and agues which he had suffered in the malarial swamps on the African coast. The Portuguese is poison," he said, poison to British trade and especially to the British trader. The English merchant avoids territory over which the Portuguese flag flies as the devil hates holy water. It is not only their tariff, but the Custom-houses and the endless delays which they interpose in the trans- action of any kind of business. They're a bad lot, a very bad lot. Their only conception of government in the greater part of their possessions is to plant a Custoin-liouse at every little port or creeli where goods can be landed, in order to collect import duties and compel the unfortunate traders to grease the wheels of routine with palm-oil. Bevond gunshot of these stations they exercise no authority over the natives they profess to govern. You may call that. government if you please I call it levying black-mail, and so does every English trader who has ever done business in Portuguese Africa. It is some time since I left the Congo, but when I was there, I was at the head of one of the largest businesses in that region. I was only a young man when I went out, but tte pay was high and the occu- pation adventurous, and I kept at it for several years, until the climate killed those 1 loved and worked for. when I got tired of the place and came away, and since I left I believe the business has undergone a complete revolution owing to the regular calling of steamers at Banana Creek. In the old days trade was centralised in the hands of three British firms, as it required large capital and extensive stock. Since the steamers began to ply regularly the necessity for keeping such large stock has disappeared; smaller men have gone into the trade, and there is much more competition than there was. But in its essential ele- ments business on the Congo is as it was when I left the coast. It was rather exciting to carry on business on the Congo; what with pirates and Portuguese and the malaria, traders had pretty lively times. I had numerous stations scattered along the coast from Ambrizette in the south to Ponto-Banda north. At each of these we had depots of goods, which I visited regularly in turn, collecting the produce of the country, and giving in exchange all descriptions of British goods. Rum, gunpowder, and guns formed about one-third of the total business transacted; we traded up the rivers as far as they were navigable. I would send, for instance, £10U worth of goods in a lighter with a native agent, who would barter them for palm oil, nuts, &c. Up the Congo I went myself with my steamer, hauling lighters up the stream against the current, which runs very strong between the innumerable islands which crowd the Lower Congo. I had a small army of kroomen, whom I recruited in the north at Monrovia and Cape Palmas,. good, sturdy workers, who were paid a good wage and were very faithful. Of course they stole like cats, but they would not allow anybody else to steal but I themselves, and were ready to defend me to the death. That was no empty phrase, for I have had them shot dead by my side. The Lower Congo is the resort of native pirates called the Missalongas, who prey upon all the traffic, native and foreign, that frequents their river. One of the most awkward things about the navigation of the Lower Congo is that the channel is continually chang- ing new banks are formed during the rainy season, and nothing is more common than to be stuck on your return journey in a place where deep water was v flowing when you went up stream. It is a very dis- agreeable experience to be stranded all night in the lee of one of the numerous islands, from which the Missalongas, under cover of the mangroves, are pelt- ing you with slugs. Of course, you fire back; every lighter carries its stack of rifles, ready for instant use. Admiral Hewett, whom I knew very well and admired immensely when he was on the Congo, taught them a very severe lesson, but it is difficult to punish them effectively. You can only burn down their houses, when you can get to them, after toiling through the mangrove swamps, and then a few hours' labour suffices to build them up again as good as new. The natives on shore are fairly reasonable and friendly. We had arrangements with all the chiefs along the coast, by which, in return for presents amounting to about five per cent. on all business done in their district, they undertook to protect us against, interference, and this arrangement was usually loyally observed. The English and Dutch traders in those parts contrasted well with the French and Portu- guese the latter bought and worked slaves, while the former always paid wages to hired labourers. It was when I was on that coast that I gained my first ex- perience of Portuguese methods. I carefully avoided Portuguese territory as much as possible, therein acting like every sensible Englishman of busi- ness, for if trade follows the flag when it is the English, it flies from the flag when it is the Portuguese. But there were many Portuguese settlers along the banks of the Congo, and a scoundrelly lot they were. Anything more utterly irredeemably bad in morals you could not imagine. I could tell you tales of brutal barbarity to the natives, and especially to their slaves, on the part of these Congo Portuguese traders, that would make your blood run cold. A lawless set they were. It is not their fault that I was not killed long ago. A bullet from a Portuguese gun once grazed my head when I was trying to collect a debt of £ 5.0U0 due to z;1 my predecessor by a Portuguese trader. The whiz of that bullet was all that I received in payment of £ 5,000. "And now by this new treaty you have handed over both banks of the Lower Congo to the Portuguese. When I heard of it at first it seemed to me sheer lunacy, and my opinion is that of every man who has ever done business in a Portuguese colony. At Lisbon they may be very friendly, and respect the English mightily, but get them away in Africa, and you'll find that every Portuguese official regards it as the first duty of man to harass the British trader in all manner of ways. Naturally I don't like this Congo treaty. To begin* with, it means doubling the duties on every article imported from Great Britain. At present we pay 5 per cent. as near as may be to the native chiefs. Henceforth we have to pay G per cent to the Portu- guese. That will, I take it, be in addition to the 5 per cent. already paid to the chiefs. Of course if the Portuguese will undertake to satisfy the chiefs out of their 6 per cent., well and good. But trust a Portu- guese not to part with any of his 6 per cent. and, as you may be equally sure that the native chiefs who have hitherto been paid 5 per cent. will not give up a cent, of their tax without a struggle, there will be nothing for it but to pay 11 per cent, or fight and get into no end of trouble."
A BURMESE BAND.
A BURMESE BAND. The Ecening Standard says Of course Mr. Barnum is not dissatisfied with the white elephant. That curiosity is all his fancy painted, and it is only to do the sacred beast fitting honour, to make it feel at home on a strange shore, that Mr. Barnum has engaged a real Burmese band, a description of which is furnished by an unprejudiced local corre- spondent. There are five instruments in this orchestra- a flute, a clarionet with a dangling, bell- shaped mouth," a castanet, an indeterminate number of drums, and gongs incalculable but there are only five performers. Drums and gongs predominate, as is seen, and to produce with these the utmost effect of which human beings are capable to do or to suffer, human ingenuity has contrived a machine. The performer squats inside his biggest drum, five feet in diameter, within which are hung smaller instruments of torture, nobody knows how many. These the musician sounds, one after another, with a regularity and precision of touch delightful to the Burmese connoisseur, varying the strain from time to time by a resounding whack upon the walls of his parchment prison. The gong-man has an apart- ment much resembling this, and the castanet per- former is not less business-like. His pleading instruments are two feet long, of stout bamboo, w IC he slaps together with the noise of a pistol-shot, and something like that effect on unaccus me Mr. Barnum's agent confidently expects o e his countrymen 'disappoint^ no serious reason to thins tnai n» » in that respect at least.
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Many girls have no mind to speak of tmd they are continually talking about giving somebody a piece of it.
ISHORT AND PITHY.
SHORT AND PITHY. Riche will take to themselves wings and fly away unless you sprinkle the salt of economy on their tail. Why does a fall down a well so often prove fatal ? —Because the one who falls is so apt to kick the bucket." The butcher who sells ox-tails for soup and- calves' heads for dinners undoubtedly makes both ends meet. The difference between a. crockery dealer and a cabinet-maker is that the first sells tea-sets and the other settees. It is reported that a woraar is cultivating a fern farm, and finds it profitable. I probably fern-ishes her a good living. An old bachelor says he's been ss> often deceived by the chicken of the restaurant and boarding-house. that he calls it the "mocking-bird." Moonlight as a rule. predominates in courtship, and the fact must be acknowledged that there is con- siderable moonshine in marriage. The youngster who was sent away from the table iust as the pastry came on, went sadly upstairs, sing- ing. Good-bye. sweet tart, good-bye." A Canadian farmer, who recently los4 a small pig, after long search found him drowned in the cream- can. So," said he, "poor piggy's cream-ated." That was a bright old salt who, when he was asked to take a fellow to ride on shore in the captain's gig, said, I will, if you get the ship's horse, sir." The man who comes to the station two minutes behind time. and sees the train scudding out' at the other end, derives no satisfaction from the proverb, Better late than never." "So," said an old lady to a neighbour, "I under- stand that yourdaughter has married a rich husband." The neighbour thoughtfully replied He's a rich man. but I'm afraid he's a poor husband." Mrs. Partington says that her minister preached about the parody of the probable son." Everybody likes a hot steak, but when it comes up covered with cinders, you can justly complain of it as cuakd meat The wolf, says a Russian proverb, changes its hair every year. The young lady of the period does better; she changes hers every afternoon. "Governesses should never be required to do low menial work, said a gentleman. Certainly not, but they frequently aspire to the hymeneal," replied the lady. Silence in the court-room shouted a Texan police magistrate. "The Court has already com- mitted four prisoners without being able to hear a word of the testimony." The other day a hopeful, with well-feigned inno- cence, inquired. How can five persons divide five eggs so that each man will receive one, and still one remain in the dish. It requires great moral strength and tenacity of purpose to enable a man to sleep till seven in the morning when an industrious fly has decided that he had better get up -it half-past four. A stingy husband threw all the blame of the lawlessness of his children in company by sayiug his wife always gives them their own way." Poor things." was her prompt reply "it's all I have to give them"r In one respect women are like bread-stuffs. When they are uncommonly scarce they are also uncom- monly dear. There are two periods in a woman's life when she does not like to talk. AATien one is. we never knew, and the other we have forgotten. When the blossoms and leaves of a woman's beauty fall, we may discover her defects, as we behold raven's nests in the trees in winter. There is a very strong public opinion against preaching by women, but almost every husband knows that women as lecturers are an entire success. Woman is a delusion, madam," exclaimed a crusty old bachelor to a witty young lady. "And man is always hugging some delusion or other," was the quick retort. 't A young man went into a restaurant the other day, and remarking that I-Tiiiie is money, he added that, as he bad a half-hour to spare, if the proprietor was willing, he'd take it out in pie. "It is all very well," said a henpecked husband, when told to mind the children; "it's all very well to tell me to mind the youngsters, but it would suit me better if the youngsters would mind me." A young couple were returning from the theatre, where they had witnessed a love scene acted. I can do better than that myself," the young man remarked. Why don't you, then?" she replied. 1 should just like to see somebody abduct me," said Mrs. Smith. at the breakfast table, the other morning. "Hem! so should I. my dear—so should I," said Mr. Smith with exceeding earnestness. There may be a certain advantage in marrying a deaf and dumb woman, but when she calls you all sorts of names, and says mean things to you with her fingers, it makes you wish she could talk for a little while, anyhow. A gentleman of a mechanical turn took off his gas- meter to repair it himself, and put it on again upside down. At the end of the quarter it was proved with arithmetical correctness that the gas company owed him thirty-four shillings. The woman who put her tongue to a hot iron to see if it was hot, now sits calmly and sees her husband pull off his boots on the parlour carpet without a word of dissent. The girl who will almost cry if she happens to let a drop of ink fall on a letter, is never put out in the least when she is told that she spelled disappointment with one p. An exchange says that women never think. Perhaps the man who penned that statement think those summer hats and bewitching suits plan themselves, but we don't believe it. "Never put off till to-morrow what can be done to- day," is a pretty good motto: but the man who be- lieves in it firmly will, nevertheless, delay a visit to the dentist as long as possible. "My darling," wrote a husband to his wife, "I shall not be home till late this evening. Do not wait for me. It's for thy dear sake I work by the light of the pale, effulgent moon, as if it were the bright, dazzling sunshine." She didn't wait, she went and got a detective and hunted him up.' A religious newspaper will go the round of the family circle, and still look bright and clean: but when the family story paper makes the circuit, it looks as if it had served in the capacity of a bustle, and been given to the baby to cut its teeth on. There are three things that no man can keep-a point on a pencil; a pointed joke; and an appoint- ment with a dentist. There are three things no woman can do cro%s before a horse; hurry for a train; and understand the difference between ten minutes and half an hour. AVell, wife. I don't see, for my part, how they send letters on them 'ere wires without tearing 'em all to bits." 1; Law, me, they don't send the paper—they just send the writin' in a fluid state A small boy hearing his parents speak of a soprano who sang in their church, asked what it was. His father said. "A soprano, my boy, is a lady who is up in all the airs and puts 'em on heavy." Come, 'pa," said a lad from school, "how peas are in a pint?" How can anybody tell tha foolish boy?'' "lean, every time you bet: there is just one p in pint, the world over." He was sent off to bed earlv. „ Come, it's of no use being too nice, my hearty, said the captain, when he found himself and wrecked and starving on a desert island. > pray don't call me nice, captain," replied the little middy, those fellows have such tremendous ap- 1 A man having ^'everlTen an envious rival said, That's the only fit e,er seen m that establishment. h f s0 knowing that the "*■*coracto him for infornmtmnon the <■ there'8 a poor man out there that would give anything to see you. '<Who is it, my son?" It is a blind man. » pit] Vour husband die intestate ? asked a lawyer of a wi'dsyw in a probate s>ait. "No," she cried, bridling ap: "he died in his own house in this village. Will you settle that old account of yours tni Jllorng t said a colonist. "No. sir; you areniis, t aivcn in the man; I am not one of the old settlers." "What is the best remedy for an inattentive audience Y" asked a young clergyman of an old oc^ u of divinity. Give them something to atten was the curt reply. tW AVolsey Yes, I know," said a seedy genius,. ™ ,haJt told Cromwell to 'fling away ambitio:a, Cromwell did fling it away, and I wish I he flung it, so I could pick it qp,"
EXTRAORDINAY CASE IN THE DIVORCE…
EXTRAORDINAY CASE IN THE DIVORCE COURT. On Friday in last week, in the Divorce Court, Sir James llannen had before him the case of Euston V. Euston, otherwise Smith. This was a suit bv the Earl of Euston, eldest son of the Duke of Grafton, for a declaration of nullity of marriage, on the ground that when he married the respondent she had a hus- band alive. To this her answer was that the man with whom she had gone through a ceremony of marriage before she married Lord Euston was a married man with a wife alive when that ceremony was performed, and that, therefore, she was not legally married to him, and was free to marry when she became the wife of Lord Euston. Mr. C. Russell, Q.C., Mr. Murphy, Q.C., and Mr. Lehmenn appeared for the petitioner; and Mr. Inderwick, J.C., and Mr. Montagu Williams for the respondent. Mr. Russell, in stating the case for the petitioner, said that his client was the Hon. James Henry Fitz- roy, commonly called the Earl of Euston. He was the eldest son of the Duke of Grafton. In 1870 his rather was Lord Charles Fitzrov, brother of the then Duke of Grafton, and the petitioner was the Hon. James Henry Fitzroy. In that year the petitioner made the acquaintance of the respondent, whose maiden name was Walsh, but who at that time was known as Kate Cooke," she having adopted the latter surname from a man with whom she had lived, and who was connected with a circus. Having formed relations with her and visited her for some months, the petitioner went through a cermony of mar- riage with her at a parish church in Worcester on the 20tl of May,18ïI,the witnesses of the marriage beingan official of the Church and a solicitor named Froggett In the marriage certificate she described herself as Kate Walsh Smith, widow. The petitioner was entitled on his own account to EIO,000 at the time the ceremony was gone through, and that sum he settled on the respondent. Froggett was trustee of the settlement, and he subsequently made away with the trust money, The petitioner and the respondent lived together off and on up to 187.), when the petitioner's married life, which had throughout been an unhappy one, had become intolerable, and lie resolved to separate from the respondent. There was no issue of the marriage, and having left her, he had had from that time no communication with her up to the present. The petitioner went to Australia after the separa- tion and obtained a Government employment there, the duties of which he discharged in a manner every way creditable to himself. Circumstances having arisen which put on the alert those who were acting for him, inquiries pursued under great diffi- culties led to the discovery that when the respondent went through the ceremony of marriage with the petitioner she had living a husband, who was in court to-day. It was found that on the 6th of July, 1863, she was married at St. Mungo's Catholic Church. Glasgow, to that man, whose name was George Manby Smith." He was a commercial traveller, and on the marriage certificate he was described as a "bachelor," she being described as Kate Walsh, spinster." The respondent having been sued in a County Court seemed to have sworn that her husband, George Manby Smith," had sailed in the London for Australia and gone down in that ship; and, singular to say, on inquiry it was found that a person with the initials "G. M. Smith" had sailed and gone down in that ship. It would be conclusively proved, however, that he was not the G. M. Smith who had married the respondent, but a Mr. George Maslin Smith." More remarkable still, it had been discovered that the George Manby Smith who had married the respondent had also shipped for Australia. From letters and photographs in the possession of his mother he had been traced to New Zealand and brought home. On his return he went to the house in which the respondent was living and there identified her, but she suggested that he was not the Smith to whom she had been married, but a brother or some other relative of that person. Whether she would persevere in that suggestion he did not know, but at all events she put forward this issue—that whether or not he was the George Manby Smith with whom she went through a ceremony of marriage in 1863 the person with whom she went through that ceremony had then a wife living, and that, therefore, it was a nullity. Lord Euston, examined by Mr. Murphy, Q.C., said lie was the petitioner in the case and lie made the acquaintance of Kate Cooke in 1870. He lived: with her before going through the ceremony of marriage with her in 1871. He was then 22, and she said, he thought, that she was 24. He settled £10,100 on her. Differences arose between them, and he went to Australia in 1875. He filled a Government appoint- ment there and returned to this country in 1881. Cross-examined by Mr. Inderwick: He had known the respondent six months before the marriage. She was living in Montpelier-square. He learnt from her that she had been previously married. She never informed him that she had reason to believe the man she was married to had been married before, but she said that she believed he had gone down in the London. He saw a certificate of the first marriage of Smith the date of the certificate was the 26th of June, 1862. Witness was married at Worcester. Froggett was Eresent. He believed that Froggett went to Birming- am and made inquiries about the previous marriage of the respondent, but Froggett did not tell him that Smith's wife was living in 1863 when he married the respondent. He learnt that his father had spoken of indicting Kate Cooke for bigamy, and spoke to Froggett about it. To his knowledge no letter came to his wife from "Mary Anne Smith," representing herself to be George Manby Smith's wife. He believed that George Manby Smith was in court. The other day he gave the address at which he believed Smith was living. It was at Watford. He got that address from his solicitor. Re-examined by Mr. Russell: His wife was de- scribed in his marriage certificate as a widow." He fancied it was after his marriage lie got from Froggett the certificate of Smith's first marriage. He had only seen Smith once in his life until to-day. That was when he and Smith went to the respondent's house that Smith might identify her. George Manby Smith, examined by Mr. Russell, said he arrived from New Zealand in January, 1883. A gentleman who came to him in New Zealand brought him a letter and a photograph, and told him Irs expenses to this country would be paid. In 1863 he was travelling in Glasgow for a Birmingham house. He then met Kate Cooke, who was in court. She told him she had been living with a man named Cooke, who was connected with a circus, and that he had been unkind to her. Witness married her on the 6th of July, 1863, at St. Mungo's Catholic Church. His father's name was John Ashwin Smith, and his mother's maiden name was Lippett. He and Kate Cooke separated in five months. During that period they did not live happily. Before going to Australia and New Zealand in November, 1864, he last saw Kate Cooke in September of that year. In either 1870 or 1871 he wrote to his mother from Auckland in the name George Johnson." When he came home his mother was living at Watford. Recently he went to the house in which the respon- dent was living and identified her, that being the first occasion on which he saw her since 1864. He was married to a person named Marv Anne Smith, whose ^} was Johnson, on the 26th of June, 1862, his iirpviniiIi1rU"ple tc Cooke he was informed that o KrV (r™Cl:ad' from a friend friend ot his first wife. He F a"?*pS Xettw her aftei He lad not the slightest doubt that the woman siting before him in court was the Kate Cooke whom maiiied in 186ti. Cross-examined When lie went to identify his wife he looked at her only for a minute, and not a word was spoken. He at once identified her. He did not know that his address had been applied for by the respondent. He nf>t marry a woman named Johnson Mary Anne Smith had sons. His father and mother and himself lived at one time at Mary Anne Smith's house in Birmingham. She had a little Anne Sm^sUon settled on herself. He Kr^t^earoBCtany of .l.ut poperty. H. return?,! fro, Glasgow ^3^ did not go to the p a -j ;u that she was not go because he had hea^ i house at dead. Her friend had told 01 him name 0f the Birmingham. He did not rememe wife'" sons street. He did not go to see Ins dec3ase d^essons. He had seen enough of them, and lie 1 'mm. PlX5iok licre informed to Court thrttb. respondent having now had an opportunity of seeing the witness who had just given evidence, she admitted that lie was the George Manby Smith with whom she went through the ceremony of marriage in July, 183, oJ Sarah Jane Smith said she was married to George Maslin Smith in June, 1861. He left home for lymouth on January 1, 1866, and sailed in the London for Australia and was lost. She, as his widow, obtained in this Court administration to his estate. Mary Ann Smith, examined by Mr. Russell, said she was 83 years old. She was married to George Ashwin Smith in 1827. She had six children, one of whom was George Manby. He went to Australia in 1864. He wrote to her from Auckland in the name of George Johnson. She gave some letters and a photograph of her son, George Manby, to the peti- tioners solicitor. She now identified as her son the George Manby Smith who had just given evidence. This was the case for the petitioner. For the respondent, William Henry Johnson was examined by Mr. Montagu Williams. He said he had had a sister whose maiden name was Mary Anne Johnson." She was married to a man named William Smith, and they had four children. William Smith died in January, 1853. After that his sister came to him at Holloway, having three children with her. In 1861 she returned to Birmingham and lived there. He went down in the autumn of 1862 and found that she had in her house George Manby Smith, who had been examined to-day. AVitness knew that this man had at that time married his sister. In November, 1866, he received a communication that his sister, Mrs. George Manby Smith, was dangerously ill at Edgbaston, near Birmingham. He and his sister Phillis went down from London, and found that Mary Anne was in a dangerous state from cancer in the womb. She died on June 9, 1867. Witness was present at the death, and with his sister Phillis went and registered the death, the certificate of which was now in court. Mr. Russell said he had no question to ask the witness. Phillis Johnson, sister of the last witness, corrobo- rated the testimony of her brother as to her sister Mary Anne having been alive up to the 9th of June, 1867, when she died in witness's presence. The various official certificates having been put in evidence, Mr. Russell said he could not controvert the testi- mony of the last two witnesses. I The President: It is now admitted that the George Manby Smith whom we have seen in the box is the person who was lawfully married to Mary Anne Smith, widow, on Juno 26, 1862. It is further proved that he went through a ceremony of marriage with the respondent on July 6, 1863, lie not being then in a position to contract a lawful marriage, because of his wife Marv Anne Smith being alive. Kate AValsh was then free to marry, but she was not lawfully married to George Manby Smith, becaue he had a wife alive. The Jury at once found that George Manby Smith was lawfully married to Mary Anne Smith on June 26, 1862; that Kate Walsh was not lawfully married to the said George Manby Smith on July ti, 1863; that the said George Manby Smith was alive on May :2), 1871, and that the petitioner and the res- pondent were lawfully married on May 27, 1871. The President said was a finding for the respondent, and he dismissed the petition with costs.
CO-OPERATIVE FARMING.
CO-OPERATIVE FARMING. The Spectator says Most people who are interested in the welfare of the working classes have heard of the Co-operative Farms at Assington, and we shall take the importance of extending that fruitful experi- ment as admitted by all who are likely to read the present appeal. At this moment, however, something more is wanted than help to extend the experiment. If enough people do not come forward, it will not be possible even to maintain it on the scale on which it has hitherto been carried on. Assington has two co-operative farms, both founded by the late Mr Gordon, one as long ago as 1820 and another in 1853. The first is still in existence, though it has ceased to pay a dividend since 1879. The second has been less fortunate. It went on very well till 1S60, by which time £ (>00 lent by Mr. Gurdon had been repaid, and from 1861 to 1879 it continued to pay a dividend. But between 1861 and 1879 the society incurred a debt of < £ 600, partly from bad sea- sons, and partly, it is said, from injury done to the crops by ground game; and as a result of this the business has had to be wound up. It is not bankrupt, however, in the ordinary sense of the term. The assets remaining after all the liabilities have been pro- vided for far exceed tho share capital subscribed, so that neither shareholders nor creditors are in any way the worse for having believed in co-operation. But there is not capital enough to go on working under the new and burdensome conditions which modern require- ments impose upon the farmer. Without this capital it is iinpossibletotideoverbadharvests, to raise stock rather than cereal or root crops, or to employ sufficiently skilled labour in the management of the farm. Yet that co- operative agriculture should be abandoned in the very place where it was first tried would be so great a mis- fortune, that a new society has been started, which, by taking warning from the errors of its predecessors, may, it is hoped, keep clear of the rocks on which that predecessor made shipwreck. Most of the old shareholders are members of the new society, but in order to provide the capital which is now a necessary of life to any such undertaking, a wider public has been appealed to. The farm comprises 223 acres and to work this, E2500 is wanted. Of this sum, about half has been subscribed, and it is proposed to raise £ 1250 more, in £1 shares. The society will be formed even should this sum be not forthcoming, since the landlord has allowed it to rent 120 acres at once, and has consented to give it the refusal up to next Michaelmas of the remaining 103 acres. But as 223 acres can be worked at a much smaller proportionate outlay than 120, it is very desirable that the additional capital should be raised. What are the inducements that can safely be held out to subscribers ? In other words, what arc the chances that the new venture will be more successful than the old ? The two things are really identical, because if the new society has no probability of success which did not equally belong to the old one, it is plainly useless to delude the labourers by holding out the hope that they will do better under co-operation than under the ordinary system of working for wages. The chances are these -first, the rent paid is 10s. an acre less, which, if the whole 223 acres are taken, means of itself a dividend of £4 per cent. on a capital of £2500. Secondly, the possession of capital to the extent of £10 an acre will in itself be a very great advantage. It was the want of capital that broke the back of the old society. Thirdly, the new society will set to work under the Ground Game Act, and the loss from ground game, which in the opinion of the labourers was a chief cause of the failure of the old Society, will be avoided. More capital, a lower rent, and proper precautions against hares and rabbits ought to ensure a very marked distinction between the fortunes of the two Societies. Thus the prospects of the new Society are seemingly bright enough to make investment in it a reasonably prudent act. The shares are fully paid-up, so that no un- known liabilities are incurred, and the shareholders may fairly expect to do better than those in the old Society, who, at the end of thirty years, divided a sum very much in excess of the amount originally subscribed. With the new interest felt in peasant agriculture, a co-operative farm starts under better auspices than at any former time, and in Assington it has the additional advantage of having no local jealousies to live down. The founders of the Society say that the landlord and the neigh- bouring farmers have shown them "much kind- ness and practical sympathy." Nor can we wonder at this, when we are told that though the material Mr. Gurdon had to deal with was very rough, hardly any of the members being able to read or write," Assington now contains a population which, com- pared with that of the neighbouring villages, is better clothed and fed, has a more independent appearance, and lives in more comfortable homes. These are the results which the originators of co-operative farming foretold would follow from it and now that they have been thus so far realised, it is permissible to ground on that fact an appeal for aid to continue, on a larger scale and under more favourable conditions, an experiment which has already yielded such excellent fruit.
GARDENING FOR THE WEEK.
GARDENING FOR THE WEEK. CONSERVATORY AXII GREENHOUSE. Azaleas that have done flowering must be kept rather close and in a moist atmosphere to favour a quick growth, as it is important to get the new wood well ripened when the growth is completed. Those that are cramped at the roots must be repotted in good peat and silky loam. Camellias done blooming treat the same as advised for azaleas. Those coming into bloom must have occasional assistance from liquid manure. Lanky plants will be improved by removing the top buds before they expand, to throw vigour into the lower branches. Hyacinths must have abundance of water while in bloom, and for some time after; as long, indeed, as the foliage continues green and growing. After it begins to get discoloured dry them off -gradually, and lay the pots on their sides where they will have morn- ing and evening sun to ripen the bulbs. to be encouraged to grow freely by the use of the syringe and regular tying out. Fumi- gate as soon as fly appears, or much mischief may ensue. Plants showing for bloom to have weak manure or soot water at every other watering. STOVE AND OHCIIID HOUSE. An increase of heat and moisture will now be re- quired for orchids of all kinds, in both Indian and Mexican houses, but water must be applied with caution until growth has fairly commenced. Speci- mens of Cattlera, Calanthe, Phajus, Saccolabium, Stanhopea, Zygopetatum, Brassia, Dendrobium, and Sobralia will require frequently syringing about their pots and blocks as the plants advance; in fact, the cultivator must now encourage luxuriant growth as early as possible, in order to have the pseudo-bulbs well ripened in the autumn. Shading must be puV^ up not later than the second week of the month but a better plan is to have good roller blinds, so ar" to shade at will, if only for an hour or two, when there is a hot sun with an east wind. Growers of Amectochilus usually place them on bottom neat, and keep very close at this time of year, which is the v-rv opposite of good practice. Bottom heat causes too quick a growth, which results in weak- ness, and want of ventilation adds to the mischief, and the two evils are frequently combined for the destruction of collections for which large sums of money have been paid. Ordinary stove temperature is all they require. FLOWER GARDEN AND PLEASURE GROUNDS. Auriculas to be shaded as the bloom progresses, and have shelter at night by means of mats. Give plenty of water and plenty of air. Thin the pips in good time to the standard number, whatever that may be. Chrysanthemums for general decorative purposes to be now propagated. Suckers are as good as cuttings, and there need be no disputes about the relative values. They do not require much heat to start them, and nothing is better than a gentle hotbed on the old- fashioned plan. Old stools may be planted out in the borders. Violets planted now from young runners of Russian and the double-llowering kinds will make fine plants. Seedling plants generally bloom most profusely, and in most of the seed catalogues the best kinds are entered. KITCHEN GARDEN. Forcing must be continued with Lettuce, Mint, Asparagus, and Potatoes. Many of the complaints of failure which reach us are attributable to high night temperatures. All sources of heat that are under full control, such as hot water and flues, admit of being reduced or increased as required, and the temperature should always fall from five to ten degrees at night in heated structures of all kinds. 0 Successional sowings may be made of all leading kitchen crops, and, where the work of the last month has been delayed, seeds got in early will not. be much behmd those sown last month. Sow Windsor, Long- pod, and Johnson's Wonderful Beans. Sowings should also be made of Horn Carrot, Savoy, Brussels Sprouts, Scotch Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflowers, and Cabbages, for autumn use, a succession of such things being preferable to a glut all at once for the private grower. Beet should be sown in the second week in ground deeply dug, but not manured. Sow also Onions, Lettuce, Radish, Small Salad, Seakale, and Asparagus; the two last in drills, one foot apart, and one inch deep for asparagus, and two inches for seakale. Tomatoes, Capsicums, cf-c.—Pot off as fast as needful, and keep them growing vigorously. It is not too late to sow if they have been neglected. j Vegetable Marrows sown now will produce almost as early as those sown a fortnight or a month since. It is best to bring the plants on singly in pots, as they are shorter and stronger when turned out than if grown several in a pot, and allowed to sprawl about and spindle away their strength. TIIE HOUSE. An aquarium, when properly managed, will not fail to afford an immense amount of pleasure, or an ample return for the time and attention bestowed upon it. In the stocking and management of an aquarium the very general error of attempting too much mnst be carefully guarded against, for to the practice of placing a larger number of fishes in the tanks than the body of water they contain is capable of supporting may be attributed a greater proportion of the failures that occur. Undue haste in stocking the tanks, and placing them where the occupants are exposed to too strong a light have also something to answer for. The dimensions and the forms of the tanks must be left to individual taste, but they ought not to be of very small size, and they should certainly possess a fair degree of strength. The rockwork ought to be somewhat limited in quantity and light in con- struetion, so that it will not occupy over much space, or add materially to the weight. It should be built on a level surface, a wooden slab being preferable, and when properly set be immersed in water for a month, as new cement is most injurious to the fishes. The colour of the rockwork is not of so much consequence, as it soon acquires a colouring of its own but a greyish brown is the most pleasing to begin with. In stocking a tank it is not necessary to intro- duce vegetation, and at the most a few plants of Val- lisneria spiralis are alone admissible, and these should be put in when the bed of clean pebbles is formed. The tank ought to be fitted up and be in working order for four or five weeks before the fishes are added, and during that time the water should be changed every three or four days. After the intro- duction of the fishes the water will not require chang- ing at all if a judicious system of management is car- ried out, but it will be necessary to add a little occa- sionally to replace the loss from evaporation. The fishes should be comparatively few and small, and taking all things into consideration, the gold carp is decidedly the best. A subdued light is the most con- ducive to the welfare of the animals, and if vertical so much the better. AVhen the aquarium occupies a position near a sunny window the blinds will require careful management, as continuous sunshine is most hurtful, and will soon cause an immense amount of mischief. Cooked rice is the most suitable food f.)r ctfrp, and in feeding no more ought to be given than will be at once eaten.—Gardeners' Magazine.
WILLS AND BEQUESTS.
WILLS AND BEQUESTS. (From the Illustrated London News.) The will (dated Nov. 23, 1875), with a codicil (dated Nov. 6, 1879), of the Rev. John William Conant, late of Portsmouth-road, formerly Queen's- road, Surbiton, Surrey, who died on Feb. iA) last, was proved on the 6tli ult. by Colonel Stephen Percy Groves, Henry John Conant, the son, and Mrr. Margaret Frances Elizabeth Gost] ing-Murray, the daughter, the executors, the value of the personal estate amounting to upwards of £ 200,000. The tes- tator leaves £250, and his pictures, plate, china, furni- ture, wines, household effects, horses and carriages, to his wife, Mrs. Frances Catherine Conant; his resi- dence in Queen's-road to his wife for life, and then to his son Henry John E66," Consols, upon trust, for his wife for life, and then to be equally divided between his said son and his daughter, Mrs. Gostling- Murray; a further sum of X50,000 to his said daughter; his Lincolnshire estates to his son the said Henry John Conant; his estates in the county of Kent are to be sold, and the net proceeds held upon trust for his son Edward Conant for life, and then for his children a complimentary legacy to his executor Colonel Groves; and legacies and annuities to Grace, Maude, and Evelyn Hughes Hallett. The residue of his property is to be equally divided between his three children. The provision made for his daughter is in addition to E14,500 appointed to her under his marriage settlement. The will (dated March 1, 1883) of Mr. George Henry Errington, J.P., D.L., High Steward of the borough of Colchester, late of Lexden-park, Colches- ter, who died on March 8, 1883, was proved on the 1st ult. by George Henry Errington and the Rev. John Launcelot Errington, the sons, and John Stuck Barnes, the executors, the value of the personal estate amounting to upwards of £ 82,000. The testator snakes some specific bequests to his children, certain bf his plate is to go as heirlooms with the Chadwell Hall and Derbyshire estates settled on his son George Henry on his marriage, and he bequeaths legacies to his executor Mr. Barnes, and to his butler and gamekeeper. He appoints a sum of ;Cl I,O(K) under his marriage to his daughter, Mrs. Margaret Jane Dorothy Brock. The Lexden Park and all other his real and copyhold estates are to be sold, and the proceeds, with his residuary personal estate, subject to the payment of XIO,000 thereout to his grandsons, Errington Burnley Hume and Arthur Errington Burnley Hume, divided into two parts, one uf which is to be held, upon trust, for his daughter, Mrs. Brock, and the other part he gives to his son the Rev. John Launcelot Errington. The will (dated July 23, 1872), with two codicils (dated Dec. 8, 1874, and July 27, 1880), of the Hon. Mrs. Frederica Mary Catherine Baring, widow of the Hon. and Rev. Frederick Baring, late of No. 9, Grosvenor-crescent, who died on Jan. 2 last, was proved on Feb. 27 by Captain Hugh Berners, B.N., one of the executors, the value of the personal estate amounting to upwards of £ 79,000. The testatrix be- queaths certain ornamental furniture, bronzes, and china to Lord Ashburton, her late husband's nephew, in full confidence that he will settle them as heirlooms to go with the family estates; £ 4000 to her brother, AViliiam Ashton, but if he predeceases her then to her niece Mrs. Alice Lyon; £ 2000 and her plate and plated articles to her niece.. Mrs. Alice Maude Rycroft; £ 7000, upon trust, for her sister, Mrs. Julia Alice Ashton, for life, and then for her niece, Mrs. Julia Talbot, and her children; a further sumofjE3000 to her said niece, Mrs. Talbot; and some other legacies. The residue of her property is to be held, upon trust, for her niece, Mrs. Alice Henrietta Rowley, for life; then, as to £ 10,000 thereof, for Mrs. Rowley's children; and as to the ultimate residue, for her said niece, Mrs. Talbot. The will (dated Jan. 5, 1872), with two codicils (dated Oct. 25, 1875, and Jan. 1, 1881), of Mr. George Essell, late of The Precincts of Rochester Cathedral, who died on Jan. 23 last, was proved on Feb. 14 bv George Henry Knight, William Guy Essell, and" George Ketchley Essell, the sons, and George Matthews Arnold, the executors, the value of the personal estate exceeding £ 44,000. There are some bequests; and the residue of his real and per- sonal estate, subject to an annuity to his wife, who, we understand, predeceased him, the testator leaves to his six children. The will (dated Aug. 20, 1883) of Mr. Thomas Clement Cobbold, C.B., M.P. for Ipswich, who died on Nov. 21 last, was proved on the 7th ult. by [.Nathnnael Fromanteel Cobbold, the brother, the sole executor, the value of the personal estate amounting to over £ 37,000. The testator leaves his share and interest in the capital of the banking business carried on by him in partnership with his said brother at Ipswich, Woodbridge, and Harwich, his residence at Ipswich, with the furniture and effects, except plate, and £ 4000, to his brother Nathanael Fromanteel Cobbold his plate to his brother Felix Thornely Cobbold; £ 6000 to his sister Mrs. Lucy Jervis White Jervis; JE2000 to his sister Miss Anne Frances Cobbold his share and interest in the public-houses, lands, and capital of the partnership business of brewers and merchants car- ried on by him with his brother Felix Thornely Cob- bold, charged with X20,000 in aid of the general estate, to his last-named brother and his nephew, John Dupuis Cobbold, and legacies to his brother John Chevallier Cobbold, to his sister Mrs. Green, to nephews and nieces, and to his servant. The residue of his property he gives to his said brother Mr. N. I. Cobbold. The deceased was formerly in the diplo- matic service. The will (dated June 3, 1867), with two codicils (dated July 15, 1871, and Oct. 12, 1880), of the Rev. Sir Gilbert Franklanl Lewis, Bart., J.P., formerly Canon Residentiary of Worcester, late of Harpton Court, in the county of Radnor, and of No. 5, Cadogan- square, Chelsea, who died on Dec. 18 last, has been proved by Sir Herbert Edmund Frankland Lewis, the son, and Hugh Lindsay Antrobus, the executors, the value of the personal estate being over £ 32,000. The testator leaves E2700, certain horses and carriages, and the furniture and effects in his house at Worcester, except plate, which she is to have the use of for life only, to his wife, Dame Jane Lewis; his house in Cadogan-square, with the furni- ture and appurtenances, to his wife for life, and then to his eldest surviving child his shares in the Cheltenham Gas and Coke Company, and the money to be received from the Economic Insurance Com- pany, also to his wife for life and £ 100 to his exe- cutor, Mr. Antrobus, free of duty. The residue of his real and personal estate he gives to his said son. The deceased was the younger brother of the late Right Hon. Sir George Cornewall Le vis. The will (dated Feb. 17, 1866) of the Right Hon. Julia Mann, Baroness Amherst, Viscount Holmesdale, late of Linton-park, Maidstone, who died on Sept. 1 last, has been proved by Viscount Holmesdale, the sole executor, the value of the personal estate amount- ing to over £ 31,000. The testatrix bequeaths all her personal estate, whatsoever and wheresoever, to her husband, the said Viscount Holmesdale, absolutely. The deceased was a daughter of James, Earl Corn- wallis.