The Illustrated Usk Observer and Raglan Herald

THE DISTRESS IN BLACKBURN. In consequence of some dissatisfaction the out-of- door labourers employed by the Blackburn Relief Committee in making some improvements, which can be accomplished by the employment of unskilled labour in the Corporation-park, ceased working on Wednes- day morning, and a slight disturbance ensued. The origin of this dissatisfaction appears to be in the dis- charge of some of the men for insubordination. On Tuesday afternoon some of the labourers were dis- charged by the Labour Committee, and this seems to have offended the other labourers, who left their work in a body on Wednesday morning and proceeded to the Relief Committee's offices in Clayton-street. They were told that they had no right to interfere in what had been done, and were ordered back to their work, but it appears that a disturbance ensued, and some of the men attacked their gangers," one of whom was badly hurt. The matter was brought before the borough magistrates the same day, when steps were taken to bring some of the leaders before the Bench, With regard to the extent of the prevailing distress, it may be said that it is gradually diminishing. The Relief Committee paid to the out-of-door labourers last week a sum of £ 223 lis. 2d., the number of labourers em- ployed being 607. In addition to the money payment, the labourers also received a quantity of flour and meal. The Relief Committee's sewing-class is gradually experiencing a reduction in the number of attendants. Last week 77 females who attended the class were re- lieved with X12 3s. 3d., being X5 10s. less than was granted to 73 attendants in the previous week. In addition to this relief the committee also distributed a quantity of flour and meal to the necessitous in the several wards. The number of applicants for paro- chial relief has greatly decreased. The returns for last week showed that 5,665 were relieved in the Union with £ 322 5s. 6d., against 5,671 with .£31813s. 8d. in the preceding week, and against 13,170 with £ 730 19s. 6d. in the corresponding week of 1862. Of the total number relieved 4,136 belonged to the Black- burn district, which is chiefly affected by the cotton famine, and these were relieved with .£227 19s. 4d. During the week there has been a special meeting of the Town Council for the purpose of affixing the cor- porate seal to an indenture of mortgage between the Corporation and the Secretary of the Public Works Loan Commissioners for securing the sum of £10,000, being the first instalment of the £78,300 agreed to be advanced to the Corporation under the Public Works Act. The annual Michaelmas fair has been held during' the week, but though there is a considerable improvement on last year, tradesmen and others com- plain that but little business has been done. ♦ A serious accident befel the 4.48 passenger

One of the cases tried at the Central Criminal; !ourt was that of the young man Pountney, who was harged with perjury in obtaining a license for his tarriage with a Miss Crossley, of Ely. The jury ac- uitted him. It is a very long time since the Cornish ilohard fishery was so productive as it is this year, 'he fish, generally very fine, is hawked about the aunty at-from 13d. to 15d. per six score. The seven aaflS which were inclosed in less than two hours near fewquay have been estimated to be worth not less han < £ 25,000. Hundreds of persons are employed in uring fish for exportation across the Mediterranean, ;c. The catches during the week wore immense.

WILLS AND BEQUESTS. The will of Admiral Sir Henry Hope, K.C.B., of Hanover-square, was proved in London by his brother, General Frederick Hope, the sole executor, the personal property being sworn under < £ 70,000. Nearly half this sum the admiral has left to charitable institutions, -appointing his said brother, General Hope, residuary legatee; bequeathing to his brother, Captain Hope, R.N., and to his sister Katherine some personal re- membrances, who, he states, are amply provided for. There are legacies left to godchildren, to personal friends, and to his executors. The following are the charitable bequests :-Church Missionary Society, =24,000 British and Foreign Bible Society, £ 4,000 London City Mission, £ '4,000; Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews, £ 2,000; Church Pas- toral Aid Society, £ 2,000; Colonial Church and Schools, < £ 2,000Irish Church Mission, £ 1,000; Sailors' Home, Wells-street, London Docks, £ 1,000; and to the Church in connection with the Sailors' Home a legacy of £5,000 (which by the codicil was increased from £ 1,000); to the Richmond School for the Daughters of Naval Officers, £ 1,000; Thames Church Mission, Sailors' Destitute Asylum, Ship- wreeked Mariners' Society, Sailors' Orphan Girls' School at Hampstead, London Church Extension and Training Aid Institution, to each a legacy of £ 500. The will of John Labouchere, Esq., of Broome-hall, near 'Dorking, Surrey; Portland-place, Marylebone; and of Birchin-lane, London, banker, was proved in the principal registry, on the 6th Oct., by his relict, and Henry Sykes Thornton, John Deacon, and William Samuel Deacon, Esqrs., his partners, the executors and trustees. The personal property was sworn under £ 140,000. The testator has made a liberal provision for his relict, and has appointed her residuary legatee of both real and personal estate. To his eldest son he bequeaths .£20,000, to his youngest son, .£16,000, and to each of his daughters, £ 8,000. Legacies are left to his executors, and to the two principal clerks of his town and the two principal clerks of his country departments of his banking business, as also to his bailiffs and domestic servants. A sum of £ 200 is left for the repairs of the church of Capel, Surrey, which he endowed at his own expense; the nomination and presentation he leaves to his relict and trustees. He bequeaths to the St. Paul's Church for Seamen, Dock- street, Whitechapel, and to the Society for the Relief ot. Distressed Widows who apply within one month of their widowhood, legacies of .£100 each.—Illustrated Mews.

traffic train out from Fenchurch-street station of the North London Railway on Monday afternoon, on the viaduct over Bow Common, which was nigh being at- tended with the most serious consequences. The train, which was a heavy one for the number of passengers, was travelling at its usual speed, when a sudden commotion was observed about the centre of the train, and a cloud of dust and dirt thrown up. The guard feeling the jerk of the train, looked out and saw that a wheel had broken off from the axle of one of the carriages, and that the carriage was thrown off on the line. He immediately applied his break, and the driver finding that an accident had occurred shut off his steam. The train was brought up, and the passengers in the carriages were released.. They were very much alarmed, but none had sustained any hurt, excepting a few bruises. It was very fortunate that the carriage that had lost its wheel had a, break attached to it; the chain connected with the lever prevented the axle from falling on the line, and the guard, feeling the heavy strain on the break, suspected the cause, and braced it up with all the power he could. Had it befallen a carriage not fitted with a break, the axle must have fallen down, and would have bcei the cause of over- turning the remainder of the train. As soon as pos- sible assistance was obtained from the company's loco- motive works at Bow, and in the course of an hour and a-half the line was cleared, and the traffic was re- sumed. The cause of the wheal breaking away from the axle is not explained; it broke off close to the box 'of the wheel.

EPITOME OF NEWS. --+-- M. Nadar, writing to the Independance of Brussels, says that be will continue his balloon ascensions until he has collected money sufficient to carry out his plan of navi- gating in the air. The Giant balloon, he says, is in such a state that the damages to it can easily be repaired. Mr. Baron Pigott sat at the Judge's Chambers for the first time since his appointment, and disposed of a number of summonses on Thursday. On Monday his lordship took his seat in the Court of Exchequer, being the first day of Michael- mas term. As a banksman at the Tame Mill Colliery, Willenhall, Wolverhampton, named Patrick Flanuaghan, aged thirty-nine years, was pushing a skip the other day on to what he thought was the wagon or platform of the shaft, but which wagon really was not there, the skip fell down the open shaft, and Flannaghan with it He was picked up with his skull fractureol and his back broken, quite dead. He leaves a widow and four orphans. At the Sheriff's Court, Red Lion-square, a special jury, under the presidency of Mr. Under-Sheriff Burchell, awarded compensation to the trustees of Mrs. Cart's Charity for poor clergymen, for premises required for the Dead- meat Market, now occupied by the Publishing Company. The following notice has been issued by order of the Postmaster-General: "In future, when delay of payment of a money order for ten days is desired, the remitter must, at the time of issue, affix a penny receipt stamp on the order, and wiitehis name across it.. The order must then be handed to the issuing officer, so that the necessary instructions may be given to the paying office." We deeply regret to learn, says the Record, that the health of the Rev. Dr. Guthrie, of the Free Church of Scotland, is so seriously affected that his medical men have ordered pfrfect repose, and that his friends fear that the activity of his public life must be regarded as terminated. As Mr. J. B. Harding, farmer, Etchilhampton, near Devizes, was in the act of getting through a hedge the other day with his gun, something caught the trigger, and the piece nstantly went off. The whole charge entered Mr. Harding's thigh, and it is doubtful whether the bowels have not been most seriously injured. He is pronounced by the surgeon to be in a very dangerous condition. In order to meet the wants of persons residing at Padding-ton, and passengers who arrive per the Great West- ern Railway and wish to proceed to London-bridge terminus, the General Omnibus Company have started three of their large Manchester three-horse emnibuses to run between the Bishop's- road, Paddington, and London-bridge; the fare to or from Far- ringdon-steet is reduced to 2d., and for the whole distance, either way, to 3d. each person. Charles Bird, the young man charged with robbery from a tomb, in Willenhall, in West Suffolk, has been sent to gaol for three months with hard labour. Warrants have been issued for the apprehension of his accomplices, one ef whom was sexton of the church. The Great Northern Railway Company, for the fifth time, has decided to apply for powers to construct a line from Doncaster to Gainsborough. The North-Eastern hqve in contemplation a similar scheme, which will connect the port of Gainsborough with that of Hull. The announcement that Mr. Scott Russell has made arrangements to open an iron ship-building yard at Car- diff has induced the other ship-builders in that town to take a step in the same direction. Messrs. Batchelor Brothers are about to lay down an iron ship at their graving-dock, and Messrs. Hill and Sons intend following the example immediately present orders are completed. An important operation in connection with the telegraphic system in Ireland—one by which it is allesred the American news will be received in the metropolis six hours earlier than a. -resent-has just been completed. This is the laying of the wire completing direct communication between Cape Clear and London. We understand that the fine Highland estate of Lochaline, in the parish of Morvern, Argyllshire, which was ex- posed at Messrs. Dowells arid Lyon's on Friday last, at £45,000, but not then sold, has since been purchased by Mr. Andrew Webster, S.S.C., for Mrs. Paterson, Knock-house, Mull, for jE43,500. The following odd advertisements appeared in the Daily Telegraph last week:—"DearAl—.return. I am so altered in appearance that you will not recognise Rle; I have been enamelled."—"Asopinthe pan at Greenwich. Five tailors hoodwinked by der cook." George Turner, the man with many aliases, who was charged", ith selling an advowson which did not belong to him, has been tried for the offence at the Central Crimiual Court. The defence Was that, the prisoner was really negotiating for the purchase of the advowson which he sold, and that the transaction was altogether bonu-lide. The jury acquitted him, but he has to be tried on another charge. The marriage of the Marquis of Tullibardine, only son of the Duke of Athole, with Louisa, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, Bart., of that Ilk, was solemnised last week at Moncreiffe-house, Scotland. Colonel Lamar, who has made a little noise as a Confederate agent in Europe, is about to take his departure to America, It is reported that" about forty bankers and merchants of the City of London gave him a farewell dinner. We regret to learn that the Right Hon. Thomas Milner Gibson, M.P., and Mrs. Gibson have sustained a sad domestic affliction by the death of their eldest son at Hong Kong, from fever. Sir Hugh Nugent, Bart., a youth of 'eighteen years of age, and a pupil of Mr. Wordsworth, Gift'ord's-hall, Stoke-by-Nayland, was recently shot by accident while out shooting with a fellow-student. He was handing a gun to his companion across a ditch when it exploded, and caused a fatal injury. The particulars of the wreck of the British ship Ocean M-ail have been reported at Lloyd's. The vessel was loaded with a rich cargo oneasand silk, to the value of £150,000. She left Shanghai on August 1, for London, and on the following morning she struck suddenly upon a sunken rock, filled rapidly, and soon afterwards went to pieces.. The crew were all saved, with the exception of the pilot and two apprentices. The Lord Chancellor has presented the Rev. Thomas George Beaumont, M.A., of Magdalene College, Cam- bridge, to the Rectory of Chelmondiston, Suffolk, vacant by the death of the Rev. Howard Gibbon, and the Rev. William Bar- tram, M.A., of Magdalen College, Oxford, to the Rectory of Sharncote, Wilts, vacant by the resignation of the Rev. R, C. Kempe.. Mr. Edward Forster, who completed his hun dredth year towards the close of 1862, is again at Derby, after a prolonged tonr in the southern counties of England. Mr. Foster 'has been warmly welcomed by his many friends, and it is proposed to celebrate his one hundred and first birthday.by a public dinner. An Aberdeen whaler-the Perseverance-has been lost in the Arctic regions. All her crew perished, with the exception ofa man named Leask, who happened to be ashore at the time the vessel was stove in." The establishment of the Mossageries Impe- riales at Ciotat has been destroyed by fire. The loss is estimated at three millions of francs. Some idea may be obtained of the costliness of the new railway improvements in the metropolis when it is stated that the extension cf the South-Westtrn line from Nine Elms to the Waterloo-road a distance of one mile-amounted to £1,000,000. It is estimated that tbe new lines in London will cost on an average about £600,000 per mile. The arrangements for the erection of the Prince of Wales Hotel, about to be established at a cost of nearly one hundred thousand pounds by the public company of which Lord Ranelagh is chairman, have advanced as far as the com- pletion of the builder's contract. Mr, Jethro T. Robinson, of Hull, is the successful competitor. Crinoline has been laid under the ban of the Church, notwithstanding that it was invented by Sl. Eugenie. A French prelate, preaching against this fashion, says-" Let woman beware, while putting on their profuse and expansive attire, how narrow are the gates of Paradise It is stated that the Austrian authorities object to give up the man Dietrichsen, who absconded from London with £10,000, the produce of a fraud, and who was apprehended in Vienna. They say that he is wanted there for trial as a fraudulent bankrupt, his bankruptcy having occurred in 1853 The final determination of the Austrians is not, however, yet announced. The reports current of the illness of the Earl of Derby are said to be greatly exaggerated. His lordship, who has long been subject to periodical aitacks of gout, is now laid up with that disease in a mild form, but is expected to be able, in the course of a week or so, to entertain a numerous circle at Know slt-y for pheasants hooting. ♦- Clerical Preferments and Vacancies.—Pre-

ferments The Rev. W. Burgon, to the vicarage of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford; patrons, Oriel College. The Rev. J. V. French, of University, Oxford, late Princi- pal of the Missionary College, Agra, to the incumbency of St. John's Church, Cheltenham. The Rev. C. 1. Harris, to the incumbency of Bottisham Lode, with Longmeadow, Cambridgeshire; patrons, Trinity Col- lege. The Rev. C. P. Male, of Christ's, Cambridge, assistant master in King Edward's School, Birming- ham, to the incumbency of Cotes-heath, near Stone; patron, the Bishop of Lichfield. The Rev. J. J. Dand, of Christ's, Cambridge, curate of Tynemouth, to the incumbency of Chevington, Warwickshire. The Rev. P. Nursey, of Sydney, Cambridge, curate of Burling- ham. to the rectory of Orostwick; patron, the Bishop of Norwich. Vacancies: The Incumbency of Christ Church, Highbury, the Rev. M. A. Collisson, deceased, 1520 patrons, the Rev. D. Wilson, vicar of Islington, ind other clerical trustees. The Incumbency of Flock- borough, Lancashire, the Rev. W. Rigg, deceased, £110; patron, the Duke of Devonshire. The Rectory )f Selworthv, Somerset, the Rev. J. Stephenson, de- ceased, £840; patron, Sir T. D. Acland. The incutn- )ency of Stoke-by-Clare, Suffolk, the Rev. H. Griffin, ieceased, £77; patron, Mrs. Rush. The Vicarage of Winscombe, Somerset, the Rev. W. Harkness, deceased, £250; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Wells. The Vicarage of Sibbertoft with Theddingwell, the Rev. T. lames, deceased ;"patron, the Bishop of Peterborough.

FASHIONS FOR NOVEMBER. Although the winter toilettes have scarcely begun to make their appearance, we are able to give some very decided information as to what will be fashionable for the coming season. High bodies will be exclusively confined to morning dress. For at home, dinner, or evening dress, fichus or lace vests will be worn over low bodies. The vest camail, or trimmings placed on the body so as to imitate it, is still much in vogue. Many corsages for neglige dresses will be made with postilion basques, especially those trimmed in jacket fashion, so as to form a waistcoat in front. The dresses made in the princess style, body and skirt in one piece, will be much used for visiting dresses, made of rich materials. Full evening dresses will be as much, or, if possible, more, trimmed than ever. Skirts are still made very long, and very full at the bottom. Plaid is for the present quite the rage, whether it will continue its reign much longer is a question we cannot answer; certainly, plaid rotondes are beginning to get a little common in Paris. However, they are unquestionably very charming when made of handsome material; but, in that case, they should be longer than the plainer rotondes. Velvet rotondes are covered with guipure ornaments, and a rich guipure is placed round the bottom, underneath which there is a fringe of silk chenille. Paletots of velvet cloth, brown or grey, nearly fitting to the figure, trimmed with galons, are worn by ladies of fashion. We must not omit to mention that several dresses are made with waistbands, especially those of taffetas. Some of these bodies are laced in front, and have ends of the material edged with lace; others form a band in front and basquine behind, ending in a scarf or (sash) to match. Lace and gui- pure are as greatly in favour for trimming as they have been of late. Some very elegant opera cloaks are made of lace lined through with bright-coloured silk or cash- mere, which shows off the beauty of the pattern. There are also very charming lace fanchons for throw- ing over the head when leaving the opera or ball-room. Feathers will be much used in trimming moire or velvet dresses. Amongst the toilettes we describe this month, some will be found excellent models for winter dresses. A robe of pearl-grey taffetas, with a flounce round the bottom, between five and six inches in width, in hollow plaits, and put on with a band of violet of the same width, which is formed into trimming in the shape of large shamrocks put very closely together, and edged round with lace. The body is made with a double point and piped with velvet; the sleeves half open, quite long and narrow at the bottom, is trimmed round the bottom with a flat band of velvet and velvet shamrocks up the back, matching the design on the skirt; but, of course, of smaller dimensions, A Gabriel collar of violet velvet. The lingerie accom- panying this toilette should be small tight sleeves of organdie, with an embroidered wristband and two frills of Valenciennes lace, and a lace to match standing up round the throat. This dress may also serve as an even- ing dress by having a second body made low, the top trimmed round with a biais of violet velvet, with three shamrock-shaped ornaments down the front and also on the back the sleeve composed of three bouillons of tulle separated by biais folds, of velvet, and above them two small jockeys, the one forming the upper, the other the under part of the sleeve. A plisse of organdi, edged with Valenciennes lace, altogether about two inches in width, finishes off the top of this body. A silver-grey taffetas dress, in checks of narrow stripes of a deep.er shade, China rose-coloured stripes, edged with a black thread; at the bottom of the skirt a wide flounce, with a heading of embroidery. This flounce is made in hollow plaits, and where it is set on a narrow biais of rose-coloured taffetas matching the strips of the dress, are placed pattes of plain grey taffetas edged with a biais of rose-coloured taffetas about the size of a thick piping. These pattes are placed up the dress about three inches apart, and the bottom one has a grey fringe with threads of rose and black mixed, the bottom of the fringe just touching the flounce. A band of the same width as the pattes on the skirt is put on the body, like a square berthe in front, and forms a jockey behind. This band is bordered with a fringe. The sleeves are rather long, and just wide enough to pass the hand through. At the bottom three pattes are placed crossways, and higher up the arm still more on the biais. Rose- coloured taffetas buttons close the front. A dress of blue striped Chambery gauze; the upper half of the skirt is made of this, but the lower consists of a wide blue taffetas 'flounce headed by a ruche or a plisse a la vieille. A low gauze body with blue taffetas trimmings. An Indian foulard, the ground white, with small checks of pale green; wide flounce of green taffetas; high body, with long green sash. A Chambery gauze dress, striped with rose colour. At the bottom of the skirt a narrow black taffetas flounce, with a rouleau of white. Above this an insertion of black lace, over a rose-coloured ribbon; a second flounce and insertion higher up. Low body, trimmed with an insertion. A robe, the upper part of the skirt, plaid, a wide-gathered flounce of black taffetas forming the lower part. Half way up the flounce a plaid ruche, with the centre of black taffetas. High plaid body, black postilion basque, and black trimmings. The newest bonnets are more moderate in shape, and, therefore, more be- coming. Many of them have soft crowns, although these are certainly not suited to the style in which the hair is now worn. Crape and velvet, black silk and plaid velvet, plush and satin, are to be fashionable materials. We have seen some elegant bonnets, made of white plush, and trimmed with plaid velvet and jet fringes. This has a charming effect, and will, we ex- pect, be much adopted.-Le Follet.

STRIKE AMONGST THE DURHAM COLLIERS. For some time past considerable sensation has been caused in the North in consequence of the colliers striking for an advance of wages, and a correspondent of a northern contemporary gives a lengthened account of the modus operandi exercised in his immediate neighbourhood, of which we give the following ex- tracts: Extraordinary Proceedings. Affairs have reached a crisis, he says, and in this district the work of eviction has commenced. General expectation had fixed Brandon Colliery as the place where the wholesale ejection of the miners from their homes would be first attempted, and this was the place where the agitation sprung into existence. The application was made by Mr. Thompson, the cashier of the colliery, to Mr. Love to allow the men to re- main a day longer in their homes, and this request being granted, the people at Brandon remained through that day undisturbed. Sunnybrow, a small pit village situated on an eminence about half a mile from Willington, was selected for the opening attack, and at half-past seven o'clock the following morning the inhabitants saw by a number of police-constables that offensive operations were to be directed against them, and that they must prepare to leave their homes. Notices had been given to between thirty and forty householders to leave on the 28th, others with two days' grace were allowed to remain until the 30th. The question as to who and what class of men would undertake the work of removing the furniture from the houses was one that was not easy of settlement. The cinder-burners em- ployed by Mr. Love, at Brandon, had been requested to undertake the job, and had unanimously refused. The occupiers had agreed to offer no opposition, but to leave quietly, and some had even set their house into the disorder inseparable from a" flitting," in order to be ready for the remover of the goods when he should come. Yet no one seemed to like to undertake the actual work of taking away the furniture of the miners. At Sunnybrow, however, the work was begun, and at nine o'clock the colliery carts, sixteen police- men, and a gang of twenty-four men-gathered, it is said, from the common lodging-houses and from the highways and byeways of the county-commence(I their task. Two youug men, representing', we presume, the owners of the colliery, acted as officials, and enter- ing each house where notices had been served, asked the miner whether or not he was willing to resume work on the conditions offered by the owners. In all instances a negative answer was returned. The pay due to the man was then handed over to him but in two instances the money was refused, and was left by the payers lying on the tables. One man was entitled to £1 for three days' work, and refused to accept it when offered to him. Possession was then taken of the house by the police, and the gang began to hand out the furniture into the carts. The work was con- ducted carefully enough, and the first few loads were conveyed to houses in Willington or the neighbouring villages, where the owners of the furniture had ob- tained room for it. This act of grace did not continue Long in operation. Soon the conveyance of goods to places where the owners wished was discontinued, and all. the furniture was taken away into a field at a short distance from the village, and there uncarted and laid on the ground. Conduct of the Evicted. It might be imagined that the scenes presented on families being forcibly ejected from their homes would be peculiarly painful to witness. And so they were. But it would be a mistake to conclude that- weepings and wailings and tearful farewells were the prevailing appearances. On the contrary, the men, while feeling 19 no doubt deeply the circumstances in which they were placed, were too much occupied by the business of watching their goods carefully packed to give way to any expression of feeling; while amongst the crowd about them some attempts at jokes served, if not to cheer, at least to divert the attention of the ejected ones from their actual homeless condition. The women affected the general tone of the moment, but amongst them might be observed that tremulousness which showed how truly they realised the worst aspects of this ruthless invasion of women's especial province- the domestic hearth. Those in other houses, whose turns or turns-out were yet to come, seemed to feel more acutely for their neighbours than the neighbours felt for themselves; but throughout the whole day, as cart-load after cart-load of furniture was taken away, the greatest quietness and forbearance pre- vailed. Here, in the first cottage of the row, stands the head of a family, a steady-looking, middle-aged man, quietly and patiently watching the desecration of his household gods by the myrmidons employed for the purpose. Half a dozen policemen stand around his hearth, and his "womenfolk" declare that never before had they such a shifting. Yet the sturdy pitman smokes his long pipe, and, so far as outward appearances go, is taking a cool survey of all that is being done. This patience in tribulation is more than exemplary, and proves the pitman to possess a power of self-command considerably greater than ever they have received credit for. it will be strange, indeed, if this unnatural quietness does not portend some passionate outburst. The houses were rapidly cleared, and soon nothing was left but the bare walls and the cheerful fire from which on a dull and chill autumn day the pitmen and their families were driven. The furniture for the most part was good and substantial; but, though there was no wanton abuse in removing it, several rather ricketty chairs and tables suffered in the course of removal, and will never again be able to occupy that position which they have hitherto filled in a manner satisfactory no doubt to their owners. A complete clearance of thirty-seven houses was effected by four o'clock, when the work of spoliation was suspended for the day. The gang marched off protected by an escort of police, which, however, did not saye them from a few hootings. The women were most anxious in urging the men to give them a cheer, but the men, less impulsive and more cautious, wisely checked all expressions of feeling. Encamping in the Open Field. The furniture, as already stated, was taken from the houses and laid in a field near the village. Follow- ing the last carts, about five o'clock, we came upon the the first group of the evicted ones in the corner of a pasture. Seated round a fire of faggots were the husband, wife, and children, and with them were a number of friends standing around. The furniture was heaped confusedly in the background. A large and good mirror, dimmed by a thick October fog that had settled on it, stood on a kitchen table, and seemed strangely out of place in the corner of a wide pasture, and under the drippings from a tree. Mattresses, beds, and bed-clothing were heaped about, and were quite unprotected from the falling mist. The master of the house was (iheerful enough, and in his capacity of host requested, with a sort of rough politeness, the men to stand back and allow the women to come to the fire. Then one of those who stood round the blazing faggots divided his half ounce of tobacco with the host, and all went on in a style of affected if not real jollity. But when a pelting shower of rain fell on these houseless and unsheltered ones, and upon the few household goods that were precious to them, andthat had been cleaned and kept with that scrupulous attention which is often most admirably exercised by the pitmen's housewives, then one could not but feel that even affected mirth could not disguise the hard condition to which the people had been reduced. It would be a reflection on the kindly qualities of the pitmen who still had houses left to them, to suppose that the people thus exposed to the inclemency of the weather had no house-room offered to them. Many and pressing were the honest-hearted invitations they received to share bed and board with those who still had a roof over their heads; but the evicted ones, with that spirit of bravado which, though not altogether estimable, few could entirely suppress, chose to run the risk of colds and their consequent ills to their children and themselves, out of spite, we must term it, to their masters, who, in their opinion had been guilty of cruelty towards them. As the night advanced, the carts of friendly people in Willington appeared on the field of desolation, and in them the bedding and more valuable articles of furniture were conveyed away to safe places in the village. The women and their hus- bands also left the field, and there is no doubt that all found hospitable welcome and shelter for the night under friendly roofs. It is worthy of special remark that while a great force of policemen watched the re- moval of the furniture from the houses, not one re- mained to watch the property of the houseless miners left in the open field.

THE INSURRECTION IN SAN DOMINGO. Severe Fighting. By the Royal Mail Company's steam-ship Shan- non, which arrived at Southampton on Thursday, we have intelligence from San Domingo giving details of a fierce struggle which was going on in that island between the Spaniards and Dominicans. The Dominicans, after having driven the Spanish soldiers out of Puerto Plata, with terrible slaughter, had been attacked by reinforcements from the capital, and compelled to retire to Santiago de Cabelleros, a town in the interior, where they had made a stand against the Spaniards. General Santana has not been killed, as it was reported, but had inarched at the head of 2,000 men into the district of Cibao to operate against the Dominicans at Santiago de Cabelleros. A battle was fought between Puerto Plata and Santiago de Caballeros, in which the Dominicans were worsted. They were preparing, however, to make a stout defence at the latter place. The Spanish Government are pouring in troops from Porto Rico and Cuba. Quite 11,000 have already landed. By the schooner Rapid, with 54 refugees from Porto Plata, we have dates to the 18th September. The 2,000 Spanish troops that left on the 3rd for Santiago, under the command of General Suero, were followed on the 10th by another force of 1,600, but both divisions,have been defeated. The latter, on reaching Porez, a place about eighteen miles from Porto Plato, were attacked by the Dominicans, and obliged to retire with the loss of several killed and many wounded. They returned to Porto Plata at midnight, which caused the greatest uneasiness among the people, as everybody fancied that the rebels had entered the town. The men under Suero succeeded in entering Santiago, and in uniting with the garrison commanded by Bri- gadier-General Buceta, who had managed to retain the fort. But Santiago having been burnt by the rebels, and there being a dearth of provisions, the Spaniards were soon compelled to capitulate to a force of 5,000 Dominicans. The terms of the capitulation were that the Spaniards should give up the fort to the Dominicans on condition of their permitting them to retreat to Porto Plata unmolested. Z" Tlie Dominicans, however, did not respect these stipulations, for the Spaniards had no sooner left the fort and began I' their march to Porto Plata, followed by a large number of the inhabitants of Santiago, than the Dominicans pursued them, firing upon them with deadly effect. The Spanish losses are over 1,000 in killed and wounded. The atrocities committed on both sides were horrible, and are said to have been as bad as those committed during the Sepoy 71 y rebellion in India. The to- rn of San Carlos, in the neighbourhood of San Domingo-city, is said also to have been burnt by the rebels, ancl it is believed that Porto Plata will share A similar fate. Bands of soldiers armed with Minie rifles, and proficient in rapine and lust, are daily roving through the streets, breaking into houses, and, lestroying their contents; and it is said. that these unlawful and pernicious deeds are sanctioned by Spanish officers, who, influenced neither by hu- manity as a sentiment nor humanity as a policy", have endeavoured to throw around such iniquitous proceedings the forms of martial law. The following additional important late intelli- gence from San Domingo has been brought by the Shannon:— The San Domingo revolution has been suc- cessful in the district of Cibao. Santiago haa been burnt. In the south the rebels have been defeated."

COFFIN RIFLING IN SUFFOLK. At the Quarter Ssesions for the western division of 3uffolk, held at Bury St. Edmunds on Tuesday, Charles Bird, shoemaker, was charged with having stolen a ,,old watch and chain, a silver watch and chain, and 3ertain moneys, the property of Frances Childerstone, it Mildenhali. The circumstances of this case were somewhat singular, and were as follows:—Mrs. Childerstone, the prosecutrix, is the widow of Mr. Jonathan Childer- 3tone, who died at the close of last year, and was buried early in January. They had an only son, to whom they were both much attached, and the young man having pre-deceased. his parents, they held a con- sultation as to the appropriation of certain money and a watch and other articles that had belonged to the son; and they determined that nobody else should ever possess the property of their son, and with the view of carrying out such determination made an agree. ment between themselves by which it was stipulated that whichever died first the survivor should under- take to see that the property in question was deposited in the coffin, and interred with the corpse. This agree- ment Mrs. Childerstone faithfully carried out on the death of her husband, who was attired in a black cloth suit, placed in three coffins, including a leaden one, the money and valuables being inclosed, and deposited in a vault in the Mildenhall Cemetery. In course of time it was whispered about the place that some pro- perty of value had been buried in Mr. Childerstone's coffin (the burial was on the 2nd of January, 1863), and the fact that such was the case by some means came to the knowledge of Charles Docking, the sexton of the parish, who likewise filled the office of bailiff of the county court, and who consulted with the prisoner Bird and another man named Graham, the result baing that the vault was broken into, the three coffins ripped open, and the money (a sum of about £30) and other valuables were stolen. The rob- bery was not discovered for some little time after, but on the 28th of July an apprentice in the service of Mr. King, a stonemason, found that the vault had been disturbed, and on a further examination being made it was ascertained that it had been broken into on the side nearest the road, on which side the coffin, of the last deceased had been placed. Mr. King called the churchwardens and other parties to the spot, and then with the boy, got in and examined the vault. It was then discovered that the lids of all three coffins had been broken or cut open, one of the sleeves of the black cloth coat had been torn off the arm of the corpse, and all the money, watches, and chains were stolen, but some articles of no value were left behind, including the coat sleeve above mentioned. The pri- soner mentioned the circumstance to one or two persons, and this having come to the knowledge of Mr. King, he had some conversation with Bird, who admitted that he was one of the parties who got into the vault, and said that he made it answer his pur- pose, though there was not so much money as people said. In the course of other conversation, he said there might be about < £ 60, and that he and Graham had been pursuaded to join in the robbery by Docking, who had taken the watches and jewellery to London to sell, and had not divided the money fairly, in con- sequence of which some words had taken place between them. The matter then began to be talked about in. the parish, together with the confession Bird had made, and created, as may readily be imagined, a good deal of excitement among the neighbours. Eventually one of the churchwardens (Mr. Read, solicitor) took the matter up, and warrants were issued for the ap-, prehension of all three men. Only Bird, however, was apprehended; Docking and Graham having acted u,pon a hint they received, left the place, and their whereabouts has not hitherto been discovered. The prisoner pleaded guilty, but sentence was deferred.

THE BLOCKADE OF THE MEXICAN COAST. It is notiifed in the London Gazette that Earl, Rus- sell, her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has received from her Majesty's vice- consul at Vera Cruz a notiifcation, addressed to him by the commander-in-chief of the French naval forces in the Gulf of Mexico, and dated the 5th of September, 1863; of the blockade by the French naval forces, on and from the 6th September, 1863, of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, with the exception of Tampico, Yera, Cruz, Alvarado, Goatzacoalcos, Tabasco, and Carmen. The following is the official communication received by Earl Russell:— We, the undersigned rear-admiral commanding-in- chief the naval forces of his Majesty the Emperor of the French in the Gulf of Mexico, in view of the state of war existing between France and the Government of Juarez, acting by virtue of the powers which belong to us, declare that from the 6th of September inst. the ports and their outlets, the rivers, harbours roadsteads, creeks, &c., of the coast of Mexico which are not in the occupation of our troops, and which still acknowledge the power of Juarez from the lagoon, ten leagues to the south of Matamoros, up to and in- cluding Campeche, between 25 degrees 22 minutes N., 99 degrees 54 minutes W., and 19 degrees 52 minutes N., 92 degrees 50 minutes W. (meridian of Paris), shall be held in a state of effective blockade by the naval forces under our command, and that friendly or neutral vessels shall have a delay of 25 days to complete their cargoes, and to quit the places blockaded. The points excepted from the blockade are Tampico, Vera Cruz, Alvarado, Goatzacoalcos, Tabasgo, and Carmen. Pro- ceedings in conformity with international law and the treaties in force with neutral Powers will be taken against all vessels which shall attempt to violate the said blockade. On board of the frigate Bellona of his Majesty the Emperor of the French, anchored in the roadstead of Sacrificios, the 5th of September, 1863. (Signed) A. BOSSE.

A ROMANTIC STORY. Upwards of thirty years ago a marriage took pla^c :n the neighbourhood of Liverpool, the husband and wife being in humble circumstances. After living together till after the birth of a child, the husband ivent to Australia to seek his fortune. His wife never ieard from him after he left her, and, supposing he vas dead, on the lapse of seven years she married a ividower with three children. To this number in her second married life she added five, making her whole 'amily, including the child by her first husband, nine n all. Some time since the second husband died, and she was left to struggle with her large family. To her rreat surprise, at the beginning of the present year ter first husband made his appearance at Li.vorpooi, During his thirty years' absence he had prospered in Australia, and was a large landed proprietor there. He iad heard of his wife's second marriage, but as the au.lt was his he never thought of returning to ihiglaud until he heard of the death of the second husband, ['0 make amends for his former neglect of his wife-. or notwithstanding her second marriage she was still tis wife-he behaved in the most handsome manner to .11 her children, gave them costly outfits, and has aken them and the wife of his early affections out rith him to the land of his adoption. The wife, who las thus, after an absence of more than thirty years, >een restored to her position, is now about seventy ^ars of age; and so recent is tlieir departure from, his port uhat the vessel in which they sailed is not yet at of the Channel.—Liverpool Mercury.